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G20 and Marine Plastic Waste

The Group of 20 (G20) environment ministers, on 15th June, 2019, agreed to adopt a new implementation framework for actions to tackle the issue of...

17 Jun 2019 News Analysis
Coal Sector in India

Introduction Coal is the most important and abundant fossil fuel in India. It accounts for 55% of the country's energy needs. The country's...

17 Jun 2019 Paper 3
Public transport fare waiver: Faux empowerment?

This article is based on “Metro bonanza” that appeared in Indian Express on 15 June 2019. It analyses the rationale and drawbacks of...

15 Jun 2019 News Editorials
SCO Summit- 2019

The 19th annual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit was held on 13-14 June 2019 in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic. The heads of the Member...

15 Jun 2019 News Analysis
Sheath Blight Disease

Sheath blight is a fungal disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani. Rice sheath blight is an increasing concern for rice production, especially in...

15 Jun 2019 News Analysis
Lorenz Curve and Gini Coefficient

The distribution of Income in an economy is represented by the Lorenz Curve and the degree of income inequality is measured through the Gini...

15 Jun 2019 News Analysis
Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma Telescope

A joint team of German-Russian scientists will be launching a Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) space telescope. It will create a three-dimensional (3D)...

15 Jun 2019 News Analysis
Sahitya Akademi Awards

The Sahitya Akademi announced Bal Sahitya Puraskar and Yuva Puraskar 2019. Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar relates to books first published...

15 Jun 2019 News Analysis
Compoundable Offences under Direct Tax Laws

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued the guidelines for compoundable offences under Direct Tax Laws, 2019. Compoundable offences...

15 Jun 2019 News Analysis
World Day against Child Labour

On 12th June 2002, the International Labour Organisation launched the World Day Against Child Labour. Since then, every year, the day is marked to...

15 Jun 2019 Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions
Question of Seed Sovereignty

This article is based on PepsiCo case, and needs of seed research, that appeared in The Hindu Business Line on 13th June 2019. It talks about the...

14 Jun 2019 News Editorials
Internet Trends Report: 2019

Mary Meeker’s (US, based global technology investment firms owner) annual report, on “Internet Trends 2019” has placed India just...

14 Jun 2019 News Analysis
The Financial Action Task Force

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will hold its Plenary meeting in Orlando, Florida from 16th-21st June wherein it could take up a proposal to...

14 Jun 2019 News Analysis
Color Morphs of Wild Cat

Indian scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), an international conservation charity, and University College London (UCL) have...

14 Jun 2019 News Analysis
Hongkong Protest

Massive protests in Hongkong has erupted against a government plan to allow extradition to mainland China. The mass demonstration was one of the...

14 Jun 2019 News Analysis
Rare Easterly Winds over the Indian Ocean

Climate Prediction Centre of the US National Weather Service has said that unusually warm waters in the Arabian Sea have set up a rare band of...

14 Jun 2019 News Analysis
Unapproved Sowing of Genetically Modified Crops

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has sought a detailed report on the sowing of unapproved Genetically Modified (GM)...

14 Jun 2019 News Analysis
Indigenisation of Defence

What is Indigenisation of Defence? Indigenisation is the capability of developing and producing any defence equipment within the country for the...

14 Jun 2019 Paper 3
India’s Balancing with SCO

This article is based on the editorial “Navigations in Bishkek” which appeared in The Hindu on 13th June 2019. It talks about,...

13 Jun 2019 News Editorials
People's Ingestion Of Plastic

The World Wide Fund for Nature’s (WWF) study has revealed that people worldwide could be ingesting five grams of microscopic plastic particles...

13 Jun 2019 News Analysis

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			'title' => 'G20 and Marine Plastic Waste',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-international-institution/important-institution-upsc-ias-g20-significance-global-groupings-member-challenges-buenos-aires-gs-mains-paper-ii-2-international-relations" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Group of 20 (G20)</strong></a> environment ministers, on 15<sup>th</sup> June, 2019, <strong>agreed</strong> to adopt a <strong>new implementation framework</strong> for actions to tackle the issue of <a href="/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/in-depth-biodiversity-warning-bells" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>marine plastic waste</strong></a> on a global scale.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>environment and the energy ministers</strong> of the G20 major economies <strong>met in Karuizawa</strong>, northwest of Tokyo, <strong>ahead of the G20 summit in Osaka</strong>, Japan on 28th-29th June, 2019.</li>
<li>The new framework is aimed at <strong>facilitating further concrete action</strong> on marine waste, though on a voluntary basis, <strong>after</strong> the G20 Hamburg Summit in Germany adopted the <strong>G20 Action Plan on Marine Litter</strong> in 2017.</li>
<li>Under the new framework, G20 members will promote a <strong>comprehensive life-cycle approach</strong> to prevent and reduce plastic litter discharge to the oceans through various measures and international cooperation.</li>
<li>The members will also share best practices, promote innovation and boost scientific monitoring and analytical methodologies.</li>
<li>Japan may host the <strong>first meeting under the new framework at</strong> the time when officials of environment ministers in the G20 countries will <strong>meet for the G20 Resource Efficiency Dialogue.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>The G20 Summit</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The G20 Summit is formally known as <strong>the Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy.</strong></li>
<li>The host country of the G20 summit leads the group over the course of one year from December through the following November as the G20 presidency.</li>
<li>The G20 presidency also organizes relevant ministerial and working group meetings.</li>
<li><strong>It is the first time that Japan has taken on the G20 presidency.</strong></li>
<li>Over the years, the G20 summits have focused not only on macroeconomy and trade, but also on a wide range of global issues which have an immense impact on the global economy, such as development, climate change and energy, health, counter-terrorism, as well as migration and refugees.</li>
<li><strong>The G20 is a group of 19 countries</strong> (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany,<strong> India</strong>, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States) <strong>and the European Union.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>The G20 Action Plan on Marine Litter</strong></p>
<p>It includes <strong>seven high level policy principles:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Promote the socio-economic benefits of establishing policies to prevent marine litter.</li>
<li>Promote waste prevention and resource efficiency.</li>
<li>Promote sustainable waste management.</li>
<li>Promote effective wastewater treatment and storm water management.</li>
<li>Raise awareness, promote education and research.</li>
<li>Support removal and remediation activity.</li>
<li>Strengthen the engagement of stakeholders.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>The G20 Resource Efficiency Dialogue</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The G20 countries decided to establish a G20 Resource Efficiency Dialogue at the summit in Hamburg in 2017.</li>
<li>The dialogue makes the efficient and <strong>sustainable use of natural resources a core element of the G20 talks.</strong></li>
</ul>
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		(int) 1 => [
			'title' => 'Coal Sector in India',
			'catname' => 'Paper 3',
			'desc' => '<h3>Introduction</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Coal is the most important and abundant fossil fuel in India. <strong>It accounts for 55% of the country's energy needs.</strong> The country's industrial heritage was built upon indigenous coal.</li>
<li>Commercial primary energy consumption in India has grown by about 700% in the last four decades.</li>
<li><strong>The current per capita commercial primary energy consumption in India is about 350 kgoe/year which is well below that of developed countries.</strong></li>
<li>Driven by the <strong>rising population, expanding economy</strong> and a quest for improved quality of life, energy usage in India is expected to rise.</li>
<li>Considering the limited reserve potentiality of petroleum &amp; natural gas, eco-conservation restriction on hydel project and geo-political perception of nuclear power, coal will continue to occupy centre-stage of India's energy scenario.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Coal Production</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Through sustained programme of investment and greater thrust on application of modern technologies, it has been possible to raise the All India production of coal at 730.354 million tonnes in 2018-19 (Provisional) with a positive growth of 7.9%.</li>
<li>Coal India Limited has set up Regional Sales Offices and Sub-Sales Offices at selected places in the country to cater to the needs of the consuming sectors in various regions.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Import of Coal</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>As per the present import policy, <strong>coal can be freely imported</strong> (under Open General Licence) by the consumers themselves considering their needs based on their commercial prudence.</li>
<li>Coking Coal is being imported by Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and other Steel manufacturing units mainly to bridge the gap between the requirement and indigenous availability and to improve the quality of production.</li>
<li>Coal based power plants, cement plants, captive power plants, sponge iron plants, industrial consumers and coal traders are importing non-coking coal.</li>
<li>Coke is imported mainly by pig-Iron manufacturers and Iron &amp; Steel sector consumers using mini-blast furnace.</li>
<li>Details of import of coal and products i.e. coke during the last six years is as under:</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1578481939_image63.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1578481939_image63.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" caption="false" width="707" height="213" /></a></p>
<h3>Coal Reserves</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>As a result of exploration carried out up to the maximum depth of 1200 m, a cumulative total of 319.02 Billion tonnes of Geological Resources of Coal have so far been estimated in the country till April, 2018.</li>
<li>Hard coal deposit spread over 27 major coalfields, are mainly confined to eastern and south central parts of the country. The lignite reserves stand at a level around 36 billion tonnes, of which 90% occur in the southern State of Tamil Nadu.</li>
<li>Top 5 States in terms of total coal reserves in India are: Jharkhand &gt; Odisha &gt; Chhattisgarh &gt; West Bengal &gt; Madhya Pradesh.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1578482027_image2.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1578482027_image2.png" caption="false" width="498" height="534" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1578482071_image12.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1578482071_image12.png" caption="false" width="537" height="364" /></a></p>
<h3>Categorization of Resources</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Coal resources of India are available in <strong>older Gondwana Formations of peninsular India and younger tertiary formations of north-eastern region</strong>.</li>
<li>Based on the results of Regional/ Promotional Exploration, where the boreholes are normally placed 1-2 Km apart, the resources are classified into <strong>&lsquo;Indicated&rsquo;</strong> or <strong>&lsquo;Inferred&rsquo;</strong> <strong>category</strong>.</li>
<li>Subsequent Detailed Exploration in selected blocks, where boreholes are less than 400 meter apart, upgrades the resources into more reliable<strong> 'Proved/Measured' category</strong>.</li>
<li>The Formation-wise and Category-wise Coal resources of India as on 1.4.2018 are given in table below:</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1578482112_image41.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1578482112_image41.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" caption="false" width="707" height="169" /></a></p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Classification of Coal</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Coal is originated from organic matter wood. When large tracts of forests are buried under sediments, wood is burnt and decomposed due to heat from below and pressure from above. The phenomenon makes coal but takes centuries to complete.</li>
<li><strong>Classification of Coal can be done on the basis of carbon content and time period.</strong></li>
<li>On the basis of carbon content it can be classified into following three types:<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Anthracite:</strong> It is the best quality of coal with <strong>highest calorific value</strong> and carries <strong>80 to 95% carbon content</strong>. It ignites slowly with a blue flame and found in small quantities in Jammu and Kashmir.</li>
<li><strong>Bituminous:</strong> It has a low level of moisture content with <strong>60 to 80% of carbon content</strong> and has a high calorific value. <strong>Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh</strong> and <strong>Madhya Pradesh</strong> have deposits of Bituminous.</li>
<li><strong>Lignite</strong> carries <strong>40 to 55% carbon content</strong> and is often brown in colour with high moisture content thus, gives smoke when burnt. <strong>Rajasthan, Lakhimpur (Assam)</strong>&nbsp;and <strong>Tamil Nadu</strong> has deposits of Lignite.</li>
<li><strong>Peat</strong> is the first stage of transformation from wood to coal with <strong>low calorific value and less than 40% carbon content</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>History of Coal Mining in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India has a long history of commercial coal mining covering nearly 220 years <strong>starting from 1774 by M/s Sumner and Heatly of East India Company in the Raniganj Coalfield</strong> along the Western bank of river Damodar.</li>
<li>However, for about a century the growth of Indian coal mining remained sluggish for want of demand but the <strong>introduction of steam locomotives in 1853 gave a fillip to it</strong>.</li>
<li>Within a short span, production rose to an annual average of 1 million tonne (mt) and India could produce 6.12 mts. per year by 1900 and 18 mts per year by 1920.</li>
<li><strong>The production got a sudden boost from the First World War but went through a slump in the early thirties.</strong> The production reached a level of 29 mts. by 1942 and 30 mts. by 1946.</li>
<li>With the advent of Independence, the country embarked upon the 5-year development plans. At the beginning of the 1st Plan, annual production went up to 33 mts.</li>
<li>During the 1<sup>st</sup> Plan period itself, the need for increasing coal production efficiently by systematic and scientific development of the coal industry was being felt.</li>
<li>Setting up of the <strong>National Coal Development Corporation (NCDC),</strong> a Government of India Undertaking in <strong>1956</strong> with the collieries owned by the railways as its nucleus was the first major step towards planned development of Indian Coal Industry.</li>
<li>Along with the Singareni Collieries Company Ltd. (SCCL) which was already in operation since 1945 and which became a Government company under the control of Government of Andhra Pradesh in 1956, India thus had two Government coal companies in the fifties. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>SCCL is now a joint undertaking of Government of Andhra Pradesh and Government of India sharing its equity in 51:49 ratio.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Nationalisation of Coal Mines</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Right from its genesis, the commercial coal mining in modern times in India has been dictated by the needs of the domestic consumption.</li>
<li>On account of the <strong>growing needs of the steel industry,</strong> a thrust had to be given on systematic exploitation of coking coal reserves in Jharia Coalfield.</li>
<li>Adequate capital investment to meet the burgeoning energy needs of the country was not forthcoming from the private coal mine owners.</li>
<li><strong>Unscientific mining practices</strong> adopted by some of them and poor working conditions of labour in some of the private coal mines became matters of concern for the Government.</li>
<li>On account of these reasons, the Central Government took a decision to nationalise the private coal mines.</li>
<li><strong>The nationalisation was done in two phases, the first with the coking coal mines in 1971-72 and then with the non-coking coal mines in 1973.</strong></li>
<li>In October, 1971, <strong>Coking Coal Mines (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1971</strong> provided for taking over in public interest of the management of coking coal mines and coke oven plants pending nationalisation.</li>
<li>This was followed by the <strong>Coking Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1972</strong> under which the coking coal mines and coke oven plants other than those with the Tata Iron &amp; Steel Company Limited and Indian Iron &amp; Steel Company Limited, were nationalised on from May 1972 and brought under <strong>Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL),</strong> a new Central Government Undertaking.</li>
<li>Another enactment, namely the <strong>Coal Mines (Taking Over of Management) Act, 1973,</strong> extended the right of the Government of India to take over the management of the coking and non-coking coal mines in seven States including the coking coal mines taken over in 1971.</li>
<li>This was followed by the nationalisation of all these mines in May 1973 with the enactment of the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973 which now is the piece of Central legislation determining the eligibility of coal mining in India.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>After nationalisation of the coal industry in India, India never witnessed demand-supply gap until 1991.</li>
<li>After <strong>liberalisation reforms in 1993,</strong> to focus on the increasing energy demand, the government decided to allocate coal mines to various players for captive consumption <em>(in captive mining coal is taken out by a company for its own use and it won&rsquo;t be able to sell it in the market)</em>.</li>
<li>Also the <strong>power sector reforms of 2003,</strong> resulting in significant growth in power sector.</li>
<li>Increasing demand of Coal by growing power sector could not be fulfilled by the state run CIL in the meantime, leading to higher demand-supply gap. This resulted into higher demands of imports.</li>
<li>By 2012, this demand-supply gap widened to near 20%. Moreover, the LARR Act, Forest Rights Act etc., also challenged the further expansion of coal mines.</li>
<li>The CAG report followed by the Supreme Court verdict in 2014 resulted into cancellation of allocation near all coal mines allocated after 1993.</li>
<li>GoI enables allocation of coal mines through auctions by enacting the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015.</li>
<li>In February 2018, CCEA permitted entry of private firms in commercial coal mining in the country.</li>
</ul>
<h3>What Troubles Coal sector in India?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India has to <strong>import near 213 million tons coal</strong> and some Indian companies have also acquired coal mines overseas to ensure continuous supply. The import dependency for good quality coal is neither good for India&rsquo;s energy requirement nor for its fiscal health.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Following reasons can be listed for Coal sector abysmal condition:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Delayed environment and forest clearances:</strong> Environment ministry in past has classified ecological sensitive areas in &lsquo;Go and No Go areas&rsquo; and there was total prohibition on mining in no go areas.</li>
<li>Further there are <strong>other clearances</strong> required from State and Central Governments.</li>
<li><strong>Land Acquisition problems.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Lack of adequate technology.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Allocation process was arbitrary, discretionary and non-transparent.</strong></li>
<li>There was <strong>no consideration of Merit,</strong> no Price discovery mechanism for national resources.</li>
<li>Till now, the PSU, Coal India was the only commercial miner in the country for more than four decades which has shown <strong>monopolistic tendencies in the sector</strong>. Monopoly in mining sector was incapable of meeting domestic demands.</li>
<li><strong>Low productivity</strong> of Coal India is still a concern.</li>
<li>Coal plants have <strong>higher operation and maintenance costs</strong> because of strict regulatory issues.</li>
<li>India&rsquo;s power regulators are not regularly updating prices to accommodate increases in operational costs due to regulation.</li>
<li>State Pollution Control Boards are ineffective at monitoring or enforcing compliance.</li>
<li>Expansion in power generation in India has been largely based on state financing i.e many coal power plants in India are constructed through massive debt financing from state-owned banks.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It shows that international investment in coal generation assets in India has been very less.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Government Initiatives</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In April 2018, The Ministry of Coal has launched <strong>UTTAM (Unlocking Transparency by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal) Application for coal quality monitoring</strong>. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The app aims to <strong>ensure transparency and efficiency in coal quality monitoring</strong> process and bring coal governance closer to people.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a <strong>new coal linkage policy</strong> to ensure adequate supply of the fuel to power plants through reverse auction. The new policy will help in ensuring fuel supplies to the power plants in an organised manner.</li>
<li>Ministry of Coal has developed <strong>Online Coal Clearances System</strong> to provide a single window access to its investors to submit online applications for all the permissions / clearances and approvals granted by Ministry of Coal.</li>
<li><strong>Coal Allocation Monitoring System (CAMS)</strong> is developed to monitor the allocation of coal by CIL to States, States to SNA and SNA to such consumers in a transparent manner.</li>
<li><strong>Opening up of commercial coal mining</strong> for Indian and foreign companies in the private sector.</li>
<li>The CCEA approved the methodology for auction of coal mines/ blocks for sale of the commodity on 20 February 2018. The move has been defined as the most ambitious reform of the sector since its nationalisation in 1973.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The auction will be done on an online transparent platform. The bid parameter will be the price offer in Rupees/ Tonne, which will be paid to the State government on the actual production of coal.</li>
<li>This reform is expected to bring efficacy into the coal sector by moving from an era of monopoly to competition. It will increase competitiveness and allow the use of best possible technology in the sector.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Suggestions</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There is a <strong>need for increasing production and competition</strong> by leveraging higher producing mines to enable more world-scale operations.</li>
<li><strong>Government should revisit coal grades pricing mechanism from grades based on coal mined to grades based on coal desired for end use.</strong></li>
<li>With a competitive coal mining sector in the country, the <strong>ability to raise competitive finance should also improve</strong>.</li>
<li>Coal mining needs to be facilitated with <strong>offtake routes for bulk transportation</strong> over long distances as with railways projects delayed for long periods of time it is imperative to look at alternatives</li>
<li>Risk is the biggest challenge in the sector and <strong>risk management needs new instruments, contracting, and incentives</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>Creative and targeted financing</strong> should be brought in to address the power sector&rsquo;s burgeoning problems.</li>
<li>As India&rsquo;s coal is high in ash content, <strong>coal beneficiation</strong> should be done to reduce the ash content and improve its grade.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Note:</strong></p>
<p><strong>Coal beneficiation</strong> is a process by which the quality of raw coal is improved by either reducing the extraneous matter that gets extracted along with the mined coal or reducing the associated ash or both.</p>
</div>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The arrival of private players in the coal mining practices can bring a lot of better things into the picture.</li>
<li>In the long term, India needs to look at coal to gas i.e. more cleaner energy sources.</li>
<li>Clean coal as an idea has huge potential in India because of the age and inefficiency of some of our plants.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>With government&rsquo;s efforts to push renewable energy due to international conventions on climate change, increase in carbon cess and other initiatives for lesser use of coal, there is a need for &lsquo;Vision 2030 for the coal sector&rsquo;, which takes into account the environmental factors such as reduction of carbon footprint, abatement of global warming.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>',
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		(int) 2 => [
			'title' => 'Public transport fare waiver: Faux empowerment?',
			'catname' => 'News Editorials',
			'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>This article is based on &ldquo;<a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/free-metro-for-women-safety-gender-violence-rapes-bonanza-5781490/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Metro bonanza</a>&rdquo; that appeared in Indian Express on 15 June 2019. It analyses the rationale and drawbacks of Delhi government&rsquo;s decision to waive off public transport waiver for women.</p>
</div>
<p>The Delhi Government&rsquo;s decision to make public transport free for women in the national capital has ignited a welcome debate on the safety and mobility of women in Indian cities. So the bigger question is whether this subsidy or freebies is desirable or if not hat should be way forward?</p>
<h3>What is the rationale of metro waiver for women?</h3>
<p>India shockingly represents a huge gender gap, which can be depicted in:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India ranks very low at <strong>95 out of 129 countries</strong> in the recently released <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-upsc-prelims-sdg-gender-index" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SDG Gender Index</a>.</li>
<li>India is among the few countries globally that have seen decreasing participation of women in the workforce in the past decade, despite stellar economic growth.</li>
<li>The official data show that crimes against women in Delhi have seen a phenomenal increase of 83% between 2007 and 2016 and reasons being: ineffective policing, poor conviction rates, dark spots, unsafe modes of transport, social norms towards women, among others. However, there is hardly any talk of transformative solutions.</li>
<li>A survey by Thomson Reuters Foundation in 2017 ranked <strong>Delhi as the most unsafe megacity in the world for women</strong></li>
<li>Sustainable Urban Transport Project (SUTP) and backed by the Government of India shows how <strong>women forego opportunities to work outside their neighbourhoods</strong> if they perceive transport fares and services to be expensive and unreliable.</li>
</ul>
<p>Possible Advantages of the Government&rsquo;s Decision</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Delhi government&rsquo;s decision of waiving metro and bus fare for women solves an important part of this problem by <strong>making public transport the default mode of transport for the city&rsquo;s women.</strong> <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>As across the globe, it is widely accepted that <strong>public transport is the safest mode of transport.</strong></li>
<li>A report prepared by the Delhi Labour Department in 2018 found that of the 19.6 lakh workers engaged in trading, service and the manufacturing sector in the city, only 11.4% were women, and nearly half of them worked as &ldquo;informal hired workers&rdquo;</li>
<li>Also, the study shows that female students are willing to choose a lower quality college, travel longer and spend much more than men in order to travel by safer route.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>So by waiving off public transport fare for women provides them unrestricted access to public transport, which serves twin benefits:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>It provides safety,</strong> as now it will be easier for women to move from informal and more unsafe modes of transport such as shared autos and cabs to more formal and safer modes such as the Metro.</li>
<li>It also leads to <strong>economic empowerment of women</strong> by significantly improving access to education and helping them to enter the workforce.</li>
<li>It will <strong>incentivise the use of public transport</strong> that can tackle congestion on the roads.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Also, this decision of making public transport free for women is designed in Delhi government's narrative of <strong>&ldquo;Trickle Up Economics&rdquo;. It seeks to build the economy from below by investing in people,</strong> through carefully-targeted subsidies and an unprecedented expansion of social infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and now public transport.</li>
</ul>
<p>However, apart from terming this waiver as an election gimmick, many experts have invoked economic theories like <strong>&ldquo;Broken window fallacy"</strong> against this move.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In this case waiver of public transport fare for women is like subsidies or freebies that represents the broken window fallacy.</li>
<li>According to the Delhi government, the cost of subsidising women&rsquo;s travel will be around Rs 1,200 crore annually.</li>
<li>But the public transport in Delhi is in very dismal condition, for example, the number of buses in Delhi has halved in the last 8 years.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>According to Supreme Court, to tackle Delhi's pollution problem a fleet to 11,000 buses is required but currently Delhi bus fleet numbered below 4000.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Public transport in Delhi lacks last-mile connectivity, women have to travel to these access points, and exactly these are areas where women&rsquo;s safety is most vulnerable.</li>
<li>Thus, despite waiver of public transport fare, Delhi government must spend public money on buying more buses and improving their reliability along with improving last mile connectivity.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>What is Broken window fallacy?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The broken window fallacy was first expressed by the great French economist, Frederic Bastiat.</li>
<li>Bastiat used the parable of a broken window to point out <strong>why destruction doesn't benefit the economy.</strong></li>
<li>In Bastiat's tale, a man's son breaks a pane of glass, meaning the man will have to pay to replace it. But the breaking of the glass was not an utterly wrong thing as it provides the community with a service because his father will have to pay the glazier (window repairman) to replace the broken pane. The glazier will then presumably spend the extra money on something else, jump-starting the local economy.</li>
<li>Thus breaking windows (destruction of the economy) stimulates the economy, <strong>but Bastiat points out that further analysis exposes the fallacy.</strong></li>
<li>By breaking the window, the man's son has reduced his father's disposable income, meaning his father will not be able to purchase new shoes or some other luxury good.</li>
<li><strong>In short, Bastiat suggests that destruction - and its costs - don't pay in an economic sense.</strong></li>
<li>The broken window fallacy is often used to discredit the idea that going to war stimulates a country's economy.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>As with the broken window, war causes resources and capital to be funnelled out of industries that produce goods to industries that destroy things, leading to even more costs. According to this line of reasoning, the rebuilding that occurs after the war is primarily maintenance costs, meaning that countries would be much better off not fighting at all.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Other Issues in Implementing Public Transport Waiver</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Metro man E. Sreedharan has warned against this fare waiver as it will lead to the <strong>bankruptcy of Delhi metro.</strong></li>
<li>Studies show that <strong>operational costs frequently rise in the long run,</strong> and schemes become increasingly less viable.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Hasselt, Belgium, made public transport free in 1996, a decade later, a study reported a tenfold increase in ridership however with rising operational costs forced Hasselt to do away with the scheme in 2014.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Substitution effects:</strong> It will have a negative effect on auto rickshaws and car operator services.</li>
<li>The <strong>scheme might not reach the targeted beneficiaries.</strong> <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>While women who can afford to pay the full fare will form a larger proportion of female travellers on the metro, women who should ideally benefit from free rides might still not use the metro or the buses, simply because such modes of transport do not connect their place of residence and place of work.</li>
<li>Domestic helps who walk 2-6 km daily fall in that category.</li>
<li>Also, the scheme <strong>discriminates against poor men and boys.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The subsidy can lead to immediate demands from other sections such as students, handicapped, senior citizen as well.</li>
<li><strong>Implementation issue:</strong> A mechanism have to be devised to register the number of women who avail free rides and those who don&rsquo;t.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Metro has automated fare collection (AFC) gates that require tokens or Metro cards &mdash; the Metro will have to either isolate entry and exit points for women where AFC gates can be done away with or come up with special cards or tokens for women.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Public transport fare waiver represents the case of faux empowerment as women in metropolitan cities like Delhi are comparatively more financially sound; the need of the hour is a more intersectional approach. Clean environment, which is augmented by the creation of public sustainable transport infrastructure, might matter more to the people in Delhi than a public transport fare waiver.</p>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 99.881%;" height="77">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 840px; background-color: #c9f2f5;">
<p><em><strong>Drishti input:</strong></em></p>
<p>Government policies like public transport fare waiver represent the case of developmental politics or a case of broken window fallacy. Analyse.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p></p>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/public-transport-fare-waiver-faux-empowerment'
		],
		(int) 3 => [
			'title' => 'SCO Summit- 2019',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The 19th annual <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-international-institution/important-international-institutions-shanghai-cooperation-organisation-sco" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)</strong></a> summit was held on 13-14 June 2019 in <strong>Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The heads of the Member States reviewed the implementation of the results of the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/india-and-the-shanghai-cooperation-organisation" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Qingdao Summit</strong></a> and the priority goals for SCO development in the context of current global political and economic processes.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The <strong>Bishkek Declaration</strong> was adopted by the Member states.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border">
<p><strong>Note:</strong>&nbsp;Another "Bishkek Declaration", adopted in 2013 by 12 countries (including India) is associated with conservation and protection of Snow Leopard.</p>
</div>
<h3>Highlights of the SCO-2019 Bishkek Declaration&nbsp;</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Security</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Member States resolutely condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. They urge the international community to strengthen global cooperation in efforts against terrorism in line with the <strong>UN Charter and the principles of international law</strong>, without politicisation and double standards, while respecting the sovereignty and independence of all states.</li>
<li>The declaration also pressed for consensus regarding the adoption of the <strong><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/at-unga-india-call-for-early-adoption-of-ccit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.</a></strong></li>
<li>Ensure the earliest possible enactment of a protocol on security guarantees to the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone Treaty for all signatory states.</li>
<li>Honouring the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and their Destruction.</li>
<li>Supported the work of the government and people of Afghanistan (with support from the international community) for restoring peace and ensuring the country's sustained development.</li>
<li>There is no alternative to resolving the situation in Syria through dialogue, while ensuring Syria's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Economy</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Expanding and deepening cooperation in trade, finance, investment, transport, energy, agriculture, innovation, cutting-edge technology, etc.</li>
<li>Serious attention will be given to increasing the share of national currencies in mutual financial transactions and settlements.</li>
<li>The SCO Member States will promote exchange of experience and further development of international cooperation in countering corruption.</li>
<li>Promote the development of technology parks and business incubators in the SCO region for the purpose of improving the regional business climate and supporting youth startup projects, including the International Youth Business Incubator of SCO countries within the framework of the SCO Youth Council.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Space</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Keeping outer space <strong>free from weapons and importance of peaceful use</strong> of outer space.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Narcotic Drug Threat</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Need to address the illegal cultivation, production, circulation, sales and dissemination of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Russia</strong> will be next to assume the <strong>presidency of the SCO</strong>. In 2020, the Russian Federation will host a regular SCO Heads of State Council Meeting.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/sco-summit-2019'
		],
		(int) 4 => [
			'title' => 'Sheath Blight Disease',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Sheath blight is a fungal disease caused by <strong>Rhizoctonia solani</strong>.<a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/695image1.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/695image1.jpg" width="162" height="217" style="float: right;" caption="false" /></a></li>
<li><strong>Rice sheath blight</strong> is an increasing concern for rice production, especially in intensified production systems.</li>
<li>Infected leaves dry out and die more rapidly, young tillers can also be destroyed. As a result, the leaf area of the canopy can significantly be reduced by the disease. This reduction in leaf area are the<strong> primary causes of yield reduction</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why and Where it Occurs</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Sheath blight occurs in areas with <strong>high temperature</strong> (28&minus;32&deg;C), high <strong>levels of nitrogen fertilizer</strong>, and relative humidity of crop canopy from 85&minus;100%.</li>
<li>Plants are more vulnerable to sheath blight during the rainy season.</li>
<li>High seeding rate or close plant spacing, dense canopy, the disease in the soil, sclerotia or infection bodies floating on the water, and growing of high yielding improved varieties also favour disease development.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/sheath-blight-disease'
		],
		(int) 5 => [
			'title' => 'Lorenz Curve and Gini Coefficient ',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The distribution of Income in an economy is represented by the <strong>Lorenz Curve</strong> and the<strong> degree of income inequality</strong> is measured through the <strong>Gini Coefficient</strong>.</li>
<li>One of the five major and common macroeconomic goals of a government is the equitable (fair) distribution of income.</li>
<li>The Lorenz Curve (the actual distribution of income curve), a graphical distribution of wealth developed by <strong>Max Lorenzin 1906</strong>, shows the proportion of income earned by any given percentage of the population. The line at the 45&ordm; angle shows perfectly equal income distribution, while the other line shows the actual distribution of income. The further away from the diagonal, the more unequal the size of the distribution of income.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/286image2.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/286image2.jpg" width="578" height="421" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" caption="false" /></a></p>
<h3>Gini Coefficient</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Gini Coefficient, which is derived from the Lorenz Curve, can be used as an indicator of economic development in a country.</li>
<li>The Gini Coefficient measures the degree of income equality in a population.</li>
<li>The Gini Coefficient can vary from 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (perfect inequality).</li>
<li>A Gini Coefficient of zero means that everyone has the same income, while a Coefficient of 1 represents a single individual receiving all the income.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/lorenz-curve-and-gini-coefficient'
		],
		(int) 6 => [
			'title' => 'Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma Telescope',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>A joint team of <strong>German-Russian scientists</strong> will be launching a<strong> Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG)</strong> space telescope. It will create a <strong>three-dimensional (3D) X-ray</strong> map of the universe and unveil unknown supermassive black holes, dark energy and stars.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The SRG telescope aims to detect up to 3 mn supermassive black holes from the Milky Way.</li>
<li>The telescope will be launched into space on a <strong>Russian-built Proton-M rocket</strong> from <strong>Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan</strong>.</li>
<li>The four-year mission will survey the entire sky eight times and track the evolution of the universe and dark energy.</li>
<li>This is the first telescope which is sensitive to high energy hard X-rays.</li>
<li>The mission will have <strong>two independent</strong> telescopes:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>A German-built eROSITA (Extended Roentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array).</li>
<li>A Russian-built ART-XC (Astronomical Roentgen Telescope X-ray Concentrator)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Each of them covers X-ray bands stretching to relatively much higher energies: 0.2&ndash;10 kilo-electron volts (keV) for eROSITA, and 5&ndash;30 keV for ART-XC.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>X-Rays</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>X-rays are a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. X-radiation is referred to as R&ouml;ntgen radiation, after the German scientist <strong>Wilhelm Rontgen</strong> who discovered these in 1895.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Soft and Hard X-rays</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>X-rays are usually described by their maximum energy, which is determined by the voltage between the electrodes.</li>
<li>X-rays with high photon energies (above 5&ndash;10 keV) are called <strong>hard X-rays.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Due to their penetrating ability, hard X-rays are widely used to image the inside of visually opaque objects.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Those with lower energy (and longer wavelength) are called <strong>soft X-rays</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Previous Missions</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Germany's ROSAT mission in the 1990s was sensitive only to &lsquo;soft&rsquo; X-rays, with energies of about 2 keV.</li>
<li>NASA&rsquo;s <strong>Chandra X-ray Observatory</strong> and<strong> NuSTAR</strong>, can see high-energy radiation and resolve tiny details of cosmic structures. But, they see only small parts of the sky.</li>
<li>SRG was first proposed in 1987, by Russian astrophysicists, but the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to the cancellation of the plan. It was again revived in 2004, but a proposal to send an X-ray telescope to the International Space Station was scrapped when NASA ended its space-shuttle programme in 2011.</li>
<li>The joint mission was approved by the German space agency and Roscosmos later in 2009.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/spectrum-roentgen-gamma-telescope'
		],
		(int) 7 => [
			'title' => 'Sahitya Akademi Awards',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The Sahitya Akademi announced Bal Sahitya Puraskar and Yuva Puraskar 2019.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar</strong> relates to books first published during the five years immediately preceding the year of Award.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>During the initial ten years (i.e. from 2010 to 2019), the award may also be given to an author based on his/her total contribution to children literature.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar</strong> relates to books published by an author of the <strong>age of 35 and below</strong> as on 1st January of the year of the award.</li>
<li>The winners of both the awards will receive a casket containing an engraved <strong>copper plaque and a cheque of Rs 50,000.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Sahitya Akademi Awards</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Sahitya Akademi award established in 1954, is a <strong>literary honour</strong> that is conferred <strong>annually</strong> by Sahitya Akademi, India&rsquo;s National Academy of letters.</li>
<li>Award is presented to the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the twenty-four major Indian languages recognized by the Akademi (including English).</li>
<li>Sahitya Akademi award is the second highest literary honour by the Government of India, after <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/54th-jnanpith-award" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jananpith award</a>.</li>
<li>The award is presented in the form of a casket containing an engraved <strong>copper-plaque</strong>, a shawl and a cheque of Rs 1 lakh.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Indian film-maker <strong>Satyajit Ray</strong> is the designer of the plaque awarded by the Sahitya Akademi.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Criteria</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The author must be of <strong>Indian Nationality.</strong></li>
<li>Book/work eligible for award must be an outstanding contribution to the <strong>language</strong> and <strong>literature</strong> to which it belongs.</li>
<li>When equal merit for books of two or more are found, certain criteria like <strong>total literary contribution and standing of authors</strong> shall be taken into consideration for declaring award.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/sahitya-akademi-awards'
		],
		(int) 8 => [
			'title' => 'Compoundable Offences under Direct Tax Laws',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-4th-april-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Central Board of Direct Taxes</strong></a> (CBDT) has issued the guidelines for compoundable offences under Direct Tax Laws, 2019.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Compoundable offences</strong> are those which can be conciliated by the parties under dispute, without the requirement of the permission of the court.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Guidelines</h3>
<p>Guidelines have classified offences into three categories.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The first category</strong> of offences open to compounding include:<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Defaults under <strong>tax deducted or collected at source.</strong></li>
<li>Failure to <strong>file return.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>The second category</strong> of offences, for which compounding will not be allowed, deal with:<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Willful evasion of tax.</li>
<li>Removal or concealment or transfer or delivery of property to thwart tax recovery in a search operation.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>The third category</strong> of offences that <strong>"shall normally not be compounded"</strong> includes:<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Offences committed by a person for which he was convicted by a court of law under <strong>direct tax laws.</strong></li>
<li>Enabling others to evade taxes.</li>
<li><strong>Money laundering</strong> (launder money by generating bogus invoices).</li>
<li>Offences relating to undisclosed foreign bank account or assets under the <strong>Black Money</strong> (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets).</li>
<li>Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 or under the <strong>Benami Transactions</strong> (Prohibition) Act, 1988.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/compoundable-offences-under-direct-tax-laws'
		],
		(int) 9 => [
			'title' => 'World Day against Child Labour',
			'catname' => 'Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions',
			'desc' => '<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fEfeNjTIM0A" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>On 12th June 2002, the International Labour Organisation launched the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/world-day-against-child-labour" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Day Against Child Labour</a>. Since then, every year, the day is marked to highlight the plight of child labourers worldwide and also to take required measures to eliminate it. The World Day Against Child Labour, 2019 looks back on <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/100th-anniversary-of-ilo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">progress achieved over a 100 years of ILO</a> support to countries on tackling child labour. The protection of children is embedded in the preamble of ILO since it was founded in 1919 yet about 152 million children are still in child labour across the world.</p>
<p>India accounts for more than 10 million child workers. Despite efforts and legislations through the decades to prohibit the engagement of children in occupations, the statistics regarding child labour in India are dismal.</p>
<h3>The World Day Against Child Labour</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is celebrated annually on June 12 with the aim of focussing attention on the global extent of child labour and the action and efforts needed to eliminate it.</li>
<li>The day brings together governments, employers and workers organizations, civil society, as well as millions of people from around the world to highlight the plight of child labourers and what can be done to help them.</li>
<li>The theme for World Day Against Child Labour 2019 is <strong>&lsquo;Children shouldn&rsquo;t work in fields, but on dreams!&rsquo;</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The theme focuses on the major transformations being experienced in the world of work, whether the result of technology, environmental or demographic, and what this means for the youngest in society.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The eradication of Child Labour is part of the <strong>UN Sustainable Development Goal Target 8.7.</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Sustainable Development Goals include a call to the global community to take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of the child labour. This also includes ending the recruitment and use of child soldiers.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Child Labour</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The term &lsquo;Child Labour&rsquo; is defined as a work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity and is harmful to their physical and mental development.</strong></li>
<li>It refers to the work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children, interferes with schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend school, obligement to leave school prematurely or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Forms of Child Labour</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>All forms of slavery or practices similar to the slavery including but not limited to the <strong>sale or trafficking of children, debt bondage</strong> and forced or compulsory labour.</li>
<li>It also means the <strong>forced or compulsory recruitment</strong> of children for use in armed conflict.</li>
<li>The use of a <strong>child for prostitution,</strong> for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances.</li>
<li>The use of a child for<strong> illicit activities in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs</strong> as defined in the relevant international treaties.</li>
<li>It also includes work, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, that is <strong>likely to harm the health, safety and morals of children.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Work that does not constitute Child Labour</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is also important to know that not all work done by children should be classified as child labour targeted for elimination. In fact, children's or adolescents' participation in work that does not affect their health and personal development or interfere with their schooling, is generally regarded as being something positive.</li>
<li>This includes<strong> activities such as helping their parents around the home, assisting in a family business or earning pocket money outside school hours and during school holidays.</strong> These activities are in fact believed to contribute to children's development.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Statistics of Child Labour across the World&nbsp;</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Worldwide, 218 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 years are in employment. Among them, 152 million are victims of child labour with almost half of them, 73 million, working in hazardous labour.</li>
<li>In absolute terms, almost half of child labour (72.1 million) is to be found in Africa; 62.1 million in the Asia and the Pacific; 10.7 million in the Americas; 1.2 million in the Arab States and 5.5 million in Europe and Central Asia.</li>
<li>In terms of prevalence, 1 in 5 children in Africa (19.6%) are in child labour, whilst prevalence in other regions is between 3% and 7%: 2.9% in the Arab States (1 in 35 children); 4.1% in Europe and Central Asia (1 in 25); 5.3%in the Americas (1 in 19) and 7.4% in Asia and the Pacific region (1 in 14).</li>
<li><strong>Child labour is concentrated primarily in agriculture (71%)</strong>, which includes fishing, forestry, livestock herding and aquaculture, and comprises both subsistence and commercial farming; 17% in Services; and 12% in the industrial sector, including mining.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Forced Child Labour</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>According to the year 2016 estimates of modern slavery, there were about 4.3 million children aged below 18 years in forced labour, representing 18% of the 24.8 million total forced labour victims worldwide.</li>
<li>This estimate also includes<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>1million children in commercial sexual exploitation.</li>
<li>3 million children in forced labour for other forms of labour exploitation.</li>
<li>0.3 million children in forced labour imposed by the state authorities.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Child Labour Figures in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In India, children are working at starvation wages in <strong>textile factories helping with the processing of carpets</strong> and doing backbreaking work in <strong>brick making factories.</strong></li>
<li>They are also employed in <strong>making and selling tobacco products</strong> and are also used for cheap labour in <strong>industries such as steel extraction.</strong></li>
<li><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/childhood-index" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This year, India is at the 113th position out of 176 countries on an index that evaluates countries on the well being of children</a>.</li>
<li>According to the National Census 2011, the total child population in India in the age group of 5-14 years is about 260 million. Of these, about 10 million (about 4%) of the total child population are child labourers working either as the main or marginal workers.</li>
<li>In the age group of 15-18 years, India has around 23 million working children. This means one in eleven children between the ages of five and eighteen years in the country are working.</li>
<li>The 2011 census showed a decline in the incidence of child labour in India by 2.6 million or around 20% between 2001 and 2011. The decline was more visible in rural areas. However, the number of child workers increased in urban areas during this period.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In the year 2001, there were around 11 million child workers in rural areas which came down to about 8 million in the year 2011.</li>
<li>In urban areas, the number of child workers went up from 1.3 million in 2001 to 2 million in 2011.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>This change suggests that child labour is now invisible as the location of work has changed from the factories to the homes of urban dwellers.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Disparities Across India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The year 2011 shows significant disparities across states in terms of number of working children.</li>
<li><strong>5 states, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra account for more than half of the country&rsquo;s total child labour population.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Uttar Pradesh is the biggest hub of child labour accounting for almost 20% of the country&rsquo;s child labourers.</strong></li>
<li>Bihar has about one million child workers, Rajasthan (0.84 million), Madhya Pradesh (0.7 million), Maharashtra (0.72 million).</li>
</ul>
<h3>Concerns</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Child Labour is one of the biggest roadblocks to human rights worldwide. Children around the world are routinely engaged in paid and unpaid forms of work.</li>
<li>In almost all regions of the world, boys and girls are equally likely to be involved in child labour. Gender disparities are observed however in the types of activities carried out with girls far more likely to be involved in domestic work.</li>
<li><strong>Poverty and lack of school</strong> are considered as the main causes of child labour.</li>
<li>Children engaged in work do not go to school and have little or no time to play. Many even do not receive proper nutrition or care essentially being denied the chance to be children.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>About 1.4 million child labourers in India in the age group of 7-14 years cannot write even their names. This means <strong>one in three child labourers in the said age group are illiterate.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The extreme form of child labour that is forced labour, in which children suffer not only the impact of hazardous working conditions but also trauma of the coercion, threats of penalty and lack of freedom.</li>
</ul>
<h3>International Laws on Child Labour</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 :</strong> It contains the idea that children are not just objects who belong to their parents and for whom decisions are made, or adults in training. Rather, they are human beings and individuals with their own rights.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Convention considers that <strong>childhood is separate from adulthood, and lasts until 18;</strong> it is a special, protected time, in which children must be allowed to grow, learn, play, develop and flourish with dignity.</li>
<li>The Convention became the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history and has helped transform children&rsquo;s lives.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>International Labour Organizations Conventions on the minimum age for admission to employment of the yaer 1973 (ILO convention 138) and on the worst forms of child labour of the year 1999 (ILO convention182).</li>
</ul>
<h3>Initiatives by the Government of India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In 1979, the central government formed the first statutory committee to analyse and research on the issue of child labour in India - the <strong>Gurupadswamy committe.</strong> One of their major observations was that the problem of child labour is inextricably linked to poverty.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Taking into account the findings and recommendations of the Gurupadswamy committee, the union government enacted <strong>the child labour (Prohibition and &amp; Regulation) Act in 1986.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Recently, India has ratified International Labour Organizations Convention (ILO) no 138 (minimum age for employment) and convention no 182 (worst forms of child labour).</strong></li>
<li>Another landmark step was the enactment of the <strong>Child labour (Prohibition and Prevention) Amendment Act, 2016.</strong></li>
<li>There are several operations that happen in India like <strong>Operation Smile, Operation Muskaan</strong> wherein there are a lot of raids that happen in unorganised sector, manufacturing units and other factories.</li>
<li>India has a very strong system of dealing with rescued children in terms of <strong>rehabilitating and repatriating</strong> them with the family with certain support to family as well to come out of the poverty trap.</li>
</ul>
<h3>UNICEF&rsquo;s work against Child Labour in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>UNICEF has also been working for long against child labour in India.</li>
<li>Most of its programs in India focus on children in specific types of work, for example cotton production in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, metalwork and carpets in Uttar Pradesh and tea gardens in Assam.</li>
<li>These programmes reach tens of thousands of children and their families in areas with high levels of child labour.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Child Labour Laws in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>According to the <strong>Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>employment of children below the age of 14 years</strong> in any commercial enterprise is illegal. However, it excludes a section of toiling children in the unorganized sectors including agriculture as well as the household work.</li>
<li>The bill also <strong>bars the employment of adolescents in occupations that deals with hazardous working conditions</strong> such as chemical plants and mines.</li>
<li>The act says that <strong>children can only work after school hours or during holidays</strong> and that children are allowed to work in family owned secure sectors.</li>
<li>However, <strong>no child is permitted to work between 7 pm and 8 am.</strong></li>
<li>Children are also <strong>not allowed to work overtime.</strong></li>
<li>An establishment must provide <strong>holiday of one whole day in each week</strong> to every child employed.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>National Policy on Child Labour</strong> (1987), with a focus more on rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations and processes, rather than on prevention.</li>
<li><strong>Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act</strong> 2000 (the JJ Act) and <strong>amendment of the JJ Act</strong> in 2006: includes the working child in the category of children in need of care and protection, without any limitation of age or type of occupation.</li>
<li><strong>The Right to Education Act, 2009</strong> has made it mandatory for the state to ensure that all children aged 6 to 14 years are in school and receive free education. Along with <strong>Article 21A</strong> of the Constitution of India recognizing education as a fundamental right, this constitutes a timely opportunity to use education to combat child labour in India.</li>
<li>According to the <strong>Mines Act of 1952,</strong> employment of children below the age of 18 years is illegal in mines.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Drishti Input: PENCIL Portal</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour (PENCIL) Portal is an electronic platform that aims at involving Centre, State, District, Governments, civil society and the general public in achieving the target of child labour free society.</li>
<li>It has been launched for the effective implementation of <strong>Child Labour Act and National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme.</strong></li>
<li>PENCIL Portal has five components- Child Tracking System, Complaint Corner, State Government, National Child Labour Project and Convergence.</li>
<li>PENCIL portal is administered by theMinistry of Labour &amp; Employment.</li>
<li>Under <strong>National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme</strong>, children in the age group of 9-14 years, rescued/withdrawn from work are enrolled in the NCLP Special Training Centres, where they are provided with bridge education, vocational training, mid day meal, stipend, health care, etc. before being mainstreamed into formal education system.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Experts opine that child labour has become a social norm in the country that is largely accepted and tolerated by the society. This exploitative and abusive practice will continue unless society adopts a zero tolerance attitude towards it.</li>
<li>Right kind of focus and orientation with state level authorities is also needed to avoid this practice.</li>
<li>Convincing families to send their children in schools is not a tough job provided that families are provided with a vision of a better future for their children.</li>
<li>Pre school education should be a priority and also there is a need to reach more and more children to reap the benefits of RTE.</li>
<li>Forced Child Labour requires an urgent action from governmnets and the international communities.</li>
<li>The Government generally focuses on immediate rescue and not on the long term situation or the prevention dimension. The prevention dimension needs to be focussed upon.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Drishti Input:&nbsp;</strong><strong>Social Partners Tackling Child Labour</strong></p>
<p>There are good examples of trade unions and employers&rsquo; organizations playing a key role in the elimination of child labour in the rural sector.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In India for example, in Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, trade unions and their recently organized rural members are implementing the <strong>concept of child labour-free villages</strong> through dialogue with local leaders and employers. Many collective agreements are being concluded targeting child labour.</li>
<li>Similarly, the <strong>Federation of Uganda Employers has set up child labour monitoring committees at the local level,</strong> including in the coffee, tea, rice and sugar sectors.</li>
<li><strong>Collaboration and alliances are also being formed between trade unions and representative organizations of indigenous people,</strong> especially in Latin America. In some countries this has led to the inclusion of indigenous organizations in national committees on the prevention and elimination of child labour.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/world-day-against-child-labour-1'
		],
		(int) 10 => [
			'title' => 'Question of Seed Sovereignty',
			'catname' => 'News Editorials',
			'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>This article is based on <a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/pepsico-case-and-needs-of-seed-research/article27901797.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PepsiCo case, and needs of seed research</a>, that appeared in The Hindu Business Line on 13th June 2019. It talks about the bigger picture of PEPSICO Inc vs farmers controversy(Regarding the violation of patent of FC5: A variety of potato).</p>
</div>
<p>PepsiCo Inc.had filed a lawsuit against Indian potato farmers in Gujarat for <strong>violating patent law.</strong> PepsiCo accused farmers of cultivating a variety of potato called FC5, which is under patent. According to PEPSICO, only it can supply the seed of FC5 variety and only to its contract farmers and buys their produce, no other farmer is supposed to use the seeds without permission of PepsiCo.</p>
<p>After much of a public clamour criticising PepsiCo, it eventually dropped the charges against the farmer but the issue raised a broader question of seed sovereignty and honouring of contract farming.</p>
<h3>What are the implications of PepsiCo vs Farmers issue?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>It highlights 3 fundamental questions:</strong><br />
<ol>
<li><strong>The vulnerability of Indian farmers against big corporate</strong></li>
<li><strong>Poor implementation of contract farming rules</strong></li>
<li><strong>India's intellectual property rights regime.</strong></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>The vulnerability of Indian farmer against big corporate</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In India, farmers mostly are often found in such conflicts with corporate, because:<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Most farmers are below or marginally above poverty and uneducated. So they are simply not aware of the laws pertaining to the complex matter like a patent.</li>
<li>Farmers follow certain practices like saving and resowing of seeds, exchange of seeds and sourcing of seeds from the market.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Apart from that, farming in India is not very profitable due to lack of reach and infrastructure, this makes farmers subject to such harassment at the hands of corporate.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Poor implementation of contract farming rules.</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Contract farming in India many times results in dishonouring of contract.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Reasons for such dishonouring:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Lack of institutional mechanism for dispute redressal on matters of quality and other terms of the contract.</li>
<li>Uneducated farmers.</li>
<li>No uniform policy for contract farming</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>The role of APMCs:</strong> Designated as an authority for registration and dispute settlement in most states, the APMCs themselves are marred by corruption and administrative inefficiencies, this jeopardizes the contract enforcement.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>What is Contract Farming?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Contract farming is an agricultural product that can be carried out based on a pre-harvest agreement between a food processing unit or exporter and farmers or farmer organisations.</li>
<li>Contract farming provides a win-win situation for both farmers and corporate<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Farmer: It assures them of price guarantee irrespective of market volatility.</li>
<li>Corporate: It assures them of quality produce.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>In India contract farming formalized by &lsquo;<strong>Model Agriculture Produce Marketing Act 2003</strong>', but since agriculture is a state list subject, therefore contract farming is not uniform.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>What are the advantages of contract farming?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Contract farming addresses the problem of low investment in agriculture and ensures a supply of quality inputs, technical guidance and management support for farmers.</li>
<li>It provides an assured market and a pre-agreed sale price for produce, makes it easier for farmers to access cheaper institutional credit.</li>
<li>MSP's in India are not backed by assured government procurement, and thus price volatility is not checked. So when market prices fall below MSP, contract farming can be instrumental in securing incomes for farmers.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>India's intellectual property rights regime.</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>According to <strong>Seeds act 1968:</strong> Seeds are outside the ambit of IPR, it is Sui-generis right of the farmer.</li>
<li><strong>According to the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001(PPVFR Act)</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>Section 39 of the Act</strong> allows farmers to save, use, sow, re-sow, exchange, share and even sell farm produce including seed of a protected variety. But when it is sold, it cannot be packaged and branded as such.</li>
<li>The <strong>Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers&rsquo; Rights (PPV&amp;FR) Act</strong> allows protection of plant varieties for some years if they are found to be distinct, uniform and stable.</li>
<li>Thereby the PPVFR Act seeks to protect the rights of farmers and communities using plant varieties with desirable traits, which they have conserved over the years.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>India is the only country which has provided for the farmers to use, multiply, share informally or sell formally any protected variety, as long as they do not brand it and sell it. But these laws are compliant with WTO's TRIPS( Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights)</li>
<li>But the major issue is farmer doesn't even know what is IPR.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Research is the key to progress. Climate change, new pests and diseases, abiotic stresses, changing food baskets of people, increasing incomes and similar factors require the development of new varieties as the older ones do not meet the new demands.</li>
<li>Educate farmers through Promotion of agricultural extension services like Kisan Call Centres, Kisan Vigyan Kendras.</li>
<li>Promote Farmer Producer Organizations</li>
<li>Encourage states to adopt the Model Contract Farming Act, 2018.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Act takes contract farming out of the ambit of Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs).</li>
<li>It proposes to set up the alternate dispute redressal mechanism.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Litigation must be taken as the last resort to settle the dispute</li>
<li>No one, including farmers, should be allowed to break contractual obligations. Contract farming enables value-added agriculture, which brings better quality products to the consumer and better price realization to the farmer depends on contract farming.</li>
<li>Contract farming must mandatorily incorporate the provision of crop insurance to protect the farmer.</li>
</ul>
<p>Though Indian government is under pressure from global trade regime to enforce strict IPR regime but a strict IPR policy is not advisable in Indian Agriculture since India is an agrarian economy and a strong IPR will lead to creating a monopoly of a certain company in some commodity(like case of Monsanto in Bt cotton), which will certainly not be in India's national interest.</p>
<p>PepsiCo case is an opportunity for our courts to interpret the PPV&amp;FR Act and our Contract Act and give a direction which could set the tone for our future of contract farming with proprietary varieties</p>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 523.636px; border-color: #fccfcf; background-color: #f5cbcb;">
<p><em><strong>Drishti input:</strong></em></p>
<p>Indian farmers face the double whammy of IPR on one hand, and dishonouring of contract on the other hand, against the big corporates, despite favourable legislation. Comment.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p></p>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/question-of-seed-sovereignty'
		],
		(int) 11 => [
			'title' => ' Internet Trends Report: 2019',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p><strong>Mary Meeker&rsquo;s</strong> (US, based global technology investment firms owner) annual report, on<strong> &ldquo;Internet Trends 2019&rdquo;</strong> has placed India just next to China in terms of the <strong>active Internet user base</strong>.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Top three countries in terms of the Internet user base are<strong> China (21%), India (12%) and the USA (8%)</strong>.<a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/390image3.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/390image3.jpg" width="392" height="397" style="float: right;" caption="false" /></a></li>
<li>India's internet growth has largely been driven by telecom operator <strong>Reliance Jio</strong>, which Meeker pointed out, had grown double in a year reaching 307 million subscribers.</li>
<li>In terms of internet regulations, India is moderately regulated.</li>
<li>More than 50% of the world&rsquo;s population has access to the internet, and 53% of the world&rsquo;s internet users are located in the <strong>Asia-Pacific region.</strong></li>
<li>Digital payments now account for 59% of everyday transactions across the world.</li>
<li>55% of internet users live in a country where political, social, or religious content is censored or blocked.</li>
<li><strong>Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter</strong> continue to be the biggest sources for news.</li>
<li><strong>Media consumption on mobile devices (33%)</strong> almost equal that of time spent on TV (34%).</li>
<li><strong>Removing offensive and violent content</strong> from platforms would be a continuous challenge and social media would lead to increased political polarisation and divisiveness.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/internet-trends-report-2019'
		],
		(int) 12 => [
			'title' => 'The Financial Action Task Force',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The Financial Action Task Force<strong> (FATF)</strong> will hold its <strong>Plenary meeting in Orlando, Florida</strong> from <strong>16th-21st June</strong> wherein it could take up a <strong>proposal to downgrade Pakistan to the blacklist</strong> on terrorist financing <strong>from its current greylisted status</strong>.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The FATF is an <strong>inter-governmental body</strong> that works to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.</li>
<li><strong>A country is put on the grey list</strong> when it fails to curb terrorism financing and money laundering.</li>
<li><strong>Putting a country on the blacklist</strong> means shutting all doors to international finance for that country.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Pakistan&rsquo;s status</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Pakistan</strong> has been under the FATF&rsquo;s scanner since <strong>June, 2018</strong>, when it was put on the<strong> greylist</strong> for terror financing and money laundering risks, after an assessment of its financial system and law enforcement mechanisms.</li>
<li>In June 2018, Pakistan gave a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and the <strong>Asia Pacific Group (APG)</strong> to strengthen its anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Based on this commitment, Pakistan and the FATF agreed on the monitoring of 27 indicators under a 10-point action plan, with deadlines.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Successful implementation</strong> of the action plan and its physical verification by the APG <strong>will move Pakistan out of the greylist</strong>; <strong>failure</strong> by Pakistan will result in its blacklisting by September 2019.</li>
<li><strong>FATF</strong> <strong>wants to see effective implementation</strong> of targeted financial sanctions against all terrorists designated under <strong>UN Security Council Resolutions 1267 and 1373.</strong></li>
<li>The Joint Group of the APG has recently informed Pakistan that<strong> the country&rsquo;s compliance on 18 of the 27 indicators is unsatisfactory</strong>, though the FATF has agreed that there have been improvements in the AML/CFT regime and the integrated database for currency declaration arrangements.</li>
<li><strong>At least three votes (out of 36) would be needed to block a move to blacklist Pakistan</strong>. Pakistan may make a diplomatic push to thwart blacklisting.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Impact of being blacklisted</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Pakistan&rsquo;s $6 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) could be threatened.</li>
<li>Pakistan faces an estimated <strong>annual loss of $10 billion if it stays in the greylist</strong>; <strong>if blacklisted</strong>, its already fragile economy will dealt with <strong>a powerful blow.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>India&rsquo;s Role</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>India is a voting member of the FATF and APG, and co-chair of the Joint Group.</strong></li>
<li>India was not part of the group that moved the resolution to greylist Pakistan in 2018 in Paris. The movers were the US, UK, France, and Germany and China did not oppose.</li>
<li><strong>As of now, India is pushing for Pakistan to be blacklisted.</strong></li>
<li>There is also an opinion that by keeping Pakistan in the grey list one can continue to pressure the country as well as scrutinise its actions.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Asia Pacific Group</strong><br />The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering is an <strong>inter-governmental organisation,</strong> consisting of 41 member jurisdictions, focused on ensuring that its members effectively implement the international standards against money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing related to weapons of mass destruction.</p>
<p><strong>UN Security Council Resolutions 1267 and 1373</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The UNSC resolution 1267</strong> was adopted unanimously on October 15, 1999. It is a consolidated list of people and entities that UN has determined as being associated with Al Qaeda or the Taliban, and laws which must be passed within each member nation to implement the sanctions.</li>
<li><strong>The UNSC Resolution 1373</strong> was adopted on 28th September, 2001. It declares international terrorism a threat to international peace and security and imposes binding obligations on all UN member states.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/the-financial-action-task-force'
		],
		(int) 13 => [
			'title' => 'Color Morphs of Wild Cat',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>Indian scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), an international conservation charity, and University College London (UCL) have discovered <strong>six color morphs</strong> of the golden cat in <strong>Dibang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Six color morphs include <strong>tightly-rosetted,cinnamon, melanistic, gray, golden, and ocelot types.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Color morphs<a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/541image1.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/541image1.jpg" width="412" height="178" style="float: right;" caption="false" /></a></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Colour morphs are basically occurrence of <strong>two or more discrete colour forms</strong> of the animal within a population. for example- Black panther is a color morph of the common leopard.</li>
<li>Colour morphs are thought to arise from <strong>random genetic mutations</strong> and take hold in the population through <strong>natural selection</strong>.</li>
<li>Dibang Valley hosts the <strong>world&rsquo;s most diverse range</strong> of colour morphs of a wild cat species ever reported in one site.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Significance&nbsp;</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Understanding the <strong>evolutionary theory of color morphs</strong> could help scientists to understand how quickly species can <strong>adapt and evolve</strong> to changing environments.</li>
<li>This would help scientists to gain better insight into the <strong>resilience capacity of the species to climate change or habitat degradation and destruction</strong>, which is also the reason for decreasing population of these species.</li>
<li>Color Morphs could help in <strong>conservation of Asiatic Golden Cats</strong>, as it provides <strong>Ecological Benefits</strong> to cats like:<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>occupying <strong>different habitats</strong> at different elevations from wet tropical lowland forests to alpine scrubs .</li>
<li>Providing <strong>camouflage</strong> while preying on pheasants and rabbits.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Asiatic Golden Cat</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Asiatic Golden Cat is a medium-sized wild cat native to<strong> north-eastern Indian</strong> subcontinent</li>
<li>The <strong>Asiatic golden cat</strong> (Catopuma temminckii) is listed as <strong>near threatened</strong> on the International Union for Conservation of Nature&rsquo;s Red List of threatened species.</li>
<li>Asiatic cats are mentioned in <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/wild-life-protection-act-implementation-and-failure" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wildlife protection Act&rsquo;s</a> schedule 1.</li>
<li>Wild cats are also included in Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES) appendix 1</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Dibang Valley</strong>&nbsp;</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Dibang Valley District is located in the North-Easternmost corner of Arunachal Pradesh.</li>
<li>Largest district of Arunachal Pradesh with the lowest density of population in India.</li>
<li>India&rsquo;s first &lsquo;snow tigers&rsquo; were spotted in upper reaches of Dibang Valley.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/color-morphs-of-wild-cat'
		],
		(int) 14 => [
			'title' => 'Hongkong Protest',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>Massive protests in Hongkong has erupted against a government plan to allow extradition to mainland China.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The mass demonstration was one of the largest in the city&rsquo;s history and a stunning display of rising fear and anger over the erosion of civil liberties.</li>
<li>The protest recalled the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement five years ago.<a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/485image2.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/485image2.jpg" width="346" height="505" style="float: right;" caption="false" /></a></li>
</ul>
<h3>About Hongkong</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Hongkong is situated on the southeast coast of China, Hong Kong&rsquo;s strategic location on the<strong> Pearl River Delta and the South China Sea</strong> has made it one of the world&rsquo;s most thriving and cosmopolitan cities.</li>
<li>Hong Kong as we know it today was born when China&rsquo;s <strong>Qing dynasty</strong> government was defeated in the First Opium War in 1842. It ceded Hong Kong Island to<strong> Britain</strong>. Hong was under the control of the British empire until 1997. The Sino-British declaration under the principle of <strong>'One Country, Two Systems'</strong>, Hong Kong became a <strong>Special Administrative Region(SAR)</strong> of the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997.</li>
<li>This arrangement allows the city to enjoy a high degree of autonomy, including retaining its capitalist system, independent judiciary and rule of law, free trade and freedom of speech.</li>
<li>The interference of the communist regime of China in the internal affairs of Hongkong and its oppressive policies have led to various pro-democracy protests for autonomy in recent times.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/hongkong-protest'
		],
		(int) 15 => [
			'title' => ' Rare Easterly Winds over the Indian Ocean',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Climate Prediction Centre of the US National Weather Service has said that <strong>unusually warm waters in the Arabian Sea</strong> have set up a <strong>rare band of easterly winds</strong> over the Indian Ocean, which has significantly<strong> delayed the monsoon</strong> onset over the Kerala coast.</li>
<li>The number of factors has led to a dry spell in India, which is likely to continue throughout June.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/madden-julian-oscillation-mjo" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO)</strong></a>: Its location and strength may play an important role in the development of monsoon over India during the next several weeks.</li>
<li><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/cyclone-vayu" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Cyclone &lsquo;Vayu&rsquo;</strong></a>: It took advantage of an MJO wave traversing the West Indian Ocean and adjoining South Arabian Sea.</li>
<li><strong>Storm initiation</strong>: Over the East Indian Ocean and adjoining Bay of Bengal have led to <strong>oceanic circulation</strong> over North-East and adjoining East-Central Bay.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Madden-Julian Oscillation</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is an oceanic-atmospheric phenomenon which affects weather activities across the globe. It brings major fluctuation in tropical weather on weekly to monthly timescales.</li>
<li>The MJO can be defined as an eastward moving 'pulse' of clouds, rainfall, winds and pressure near the equator that typically recurs every 30 to 60 days.</li>
<li>It&rsquo;s a traversing phenomenon and is most prominent over the Indian and Pacific Oceans</li>
</ul>
</div>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/rare-easterly-winds-over-the-indian-ocean'
		],
		(int) 16 => [
			'title' => 'Unapproved Sowing of Genetically Modified Crops',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has sought a detailed report on the sowing of unapproved Genetically Modified (GM) Cotton and Brinjal in Maharashtra.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Organised by the farmer&rsquo;s union Shetkari Sanghtana, more than 1,000 farmers had publicly sown unapproved transgenic cotton and brinjal in Akola district of Maharashtra demanding introduction of Herbicide Tolerant (Ht) Bt cotton and Bt brinjal.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The farmers termed it as the &lsquo;civil disobedience&rsquo; movement to protest central government&rsquo;s indecisiveness in approving the next generation of Genetically Modified (GM) cotton.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/743image5.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/743image5.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" caption="false" width="611" height="393" /></a></p>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In India, the introduction of GM seeds requires approval of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), a body under theMoEFCC.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Till date (2019), commercial release is granted for Bt cotton, but similar approvals for Bt mustard and Bt brinjal are awaited.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>In case of cotton, the first two generations of Bt have seen the introduction of &lsquo;Cry1Ab&rsquo; and &lsquo;Cry2Bc&rsquo; genes from the soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), into the cotton seed.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>This makes the crop resistant to the attack of pink bollworm.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The third generation, i.e. herbicide tolerant Bt (HtBt) cotton variety saw the addition of &lsquo;Cp4-Epsps&rsquo; gene from another soil bacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which produces a modified protein that allows the plant to withstand herbicide glyphosate.<a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/256image4.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/256image4.jpg" width="519" height="346" style="float: right;" caption="false" /></a>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Farmers are not able to spray glyphosate on normal cotton because the chemical does not distinguish between the crop and weed, but the herbicide tolerant Bt (HtBt) cotton remains unaffected by glyphosate.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Like the first two hybrids, Ht Bt has also been developed by the US giant Bayer Monsanto.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The company had submitted a proposal to GEAC for approval in 2013. However, the proposal was later withdrawn by the company because of various regulatory issues with the government.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>While Ht Bt is not approved for commercial release, farmers in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have been surreptitiously planting the crop using smuggled seeds.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>According to estimates by the Commissioner of Agriculture, Maharashtra, as much as 15% of the 40 lakh hectares of the state had come under this unapproved hybrid.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Earlier, <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/illegal-cultivation-of-bt-brinjal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">there have been complaints from Coalition for GM Free India</a> regarding suspected open cultivation of Ht Bt cotton and Bt brinjal in Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/unapproved-sowing-of-genetically-modified-crops'
		],
		(int) 17 => [
			'title' => 'Indigenisation of Defence',
			'catname' => 'Paper 3',
			'desc' => '<h3>What is Indigenisation of Defence?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indigenisation is the capability of <strong>developing</strong> and <strong>producing</strong> any defence equipment within the country for the dual purpose of achieving <strong>self reliance</strong> and reducing the <strong>burden of imports</strong>.</li>
<li>Self-reliance in defence manufacturing is one of the key objectives of <strong>Department of Defence Production</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), Ordnance Factory Board (OFB)</strong> and private organisations are playing a critical role in indigenisation of defence industries.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Overdependence on the Soviet Union, brought about a change in India&rsquo;s approach to <strong>defence industrialisation</strong> from <strong>licence based production</strong> to production based on <strong>indigenous design</strong>.</li>
<li>From the mid-1980s, the government pumped resources into <strong>R&amp;D</strong> to enable the DRDO to undertake high profile projects.</li>
<li>A significant beginning in defence indigenisation was made in 1983,when the government sanctioned the <strong>Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP)</strong> to develop five missile systems: <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Prithvi</strong> (surface-to-surface)</li>
<li><strong>Akash</strong> (surface-to-air)</li>
<li><strong>Trishul</strong> (the naval version of Prithvi)</li>
<li><strong>Nag</strong> (anti-tank)</li>
<li><strong>Agni</strong>&nbsp;Ballistic missiles with different ranges, i.e. Agni (1,2,3,4,5)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>In 1990 <strong>Self Reliance Review Committee</strong> (SRRV) under A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, had formulated a <strong>10-year self-reliance plan</strong> under which, the <strong>self-reliance index (SRI)</strong>, (defined as the percentage share of indigenous content in total procurement expenditure), was to be increased from 30% in 1992-1993 to 70 % by 2005.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>This target has not been achieved till today.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The indigenous efforts were not adequate to meet the requirements of the armed forces, this resulted in the shift of focus towards <strong>co-development</strong> and <strong>co-production</strong> in partnership with foreign companies.</li>
<li>A beginning was made in 1998, when India and Russia signed an <strong>inter-governmental agreement</strong> to jointly produce <strong>Brahmos supersonic cruise missile</strong>.</li>
<li>Apart from Russia, India has also partnered with other countries such as <strong>Israel and France</strong> for a number of projects.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why Indigenisation?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Reducing Fiscal Deficit:</strong> India is the second <strong>largest arms importer</strong> in the world (after Saudi Arabia).<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Higher import dependency leads to increase in the fiscal deficit.</li>
<li>Despite having the <strong>fifth largest defence budget</strong> in the world, India procures 60% of its weapon systems from foreign markets.</li>
<li>India can export its indegeneous defence technology and equipment to the neighbouring nations.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Security Imperative:</strong> Indigenisation in defence is critical to <strong>national security</strong> also. It keeps intact the technological expertise and encourages spin-off technologies and innovation that often stem from it. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Indigenisation is needed in order to avert the threats associated with the frequent <strong>ceasefire violations</strong> like that of the Uri, Pathankot and Pulwama attacks.</li>
<li>India being surrounded by <strong>porous borders and hostile neighbours</strong> needs to be self sufficient and self reliant in defence production.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Employment generation:</strong> defence manufacturing will lead to the generation of satellites industries that in turn will pave the way for generation of employment opportunities.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>As per government estimates, a reduction in <strong>20-25%</strong> in defence related imports could directly create an additional 100,000 to 120,000 <strong>highly skilled jobs</strong> in India.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Strategic Capability:</strong> self sufficient and self reliant defence industry will place India among the <strong>top global powers</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>Nationalism and Patriotism</strong> can increase with indegenious production of defence equipment, that in turn will not only boost the <strong>trust and confidence</strong> of the Indian forces but will also strengthen a sense of <strong>integrity and sovereignty</strong> in them.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Government Initiatives</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Defence Procurement Policy:</strong> based on the recommendations of the <strong>Dhirendra Singh committee,</strong> Defence Procurement Procedure 2016 (replaced DPP 2013) added an additional category <strong>&ldquo;Buy (Indian-IDDM)&rdquo;</strong> i.e Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured, as the most preferred way of defence goods acquisition. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>DPP allowed the <strong>Defence Acquisition Council</strong> to take a <strong>"fast-track"</strong> route to acquire weapons, something which was limited to only the armed forces till now.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>E-Biz Portal:</strong> process of applying for Industrial License (IL) and Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum (IEM) has been made completely online on ebiz portal.</li>
<li><strong>Restriction of annual capacity</strong> in the industrial license for defence sector has been removed.</li>
<li><strong>Outsourcing and Vendor Development Guidelines:</strong> for DPSUs (defence public sector undertaking) and OFB (ordnance factory board) to promote the participation of private sector, particularly SMEs (small manufacturing enterprises) for defence manufacturing.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The guidelines mandate that each DPSU and OFB to have a <strong>short-term</strong> and <strong>long-term outsourcing</strong> and <strong>vendor development plan</strong> to gradually increase the outsourcing from private sector including SMEs.</li>
<li>The guidelines also include vendor development for <strong>import substitution</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Uniform custom duty:</strong> In order to establish a <strong>level-playing field</strong> between Indian <strong>private sector and the public sector,</strong> all Indian industries (public and private) are subjected to the same kind of <strong>excise and custom duty levies</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>The FDI policy:</strong> composite foreign investment upto <strong>49%</strong> is allowed through Government route (FIPB) and beyond 49% with the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on case-to-case basis.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Restrictions such as <strong>single largest Indian shareholder</strong> to hold at least <strong>51% equity</strong> and complete restriction on <strong>Foreign Institutional Investor (FII)</strong> have been removed to facilitate investment in the sector.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Preference to <strong>'Buy (Indian)'</strong>, <strong>'Buy &amp; Make (Indian)'</strong> &amp; <strong>'Make'</strong> categories of acquisition over <strong>'Buy (Global)'</strong> category, thereby giving preference to Indian industry in procurement.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Present Scenario</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>INS Vikrant,</strong> also known as Indigenous Aircraft Carrier 1 (IAC-1), is the first aircraft carrier to be built in India for the Navy.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It is expected to commence <strong>sea trials in 2020</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Tejas aircraft:</strong> DRDO is not able to develop its indigenous Kaveri engine due to restricted access to high-end defence technology by countries such as USA, JAPAN etc.</li>
<li><strong>Project75:</strong> Indian Navy in 2017, initiated submarine programme called Project-75 (India), the<strong> "mother of all underwater defence deals"</strong> with France, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Spain and Japan to build six advanced stealth submarines.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Project 75 Submarines <strong>INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Vela, S53, S54 and S55</strong> are constructed by Mazagon Dock Limited and designed by French company DCNS in Mumbai.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Long-range artillery gun "Dhanush":</strong> first indigenous long-range artillery gun also called the <strong>"desi Bofors"</strong>.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It has a strike range of 38 kilometres and <strong>81% of its components</strong> are indigenously sourced.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Arihant: first indigenous nuclear submarine</strong> was developed in association with BARC and DRDO. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>But due to insufficient fuel inventor it cannot go for long deployment and is in a need for further improvement.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>AGNI V</strong> has given India the status of ICBM (Intercontinental ballistic missile) holder country in 2013, though the project on integrated guided missile development was started in 1983. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Apart from <strong>AGNI V</strong>, Dhanush, Nirbhaya, Prithvi, Akash missiles have also contributed to indigenisation of defence.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>The Pinaka Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher:</strong> was developed by armament Research Development Establishment (Pune).<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Pinaka is a precision system with <strong>near zero-error probability</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Supersonic Cruise Missile BRAHMOS:</strong> is a Joint Venture between India and the Russian federation. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Indian contribution is 50.5% and the Russian contribution is 49.5%</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Arjun Tank</strong> is a third generation main battle tank developed by DRDO.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>DRDO is working on using composites to reduce the weight.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Facts and Findings</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), <strong>India was the world&rsquo;s second largest importer</strong> of major arms in 2014-18 and accounted for 9.5% of the global total.</li>
<li>According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India's military expenditure rose by 3.1%.</li>
<li>In a <strong>2011 report</strong> to the Parliament, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&amp;AG) highlighted the 90% import dependency of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for &lsquo;raw materials and bought out items&rsquo; for the production of indigenous .</li>
<li>India has been spending around <strong>2.4% of its GDP</strong> on defence.</li>
<li>The <strong>Self-Reliance Index</strong> (SRI) which may be defined as the ratio of indigenous content of defence procurements to the total expenditure on defence procurements in a financial year is at an abysmal 0.3.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Challenges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Lack of an institutional capacity and capability</strong> to take different policies aimed at indigenisation of defence to its logical conclusion.</li>
<li><strong>Dispute Settlement body:</strong> There is an urgent need for a <strong>permanent arbitration committee</strong> which can settle disputes expeditiously.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In the USA, the procurement agency DARPA has a permanent arbitration committee which resolves such issues amicably and their decision is final.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Infrastructural deficit</strong> increases India's logistics costs thus reducing the country's cost competitiveness and efficiency.</li>
<li><strong>Land acquisition issues</strong> restrict entry of new players in the defence manufacturing and production.</li>
<li><strong>Policy dilemma</strong> offset requirements under the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/a-flawed-defence-procurement-policy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DPP</a> are not helping it achieve its goal. (Offsets are a portion of a contracted price with a foreign supplier that must be re-invested in the Indian defence sector, or against which the government can purchase technology.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<p>To ensure indigenisation of defence the government no doubt is heading in the right direction by laying emphasis on <strong>"Make in India"</strong>. It is the implementation that needs to be fine tuned. Some of the steps that can be taken in this direction are:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Permanent Arbitration Cell</strong> can be set up to deal with all objections and disputes.</li>
<li><strong>Private Sector boost</strong> is necessary as it can infuse efficient and effective technology and human capital required for modernisation of indegenious defence industry.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The private sector must be allotted big ticket contracts in order to strengthen their confidence and reduce the <strong>trust deficit between private and government sector</strong>.</li>
<li>Ensure a <strong>level playing field</strong> for the private industry, DRDO, DPSUs and OFB.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Export capability:</strong> If the aim is to achieve export capability, then the weapon system must first be in service with our armed forces.</li>
<li><strong>Software Industry</strong> and technologies like <strong>Artificial intelligence and cyber security</strong> should be used to develop and manufacture the &ldquo;chip&rdquo; indigenously.</li>
<li><strong>Providing Financial and Administrative autonomy</strong> to DRDO in order to enhance its confidence and authority.</li>
<li><strong>Training and Tenure:</strong> The staff at the <strong>Department of Defence Production</strong> need to be trained and given longer tenures to ensure continuity.</li>
<li><strong>Investee Company</strong> should be structured to be <strong>self-sufficient in areas of product design and development</strong>. The investee/joint venture company along with manufacturing facility should have maintenance and life cycle support facility of the product being manufactured.</li>
<li><strong>In⎯house design capability should be improved</strong> amongst the three services, the Navy has progressed well on the path of indigenisation primarily because of the in⎯house design capability, the Naval Design Bureau. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Hence, they do not have to depend on the DRDO for the design &amp; development of the complete ship, but outsource the sub⎯systems for them to develop.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Robust supply chain</strong> is critical for a defence manufacturer looking to optimize costs. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Indian SMEs are playing a key role in the global supply chain of OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer).</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/paper3/indigenisation-of-defence'
		],
		(int) 18 => [
			'title' => 'India’s Balancing with SCO',
			'catname' => 'News Editorials',
			'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>This article is based on the editorial <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/navigations-in-bishkek/article27890377.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&ldquo;Navigations in Bishkek&rdquo;</a> which appeared in The Hindu on 13th June 2019. It talks about, challenges and opportunities present to India in its engagement with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.</p>
</div>
<p>The Prime Minister of India will be in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan for 19th <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-international-institution/important-international-institutions-shanghai-cooperation-organisation-sco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit</a>.</p>
<p>At SCO, India will have to <strong>balance between contradictory imperatives as regional aspirations of Central Asian countries contradict with India&rsquo;s goals:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India has to act as a willing partner of regional cooperation that is led by China and Russia while assuring that India doesn't reflect its increasing strategic convergence with the USA.</li>
<li>Also, engagement with SCO is like a paradox for India as India wants to fight against terrorism through a body that includes states that pose the biggest threats to Indian security i.e. Pakistan.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>What is SCO?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), or Shanghai Pact is a Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance, it's creation was announced on June 15, 2001, in Shanghai, China.</li>
<li>It's member countries China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan (India and Pakistan joined SCO as full members on 9 June 2017 at SCO's Astana summit, Kazakhstan.)</li>
<li>The SCO is widely regarded as the <strong>"Alliance of the East"</strong>, due to its growing centrality in Asia-Pacific, and has been the primary security pillar of the region.</li>
<li>It is the largest regional organisation in the world in terms of geographical coverage and population, covering three-fifths of the Eurasian continent and nearly half of the human population.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>How regional aspirations of Central Asian countries contradict with India&rsquo;s goals?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Russia and Central Asian countries are likely to express <strong>&ldquo;broad support&rdquo; for China</strong> in the wake of trade war against U.S. India is equally concerned about this trade war, but is in a dilemma in view of openly slamming U.S. protectionism.</li>
<li>It is also notable that all SCO members, barring India, are enthusiastic <strong>supporters of <a href="/to-the-points/Paper2/obor-cpec" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)</a>.</strong></li>
<li>Also, the other agenda of the summit would be to sell the <strong>Gwadar Port and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)</strong> as a potential passage to landlocked Central Asian states. But CPEC passes through territory over which India claims its sovereignty.</li>
<li><strong>Terrorism</strong> is likely to be approached from the angle of improving the situation in Afghanistan and not necessarily of curbing the terrorist elements emanating from Pakistan.</li>
<li>Also through <strong>BRI and SCO</strong>, China will be successful in uniting Eurasia to challenge a united Europe. This scenario will prompt China and Russia to enter into a new era of global strategic partnership. This might not be in India's strategic interest.</li>
</ul>
<h3>What are opportunities for India in the context of SCO?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>China:</strong> Prime Minister Narendra Modi&rsquo;s meeting with President Xi on the sidelines of the summit will be critical.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>As this meeting comes after China&rsquo;s decision to withdraw its technical hold on the <strong>listing of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar</strong> as a global terrorist at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)</li>
<li>Also, the key concern for the two leaders is the <strong>impact of the U.S.-China trade</strong> war.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Russia:</strong> PM Modi meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin is very important to save the <strong>S-400 Triumf anti-missile defence deal</strong> against USA's threat to act under CAATSA <strong>(Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act)</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Also, India and Russia have an ambitious economic agenda drawn up for 2019, also Russia has invited PM Modi to be the chief guest at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in September.</li>
<li>India can explore Russia&rsquo;s Far East region not just for developing economic cooperation but also for exploring the prospects of transferring skilled labourers to offset Chinese demographic threats in the region.</li>
<li>Russia is also keen that India joins the Arctic: Territory of Dialogue Forum.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>What is CAATSA?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Countering America&rsquo;s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) is a legislation introduced in the United States that aims to counter anti-US aggression displayed by countries like Iran, North Korea and Russia through a series of punitive measures.</li>
<li>Among the provisions of CAATSA are secondary sanctions on countries that are found to be dealing with the Russian defence and intelligence sectors.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>What is S-400 Triumf?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>S-400 Triumf is one of the world&rsquo;s most advanced air defence systems that can simultaneously track numerous incoming objects &mdash; all kinds of aircraft, missiles and UAVs &mdash; in a radius of a few hundred kilometres and launch appropriate missiles to neutralise them.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Pakistan:</strong> It would be a first formal meeting of Pakistan's new PM Imran Khan and India's PM. Already new Pakistani PM has demonstrated that he wants better relations with India and is ready to talk on all the issues.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Clearly, this may give diplomacy a chance at the margins of the SCO meet for restarting of talks between India and Pakistan.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Multilateral cooperation:</strong> India seems committed to working with the SCO to develop a &lsquo;cooperative and sustainable security&rsquo; framework, to make the <strong>Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure</strong> more effective, and participate in efforts to bring about <strong>stability in Afghanistan</strong>.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Central asian countries back India&rsquo;s proposal for a <strong>Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.</strong></li>
<li>Also, the SCO is relevant for India to garner <strong>support for reforms of the UNSC</strong> to make the latter more representative and effective. India has been lending support to the member countries&rsquo; candidatures for non-permanent membership of the UNSC for a long time.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>SCO is a potential platform to <strong>advance India&rsquo;s Connect Central Asia policy.</strong> However, there are some constraints with India's engagement with the region, for example:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India&rsquo;s bilateral trade with Central Asia stands at about $2 billion and with Russia about $10 billion in 2017. In contrast, China&rsquo;s trade with Russia has crossed $100 billion in 2018 while the bilateral figures for Central Asia stand at over $50 billion.</li>
<li>The lack of connectivity has also hampered the development of energy ties between the hydrocarbon-rich region and India.</li>
</ul>
<p>In this situation, India will have to clearly identify and promote its interests to enhance its presence in the Eurasian region for this accelerating progress on the International North-South Transport Corridor, the Chabahar Port, the Ashgabat Agreement and the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway should be very much on the cards.</p>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 1195.45px; background-color: #c2eff2;">
<p><em><strong>Drishti input:</strong></em><br /><br />Analyse how SCO as a regional organisation presents both challenges and opportunity for India. Also, discuss the measures that India must take for strategic balancing with respect to SCO?</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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		(int) 19 => [
			'title' => 'People's Ingestion Of Plastic',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p><strong>The World Wide Fund for Nature&rsquo;s</strong> (WWF) study has revealed that people worldwide could be ingesting five grams of microscopic <a href="/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/the-big-picture-world-environment-day-identify-the-dangers-of-the-plastic-era" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plastic particles</a> every week, which is equivalent to the weight of a credit card.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Microplastics</strong> are plastic particles measuring 5mm in size or smaller.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Findings<a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/130image3.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/130image3.jpg" width="463" height="337" style="float: right;" caption="false" /></a></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Sources of plastic ingestion:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Drinking water:</strong> is one of the largest sources of plastic ingestion(with plastic particles found in bottled, tap, surface and groundwater).</li>
<li><strong>Shellfish:</strong> account for as much as 0.5g a week.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Inhalation</strong> represented a negligible proportion of microplastics entering the human body.</li>
<li><strong>Indoor air</strong> because of its <strong>limited circulation</strong> is more heavily polluted with plastic than the outdoors. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Major sources of <strong>Indoor airborne microplastics</strong> are synthetic textiles and household dust.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Burden of Plastic</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In the last two decades, the world has produced as much plastic as during the rest of history, and the industry is set to <strong>grow by 4%</strong> a year until 2025.</li>
<li><strong>Ocean</strong> will contain <strong>one metric tonne</strong> of plastic for every three metric tonnes of fish by <strong>2025.</strong></li>
<li>About one-third of waste plastics are dumped or <strong>leaches into nature, polluting land, rivers and the sea.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Plastic pollution and Wildlife</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Animals get entangled in large <strong>plastic debris,</strong> leading to<strong> injury or death.</strong></li>
<li>Animals also ingest large quantities of plastic that they cannot pass through their digestive systems, resulting in <strong>internal abrasion, digestive blockage, and death.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Toxins</strong> from ingested plastic also harm breeding and impair the immune system of animals.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Curbing Plastic Pollution</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Political and economic actions</strong> to reduce the amount of plastic being disposed of into the environment.</li>
<li><strong>Minimize the use</strong> of plastics and <strong>encourage recycling</strong> of plastics instead of taking stringent acts of total ban or zero plastic.</li>
<li><strong>Legally binding agreement</strong> to combat marine plastic pollution - it should be a stand-alone treaty like the Montreal Protocol or the Paris Agreement.</li>
<li><strong>Binding national commitments</strong> and protocols for restricting commercial and household use of plastics.</li>
</ul>',
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	(int) 0 => [
		'title' => 'G20 and Marine Plastic Waste',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-international-institution/important-institution-upsc-ias-g20-significance-global-groupings-member-challenges-buenos-aires-gs-mains-paper-ii-2-international-relations" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Group of 20 (G20)</strong></a> environment ministers, on 15<sup>th</sup> June, 2019, <strong>agreed</strong> to adopt a <strong>new implementation framework</strong> for actions to tackle the issue of <a href="/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/in-depth-biodiversity-warning-bells" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>marine plastic waste</strong></a> on a global scale.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>environment and the energy ministers</strong> of the G20 major economies <strong>met in Karuizawa</strong>, northwest of Tokyo, <strong>ahead of the G20 summit in Osaka</strong>, Japan on 28th-29th June, 2019.</li>
<li>The new framework is aimed at <strong>facilitating further concrete action</strong> on marine waste, though on a voluntary basis, <strong>after</strong> the G20 Hamburg Summit in Germany adopted the <strong>G20 Action Plan on Marine Litter</strong> in 2017.</li>
<li>Under the new framework, G20 members will promote a <strong>comprehensive life-cycle approach</strong> to prevent and reduce plastic litter discharge to the oceans through various measures and international cooperation.</li>
<li>The members will also share best practices, promote innovation and boost scientific monitoring and analytical methodologies.</li>
<li>Japan may host the <strong>first meeting under the new framework at</strong> the time when officials of environment ministers in the G20 countries will <strong>meet for the G20 Resource Efficiency Dialogue.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>The G20 Summit</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The G20 Summit is formally known as <strong>the Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy.</strong></li>
<li>The host country of the G20 summit leads the group over the course of one year from December through the following November as the G20 presidency.</li>
<li>The G20 presidency also organizes relevant ministerial and working group meetings.</li>
<li><strong>It is the first time that Japan has taken on the G20 presidency.</strong></li>
<li>Over the years, the G20 summits have focused not only on macroeconomy and trade, but also on a wide range of global issues which have an immense impact on the global economy, such as development, climate change and energy, health, counter-terrorism, as well as migration and refugees.</li>
<li><strong>The G20 is a group of 19 countries</strong> (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany,<strong> India</strong>, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States) <strong>and the European Union.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>The G20 Action Plan on Marine Litter</strong></p>
<p>It includes <strong>seven high level policy principles:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Promote the socio-economic benefits of establishing policies to prevent marine litter.</li>
<li>Promote waste prevention and resource efficiency.</li>
<li>Promote sustainable waste management.</li>
<li>Promote effective wastewater treatment and storm water management.</li>
<li>Raise awareness, promote education and research.</li>
<li>Support removal and remediation activity.</li>
<li>Strengthen the engagement of stakeholders.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>The G20 Resource Efficiency Dialogue</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The G20 countries decided to establish a G20 Resource Efficiency Dialogue at the summit in Hamburg in 2017.</li>
<li>The dialogue makes the efficient and <strong>sustainable use of natural resources a core element of the G20 talks.</strong></li>
</ul>
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	(int) 1 => [
		'title' => 'Coal Sector in India',
		'catname' => 'Paper 3',
		'desc' => '<h3>Introduction</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Coal is the most important and abundant fossil fuel in India. <strong>It accounts for 55% of the country's energy needs.</strong> The country's industrial heritage was built upon indigenous coal.</li>
<li>Commercial primary energy consumption in India has grown by about 700% in the last four decades.</li>
<li><strong>The current per capita commercial primary energy consumption in India is about 350 kgoe/year which is well below that of developed countries.</strong></li>
<li>Driven by the <strong>rising population, expanding economy</strong> and a quest for improved quality of life, energy usage in India is expected to rise.</li>
<li>Considering the limited reserve potentiality of petroleum &amp; natural gas, eco-conservation restriction on hydel project and geo-political perception of nuclear power, coal will continue to occupy centre-stage of India's energy scenario.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Coal Production</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Through sustained programme of investment and greater thrust on application of modern technologies, it has been possible to raise the All India production of coal at 730.354 million tonnes in 2018-19 (Provisional) with a positive growth of 7.9%.</li>
<li>Coal India Limited has set up Regional Sales Offices and Sub-Sales Offices at selected places in the country to cater to the needs of the consuming sectors in various regions.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Import of Coal</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>As per the present import policy, <strong>coal can be freely imported</strong> (under Open General Licence) by the consumers themselves considering their needs based on their commercial prudence.</li>
<li>Coking Coal is being imported by Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and other Steel manufacturing units mainly to bridge the gap between the requirement and indigenous availability and to improve the quality of production.</li>
<li>Coal based power plants, cement plants, captive power plants, sponge iron plants, industrial consumers and coal traders are importing non-coking coal.</li>
<li>Coke is imported mainly by pig-Iron manufacturers and Iron &amp; Steel sector consumers using mini-blast furnace.</li>
<li>Details of import of coal and products i.e. coke during the last six years is as under:</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1578481939_image63.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1578481939_image63.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" caption="false" width="707" height="213" /></a></p>
<h3>Coal Reserves</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>As a result of exploration carried out up to the maximum depth of 1200 m, a cumulative total of 319.02 Billion tonnes of Geological Resources of Coal have so far been estimated in the country till April, 2018.</li>
<li>Hard coal deposit spread over 27 major coalfields, are mainly confined to eastern and south central parts of the country. The lignite reserves stand at a level around 36 billion tonnes, of which 90% occur in the southern State of Tamil Nadu.</li>
<li>Top 5 States in terms of total coal reserves in India are: Jharkhand &gt; Odisha &gt; Chhattisgarh &gt; West Bengal &gt; Madhya Pradesh.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1578482027_image2.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1578482027_image2.png" caption="false" width="498" height="534" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1578482071_image12.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1578482071_image12.png" caption="false" width="537" height="364" /></a></p>
<h3>Categorization of Resources</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Coal resources of India are available in <strong>older Gondwana Formations of peninsular India and younger tertiary formations of north-eastern region</strong>.</li>
<li>Based on the results of Regional/ Promotional Exploration, where the boreholes are normally placed 1-2 Km apart, the resources are classified into <strong>&lsquo;Indicated&rsquo;</strong> or <strong>&lsquo;Inferred&rsquo;</strong> <strong>category</strong>.</li>
<li>Subsequent Detailed Exploration in selected blocks, where boreholes are less than 400 meter apart, upgrades the resources into more reliable<strong> 'Proved/Measured' category</strong>.</li>
<li>The Formation-wise and Category-wise Coal resources of India as on 1.4.2018 are given in table below:</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1578482112_image41.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1578482112_image41.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" caption="false" width="707" height="169" /></a></p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Classification of Coal</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Coal is originated from organic matter wood. When large tracts of forests are buried under sediments, wood is burnt and decomposed due to heat from below and pressure from above. The phenomenon makes coal but takes centuries to complete.</li>
<li><strong>Classification of Coal can be done on the basis of carbon content and time period.</strong></li>
<li>On the basis of carbon content it can be classified into following three types:<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Anthracite:</strong> It is the best quality of coal with <strong>highest calorific value</strong> and carries <strong>80 to 95% carbon content</strong>. It ignites slowly with a blue flame and found in small quantities in Jammu and Kashmir.</li>
<li><strong>Bituminous:</strong> It has a low level of moisture content with <strong>60 to 80% of carbon content</strong> and has a high calorific value. <strong>Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh</strong> and <strong>Madhya Pradesh</strong> have deposits of Bituminous.</li>
<li><strong>Lignite</strong> carries <strong>40 to 55% carbon content</strong> and is often brown in colour with high moisture content thus, gives smoke when burnt. <strong>Rajasthan, Lakhimpur (Assam)</strong>&nbsp;and <strong>Tamil Nadu</strong> has deposits of Lignite.</li>
<li><strong>Peat</strong> is the first stage of transformation from wood to coal with <strong>low calorific value and less than 40% carbon content</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>History of Coal Mining in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India has a long history of commercial coal mining covering nearly 220 years <strong>starting from 1774 by M/s Sumner and Heatly of East India Company in the Raniganj Coalfield</strong> along the Western bank of river Damodar.</li>
<li>However, for about a century the growth of Indian coal mining remained sluggish for want of demand but the <strong>introduction of steam locomotives in 1853 gave a fillip to it</strong>.</li>
<li>Within a short span, production rose to an annual average of 1 million tonne (mt) and India could produce 6.12 mts. per year by 1900 and 18 mts per year by 1920.</li>
<li><strong>The production got a sudden boost from the First World War but went through a slump in the early thirties.</strong> The production reached a level of 29 mts. by 1942 and 30 mts. by 1946.</li>
<li>With the advent of Independence, the country embarked upon the 5-year development plans. At the beginning of the 1st Plan, annual production went up to 33 mts.</li>
<li>During the 1<sup>st</sup> Plan period itself, the need for increasing coal production efficiently by systematic and scientific development of the coal industry was being felt.</li>
<li>Setting up of the <strong>National Coal Development Corporation (NCDC),</strong> a Government of India Undertaking in <strong>1956</strong> with the collieries owned by the railways as its nucleus was the first major step towards planned development of Indian Coal Industry.</li>
<li>Along with the Singareni Collieries Company Ltd. (SCCL) which was already in operation since 1945 and which became a Government company under the control of Government of Andhra Pradesh in 1956, India thus had two Government coal companies in the fifties. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>SCCL is now a joint undertaking of Government of Andhra Pradesh and Government of India sharing its equity in 51:49 ratio.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Nationalisation of Coal Mines</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Right from its genesis, the commercial coal mining in modern times in India has been dictated by the needs of the domestic consumption.</li>
<li>On account of the <strong>growing needs of the steel industry,</strong> a thrust had to be given on systematic exploitation of coking coal reserves in Jharia Coalfield.</li>
<li>Adequate capital investment to meet the burgeoning energy needs of the country was not forthcoming from the private coal mine owners.</li>
<li><strong>Unscientific mining practices</strong> adopted by some of them and poor working conditions of labour in some of the private coal mines became matters of concern for the Government.</li>
<li>On account of these reasons, the Central Government took a decision to nationalise the private coal mines.</li>
<li><strong>The nationalisation was done in two phases, the first with the coking coal mines in 1971-72 and then with the non-coking coal mines in 1973.</strong></li>
<li>In October, 1971, <strong>Coking Coal Mines (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1971</strong> provided for taking over in public interest of the management of coking coal mines and coke oven plants pending nationalisation.</li>
<li>This was followed by the <strong>Coking Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1972</strong> under which the coking coal mines and coke oven plants other than those with the Tata Iron &amp; Steel Company Limited and Indian Iron &amp; Steel Company Limited, were nationalised on from May 1972 and brought under <strong>Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL),</strong> a new Central Government Undertaking.</li>
<li>Another enactment, namely the <strong>Coal Mines (Taking Over of Management) Act, 1973,</strong> extended the right of the Government of India to take over the management of the coking and non-coking coal mines in seven States including the coking coal mines taken over in 1971.</li>
<li>This was followed by the nationalisation of all these mines in May 1973 with the enactment of the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973 which now is the piece of Central legislation determining the eligibility of coal mining in India.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>After nationalisation of the coal industry in India, India never witnessed demand-supply gap until 1991.</li>
<li>After <strong>liberalisation reforms in 1993,</strong> to focus on the increasing energy demand, the government decided to allocate coal mines to various players for captive consumption <em>(in captive mining coal is taken out by a company for its own use and it won&rsquo;t be able to sell it in the market)</em>.</li>
<li>Also the <strong>power sector reforms of 2003,</strong> resulting in significant growth in power sector.</li>
<li>Increasing demand of Coal by growing power sector could not be fulfilled by the state run CIL in the meantime, leading to higher demand-supply gap. This resulted into higher demands of imports.</li>
<li>By 2012, this demand-supply gap widened to near 20%. Moreover, the LARR Act, Forest Rights Act etc., also challenged the further expansion of coal mines.</li>
<li>The CAG report followed by the Supreme Court verdict in 2014 resulted into cancellation of allocation near all coal mines allocated after 1993.</li>
<li>GoI enables allocation of coal mines through auctions by enacting the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015.</li>
<li>In February 2018, CCEA permitted entry of private firms in commercial coal mining in the country.</li>
</ul>
<h3>What Troubles Coal sector in India?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India has to <strong>import near 213 million tons coal</strong> and some Indian companies have also acquired coal mines overseas to ensure continuous supply. The import dependency for good quality coal is neither good for India&rsquo;s energy requirement nor for its fiscal health.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Following reasons can be listed for Coal sector abysmal condition:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Delayed environment and forest clearances:</strong> Environment ministry in past has classified ecological sensitive areas in &lsquo;Go and No Go areas&rsquo; and there was total prohibition on mining in no go areas.</li>
<li>Further there are <strong>other clearances</strong> required from State and Central Governments.</li>
<li><strong>Land Acquisition problems.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Lack of adequate technology.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Allocation process was arbitrary, discretionary and non-transparent.</strong></li>
<li>There was <strong>no consideration of Merit,</strong> no Price discovery mechanism for national resources.</li>
<li>Till now, the PSU, Coal India was the only commercial miner in the country for more than four decades which has shown <strong>monopolistic tendencies in the sector</strong>. Monopoly in mining sector was incapable of meeting domestic demands.</li>
<li><strong>Low productivity</strong> of Coal India is still a concern.</li>
<li>Coal plants have <strong>higher operation and maintenance costs</strong> because of strict regulatory issues.</li>
<li>India&rsquo;s power regulators are not regularly updating prices to accommodate increases in operational costs due to regulation.</li>
<li>State Pollution Control Boards are ineffective at monitoring or enforcing compliance.</li>
<li>Expansion in power generation in India has been largely based on state financing i.e many coal power plants in India are constructed through massive debt financing from state-owned banks.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It shows that international investment in coal generation assets in India has been very less.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Government Initiatives</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In April 2018, The Ministry of Coal has launched <strong>UTTAM (Unlocking Transparency by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal) Application for coal quality monitoring</strong>. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The app aims to <strong>ensure transparency and efficiency in coal quality monitoring</strong> process and bring coal governance closer to people.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a <strong>new coal linkage policy</strong> to ensure adequate supply of the fuel to power plants through reverse auction. The new policy will help in ensuring fuel supplies to the power plants in an organised manner.</li>
<li>Ministry of Coal has developed <strong>Online Coal Clearances System</strong> to provide a single window access to its investors to submit online applications for all the permissions / clearances and approvals granted by Ministry of Coal.</li>
<li><strong>Coal Allocation Monitoring System (CAMS)</strong> is developed to monitor the allocation of coal by CIL to States, States to SNA and SNA to such consumers in a transparent manner.</li>
<li><strong>Opening up of commercial coal mining</strong> for Indian and foreign companies in the private sector.</li>
<li>The CCEA approved the methodology for auction of coal mines/ blocks for sale of the commodity on 20 February 2018. The move has been defined as the most ambitious reform of the sector since its nationalisation in 1973.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The auction will be done on an online transparent platform. The bid parameter will be the price offer in Rupees/ Tonne, which will be paid to the State government on the actual production of coal.</li>
<li>This reform is expected to bring efficacy into the coal sector by moving from an era of monopoly to competition. It will increase competitiveness and allow the use of best possible technology in the sector.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Suggestions</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There is a <strong>need for increasing production and competition</strong> by leveraging higher producing mines to enable more world-scale operations.</li>
<li><strong>Government should revisit coal grades pricing mechanism from grades based on coal mined to grades based on coal desired for end use.</strong></li>
<li>With a competitive coal mining sector in the country, the <strong>ability to raise competitive finance should also improve</strong>.</li>
<li>Coal mining needs to be facilitated with <strong>offtake routes for bulk transportation</strong> over long distances as with railways projects delayed for long periods of time it is imperative to look at alternatives</li>
<li>Risk is the biggest challenge in the sector and <strong>risk management needs new instruments, contracting, and incentives</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>Creative and targeted financing</strong> should be brought in to address the power sector&rsquo;s burgeoning problems.</li>
<li>As India&rsquo;s coal is high in ash content, <strong>coal beneficiation</strong> should be done to reduce the ash content and improve its grade.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Note:</strong></p>
<p><strong>Coal beneficiation</strong> is a process by which the quality of raw coal is improved by either reducing the extraneous matter that gets extracted along with the mined coal or reducing the associated ash or both.</p>
</div>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The arrival of private players in the coal mining practices can bring a lot of better things into the picture.</li>
<li>In the long term, India needs to look at coal to gas i.e. more cleaner energy sources.</li>
<li>Clean coal as an idea has huge potential in India because of the age and inefficiency of some of our plants.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>With government&rsquo;s efforts to push renewable energy due to international conventions on climate change, increase in carbon cess and other initiatives for lesser use of coal, there is a need for &lsquo;Vision 2030 for the coal sector&rsquo;, which takes into account the environmental factors such as reduction of carbon footprint, abatement of global warming.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/paper3/coal-sector-in-india'
	],
	(int) 2 => [
		'title' => 'Public transport fare waiver: Faux empowerment?',
		'catname' => 'News Editorials',
		'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>This article is based on &ldquo;<a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/free-metro-for-women-safety-gender-violence-rapes-bonanza-5781490/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Metro bonanza</a>&rdquo; that appeared in Indian Express on 15 June 2019. It analyses the rationale and drawbacks of Delhi government&rsquo;s decision to waive off public transport waiver for women.</p>
</div>
<p>The Delhi Government&rsquo;s decision to make public transport free for women in the national capital has ignited a welcome debate on the safety and mobility of women in Indian cities. So the bigger question is whether this subsidy or freebies is desirable or if not hat should be way forward?</p>
<h3>What is the rationale of metro waiver for women?</h3>
<p>India shockingly represents a huge gender gap, which can be depicted in:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India ranks very low at <strong>95 out of 129 countries</strong> in the recently released <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-upsc-prelims-sdg-gender-index" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SDG Gender Index</a>.</li>
<li>India is among the few countries globally that have seen decreasing participation of women in the workforce in the past decade, despite stellar economic growth.</li>
<li>The official data show that crimes against women in Delhi have seen a phenomenal increase of 83% between 2007 and 2016 and reasons being: ineffective policing, poor conviction rates, dark spots, unsafe modes of transport, social norms towards women, among others. However, there is hardly any talk of transformative solutions.</li>
<li>A survey by Thomson Reuters Foundation in 2017 ranked <strong>Delhi as the most unsafe megacity in the world for women</strong></li>
<li>Sustainable Urban Transport Project (SUTP) and backed by the Government of India shows how <strong>women forego opportunities to work outside their neighbourhoods</strong> if they perceive transport fares and services to be expensive and unreliable.</li>
</ul>
<p>Possible Advantages of the Government&rsquo;s Decision</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Delhi government&rsquo;s decision of waiving metro and bus fare for women solves an important part of this problem by <strong>making public transport the default mode of transport for the city&rsquo;s women.</strong> <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>As across the globe, it is widely accepted that <strong>public transport is the safest mode of transport.</strong></li>
<li>A report prepared by the Delhi Labour Department in 2018 found that of the 19.6 lakh workers engaged in trading, service and the manufacturing sector in the city, only 11.4% were women, and nearly half of them worked as &ldquo;informal hired workers&rdquo;</li>
<li>Also, the study shows that female students are willing to choose a lower quality college, travel longer and spend much more than men in order to travel by safer route.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>So by waiving off public transport fare for women provides them unrestricted access to public transport, which serves twin benefits:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>It provides safety,</strong> as now it will be easier for women to move from informal and more unsafe modes of transport such as shared autos and cabs to more formal and safer modes such as the Metro.</li>
<li>It also leads to <strong>economic empowerment of women</strong> by significantly improving access to education and helping them to enter the workforce.</li>
<li>It will <strong>incentivise the use of public transport</strong> that can tackle congestion on the roads.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Also, this decision of making public transport free for women is designed in Delhi government's narrative of <strong>&ldquo;Trickle Up Economics&rdquo;. It seeks to build the economy from below by investing in people,</strong> through carefully-targeted subsidies and an unprecedented expansion of social infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and now public transport.</li>
</ul>
<p>However, apart from terming this waiver as an election gimmick, many experts have invoked economic theories like <strong>&ldquo;Broken window fallacy"</strong> against this move.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In this case waiver of public transport fare for women is like subsidies or freebies that represents the broken window fallacy.</li>
<li>According to the Delhi government, the cost of subsidising women&rsquo;s travel will be around Rs 1,200 crore annually.</li>
<li>But the public transport in Delhi is in very dismal condition, for example, the number of buses in Delhi has halved in the last 8 years.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>According to Supreme Court, to tackle Delhi's pollution problem a fleet to 11,000 buses is required but currently Delhi bus fleet numbered below 4000.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Public transport in Delhi lacks last-mile connectivity, women have to travel to these access points, and exactly these are areas where women&rsquo;s safety is most vulnerable.</li>
<li>Thus, despite waiver of public transport fare, Delhi government must spend public money on buying more buses and improving their reliability along with improving last mile connectivity.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>What is Broken window fallacy?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The broken window fallacy was first expressed by the great French economist, Frederic Bastiat.</li>
<li>Bastiat used the parable of a broken window to point out <strong>why destruction doesn't benefit the economy.</strong></li>
<li>In Bastiat's tale, a man's son breaks a pane of glass, meaning the man will have to pay to replace it. But the breaking of the glass was not an utterly wrong thing as it provides the community with a service because his father will have to pay the glazier (window repairman) to replace the broken pane. The glazier will then presumably spend the extra money on something else, jump-starting the local economy.</li>
<li>Thus breaking windows (destruction of the economy) stimulates the economy, <strong>but Bastiat points out that further analysis exposes the fallacy.</strong></li>
<li>By breaking the window, the man's son has reduced his father's disposable income, meaning his father will not be able to purchase new shoes or some other luxury good.</li>
<li><strong>In short, Bastiat suggests that destruction - and its costs - don't pay in an economic sense.</strong></li>
<li>The broken window fallacy is often used to discredit the idea that going to war stimulates a country's economy.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>As with the broken window, war causes resources and capital to be funnelled out of industries that produce goods to industries that destroy things, leading to even more costs. According to this line of reasoning, the rebuilding that occurs after the war is primarily maintenance costs, meaning that countries would be much better off not fighting at all.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Other Issues in Implementing Public Transport Waiver</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Metro man E. Sreedharan has warned against this fare waiver as it will lead to the <strong>bankruptcy of Delhi metro.</strong></li>
<li>Studies show that <strong>operational costs frequently rise in the long run,</strong> and schemes become increasingly less viable.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Hasselt, Belgium, made public transport free in 1996, a decade later, a study reported a tenfold increase in ridership however with rising operational costs forced Hasselt to do away with the scheme in 2014.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Substitution effects:</strong> It will have a negative effect on auto rickshaws and car operator services.</li>
<li>The <strong>scheme might not reach the targeted beneficiaries.</strong> <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>While women who can afford to pay the full fare will form a larger proportion of female travellers on the metro, women who should ideally benefit from free rides might still not use the metro or the buses, simply because such modes of transport do not connect their place of residence and place of work.</li>
<li>Domestic helps who walk 2-6 km daily fall in that category.</li>
<li>Also, the scheme <strong>discriminates against poor men and boys.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The subsidy can lead to immediate demands from other sections such as students, handicapped, senior citizen as well.</li>
<li><strong>Implementation issue:</strong> A mechanism have to be devised to register the number of women who avail free rides and those who don&rsquo;t.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Metro has automated fare collection (AFC) gates that require tokens or Metro cards &mdash; the Metro will have to either isolate entry and exit points for women where AFC gates can be done away with or come up with special cards or tokens for women.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Public transport fare waiver represents the case of faux empowerment as women in metropolitan cities like Delhi are comparatively more financially sound; the need of the hour is a more intersectional approach. Clean environment, which is augmented by the creation of public sustainable transport infrastructure, might matter more to the people in Delhi than a public transport fare waiver.</p>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 99.881%;" height="77">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 840px; background-color: #c9f2f5;">
<p><em><strong>Drishti input:</strong></em></p>
<p>Government policies like public transport fare waiver represent the case of developmental politics or a case of broken window fallacy. Analyse.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p></p>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/public-transport-fare-waiver-faux-empowerment'
	],
	(int) 3 => [
		'title' => 'SCO Summit- 2019',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The 19th annual <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-international-institution/important-international-institutions-shanghai-cooperation-organisation-sco" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)</strong></a> summit was held on 13-14 June 2019 in <strong>Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The heads of the Member States reviewed the implementation of the results of the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/india-and-the-shanghai-cooperation-organisation" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Qingdao Summit</strong></a> and the priority goals for SCO development in the context of current global political and economic processes.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The <strong>Bishkek Declaration</strong> was adopted by the Member states.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border">
<p><strong>Note:</strong>&nbsp;Another "Bishkek Declaration", adopted in 2013 by 12 countries (including India) is associated with conservation and protection of Snow Leopard.</p>
</div>
<h3>Highlights of the SCO-2019 Bishkek Declaration&nbsp;</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Security</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Member States resolutely condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. They urge the international community to strengthen global cooperation in efforts against terrorism in line with the <strong>UN Charter and the principles of international law</strong>, without politicisation and double standards, while respecting the sovereignty and independence of all states.</li>
<li>The declaration also pressed for consensus regarding the adoption of the <strong><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/at-unga-india-call-for-early-adoption-of-ccit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.</a></strong></li>
<li>Ensure the earliest possible enactment of a protocol on security guarantees to the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone Treaty for all signatory states.</li>
<li>Honouring the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and their Destruction.</li>
<li>Supported the work of the government and people of Afghanistan (with support from the international community) for restoring peace and ensuring the country's sustained development.</li>
<li>There is no alternative to resolving the situation in Syria through dialogue, while ensuring Syria's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Economy</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Expanding and deepening cooperation in trade, finance, investment, transport, energy, agriculture, innovation, cutting-edge technology, etc.</li>
<li>Serious attention will be given to increasing the share of national currencies in mutual financial transactions and settlements.</li>
<li>The SCO Member States will promote exchange of experience and further development of international cooperation in countering corruption.</li>
<li>Promote the development of technology parks and business incubators in the SCO region for the purpose of improving the regional business climate and supporting youth startup projects, including the International Youth Business Incubator of SCO countries within the framework of the SCO Youth Council.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Space</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Keeping outer space <strong>free from weapons and importance of peaceful use</strong> of outer space.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Narcotic Drug Threat</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Need to address the illegal cultivation, production, circulation, sales and dissemination of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Russia</strong> will be next to assume the <strong>presidency of the SCO</strong>. In 2020, the Russian Federation will host a regular SCO Heads of State Council Meeting.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/sco-summit-2019'
	],
	(int) 4 => [
		'title' => 'Sheath Blight Disease',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Sheath blight is a fungal disease caused by <strong>Rhizoctonia solani</strong>.<a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/695image1.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/695image1.jpg" width="162" height="217" style="float: right;" caption="false" /></a></li>
<li><strong>Rice sheath blight</strong> is an increasing concern for rice production, especially in intensified production systems.</li>
<li>Infected leaves dry out and die more rapidly, young tillers can also be destroyed. As a result, the leaf area of the canopy can significantly be reduced by the disease. This reduction in leaf area are the<strong> primary causes of yield reduction</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why and Where it Occurs</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Sheath blight occurs in areas with <strong>high temperature</strong> (28&minus;32&deg;C), high <strong>levels of nitrogen fertilizer</strong>, and relative humidity of crop canopy from 85&minus;100%.</li>
<li>Plants are more vulnerable to sheath blight during the rainy season.</li>
<li>High seeding rate or close plant spacing, dense canopy, the disease in the soil, sclerotia or infection bodies floating on the water, and growing of high yielding improved varieties also favour disease development.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/sheath-blight-disease'
	],
	(int) 5 => [
		'title' => 'Lorenz Curve and Gini Coefficient ',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The distribution of Income in an economy is represented by the <strong>Lorenz Curve</strong> and the<strong> degree of income inequality</strong> is measured through the <strong>Gini Coefficient</strong>.</li>
<li>One of the five major and common macroeconomic goals of a government is the equitable (fair) distribution of income.</li>
<li>The Lorenz Curve (the actual distribution of income curve), a graphical distribution of wealth developed by <strong>Max Lorenzin 1906</strong>, shows the proportion of income earned by any given percentage of the population. The line at the 45&ordm; angle shows perfectly equal income distribution, while the other line shows the actual distribution of income. The further away from the diagonal, the more unequal the size of the distribution of income.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/286image2.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/286image2.jpg" width="578" height="421" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" caption="false" /></a></p>
<h3>Gini Coefficient</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Gini Coefficient, which is derived from the Lorenz Curve, can be used as an indicator of economic development in a country.</li>
<li>The Gini Coefficient measures the degree of income equality in a population.</li>
<li>The Gini Coefficient can vary from 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (perfect inequality).</li>
<li>A Gini Coefficient of zero means that everyone has the same income, while a Coefficient of 1 represents a single individual receiving all the income.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/lorenz-curve-and-gini-coefficient'
	],
	(int) 6 => [
		'title' => 'Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma Telescope',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>A joint team of <strong>German-Russian scientists</strong> will be launching a<strong> Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG)</strong> space telescope. It will create a <strong>three-dimensional (3D) X-ray</strong> map of the universe and unveil unknown supermassive black holes, dark energy and stars.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The SRG telescope aims to detect up to 3 mn supermassive black holes from the Milky Way.</li>
<li>The telescope will be launched into space on a <strong>Russian-built Proton-M rocket</strong> from <strong>Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan</strong>.</li>
<li>The four-year mission will survey the entire sky eight times and track the evolution of the universe and dark energy.</li>
<li>This is the first telescope which is sensitive to high energy hard X-rays.</li>
<li>The mission will have <strong>two independent</strong> telescopes:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>A German-built eROSITA (Extended Roentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array).</li>
<li>A Russian-built ART-XC (Astronomical Roentgen Telescope X-ray Concentrator)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Each of them covers X-ray bands stretching to relatively much higher energies: 0.2&ndash;10 kilo-electron volts (keV) for eROSITA, and 5&ndash;30 keV for ART-XC.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>X-Rays</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>X-rays are a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. X-radiation is referred to as R&ouml;ntgen radiation, after the German scientist <strong>Wilhelm Rontgen</strong> who discovered these in 1895.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Soft and Hard X-rays</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>X-rays are usually described by their maximum energy, which is determined by the voltage between the electrodes.</li>
<li>X-rays with high photon energies (above 5&ndash;10 keV) are called <strong>hard X-rays.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Due to their penetrating ability, hard X-rays are widely used to image the inside of visually opaque objects.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Those with lower energy (and longer wavelength) are called <strong>soft X-rays</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Previous Missions</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Germany's ROSAT mission in the 1990s was sensitive only to &lsquo;soft&rsquo; X-rays, with energies of about 2 keV.</li>
<li>NASA&rsquo;s <strong>Chandra X-ray Observatory</strong> and<strong> NuSTAR</strong>, can see high-energy radiation and resolve tiny details of cosmic structures. But, they see only small parts of the sky.</li>
<li>SRG was first proposed in 1987, by Russian astrophysicists, but the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to the cancellation of the plan. It was again revived in 2004, but a proposal to send an X-ray telescope to the International Space Station was scrapped when NASA ended its space-shuttle programme in 2011.</li>
<li>The joint mission was approved by the German space agency and Roscosmos later in 2009.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/spectrum-roentgen-gamma-telescope'
	],
	(int) 7 => [
		'title' => 'Sahitya Akademi Awards',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The Sahitya Akademi announced Bal Sahitya Puraskar and Yuva Puraskar 2019.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar</strong> relates to books first published during the five years immediately preceding the year of Award.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>During the initial ten years (i.e. from 2010 to 2019), the award may also be given to an author based on his/her total contribution to children literature.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar</strong> relates to books published by an author of the <strong>age of 35 and below</strong> as on 1st January of the year of the award.</li>
<li>The winners of both the awards will receive a casket containing an engraved <strong>copper plaque and a cheque of Rs 50,000.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Sahitya Akademi Awards</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Sahitya Akademi award established in 1954, is a <strong>literary honour</strong> that is conferred <strong>annually</strong> by Sahitya Akademi, India&rsquo;s National Academy of letters.</li>
<li>Award is presented to the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the twenty-four major Indian languages recognized by the Akademi (including English).</li>
<li>Sahitya Akademi award is the second highest literary honour by the Government of India, after <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/54th-jnanpith-award" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jananpith award</a>.</li>
<li>The award is presented in the form of a casket containing an engraved <strong>copper-plaque</strong>, a shawl and a cheque of Rs 1 lakh.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Indian film-maker <strong>Satyajit Ray</strong> is the designer of the plaque awarded by the Sahitya Akademi.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Criteria</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The author must be of <strong>Indian Nationality.</strong></li>
<li>Book/work eligible for award must be an outstanding contribution to the <strong>language</strong> and <strong>literature</strong> to which it belongs.</li>
<li>When equal merit for books of two or more are found, certain criteria like <strong>total literary contribution and standing of authors</strong> shall be taken into consideration for declaring award.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/sahitya-akademi-awards'
	],
	(int) 8 => [
		'title' => 'Compoundable Offences under Direct Tax Laws',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-4th-april-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Central Board of Direct Taxes</strong></a> (CBDT) has issued the guidelines for compoundable offences under Direct Tax Laws, 2019.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Compoundable offences</strong> are those which can be conciliated by the parties under dispute, without the requirement of the permission of the court.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Guidelines</h3>
<p>Guidelines have classified offences into three categories.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The first category</strong> of offences open to compounding include:<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Defaults under <strong>tax deducted or collected at source.</strong></li>
<li>Failure to <strong>file return.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>The second category</strong> of offences, for which compounding will not be allowed, deal with:<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Willful evasion of tax.</li>
<li>Removal or concealment or transfer or delivery of property to thwart tax recovery in a search operation.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>The third category</strong> of offences that <strong>"shall normally not be compounded"</strong> includes:<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Offences committed by a person for which he was convicted by a court of law under <strong>direct tax laws.</strong></li>
<li>Enabling others to evade taxes.</li>
<li><strong>Money laundering</strong> (launder money by generating bogus invoices).</li>
<li>Offences relating to undisclosed foreign bank account or assets under the <strong>Black Money</strong> (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets).</li>
<li>Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 or under the <strong>Benami Transactions</strong> (Prohibition) Act, 1988.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/compoundable-offences-under-direct-tax-laws'
	],
	(int) 9 => [
		'title' => 'World Day against Child Labour',
		'catname' => 'Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions',
		'desc' => '<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fEfeNjTIM0A" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>On 12th June 2002, the International Labour Organisation launched the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/world-day-against-child-labour" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Day Against Child Labour</a>. Since then, every year, the day is marked to highlight the plight of child labourers worldwide and also to take required measures to eliminate it. The World Day Against Child Labour, 2019 looks back on <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/100th-anniversary-of-ilo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">progress achieved over a 100 years of ILO</a> support to countries on tackling child labour. The protection of children is embedded in the preamble of ILO since it was founded in 1919 yet about 152 million children are still in child labour across the world.</p>
<p>India accounts for more than 10 million child workers. Despite efforts and legislations through the decades to prohibit the engagement of children in occupations, the statistics regarding child labour in India are dismal.</p>
<h3>The World Day Against Child Labour</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is celebrated annually on June 12 with the aim of focussing attention on the global extent of child labour and the action and efforts needed to eliminate it.</li>
<li>The day brings together governments, employers and workers organizations, civil society, as well as millions of people from around the world to highlight the plight of child labourers and what can be done to help them.</li>
<li>The theme for World Day Against Child Labour 2019 is <strong>&lsquo;Children shouldn&rsquo;t work in fields, but on dreams!&rsquo;</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The theme focuses on the major transformations being experienced in the world of work, whether the result of technology, environmental or demographic, and what this means for the youngest in society.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The eradication of Child Labour is part of the <strong>UN Sustainable Development Goal Target 8.7.</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Sustainable Development Goals include a call to the global community to take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of the child labour. This also includes ending the recruitment and use of child soldiers.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Child Labour</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The term &lsquo;Child Labour&rsquo; is defined as a work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity and is harmful to their physical and mental development.</strong></li>
<li>It refers to the work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children, interferes with schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend school, obligement to leave school prematurely or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Forms of Child Labour</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>All forms of slavery or practices similar to the slavery including but not limited to the <strong>sale or trafficking of children, debt bondage</strong> and forced or compulsory labour.</li>
<li>It also means the <strong>forced or compulsory recruitment</strong> of children for use in armed conflict.</li>
<li>The use of a <strong>child for prostitution,</strong> for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances.</li>
<li>The use of a child for<strong> illicit activities in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs</strong> as defined in the relevant international treaties.</li>
<li>It also includes work, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, that is <strong>likely to harm the health, safety and morals of children.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Work that does not constitute Child Labour</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is also important to know that not all work done by children should be classified as child labour targeted for elimination. In fact, children's or adolescents' participation in work that does not affect their health and personal development or interfere with their schooling, is generally regarded as being something positive.</li>
<li>This includes<strong> activities such as helping their parents around the home, assisting in a family business or earning pocket money outside school hours and during school holidays.</strong> These activities are in fact believed to contribute to children's development.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Statistics of Child Labour across the World&nbsp;</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Worldwide, 218 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 years are in employment. Among them, 152 million are victims of child labour with almost half of them, 73 million, working in hazardous labour.</li>
<li>In absolute terms, almost half of child labour (72.1 million) is to be found in Africa; 62.1 million in the Asia and the Pacific; 10.7 million in the Americas; 1.2 million in the Arab States and 5.5 million in Europe and Central Asia.</li>
<li>In terms of prevalence, 1 in 5 children in Africa (19.6%) are in child labour, whilst prevalence in other regions is between 3% and 7%: 2.9% in the Arab States (1 in 35 children); 4.1% in Europe and Central Asia (1 in 25); 5.3%in the Americas (1 in 19) and 7.4% in Asia and the Pacific region (1 in 14).</li>
<li><strong>Child labour is concentrated primarily in agriculture (71%)</strong>, which includes fishing, forestry, livestock herding and aquaculture, and comprises both subsistence and commercial farming; 17% in Services; and 12% in the industrial sector, including mining.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Forced Child Labour</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>According to the year 2016 estimates of modern slavery, there were about 4.3 million children aged below 18 years in forced labour, representing 18% of the 24.8 million total forced labour victims worldwide.</li>
<li>This estimate also includes<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>1million children in commercial sexual exploitation.</li>
<li>3 million children in forced labour for other forms of labour exploitation.</li>
<li>0.3 million children in forced labour imposed by the state authorities.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Child Labour Figures in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In India, children are working at starvation wages in <strong>textile factories helping with the processing of carpets</strong> and doing backbreaking work in <strong>brick making factories.</strong></li>
<li>They are also employed in <strong>making and selling tobacco products</strong> and are also used for cheap labour in <strong>industries such as steel extraction.</strong></li>
<li><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/childhood-index" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This year, India is at the 113th position out of 176 countries on an index that evaluates countries on the well being of children</a>.</li>
<li>According to the National Census 2011, the total child population in India in the age group of 5-14 years is about 260 million. Of these, about 10 million (about 4%) of the total child population are child labourers working either as the main or marginal workers.</li>
<li>In the age group of 15-18 years, India has around 23 million working children. This means one in eleven children between the ages of five and eighteen years in the country are working.</li>
<li>The 2011 census showed a decline in the incidence of child labour in India by 2.6 million or around 20% between 2001 and 2011. The decline was more visible in rural areas. However, the number of child workers increased in urban areas during this period.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In the year 2001, there were around 11 million child workers in rural areas which came down to about 8 million in the year 2011.</li>
<li>In urban areas, the number of child workers went up from 1.3 million in 2001 to 2 million in 2011.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>This change suggests that child labour is now invisible as the location of work has changed from the factories to the homes of urban dwellers.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Disparities Across India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The year 2011 shows significant disparities across states in terms of number of working children.</li>
<li><strong>5 states, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra account for more than half of the country&rsquo;s total child labour population.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Uttar Pradesh is the biggest hub of child labour accounting for almost 20% of the country&rsquo;s child labourers.</strong></li>
<li>Bihar has about one million child workers, Rajasthan (0.84 million), Madhya Pradesh (0.7 million), Maharashtra (0.72 million).</li>
</ul>
<h3>Concerns</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Child Labour is one of the biggest roadblocks to human rights worldwide. Children around the world are routinely engaged in paid and unpaid forms of work.</li>
<li>In almost all regions of the world, boys and girls are equally likely to be involved in child labour. Gender disparities are observed however in the types of activities carried out with girls far more likely to be involved in domestic work.</li>
<li><strong>Poverty and lack of school</strong> are considered as the main causes of child labour.</li>
<li>Children engaged in work do not go to school and have little or no time to play. Many even do not receive proper nutrition or care essentially being denied the chance to be children.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>About 1.4 million child labourers in India in the age group of 7-14 years cannot write even their names. This means <strong>one in three child labourers in the said age group are illiterate.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The extreme form of child labour that is forced labour, in which children suffer not only the impact of hazardous working conditions but also trauma of the coercion, threats of penalty and lack of freedom.</li>
</ul>
<h3>International Laws on Child Labour</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 :</strong> It contains the idea that children are not just objects who belong to their parents and for whom decisions are made, or adults in training. Rather, they are human beings and individuals with their own rights.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Convention considers that <strong>childhood is separate from adulthood, and lasts until 18;</strong> it is a special, protected time, in which children must be allowed to grow, learn, play, develop and flourish with dignity.</li>
<li>The Convention became the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history and has helped transform children&rsquo;s lives.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>International Labour Organizations Conventions on the minimum age for admission to employment of the yaer 1973 (ILO convention 138) and on the worst forms of child labour of the year 1999 (ILO convention182).</li>
</ul>
<h3>Initiatives by the Government of India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In 1979, the central government formed the first statutory committee to analyse and research on the issue of child labour in India - the <strong>Gurupadswamy committe.</strong> One of their major observations was that the problem of child labour is inextricably linked to poverty.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Taking into account the findings and recommendations of the Gurupadswamy committee, the union government enacted <strong>the child labour (Prohibition and &amp; Regulation) Act in 1986.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Recently, India has ratified International Labour Organizations Convention (ILO) no 138 (minimum age for employment) and convention no 182 (worst forms of child labour).</strong></li>
<li>Another landmark step was the enactment of the <strong>Child labour (Prohibition and Prevention) Amendment Act, 2016.</strong></li>
<li>There are several operations that happen in India like <strong>Operation Smile, Operation Muskaan</strong> wherein there are a lot of raids that happen in unorganised sector, manufacturing units and other factories.</li>
<li>India has a very strong system of dealing with rescued children in terms of <strong>rehabilitating and repatriating</strong> them with the family with certain support to family as well to come out of the poverty trap.</li>
</ul>
<h3>UNICEF&rsquo;s work against Child Labour in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>UNICEF has also been working for long against child labour in India.</li>
<li>Most of its programs in India focus on children in specific types of work, for example cotton production in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, metalwork and carpets in Uttar Pradesh and tea gardens in Assam.</li>
<li>These programmes reach tens of thousands of children and their families in areas with high levels of child labour.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Child Labour Laws in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>According to the <strong>Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>employment of children below the age of 14 years</strong> in any commercial enterprise is illegal. However, it excludes a section of toiling children in the unorganized sectors including agriculture as well as the household work.</li>
<li>The bill also <strong>bars the employment of adolescents in occupations that deals with hazardous working conditions</strong> such as chemical plants and mines.</li>
<li>The act says that <strong>children can only work after school hours or during holidays</strong> and that children are allowed to work in family owned secure sectors.</li>
<li>However, <strong>no child is permitted to work between 7 pm and 8 am.</strong></li>
<li>Children are also <strong>not allowed to work overtime.</strong></li>
<li>An establishment must provide <strong>holiday of one whole day in each week</strong> to every child employed.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>National Policy on Child Labour</strong> (1987), with a focus more on rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations and processes, rather than on prevention.</li>
<li><strong>Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act</strong> 2000 (the JJ Act) and <strong>amendment of the JJ Act</strong> in 2006: includes the working child in the category of children in need of care and protection, without any limitation of age or type of occupation.</li>
<li><strong>The Right to Education Act, 2009</strong> has made it mandatory for the state to ensure that all children aged 6 to 14 years are in school and receive free education. Along with <strong>Article 21A</strong> of the Constitution of India recognizing education as a fundamental right, this constitutes a timely opportunity to use education to combat child labour in India.</li>
<li>According to the <strong>Mines Act of 1952,</strong> employment of children below the age of 18 years is illegal in mines.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Drishti Input: PENCIL Portal</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour (PENCIL) Portal is an electronic platform that aims at involving Centre, State, District, Governments, civil society and the general public in achieving the target of child labour free society.</li>
<li>It has been launched for the effective implementation of <strong>Child Labour Act and National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme.</strong></li>
<li>PENCIL Portal has five components- Child Tracking System, Complaint Corner, State Government, National Child Labour Project and Convergence.</li>
<li>PENCIL portal is administered by theMinistry of Labour &amp; Employment.</li>
<li>Under <strong>National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme</strong>, children in the age group of 9-14 years, rescued/withdrawn from work are enrolled in the NCLP Special Training Centres, where they are provided with bridge education, vocational training, mid day meal, stipend, health care, etc. before being mainstreamed into formal education system.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Experts opine that child labour has become a social norm in the country that is largely accepted and tolerated by the society. This exploitative and abusive practice will continue unless society adopts a zero tolerance attitude towards it.</li>
<li>Right kind of focus and orientation with state level authorities is also needed to avoid this practice.</li>
<li>Convincing families to send their children in schools is not a tough job provided that families are provided with a vision of a better future for their children.</li>
<li>Pre school education should be a priority and also there is a need to reach more and more children to reap the benefits of RTE.</li>
<li>Forced Child Labour requires an urgent action from governmnets and the international communities.</li>
<li>The Government generally focuses on immediate rescue and not on the long term situation or the prevention dimension. The prevention dimension needs to be focussed upon.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Drishti Input:&nbsp;</strong><strong>Social Partners Tackling Child Labour</strong></p>
<p>There are good examples of trade unions and employers&rsquo; organizations playing a key role in the elimination of child labour in the rural sector.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In India for example, in Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, trade unions and their recently organized rural members are implementing the <strong>concept of child labour-free villages</strong> through dialogue with local leaders and employers. Many collective agreements are being concluded targeting child labour.</li>
<li>Similarly, the <strong>Federation of Uganda Employers has set up child labour monitoring committees at the local level,</strong> including in the coffee, tea, rice and sugar sectors.</li>
<li><strong>Collaboration and alliances are also being formed between trade unions and representative organizations of indigenous people,</strong> especially in Latin America. In some countries this has led to the inclusion of indigenous organizations in national committees on the prevention and elimination of child labour.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/world-day-against-child-labour-1'
	],
	(int) 10 => [
		'title' => 'Question of Seed Sovereignty',
		'catname' => 'News Editorials',
		'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>This article is based on <a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/pepsico-case-and-needs-of-seed-research/article27901797.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PepsiCo case, and needs of seed research</a>, that appeared in The Hindu Business Line on 13th June 2019. It talks about the bigger picture of PEPSICO Inc vs farmers controversy(Regarding the violation of patent of FC5: A variety of potato).</p>
</div>
<p>PepsiCo Inc.had filed a lawsuit against Indian potato farmers in Gujarat for <strong>violating patent law.</strong> PepsiCo accused farmers of cultivating a variety of potato called FC5, which is under patent. According to PEPSICO, only it can supply the seed of FC5 variety and only to its contract farmers and buys their produce, no other farmer is supposed to use the seeds without permission of PepsiCo.</p>
<p>After much of a public clamour criticising PepsiCo, it eventually dropped the charges against the farmer but the issue raised a broader question of seed sovereignty and honouring of contract farming.</p>
<h3>What are the implications of PepsiCo vs Farmers issue?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>It highlights 3 fundamental questions:</strong><br />
<ol>
<li><strong>The vulnerability of Indian farmers against big corporate</strong></li>
<li><strong>Poor implementation of contract farming rules</strong></li>
<li><strong>India's intellectual property rights regime.</strong></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>The vulnerability of Indian farmer against big corporate</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In India, farmers mostly are often found in such conflicts with corporate, because:<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Most farmers are below or marginally above poverty and uneducated. So they are simply not aware of the laws pertaining to the complex matter like a patent.</li>
<li>Farmers follow certain practices like saving and resowing of seeds, exchange of seeds and sourcing of seeds from the market.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Apart from that, farming in India is not very profitable due to lack of reach and infrastructure, this makes farmers subject to such harassment at the hands of corporate.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Poor implementation of contract farming rules.</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Contract farming in India many times results in dishonouring of contract.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Reasons for such dishonouring:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Lack of institutional mechanism for dispute redressal on matters of quality and other terms of the contract.</li>
<li>Uneducated farmers.</li>
<li>No uniform policy for contract farming</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>The role of APMCs:</strong> Designated as an authority for registration and dispute settlement in most states, the APMCs themselves are marred by corruption and administrative inefficiencies, this jeopardizes the contract enforcement.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>What is Contract Farming?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Contract farming is an agricultural product that can be carried out based on a pre-harvest agreement between a food processing unit or exporter and farmers or farmer organisations.</li>
<li>Contract farming provides a win-win situation for both farmers and corporate<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Farmer: It assures them of price guarantee irrespective of market volatility.</li>
<li>Corporate: It assures them of quality produce.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>In India contract farming formalized by &lsquo;<strong>Model Agriculture Produce Marketing Act 2003</strong>', but since agriculture is a state list subject, therefore contract farming is not uniform.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>What are the advantages of contract farming?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Contract farming addresses the problem of low investment in agriculture and ensures a supply of quality inputs, technical guidance and management support for farmers.</li>
<li>It provides an assured market and a pre-agreed sale price for produce, makes it easier for farmers to access cheaper institutional credit.</li>
<li>MSP's in India are not backed by assured government procurement, and thus price volatility is not checked. So when market prices fall below MSP, contract farming can be instrumental in securing incomes for farmers.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>India's intellectual property rights regime.</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>According to <strong>Seeds act 1968:</strong> Seeds are outside the ambit of IPR, it is Sui-generis right of the farmer.</li>
<li><strong>According to the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001(PPVFR Act)</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>Section 39 of the Act</strong> allows farmers to save, use, sow, re-sow, exchange, share and even sell farm produce including seed of a protected variety. But when it is sold, it cannot be packaged and branded as such.</li>
<li>The <strong>Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers&rsquo; Rights (PPV&amp;FR) Act</strong> allows protection of plant varieties for some years if they are found to be distinct, uniform and stable.</li>
<li>Thereby the PPVFR Act seeks to protect the rights of farmers and communities using plant varieties with desirable traits, which they have conserved over the years.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>India is the only country which has provided for the farmers to use, multiply, share informally or sell formally any protected variety, as long as they do not brand it and sell it. But these laws are compliant with WTO's TRIPS( Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights)</li>
<li>But the major issue is farmer doesn't even know what is IPR.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Research is the key to progress. Climate change, new pests and diseases, abiotic stresses, changing food baskets of people, increasing incomes and similar factors require the development of new varieties as the older ones do not meet the new demands.</li>
<li>Educate farmers through Promotion of agricultural extension services like Kisan Call Centres, Kisan Vigyan Kendras.</li>
<li>Promote Farmer Producer Organizations</li>
<li>Encourage states to adopt the Model Contract Farming Act, 2018.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Act takes contract farming out of the ambit of Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs).</li>
<li>It proposes to set up the alternate dispute redressal mechanism.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Litigation must be taken as the last resort to settle the dispute</li>
<li>No one, including farmers, should be allowed to break contractual obligations. Contract farming enables value-added agriculture, which brings better quality products to the consumer and better price realization to the farmer depends on contract farming.</li>
<li>Contract farming must mandatorily incorporate the provision of crop insurance to protect the farmer.</li>
</ul>
<p>Though Indian government is under pressure from global trade regime to enforce strict IPR regime but a strict IPR policy is not advisable in Indian Agriculture since India is an agrarian economy and a strong IPR will lead to creating a monopoly of a certain company in some commodity(like case of Monsanto in Bt cotton), which will certainly not be in India's national interest.</p>
<p>PepsiCo case is an opportunity for our courts to interpret the PPV&amp;FR Act and our Contract Act and give a direction which could set the tone for our future of contract farming with proprietary varieties</p>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 523.636px; border-color: #fccfcf; background-color: #f5cbcb;">
<p><em><strong>Drishti input:</strong></em></p>
<p>Indian farmers face the double whammy of IPR on one hand, and dishonouring of contract on the other hand, against the big corporates, despite favourable legislation. Comment.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p></p>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/question-of-seed-sovereignty'
	],
	(int) 11 => [
		'title' => ' Internet Trends Report: 2019',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p><strong>Mary Meeker&rsquo;s</strong> (US, based global technology investment firms owner) annual report, on<strong> &ldquo;Internet Trends 2019&rdquo;</strong> has placed India just next to China in terms of the <strong>active Internet user base</strong>.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Top three countries in terms of the Internet user base are<strong> China (21%), India (12%) and the USA (8%)</strong>.<a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/390image3.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/390image3.jpg" width="392" height="397" style="float: right;" caption="false" /></a></li>
<li>India's internet growth has largely been driven by telecom operator <strong>Reliance Jio</strong>, which Meeker pointed out, had grown double in a year reaching 307 million subscribers.</li>
<li>In terms of internet regulations, India is moderately regulated.</li>
<li>More than 50% of the world&rsquo;s population has access to the internet, and 53% of the world&rsquo;s internet users are located in the <strong>Asia-Pacific region.</strong></li>
<li>Digital payments now account for 59% of everyday transactions across the world.</li>
<li>55% of internet users live in a country where political, social, or religious content is censored or blocked.</li>
<li><strong>Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter</strong> continue to be the biggest sources for news.</li>
<li><strong>Media consumption on mobile devices (33%)</strong> almost equal that of time spent on TV (34%).</li>
<li><strong>Removing offensive and violent content</strong> from platforms would be a continuous challenge and social media would lead to increased political polarisation and divisiveness.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/internet-trends-report-2019'
	],
	(int) 12 => [
		'title' => 'The Financial Action Task Force',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The Financial Action Task Force<strong> (FATF)</strong> will hold its <strong>Plenary meeting in Orlando, Florida</strong> from <strong>16th-21st June</strong> wherein it could take up a <strong>proposal to downgrade Pakistan to the blacklist</strong> on terrorist financing <strong>from its current greylisted status</strong>.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The FATF is an <strong>inter-governmental body</strong> that works to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.</li>
<li><strong>A country is put on the grey list</strong> when it fails to curb terrorism financing and money laundering.</li>
<li><strong>Putting a country on the blacklist</strong> means shutting all doors to international finance for that country.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Pakistan&rsquo;s status</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Pakistan</strong> has been under the FATF&rsquo;s scanner since <strong>June, 2018</strong>, when it was put on the<strong> greylist</strong> for terror financing and money laundering risks, after an assessment of its financial system and law enforcement mechanisms.</li>
<li>In June 2018, Pakistan gave a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and the <strong>Asia Pacific Group (APG)</strong> to strengthen its anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Based on this commitment, Pakistan and the FATF agreed on the monitoring of 27 indicators under a 10-point action plan, with deadlines.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Successful implementation</strong> of the action plan and its physical verification by the APG <strong>will move Pakistan out of the greylist</strong>; <strong>failure</strong> by Pakistan will result in its blacklisting by September 2019.</li>
<li><strong>FATF</strong> <strong>wants to see effective implementation</strong> of targeted financial sanctions against all terrorists designated under <strong>UN Security Council Resolutions 1267 and 1373.</strong></li>
<li>The Joint Group of the APG has recently informed Pakistan that<strong> the country&rsquo;s compliance on 18 of the 27 indicators is unsatisfactory</strong>, though the FATF has agreed that there have been improvements in the AML/CFT regime and the integrated database for currency declaration arrangements.</li>
<li><strong>At least three votes (out of 36) would be needed to block a move to blacklist Pakistan</strong>. Pakistan may make a diplomatic push to thwart blacklisting.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Impact of being blacklisted</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Pakistan&rsquo;s $6 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) could be threatened.</li>
<li>Pakistan faces an estimated <strong>annual loss of $10 billion if it stays in the greylist</strong>; <strong>if blacklisted</strong>, its already fragile economy will dealt with <strong>a powerful blow.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>India&rsquo;s Role</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>India is a voting member of the FATF and APG, and co-chair of the Joint Group.</strong></li>
<li>India was not part of the group that moved the resolution to greylist Pakistan in 2018 in Paris. The movers were the US, UK, France, and Germany and China did not oppose.</li>
<li><strong>As of now, India is pushing for Pakistan to be blacklisted.</strong></li>
<li>There is also an opinion that by keeping Pakistan in the grey list one can continue to pressure the country as well as scrutinise its actions.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Asia Pacific Group</strong><br />The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering is an <strong>inter-governmental organisation,</strong> consisting of 41 member jurisdictions, focused on ensuring that its members effectively implement the international standards against money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing related to weapons of mass destruction.</p>
<p><strong>UN Security Council Resolutions 1267 and 1373</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The UNSC resolution 1267</strong> was adopted unanimously on October 15, 1999. It is a consolidated list of people and entities that UN has determined as being associated with Al Qaeda or the Taliban, and laws which must be passed within each member nation to implement the sanctions.</li>
<li><strong>The UNSC Resolution 1373</strong> was adopted on 28th September, 2001. It declares international terrorism a threat to international peace and security and imposes binding obligations on all UN member states.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/the-financial-action-task-force'
	],
	(int) 13 => [
		'title' => 'Color Morphs of Wild Cat',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>Indian scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), an international conservation charity, and University College London (UCL) have discovered <strong>six color morphs</strong> of the golden cat in <strong>Dibang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Six color morphs include <strong>tightly-rosetted,cinnamon, melanistic, gray, golden, and ocelot types.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Color morphs<a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/541image1.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/541image1.jpg" width="412" height="178" style="float: right;" caption="false" /></a></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Colour morphs are basically occurrence of <strong>two or more discrete colour forms</strong> of the animal within a population. for example- Black panther is a color morph of the common leopard.</li>
<li>Colour morphs are thought to arise from <strong>random genetic mutations</strong> and take hold in the population through <strong>natural selection</strong>.</li>
<li>Dibang Valley hosts the <strong>world&rsquo;s most diverse range</strong> of colour morphs of a wild cat species ever reported in one site.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Significance&nbsp;</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Understanding the <strong>evolutionary theory of color morphs</strong> could help scientists to understand how quickly species can <strong>adapt and evolve</strong> to changing environments.</li>
<li>This would help scientists to gain better insight into the <strong>resilience capacity of the species to climate change or habitat degradation and destruction</strong>, which is also the reason for decreasing population of these species.</li>
<li>Color Morphs could help in <strong>conservation of Asiatic Golden Cats</strong>, as it provides <strong>Ecological Benefits</strong> to cats like:<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>occupying <strong>different habitats</strong> at different elevations from wet tropical lowland forests to alpine scrubs .</li>
<li>Providing <strong>camouflage</strong> while preying on pheasants and rabbits.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Asiatic Golden Cat</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Asiatic Golden Cat is a medium-sized wild cat native to<strong> north-eastern Indian</strong> subcontinent</li>
<li>The <strong>Asiatic golden cat</strong> (Catopuma temminckii) is listed as <strong>near threatened</strong> on the International Union for Conservation of Nature&rsquo;s Red List of threatened species.</li>
<li>Asiatic cats are mentioned in <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/wild-life-protection-act-implementation-and-failure" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wildlife protection Act&rsquo;s</a> schedule 1.</li>
<li>Wild cats are also included in Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES) appendix 1</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Dibang Valley</strong>&nbsp;</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Dibang Valley District is located in the North-Easternmost corner of Arunachal Pradesh.</li>
<li>Largest district of Arunachal Pradesh with the lowest density of population in India.</li>
<li>India&rsquo;s first &lsquo;snow tigers&rsquo; were spotted in upper reaches of Dibang Valley.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/color-morphs-of-wild-cat'
	],
	(int) 14 => [
		'title' => 'Hongkong Protest',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>Massive protests in Hongkong has erupted against a government plan to allow extradition to mainland China.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The mass demonstration was one of the largest in the city&rsquo;s history and a stunning display of rising fear and anger over the erosion of civil liberties.</li>
<li>The protest recalled the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement five years ago.<a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/485image2.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/485image2.jpg" width="346" height="505" style="float: right;" caption="false" /></a></li>
</ul>
<h3>About Hongkong</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Hongkong is situated on the southeast coast of China, Hong Kong&rsquo;s strategic location on the<strong> Pearl River Delta and the South China Sea</strong> has made it one of the world&rsquo;s most thriving and cosmopolitan cities.</li>
<li>Hong Kong as we know it today was born when China&rsquo;s <strong>Qing dynasty</strong> government was defeated in the First Opium War in 1842. It ceded Hong Kong Island to<strong> Britain</strong>. Hong was under the control of the British empire until 1997. The Sino-British declaration under the principle of <strong>'One Country, Two Systems'</strong>, Hong Kong became a <strong>Special Administrative Region(SAR)</strong> of the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997.</li>
<li>This arrangement allows the city to enjoy a high degree of autonomy, including retaining its capitalist system, independent judiciary and rule of law, free trade and freedom of speech.</li>
<li>The interference of the communist regime of China in the internal affairs of Hongkong and its oppressive policies have led to various pro-democracy protests for autonomy in recent times.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/hongkong-protest'
	],
	(int) 15 => [
		'title' => ' Rare Easterly Winds over the Indian Ocean',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Climate Prediction Centre of the US National Weather Service has said that <strong>unusually warm waters in the Arabian Sea</strong> have set up a <strong>rare band of easterly winds</strong> over the Indian Ocean, which has significantly<strong> delayed the monsoon</strong> onset over the Kerala coast.</li>
<li>The number of factors has led to a dry spell in India, which is likely to continue throughout June.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/madden-julian-oscillation-mjo" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO)</strong></a>: Its location and strength may play an important role in the development of monsoon over India during the next several weeks.</li>
<li><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/cyclone-vayu" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Cyclone &lsquo;Vayu&rsquo;</strong></a>: It took advantage of an MJO wave traversing the West Indian Ocean and adjoining South Arabian Sea.</li>
<li><strong>Storm initiation</strong>: Over the East Indian Ocean and adjoining Bay of Bengal have led to <strong>oceanic circulation</strong> over North-East and adjoining East-Central Bay.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Madden-Julian Oscillation</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is an oceanic-atmospheric phenomenon which affects weather activities across the globe. It brings major fluctuation in tropical weather on weekly to monthly timescales.</li>
<li>The MJO can be defined as an eastward moving 'pulse' of clouds, rainfall, winds and pressure near the equator that typically recurs every 30 to 60 days.</li>
<li>It&rsquo;s a traversing phenomenon and is most prominent over the Indian and Pacific Oceans</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/rare-easterly-winds-over-the-indian-ocean'
	],
	(int) 16 => [
		'title' => 'Unapproved Sowing of Genetically Modified Crops',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has sought a detailed report on the sowing of unapproved Genetically Modified (GM) Cotton and Brinjal in Maharashtra.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Organised by the farmer&rsquo;s union Shetkari Sanghtana, more than 1,000 farmers had publicly sown unapproved transgenic cotton and brinjal in Akola district of Maharashtra demanding introduction of Herbicide Tolerant (Ht) Bt cotton and Bt brinjal.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The farmers termed it as the &lsquo;civil disobedience&rsquo; movement to protest central government&rsquo;s indecisiveness in approving the next generation of Genetically Modified (GM) cotton.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/743image5.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/743image5.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" caption="false" width="611" height="393" /></a></p>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In India, the introduction of GM seeds requires approval of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), a body under theMoEFCC.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Till date (2019), commercial release is granted for Bt cotton, but similar approvals for Bt mustard and Bt brinjal are awaited.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>In case of cotton, the first two generations of Bt have seen the introduction of &lsquo;Cry1Ab&rsquo; and &lsquo;Cry2Bc&rsquo; genes from the soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), into the cotton seed.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>This makes the crop resistant to the attack of pink bollworm.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The third generation, i.e. herbicide tolerant Bt (HtBt) cotton variety saw the addition of &lsquo;Cp4-Epsps&rsquo; gene from another soil bacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which produces a modified protein that allows the plant to withstand herbicide glyphosate.<a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/256image4.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/256image4.jpg" width="519" height="346" style="float: right;" caption="false" /></a>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Farmers are not able to spray glyphosate on normal cotton because the chemical does not distinguish between the crop and weed, but the herbicide tolerant Bt (HtBt) cotton remains unaffected by glyphosate.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Like the first two hybrids, Ht Bt has also been developed by the US giant Bayer Monsanto.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The company had submitted a proposal to GEAC for approval in 2013. However, the proposal was later withdrawn by the company because of various regulatory issues with the government.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>While Ht Bt is not approved for commercial release, farmers in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have been surreptitiously planting the crop using smuggled seeds.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>According to estimates by the Commissioner of Agriculture, Maharashtra, as much as 15% of the 40 lakh hectares of the state had come under this unapproved hybrid.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Earlier, <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/illegal-cultivation-of-bt-brinjal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">there have been complaints from Coalition for GM Free India</a> regarding suspected open cultivation of Ht Bt cotton and Bt brinjal in Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/unapproved-sowing-of-genetically-modified-crops'
	],
	(int) 17 => [
		'title' => 'Indigenisation of Defence',
		'catname' => 'Paper 3',
		'desc' => '<h3>What is Indigenisation of Defence?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indigenisation is the capability of <strong>developing</strong> and <strong>producing</strong> any defence equipment within the country for the dual purpose of achieving <strong>self reliance</strong> and reducing the <strong>burden of imports</strong>.</li>
<li>Self-reliance in defence manufacturing is one of the key objectives of <strong>Department of Defence Production</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), Ordnance Factory Board (OFB)</strong> and private organisations are playing a critical role in indigenisation of defence industries.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Overdependence on the Soviet Union, brought about a change in India&rsquo;s approach to <strong>defence industrialisation</strong> from <strong>licence based production</strong> to production based on <strong>indigenous design</strong>.</li>
<li>From the mid-1980s, the government pumped resources into <strong>R&amp;D</strong> to enable the DRDO to undertake high profile projects.</li>
<li>A significant beginning in defence indigenisation was made in 1983,when the government sanctioned the <strong>Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP)</strong> to develop five missile systems: <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Prithvi</strong> (surface-to-surface)</li>
<li><strong>Akash</strong> (surface-to-air)</li>
<li><strong>Trishul</strong> (the naval version of Prithvi)</li>
<li><strong>Nag</strong> (anti-tank)</li>
<li><strong>Agni</strong>&nbsp;Ballistic missiles with different ranges, i.e. Agni (1,2,3,4,5)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>In 1990 <strong>Self Reliance Review Committee</strong> (SRRV) under A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, had formulated a <strong>10-year self-reliance plan</strong> under which, the <strong>self-reliance index (SRI)</strong>, (defined as the percentage share of indigenous content in total procurement expenditure), was to be increased from 30% in 1992-1993 to 70 % by 2005.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>This target has not been achieved till today.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The indigenous efforts were not adequate to meet the requirements of the armed forces, this resulted in the shift of focus towards <strong>co-development</strong> and <strong>co-production</strong> in partnership with foreign companies.</li>
<li>A beginning was made in 1998, when India and Russia signed an <strong>inter-governmental agreement</strong> to jointly produce <strong>Brahmos supersonic cruise missile</strong>.</li>
<li>Apart from Russia, India has also partnered with other countries such as <strong>Israel and France</strong> for a number of projects.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why Indigenisation?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Reducing Fiscal Deficit:</strong> India is the second <strong>largest arms importer</strong> in the world (after Saudi Arabia).<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Higher import dependency leads to increase in the fiscal deficit.</li>
<li>Despite having the <strong>fifth largest defence budget</strong> in the world, India procures 60% of its weapon systems from foreign markets.</li>
<li>India can export its indegeneous defence technology and equipment to the neighbouring nations.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Security Imperative:</strong> Indigenisation in defence is critical to <strong>national security</strong> also. It keeps intact the technological expertise and encourages spin-off technologies and innovation that often stem from it. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Indigenisation is needed in order to avert the threats associated with the frequent <strong>ceasefire violations</strong> like that of the Uri, Pathankot and Pulwama attacks.</li>
<li>India being surrounded by <strong>porous borders and hostile neighbours</strong> needs to be self sufficient and self reliant in defence production.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Employment generation:</strong> defence manufacturing will lead to the generation of satellites industries that in turn will pave the way for generation of employment opportunities.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>As per government estimates, a reduction in <strong>20-25%</strong> in defence related imports could directly create an additional 100,000 to 120,000 <strong>highly skilled jobs</strong> in India.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Strategic Capability:</strong> self sufficient and self reliant defence industry will place India among the <strong>top global powers</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>Nationalism and Patriotism</strong> can increase with indegenious production of defence equipment, that in turn will not only boost the <strong>trust and confidence</strong> of the Indian forces but will also strengthen a sense of <strong>integrity and sovereignty</strong> in them.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Government Initiatives</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Defence Procurement Policy:</strong> based on the recommendations of the <strong>Dhirendra Singh committee,</strong> Defence Procurement Procedure 2016 (replaced DPP 2013) added an additional category <strong>&ldquo;Buy (Indian-IDDM)&rdquo;</strong> i.e Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured, as the most preferred way of defence goods acquisition. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>DPP allowed the <strong>Defence Acquisition Council</strong> to take a <strong>"fast-track"</strong> route to acquire weapons, something which was limited to only the armed forces till now.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>E-Biz Portal:</strong> process of applying for Industrial License (IL) and Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum (IEM) has been made completely online on ebiz portal.</li>
<li><strong>Restriction of annual capacity</strong> in the industrial license for defence sector has been removed.</li>
<li><strong>Outsourcing and Vendor Development Guidelines:</strong> for DPSUs (defence public sector undertaking) and OFB (ordnance factory board) to promote the participation of private sector, particularly SMEs (small manufacturing enterprises) for defence manufacturing.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The guidelines mandate that each DPSU and OFB to have a <strong>short-term</strong> and <strong>long-term outsourcing</strong> and <strong>vendor development plan</strong> to gradually increase the outsourcing from private sector including SMEs.</li>
<li>The guidelines also include vendor development for <strong>import substitution</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Uniform custom duty:</strong> In order to establish a <strong>level-playing field</strong> between Indian <strong>private sector and the public sector,</strong> all Indian industries (public and private) are subjected to the same kind of <strong>excise and custom duty levies</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>The FDI policy:</strong> composite foreign investment upto <strong>49%</strong> is allowed through Government route (FIPB) and beyond 49% with the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on case-to-case basis.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Restrictions such as <strong>single largest Indian shareholder</strong> to hold at least <strong>51% equity</strong> and complete restriction on <strong>Foreign Institutional Investor (FII)</strong> have been removed to facilitate investment in the sector.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Preference to <strong>'Buy (Indian)'</strong>, <strong>'Buy &amp; Make (Indian)'</strong> &amp; <strong>'Make'</strong> categories of acquisition over <strong>'Buy (Global)'</strong> category, thereby giving preference to Indian industry in procurement.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Present Scenario</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>INS Vikrant,</strong> also known as Indigenous Aircraft Carrier 1 (IAC-1), is the first aircraft carrier to be built in India for the Navy.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It is expected to commence <strong>sea trials in 2020</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Tejas aircraft:</strong> DRDO is not able to develop its indigenous Kaveri engine due to restricted access to high-end defence technology by countries such as USA, JAPAN etc.</li>
<li><strong>Project75:</strong> Indian Navy in 2017, initiated submarine programme called Project-75 (India), the<strong> "mother of all underwater defence deals"</strong> with France, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Spain and Japan to build six advanced stealth submarines.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Project 75 Submarines <strong>INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Vela, S53, S54 and S55</strong> are constructed by Mazagon Dock Limited and designed by French company DCNS in Mumbai.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Long-range artillery gun "Dhanush":</strong> first indigenous long-range artillery gun also called the <strong>"desi Bofors"</strong>.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It has a strike range of 38 kilometres and <strong>81% of its components</strong> are indigenously sourced.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Arihant: first indigenous nuclear submarine</strong> was developed in association with BARC and DRDO. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>But due to insufficient fuel inventor it cannot go for long deployment and is in a need for further improvement.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>AGNI V</strong> has given India the status of ICBM (Intercontinental ballistic missile) holder country in 2013, though the project on integrated guided missile development was started in 1983. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Apart from <strong>AGNI V</strong>, Dhanush, Nirbhaya, Prithvi, Akash missiles have also contributed to indigenisation of defence.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>The Pinaka Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher:</strong> was developed by armament Research Development Establishment (Pune).<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Pinaka is a precision system with <strong>near zero-error probability</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Supersonic Cruise Missile BRAHMOS:</strong> is a Joint Venture between India and the Russian federation. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Indian contribution is 50.5% and the Russian contribution is 49.5%</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Arjun Tank</strong> is a third generation main battle tank developed by DRDO.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>DRDO is working on using composites to reduce the weight.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Facts and Findings</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), <strong>India was the world&rsquo;s second largest importer</strong> of major arms in 2014-18 and accounted for 9.5% of the global total.</li>
<li>According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India's military expenditure rose by 3.1%.</li>
<li>In a <strong>2011 report</strong> to the Parliament, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&amp;AG) highlighted the 90% import dependency of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for &lsquo;raw materials and bought out items&rsquo; for the production of indigenous .</li>
<li>India has been spending around <strong>2.4% of its GDP</strong> on defence.</li>
<li>The <strong>Self-Reliance Index</strong> (SRI) which may be defined as the ratio of indigenous content of defence procurements to the total expenditure on defence procurements in a financial year is at an abysmal 0.3.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Challenges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Lack of an institutional capacity and capability</strong> to take different policies aimed at indigenisation of defence to its logical conclusion.</li>
<li><strong>Dispute Settlement body:</strong> There is an urgent need for a <strong>permanent arbitration committee</strong> which can settle disputes expeditiously.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In the USA, the procurement agency DARPA has a permanent arbitration committee which resolves such issues amicably and their decision is final.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Infrastructural deficit</strong> increases India's logistics costs thus reducing the country's cost competitiveness and efficiency.</li>
<li><strong>Land acquisition issues</strong> restrict entry of new players in the defence manufacturing and production.</li>
<li><strong>Policy dilemma</strong> offset requirements under the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/a-flawed-defence-procurement-policy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DPP</a> are not helping it achieve its goal. (Offsets are a portion of a contracted price with a foreign supplier that must be re-invested in the Indian defence sector, or against which the government can purchase technology.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<p>To ensure indigenisation of defence the government no doubt is heading in the right direction by laying emphasis on <strong>"Make in India"</strong>. It is the implementation that needs to be fine tuned. Some of the steps that can be taken in this direction are:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Permanent Arbitration Cell</strong> can be set up to deal with all objections and disputes.</li>
<li><strong>Private Sector boost</strong> is necessary as it can infuse efficient and effective technology and human capital required for modernisation of indegenious defence industry.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The private sector must be allotted big ticket contracts in order to strengthen their confidence and reduce the <strong>trust deficit between private and government sector</strong>.</li>
<li>Ensure a <strong>level playing field</strong> for the private industry, DRDO, DPSUs and OFB.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Export capability:</strong> If the aim is to achieve export capability, then the weapon system must first be in service with our armed forces.</li>
<li><strong>Software Industry</strong> and technologies like <strong>Artificial intelligence and cyber security</strong> should be used to develop and manufacture the &ldquo;chip&rdquo; indigenously.</li>
<li><strong>Providing Financial and Administrative autonomy</strong> to DRDO in order to enhance its confidence and authority.</li>
<li><strong>Training and Tenure:</strong> The staff at the <strong>Department of Defence Production</strong> need to be trained and given longer tenures to ensure continuity.</li>
<li><strong>Investee Company</strong> should be structured to be <strong>self-sufficient in areas of product design and development</strong>. The investee/joint venture company along with manufacturing facility should have maintenance and life cycle support facility of the product being manufactured.</li>
<li><strong>In⎯house design capability should be improved</strong> amongst the three services, the Navy has progressed well on the path of indigenisation primarily because of the in⎯house design capability, the Naval Design Bureau. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Hence, they do not have to depend on the DRDO for the design &amp; development of the complete ship, but outsource the sub⎯systems for them to develop.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Robust supply chain</strong> is critical for a defence manufacturer looking to optimize costs. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Indian SMEs are playing a key role in the global supply chain of OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer).</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/paper3/indigenisation-of-defence'
	],
	(int) 18 => [
		'title' => 'India’s Balancing with SCO',
		'catname' => 'News Editorials',
		'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>This article is based on the editorial <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/navigations-in-bishkek/article27890377.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&ldquo;Navigations in Bishkek&rdquo;</a> which appeared in The Hindu on 13th June 2019. It talks about, challenges and opportunities present to India in its engagement with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.</p>
</div>
<p>The Prime Minister of India will be in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan for 19th <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-international-institution/important-international-institutions-shanghai-cooperation-organisation-sco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit</a>.</p>
<p>At SCO, India will have to <strong>balance between contradictory imperatives as regional aspirations of Central Asian countries contradict with India&rsquo;s goals:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India has to act as a willing partner of regional cooperation that is led by China and Russia while assuring that India doesn't reflect its increasing strategic convergence with the USA.</li>
<li>Also, engagement with SCO is like a paradox for India as India wants to fight against terrorism through a body that includes states that pose the biggest threats to Indian security i.e. Pakistan.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>What is SCO?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), or Shanghai Pact is a Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance, it's creation was announced on June 15, 2001, in Shanghai, China.</li>
<li>It's member countries China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan (India and Pakistan joined SCO as full members on 9 June 2017 at SCO's Astana summit, Kazakhstan.)</li>
<li>The SCO is widely regarded as the <strong>"Alliance of the East"</strong>, due to its growing centrality in Asia-Pacific, and has been the primary security pillar of the region.</li>
<li>It is the largest regional organisation in the world in terms of geographical coverage and population, covering three-fifths of the Eurasian continent and nearly half of the human population.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>How regional aspirations of Central Asian countries contradict with India&rsquo;s goals?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Russia and Central Asian countries are likely to express <strong>&ldquo;broad support&rdquo; for China</strong> in the wake of trade war against U.S. India is equally concerned about this trade war, but is in a dilemma in view of openly slamming U.S. protectionism.</li>
<li>It is also notable that all SCO members, barring India, are enthusiastic <strong>supporters of <a href="/to-the-points/Paper2/obor-cpec" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)</a>.</strong></li>
<li>Also, the other agenda of the summit would be to sell the <strong>Gwadar Port and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)</strong> as a potential passage to landlocked Central Asian states. But CPEC passes through territory over which India claims its sovereignty.</li>
<li><strong>Terrorism</strong> is likely to be approached from the angle of improving the situation in Afghanistan and not necessarily of curbing the terrorist elements emanating from Pakistan.</li>
<li>Also through <strong>BRI and SCO</strong>, China will be successful in uniting Eurasia to challenge a united Europe. This scenario will prompt China and Russia to enter into a new era of global strategic partnership. This might not be in India's strategic interest.</li>
</ul>
<h3>What are opportunities for India in the context of SCO?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>China:</strong> Prime Minister Narendra Modi&rsquo;s meeting with President Xi on the sidelines of the summit will be critical.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>As this meeting comes after China&rsquo;s decision to withdraw its technical hold on the <strong>listing of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar</strong> as a global terrorist at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)</li>
<li>Also, the key concern for the two leaders is the <strong>impact of the U.S.-China trade</strong> war.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Russia:</strong> PM Modi meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin is very important to save the <strong>S-400 Triumf anti-missile defence deal</strong> against USA's threat to act under CAATSA <strong>(Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act)</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Also, India and Russia have an ambitious economic agenda drawn up for 2019, also Russia has invited PM Modi to be the chief guest at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in September.</li>
<li>India can explore Russia&rsquo;s Far East region not just for developing economic cooperation but also for exploring the prospects of transferring skilled labourers to offset Chinese demographic threats in the region.</li>
<li>Russia is also keen that India joins the Arctic: Territory of Dialogue Forum.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>What is CAATSA?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Countering America&rsquo;s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) is a legislation introduced in the United States that aims to counter anti-US aggression displayed by countries like Iran, North Korea and Russia through a series of punitive measures.</li>
<li>Among the provisions of CAATSA are secondary sanctions on countries that are found to be dealing with the Russian defence and intelligence sectors.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>What is S-400 Triumf?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>S-400 Triumf is one of the world&rsquo;s most advanced air defence systems that can simultaneously track numerous incoming objects &mdash; all kinds of aircraft, missiles and UAVs &mdash; in a radius of a few hundred kilometres and launch appropriate missiles to neutralise them.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Pakistan:</strong> It would be a first formal meeting of Pakistan's new PM Imran Khan and India's PM. Already new Pakistani PM has demonstrated that he wants better relations with India and is ready to talk on all the issues.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Clearly, this may give diplomacy a chance at the margins of the SCO meet for restarting of talks between India and Pakistan.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Multilateral cooperation:</strong> India seems committed to working with the SCO to develop a &lsquo;cooperative and sustainable security&rsquo; framework, to make the <strong>Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure</strong> more effective, and participate in efforts to bring about <strong>stability in Afghanistan</strong>.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Central asian countries back India&rsquo;s proposal for a <strong>Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.</strong></li>
<li>Also, the SCO is relevant for India to garner <strong>support for reforms of the UNSC</strong> to make the latter more representative and effective. India has been lending support to the member countries&rsquo; candidatures for non-permanent membership of the UNSC for a long time.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>SCO is a potential platform to <strong>advance India&rsquo;s Connect Central Asia policy.</strong> However, there are some constraints with India's engagement with the region, for example:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India&rsquo;s bilateral trade with Central Asia stands at about $2 billion and with Russia about $10 billion in 2017. In contrast, China&rsquo;s trade with Russia has crossed $100 billion in 2018 while the bilateral figures for Central Asia stand at over $50 billion.</li>
<li>The lack of connectivity has also hampered the development of energy ties between the hydrocarbon-rich region and India.</li>
</ul>
<p>In this situation, India will have to clearly identify and promote its interests to enhance its presence in the Eurasian region for this accelerating progress on the International North-South Transport Corridor, the Chabahar Port, the Ashgabat Agreement and the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway should be very much on the cards.</p>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 1195.45px; background-color: #c2eff2;">
<p><em><strong>Drishti input:</strong></em><br /><br />Analyse how SCO as a regional organisation presents both challenges and opportunity for India. Also, discuss the measures that India must take for strategic balancing with respect to SCO?</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p></p>',
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		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/indias-balancing-with-sco'
	],
	(int) 19 => [
		'title' => 'People's Ingestion Of Plastic',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p><strong>The World Wide Fund for Nature&rsquo;s</strong> (WWF) study has revealed that people worldwide could be ingesting five grams of microscopic <a href="/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/the-big-picture-world-environment-day-identify-the-dangers-of-the-plastic-era" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plastic particles</a> every week, which is equivalent to the weight of a credit card.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Microplastics</strong> are plastic particles measuring 5mm in size or smaller.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Findings<a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/130image3.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/130image3.jpg" width="463" height="337" style="float: right;" caption="false" /></a></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Sources of plastic ingestion:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Drinking water:</strong> is one of the largest sources of plastic ingestion(with plastic particles found in bottled, tap, surface and groundwater).</li>
<li><strong>Shellfish:</strong> account for as much as 0.5g a week.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Inhalation</strong> represented a negligible proportion of microplastics entering the human body.</li>
<li><strong>Indoor air</strong> because of its <strong>limited circulation</strong> is more heavily polluted with plastic than the outdoors. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Major sources of <strong>Indoor airborne microplastics</strong> are synthetic textiles and household dust.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Burden of Plastic</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In the last two decades, the world has produced as much plastic as during the rest of history, and the industry is set to <strong>grow by 4%</strong> a year until 2025.</li>
<li><strong>Ocean</strong> will contain <strong>one metric tonne</strong> of plastic for every three metric tonnes of fish by <strong>2025.</strong></li>
<li>About one-third of waste plastics are dumped or <strong>leaches into nature, polluting land, rivers and the sea.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Plastic pollution and Wildlife</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Animals get entangled in large <strong>plastic debris,</strong> leading to<strong> injury or death.</strong></li>
<li>Animals also ingest large quantities of plastic that they cannot pass through their digestive systems, resulting in <strong>internal abrasion, digestive blockage, and death.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Toxins</strong> from ingested plastic also harm breeding and impair the immune system of animals.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Curbing Plastic Pollution</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Political and economic actions</strong> to reduce the amount of plastic being disposed of into the environment.</li>
<li><strong>Minimize the use</strong> of plastics and <strong>encourage recycling</strong> of plastics instead of taking stringent acts of total ban or zero plastic.</li>
<li><strong>Legally binding agreement</strong> to combat marine plastic pollution - it should be a stand-alone treaty like the Montreal Protocol or the Paris Agreement.</li>
<li><strong>Binding national commitments</strong> and protocols for restricting commercial and household use of plastics.</li>
</ul>',
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		'articles.display_printpdf' => 'integer',
		'display_printpdf' => 'integer',
		'articles__display_comments' => 'integer',
		'articles.display_comments' => 'integer',
		'display_comments' => 'integer',
		'articles__pdf_name' => 'string',
		'articles.pdf_name' => 'string',
		'pdf_name' => 'string',
		'articles__display_archive' => 'integer',
		'articles.display_archive' => 'integer',
		'display_archive' => 'integer'
	],
	'decorators' => (int) 0,
	'executed' => false,
	'hydrate' => true,
	'buffered' => true,
	'formatters' => (int) 0,
	'mapReducers' => (int) 0,
	'contain' => [],
	'matching' => [],
	'extraOptions' => [],
	'repository' => object(App\Model\Table\ArticlesTable) {}

}
$page = (int) 219
$search = 'class'
$totalPages = (float) 308
$title = 'Search'
$lastyear = (int) 2018
$year = '2021'
$i = (int) 2017
$selected = ''
$m = (int) 13
$month = 'December'

include - ROOT/plugins/Drishti/src/Template/Element/rightsection.ctp, line 100
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/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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