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The Big Picture - International Convention on Terrorism

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		(int) 0 => [
			'title' => 'The Big Picture - International Convention on Terrorism',
			'catname' => 'Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions',
			'desc' => '<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eN3BHWhi2-E" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The date 26/11 has gone down in the history as a day that saw the most heinous attack carried on the Indian soil. The attack claimed 164 lives; leftover 300 injured and sent shock waves around the world. Terrorism has reared its ugly head every now and then and has devastated the world like nothing else. It is an issue which has affected millions of lives from Asia to the Americas but till date, there is no consensus on an international convention on terrorism. Several efforts have been made to address the problem but negotiations have not borne out results to address the issue.</p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p>DRISHTI INPUT</p>
<p><strong>Origin and Status of Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>New Delhi has pushed for an intergovernmental convention to enhance prosecution and extradition of terrorists since 1996. In 2018, even after two decades, there is still a lack of consensus.</li>
<li>Although consensus eludes towards the adoption of the terrorism convention, discussions have yielded three separate protocols that aim to tackle terrorism:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, adopted on 15 December 1997;</li>
<li>International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, adopted on 9 December 1999;</li>
<li>International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, adopted on 13 April 2005.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Why the Lack of Consensus?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Sixth Committee, the primary forum for the consideration of legal questions in the General Assembly had created an ad hoc group which is still debating the draft for Comprehensive Convention for Countering International Terrorism. There are several issues but the most important of them is &ldquo;defining the terms related to terrorism&rdquo;. Multiple groups have contentious claims over what should and what should not be regarded as terrorism.</li>
<li>For instance, Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) has denied inclusion of liberation movement activities as terrorism, keeping in mind the Israel- Palestine conflict.</li>
<li>On the other hand, the US and the allied countries who are involved in many counter-terrorism activities in various countries wanted the draft to exclude acts committed by military forces of states during peacetime. The Latin American countries want exactly the opposite.</li>
<li>Hence, for the committee prescribing an overarching definition that satisfies all the parties is a bone of contention.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Geopolitics and the Act of terror</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Geopolitics is one of the most important determinants that has played the invisible hand in protecting the agents of terror. Masood Azhar is a case in point.</li>
<li>Time and again China has been reluctant in declaring Azhar a terrorist. China, being a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, has repeatedly blocked India's move to do so. The US, Britain <g class="gr_ gr_112 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="112" data-gr-id="112">and</g> France all back India to designate Masood Azhar a terrorist under the Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.</li>
<li>China, in its statement, said that since Pakistan didn't agree with India on this issue, there is no "consensus" between the two directly affected parties. Beijing made it clear that China will support the issue only if Pakistan agrees with India.</li>
<li>Pakistan government has been proven toothless when it comes to curbing nefarious activities emanating from her soil. There are scores of terrorist camps along the border, aided and funded either by the army (clandestinely) or terrorist groups like Jaish e Mohammad.</li>
<li>The motive of the Pakistani administration has always been to support the fringe elements tacitly, in order to fulfill its policy to &ldquo;bleed India with thousand cuts&rdquo;.</li>
<li>Adoption of the convention would not only force Pakistan to withdraw any tacit state support to the terrorist groups but would also enable India to extradite culprits who are responsible for designing terrorist acts from foreign soil.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The CCIT will provide <g class="gr_ gr_118 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="118" data-gr-id="118">legal</g> framework which will make it binding on all signatories to deny funds and safe havens to terrorist groups. The original draft that was tabled in 1996 and discussed until April 2013 included the following major objectives:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>To have a universal definition of terrorism that all 193-members of the UNGA will adopt into their own criminal law.</li>
<li>To ban all terror groups and shut down terror camps.</li>
<li>Deny safe haven to those who finance, plan, support, or commit terrorist acts.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>To prosecute all terrorists under a special law.</li>
<li>Exchange information in accordance with international and domestic law and cooperate on administrative and judicial matters to prevent the commission of terrorist acts.</li>
<li>To make cross-border terrorism an extraditable <g class="gr_ gr_95 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="95" data-gr-id="95">offence</g> worldwide.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Measures to Tackle Terrorism</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India should play a proactive role to neutralize any threat of terrorism.</li>
<li>Addressing UN High-Level conference on Heads of Counter Terrorism, Indian Special Secretary, Internal Security) extended a five-point formula &ndash;
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Exchange of timely and actionable intelligence.</li>
<li>Prevention of misuse of modern communication through collaboration with the private sector.</li>
<li>Building capacities for improved border controls.</li>
<li>Sharing of info related to the movement of passengers.</li>
<li>Designation of Counter-Terror focal points to fight global terror.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>In addition, there should be a concerted effort from the countries affected by the scourge of terrorism to pressurize countries who engage in state-sponsored terrorism.</li>
<li>It is believed that the Indian intelligence agencies did have actionable intelligence from its Israeli and the US counterpart regarding 26/11. So, intelligence gathering and sharing are not enough, timely &amp; appropriate action is required on the intelligence received. Consequently, the Indian intelligence agencies have to be empowered both monetarily and through modern infrastructure to be able to respond in time.</li>
</ul>',
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		],
		(int) 1 => [
			'title' => 'Global Status Report on Road Safety: WHO ',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>World Health Organization (WHO) has released the Global Status Report on Road Safety 2018.</p>
<h3>Key Points</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The report highlights that road traffic deaths are rising, with 1.35 million deaths in 2016 globally.</li>
<li>Road Accidents are the eighth leading cause of death for all age groups surpassing HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and diarrhoeal diseases.</li>
<li>The road traffic deaths rates are highest in Africa (26.6 per 100 000 population) and lowest in Europe (9.3 per 100 000 population).</li>
<li>However, the rates of death relative to the size of the world&rsquo;s population has stabilized in recent years.</li>
<li>Progress is attributed to better legislation around key risks such as<strong> speeding, drinking and driving, and failing to use seat-belts, motorcycle helmets and child restraints, safer infrastructure like sidewalks, dedicated lanes for cyclists, motorcyclists, and improved vehicle standards.</strong></li>
<li>The progress has not occurred at a pace fast enough to compensate for the rising population and rapid motorization of transport taking place in many parts of the world.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Road Accidents in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The trend in India shows that deaths have been increasing since 2007 even though India has put in place most of the rules needed to protect people.</li>
<li>The report highlights India as an example of the implementation of seven or eight of the priority United Nations vehicle safety standards.</li>
<li>Cities in India have reduced traffic crashes, and through media campaigns and stronger enforcement, more cities have cut drink driving.</li>
<li>Despite this, India reported more than 150,000 deaths in 2016.</li>
<li>There is a need to take a multi-sectoral approach to tackle road crashes and deaths.<strong> Better infrastructure that can allow safer travel, better vehicles, improved intervention and enforcement of laws and a health system that can take care of accident victims are the need of the hour.&nbsp;</strong></li>
<li><strong>Vehicle Safety Standards in India</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In 2014, crash tests carried out by the Global New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) revealed that some of India&rsquo;s top-selling car models have failed the UN&rsquo;s frontal impact crash test.</li>
<li>Global NCAP tests at a higher speed resulted in zero-star ratings for Indian cars indicating a high risk of fatal or serious injury.</li>
<li>In 2015 the Indian government announced the application of new regulations consistent with the UN standards for front and side impact and also pedestrian protection.</li>
<li>For new car models, the use of front and side crash tests came into force from October 2017 and will apply to all new cars from October 2019.</li>
<li>The pedestrian protection regulation for new models came into force from October 2018 and will apply to all new cars from October 2020.</li>
<li>In addition, new cars are required to have airbags fitted as standard and to have a speed warning device above 80 km/h.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Recommendations</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Safe Roads:</strong> Safety consideration during the planning, design, and operation of roads, contributes to reducing road traffic deaths and injuries</li>
<li><strong>Safe Vehicles:</strong> Vehicle safety features such as electronic stability control and advanced braking make a substantial contribution to reducing road traffic deaths and injuries.</li>
<li><strong>Behavioral Changes:&nbsp;</strong>Increasing motorcycle helmet use, increasing seat-belt uses and increasing child restraint use.</li>
<li><strong>Post Crash Care:</strong>&nbsp;Simple and affordable post-crash care interventions can save lives. Effective care for the injured requires timely care at the scene, prompt transport to appropriate emergency and surgical care at the hospital, and early access to rehabilitation services.</li>
<li><strong>Role of bystanders:</strong> Bystanders play a major role in post-crash care. They contribute by activating the emergency care system and taking simple, potentially life-saving actions until professional help is available.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Brasilia Declaration on Road Safety</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The declaration was signed at the Second Global High-Level conference on Road Safety held in Brazil.</li>
<li>Through the Brasilia Declaration Countries plan to achieve <strong>the Sustainable Development Goal 3.6: By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents.</strong></li>
<li>United Nations has also declared <strong>2010-2020 as the decade of action for Road Safety.</strong></li>
<li>The main points of the Brasilia Declaration are:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Countries should form transport policies in order to favor more sustainable modes of transport such as walking, cycling and using public transport.</li>
<li>It highlights strategies to ensure the safety of all road users,
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>by improving laws and enforcement;</li>
<li>making roads safer through infrastructural modifications;</li>
<li>ensuring that vehicles are equipped with life-saving technologies;</li>
<li>and enhancing emergency trauma care systems.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>The International Road Assessment Programme(iRAP)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) is a registered charity dedicated to saving lives through safer roads.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan Committee</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Supreme Court had set up the three-member KS Radhakrishnan panel on road safety in April 2014.</li>
<li>The main recommendation of the committee was
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Ban on the sale of alcohol on highways (both state and national) to restrain drunk driving.</li>
<li>The states were directed to implement laws on wearing helmets.</li>
<li>Audit of road safety to be implemented by states to ensure the safety standards in the design, construction, and maintenance of roads.</li>
<li>The committee stressed the importance of creating awareness among people on road safety rules.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2016</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It proposes to create a National Register for Driving Licence and a National Register for Vehicle registration through <strong>&ldquo;Vahan&rdquo; and &ldquo;Sarathi&rdquo; web portals.</strong> This is in order to smoothen the process of registration and licensing.</li>
<li>It proposes alterations in vehicles, in order to make them suitable for specially-abled people.</li>
<li>It provides for a <strong>Motor Vehicle Accident Fund,</strong> which would provide compulsory insurance cover to all road users in India for certain types of accidents.</li>
<li>It provides for a <strong>National Road Safety Board,</strong> to be created by the Central Government through a notification. The Board will provide advice to the Central and State Governments on all aspects of road safety and traffic management.</li>
<li>Contractors, consultants, and civic agencies will be accountable for faulty design, construction or poor maintenance of roads leading to accidents. Those found guilty would be penalized up to Rs 1 lakh.</li>
<li>The bill also provides for the protection of good samaritans.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/ministrys-report-on-road-accidents-in-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ministry&rsquo;s Report on Road Accidents in India</a></p>
</div>',
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			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/global-status-report-on-road-safety-who'
		],
		(int) 2 => [
			'title' => 'Important Facts for Prelims (8th December 2018)',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<h3>CAD Widens to 2.9% of GDP</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India's Current Account Deficit (CAD) widened to <strong>2.9% of the gross domestic product</strong> in the Q2 (quarter which ended in September) compared with 1.1% in the year-ago period.</li>
<li>Major reasons for rising CAD was <strong>sharp rise in oil prices</strong>, and<strong> weakening rupee (imports become costlier).</strong> However both these factors are<strong> not that severe now</strong> and therefore CAD is projected to <strong>come down later in the year.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Current Account Deficit (CAD)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>CAD, is the difference between th<strong>e inflow and outflow of foreign exchange.</strong> It reflects that the imports of goods, services and investment incomes into the economy outstripped the value of its exports.</li>
<li>Current Account Deficit and Fiscal Deficit ( also known as "budget deficit", it is a situation when a nation's expenditure exceeds its revenues) are t<strong>ogether are known as twin deficits</strong> and often both reinforce each other i.e. High fiscal deficit leads to higher CAD and vice versa.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Global Hackathon On Artificial Intelligence</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>NITI Aayog</strong> in partnership with <strong>Perlin, a Singapore-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) startup</strong> has launched the &lsquo;<strong>AI 4 All Global Hackathon&rsquo;.</strong></li>
<li>Hackathon will invite developers, students, start-ups and companies to develop <strong>AI applications to make significant positive social and economic impact for India.</strong></li>
<li>With the vision to further expand the idea of <strong>&lsquo;Artificial Intelligence, AI for All&rsquo; articulated in the National AI Strategy,</strong> NITI Aayog organises hackathons to source sustainable, innovative and technologically-enabled solutions to address various challenges in the development space.</li>
<li>Earlier it had also organised <strong>&lsquo;MoveHack&rsquo; ,</strong> on the sidelines of the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/global-mobility-summit-move" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Global Mobility Summit 2018</a></li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-8th-december-2018'
		],
		(int) 3 => [
			'title' => 'An Invitation To Corruption?',
			'catname' => 'News Editorials',
			'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article &ldquo;An Invitation To Corruption?&rdquo; which appears in The Hindu on 8th December 2018.)</p>
</div>
<p>In order to<strong> &ldquo;cleanse the system of political funding in the country</strong>&rdquo; and in keeping with the government&rsquo;s desire to move to a cashless economy, electoral bonds scheme was introduced.<strong> The scheme, announced during the 2017 Budget, aimed to account the donations made to all major political parties.</strong></p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Electoral Bonds Scheme</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Electoral Bond is a financial instrument (similar to a promissory note) for making donations to political parties.</strong></li>
<li>These are issued by Scheduled Commercial banks upon authorization from the Central Government to intending donors, but only against cheque and digital payments (it cannot be purchased by paying cash).</li>
<li>These bonds shall be redeemable in the designated account of a registered political party within the prescribed time limit from the issuance of the bond.</li>
<li><strong>The bonds will be issued in multiples of ₹1,000, ₹10,000, ₹1 lakh, ₹10 lakh, and ₹1 crore and will be available at specified banks.</strong></li>
<li>They can be bought by the donor with a KYC-compliant account. Donors can donate the bonds to their party of choice which can then be cashed in via the party's verified account within 15 days.</li>
<li>In its present form, the scheme permits not only individuals and body corporates but also &ldquo;every artificial juridical person,&rdquo; to purchase bonds.</li>
<li><strong>Every party that is registered under section 29A of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and has secured at least one percent of the votes polled in the most recent Lok Sabha or State election will be allotted a verified account by the Election Commission of India.</strong> Electoral bond transactions can be made only via this account.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Why Electoral Bonds are Necessary?<img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/348drishti-ias_an invitation to corruption.png" style="float: right;" width="244" height="377" /></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The conventional system of political funding is to rely on donations. These donations, big or small, come from a range of sources from political workers, sympathizers, small business people, and even large industrialists. The conventional practice of funding the political system was to take donations in cash and undertake these expenditures in cash. The sources are anonymous or pseudonymous. <strong>The quantum of money was never disclosed. The present system ensures unclean money coming from unidentifiable sources.</strong></li>
<li>Donations made online or through cheques remain an ideal method of donating to political parties. However, these have not become very popular in India since they involve disclosure of the donor&rsquo;s identity. However, the electoral bond scheme envisages total clean money and substantial transparency coming into the system of political funding. A donor can purchase electoral bonds from a specified bank only by a banking instrument. He would have to disclose in his accounts the number of political bonds that he has purchased. A bond can only be encased in a pre-declared account of a political party.</li>
</ul>
<p>But the<strong> scheme&rsquo;s failings have become so blindingly obvious,</strong> and its consequences so utterly devastating, that criticisms are coming in from a multitude of places like High Court judges, former Election Commissioners, journalists etc.</p>
<h3>Drawbacks</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>There are many grey areas in this scheme because there is no ceiling on party expenditure and the EC (Election Commission) cannot monitor it. It cannot be sure that what is coming in is not black money as there is a secrecy of the donor.</strong></li>
<li>Even foreign money can come and even a dying company can give money. So, prima facie it appears the scheme cannot really deliver whatever it was intended to.</li>
<li>The fact that the scheme allows for complete anonymity of the donor and neither the purchaser of the bond nor the political party receiving the donation is mandated to disclose the donor&rsquo;s identity. Therefore, not only will say, the shareholders of a corporation be unaware of the company&rsquo;s contributions, but the voters too will have no idea of how, and through whom, a political party has been funded.</li>
<li><strong>For instance, the programme removes an existing condition that had prohibited companies from donating anything more than 7.5% of their average net-profit over the previous three years. This now means that even loss-making entities can make unlimited contributions.</strong></li>
<li>Additionally, the requirement that a corporation ought to have been in existence for at least three years before it could make donations &mdash; a system that was meant to stop shell companies from being created with a view purely to <g class="gr_ gr_94 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="94" data-gr-id="94">syphoning</g> money into politics &mdash; has also been removed.</li>
<li>The scheme also suffers from at least two foundational defects. One, that it was incorporated on the back of a series of amendments made to legislation, including the Representation of the People Act, the Income Tax Act, and the Companies Act, which were introduced in the form of a money bill. And two, that the scheme flouts a number of fundamental rights. The Finance Act, through which these amendments were introduced, therefore did not deal with only those matters contained in Article 110.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Two Judgements</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Even as early as in 1957, in a pair of judgments outstanding in their lucidity and prescience, the Bombay and the Calcutta High Courts warned Parliament of the perils in allowing companies to freely add to party coffers.</li>
<li>Bombay High Court said it is something which is likely to &ldquo;grow apace and which may ultimately overwhelm and even throttle democracy in the country&rdquo;.</li>
<li>The court was conscious that, given the circumscriptions of the law, it could scarcely deny, in the case before it, permission sought by Tata Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. to amend its memorandum of association, to allow the company to make contributions to different political interests.</li>
<li>The Calcutta High Court had made an almost identical appeal. &ldquo;To the cynic it appears to be a plea of the company to have a legal sanction to bribe the Government of the day, to induce policies that will help the company in its business&rdquo;.</li>
<li>If amendments of this kind were allowed, and if joint stock companies serve as adjuncts to political parties, the Court added, the &ldquo;man who pays the piper will then call the tune&rdquo;.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There&rsquo;s no doubt that the Constitution does not contain an explicitly enforceable right to vote. But implicit in its guarantees of equality and free speech is a right to knowledge and information. Our courts have nearly consistently seen &ldquo;freedom of voting&rdquo; as distinct from the right to vote, as a facet of the right to freedom of expression and as an essential condition of political equality. In the absence of complete knowledge about the identities of those funding the various different parties, it&rsquo;s difficult to conceive how a citizen can meaningfully participate in political and public life.</li>
<li><strong>The electoral bonds scheme, therefore, suggests two possibilities: one, that the government doesn&rsquo;t understand the Constitution; or, two, it does, and has expressly set out to transgress it.</strong></li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/an-invitation-to-corruption'
		],
		(int) 4 => [
			'title' => '2023 is the International Year of Millets- FAO',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>India's proposal to observe an <strong>International Year of Millets in 2023</strong> has been approved at the by the <strong>Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)</strong>.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India is celebrating <strong>2018 as the national year of millets</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Millet is a collective term referring to a number of small-seeded annual grasses that are cultivated as grain crops, primarily on marginal lands in dry areas in temperate, subtropical and tropical regions.</li>
<li>Some of the common millets available in India are Ragi (Finger millet), Jowar (Sorghum), Sama (Little millet), Bajra (Pearl millet), and Variga (Proso millet).</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Millets as Smart Food</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Millets are <strong>less expensive and nutritionally superior</strong> to wheat &amp; rice owing to their high <strong>protein</strong>, <strong>fibre</strong>, <strong>vitamins</strong> and minerals like <strong>iron</strong> content.</li>
<li>Millets are also rich in <strong>calcium</strong> and <strong>magnesium</strong>. For example, <strong>Ragi</strong> is known to have the highest calcium content among all the food grains.</li>
<li>Millets can provide <strong>nutritional</strong> <strong>security</strong> and act as a shield against nutritional deficiency, especially among <strong>children</strong> and <strong>women</strong>. Its high iron content can fight <g class="gr_ gr_62 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="62" data-gr-id="62">high</g> prevalence of <strong>anaemia</strong> in India women of reproductive age and infants.</li>
<li>Millets are rich in <strong>antioxidants</strong>.</li>
<li>Millets can help tackle <strong>lifestyle</strong> <strong>problems</strong> and health challenges such as <strong>obesity</strong> and <strong>diabetes</strong> as they are <strong>gluten-free</strong> and have a <strong>low glycemic index</strong> (a relative ranking of carbohydrate in foods according to how they affect blood glucose levels).</li>
</ul>
<h3>Millets as Smart Crop</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Millets are <strong>Photo-insensitive</strong> (do not require a specific photoperiod for flowering) &amp; <strong>resilient to climate change</strong>.</li>
<li>Millets <strong>can grow on poor soils</strong> with little or no external inputs.</li>
<li>Millets are less water <g class="gr_ gr_63 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling" id="63" data-gr-id="63">consuming</g> and are <strong>capable of growing under drought conditions</strong>, under non-irrigated conditions even in very low rainfall regimes</li>
<li>Millets have <strong>low carbon and water footprint</strong> (rice plant needs at least 3 times more water to grow in comparison to millets).</li>
<li>Millets can <strong>withstand high temperature</strong>. In times of climate change Millets are often the last crop standing and, thus, are a good risk management strategy for resource-poor marginal farmers.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Since India, which supports more than 15% of the world&rsquo;s population, but only has 4% of its water resources, promotion of millets could be helpful.</li>
<li>To efficiently feed the growing population, increase in the production of and demand for millets is need of the hour.</li>
<li>Policy changes need to address infrastructure development in regions growing millets.</li>
<li>Cultivation of several varieties of millets should be encouraged and practised.</li>
<li>The government should include millets in Public Distribution System (PDS) and nutrition programmes.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>For example, Odisha has planned to introduce millets in PDS, mid-day meal scheme (MDM) and the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The government should incentivise farmers growing millets and practising mixed cropping, besides providing financial support for their processing, storage and marketing.</li>
<li>Specific value addition practices, like grading, sorting, cleaning, processing and packaging should also be supported.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Additional Information</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>FAO (specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger) Council approved <strong>India&rsquo;s membership</strong> to the Executive Board of the United Nations<strong> World Food Program (WFP)</strong> for 2020 and 2021.</li>
<li>World Food Programme is the <strong>UN agency focused on hunger alleviation and food security</strong>.</li>
<li>Globally, it responds to emergencies making sure food reaches where it is needed, especially in times of civil strife and natural disasters.</li>
<li>In India, WFP has moved from providing direct food aid to providing technical assistance and capacity building services to the Government of India.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/2023-is-the-international-year-of-millets-fao'
		],
		(int) 5 => [
			'title' => 'Climate Finance',
			'catname' => 'Paper 3',
			'desc' => '<h3>Why in News?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Ahead of the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP24), the BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, China and India) countries said that they would push developed countries on their commitment to providing $100 billion annually from 2020.</li>
<li>However, countries till now haven&rsquo;t even agreed on what constitutes climate finance.</li>
</ul>
<h3>What is Climate Finance?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Climate finance refers to local, national or transnational financing&mdash;drawn from public, private and alternative sources of financing.</li>
<li>It seeks to support mitigation and adaptation actions that will address climate change.</li>
<li>The UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement call for financial assistance from countries with more financial resources to those that are less endowed and more vulnerable.</li>
<li>It is in accordance with the principle of &ldquo;common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities&rdquo;.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Through the Cancun Agreements in 2010 developed countries committed to a goal of mobilizing jointly USD 100 billion per year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries.</li>
<li>The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was established in Cancun Agreement and designated it as an operating entity of the financial mechanism.</li>
<li>Under the Paris Agreement in 2015, developed countries confirmed this goal and agreed that prior to 2025 a new collective quantified goal from a floor of USD 100 billion per year shall be set.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Need for Climate Finance</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Globally the scale of needed investment:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The World Economic Forum projects that by 2020, about $5.7 trillion will need to be invested annually in green infrastructure.</li>
<li>The current commitment of $100 billion annually is only a small piece of the $5.7 trillion puzzle.</li>
<li>Therefore funding is needed to meet the investment needs in 2020 and beyond.</li>
<li>Mitigation &ndash; Large-scale investments are required to significantly reduce emissions.</li>
<li>Adaptation &ndash; Significant financial resources are needed to adapt to the adverse effects and reduce the impacts of a changing climate.</li>
<li>It is also critical to support developing countries to build resilience to worsening climate impacts and to catalyzing private sector climate investment.</li>
<li>Climate Finance is needed to transition the world&rsquo;s economy to a low-carbon path, as direct government funding is scarce in these countries.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>The scale of needed investment in India:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Under Paris Accord, India has planned to reduce its carbon emission intensity &ndash; emission per unit of GDP &ndash; by 33-35%. To achieve these targets and build its renewable capacity India needs climate finance.</li>
<li>India&rsquo;s Green Bond market is in growth stage, first green bonds were issued in 2015 - indicating the need to explore more options for climate financing.</li>
<li>In India, banks and non-banking financial companies have a limited appetite for long-term debt due to asset-liability mismatch.</li>
<li>Along with problems arising out of climate change, India also face traditional problems like poverty, pollution, education and skill gaps etc.Hence there is a greater need for climate finance.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Global Climate Financing</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Green Climate Fund (GCF)</strong> was established to limit or reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in developing countries and to help vulnerable societies adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change.</li>
<li><strong>Adaptation Fund (AF)</strong> was established under the Kyoto Protocol in 2001 and has committed US$ 532 million to climate adaptation and resilience activities.</li>
<li><strong>Global Environment Fund (GEF) </strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>GEF has served as an operating entity of the financial mechanism since the Convention came into force in 1994.</li>
<li>It is a private equity fund focused on seeking long term financial returns by investments in clean energy under climate change.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>In addition to providing guidance to the GEF and the GCF, parties have established two special funds:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) and the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF).</li>
<li>Both funds are managed by the GEF.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/424Climate Finance_drishtiias.png" width="680" height="413" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" alt="Climate Finance" caption="false" /></p>
<h3>Climate Financing in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)</strong> are nationally binding targets adopted under UNFCCC. India has to reduce GHG emissions under this, which requires climate financing.</li>
<li><strong>National Clean Energy Fund:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Fund was created to promote clean energy, funded through an initial carbon tax on use of coal by industries.</li>
<li>Governed by an Inter-Ministerial Group with the Finance Secretary as the Chairman.</li>
<li>Its mandate is to fund research and development of innovative clean energy technology in the fossil and non fossil fuel based sectors.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>National Adaptation Fund:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The fund was established in 2014 with a corpus of Rs. 100 crore with the aim of bridging the gap between the need and the available funds.</li>
<li>The fund is operated under Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&amp;CC).</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Clean Development Mechanism (CDM):</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries to earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2.</li>
<li>The CDM is the main source of income for the UNFCCC Adaptation Fund.</li>
<li>The Adaptation Fund is financed by a 2% levy on CERs issued by the CDM.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Internal Programmes:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA),</strong> Disaster Management Fund etc.</li>
<li>A Climate Change Finance Unit was set up by Department of Economics in the Ministry of Finance to advise and guide the MoEF&amp;CC as well as to lead on global climate finance issues.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Principles of Climate Finance</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Polluter Pays</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The 'polluters pays' principle is the commonly accepted practice according to which those who produce pollution should bear the costs of managing it to prevent damage to human health or the environment.</li>
<li>This principle underpins most of the regulation of pollution affecting land, water and air formally known as the 1992 Rio Declaration.</li>
<li>It has also been applied more specifically to emissions of greenhouse gases which cause climate change.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Common but Differentiated Responsibility and Respective Capability (CBDR&ndash;RC)</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>CBDR&ndash;RC is a principle within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).</li>
<li>It acknowledges the different capabilities and differing responsibilities of individual countries in addressing climate change.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Additionality</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Climate finance should be additional to existing commitments to avoid the diversion of funding for development needs to climate change actions.</li>
<li>This includes use of public climate finance and investments by private sector.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Adequacy &amp; Precaution</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In order to take precautionary measures to prevent or minimise the causes of climate change as a stated goal under UNFCCC, the level of funding needs to be sufficient to keep a global temperature with in limits as possible.</li>
<li>A better level of adequacy might be increased in the national estimates of the needed climate funds, this will help build planned investments with respect to INDC.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Predictability</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Climate finance must be predictable to ensure sustained flow of climate finance.</li>
<li>It can be done through multi-year, medium-term funding cycles (3 &ndash; 5 years).</li>
<li>This allows for adequate investment program to scale up country&rsquo;s national adaptation and mitigation priorities.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>At global levels:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There is a gap between national needs and climate finance under Nationally Determined Contribution there is need for additional international financial support.</li>
<li>Least Developed Countries receive much less approved funding in per-capita terms from the multilateral climate funds.</li>
<li>The rate of approvals is time taking, due to which the drawee nation has insufficient funds to complete its target and leads to stalling of projects.</li>
<li>The uncertainties such as, the recent refusal of US to pay $2 billion of its pledge this has created shortage of funds at available GCF.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>At National levels:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In India the local market to climate finance are insufficiently involved in financial products that support climate change adaptation.</li>
<li>Their is imminent failure in securing viability-gap funding either from governments, or multilateral development banks.</li>
<li>Projects in climate change has longer gestation period which deter financial institutions from investing in them.</li>
<li>Shortage of funds due to insufficient budget allocation are often interfered due to any excess or additional grants which leads to stalling of green projects.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>An analytical framework is necessary to combine potential climate risks with a systematic cost-benefit analysis.</li>
<li>Favourable policy and institutional actions are important for successful introduction or scaling up of financial instruments.</li>
<li>Such actions, through public-private partnership (PPP) and PPP People (PPPP) can help improving climate finance.</li>
<li>Climate finance should be equipped with non institutional financial services such as market funds, private etc.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/paper3/climate-finance-1'
		],
		(int) 6 => [
			'title' => 'Climate Finance',
			'catname' => 'Paper 3',
			'desc' => '<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/149Drishti_ias_Climate%20Finance.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/149Drishti_ias_Climate Finance.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/mind-map/gs-paper3/climate-finance-paper-3'
		],
		(int) 7 => [
			'title' => 'National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The Union Cabinet has approved the launching of<strong> National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS)</strong> to be implemented by<strong> Department of Science &amp; Technology</strong> for a period of<strong> five years.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>NM-ICPS covers entire India which includes Central Ministries, State Governments, Industry and Academia.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Cyber-Physical Systems</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Cyber-physical systems <strong>integrate</strong> sensing, computation, control and networking<strong> into physical objects and infrastructure,</strong> connecting them to the Internet and to each other.</li>
<li>Few Potential applications: <strong>Driverless cars</strong> that communicate securely with each other<strong> on smart roads</strong>, Sensors in the home to <strong>detect changing health conditions,</strong> improving <strong>agricultural practices</strong> and enabling scientists to address issues arising out of climate change,etc.</li>
<li>Advances in cyber-physical systems will enable capability, adaptability, scalability, resiliency, safety, security and usability that will far exceed the simple embedded systems of today.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Objective</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The NM-ICPS is a comprehensive Mission which would address technology development, application development, human resource development &amp; skill enhancement, entrepreneurship and start-up development in Cyber Physical System (CPS) and associated technologies.</li>
<li>The Mission aims at establishment of <strong>15 Technology Innovation Hubs (TIH)</strong>, <strong>six Application Innovation Hubs (AIH)</strong> and <strong>four Technology Translation Research Parks (TTRP).</strong></li>
<li>These Hubs &amp; TTRPs will connect to<strong> Academics, Industry, Central Ministries and State Government</strong> in developing solutions at reputed academic, R&amp;D and other organizations across the country in a hub and spoke model.</li>
<li>The Hubs &amp; TTRPs have<strong> four focused areas</strong> along which the Mission implementation would proceed, namely:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Technology Development,</li>
<li>HRD &amp; Skill Development,</li>
<li>Innovation, Entrepreneurship &amp; Start-ups Ecosystem Development, and</li>
<li>International Collaborations.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>CPS and its associated technologies, like Artificial Intelligence (Al), Internet of Things (loT), Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning (DP), Big Data Analytics, etc. have pervaded and is playing a transformative role in almost every field of human endeavour all most in all sectors.</li>
<li>Therefore, It has become imperative for government and industries to be <strong>prepared to adopt these emerging and disruptive technologies in order to remain competitive</strong>, drive societal progress, generate employment, foster economic growth and to improve the overall quality of life and sustainability of the environment.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Impact</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>CPS technologies provide a <strong>cutting edge to a Nation's scientific, engineering, and technological innovative capabilities;</strong> support other missions of the government, provide industrial and economic competitiveness and have truly <strong>became a Strategic Resource</strong>.</li>
<li>The proposed Mission would act as an <strong>engine of growth that would benefit national initiatives</strong> in health, education, energy, environment, agriculture, strategic cum security, and industrial sectors, Industry 4.0, SMART Cities, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) etc.</li>
<li>CPS is an integrated system of upcoming technology, which in turn is being taken up on priority basis by countries in the race for development. CPS will indeed bring a paradigm shift in entire skill sets requirement.</li>
<li>The <strong>job opportunities will be enhanced</strong> through the Mission by imparting advanced skills and generating skilled manpower as per the requirement of the industry/ society. Accordingly, it is estimated that, about 40,000 jobs will be created in the short term and about 2,00,000 in long term.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/national-mission-on-interdisciplinary-cyber-physical-systems'
		],
		(int) 8 => [
			'title' => 'Agriculture Export Policy 2018',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The Union Cabinet has approved the Agriculture Export Policy, 2018.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The policy would help the government in achieving the target of doubling farmers income.</li>
<li>The vision of Agriculture Export Policy is to<strong> harness the export potential of Indian agriculture, through suitable policy instruments, to make India global power in agriculture and raise farmers income.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Objectives of the Policy</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>To double agricultural exports from present ~US$ 30+ Billion to ~US$ 60+ Billion by 2022 and reach US$ 100 Billion in the next few years thereafter, with a stable trade policy regime.</li>
<li>To diversify the export basket, destinations and boost high value and value-added agricultural exports including a focus on perishables.</li>
<li>To promote novel, indigenous, organic, ethnic, traditional and non-traditional Agri products exports.</li>
<li>To provide an institutional mechanism for pursuing market access, tackling barriers and deal with sanitary and phytosanitary issues.</li>
<li>Enable farmers to get the benefit of export opportunities in the overseas market.<strong></strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Need For Export Policy</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The policy can&nbsp;<strong>address challenges to exporting agricultural products</strong> from India like low farm productivity, poor infrastructure, global price volatility to market access.</li>
<li><strong>India&rsquo;s share in global exports of agriculture products was merely 2.2 % in 2016.</strong></li>
<li>India has remained at the lower end of the global agriculture export value chain given that the <strong>majority of its exports are low value, semi-processed and marketed in bulk.</strong> The share of<strong> India&rsquo;s high value and value-added agriculture produce in its agri-export basket is less than 15% compared to 25% in the US and 49% in China.</strong></li>
<li>India is <strong>unable to export its vast horticultural produce due to lack of uniformity in quality, standardization and its inability to curtail losses across the value chain.</strong> Given the globalization of value chains, it is imperative that the country make concerted efforts to boost exports of high margin, value-added and branded processed products.</li>
<li>The<strong> vision of doubling farmers income by 2022</strong> will require a series of interventions to improve production and productivity along with economizing the cost of production. Th<strong>is would also require India to augment its exports to the global market. Hence, it is necessary to have an agriculture export policy in place.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Key Recommendations of Agricultural Export Policy 2018<strong></strong></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;"></ul>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 16px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 91px;" rowspan="4">
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Strategic</strong></p>
</td>
<td style="width: 50%; height: 16px;">Policy Measures</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 25px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 25px;">Infrastructure and Logistics Boost</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 25px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 25px;">Whole Government Approach to boost exports</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 25px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 25px;">
<p>Greater involvement of State Governments in Agri Exports</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p></p>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 152px;" rowspan="8">
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Operational</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
</td>
<td style="width: 50%; height: 19px;">Focus on Clusters</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 19px;">Promoting Value-added exports</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 19px;">Marketing and promotion of &ldquo;Produce of India&rdquo;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 19px;">Infrastructure and Logistics to support agricultural exports</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 19px;">Establishment of Strong Quality Regimen</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 19px;">Self-sufficiency and export-centric production</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 19px;">Research &amp; Development</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 19px;">
<p>Miscellaneous</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong></strong><strong>Stable Trade Policy Measures&nbsp;</strong>to ensure&nbsp;recommends providing an assurance that the processed agricultural products and all kinds of organic products <strong>will not be brought under the ambit of any kind of export restriction.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>The&nbsp;Model Agricultural produce market committee (APMC) act must be adopted by all states and E-NAM must be established.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong> Liberalizing Land Leasing Norms&nbsp;</strong>and&nbsp;adoption of the Model Contract Farming Act by state governments in order to promote agricultural exports.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Contract farming is expected to bring in large-scale private investments in agriculture thus leading to large-scale mechanization. This will further produce surplus volumes of the standardized, exportable quality of agricultural products.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Infrastructure and Logistics Boost&nbsp;</strong>by identifying ports for the export of agricultural products. Development in port infrastructure like dedicated perishable berths.</li>
<li><strong>Whole Government approach</strong>&nbsp;which will ensure all government department and ministries like Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Ministry of Shipping &amp; Transport, Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Consumer Affairs involved in agricultural production, processing, transportation <g class="gr_ gr_101 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="101" data-gr-id="101">and</g> export should work together to address bottlenecks at every level.</li>
<li><strong>State government involvement:</strong> As Agriculture is a state subject it is necessary to bring on board the state governments for positive agricultural reforms. Each state has its own agricultural nuances, like one state may be experiencing a drought while another may be dealing with floods. Thus it is necessary to align state agricultural policies with the nation&rsquo;s overarching goals.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>State governments must identify the government department for the promotion of <g class="gr_ gr_95 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="95" data-gr-id="95">the agricultural</g> export.</li>
<li>The states must include agriculture export in state export policy and build infrastructure and logistics to facilitate agricultural export.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Focus on Export centric Clusters&nbsp;</strong>for&nbsp;pre- and post-harvest management of the production as well as in upgrading the supply chain to attain much higher levels of export from those clusters.</li>
<li><strong>Promoting Value Added Exports of</strong>&nbsp;indigenous and tribal products.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Through the National Programme on Organic Production (NPOP), organic food parks and by the uniform quality and packaging standards India can tap the potential for increasing organic exports.</li>
<li>Promotion of Research &amp; Development (R&amp;D) activities, promoting &ldquo;produce in India&rdquo; through the constitution of separate funds dedicated to organic, value-added, ethnic, GI and branded products.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Post-Harvest Infrastructure</strong> that can support the smooth logistical movement of agri-produce exports. This will have a direct co-relationship in increasing export volumes, assuring quality &amp; ensuring better price realization per unit.</li>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Digitization of land records, geo-mapping of lands, registration of farmers and farm producer organizations (FPOs) is critical to smooth agricultural exports.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Establishment of Strong Quality Regimen&nbsp;</strong>with the focus on strong R&amp;D, new varieties, state of the art lab and a lab networking process for effective accreditation and monitoring.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>An institutional mechanism should be provided that would pursue market access, tackle barriers and deal with sanitary and phytosanitary issues against India&rsquo;s agricultural exports that come up from time to time.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Research and Development&nbsp;</strong>led by private industry along with higher infrastructure <g class="gr_ gr_97 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="97" data-gr-id="97">spend</g> by the government will be the key to boosting agricultural exports.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Along with this, innovations in packaging, improving the shelf life of products and greater R &amp; D in developing products to suit the palates of importing countries should be a priority.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The policy has recommended setting up of <strong>an agri-startup fund.</strong></li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/agriculture-export-policy-2018'
		],
		(int) 9 => [
			'title' => 'Important Facts for Prelims (7th December 2018)',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<h3>Exercise Hand-In-Hand</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Exercise Hand-in-Hand is <strong>annual military exercise</strong> conducted between <strong>India and China.</strong></li>
<li>The joint exercise for the <strong>year 2018</strong> will be conducted from 10 to 23 December 2018 at<strong> Chengdu, China.</strong></li>
<li>The aim of the exercise is to build and promote close relations between armies of both the countries and to enhance ability of joint exercise commander to take military contingents of both nations under command.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Ideate for India - Creative Solutions using Technology</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>National e-Governance Division of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)</strong> in collaboration with <strong>Intel India</strong> has launched a National Challenge for Youths, <strong>&ldquo;Ideate for India - Creative Solutions using Technology&rdquo;.</strong></li>
<li>The aim of this National Challenge is to give <strong>school students</strong> across the country a platform and opportunity to become solution creators for the problems they see around them and their communities.</li>
<li>It is open to students of <strong>classes 6 - 12 all across the country - all 29 States and 7 Union Territories</strong> and aims to reach out to at least 1 million youth over the next 3 months.</li>
<li>There are <strong>11 core theme areas</strong> on which students can share their ideas- healthcare services, education services, digital services, environment, women safety, traffic, infrastructure, agriculture, social welfare, disability and tourism.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-7th-december-2018'
		],
		(int) 10 => [
			'title' => 'Is Social Media Polarising Society?',
			'catname' => 'News Editorials',
			'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article &ldquo;Is Social Media Polarising Society?&rdquo; which appears in The Hindu on 6th December 2018.)</p>
</div>
<p><strong>We live in a world where we aren&rsquo;t only consumers of information but creators as well, which gives us a misplaced sense of control.</strong></p>
<p>Almost 1.49 billion people on average log onto Facebook daily; every second, on average, around 6,000 tweets are tweeted on Twitter; and since its inception, over 40 billion photographs have been posted on Instagram.</p>
<p><strong>As we approach the end of the second decade of this century, social media and the Internet have drifted from their promise of closing distances and exposing us to the views of those who existed beyond our personal networks.</strong></p>
<p>Because of extensive social media usage, we find ourselves to be more rigid versions of our former selves. Fake news is an industry today and finds great resonance with people. Its rise corresponds with a growing distrust in the mainstream media. Fake news has now even slipped into traditional media outlets and is often circulated by prominent individuals. This has contributed to the echo chamber phenomenon*.</p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p>&ldquo;<strong>Echo chamber</strong>&rdquo; is a term widely used in today's lexicon, that describes a situation where certain ideas, beliefs or data points are reinforced through repetition of a closed system that does not allow for the free movement of alternative or competing ideas or concepts.</p>
</div>
<h3>How Social Media is Polarising Society?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In the 1950s, a series of psychological experiments called the Asch Conformity Experiments were carried out by the social psychologist Solomon Asch, to determine the extent to which a person&rsquo;s opinion is influenced by a group. Asch found through a series of trials that an individual was willing to go to the extent of giving a wrong answer just to conform to the majority view.</li>
<li><strong>The respondents gave wrong answers either because they did not want to be ridiculed or thought of as &ldquo;peculiar&rdquo;, or because they believed that the group was better informed than them.</strong> Although means of communication and engagement have evolved since the 1950s, the human instinct to fit in hasn&rsquo;t changed. To some extent, this also explains the impact of fake news online, which is said to contribute to a polarised society.</li>
<li>A study carried out by Aalto University, Finland, on increasing polarisation on social media found that factors like user homophily (users in a social system tend to bond more with ones who are similar to them than to ones who are dissimilar) and algorithmic filtering have created the cycle of enforcing and reinforcing belief systems and ensuring that we don&rsquo;t open our minds to diverse opinions.</li>
<li><strong>People seek &ldquo;informed&rdquo; opinions through filters only from people they trust and look for news that confirms their worldview.</strong> This results in people cultivating rigid opinions of issues.</li>
<li>Social media sites are more than willing to play abettors.<strong> Twitter, for example, will routinely prompt you to follow people who hold a viewpoint that is similar to yours.</strong></li>
<li>The features of openness, obscurity, and anonymity that once gave strength to marginalized communities are now giving room for mean intentions to grow.</li>
<li>Over the last couple of years, there has been a growing trend of misinformation (due to biases or human errors), disinformation (fake news created intentionally) and even &ldquo;fake accounts&rdquo;, the latter directly targeted at pushing a political agenda or harassing somebody online.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Social Media is not the only reason for polarization</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The printing press was seen as trouble by the Ottomans</strong>. The speed at which books were printed and distributed aroused suspicion. Ironically, the first Greek printing house set up in 1627 printed a booklet targeting Jews. <strong>Books were only a medium, just like social media. Banning books and blaming social media are results of the same flawed logic.</strong></li>
<li><strong>If social media had an inherent bias towards evil, the #MeToo stories wouldn&rsquo;t have found an outlet.</strong> There are many stories of lost children being found, dogs being adopted, money being raised for various causes, and other similar stories of good being <g class="gr_ gr_93 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_disable_anim_appear Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="93" data-gr-id="93">done,</g> is found on social media.</li>
<li><strong>According to the BI-2018 survey</strong> (Broadcast Audience Research Council of India - BARC - periodically conducts a research study to ascertain television viewing habits in India), the number of individuals with access to TV has gone up to 835 million; smartphone penetration in the country is at around 300 million. The number of daily active users on WhatsApp is 200 million; on Facebook, it is 194 million, and on Twitter, it is 7.83 million.<strong> By all accounts, social media in India is still a niche phenomenon.</strong></li>
<li>Social media is a mechanism comprising of multimedia and other platforms that are multilingual, multicultural and are inclusive, and allow equal opportunities for all, irrespective of class, creed, race, religion, sex, age or financial resources.<strong> Blaming social media for every (online and offline) misconduct doesn't seem to have any logical base to stand upon.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Because of the influence of social media, people are getting trapped in narrower worldviews that are seeping into not only voter </strong><g class="gr_ gr_108 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_disable_anim_appear ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="108" data-gr-id="108">behaviour</g><strong> but everyday personal interactions.</strong> This is something we must be alarmed about. Log in or log out, the world is a far more opinionated place today but it need not be a rigid one.</li>
<li>It is true that social media was used to garner support for a man who burnt a Muslim man on video in Rajasthan, but it was the same social media that was also used to raise funds for the parents of a child who was gang-raped and murdered in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir. This shows that social media is only just a tool, which on the hands of a user can easily do as much good as bad.</li>
<li><strong>Social media is a tool for empowerment, especially for a country like India where 70% of the population is yet to get online and leverage the opportunities it has to offer.</strong></li>
<li>While social media is definitely facing the global challenges of information bombardment (both factual and fake), it is also enabling communities to access their rights and voice their opinion.<strong> Hopefully, over time, people will learn to take more responsibility for what they share and social media platforms shall regain their lost trust.</strong></li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/is-social-media-polarising-society'
		],
		(int) 11 => [
			'title' => 'Air Pollution in India: One in 8 Deaths due to Air Pollution',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>A recent study under&nbsp;<strong>India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative</strong> has estimated the exposure to air pollution and its <strong>impact on deaths, disease burden, and life expectancy in every state of India in 2017</strong>.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The study was conducted by the <strong>Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)</strong>, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.</li>
<li>It has been estimated that <strong>one in every eight deaths in India is attributable to air pollution</strong> which now contributes to more disease burden than tobacco use.</li>
<li>In India, the major <strong>sources of ambient particulate matter pollution</strong> are coal burning for thermal power production, industrial emissions, construction activity and brick kilns, transport vehicles, road dust, residential and commercial biomass burning, waste burning, agricultural stubble burning, and diesel generators.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Key Findings</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India has one of the highest exposure levels to air pollution globally.</li>
<li>77% of India&rsquo;s population was exposed to mean PM 2&middot;5 more than 40 &mu;g/m&sup3;, which is the recommended limit set by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards of India.</li>
<li>India accounts for around <strong>26%</strong> of the global premature deaths and disease burden due to air pollution. This is disproportionately high because India only holds <strong>18%</strong> of the global population.</li>
<li>Air pollution was <strong>the second largest risk factor contributing</strong> to the disease burden in India after malnutrition in 2016, with an increasing trend in exposure to ambient particulate matter pollution and a decreasing trend in household air pollution.</li>
<li>Contrary to the popular association of air pollution with respiratory diseases only, in India, the disease burden included ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer, which is commonly associated with smoking.</li>
<li>More than half of the 12.4 lakh deaths in India were of persons younger than 70 and this can be attributed to air pollution in 2017.</li>
<li>The <strong>average life expectancy</strong> in India <strong>would have been 1.7 years higher</strong> if the air pollution level were less than the minimal level causing health loss.</li>
<li>India has <strong>one of the highest annual average ambient particulate matter PM2&middot;5</strong> exposure levels in the world.</li>
<li>In 2017, no state in India had an annual population weighted ambient particulate matter mean PM2&middot;5 less than the WHO recommended <g class="gr_ gr_87 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="87" data-gr-id="87">level</g> of 10 &mu;g/m&sup3; ( PM 2.5 particles are those that are suspended in air and have a diameter lesser than 2.5 microns).</li>
<li>States in north India had some of the highest levels of both ambient particulate matter and household air pollution, especially Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand.</li>
<li>Delhi, Haryana, and Punjab in north India had some of the highest ambient particulate matter pollution exposure in the country.</li>
<li>The <strong>Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY)</strong> which is a measure of overall disease burden expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-health rate due to ambient particulate matter pollution, was highest in the case of north Indian states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, and Rajasthan.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Creating a <strong>robust system</strong> to implement existing clean-air policies, <strong>promoting coordination between the centre and states</strong>, and devising state and district-level pollution control plans are vital to improve air quality.</li>
<li><strong>Detailed emission inventories</strong> are needed to provide information on the type of pollutant, its proportion, its source and its chemical properties.</li>
<li><strong>Satellite data can supplement the routine monitoring of air pollution</strong>, as it can be more economical than setting up and operating a number of fixed stations. They could also be used to identify potential air quality hot spots.</li>
<li>The <strong>National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)</strong> which lays down a comprehensive strategy framework for enhanced management of air quality should incorporate the time-bound pollution reduction targets across sectors with fixed accountability and strong legal backing.</li>
<li>The government already has regulating norms for the emissions from industries and policy on reducing dependency on fuel based power. Emphasis should also be on pollution caused by solid fuel used for cooking, dust pollution, inefficient municipal waste disposal.</li>
<li>Sustainable government support is required for checking the indoor pollution due to solid fuels.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>For example, <strong>Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana</strong> under which women of poor households are being provided free cooking gas connections to reduce their dependence on firewood is a good step but the scheme has failed to convert a majority of the poor LPG users because they find LPG less affordable.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Government Initiatives to Combat Air Pollution</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Notification of National Ambient Air Quality Standards and sector-specific emission and effluent standards for industries;</li>
<li>Setting up of <g class="gr_ gr_126 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="126" data-gr-id="126">monitoring</g> network for assessment of ambient air quality;</li>
<li>Introduction of cleaner gaseous fuels like CNG, LPG etc and ethanol blending;</li>
<li>Launching of National Air Quality Index (AQI);</li>
<li>Universalization of BS-IV for vehicles by 2017;</li>
<li>Leapfrogging from BS-IV to BS-VI standards for vehicles by 1st April 2020;</li>
<li>Banning of <g class="gr_ gr_286 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="286" data-gr-id="286">burning</g> of biomass;</li>
<li>Promotion of public transport network;</li>
<li>Pollution Under Control Certificate;</li>
<li>Issuance of directions under <g class="gr_ gr_353 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="353" data-gr-id="353">Air</g> (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981;</li>
<li>Installation of on-line continuous (24x7) monitoring devices by 17 highly polluting industrial sectors;</li>
<li>Regulating the bursting of pollution-emitting crackers;</li>
<li>Notification of graded response action plan for Delhi identifying source wise actions for various levels of air pollution, etc.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/air-pollution-in-india-one-in-8-deaths-due-to-air-pollution'
		],
		(int) 12 => [
			'title' => 'The Big Picture: Indo-Pacific Maritime Security',
			'catname' => 'Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions',
			'desc' => '<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HeZ3lK6AoHc" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>India stated that it would expand maritime security cooperation with Vietnam amid China&rsquo;s aggressive behavior in the South China Sea and growing ambitions in the Bay of Bengal region.</strong> India and Vietnam agreed to strengthen bilateral strategic cooperation in defense, oil and gas sectors as President Ram Nath Kovind held productive and extensive talks with his Vietnam counterpart. Both leaders restated the importance of building a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region in respect of national sovereignty and international law.</p>
<h3>Vietnam and Indo Pacific Maritime Security</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The present trend shows that Vietnam is hesitant to take an active role with regards to Indo-Pacific. <strong>One of the reasons being the evolving geopolitics of the region. The geopolitical philosophies of both the China and America are contradictory.</strong></li>
<li>Consequently, the Vietnamese are reluctant to take a definite position in the decisions related to Indo-Pacific. T<strong>o ally with India in any form would give a strategic boost to the US and India&rsquo;s stand of free passage in the South China Sea.</strong></li>
<li>Another important reason why the Vietnamese are reluctant to engage with India is that the ASEAN countries as a political entity do not believe in the concept of Indo- Pacific, as the concept is backed by the QUAD ( QUAD is an informal strategic dialogue between the United States, Japan, Australia, and India). <strong>ASEAN countries believe that when the Asia Pacific was expanded by the Trump Administration to Indo-Pacific it took away the focus from ASEAN.</strong></li>
<li>Hence, they deliberately shy away from those aspects which highlight strategic and military aspect. However, they are eager to do more on trade and commerce.</li>
<li><strong>Vietnam has said that they do not want the QUAD to get developed into a military alliance.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>India and ASEAN</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The relationship between India and the ASEAN members is growing stronger by the day. <strong>India being inducted as a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum, is one of the examples of growing closeness.</strong></li>
<li>The Act East policy of India consolidated the relationship between the ASEAN and India. Initially, it was limited to only trade and investment. Now, other dimensions like <g class="gr_ gr_78 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del" id="78" data-gr-id="78">counter insurgency</g>, cyber and maritime security, connectivity etc. have been included.</li>
<li>The Indian administration has been categorical in focusing on the centrality of the ASEAN. It was evident in Indian Prime Minister&rsquo; Shangri La Dialogue.</li>
</ul>
<h3>The coalition between Like-Minded Countries in the Indo-Pacific</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>As per the present situation, we cannot state whether or not the countries are coming together to form an alliance against the Chinese.</strong></li>
<li><strong>The Vietnamese, for example, are more connected with the Chinese than any other country, owing to its proximity to China.</strong> Hence, the warmth shown to India cannot be misconstrued as an alliance. Similarly, the case with Myanmar and Indonesia where Chinese proximity is too close for India to build any coalition force.</li>
<li>India has categorically allayed any Chinese fear by saying that she has no intention to upset the apple cart. <strong>The Indian Prime Minister has always focused on SAGAR &ndash; Security, And Growth for all in the Region.</strong></li>
<li>Chinese do not have any fear for QUAD as the grouping is in the nascent stage of its development. However, it does have its apprehensions as to what it might develop to in the future.</li>
<li><strong>China has only the South China Sea as the opening to the outside world. And in that sense QUAD has immense potential as it can hinder China&rsquo;s gateway to the world.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Role of China in Indo-Pacific</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>China has a huge stake in the Indo-Pacific, as most of the trade is done through this region. Besides, they have invested heavily in the Belt and Road Initiative.</li>
<li><strong>The ASEAN countries also have a well-knit relationship with the Chinese. Hence, in spite of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) verdict (which went against China) the Chinese reclaimed most of the islands in the South China Sea and have also built maritime infrastructure.</strong></li>
<li>The advancement <g class="gr_ gr_88 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="88" data-gr-id="88">by</g> the Chinese was done without firing a single bullet. The US does realize now that the Chinese gradually are becoming a force which can challenge the US strategic interest in the Indo Pacific.</li>
</ul>
<h3>BIMSTEC and the US</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The USA announced that it will identify collaborative opportunities with Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) where India plays a pivotal role to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific region amid China's ambitious moves to dominate the region.</li>
<li>The US State Department also announced that it is expanding maritime security cooperation in the Indian Ocean region, including through the new Bay of Bengal Initiative. India is the biggest country in the Bay of Bengal and principal security provider in the region.</li>
<li>Gradually, BIMSTEC has replaced SAARC and has all the components of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) except problematic Pakistan. This forum is being developed by the present government to further consolidate India&rsquo;s interest in the Indo-Pacific.</li>
<li>Both the Chinese and the US are interested in the platform BIMSTEC because it is vibrant, promising, unlike SAARC which is characterized by lethargy.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There is a growing concern about China&rsquo;s looming presence in the South China Sea and <strong>like-minded countries are apprehensive of China&rsquo;s aspirations.</strong></li>
<li>However, because of too much focus on containing China, there are other issues that are being neglected. ASEAN countries are eager to focus on issues like <strong>trade, investment, overfishing, piracy, disaster management, and cybersecurity</strong>. In this regard, BIMSTEC can become a facilitative platform to enhance engagement with the world in general and the ASEAN member countries in particular.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/the-big-picture-indo-pacific-maritime-security-1'
		],
		(int) 13 => [
			'title' => 'Telerobotic Coronary Surgery in Gujarat',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p><strong>India</strong> became the <strong>first country</strong> to perform a telerobotic coronary surgery on <g class="gr_ gr_37 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="37" data-gr-id="37">human</g>.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The telerobotic coronary intervention was <strong>performed in Gujarat</strong> by Padma Shree and noted cardiologist Dr Tejas Patel on a middle-aged woman who had volunteered for the first experimental coronary stenting.</li>
<li>Tele-robotic surgery is performed at a distance from the patient from a remote location using robotically controlled instruments. It is enabled by computer technology and advanced robotics.</li>
<li>The coronary intervention operation is also popularly known as <strong>stent placing in the arteries</strong>.</li>
<li>The robotic surgery is common in many countries but so far nowhere it had been performed through telerobots away from the operation theatre.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Significance</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>This process will bring about <g class="gr_ gr_41 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="41" data-gr-id="41">revolution</g> in the medical history as it will enable the cardiologists to <strong>perform surgery on the needy patients on <g class="gr_ gr_44 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="44" data-gr-id="44">emergency</g> basis</strong> even from a distance.</li>
<li>The success of the project has the potential to dramatically <strong>improve the access of doctors to patients with heart and stroke ailment</strong>s, especially in rural and under-served areas.</li>
<li>In case of any exigency or failure of the internet connections, the surgeons present at the spot could take over manually within 30 seconds.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>TeleMedicine</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Telemedicine is an upcoming field in health science arising out of the effective <strong>fusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) with Medical Science</strong>.</li>
<li>The main objective of telemedicine is to <strong>cross the geographical barriers</strong> and <strong>provide healthcare facilities to rural and remote areas (health for all)</strong> so it is beneficial for the population living in isolated communities.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Advantages of TeleMedicine</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Eliminate distance barriers and improve access to quality health services.</li>
<li>In emergency and critical care situations where moving a patient may be undesirable and/or not feasible.</li>
<li>Facilitate patients and rural practitioners&rsquo; access to specialist health services and support.</li>
<li>Lessen the inconvenience and/or cost of patient transfers.</li>
<li>Reduce isolation of rural practice by upgrading their knowledge through <g class="gr_ gr_35 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling" id="35" data-gr-id="35">tele</g>-education.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/telerobotic-coronary-surgery-in-gujarat'
		],
		(int) 14 => [
			'title' => 'Potential of GIs is Waiting to be Tapped',
			'catname' => 'News Editorials',
			'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article &ldquo;Potential of GIs is Waiting to be Tapped&rdquo; which appears in BusinessLine on 6th December 2018.)</p>
</div>
<p>Recently, the Indian Minister for Commerce and Industry unveiled <strong>a Tricolour logo that is common for all Geographical Indications (GI) with an impressive tagline &ldquo;Invaluable Treasures of Incredible India&rdquo;.<img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/432drishti_ias_Potential of GIs is Waiting to be Tapped (2).jpg" width="428" height="268" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></strong></p>
<p>Logos convey a specific message to the consumers about the product. An Agmark assures the consumer about the quality. <strong>After 15 years of the GI Registry coming into being, now have a logo that is common for all registered GIs.</strong></p>
<p>GI indicates the &lsquo;link&rsquo; between the place and the product, where the link could be the natural resources, climatic factor or human skills that render uniqueness to the product. <strong>Apart from promoting tourism and rural development, some of the Sustainable Development Goals like empowering women, fostering sustainable communities and reducing poverty may be achieved through effective implementation of GI.</strong></p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>What is GI tag?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The<strong> GI tag is an indication which is definite to a geographical territory.</strong></li>
<li>It is used for agricultural, natural and manufactured goods.</li>
<li>For a product to get a GI tag, the goods need to be produced or processed or prepared in that region. It is also essential that the product has a special quality or reputation.</li>
<li><strong>The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 provides registration and also protection</strong> of GI goods in India.</li>
<li>This Act is administered by the Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks, who is also the Registrar of Geographical Indications.</li>
<li><strong>The Geographical Indications Registry for India is located in Chennai.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>How GI is protected in India?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration &amp; Protection)Act, 1999 which came into force with effect from 2003.</li>
<li>A registered Geographical Indications prohibit a third party to use such Geographical indication by any means in the designations or presentations of goods indicating that such goods originate in a geographical area.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Difference between GI and other intellectual properties (IP)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>GI is a collective intellectual property right and is thus owned by all the producers within the defined GI territory while the IPs like patent and trademark are owned by an individual or a business entity.</strong></li>
<li>While the commercial use of patent could benefit an innovator or a particular firm, commercialization of GI would benefit all the producers in the GI territory.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Opportunities</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>I<strong>ndia has rich diversity in a wide variety of handicrafts and agricultural products.</strong> Encouraging the producers to earn economic returns through authenticating the product with GI logo will help consumers to make an informed decision and help millions of livelihoods dependent on such products.</li>
<li><strong>Promotion of common GI logo will create an edge for GI products over similar products.</strong> It will also bring more awareness among consumers in distant markets as well and result in increased demand for the GI products.</li>
<li>T<strong>his will check distress migration, prevent artisans and farmers leaving their livelihoods and will arrest the erosion of traditional knowledge and practices.</strong></li>
<li>It will also become a tool in the hand of exporters, which can be used to classify the produce and supplies at levels above foreign competitors.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Drawbacks</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The potential of GI has not yet been realized in India</strong> as the efforts have so far mainly focused only on the first step of filing the GI.</li>
<li><strong>Filing a GI application is a huge task</strong> that involves documenting historical evidence about the linkage of the product with the region and the application has to be filed by an association or group of persons.</li>
<li>Hence, in comparison with the incidence of diversity in handicrafts or agricultural products from different parts of India only about <a href="http://www.ipindia.nic.in/writereaddata/Portal/Images/pdf/GI_Application_Register_new.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">326 products</a> identified from different parts of the country have so far been registered with the GI registry.</li>
<li>Post registration activities in terms of utilizing the GI certification as marketing/branding tool to benefit the producers have not been attempted in most of the registered products due to limited awareness about GI in the country among producers, consumers and policymakers.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>A common logo for GI awareness, long advocated by researchers, is now in place. However, a mere unveiling of the logo will not serve any purpose for the producers of registered GIs in India. Enormous human efforts and financial resources are required to position the common GI logo so that it is used as a marketing tool.</strong></li>
<li>The GI logo needs to be widely popularised so that consumers associate the GI logo with the uniqueness and authenticity of GI products. Increase in demand would encourage the producers to take efforts to sustain the uniqueness of the product and cater to the niche market that has demand for authentic products.</li>
<li><strong>Along with these, measures should be taken to prevent the misuse of the logo.</strong></li>
<li>The use of common GI logo has to be inclusive of all the stakeholders in the value chain and collective efforts in organizing them is the need of the hour.</li>
<li><strong>India must learn from Thailand&rsquo;s experience, which has successfully showcased its GI logo.</strong> Such efforts should start with all the State emporiums and handicraft hubs where products are on permanent display. There should be clear signboards with GI logos on the national highways or major bus/railway stations/airports about the GI Production centers in that region and information about the sales points where the products may be procured.<img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/668drishti_ias_Potential of GIs is Waiting to be Tapped (1).jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="670" height="768" /></li>
</ul>',
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		],
		(int) 15 => [
			'title' => 'Septage Management Report by CSE',
			'catname' => 'Summary of Important Reports',
			'desc' => '<h3>Introduction</h3>
<p>Despite constructing 18 crore toilets with containment systems under <strong>Swachh Bharat Mission,</strong> which will be ready by 2019, India struggles with problem of managing treatment of waste generated. Thus, we treatment of sewage and septage needs to be tackled to ensure not just an <strong>open defecation-free (ODF)</strong> <strong>India,</strong> but pollution-free water bodies, cities and towns as well.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>As per <strong>2011 Census,</strong> 81.4% households in urban India have a toilet facility, but only 40% households with a toilet facility are connected to a piped sewer network.</li>
<li>Septage management in cities would also help achieve the aims of <strong>SDG-6,</strong> which includes improving water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping, and minimizing the release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing global recycling and safe end use by 2030.</li>
<li><strong>National Urban Sanitation Policy (NUSP), 2008,</strong> emphasizes the need for proper collection, treatment and disposal of septage from onsite installations.</li>
<li><strong>Faecal sludge and septage management</strong> is not only affordable and sustainable as compared to centralized sewerage system but can also be implemented quickly to make cities clean and healthy.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Key points from Excreta Matters: Seventh State of India&rsquo;s Environment Report</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Pollution from one city distorts water supply plans of those downstream.</li>
<li>Costs of building centralized wastewater treatment system is high.</li>
<li>Cities can build sewerage system for few not all.</li>
<li>Cities spend to treat waste of some, which eventually gets mixed with untreated waste of the majority.</li>
<li>The result is pollution; and cities drowning in their own excreta.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>What is septage management?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Sanitation often focuses only on the provisioning of physical infrastructure &mdash; toilets or latrines &mdash; in order to increase the &lsquo;coverage of toilets&rsquo;, or to look at the epitome of sanitation: Open Defecation Free (ODF) cities.</li>
<li>But there is a need to focus on the entire &lsquo;sanitation chain. It is an outline for understanding how faecal waste flows through each system.</li>
<li>It sets out interlinked steps vital to manage septage and effluent from generation to disposal or end use, thereby summarizing the city-level outcomes and current status of the same.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Septage</h3>
<p>Septage or septic tank waste refers to the partially treated matter stored in and pumped out of a septic tank. It is generally pumped out of a septic tank or onsite sanitation system using a vacuum tanker. It is a host of many disease-causing organisms along with significant level of grease, grit, hair and debris.</p>
<p><strong>Septage has three main components:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Scum:</strong> The layer of solids formed by wastewater constituents that floats to the surface of a tank or reactor (such as oil, grease, hair or any other light material).</li>
<li><strong>Effluent:</strong> The liquid fraction collected in between scum and sludge in a septic tank is known as effluent, sometimes also referred to as a supernatant.</li>
<li><strong>Sludge:</strong> Solids which collect at the bottom of the tank</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why manage septage?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Insufficient infrastructure</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Only 40 per cent of Indian population having toilets is connected to sewerage networks, while another 48 per cent are connected to On-site Septage Systems (OSS).</li>
<li>It poses challenge in the form of lack of sewerage network lines and in emptying of OSS and treatment of effluent let out by them.</li>
<li>In the absence of designated disposal sites, private operators often discharge collected septage into drains, waterways, open land and agricultural fields, which in turn poses a larger threat to the environment and health.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Health and environment implications</strong>
<ul>
<li>Septage contains elements that may produce bad odor, risk public health and create serious environmental hazards.</li>
<li>As septage is highly concentrated, discharging it into a water body may cause immediate depletion of dissolved oxygen.</li>
<li>Increased nutrients levels in the water, leads to eutrophication and increase in the number of pathogens, thus creating risk of health hazards.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Loopholes in Regulation</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Public health and sanitation is a part of the <strong>'constitutional responsibility'</strong> of the municipalities <strong>under the 12<sup>th</sup> schedule of the Constitution (74<sup>th</sup> Amendment, 1992)</strong>.</li>
<li>Municipal acts and regulations normally refer to management of solid and liquid waste, but <strong>do not provide detailed rules for septage management</strong>.</li>
<li>Inadequacy in the implementation and enforcement of regulations worsens the problem.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Current Practice</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Septage management is primarily in the hands of <strong>private operators</strong>. The operators charge for emptying services provided to different stakeholders. Emptying points can be individual households, residential colonies, commercial establishments, institutions, toilet complexes, offices etc.</li>
<li>Due to absence of dedicated disposal sites, private emptiers practice illegal dumping of septage into water bodies, utterly disregarding the threat posed to health and environment.</li>
<li>They run their business without paying any fees to government authorities which means that despite high charges collected from the customers, no revenue is generated by government authorities from the emptying business. Farmers in whose fields the collected septage or faecal sludge is disposed of also pay the private operators.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Key provisions in different laws and regulations that deal with septage management</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/606image1.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/606image1.jpg" width="727" height="765" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management Policy, 2017</strong></p>
<p>Issued by Ministry of Urban Development in early 2017.</p>
<p><strong>Aim:</strong> Facilitate nationwide implementation of FSSM services in all ULBs and to set priorities, and direction for safe and sustainable sanitation in every household in India.</p>
<p><strong>Key features</strong> of the policy are as follows:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>State-level guidelines,</strong> framework, objectives, timelines and implementation plans to address septage management.</li>
<li>Formulating strategy at the <strong>Central level</strong> to initiate capacity-building for training on FSSM.</li>
<li>Creating a <strong>sanitation benchmark framework</strong> which can be used by ULBs to develop a database and registry of certified onsite sanitation system, and a robust reporting format.</li>
<li>Funding for facilitation of FSSM projects and encouragement to increase public private partnerships (PPP).</li>
<li>Achieving integrated citywide sanitation along with safe disposal.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Stages of Septage Management</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Containment:</strong> Containment system helps in restricting the human interaction with excreta either through off-site sanitation system like underground drainage network or through onsite sanitation system like septic tank.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/337image3.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/337image3.jpg" width="485" height="186" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/980image2.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/980image2.jpg" width="628" height="327" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Bio-digester (anaerobic):</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Bio-digesters advocated by the SBM are widely used to provide 80 per cent treatment of black water from individual and cluster households, or institutional buildings where there is no sewerage network.</li>
<li>The technology has been <strong>developed by DRDO</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>Specifications:</strong> It has two key components: <strong>(i) Anaerobic microbial consortium</strong> which has been created by acclimatization, enrichment and bio-augmentation of cold active bacteria collected from Antarctica and other low-temperature areas. <strong>(ii) Specially designed fermentation tank</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Bio-toilet (aerobic):</strong> Bio-toilets make use of aerobic digestion involving multiple strains of bacteria that break down waste matter through oxidization</li>
</ul>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Emptying:</strong> The process of extracting faecal sludge/septage from onsite sanitation systems is known as emptying. It is done both <strong>mechanically and manually</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>(The Prohibition of Employment of Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 however prohibits employment or engagement of manual scavengers).</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Mechanized methods include use of vacuum trucks or tractor-mounted vacuum tankers.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Transportation</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Faecal sludge/septage and waste water/sewage both need to be transported to the treatment/disposal site. Sewage is conveyed using underground drainage network also called sewerage network.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Treatment and Disposal</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Wastewater, faecal sludge and supernatant,</strong> all three should be properly treated and/or safely disposed for improved sanitation.</li>
<li><strong>Sewage and supernatant</strong> with or without treatment end up into lakes and rivers of the State.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Resource recovery</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Faecal sludge contains nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus and, varying amounts of micro-nutrients such as boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum and zinc.
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>These nutrients reduce reliance on chemical fertilizers and in combination they can meet the requirements of nutrients for crop production.</li>
<li>Septage has also been used to generate energy through <strong>biogas systems</strong> and <strong>bio-methanization process</strong>. The methane thus produced can be used as fuel for cooking or for generation of electricity.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Containment</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It is essential to ensure that the OSS constructed is best suited to the local condition of the target area.</li>
<li>Municipal bye-laws for construction of containment systems should be enforced for new constructions.</li>
<li>The relevant agencies must provide sufficient time and support to retrofit OSS with faulty design.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Emptying</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Charges to empty septage vary widely across the country, which should be regularized.</li>
<li>Regulating and licensing of private emptiers.</li>
<li>Proper PPE usage should be made mandatory.</li>
<li>ULBs should ensure that containment systems are desludged as per schedule</li>
<li>Awareness about the need to empty containments regularly is very essential which can be taken up by social media platforms, through various ministries initiative, NGOs too can be consulted.</li>
<li>Most private operators in this business are not aware about adverse impacts of unsafe disposal of the septage. They should be trained on correct transportation and disposal method.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Transport</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Most private operators illegally discharge septage at the nearest point. Routes to be taken should be fixed to reduce the cost of transportation as well as minimizing the effects on health and environment.</li>
<li>Vehicles transporting septage should be able to ply on the roads only during select hours of the day.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Treatment and disposal</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Septage characterization should be undertaken as it helps in selecting the appropriate technological option that suits the local and regional conditions.</li>
<li>Septage decanting stations can be constructed at strategic locations for convenient disposal, cutting down the distance to be travelled by desludging lorries.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>',
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			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/summary-of-important-reports/septage-management-report-by-cse'
		],
		(int) 16 => [
			'title' => 'Operation Greens',
			'catname' => 'Paper 3',
			'desc' => '<h3>Why in News?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Recently government approved guidelines for Rs 500 crore 'Operation Greens' program.</li>
<li>Finance Minister of India had announced Operation Greens in the Union Budget 2018-19, on the line of 'Operation Flood'.</li>
</ul>
<h3>What is Operation Green?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is a price fixation scheme that aims to ensure farmers are given the right price for their produce.</li>
<li>It aims to promote Farmer Producers Organizations (FPO), Agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management of agri-produce.</li>
<li>It focuses on organized marketing of Tomatoes, Onions and Potatoes (TOP vegetables) by connecting farmers with consumers.</li>
<li>State Agriculture and other Marketing Federations, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPO), cooperatives, companies, Self-help groups, food processors etc. can avail the financial assistance under it.</li>
<li>To help in the structural and infrastructure part of the scheme, agriculture market committee (APMCs) promoted markets will be connected to the e-NAM platform.</li>
<li>The government will also help in development of 22,000 agricultural markets.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>E-NAM (e-National Agriculture Market)</strong> is an important initiative of GoI to use pan-India electronic trading portal for bidding and network the existing APMC mandis to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities.</p>
<p><strong>Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC)</strong> is a statutory market committee constituted by a State Government in respect of trade in certain notified agricultural or horticultural or livestock products, under the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act issued by that state government.</p>
</div>
<h3>Objectives</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Enhancing value realisation of TOP farmers by targeted interventions to strengthen TOP production clusters and their FPOs, and linking/connecting them with the market.</li>
<li>Price stabilisation for producers and consumers by proper production planning in the TOP clusters and introduction of dual use varieties.</li>
<li>Reduction in post-harvest losses by creation of farm gate infrastructure, development of suitable agro-logistics, creation of appropriate storage capacity linking consumption centres.</li>
<li>Increase in food processing capacities and value addition in TOP value chain with firm linkages with production clusters.</li>
<li>Setting up of a market intelligence network to collect and collate real time data on demand and supply and price of TOP crops.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Strategies</h3>
<p>The scheme will have two-pronged strategy of Price stabilisation measures (for short term) and integrated value chain development projects (for long term).</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Short term Price Stabilisation Measures:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED)</strong> will be the Nodal Agency to implement price stabilization measure.</li>
<li>Ministry of Food Processing Industry will provide 50% of the subsidy on:
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Transportation of Tomato Onion Potato(TOP) Crops from production to storage;</li>
<li>Hiring of appropriate storage facilities for TOP Crops</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Long Term Integrated value chain development projects:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Capacity Building of FPOs &amp; their consortium</li>
<li>Quality production</li>
<li>Post-harvest processing facilities</li>
<li>Agri-Logistics</li>
<li>Marketing/Consumption Points</li>
<li>Creation and Management of e-platform for demand and supply management of TOP Crops.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why Operation Greens?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The scheme is launched on the lines of <strong>Operation Flood</strong> and seeks to replicate the success of milk in fruits and vegetables.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Operation Flood</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Operation Flood was started by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1970s.</li>
<li>It was also known as white revolution.</li>
<li>Objective of the program was to create a nationwide milk grid and raise milk production in the country.</li>
<li>It led to India becoming the largest producer of milk in 2016-17.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Idea behind Operation Greens is to double the income of farmers by the end of 2022.</li>
<li>The problem with vegetable commodities is that when their production increases sharply, their prices collapse because there is not enough modern storage capacity.</li>
<li>The links between processing and organized retailing are very weak and small in India which often result in farmer receiving less than 1/4th of what consumers pay for their produce in major cities.</li>
<li>Operation Greens will focus on these problems for basic ingredients and not on additional commodities in agriculture.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges in Implementation</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There are so many varieties of TOP vegetables, grown in different climatic conditions and in different seasons, making marketing intervention (processing and storage) all the more complex, unlike in milk that is a relatively homogenous product produced round the year.</li>
<li>Viable technology options for long-term storage, transport, and processing are still being developed.</li>
<li>Energy intensity of available technologies, especially with rising fuel prices, poses additional challenge.</li>
<li>Organized market at present is very small in relation to total production. The market has to be developed through a viable business model which is both time and cost consuming.</li>
<li>The scheme has no provision for institutional setup in implementing the scheme like the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Operation Flood.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There is a need to link major consumption centre to major production centre with a minimal number of intermediaries.</li>
<li>Linking the processing industry with organized retailing. On an average, about one-fourth of the produce must be processed. Budget announcement of increasing the allocation for the food processing industry by 100% is a welcome step in this regard.</li>
<li>By developing forward and backward linkages, the government can ease large price fluctuations, raise farmers&rsquo; share in the price paid by the consumer and at the same time, ensure lower prices for the consumers &mdash; a win-win situation for all.</li>
</ul>',
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		],
		(int) 17 => [
			'title' => 'Operation Greens',
			'catname' => 'Paper 3',
			'desc' => '<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/215Operation%20Greens.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/215Operation Greens.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>',
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			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/mind-map/gs-paper3/operation-greens-paper-3'
		],
		(int) 18 => [
			'title' => 'GSAT-11 Launched',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>Indian Space Research Organization&rsquo;s (ISRO) heaviest communication satellite GSAT-11 was launched by European Space Agency&rsquo;s (ESA) Ariane-5 Rocket, from Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana, South America.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>ISRO&rsquo;s rocket GSLV III can carry load up to four thousand kilograms. Beyond that capacity, all heavier ISRO payloads are launched by ESA.</li>
<li>
<p>GSAT-11 is part of ISRO&rsquo;s high-throughput communication satellite (HTS) fleet. Two HTSs &mdash; <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/gsat-29-satellite-launched-1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GSAT-29</a> and GSAT-19 are already in space.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>GSAT-11</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>GSAT-11 is an advanced communication satellite.</li>
<li>The GSAT 11 has Ka x Ku-Band Forward Link Transponders and Ku x Ka-band Return Link Transponders.</li>
<li>Mass: 5,854 Kg</li>
<li>Orbit type: Geostationary Orbit</li>
<li>Mission Life: 15 Years</li>
</ul>
<h3>Applications</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Faster Internet Connectivity:</strong> GSAT will play a vital role in providing broadband services across the country. It will enable greater capacity and high data rates over region due to use of the spot beam technology.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>
<p>The broadband domain in India is through the underground fiber and covers partial and convenient locations. GSAT will drive the country's Internet broadband from space to untouched areas.&nbsp;</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Bharat Net Connectivity:</strong> It will provide substantial bandwidth coverage to gram panchayats for supporting e-governance and other platforms.</li>
<li><strong>VSAT Terminals:</strong> Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) support high data rate applications for enterprise network and consumer broadband applications.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Spot Beam</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A spot beam is a satellite signal that is especially concentrated so that it covers only a limited geographical area. The narrower the beam greater the power. The satellite reuse beams (signals) several times in order to cover the entire country.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Types of Orbits</strong></p>
<p>In general, there are two types of orbits:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Polar Synchronous</li>
<li>Geosynchronous</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Polar Orbit</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A polar orbit travels<strong> north-south over the poles</strong> and takes approximately<strong> 90 minutes for a full rotation.</strong></li>
<li>These orbits have an <strong>inclination near 90 degrees.</strong> This allows the satellite to see virtually every part of the Earth as the Earth rotates underneath it.</li>
<li>These satellites have many uses such as<strong> monitoring crops, global security, measuring ozone concentrations in the stratosphere or measuring temperatures in the atmosphere.</strong></li>
<li>Almost all the satellites that are in a polar orbit are at <strong>lower altitudes.</strong></li>
<li>An orbit is called <strong>sun-synchronous</strong> when the angle between the <strong>line joining the center of the Earth and the satellite and the Sun is constant throughout the orbit.</strong></li>
<li>These orbits are also referred to as <strong>&ldquo;Low Earth Orbit (LEO)&rdquo;</strong> which enables the onboard camera to take images of the earth under the same sun-illumination conditions during each of the repeated visits, thus making the satellite useful for earth resources monitoring.</li>
<li><strong>It passes over any given point on Earth&rsquo;s surface at the same local solar time.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Geosynchronous Orbit</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Geosynchronous satellites are launched into orbit in the same direction the Earth is spinning and can have any inclination.</li>
<li>When the satellite is in orbit at a specific altitude (approximately 36,000km above the Earth's surface)<strong>, it will exactly match the rotation of the Earth.</strong></li>
<li>While, <strong>Geostationary</strong> <strong>orbits</strong> fall in the same category as geosynchronous orbits, but with that one special quality of being<strong> parked over the equator.</strong></li>
<li>In the case of geostationary satellites, the Earth&rsquo;s force of gravity is exactly enough to provide acceleration required for circular motion.</li>
<li><strong>Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit(GTO):</strong> To attain geostationary or geosynchronous earth orbits, a spacecraft is first launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.</li>
<li>From the <strong>GTO the spacecraft uses its engines to shift to geostationary or geosynchronous orbit.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>',
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		(int) 19 => [
			'title' => 'Important Facts for Prelims (5th December 2018)',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<h3>USMCA trade deal</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>United States</strong>, <strong>Canada</strong> and <strong>Mexico</strong> have reached an agreement to <strong>replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)</strong>.</li>
<li>The original 1994 NAFTA deal has also been renamed as the <strong>United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement or USMCA</strong>.</li>
<li>The goal of NAFTA was to encourage economic activity by eliminating barriers to trade and investment between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.</li>
<li>USMCA will give workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses a high-standard trade agreement that will result in freer markets, fairer trade and robust economic growth in the region.</li>
<li>It will strengthen the middle class, and create good, well-paying jobs and new opportunities for the nearly half billion people of North America.</li>
</ul>
<h3>India Water Impact Summit-2018</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India Water Impact Summit is being jointly organized by the <strong>National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)</strong> and the <strong>Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga)</strong> from 5-7 December 2018 in New Delhi.</li>
<li>The India Water Impact Summit is an annual event where stakeholders get together to discuss, debate and develop model solutions for some of the biggest water-related problems in the country.</li>
<li>The discussions this year will be on <strong>rejuvenation of the Ganga River Basin.</strong></li>
<li>There will be multi-country dialogue on the subject, with showcasing of technological innovations, research, policy frameworks and funding models from India and abroad.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG) was<strong> registered as a society in 2011</strong> under the <strong>Societies Registration Act 1860</strong>.</li>
<li>It acted as <strong>implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority(NGRBA)</strong> which was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),1986.</li>
<li>NGRBA has since been dissolved in 2016, consequent to constitution of<strong> National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga</strong> (referred as National Ganga Council which comes under the chairmanship of Prime Minister of India.)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Indian Navy Day 2018</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indian maritime forces celebrated Navy Day on <strong>4 December</strong>.</li>
<li>The day marks the <strong>exemplary role</strong> of the naval branch of the <strong>Indian Armed Forces in the 1971 India-Pakistan War</strong>.</li>
<li>The Indian Navy of the 21st century is emerging as a formidable force likely to influence the Indian Ocean Region.</li>
</ul>
<h3>India&rsquo;s First Private Satellite Launched</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>US space agency <strong>SpaceX</strong> launched India&rsquo;s first privately built satellite <strong>ExseedSAT 1</strong> along with 63 other satellites from 17 countries.</li>
<li>The mini communication satellite weighs just a kg and is made up of aluminium alloy.</li>
<li>The satellite is owned by Mumbai-based startup Exseed Space and will serve the amateur radio communication.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Mangdechhu Project</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Project is a <strong>hydropower project</strong> in<strong> Bhutan</strong>.</li>
<li>720MW run-of-river power plant was built on the <strong>Mangdechhu River in</strong> Trongsa Dzongkhag District of <strong>central Bhutan</strong>.</li>
<li>It was built by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) with<strong> support from Government of India</strong>.</li>
<li>It is among the ten Hydroelectric Projects planned under the 10,000MW hydropower development by the year 2020 programme of the Royal Government of Bhutan.</li>
</ul>',
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	(int) 0 => [
		'title' => 'The Big Picture - International Convention on Terrorism',
		'catname' => 'Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions',
		'desc' => '<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eN3BHWhi2-E" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The date 26/11 has gone down in the history as a day that saw the most heinous attack carried on the Indian soil. The attack claimed 164 lives; leftover 300 injured and sent shock waves around the world. Terrorism has reared its ugly head every now and then and has devastated the world like nothing else. It is an issue which has affected millions of lives from Asia to the Americas but till date, there is no consensus on an international convention on terrorism. Several efforts have been made to address the problem but negotiations have not borne out results to address the issue.</p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p>DRISHTI INPUT</p>
<p><strong>Origin and Status of Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>New Delhi has pushed for an intergovernmental convention to enhance prosecution and extradition of terrorists since 1996. In 2018, even after two decades, there is still a lack of consensus.</li>
<li>Although consensus eludes towards the adoption of the terrorism convention, discussions have yielded three separate protocols that aim to tackle terrorism:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, adopted on 15 December 1997;</li>
<li>International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, adopted on 9 December 1999;</li>
<li>International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, adopted on 13 April 2005.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Why the Lack of Consensus?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Sixth Committee, the primary forum for the consideration of legal questions in the General Assembly had created an ad hoc group which is still debating the draft for Comprehensive Convention for Countering International Terrorism. There are several issues but the most important of them is &ldquo;defining the terms related to terrorism&rdquo;. Multiple groups have contentious claims over what should and what should not be regarded as terrorism.</li>
<li>For instance, Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) has denied inclusion of liberation movement activities as terrorism, keeping in mind the Israel- Palestine conflict.</li>
<li>On the other hand, the US and the allied countries who are involved in many counter-terrorism activities in various countries wanted the draft to exclude acts committed by military forces of states during peacetime. The Latin American countries want exactly the opposite.</li>
<li>Hence, for the committee prescribing an overarching definition that satisfies all the parties is a bone of contention.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Geopolitics and the Act of terror</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Geopolitics is one of the most important determinants that has played the invisible hand in protecting the agents of terror. Masood Azhar is a case in point.</li>
<li>Time and again China has been reluctant in declaring Azhar a terrorist. China, being a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, has repeatedly blocked India's move to do so. The US, Britain <g class="gr_ gr_112 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="112" data-gr-id="112">and</g> France all back India to designate Masood Azhar a terrorist under the Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.</li>
<li>China, in its statement, said that since Pakistan didn't agree with India on this issue, there is no "consensus" between the two directly affected parties. Beijing made it clear that China will support the issue only if Pakistan agrees with India.</li>
<li>Pakistan government has been proven toothless when it comes to curbing nefarious activities emanating from her soil. There are scores of terrorist camps along the border, aided and funded either by the army (clandestinely) or terrorist groups like Jaish e Mohammad.</li>
<li>The motive of the Pakistani administration has always been to support the fringe elements tacitly, in order to fulfill its policy to &ldquo;bleed India with thousand cuts&rdquo;.</li>
<li>Adoption of the convention would not only force Pakistan to withdraw any tacit state support to the terrorist groups but would also enable India to extradite culprits who are responsible for designing terrorist acts from foreign soil.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The CCIT will provide <g class="gr_ gr_118 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="118" data-gr-id="118">legal</g> framework which will make it binding on all signatories to deny funds and safe havens to terrorist groups. The original draft that was tabled in 1996 and discussed until April 2013 included the following major objectives:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>To have a universal definition of terrorism that all 193-members of the UNGA will adopt into their own criminal law.</li>
<li>To ban all terror groups and shut down terror camps.</li>
<li>Deny safe haven to those who finance, plan, support, or commit terrorist acts.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>To prosecute all terrorists under a special law.</li>
<li>Exchange information in accordance with international and domestic law and cooperate on administrative and judicial matters to prevent the commission of terrorist acts.</li>
<li>To make cross-border terrorism an extraditable <g class="gr_ gr_95 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="95" data-gr-id="95">offence</g> worldwide.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Measures to Tackle Terrorism</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India should play a proactive role to neutralize any threat of terrorism.</li>
<li>Addressing UN High-Level conference on Heads of Counter Terrorism, Indian Special Secretary, Internal Security) extended a five-point formula &ndash;
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Exchange of timely and actionable intelligence.</li>
<li>Prevention of misuse of modern communication through collaboration with the private sector.</li>
<li>Building capacities for improved border controls.</li>
<li>Sharing of info related to the movement of passengers.</li>
<li>Designation of Counter-Terror focal points to fight global terror.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>In addition, there should be a concerted effort from the countries affected by the scourge of terrorism to pressurize countries who engage in state-sponsored terrorism.</li>
<li>It is believed that the Indian intelligence agencies did have actionable intelligence from its Israeli and the US counterpart regarding 26/11. So, intelligence gathering and sharing are not enough, timely &amp; appropriate action is required on the intelligence received. Consequently, the Indian intelligence agencies have to be empowered both monetarily and through modern infrastructure to be able to respond in time.</li>
</ul>',
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	(int) 1 => [
		'title' => 'Global Status Report on Road Safety: WHO ',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>World Health Organization (WHO) has released the Global Status Report on Road Safety 2018.</p>
<h3>Key Points</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The report highlights that road traffic deaths are rising, with 1.35 million deaths in 2016 globally.</li>
<li>Road Accidents are the eighth leading cause of death for all age groups surpassing HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and diarrhoeal diseases.</li>
<li>The road traffic deaths rates are highest in Africa (26.6 per 100 000 population) and lowest in Europe (9.3 per 100 000 population).</li>
<li>However, the rates of death relative to the size of the world&rsquo;s population has stabilized in recent years.</li>
<li>Progress is attributed to better legislation around key risks such as<strong> speeding, drinking and driving, and failing to use seat-belts, motorcycle helmets and child restraints, safer infrastructure like sidewalks, dedicated lanes for cyclists, motorcyclists, and improved vehicle standards.</strong></li>
<li>The progress has not occurred at a pace fast enough to compensate for the rising population and rapid motorization of transport taking place in many parts of the world.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Road Accidents in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The trend in India shows that deaths have been increasing since 2007 even though India has put in place most of the rules needed to protect people.</li>
<li>The report highlights India as an example of the implementation of seven or eight of the priority United Nations vehicle safety standards.</li>
<li>Cities in India have reduced traffic crashes, and through media campaigns and stronger enforcement, more cities have cut drink driving.</li>
<li>Despite this, India reported more than 150,000 deaths in 2016.</li>
<li>There is a need to take a multi-sectoral approach to tackle road crashes and deaths.<strong> Better infrastructure that can allow safer travel, better vehicles, improved intervention and enforcement of laws and a health system that can take care of accident victims are the need of the hour.&nbsp;</strong></li>
<li><strong>Vehicle Safety Standards in India</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In 2014, crash tests carried out by the Global New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) revealed that some of India&rsquo;s top-selling car models have failed the UN&rsquo;s frontal impact crash test.</li>
<li>Global NCAP tests at a higher speed resulted in zero-star ratings for Indian cars indicating a high risk of fatal or serious injury.</li>
<li>In 2015 the Indian government announced the application of new regulations consistent with the UN standards for front and side impact and also pedestrian protection.</li>
<li>For new car models, the use of front and side crash tests came into force from October 2017 and will apply to all new cars from October 2019.</li>
<li>The pedestrian protection regulation for new models came into force from October 2018 and will apply to all new cars from October 2020.</li>
<li>In addition, new cars are required to have airbags fitted as standard and to have a speed warning device above 80 km/h.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Recommendations</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Safe Roads:</strong> Safety consideration during the planning, design, and operation of roads, contributes to reducing road traffic deaths and injuries</li>
<li><strong>Safe Vehicles:</strong> Vehicle safety features such as electronic stability control and advanced braking make a substantial contribution to reducing road traffic deaths and injuries.</li>
<li><strong>Behavioral Changes:&nbsp;</strong>Increasing motorcycle helmet use, increasing seat-belt uses and increasing child restraint use.</li>
<li><strong>Post Crash Care:</strong>&nbsp;Simple and affordable post-crash care interventions can save lives. Effective care for the injured requires timely care at the scene, prompt transport to appropriate emergency and surgical care at the hospital, and early access to rehabilitation services.</li>
<li><strong>Role of bystanders:</strong> Bystanders play a major role in post-crash care. They contribute by activating the emergency care system and taking simple, potentially life-saving actions until professional help is available.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Brasilia Declaration on Road Safety</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The declaration was signed at the Second Global High-Level conference on Road Safety held in Brazil.</li>
<li>Through the Brasilia Declaration Countries plan to achieve <strong>the Sustainable Development Goal 3.6: By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents.</strong></li>
<li>United Nations has also declared <strong>2010-2020 as the decade of action for Road Safety.</strong></li>
<li>The main points of the Brasilia Declaration are:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Countries should form transport policies in order to favor more sustainable modes of transport such as walking, cycling and using public transport.</li>
<li>It highlights strategies to ensure the safety of all road users,
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>by improving laws and enforcement;</li>
<li>making roads safer through infrastructural modifications;</li>
<li>ensuring that vehicles are equipped with life-saving technologies;</li>
<li>and enhancing emergency trauma care systems.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>The International Road Assessment Programme(iRAP)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) is a registered charity dedicated to saving lives through safer roads.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan Committee</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Supreme Court had set up the three-member KS Radhakrishnan panel on road safety in April 2014.</li>
<li>The main recommendation of the committee was
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Ban on the sale of alcohol on highways (both state and national) to restrain drunk driving.</li>
<li>The states were directed to implement laws on wearing helmets.</li>
<li>Audit of road safety to be implemented by states to ensure the safety standards in the design, construction, and maintenance of roads.</li>
<li>The committee stressed the importance of creating awareness among people on road safety rules.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2016</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It proposes to create a National Register for Driving Licence and a National Register for Vehicle registration through <strong>&ldquo;Vahan&rdquo; and &ldquo;Sarathi&rdquo; web portals.</strong> This is in order to smoothen the process of registration and licensing.</li>
<li>It proposes alterations in vehicles, in order to make them suitable for specially-abled people.</li>
<li>It provides for a <strong>Motor Vehicle Accident Fund,</strong> which would provide compulsory insurance cover to all road users in India for certain types of accidents.</li>
<li>It provides for a <strong>National Road Safety Board,</strong> to be created by the Central Government through a notification. The Board will provide advice to the Central and State Governments on all aspects of road safety and traffic management.</li>
<li>Contractors, consultants, and civic agencies will be accountable for faulty design, construction or poor maintenance of roads leading to accidents. Those found guilty would be penalized up to Rs 1 lakh.</li>
<li>The bill also provides for the protection of good samaritans.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/ministrys-report-on-road-accidents-in-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ministry&rsquo;s Report on Road Accidents in India</a></p>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/global-status-report-on-road-safety-who'
	],
	(int) 2 => [
		'title' => 'Important Facts for Prelims (8th December 2018)',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<h3>CAD Widens to 2.9% of GDP</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India's Current Account Deficit (CAD) widened to <strong>2.9% of the gross domestic product</strong> in the Q2 (quarter which ended in September) compared with 1.1% in the year-ago period.</li>
<li>Major reasons for rising CAD was <strong>sharp rise in oil prices</strong>, and<strong> weakening rupee (imports become costlier).</strong> However both these factors are<strong> not that severe now</strong> and therefore CAD is projected to <strong>come down later in the year.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Current Account Deficit (CAD)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>CAD, is the difference between th<strong>e inflow and outflow of foreign exchange.</strong> It reflects that the imports of goods, services and investment incomes into the economy outstripped the value of its exports.</li>
<li>Current Account Deficit and Fiscal Deficit ( also known as "budget deficit", it is a situation when a nation's expenditure exceeds its revenues) are t<strong>ogether are known as twin deficits</strong> and often both reinforce each other i.e. High fiscal deficit leads to higher CAD and vice versa.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Global Hackathon On Artificial Intelligence</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>NITI Aayog</strong> in partnership with <strong>Perlin, a Singapore-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) startup</strong> has launched the &lsquo;<strong>AI 4 All Global Hackathon&rsquo;.</strong></li>
<li>Hackathon will invite developers, students, start-ups and companies to develop <strong>AI applications to make significant positive social and economic impact for India.</strong></li>
<li>With the vision to further expand the idea of <strong>&lsquo;Artificial Intelligence, AI for All&rsquo; articulated in the National AI Strategy,</strong> NITI Aayog organises hackathons to source sustainable, innovative and technologically-enabled solutions to address various challenges in the development space.</li>
<li>Earlier it had also organised <strong>&lsquo;MoveHack&rsquo; ,</strong> on the sidelines of the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/global-mobility-summit-move" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Global Mobility Summit 2018</a></li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-8th-december-2018'
	],
	(int) 3 => [
		'title' => 'An Invitation To Corruption?',
		'catname' => 'News Editorials',
		'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article &ldquo;An Invitation To Corruption?&rdquo; which appears in The Hindu on 8th December 2018.)</p>
</div>
<p>In order to<strong> &ldquo;cleanse the system of political funding in the country</strong>&rdquo; and in keeping with the government&rsquo;s desire to move to a cashless economy, electoral bonds scheme was introduced.<strong> The scheme, announced during the 2017 Budget, aimed to account the donations made to all major political parties.</strong></p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Electoral Bonds Scheme</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Electoral Bond is a financial instrument (similar to a promissory note) for making donations to political parties.</strong></li>
<li>These are issued by Scheduled Commercial banks upon authorization from the Central Government to intending donors, but only against cheque and digital payments (it cannot be purchased by paying cash).</li>
<li>These bonds shall be redeemable in the designated account of a registered political party within the prescribed time limit from the issuance of the bond.</li>
<li><strong>The bonds will be issued in multiples of ₹1,000, ₹10,000, ₹1 lakh, ₹10 lakh, and ₹1 crore and will be available at specified banks.</strong></li>
<li>They can be bought by the donor with a KYC-compliant account. Donors can donate the bonds to their party of choice which can then be cashed in via the party's verified account within 15 days.</li>
<li>In its present form, the scheme permits not only individuals and body corporates but also &ldquo;every artificial juridical person,&rdquo; to purchase bonds.</li>
<li><strong>Every party that is registered under section 29A of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and has secured at least one percent of the votes polled in the most recent Lok Sabha or State election will be allotted a verified account by the Election Commission of India.</strong> Electoral bond transactions can be made only via this account.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Why Electoral Bonds are Necessary?<img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/348drishti-ias_an invitation to corruption.png" style="float: right;" width="244" height="377" /></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The conventional system of political funding is to rely on donations. These donations, big or small, come from a range of sources from political workers, sympathizers, small business people, and even large industrialists. The conventional practice of funding the political system was to take donations in cash and undertake these expenditures in cash. The sources are anonymous or pseudonymous. <strong>The quantum of money was never disclosed. The present system ensures unclean money coming from unidentifiable sources.</strong></li>
<li>Donations made online or through cheques remain an ideal method of donating to political parties. However, these have not become very popular in India since they involve disclosure of the donor&rsquo;s identity. However, the electoral bond scheme envisages total clean money and substantial transparency coming into the system of political funding. A donor can purchase electoral bonds from a specified bank only by a banking instrument. He would have to disclose in his accounts the number of political bonds that he has purchased. A bond can only be encased in a pre-declared account of a political party.</li>
</ul>
<p>But the<strong> scheme&rsquo;s failings have become so blindingly obvious,</strong> and its consequences so utterly devastating, that criticisms are coming in from a multitude of places like High Court judges, former Election Commissioners, journalists etc.</p>
<h3>Drawbacks</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>There are many grey areas in this scheme because there is no ceiling on party expenditure and the EC (Election Commission) cannot monitor it. It cannot be sure that what is coming in is not black money as there is a secrecy of the donor.</strong></li>
<li>Even foreign money can come and even a dying company can give money. So, prima facie it appears the scheme cannot really deliver whatever it was intended to.</li>
<li>The fact that the scheme allows for complete anonymity of the donor and neither the purchaser of the bond nor the political party receiving the donation is mandated to disclose the donor&rsquo;s identity. Therefore, not only will say, the shareholders of a corporation be unaware of the company&rsquo;s contributions, but the voters too will have no idea of how, and through whom, a political party has been funded.</li>
<li><strong>For instance, the programme removes an existing condition that had prohibited companies from donating anything more than 7.5% of their average net-profit over the previous three years. This now means that even loss-making entities can make unlimited contributions.</strong></li>
<li>Additionally, the requirement that a corporation ought to have been in existence for at least three years before it could make donations &mdash; a system that was meant to stop shell companies from being created with a view purely to <g class="gr_ gr_94 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="94" data-gr-id="94">syphoning</g> money into politics &mdash; has also been removed.</li>
<li>The scheme also suffers from at least two foundational defects. One, that it was incorporated on the back of a series of amendments made to legislation, including the Representation of the People Act, the Income Tax Act, and the Companies Act, which were introduced in the form of a money bill. And two, that the scheme flouts a number of fundamental rights. The Finance Act, through which these amendments were introduced, therefore did not deal with only those matters contained in Article 110.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Two Judgements</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Even as early as in 1957, in a pair of judgments outstanding in their lucidity and prescience, the Bombay and the Calcutta High Courts warned Parliament of the perils in allowing companies to freely add to party coffers.</li>
<li>Bombay High Court said it is something which is likely to &ldquo;grow apace and which may ultimately overwhelm and even throttle democracy in the country&rdquo;.</li>
<li>The court was conscious that, given the circumscriptions of the law, it could scarcely deny, in the case before it, permission sought by Tata Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. to amend its memorandum of association, to allow the company to make contributions to different political interests.</li>
<li>The Calcutta High Court had made an almost identical appeal. &ldquo;To the cynic it appears to be a plea of the company to have a legal sanction to bribe the Government of the day, to induce policies that will help the company in its business&rdquo;.</li>
<li>If amendments of this kind were allowed, and if joint stock companies serve as adjuncts to political parties, the Court added, the &ldquo;man who pays the piper will then call the tune&rdquo;.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There&rsquo;s no doubt that the Constitution does not contain an explicitly enforceable right to vote. But implicit in its guarantees of equality and free speech is a right to knowledge and information. Our courts have nearly consistently seen &ldquo;freedom of voting&rdquo; as distinct from the right to vote, as a facet of the right to freedom of expression and as an essential condition of political equality. In the absence of complete knowledge about the identities of those funding the various different parties, it&rsquo;s difficult to conceive how a citizen can meaningfully participate in political and public life.</li>
<li><strong>The electoral bonds scheme, therefore, suggests two possibilities: one, that the government doesn&rsquo;t understand the Constitution; or, two, it does, and has expressly set out to transgress it.</strong></li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/an-invitation-to-corruption'
	],
	(int) 4 => [
		'title' => '2023 is the International Year of Millets- FAO',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>India's proposal to observe an <strong>International Year of Millets in 2023</strong> has been approved at the by the <strong>Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)</strong>.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India is celebrating <strong>2018 as the national year of millets</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Millet is a collective term referring to a number of small-seeded annual grasses that are cultivated as grain crops, primarily on marginal lands in dry areas in temperate, subtropical and tropical regions.</li>
<li>Some of the common millets available in India are Ragi (Finger millet), Jowar (Sorghum), Sama (Little millet), Bajra (Pearl millet), and Variga (Proso millet).</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Millets as Smart Food</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Millets are <strong>less expensive and nutritionally superior</strong> to wheat &amp; rice owing to their high <strong>protein</strong>, <strong>fibre</strong>, <strong>vitamins</strong> and minerals like <strong>iron</strong> content.</li>
<li>Millets are also rich in <strong>calcium</strong> and <strong>magnesium</strong>. For example, <strong>Ragi</strong> is known to have the highest calcium content among all the food grains.</li>
<li>Millets can provide <strong>nutritional</strong> <strong>security</strong> and act as a shield against nutritional deficiency, especially among <strong>children</strong> and <strong>women</strong>. Its high iron content can fight <g class="gr_ gr_62 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="62" data-gr-id="62">high</g> prevalence of <strong>anaemia</strong> in India women of reproductive age and infants.</li>
<li>Millets are rich in <strong>antioxidants</strong>.</li>
<li>Millets can help tackle <strong>lifestyle</strong> <strong>problems</strong> and health challenges such as <strong>obesity</strong> and <strong>diabetes</strong> as they are <strong>gluten-free</strong> and have a <strong>low glycemic index</strong> (a relative ranking of carbohydrate in foods according to how they affect blood glucose levels).</li>
</ul>
<h3>Millets as Smart Crop</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Millets are <strong>Photo-insensitive</strong> (do not require a specific photoperiod for flowering) &amp; <strong>resilient to climate change</strong>.</li>
<li>Millets <strong>can grow on poor soils</strong> with little or no external inputs.</li>
<li>Millets are less water <g class="gr_ gr_63 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling" id="63" data-gr-id="63">consuming</g> and are <strong>capable of growing under drought conditions</strong>, under non-irrigated conditions even in very low rainfall regimes</li>
<li>Millets have <strong>low carbon and water footprint</strong> (rice plant needs at least 3 times more water to grow in comparison to millets).</li>
<li>Millets can <strong>withstand high temperature</strong>. In times of climate change Millets are often the last crop standing and, thus, are a good risk management strategy for resource-poor marginal farmers.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Since India, which supports more than 15% of the world&rsquo;s population, but only has 4% of its water resources, promotion of millets could be helpful.</li>
<li>To efficiently feed the growing population, increase in the production of and demand for millets is need of the hour.</li>
<li>Policy changes need to address infrastructure development in regions growing millets.</li>
<li>Cultivation of several varieties of millets should be encouraged and practised.</li>
<li>The government should include millets in Public Distribution System (PDS) and nutrition programmes.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>For example, Odisha has planned to introduce millets in PDS, mid-day meal scheme (MDM) and the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The government should incentivise farmers growing millets and practising mixed cropping, besides providing financial support for their processing, storage and marketing.</li>
<li>Specific value addition practices, like grading, sorting, cleaning, processing and packaging should also be supported.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Additional Information</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>FAO (specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger) Council approved <strong>India&rsquo;s membership</strong> to the Executive Board of the United Nations<strong> World Food Program (WFP)</strong> for 2020 and 2021.</li>
<li>World Food Programme is the <strong>UN agency focused on hunger alleviation and food security</strong>.</li>
<li>Globally, it responds to emergencies making sure food reaches where it is needed, especially in times of civil strife and natural disasters.</li>
<li>In India, WFP has moved from providing direct food aid to providing technical assistance and capacity building services to the Government of India.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/2023-is-the-international-year-of-millets-fao'
	],
	(int) 5 => [
		'title' => 'Climate Finance',
		'catname' => 'Paper 3',
		'desc' => '<h3>Why in News?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Ahead of the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP24), the BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, China and India) countries said that they would push developed countries on their commitment to providing $100 billion annually from 2020.</li>
<li>However, countries till now haven&rsquo;t even agreed on what constitutes climate finance.</li>
</ul>
<h3>What is Climate Finance?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Climate finance refers to local, national or transnational financing&mdash;drawn from public, private and alternative sources of financing.</li>
<li>It seeks to support mitigation and adaptation actions that will address climate change.</li>
<li>The UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement call for financial assistance from countries with more financial resources to those that are less endowed and more vulnerable.</li>
<li>It is in accordance with the principle of &ldquo;common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities&rdquo;.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Through the Cancun Agreements in 2010 developed countries committed to a goal of mobilizing jointly USD 100 billion per year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries.</li>
<li>The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was established in Cancun Agreement and designated it as an operating entity of the financial mechanism.</li>
<li>Under the Paris Agreement in 2015, developed countries confirmed this goal and agreed that prior to 2025 a new collective quantified goal from a floor of USD 100 billion per year shall be set.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Need for Climate Finance</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Globally the scale of needed investment:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The World Economic Forum projects that by 2020, about $5.7 trillion will need to be invested annually in green infrastructure.</li>
<li>The current commitment of $100 billion annually is only a small piece of the $5.7 trillion puzzle.</li>
<li>Therefore funding is needed to meet the investment needs in 2020 and beyond.</li>
<li>Mitigation &ndash; Large-scale investments are required to significantly reduce emissions.</li>
<li>Adaptation &ndash; Significant financial resources are needed to adapt to the adverse effects and reduce the impacts of a changing climate.</li>
<li>It is also critical to support developing countries to build resilience to worsening climate impacts and to catalyzing private sector climate investment.</li>
<li>Climate Finance is needed to transition the world&rsquo;s economy to a low-carbon path, as direct government funding is scarce in these countries.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>The scale of needed investment in India:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Under Paris Accord, India has planned to reduce its carbon emission intensity &ndash; emission per unit of GDP &ndash; by 33-35%. To achieve these targets and build its renewable capacity India needs climate finance.</li>
<li>India&rsquo;s Green Bond market is in growth stage, first green bonds were issued in 2015 - indicating the need to explore more options for climate financing.</li>
<li>In India, banks and non-banking financial companies have a limited appetite for long-term debt due to asset-liability mismatch.</li>
<li>Along with problems arising out of climate change, India also face traditional problems like poverty, pollution, education and skill gaps etc.Hence there is a greater need for climate finance.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Global Climate Financing</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Green Climate Fund (GCF)</strong> was established to limit or reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in developing countries and to help vulnerable societies adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change.</li>
<li><strong>Adaptation Fund (AF)</strong> was established under the Kyoto Protocol in 2001 and has committed US$ 532 million to climate adaptation and resilience activities.</li>
<li><strong>Global Environment Fund (GEF) </strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>GEF has served as an operating entity of the financial mechanism since the Convention came into force in 1994.</li>
<li>It is a private equity fund focused on seeking long term financial returns by investments in clean energy under climate change.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>In addition to providing guidance to the GEF and the GCF, parties have established two special funds:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) and the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF).</li>
<li>Both funds are managed by the GEF.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/424Climate Finance_drishtiias.png" width="680" height="413" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" alt="Climate Finance" caption="false" /></p>
<h3>Climate Financing in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)</strong> are nationally binding targets adopted under UNFCCC. India has to reduce GHG emissions under this, which requires climate financing.</li>
<li><strong>National Clean Energy Fund:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Fund was created to promote clean energy, funded through an initial carbon tax on use of coal by industries.</li>
<li>Governed by an Inter-Ministerial Group with the Finance Secretary as the Chairman.</li>
<li>Its mandate is to fund research and development of innovative clean energy technology in the fossil and non fossil fuel based sectors.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>National Adaptation Fund:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The fund was established in 2014 with a corpus of Rs. 100 crore with the aim of bridging the gap between the need and the available funds.</li>
<li>The fund is operated under Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&amp;CC).</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Clean Development Mechanism (CDM):</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries to earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2.</li>
<li>The CDM is the main source of income for the UNFCCC Adaptation Fund.</li>
<li>The Adaptation Fund is financed by a 2% levy on CERs issued by the CDM.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Internal Programmes:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA),</strong> Disaster Management Fund etc.</li>
<li>A Climate Change Finance Unit was set up by Department of Economics in the Ministry of Finance to advise and guide the MoEF&amp;CC as well as to lead on global climate finance issues.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Principles of Climate Finance</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Polluter Pays</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The 'polluters pays' principle is the commonly accepted practice according to which those who produce pollution should bear the costs of managing it to prevent damage to human health or the environment.</li>
<li>This principle underpins most of the regulation of pollution affecting land, water and air formally known as the 1992 Rio Declaration.</li>
<li>It has also been applied more specifically to emissions of greenhouse gases which cause climate change.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Common but Differentiated Responsibility and Respective Capability (CBDR&ndash;RC)</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>CBDR&ndash;RC is a principle within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).</li>
<li>It acknowledges the different capabilities and differing responsibilities of individual countries in addressing climate change.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Additionality</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Climate finance should be additional to existing commitments to avoid the diversion of funding for development needs to climate change actions.</li>
<li>This includes use of public climate finance and investments by private sector.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Adequacy &amp; Precaution</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In order to take precautionary measures to prevent or minimise the causes of climate change as a stated goal under UNFCCC, the level of funding needs to be sufficient to keep a global temperature with in limits as possible.</li>
<li>A better level of adequacy might be increased in the national estimates of the needed climate funds, this will help build planned investments with respect to INDC.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Predictability</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Climate finance must be predictable to ensure sustained flow of climate finance.</li>
<li>It can be done through multi-year, medium-term funding cycles (3 &ndash; 5 years).</li>
<li>This allows for adequate investment program to scale up country&rsquo;s national adaptation and mitigation priorities.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>At global levels:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There is a gap between national needs and climate finance under Nationally Determined Contribution there is need for additional international financial support.</li>
<li>Least Developed Countries receive much less approved funding in per-capita terms from the multilateral climate funds.</li>
<li>The rate of approvals is time taking, due to which the drawee nation has insufficient funds to complete its target and leads to stalling of projects.</li>
<li>The uncertainties such as, the recent refusal of US to pay $2 billion of its pledge this has created shortage of funds at available GCF.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>At National levels:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In India the local market to climate finance are insufficiently involved in financial products that support climate change adaptation.</li>
<li>Their is imminent failure in securing viability-gap funding either from governments, or multilateral development banks.</li>
<li>Projects in climate change has longer gestation period which deter financial institutions from investing in them.</li>
<li>Shortage of funds due to insufficient budget allocation are often interfered due to any excess or additional grants which leads to stalling of green projects.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>An analytical framework is necessary to combine potential climate risks with a systematic cost-benefit analysis.</li>
<li>Favourable policy and institutional actions are important for successful introduction or scaling up of financial instruments.</li>
<li>Such actions, through public-private partnership (PPP) and PPP People (PPPP) can help improving climate finance.</li>
<li>Climate finance should be equipped with non institutional financial services such as market funds, private etc.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/paper3/climate-finance-1'
	],
	(int) 6 => [
		'title' => 'Climate Finance',
		'catname' => 'Paper 3',
		'desc' => '<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/149Drishti_ias_Climate%20Finance.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/149Drishti_ias_Climate Finance.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/mind-map/gs-paper3/climate-finance-paper-3'
	],
	(int) 7 => [
		'title' => 'National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The Union Cabinet has approved the launching of<strong> National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS)</strong> to be implemented by<strong> Department of Science &amp; Technology</strong> for a period of<strong> five years.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>NM-ICPS covers entire India which includes Central Ministries, State Governments, Industry and Academia.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Cyber-Physical Systems</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Cyber-physical systems <strong>integrate</strong> sensing, computation, control and networking<strong> into physical objects and infrastructure,</strong> connecting them to the Internet and to each other.</li>
<li>Few Potential applications: <strong>Driverless cars</strong> that communicate securely with each other<strong> on smart roads</strong>, Sensors in the home to <strong>detect changing health conditions,</strong> improving <strong>agricultural practices</strong> and enabling scientists to address issues arising out of climate change,etc.</li>
<li>Advances in cyber-physical systems will enable capability, adaptability, scalability, resiliency, safety, security and usability that will far exceed the simple embedded systems of today.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Objective</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The NM-ICPS is a comprehensive Mission which would address technology development, application development, human resource development &amp; skill enhancement, entrepreneurship and start-up development in Cyber Physical System (CPS) and associated technologies.</li>
<li>The Mission aims at establishment of <strong>15 Technology Innovation Hubs (TIH)</strong>, <strong>six Application Innovation Hubs (AIH)</strong> and <strong>four Technology Translation Research Parks (TTRP).</strong></li>
<li>These Hubs &amp; TTRPs will connect to<strong> Academics, Industry, Central Ministries and State Government</strong> in developing solutions at reputed academic, R&amp;D and other organizations across the country in a hub and spoke model.</li>
<li>The Hubs &amp; TTRPs have<strong> four focused areas</strong> along which the Mission implementation would proceed, namely:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Technology Development,</li>
<li>HRD &amp; Skill Development,</li>
<li>Innovation, Entrepreneurship &amp; Start-ups Ecosystem Development, and</li>
<li>International Collaborations.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>CPS and its associated technologies, like Artificial Intelligence (Al), Internet of Things (loT), Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning (DP), Big Data Analytics, etc. have pervaded and is playing a transformative role in almost every field of human endeavour all most in all sectors.</li>
<li>Therefore, It has become imperative for government and industries to be <strong>prepared to adopt these emerging and disruptive technologies in order to remain competitive</strong>, drive societal progress, generate employment, foster economic growth and to improve the overall quality of life and sustainability of the environment.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Impact</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>CPS technologies provide a <strong>cutting edge to a Nation's scientific, engineering, and technological innovative capabilities;</strong> support other missions of the government, provide industrial and economic competitiveness and have truly <strong>became a Strategic Resource</strong>.</li>
<li>The proposed Mission would act as an <strong>engine of growth that would benefit national initiatives</strong> in health, education, energy, environment, agriculture, strategic cum security, and industrial sectors, Industry 4.0, SMART Cities, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) etc.</li>
<li>CPS is an integrated system of upcoming technology, which in turn is being taken up on priority basis by countries in the race for development. CPS will indeed bring a paradigm shift in entire skill sets requirement.</li>
<li>The <strong>job opportunities will be enhanced</strong> through the Mission by imparting advanced skills and generating skilled manpower as per the requirement of the industry/ society. Accordingly, it is estimated that, about 40,000 jobs will be created in the short term and about 2,00,000 in long term.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/national-mission-on-interdisciplinary-cyber-physical-systems'
	],
	(int) 8 => [
		'title' => 'Agriculture Export Policy 2018',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The Union Cabinet has approved the Agriculture Export Policy, 2018.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The policy would help the government in achieving the target of doubling farmers income.</li>
<li>The vision of Agriculture Export Policy is to<strong> harness the export potential of Indian agriculture, through suitable policy instruments, to make India global power in agriculture and raise farmers income.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Objectives of the Policy</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>To double agricultural exports from present ~US$ 30+ Billion to ~US$ 60+ Billion by 2022 and reach US$ 100 Billion in the next few years thereafter, with a stable trade policy regime.</li>
<li>To diversify the export basket, destinations and boost high value and value-added agricultural exports including a focus on perishables.</li>
<li>To promote novel, indigenous, organic, ethnic, traditional and non-traditional Agri products exports.</li>
<li>To provide an institutional mechanism for pursuing market access, tackling barriers and deal with sanitary and phytosanitary issues.</li>
<li>Enable farmers to get the benefit of export opportunities in the overseas market.<strong></strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Need For Export Policy</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The policy can&nbsp;<strong>address challenges to exporting agricultural products</strong> from India like low farm productivity, poor infrastructure, global price volatility to market access.</li>
<li><strong>India&rsquo;s share in global exports of agriculture products was merely 2.2 % in 2016.</strong></li>
<li>India has remained at the lower end of the global agriculture export value chain given that the <strong>majority of its exports are low value, semi-processed and marketed in bulk.</strong> The share of<strong> India&rsquo;s high value and value-added agriculture produce in its agri-export basket is less than 15% compared to 25% in the US and 49% in China.</strong></li>
<li>India is <strong>unable to export its vast horticultural produce due to lack of uniformity in quality, standardization and its inability to curtail losses across the value chain.</strong> Given the globalization of value chains, it is imperative that the country make concerted efforts to boost exports of high margin, value-added and branded processed products.</li>
<li>The<strong> vision of doubling farmers income by 2022</strong> will require a series of interventions to improve production and productivity along with economizing the cost of production. Th<strong>is would also require India to augment its exports to the global market. Hence, it is necessary to have an agriculture export policy in place.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Key Recommendations of Agricultural Export Policy 2018<strong></strong></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;"></ul>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 16px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 91px;" rowspan="4">
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Strategic</strong></p>
</td>
<td style="width: 50%; height: 16px;">Policy Measures</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 25px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 25px;">Infrastructure and Logistics Boost</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 25px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 25px;">Whole Government Approach to boost exports</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 25px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 25px;">
<p>Greater involvement of State Governments in Agri Exports</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p></p>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 152px;" rowspan="8">
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Operational</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
</td>
<td style="width: 50%; height: 19px;">Focus on Clusters</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 19px;">Promoting Value-added exports</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 19px;">Marketing and promotion of &ldquo;Produce of India&rdquo;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 19px;">Infrastructure and Logistics to support agricultural exports</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 19px;">Establishment of Strong Quality Regimen</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 19px;">Self-sufficiency and export-centric production</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 19px;">Research &amp; Development</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 19px;">
<p>Miscellaneous</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong></strong><strong>Stable Trade Policy Measures&nbsp;</strong>to ensure&nbsp;recommends providing an assurance that the processed agricultural products and all kinds of organic products <strong>will not be brought under the ambit of any kind of export restriction.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>The&nbsp;Model Agricultural produce market committee (APMC) act must be adopted by all states and E-NAM must be established.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong> Liberalizing Land Leasing Norms&nbsp;</strong>and&nbsp;adoption of the Model Contract Farming Act by state governments in order to promote agricultural exports.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Contract farming is expected to bring in large-scale private investments in agriculture thus leading to large-scale mechanization. This will further produce surplus volumes of the standardized, exportable quality of agricultural products.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Infrastructure and Logistics Boost&nbsp;</strong>by identifying ports for the export of agricultural products. Development in port infrastructure like dedicated perishable berths.</li>
<li><strong>Whole Government approach</strong>&nbsp;which will ensure all government department and ministries like Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Ministry of Shipping &amp; Transport, Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Consumer Affairs involved in agricultural production, processing, transportation <g class="gr_ gr_101 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="101" data-gr-id="101">and</g> export should work together to address bottlenecks at every level.</li>
<li><strong>State government involvement:</strong> As Agriculture is a state subject it is necessary to bring on board the state governments for positive agricultural reforms. Each state has its own agricultural nuances, like one state may be experiencing a drought while another may be dealing with floods. Thus it is necessary to align state agricultural policies with the nation&rsquo;s overarching goals.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>State governments must identify the government department for the promotion of <g class="gr_ gr_95 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="95" data-gr-id="95">the agricultural</g> export.</li>
<li>The states must include agriculture export in state export policy and build infrastructure and logistics to facilitate agricultural export.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Focus on Export centric Clusters&nbsp;</strong>for&nbsp;pre- and post-harvest management of the production as well as in upgrading the supply chain to attain much higher levels of export from those clusters.</li>
<li><strong>Promoting Value Added Exports of</strong>&nbsp;indigenous and tribal products.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Through the National Programme on Organic Production (NPOP), organic food parks and by the uniform quality and packaging standards India can tap the potential for increasing organic exports.</li>
<li>Promotion of Research &amp; Development (R&amp;D) activities, promoting &ldquo;produce in India&rdquo; through the constitution of separate funds dedicated to organic, value-added, ethnic, GI and branded products.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Post-Harvest Infrastructure</strong> that can support the smooth logistical movement of agri-produce exports. This will have a direct co-relationship in increasing export volumes, assuring quality &amp; ensuring better price realization per unit.</li>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Digitization of land records, geo-mapping of lands, registration of farmers and farm producer organizations (FPOs) is critical to smooth agricultural exports.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Establishment of Strong Quality Regimen&nbsp;</strong>with the focus on strong R&amp;D, new varieties, state of the art lab and a lab networking process for effective accreditation and monitoring.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>An institutional mechanism should be provided that would pursue market access, tackle barriers and deal with sanitary and phytosanitary issues against India&rsquo;s agricultural exports that come up from time to time.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Research and Development&nbsp;</strong>led by private industry along with higher infrastructure <g class="gr_ gr_97 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="97" data-gr-id="97">spend</g> by the government will be the key to boosting agricultural exports.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Along with this, innovations in packaging, improving the shelf life of products and greater R &amp; D in developing products to suit the palates of importing countries should be a priority.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The policy has recommended setting up of <strong>an agri-startup fund.</strong></li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/agriculture-export-policy-2018'
	],
	(int) 9 => [
		'title' => 'Important Facts for Prelims (7th December 2018)',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<h3>Exercise Hand-In-Hand</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Exercise Hand-in-Hand is <strong>annual military exercise</strong> conducted between <strong>India and China.</strong></li>
<li>The joint exercise for the <strong>year 2018</strong> will be conducted from 10 to 23 December 2018 at<strong> Chengdu, China.</strong></li>
<li>The aim of the exercise is to build and promote close relations between armies of both the countries and to enhance ability of joint exercise commander to take military contingents of both nations under command.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Ideate for India - Creative Solutions using Technology</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>National e-Governance Division of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)</strong> in collaboration with <strong>Intel India</strong> has launched a National Challenge for Youths, <strong>&ldquo;Ideate for India - Creative Solutions using Technology&rdquo;.</strong></li>
<li>The aim of this National Challenge is to give <strong>school students</strong> across the country a platform and opportunity to become solution creators for the problems they see around them and their communities.</li>
<li>It is open to students of <strong>classes 6 - 12 all across the country - all 29 States and 7 Union Territories</strong> and aims to reach out to at least 1 million youth over the next 3 months.</li>
<li>There are <strong>11 core theme areas</strong> on which students can share their ideas- healthcare services, education services, digital services, environment, women safety, traffic, infrastructure, agriculture, social welfare, disability and tourism.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-7th-december-2018'
	],
	(int) 10 => [
		'title' => 'Is Social Media Polarising Society?',
		'catname' => 'News Editorials',
		'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article &ldquo;Is Social Media Polarising Society?&rdquo; which appears in The Hindu on 6th December 2018.)</p>
</div>
<p><strong>We live in a world where we aren&rsquo;t only consumers of information but creators as well, which gives us a misplaced sense of control.</strong></p>
<p>Almost 1.49 billion people on average log onto Facebook daily; every second, on average, around 6,000 tweets are tweeted on Twitter; and since its inception, over 40 billion photographs have been posted on Instagram.</p>
<p><strong>As we approach the end of the second decade of this century, social media and the Internet have drifted from their promise of closing distances and exposing us to the views of those who existed beyond our personal networks.</strong></p>
<p>Because of extensive social media usage, we find ourselves to be more rigid versions of our former selves. Fake news is an industry today and finds great resonance with people. Its rise corresponds with a growing distrust in the mainstream media. Fake news has now even slipped into traditional media outlets and is often circulated by prominent individuals. This has contributed to the echo chamber phenomenon*.</p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p>&ldquo;<strong>Echo chamber</strong>&rdquo; is a term widely used in today's lexicon, that describes a situation where certain ideas, beliefs or data points are reinforced through repetition of a closed system that does not allow for the free movement of alternative or competing ideas or concepts.</p>
</div>
<h3>How Social Media is Polarising Society?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In the 1950s, a series of psychological experiments called the Asch Conformity Experiments were carried out by the social psychologist Solomon Asch, to determine the extent to which a person&rsquo;s opinion is influenced by a group. Asch found through a series of trials that an individual was willing to go to the extent of giving a wrong answer just to conform to the majority view.</li>
<li><strong>The respondents gave wrong answers either because they did not want to be ridiculed or thought of as &ldquo;peculiar&rdquo;, or because they believed that the group was better informed than them.</strong> Although means of communication and engagement have evolved since the 1950s, the human instinct to fit in hasn&rsquo;t changed. To some extent, this also explains the impact of fake news online, which is said to contribute to a polarised society.</li>
<li>A study carried out by Aalto University, Finland, on increasing polarisation on social media found that factors like user homophily (users in a social system tend to bond more with ones who are similar to them than to ones who are dissimilar) and algorithmic filtering have created the cycle of enforcing and reinforcing belief systems and ensuring that we don&rsquo;t open our minds to diverse opinions.</li>
<li><strong>People seek &ldquo;informed&rdquo; opinions through filters only from people they trust and look for news that confirms their worldview.</strong> This results in people cultivating rigid opinions of issues.</li>
<li>Social media sites are more than willing to play abettors.<strong> Twitter, for example, will routinely prompt you to follow people who hold a viewpoint that is similar to yours.</strong></li>
<li>The features of openness, obscurity, and anonymity that once gave strength to marginalized communities are now giving room for mean intentions to grow.</li>
<li>Over the last couple of years, there has been a growing trend of misinformation (due to biases or human errors), disinformation (fake news created intentionally) and even &ldquo;fake accounts&rdquo;, the latter directly targeted at pushing a political agenda or harassing somebody online.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Social Media is not the only reason for polarization</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The printing press was seen as trouble by the Ottomans</strong>. The speed at which books were printed and distributed aroused suspicion. Ironically, the first Greek printing house set up in 1627 printed a booklet targeting Jews. <strong>Books were only a medium, just like social media. Banning books and blaming social media are results of the same flawed logic.</strong></li>
<li><strong>If social media had an inherent bias towards evil, the #MeToo stories wouldn&rsquo;t have found an outlet.</strong> There are many stories of lost children being found, dogs being adopted, money being raised for various causes, and other similar stories of good being <g class="gr_ gr_93 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_disable_anim_appear Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="93" data-gr-id="93">done,</g> is found on social media.</li>
<li><strong>According to the BI-2018 survey</strong> (Broadcast Audience Research Council of India - BARC - periodically conducts a research study to ascertain television viewing habits in India), the number of individuals with access to TV has gone up to 835 million; smartphone penetration in the country is at around 300 million. The number of daily active users on WhatsApp is 200 million; on Facebook, it is 194 million, and on Twitter, it is 7.83 million.<strong> By all accounts, social media in India is still a niche phenomenon.</strong></li>
<li>Social media is a mechanism comprising of multimedia and other platforms that are multilingual, multicultural and are inclusive, and allow equal opportunities for all, irrespective of class, creed, race, religion, sex, age or financial resources.<strong> Blaming social media for every (online and offline) misconduct doesn't seem to have any logical base to stand upon.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Because of the influence of social media, people are getting trapped in narrower worldviews that are seeping into not only voter </strong><g class="gr_ gr_108 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_disable_anim_appear ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="108" data-gr-id="108">behaviour</g><strong> but everyday personal interactions.</strong> This is something we must be alarmed about. Log in or log out, the world is a far more opinionated place today but it need not be a rigid one.</li>
<li>It is true that social media was used to garner support for a man who burnt a Muslim man on video in Rajasthan, but it was the same social media that was also used to raise funds for the parents of a child who was gang-raped and murdered in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir. This shows that social media is only just a tool, which on the hands of a user can easily do as much good as bad.</li>
<li><strong>Social media is a tool for empowerment, especially for a country like India where 70% of the population is yet to get online and leverage the opportunities it has to offer.</strong></li>
<li>While social media is definitely facing the global challenges of information bombardment (both factual and fake), it is also enabling communities to access their rights and voice their opinion.<strong> Hopefully, over time, people will learn to take more responsibility for what they share and social media platforms shall regain their lost trust.</strong></li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/is-social-media-polarising-society'
	],
	(int) 11 => [
		'title' => 'Air Pollution in India: One in 8 Deaths due to Air Pollution',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>A recent study under&nbsp;<strong>India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative</strong> has estimated the exposure to air pollution and its <strong>impact on deaths, disease burden, and life expectancy in every state of India in 2017</strong>.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The study was conducted by the <strong>Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)</strong>, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.</li>
<li>It has been estimated that <strong>one in every eight deaths in India is attributable to air pollution</strong> which now contributes to more disease burden than tobacco use.</li>
<li>In India, the major <strong>sources of ambient particulate matter pollution</strong> are coal burning for thermal power production, industrial emissions, construction activity and brick kilns, transport vehicles, road dust, residential and commercial biomass burning, waste burning, agricultural stubble burning, and diesel generators.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Key Findings</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India has one of the highest exposure levels to air pollution globally.</li>
<li>77% of India&rsquo;s population was exposed to mean PM 2&middot;5 more than 40 &mu;g/m&sup3;, which is the recommended limit set by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards of India.</li>
<li>India accounts for around <strong>26%</strong> of the global premature deaths and disease burden due to air pollution. This is disproportionately high because India only holds <strong>18%</strong> of the global population.</li>
<li>Air pollution was <strong>the second largest risk factor contributing</strong> to the disease burden in India after malnutrition in 2016, with an increasing trend in exposure to ambient particulate matter pollution and a decreasing trend in household air pollution.</li>
<li>Contrary to the popular association of air pollution with respiratory diseases only, in India, the disease burden included ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer, which is commonly associated with smoking.</li>
<li>More than half of the 12.4 lakh deaths in India were of persons younger than 70 and this can be attributed to air pollution in 2017.</li>
<li>The <strong>average life expectancy</strong> in India <strong>would have been 1.7 years higher</strong> if the air pollution level were less than the minimal level causing health loss.</li>
<li>India has <strong>one of the highest annual average ambient particulate matter PM2&middot;5</strong> exposure levels in the world.</li>
<li>In 2017, no state in India had an annual population weighted ambient particulate matter mean PM2&middot;5 less than the WHO recommended <g class="gr_ gr_87 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="87" data-gr-id="87">level</g> of 10 &mu;g/m&sup3; ( PM 2.5 particles are those that are suspended in air and have a diameter lesser than 2.5 microns).</li>
<li>States in north India had some of the highest levels of both ambient particulate matter and household air pollution, especially Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand.</li>
<li>Delhi, Haryana, and Punjab in north India had some of the highest ambient particulate matter pollution exposure in the country.</li>
<li>The <strong>Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY)</strong> which is a measure of overall disease burden expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-health rate due to ambient particulate matter pollution, was highest in the case of north Indian states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, and Rajasthan.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Creating a <strong>robust system</strong> to implement existing clean-air policies, <strong>promoting coordination between the centre and states</strong>, and devising state and district-level pollution control plans are vital to improve air quality.</li>
<li><strong>Detailed emission inventories</strong> are needed to provide information on the type of pollutant, its proportion, its source and its chemical properties.</li>
<li><strong>Satellite data can supplement the routine monitoring of air pollution</strong>, as it can be more economical than setting up and operating a number of fixed stations. They could also be used to identify potential air quality hot spots.</li>
<li>The <strong>National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)</strong> which lays down a comprehensive strategy framework for enhanced management of air quality should incorporate the time-bound pollution reduction targets across sectors with fixed accountability and strong legal backing.</li>
<li>The government already has regulating norms for the emissions from industries and policy on reducing dependency on fuel based power. Emphasis should also be on pollution caused by solid fuel used for cooking, dust pollution, inefficient municipal waste disposal.</li>
<li>Sustainable government support is required for checking the indoor pollution due to solid fuels.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>For example, <strong>Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana</strong> under which women of poor households are being provided free cooking gas connections to reduce their dependence on firewood is a good step but the scheme has failed to convert a majority of the poor LPG users because they find LPG less affordable.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Government Initiatives to Combat Air Pollution</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Notification of National Ambient Air Quality Standards and sector-specific emission and effluent standards for industries;</li>
<li>Setting up of <g class="gr_ gr_126 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="126" data-gr-id="126">monitoring</g> network for assessment of ambient air quality;</li>
<li>Introduction of cleaner gaseous fuels like CNG, LPG etc and ethanol blending;</li>
<li>Launching of National Air Quality Index (AQI);</li>
<li>Universalization of BS-IV for vehicles by 2017;</li>
<li>Leapfrogging from BS-IV to BS-VI standards for vehicles by 1st April 2020;</li>
<li>Banning of <g class="gr_ gr_286 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="286" data-gr-id="286">burning</g> of biomass;</li>
<li>Promotion of public transport network;</li>
<li>Pollution Under Control Certificate;</li>
<li>Issuance of directions under <g class="gr_ gr_353 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="353" data-gr-id="353">Air</g> (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981;</li>
<li>Installation of on-line continuous (24x7) monitoring devices by 17 highly polluting industrial sectors;</li>
<li>Regulating the bursting of pollution-emitting crackers;</li>
<li>Notification of graded response action plan for Delhi identifying source wise actions for various levels of air pollution, etc.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/air-pollution-in-india-one-in-8-deaths-due-to-air-pollution'
	],
	(int) 12 => [
		'title' => 'The Big Picture: Indo-Pacific Maritime Security',
		'catname' => 'Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions',
		'desc' => '<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HeZ3lK6AoHc" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>India stated that it would expand maritime security cooperation with Vietnam amid China&rsquo;s aggressive behavior in the South China Sea and growing ambitions in the Bay of Bengal region.</strong> India and Vietnam agreed to strengthen bilateral strategic cooperation in defense, oil and gas sectors as President Ram Nath Kovind held productive and extensive talks with his Vietnam counterpart. Both leaders restated the importance of building a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region in respect of national sovereignty and international law.</p>
<h3>Vietnam and Indo Pacific Maritime Security</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The present trend shows that Vietnam is hesitant to take an active role with regards to Indo-Pacific. <strong>One of the reasons being the evolving geopolitics of the region. The geopolitical philosophies of both the China and America are contradictory.</strong></li>
<li>Consequently, the Vietnamese are reluctant to take a definite position in the decisions related to Indo-Pacific. T<strong>o ally with India in any form would give a strategic boost to the US and India&rsquo;s stand of free passage in the South China Sea.</strong></li>
<li>Another important reason why the Vietnamese are reluctant to engage with India is that the ASEAN countries as a political entity do not believe in the concept of Indo- Pacific, as the concept is backed by the QUAD ( QUAD is an informal strategic dialogue between the United States, Japan, Australia, and India). <strong>ASEAN countries believe that when the Asia Pacific was expanded by the Trump Administration to Indo-Pacific it took away the focus from ASEAN.</strong></li>
<li>Hence, they deliberately shy away from those aspects which highlight strategic and military aspect. However, they are eager to do more on trade and commerce.</li>
<li><strong>Vietnam has said that they do not want the QUAD to get developed into a military alliance.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>India and ASEAN</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The relationship between India and the ASEAN members is growing stronger by the day. <strong>India being inducted as a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum, is one of the examples of growing closeness.</strong></li>
<li>The Act East policy of India consolidated the relationship between the ASEAN and India. Initially, it was limited to only trade and investment. Now, other dimensions like <g class="gr_ gr_78 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del" id="78" data-gr-id="78">counter insurgency</g>, cyber and maritime security, connectivity etc. have been included.</li>
<li>The Indian administration has been categorical in focusing on the centrality of the ASEAN. It was evident in Indian Prime Minister&rsquo; Shangri La Dialogue.</li>
</ul>
<h3>The coalition between Like-Minded Countries in the Indo-Pacific</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>As per the present situation, we cannot state whether or not the countries are coming together to form an alliance against the Chinese.</strong></li>
<li><strong>The Vietnamese, for example, are more connected with the Chinese than any other country, owing to its proximity to China.</strong> Hence, the warmth shown to India cannot be misconstrued as an alliance. Similarly, the case with Myanmar and Indonesia where Chinese proximity is too close for India to build any coalition force.</li>
<li>India has categorically allayed any Chinese fear by saying that she has no intention to upset the apple cart. <strong>The Indian Prime Minister has always focused on SAGAR &ndash; Security, And Growth for all in the Region.</strong></li>
<li>Chinese do not have any fear for QUAD as the grouping is in the nascent stage of its development. However, it does have its apprehensions as to what it might develop to in the future.</li>
<li><strong>China has only the South China Sea as the opening to the outside world. And in that sense QUAD has immense potential as it can hinder China&rsquo;s gateway to the world.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Role of China in Indo-Pacific</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>China has a huge stake in the Indo-Pacific, as most of the trade is done through this region. Besides, they have invested heavily in the Belt and Road Initiative.</li>
<li><strong>The ASEAN countries also have a well-knit relationship with the Chinese. Hence, in spite of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) verdict (which went against China) the Chinese reclaimed most of the islands in the South China Sea and have also built maritime infrastructure.</strong></li>
<li>The advancement <g class="gr_ gr_88 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="88" data-gr-id="88">by</g> the Chinese was done without firing a single bullet. The US does realize now that the Chinese gradually are becoming a force which can challenge the US strategic interest in the Indo Pacific.</li>
</ul>
<h3>BIMSTEC and the US</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The USA announced that it will identify collaborative opportunities with Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) where India plays a pivotal role to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific region amid China's ambitious moves to dominate the region.</li>
<li>The US State Department also announced that it is expanding maritime security cooperation in the Indian Ocean region, including through the new Bay of Bengal Initiative. India is the biggest country in the Bay of Bengal and principal security provider in the region.</li>
<li>Gradually, BIMSTEC has replaced SAARC and has all the components of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) except problematic Pakistan. This forum is being developed by the present government to further consolidate India&rsquo;s interest in the Indo-Pacific.</li>
<li>Both the Chinese and the US are interested in the platform BIMSTEC because it is vibrant, promising, unlike SAARC which is characterized by lethargy.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There is a growing concern about China&rsquo;s looming presence in the South China Sea and <strong>like-minded countries are apprehensive of China&rsquo;s aspirations.</strong></li>
<li>However, because of too much focus on containing China, there are other issues that are being neglected. ASEAN countries are eager to focus on issues like <strong>trade, investment, overfishing, piracy, disaster management, and cybersecurity</strong>. In this regard, BIMSTEC can become a facilitative platform to enhance engagement with the world in general and the ASEAN member countries in particular.</li>
</ul>',
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		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/the-big-picture-indo-pacific-maritime-security-1'
	],
	(int) 13 => [
		'title' => 'Telerobotic Coronary Surgery in Gujarat',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p><strong>India</strong> became the <strong>first country</strong> to perform a telerobotic coronary surgery on <g class="gr_ gr_37 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="37" data-gr-id="37">human</g>.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The telerobotic coronary intervention was <strong>performed in Gujarat</strong> by Padma Shree and noted cardiologist Dr Tejas Patel on a middle-aged woman who had volunteered for the first experimental coronary stenting.</li>
<li>Tele-robotic surgery is performed at a distance from the patient from a remote location using robotically controlled instruments. It is enabled by computer technology and advanced robotics.</li>
<li>The coronary intervention operation is also popularly known as <strong>stent placing in the arteries</strong>.</li>
<li>The robotic surgery is common in many countries but so far nowhere it had been performed through telerobots away from the operation theatre.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Significance</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>This process will bring about <g class="gr_ gr_41 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="41" data-gr-id="41">revolution</g> in the medical history as it will enable the cardiologists to <strong>perform surgery on the needy patients on <g class="gr_ gr_44 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="44" data-gr-id="44">emergency</g> basis</strong> even from a distance.</li>
<li>The success of the project has the potential to dramatically <strong>improve the access of doctors to patients with heart and stroke ailment</strong>s, especially in rural and under-served areas.</li>
<li>In case of any exigency or failure of the internet connections, the surgeons present at the spot could take over manually within 30 seconds.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>TeleMedicine</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Telemedicine is an upcoming field in health science arising out of the effective <strong>fusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) with Medical Science</strong>.</li>
<li>The main objective of telemedicine is to <strong>cross the geographical barriers</strong> and <strong>provide healthcare facilities to rural and remote areas (health for all)</strong> so it is beneficial for the population living in isolated communities.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Advantages of TeleMedicine</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Eliminate distance barriers and improve access to quality health services.</li>
<li>In emergency and critical care situations where moving a patient may be undesirable and/or not feasible.</li>
<li>Facilitate patients and rural practitioners&rsquo; access to specialist health services and support.</li>
<li>Lessen the inconvenience and/or cost of patient transfers.</li>
<li>Reduce isolation of rural practice by upgrading their knowledge through <g class="gr_ gr_35 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling" id="35" data-gr-id="35">tele</g>-education.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/telerobotic-coronary-surgery-in-gujarat'
	],
	(int) 14 => [
		'title' => 'Potential of GIs is Waiting to be Tapped',
		'catname' => 'News Editorials',
		'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article &ldquo;Potential of GIs is Waiting to be Tapped&rdquo; which appears in BusinessLine on 6th December 2018.)</p>
</div>
<p>Recently, the Indian Minister for Commerce and Industry unveiled <strong>a Tricolour logo that is common for all Geographical Indications (GI) with an impressive tagline &ldquo;Invaluable Treasures of Incredible India&rdquo;.<img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/432drishti_ias_Potential of GIs is Waiting to be Tapped (2).jpg" width="428" height="268" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></strong></p>
<p>Logos convey a specific message to the consumers about the product. An Agmark assures the consumer about the quality. <strong>After 15 years of the GI Registry coming into being, now have a logo that is common for all registered GIs.</strong></p>
<p>GI indicates the &lsquo;link&rsquo; between the place and the product, where the link could be the natural resources, climatic factor or human skills that render uniqueness to the product. <strong>Apart from promoting tourism and rural development, some of the Sustainable Development Goals like empowering women, fostering sustainable communities and reducing poverty may be achieved through effective implementation of GI.</strong></p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>What is GI tag?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The<strong> GI tag is an indication which is definite to a geographical territory.</strong></li>
<li>It is used for agricultural, natural and manufactured goods.</li>
<li>For a product to get a GI tag, the goods need to be produced or processed or prepared in that region. It is also essential that the product has a special quality or reputation.</li>
<li><strong>The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 provides registration and also protection</strong> of GI goods in India.</li>
<li>This Act is administered by the Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks, who is also the Registrar of Geographical Indications.</li>
<li><strong>The Geographical Indications Registry for India is located in Chennai.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>How GI is protected in India?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration &amp; Protection)Act, 1999 which came into force with effect from 2003.</li>
<li>A registered Geographical Indications prohibit a third party to use such Geographical indication by any means in the designations or presentations of goods indicating that such goods originate in a geographical area.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Difference between GI and other intellectual properties (IP)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>GI is a collective intellectual property right and is thus owned by all the producers within the defined GI territory while the IPs like patent and trademark are owned by an individual or a business entity.</strong></li>
<li>While the commercial use of patent could benefit an innovator or a particular firm, commercialization of GI would benefit all the producers in the GI territory.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Opportunities</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>I<strong>ndia has rich diversity in a wide variety of handicrafts and agricultural products.</strong> Encouraging the producers to earn economic returns through authenticating the product with GI logo will help consumers to make an informed decision and help millions of livelihoods dependent on such products.</li>
<li><strong>Promotion of common GI logo will create an edge for GI products over similar products.</strong> It will also bring more awareness among consumers in distant markets as well and result in increased demand for the GI products.</li>
<li>T<strong>his will check distress migration, prevent artisans and farmers leaving their livelihoods and will arrest the erosion of traditional knowledge and practices.</strong></li>
<li>It will also become a tool in the hand of exporters, which can be used to classify the produce and supplies at levels above foreign competitors.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Drawbacks</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The potential of GI has not yet been realized in India</strong> as the efforts have so far mainly focused only on the first step of filing the GI.</li>
<li><strong>Filing a GI application is a huge task</strong> that involves documenting historical evidence about the linkage of the product with the region and the application has to be filed by an association or group of persons.</li>
<li>Hence, in comparison with the incidence of diversity in handicrafts or agricultural products from different parts of India only about <a href="http://www.ipindia.nic.in/writereaddata/Portal/Images/pdf/GI_Application_Register_new.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">326 products</a> identified from different parts of the country have so far been registered with the GI registry.</li>
<li>Post registration activities in terms of utilizing the GI certification as marketing/branding tool to benefit the producers have not been attempted in most of the registered products due to limited awareness about GI in the country among producers, consumers and policymakers.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>A common logo for GI awareness, long advocated by researchers, is now in place. However, a mere unveiling of the logo will not serve any purpose for the producers of registered GIs in India. Enormous human efforts and financial resources are required to position the common GI logo so that it is used as a marketing tool.</strong></li>
<li>The GI logo needs to be widely popularised so that consumers associate the GI logo with the uniqueness and authenticity of GI products. Increase in demand would encourage the producers to take efforts to sustain the uniqueness of the product and cater to the niche market that has demand for authentic products.</li>
<li><strong>Along with these, measures should be taken to prevent the misuse of the logo.</strong></li>
<li>The use of common GI logo has to be inclusive of all the stakeholders in the value chain and collective efforts in organizing them is the need of the hour.</li>
<li><strong>India must learn from Thailand&rsquo;s experience, which has successfully showcased its GI logo.</strong> Such efforts should start with all the State emporiums and handicraft hubs where products are on permanent display. There should be clear signboards with GI logos on the national highways or major bus/railway stations/airports about the GI Production centers in that region and information about the sales points where the products may be procured.<img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/668drishti_ias_Potential of GIs is Waiting to be Tapped (1).jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="670" height="768" /></li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/potential-of-gis-is-waiting-to-be-tapped'
	],
	(int) 15 => [
		'title' => 'Septage Management Report by CSE',
		'catname' => 'Summary of Important Reports',
		'desc' => '<h3>Introduction</h3>
<p>Despite constructing 18 crore toilets with containment systems under <strong>Swachh Bharat Mission,</strong> which will be ready by 2019, India struggles with problem of managing treatment of waste generated. Thus, we treatment of sewage and septage needs to be tackled to ensure not just an <strong>open defecation-free (ODF)</strong> <strong>India,</strong> but pollution-free water bodies, cities and towns as well.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>As per <strong>2011 Census,</strong> 81.4% households in urban India have a toilet facility, but only 40% households with a toilet facility are connected to a piped sewer network.</li>
<li>Septage management in cities would also help achieve the aims of <strong>SDG-6,</strong> which includes improving water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping, and minimizing the release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing global recycling and safe end use by 2030.</li>
<li><strong>National Urban Sanitation Policy (NUSP), 2008,</strong> emphasizes the need for proper collection, treatment and disposal of septage from onsite installations.</li>
<li><strong>Faecal sludge and septage management</strong> is not only affordable and sustainable as compared to centralized sewerage system but can also be implemented quickly to make cities clean and healthy.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Key points from Excreta Matters: Seventh State of India&rsquo;s Environment Report</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Pollution from one city distorts water supply plans of those downstream.</li>
<li>Costs of building centralized wastewater treatment system is high.</li>
<li>Cities can build sewerage system for few not all.</li>
<li>Cities spend to treat waste of some, which eventually gets mixed with untreated waste of the majority.</li>
<li>The result is pollution; and cities drowning in their own excreta.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>What is septage management?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Sanitation often focuses only on the provisioning of physical infrastructure &mdash; toilets or latrines &mdash; in order to increase the &lsquo;coverage of toilets&rsquo;, or to look at the epitome of sanitation: Open Defecation Free (ODF) cities.</li>
<li>But there is a need to focus on the entire &lsquo;sanitation chain. It is an outline for understanding how faecal waste flows through each system.</li>
<li>It sets out interlinked steps vital to manage septage and effluent from generation to disposal or end use, thereby summarizing the city-level outcomes and current status of the same.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Septage</h3>
<p>Septage or septic tank waste refers to the partially treated matter stored in and pumped out of a septic tank. It is generally pumped out of a septic tank or onsite sanitation system using a vacuum tanker. It is a host of many disease-causing organisms along with significant level of grease, grit, hair and debris.</p>
<p><strong>Septage has three main components:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Scum:</strong> The layer of solids formed by wastewater constituents that floats to the surface of a tank or reactor (such as oil, grease, hair or any other light material).</li>
<li><strong>Effluent:</strong> The liquid fraction collected in between scum and sludge in a septic tank is known as effluent, sometimes also referred to as a supernatant.</li>
<li><strong>Sludge:</strong> Solids which collect at the bottom of the tank</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why manage septage?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Insufficient infrastructure</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Only 40 per cent of Indian population having toilets is connected to sewerage networks, while another 48 per cent are connected to On-site Septage Systems (OSS).</li>
<li>It poses challenge in the form of lack of sewerage network lines and in emptying of OSS and treatment of effluent let out by them.</li>
<li>In the absence of designated disposal sites, private operators often discharge collected septage into drains, waterways, open land and agricultural fields, which in turn poses a larger threat to the environment and health.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Health and environment implications</strong>
<ul>
<li>Septage contains elements that may produce bad odor, risk public health and create serious environmental hazards.</li>
<li>As septage is highly concentrated, discharging it into a water body may cause immediate depletion of dissolved oxygen.</li>
<li>Increased nutrients levels in the water, leads to eutrophication and increase in the number of pathogens, thus creating risk of health hazards.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Loopholes in Regulation</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Public health and sanitation is a part of the <strong>'constitutional responsibility'</strong> of the municipalities <strong>under the 12<sup>th</sup> schedule of the Constitution (74<sup>th</sup> Amendment, 1992)</strong>.</li>
<li>Municipal acts and regulations normally refer to management of solid and liquid waste, but <strong>do not provide detailed rules for septage management</strong>.</li>
<li>Inadequacy in the implementation and enforcement of regulations worsens the problem.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Current Practice</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Septage management is primarily in the hands of <strong>private operators</strong>. The operators charge for emptying services provided to different stakeholders. Emptying points can be individual households, residential colonies, commercial establishments, institutions, toilet complexes, offices etc.</li>
<li>Due to absence of dedicated disposal sites, private emptiers practice illegal dumping of septage into water bodies, utterly disregarding the threat posed to health and environment.</li>
<li>They run their business without paying any fees to government authorities which means that despite high charges collected from the customers, no revenue is generated by government authorities from the emptying business. Farmers in whose fields the collected septage or faecal sludge is disposed of also pay the private operators.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Key provisions in different laws and regulations that deal with septage management</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/606image1.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/606image1.jpg" width="727" height="765" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management Policy, 2017</strong></p>
<p>Issued by Ministry of Urban Development in early 2017.</p>
<p><strong>Aim:</strong> Facilitate nationwide implementation of FSSM services in all ULBs and to set priorities, and direction for safe and sustainable sanitation in every household in India.</p>
<p><strong>Key features</strong> of the policy are as follows:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>State-level guidelines,</strong> framework, objectives, timelines and implementation plans to address septage management.</li>
<li>Formulating strategy at the <strong>Central level</strong> to initiate capacity-building for training on FSSM.</li>
<li>Creating a <strong>sanitation benchmark framework</strong> which can be used by ULBs to develop a database and registry of certified onsite sanitation system, and a robust reporting format.</li>
<li>Funding for facilitation of FSSM projects and encouragement to increase public private partnerships (PPP).</li>
<li>Achieving integrated citywide sanitation along with safe disposal.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Stages of Septage Management</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Containment:</strong> Containment system helps in restricting the human interaction with excreta either through off-site sanitation system like underground drainage network or through onsite sanitation system like septic tank.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/337image3.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/337image3.jpg" width="485" height="186" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/980image2.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/980image2.jpg" width="628" height="327" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Bio-digester (anaerobic):</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Bio-digesters advocated by the SBM are widely used to provide 80 per cent treatment of black water from individual and cluster households, or institutional buildings where there is no sewerage network.</li>
<li>The technology has been <strong>developed by DRDO</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>Specifications:</strong> It has two key components: <strong>(i) Anaerobic microbial consortium</strong> which has been created by acclimatization, enrichment and bio-augmentation of cold active bacteria collected from Antarctica and other low-temperature areas. <strong>(ii) Specially designed fermentation tank</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Bio-toilet (aerobic):</strong> Bio-toilets make use of aerobic digestion involving multiple strains of bacteria that break down waste matter through oxidization</li>
</ul>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Emptying:</strong> The process of extracting faecal sludge/septage from onsite sanitation systems is known as emptying. It is done both <strong>mechanically and manually</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>(The Prohibition of Employment of Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 however prohibits employment or engagement of manual scavengers).</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Mechanized methods include use of vacuum trucks or tractor-mounted vacuum tankers.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Transportation</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Faecal sludge/septage and waste water/sewage both need to be transported to the treatment/disposal site. Sewage is conveyed using underground drainage network also called sewerage network.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Treatment and Disposal</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Wastewater, faecal sludge and supernatant,</strong> all three should be properly treated and/or safely disposed for improved sanitation.</li>
<li><strong>Sewage and supernatant</strong> with or without treatment end up into lakes and rivers of the State.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Resource recovery</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Faecal sludge contains nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus and, varying amounts of micro-nutrients such as boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum and zinc.
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>These nutrients reduce reliance on chemical fertilizers and in combination they can meet the requirements of nutrients for crop production.</li>
<li>Septage has also been used to generate energy through <strong>biogas systems</strong> and <strong>bio-methanization process</strong>. The methane thus produced can be used as fuel for cooking or for generation of electricity.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Containment</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It is essential to ensure that the OSS constructed is best suited to the local condition of the target area.</li>
<li>Municipal bye-laws for construction of containment systems should be enforced for new constructions.</li>
<li>The relevant agencies must provide sufficient time and support to retrofit OSS with faulty design.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Emptying</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Charges to empty septage vary widely across the country, which should be regularized.</li>
<li>Regulating and licensing of private emptiers.</li>
<li>Proper PPE usage should be made mandatory.</li>
<li>ULBs should ensure that containment systems are desludged as per schedule</li>
<li>Awareness about the need to empty containments regularly is very essential which can be taken up by social media platforms, through various ministries initiative, NGOs too can be consulted.</li>
<li>Most private operators in this business are not aware about adverse impacts of unsafe disposal of the septage. They should be trained on correct transportation and disposal method.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Transport</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Most private operators illegally discharge septage at the nearest point. Routes to be taken should be fixed to reduce the cost of transportation as well as minimizing the effects on health and environment.</li>
<li>Vehicles transporting septage should be able to ply on the roads only during select hours of the day.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Treatment and disposal</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Septage characterization should be undertaken as it helps in selecting the appropriate technological option that suits the local and regional conditions.</li>
<li>Septage decanting stations can be constructed at strategic locations for convenient disposal, cutting down the distance to be travelled by desludging lorries.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>',
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		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/summary-of-important-reports/septage-management-report-by-cse'
	],
	(int) 16 => [
		'title' => 'Operation Greens',
		'catname' => 'Paper 3',
		'desc' => '<h3>Why in News?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Recently government approved guidelines for Rs 500 crore 'Operation Greens' program.</li>
<li>Finance Minister of India had announced Operation Greens in the Union Budget 2018-19, on the line of 'Operation Flood'.</li>
</ul>
<h3>What is Operation Green?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is a price fixation scheme that aims to ensure farmers are given the right price for their produce.</li>
<li>It aims to promote Farmer Producers Organizations (FPO), Agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management of agri-produce.</li>
<li>It focuses on organized marketing of Tomatoes, Onions and Potatoes (TOP vegetables) by connecting farmers with consumers.</li>
<li>State Agriculture and other Marketing Federations, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPO), cooperatives, companies, Self-help groups, food processors etc. can avail the financial assistance under it.</li>
<li>To help in the structural and infrastructure part of the scheme, agriculture market committee (APMCs) promoted markets will be connected to the e-NAM platform.</li>
<li>The government will also help in development of 22,000 agricultural markets.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>E-NAM (e-National Agriculture Market)</strong> is an important initiative of GoI to use pan-India electronic trading portal for bidding and network the existing APMC mandis to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities.</p>
<p><strong>Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC)</strong> is a statutory market committee constituted by a State Government in respect of trade in certain notified agricultural or horticultural or livestock products, under the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act issued by that state government.</p>
</div>
<h3>Objectives</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Enhancing value realisation of TOP farmers by targeted interventions to strengthen TOP production clusters and their FPOs, and linking/connecting them with the market.</li>
<li>Price stabilisation for producers and consumers by proper production planning in the TOP clusters and introduction of dual use varieties.</li>
<li>Reduction in post-harvest losses by creation of farm gate infrastructure, development of suitable agro-logistics, creation of appropriate storage capacity linking consumption centres.</li>
<li>Increase in food processing capacities and value addition in TOP value chain with firm linkages with production clusters.</li>
<li>Setting up of a market intelligence network to collect and collate real time data on demand and supply and price of TOP crops.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Strategies</h3>
<p>The scheme will have two-pronged strategy of Price stabilisation measures (for short term) and integrated value chain development projects (for long term).</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Short term Price Stabilisation Measures:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED)</strong> will be the Nodal Agency to implement price stabilization measure.</li>
<li>Ministry of Food Processing Industry will provide 50% of the subsidy on:
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Transportation of Tomato Onion Potato(TOP) Crops from production to storage;</li>
<li>Hiring of appropriate storage facilities for TOP Crops</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Long Term Integrated value chain development projects:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Capacity Building of FPOs &amp; their consortium</li>
<li>Quality production</li>
<li>Post-harvest processing facilities</li>
<li>Agri-Logistics</li>
<li>Marketing/Consumption Points</li>
<li>Creation and Management of e-platform for demand and supply management of TOP Crops.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why Operation Greens?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The scheme is launched on the lines of <strong>Operation Flood</strong> and seeks to replicate the success of milk in fruits and vegetables.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Operation Flood</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Operation Flood was started by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1970s.</li>
<li>It was also known as white revolution.</li>
<li>Objective of the program was to create a nationwide milk grid and raise milk production in the country.</li>
<li>It led to India becoming the largest producer of milk in 2016-17.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Idea behind Operation Greens is to double the income of farmers by the end of 2022.</li>
<li>The problem with vegetable commodities is that when their production increases sharply, their prices collapse because there is not enough modern storage capacity.</li>
<li>The links between processing and organized retailing are very weak and small in India which often result in farmer receiving less than 1/4th of what consumers pay for their produce in major cities.</li>
<li>Operation Greens will focus on these problems for basic ingredients and not on additional commodities in agriculture.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges in Implementation</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There are so many varieties of TOP vegetables, grown in different climatic conditions and in different seasons, making marketing intervention (processing and storage) all the more complex, unlike in milk that is a relatively homogenous product produced round the year.</li>
<li>Viable technology options for long-term storage, transport, and processing are still being developed.</li>
<li>Energy intensity of available technologies, especially with rising fuel prices, poses additional challenge.</li>
<li>Organized market at present is very small in relation to total production. The market has to be developed through a viable business model which is both time and cost consuming.</li>
<li>The scheme has no provision for institutional setup in implementing the scheme like the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Operation Flood.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There is a need to link major consumption centre to major production centre with a minimal number of intermediaries.</li>
<li>Linking the processing industry with organized retailing. On an average, about one-fourth of the produce must be processed. Budget announcement of increasing the allocation for the food processing industry by 100% is a welcome step in this regard.</li>
<li>By developing forward and backward linkages, the government can ease large price fluctuations, raise farmers&rsquo; share in the price paid by the consumer and at the same time, ensure lower prices for the consumers &mdash; a win-win situation for all.</li>
</ul>',
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		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/paper3/operation-greens-ttp-1-1'
	],
	(int) 17 => [
		'title' => 'Operation Greens',
		'catname' => 'Paper 3',
		'desc' => '<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/215Operation%20Greens.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/215Operation Greens.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>',
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	(int) 18 => [
		'title' => 'GSAT-11 Launched',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>Indian Space Research Organization&rsquo;s (ISRO) heaviest communication satellite GSAT-11 was launched by European Space Agency&rsquo;s (ESA) Ariane-5 Rocket, from Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana, South America.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>ISRO&rsquo;s rocket GSLV III can carry load up to four thousand kilograms. Beyond that capacity, all heavier ISRO payloads are launched by ESA.</li>
<li>
<p>GSAT-11 is part of ISRO&rsquo;s high-throughput communication satellite (HTS) fleet. Two HTSs &mdash; <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/gsat-29-satellite-launched-1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GSAT-29</a> and GSAT-19 are already in space.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>GSAT-11</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>GSAT-11 is an advanced communication satellite.</li>
<li>The GSAT 11 has Ka x Ku-Band Forward Link Transponders and Ku x Ka-band Return Link Transponders.</li>
<li>Mass: 5,854 Kg</li>
<li>Orbit type: Geostationary Orbit</li>
<li>Mission Life: 15 Years</li>
</ul>
<h3>Applications</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Faster Internet Connectivity:</strong> GSAT will play a vital role in providing broadband services across the country. It will enable greater capacity and high data rates over region due to use of the spot beam technology.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>
<p>The broadband domain in India is through the underground fiber and covers partial and convenient locations. GSAT will drive the country's Internet broadband from space to untouched areas.&nbsp;</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Bharat Net Connectivity:</strong> It will provide substantial bandwidth coverage to gram panchayats for supporting e-governance and other platforms.</li>
<li><strong>VSAT Terminals:</strong> Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) support high data rate applications for enterprise network and consumer broadband applications.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Spot Beam</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A spot beam is a satellite signal that is especially concentrated so that it covers only a limited geographical area. The narrower the beam greater the power. The satellite reuse beams (signals) several times in order to cover the entire country.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Types of Orbits</strong></p>
<p>In general, there are two types of orbits:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Polar Synchronous</li>
<li>Geosynchronous</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Polar Orbit</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A polar orbit travels<strong> north-south over the poles</strong> and takes approximately<strong> 90 minutes for a full rotation.</strong></li>
<li>These orbits have an <strong>inclination near 90 degrees.</strong> This allows the satellite to see virtually every part of the Earth as the Earth rotates underneath it.</li>
<li>These satellites have many uses such as<strong> monitoring crops, global security, measuring ozone concentrations in the stratosphere or measuring temperatures in the atmosphere.</strong></li>
<li>Almost all the satellites that are in a polar orbit are at <strong>lower altitudes.</strong></li>
<li>An orbit is called <strong>sun-synchronous</strong> when the angle between the <strong>line joining the center of the Earth and the satellite and the Sun is constant throughout the orbit.</strong></li>
<li>These orbits are also referred to as <strong>&ldquo;Low Earth Orbit (LEO)&rdquo;</strong> which enables the onboard camera to take images of the earth under the same sun-illumination conditions during each of the repeated visits, thus making the satellite useful for earth resources monitoring.</li>
<li><strong>It passes over any given point on Earth&rsquo;s surface at the same local solar time.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Geosynchronous Orbit</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Geosynchronous satellites are launched into orbit in the same direction the Earth is spinning and can have any inclination.</li>
<li>When the satellite is in orbit at a specific altitude (approximately 36,000km above the Earth's surface)<strong>, it will exactly match the rotation of the Earth.</strong></li>
<li>While, <strong>Geostationary</strong> <strong>orbits</strong> fall in the same category as geosynchronous orbits, but with that one special quality of being<strong> parked over the equator.</strong></li>
<li>In the case of geostationary satellites, the Earth&rsquo;s force of gravity is exactly enough to provide acceleration required for circular motion.</li>
<li><strong>Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit(GTO):</strong> To attain geostationary or geosynchronous earth orbits, a spacecraft is first launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.</li>
<li>From the <strong>GTO the spacecraft uses its engines to shift to geostationary or geosynchronous orbit.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>',
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	(int) 19 => [
		'title' => 'Important Facts for Prelims (5th December 2018)',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<h3>USMCA trade deal</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>United States</strong>, <strong>Canada</strong> and <strong>Mexico</strong> have reached an agreement to <strong>replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)</strong>.</li>
<li>The original 1994 NAFTA deal has also been renamed as the <strong>United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement or USMCA</strong>.</li>
<li>The goal of NAFTA was to encourage economic activity by eliminating barriers to trade and investment between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.</li>
<li>USMCA will give workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses a high-standard trade agreement that will result in freer markets, fairer trade and robust economic growth in the region.</li>
<li>It will strengthen the middle class, and create good, well-paying jobs and new opportunities for the nearly half billion people of North America.</li>
</ul>
<h3>India Water Impact Summit-2018</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India Water Impact Summit is being jointly organized by the <strong>National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)</strong> and the <strong>Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga)</strong> from 5-7 December 2018 in New Delhi.</li>
<li>The India Water Impact Summit is an annual event where stakeholders get together to discuss, debate and develop model solutions for some of the biggest water-related problems in the country.</li>
<li>The discussions this year will be on <strong>rejuvenation of the Ganga River Basin.</strong></li>
<li>There will be multi-country dialogue on the subject, with showcasing of technological innovations, research, policy frameworks and funding models from India and abroad.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG) was<strong> registered as a society in 2011</strong> under the <strong>Societies Registration Act 1860</strong>.</li>
<li>It acted as <strong>implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority(NGRBA)</strong> which was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),1986.</li>
<li>NGRBA has since been dissolved in 2016, consequent to constitution of<strong> National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga</strong> (referred as National Ganga Council which comes under the chairmanship of Prime Minister of India.)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Indian Navy Day 2018</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indian maritime forces celebrated Navy Day on <strong>4 December</strong>.</li>
<li>The day marks the <strong>exemplary role</strong> of the naval branch of the <strong>Indian Armed Forces in the 1971 India-Pakistan War</strong>.</li>
<li>The Indian Navy of the 21st century is emerging as a formidable force likely to influence the Indian Ocean Region.</li>
</ul>
<h3>India&rsquo;s First Private Satellite Launched</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>US space agency <strong>SpaceX</strong> launched India&rsquo;s first privately built satellite <strong>ExseedSAT 1</strong> along with 63 other satellites from 17 countries.</li>
<li>The mini communication satellite weighs just a kg and is made up of aluminium alloy.</li>
<li>The satellite is owned by Mumbai-based startup Exseed Space and will serve the amateur radio communication.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Mangdechhu Project</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Project is a <strong>hydropower project</strong> in<strong> Bhutan</strong>.</li>
<li>720MW run-of-river power plant was built on the <strong>Mangdechhu River in</strong> Trongsa Dzongkhag District of <strong>central Bhutan</strong>.</li>
<li>It was built by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) with<strong> support from Government of India</strong>.</li>
<li>It is among the ten Hydroelectric Projects planned under the 10,000MW hydropower development by the year 2020 programme of the Royal Government of Bhutan.</li>
</ul>',
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