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Aurora Supercomputer

The United States has decided to build the fastest supercomputer. The supercomputer is named as Aurora. About Aurora It is scheduled to be...

20 Mar 2019 News Analysis
Important Facts For Prelims (20th March 2019)

Ind-Indo CORPAT 2019 The opening ceremony of 33rd Edition of India-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (Ind-Indo Corpat) took place at Port Blair,...

20 Mar 2019 News Analysis
International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure

Recently an International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (IWDRI) was held in New Delhi. The two-day workshop was organised by the...

20 Mar 2019 News Analysis
Cloud Over Solar Sector

(This editorial is based on the article 'Cloud Over Solar Sector' which appeared in 'The Times of India' on 19th March, 2019. The article talks...

19 Mar 2019 News Editorials
Important Facts For Prelims (19th March 2019)

Vaquita Porpoise Recently a dead Vaquita Porpoise was found in a fishnet off the coast of Mexico. It is critically endangered (IUCN) marine animal...

19 Mar 2019 News Analysis
Solar Tsunami Can Trigger the Sunspot Cycle

The scientists have found that solar tsunamis are responsible for triggering an 11-year cycle of sunspots. It is believed that the “solar...

19 Mar 2019 News Analysis
Hayabusa 2

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has decided to make a crater on asteroid 1999 JU3 (Ryugu) to collect underground samples. This is part...

19 Mar 2019 News Analysis
ICAI & NFRA

Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is the national professional accounting...

19 Mar 2019 National Institutions
Septic Tanks Meet Norms: MoDWS

Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDWS) has said that Septic tanks and single pits are safe sanitation technologies that meet the...

19 Mar 2019 News Analysis
Migration

In the latest terror attack at two mosques in New Zealand, 49 people have lost their lives and scores of people got injured. A majority of the...

19 Mar 2019 Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions
A Model Policy for Women in the Police

(This editorial is based on the article ‘A Model Policy for Women in the Police’ which appeared in ‘’The...

18 Mar 2019 News Editorials
Migration in Bengal Delta

Recently an international study titled Deltas, Vulnerability and Climate Change: Migration and Adaptation (DECMA) was published. The study found...

18 Mar 2019 News Analysis
New Hydro Policy

The government, under New Hydroelectricity Policy, has approved ‘renewable energy status’ for large hydel projects. Earlier, only...

18 Mar 2019 News Analysis
Important Facts For Prelims (18th March 2019)

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) Recent trials of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) have shown that it is just as useful...

18 Mar 2019 News Analysis
Fifth Generation (5G) Cellular Technology

Why in News? Worldwide, chipmakers and smartphone companies are conducting trials of 5G technology based services that are going to hit the globe...

18 Mar 2019 Paper 3
Fifth Generation (5G) Cellular Technology

18 Mar 2019 Paper 3
An Abhorrent And Unjust Device

(This editorial is based on the article "An Abhorrent And Unjust Device" which appeared in "The Hindu" on 15th March 2019. The article talks about...

16 Mar 2019 News Editorials
STAR Rating Program

Recently, the Ministry of Power, Government of India has expanded its ambitious Standards & Labelling (Star Rating) program for Energy Efficient...

16 Mar 2019 News Analysis
Cyclone Idai

Recently the Cyclone Idai has hit the port city of Beira in Mozambique. Mozambique has been struck by severe cyclones in the past, including Eline...

16 Mar 2019 News Analysis
SC Notice to EC over VVPAT’s

The Supreme Court (SC) has issued a notice to the Election Commission (EC) on a plea by leaders from 21 political parties who wanted random...

16 Mar 2019 News Analysis

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		(int) 0 => [
			'title' => 'Aurora Supercomputer',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The United States has decided to build the fastest supercomputer.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The supercomputer is<strong> named as Aurora.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>About Aurora</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is scheduled to be delivered to the <strong>Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago in 2021. </strong></li>
<li>It will be the first machine<strong> to reach a milestone called &ldquo;exascale&rdquo; performance, i.e. one billion billion calculations per second.</strong></li>
<li>This <strong>speed is around seven times the speed of the most powerful system built to date, or 1,000 times faster than the first &ldquo;petascale&rdquo; systems built in 2008. </strong></li>
<li>The new machines will let researchers create significantly <strong>more accurate simulations of</strong> phenomena such as<strong> drug responses, climate changes, the inner workings of combustion engines and solar panels.</strong></li>
<li>An <strong>International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation</strong> system called<strong> Summit(OLCF-4)</strong>, built for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the USA is the<strong> fastest supercomputer in the world with a clocked speed of 143.5 petaflops.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Supercomputer in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India&rsquo;s first supercomputer called <strong>PARAM 8000 was launched in 1991.</strong></li>
<li>At present, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology has<strong> Pratyush supercomputer, which is the fastest supercomputer in India,</strong> it has a speed of 4.0 Petaflops.</li>
<li>National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting has <strong>Mihir</strong>, which has a speed of 2.8 petaflops.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Unit of Computing Speed</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Teraflops:</strong> It is a unit of computing speed equal to <strong>one million million (10^12)</strong> <strong>floating-point operations per second (FLOPS).</strong></li>
<li><strong>Petaflops:</strong> It is a unit of computing speed equal to<strong> one thousand million million (10^15)</strong> floating-point operations per second (FLOPS).</li>
<li><strong>Exaflops:</strong> It is a unit of computing speed equal to <strong>one billion billion (10^18)</strong> floating-point operations per second (FLOPS).</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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		(int) 1 => [
			'title' => 'Important Facts For Prelims (20th March 2019)	',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<h3>Ind-Indo CORPAT 2019<a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1577337136_image36.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1577337136_image36.jpg" width="399" caption="false" style="float: right;" /></a></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The opening ceremony of <strong>33rd Edition of India-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (Ind-Indo Corpat)</strong> took place at <strong>Port Blair, Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands, India.</strong></li>
<li>The 33rd IND-INDO CORPAT, also coinciding with<strong> 70 of the establishment of India-Indonesia diplomatic ties.</strong></li>
<li>Under this exercise, <strong>the ship and aircraft from both the countries would undertake to patrol on the respective sides of 236 nautical miles long International Maritime Boundary line.</strong></li>
<li>As part of the Indian Government&rsquo;s vision of <strong>SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region),</strong> the Indian Navy has also been involved in<strong> assisting countries in the Indian Ocean Region with Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Surveillance, Search and Rescue, and other capacity-building and capability-enhancement activities.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The<strong> vision of SAGAR was enunciated by Prime Minister in March 2015.</strong> It is an articulation of <strong>India&rsquo;s vision for the Indian Ocean.</strong></li>
<li>SAGAR has inter-related elements and underscores India&rsquo;s engagement in the Indian Ocean. These are<strong> enhancing capacities to safeguard land and maritime territories &amp; interests;</strong> deepening <strong>economic and security cooperation</strong> in the littoral; action to <strong>deal with natural disasters and maritime threats like piracy, terrorism.</strong></li>
<li>It also includes <strong>engaging with countries beyond our shores</strong> with the aim of <strong>building greater trust and promoting respect for maritime rules, norms and peaceful resolution of disputes</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Mitra-Shakti VI</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Annual joint military exercise <strong>Mitra-Shakti 2019 between India India-Sri Lanka</strong> will be conducted in Sri Lanka.</li>
<li>The<strong> aim of the exercise is to build and promote close relations between armies of both the countries</strong> and to enhance the ability of joint exercise commander to take military contingents of both nations under command.</li>
<li>This exercise is one of the <strong>major bilateral defense cooperation initiatives between India and Sri Lanka since 2013.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Copyright License for Google</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Google has been granted a copyright license by the <strong>Indian Performing Right Society Limited (IPRS).</strong></li>
<li>The copyright license will <strong>enable Google to use IPRS members&rsquo; work and material in India on YouTube and other services.</strong></li>
<li>Google recently launched<strong> YouTube Music,</strong> a paid music streaming service, in the country.</li>
<li><strong>IPRS is the country&rsquo;s only copyright society, authorized to carry out the copyright business for musical works and literary works (lyrics), associated with its members.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Members of IPRS comprises of the author (lyricists), music composers and music publishers.</strong></li>
<li>The IPRS was founded on 23rd August 1969.</li>
<li>The IPRS is a representative body of Owners of Music, viz. The Composers, Lyricists (or Authors) and the Publishers of Music and<strong> is also the sole Authorised Body to issue Licences for usage of Musical Works &amp; Literary Music within India by any person.</strong></li>
</ul>',
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		],
		(int) 2 => [
			'title' => 'International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>Recently an International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (IWDRI) was held in New Delhi.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The two-day workshop was organised by the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/what-is-a-national-disaster" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)</strong></a> in collaboration with <strong>United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)</strong>, and in partnership with the <strong>Global Commission on Adaptation</strong>, <strong>United Nations Development Programme</strong> and the<strong> <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-international-institution/world-bank-group" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Bank</a></strong>.</li>
<li>The objective of workshop were to:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Identify good practices</strong> of disaster risk management in key infrastructure sectors,</li>
<li><strong>Identify specific areas and pathways</strong> for collaborative research on DRI (Transport, Energy, Telecom and Water),</li>
<li>Discuss and co-create the <strong>broad contours of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)</strong> as well as a notional roll-out plan for the next three years, and</li>
<li>Build a forum for members to work on areas of common interest and make specific commitments.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The UNISDR was <strong>established in 1999</strong> as a dedicated secretariat to facilitate the implementation of the <strong>International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR).</strong></li>
<li>It is headquartered in<strong> Geneva, Switzerland.</strong></li>
<li>It is mandated to serve as the focal point in the United Nations system for the coordination of disaster reduction and to ensure synergies among the disaster reduction activities.</li>
<li>It is an <strong>organisational unit of the UN Secretariat</strong> and is led by the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction (SRSG).</li>
<li>UNISDR's Strategic Framework 2016-2021 has a vision to substantially reduce disaster risk and losses for a sustainable future with the<strong> mandate to act as the custodian of the Sendai Framework</strong>, supporting countries and societies in its implementation, monitoring and review of progress.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>first</strong> International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure <strong>(IWDRI 2018)</strong> was held in <strong>January 2018 in India.</strong></li>
<li>India announced the <strong>creation of a Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)</strong> soon after the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, which was held in New Delhi in 2016.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The CDRI is envisaged as a <strong>knowledge exchange and capacity development partnership.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Various international agreements</strong> have also reiterated the importance and long-term benefits of investing in resilient infrastructure.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The <strong>Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), 2015-2030,</strong> identifies investing in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) for resilience and to build back better in reconstruction as priorities for action towards reducing disaster risk.</li>
<li>Similarly, <strong>Goal 9 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)</strong> recognizes disaster resilient infrastructure as a crucial driver of economic growth and development.</li>
<li>Besides reducing infrastructure losses, disaster resilient infrastructure will also help achieve targets pertaining to<strong> reduction in mortality,</strong> number of affected people and economic losses due to disasters.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction&nbsp;</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The SFDRR 2015-2030 outlines <strong>seven clear targets</strong> and <strong>four priorities for action</strong> to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risks:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Understanding</strong> disaster risk;</li>
<li><strong>Strengthening disaster risk governance</strong> to manage disaster risk;</li>
<li><strong>Investing in disaster reduction</strong> for resilience and;</li>
<li><strong>Enhancing disaster preparedness</strong> for effective response, and to<strong> "Build Back Better"</strong> in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The Sendai Framework is a<strong> 15-year, voluntary, non-binding agreement</strong> which recognizes that the State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk but that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders including local government, the private sector and other stakeholders.</li>
<li>It aims to achieve the <strong>substantial reduction of disaster risk</strong> and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries over the next 15 years.</li>
<li>The Framework was adopted at the<strong> third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan, on March 18, 2015.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
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		],
		(int) 3 => [
			'title' => 'Cloud Over Solar Sector',
			'catname' => 'News Editorials',
			'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/cloud-over-solar-sector-curbing-tender-cancellation-and-a-couple-other-moves-can-bring-sunshine-back/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'Cloud Over Solar Sector'</a> which appeared in 'The Times of India' on 19th March, 2019. The article talks about the challenges faced by solar sector and the potential ways to overcome them.)</p>
</div>
<p>With 300 clear sunny days, over a dozen perennial rivers and a coastline of more than 7,500 KMs, India since the age of Puranas, had realised the importance of the sun and other sources of renewable energy and the power they possess for the benefit of its inhabitants.</p>
<p>Growing Indian energy requirement and the need to adopt greener and cleaner modes of energy has reinforced India&rsquo;s attempt at making a transitional change from traditional modes of energy to renewable sources of energy.</p>
<p>However capacity additions have slowed in the recent past, which means the 175 GW renewable generation &ndash; including 100 GW solar &ndash; target set for 2022 could become difficult to achieve.</p>
<h3>Answer to Climatic Woes</h3>
<p>Human-induced climate change is considered one of the most prominent challenges of our time, with a warming planet being a present-day reality, rather than a potential future threat.</p>
<p>The Climate Change concern across the Globe has propelled the Government and Decision Makers to develop a detailed blueprint for clean and sustainable power for all.</p>
<p>Shifting to renewable energy offers an opportunity to save the environment as renewable energy resources produce little to no global warming emissions. <strong>Renewable energy can aid in the reduction of emissions in the electricity sector by 81 percent.</strong></p>
<p>Pollution produced by coal and natural gas plants also leads to several health problems such as cancer, neurological damage, heart attacks and other serious problems. The shift to renewable and cleaner sources will drastically result in improving the health of the general public.</p>
<p>As part of the initial commitments to the Paris Climate Accord, India too plans to reduce its carbon emission intensity - emission per unit of GDP - by 33-35% from 2005 levels over 15 years. It is working towards producing 40% of its installed electricity capacity by 2030 from non-fossil fuels.</p>
<p>India is the third largest energy consumer of the world and any change in the energy matrix of India is bound to reflect in the world&rsquo;s attempt to curb the menace of global warming.</p>
<h3>Indian Potential</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>India&rsquo;s energy mix is dominated by coal with a 49.6% share followed by oil- 28%, biomass- 11.6%, gas - 7.3%, renewable and clean energy 2.2% and nuclear energy 1.2%.</strong></li>
<li>The potential for solar energy capacity in India is enormous. The majority of the country&rsquo;s tropical landmass is located optimally for peak solar radiation. <strong>According to World Bank India has the best conditions in the world to capture and use solar energy.</strong></li>
<li>According to Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the country&rsquo;s total solar power potential is pegged at nearly 750GW, with 142GW of solar resource available in the state of Rajasthan alone.</li>
<li>India is one of the most attractive markets in the world because of its sheer size: 10-12GW annually. This is even more relevant when one considers that the largest market, China, is virtually closed to foreign investors.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Bottlenecks in the sector</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Solar sector suffers from infrastructural problems such as development of access roads, land acquisition for parks, and demarcation of land areas within solar park remains incomplete, even after bids for projects are completed, which affects project costs and profitability.</li>
<li>Lenders and equity investors find it risky to invest in renewable energy because of uncertainty regarding the potential buyers of the electricity.</li>
<li><strong>Further, electricity distribution companies (i.e. DISCOMS) do not always pay for electricity on time, with payment delays being common in Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.</strong></li>
<li>Power from sources such as wind and solar is intermittent, and forecasting of energy levels is weak which makes it an unattractive venture for power distribution companies to connect to renewable sources.</li>
<li><strong>India faces the challenge of moving 21% of its population out of poverty. No country has been able to achieve a Human Development Index of 0.9 &ndash; which suggests high life expectancy, income and education &ndash;without an annual energy availability of four tonnes of oil equivalent per capita.</strong></li>
<li>Solar energy is a capital-intensive industry and if the initial cost of setting up the plant is high, the cost of solar energy is pushed up. Overall cost of imported solar modules has gone up as the government has raised the duty for solar imports.</li>
<li>A majority of India&rsquo;s solar module imports are from China and Malaysia, steep duty has resulted in cranking up the overall cost for solar project developers.</li>
<li>Higher proportion of renewable in a grid leads to greater grid instability and makes controlling electricity flows a challenge making discoms chary of increasing their renewable including solar energy sourcing.</li>
<li>The grid should also have the capacity to carry power from regions where power is generated to the regions where power is needed.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The government need to speed up the execution of Green Energy Corridor and encourage massive investments in up gradation and creation of new transmission and grid infrastructure.</li>
<li>One way out would be to store energy when excess is produced, but storage equipment for solar energy is expensive.</li>
<li><strong>The primary problem of the solar sector can be resolved only if the government adopts an integrated approach, such as by bundling renewable with conventional energy.</strong></li>
<li>Also, the tariffs discovered during competitive bidding should be considered and adopted rather than artificially capping them.</li>
</ul>
<p><em><strong>The solar energy sector has a clear social impact and the potential to grow at a fast pace. All it needs is policy and infrastructure support from the government and a pragmatic approach from industry players.</strong></em></p>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/cloud-over-solar-sector'
		],
		(int) 4 => [
			'title' => 'Important Facts For Prelims (19th March 2019)	',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<h3>Vaquita Porpoise</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Recently a dead <strong>Vaquita Porpoise</strong> was found in a fishnet off the <strong>coast of Mexico.</strong></li>
<li>It is<strong> critically endangered (IUCN) marine animal</strong> of which only about 10 remain in the world.</li>
<li>It is also known as <strong>"the panda of the sea"</strong> for the <strong>distinctive black circles around its eyes.</strong></li>
<li>Vaquita Porpoises are among the <strong>ocean&rsquo;s smallest cetaceans</strong> and they only <strong>reside in the northern Gulf of California.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Cetaceans are one of the most <strong>distinctive and highly specialized aquatic mammals.</strong> They include <strong>blue whale, dolphins, blind river dolphins, Porpoise, etc.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The vaquitas are threatened primarily by <strong>gillnet fishing for the totoaba fish</strong>, another endangered species in the area that is hunted for its swim bladder, considered a delicacy in China. Dried totoaba bladders are often smuggled through the United States to China.</li>
<li>Therefore, the <strong>conservation of Vaquita primarily rests with US, China and Mexico.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1577336846_image42.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1577336846_image42.jpg" width="554" caption="false" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>
<h3>Dongria Kondh Tribe</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Dongria Kondh tribe live in <strong>Niyamgiri hill range of Odisha state.</strong></li>
<li>They derive their <strong>name from dongar,</strong> meaning <strong>&lsquo;hill&rsquo; and worship the mountain god Niyam Raja.</strong></li>
<li>The Dongria have <strong>distinctive jewellery, tattoos and hairstyles.</strong> Women wear many rings through their ears and three through their noses, while boys wear two nose rings. Dongria girls wear clips in their hair and rings and beads around their necks.</li>
<li>The Dongria Kondh have <strong>no overarching political or religious leader;</strong> clans and villages have their own leaders and individuals with specific ceremonial functions.</li>
<li>The Dongria believe that animals, plants, mountains and other specific sites and streams have a<strong> life-force or soul, jela,</strong> which comes from the mother goddess.</li>
</ul>
<h3>AFINDEX-19</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>Africa-India Field Training Exercise-2019 called AFINDEX-19</strong> started at Aundh Military Station<strong>, Pune. </strong></li>
<li>India and contingents of the<strong> 17 African Nations</strong> i.e. Benin, Botswana, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe are participating in the exercise.</li>
<li>The aim of the exercise is to <strong>practice the participating nations in planning and conduct of Humanitarian Mine Assistance and Peacekeeping Operations.</strong></li>
<li>It is a positive step towards <strong>growing political and military ties</strong> between India and African nations and will boost the already strong strategic cooperation between the countries.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-19th-march-2019'
		],
		(int) 5 => [
			'title' => 'Solar Tsunami Can Trigger the Sunspot Cycle',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The scientists have found that solar tsunamis are responsible for triggering an 11-year cycle of sunspots.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is believed that the &ldquo;solar dynamo&rdquo; is linked to the production of sunspots.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Solar Dynamo</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Solar Dynamo is a naturally occurring generator which produces electric and magnetic fields in the sun.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Sun Spot</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Sunspots are areas that appear dark on the surface of the Sun. They appear dark because they are cooler than other parts of the Sun&rsquo;s surface.</li>
<li>The temperature of a sunspot is still high around 6,500 degrees Fahrenheit.</li>
<li>Sunspots are relatively cool. It&rsquo;s because they form at areas where magnetic fields are particularly strong. These magnetic fields are so strong that they keep some of the heat within the Sun from reaching the surface.</li>
<li>The amount of magnetic flux that rises up to the Sun's surface varies with time in a cycle called the solar cycle. This cycle lasts 11 years on average. This cycle is sometimes referred to as the sunspot cycle.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Solar Tsunami</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Solar tsunami is the waves of the magnetic field and hot, ionized gas moving across the Sun at about 400 km per second.</li>
<li>Tsunamis are generated after a release of matter into space called a coronal mass ejection (CME).</li>
<li>Solar tsunamis were discovered in 1997 by the SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) of Europen Space Agency.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Coronal Mass Ejection</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a significant release of plasma and accompanying magnetic field from the solar corona. They are often followed by solar flares.</li>
<li>Solar Flares on reaching earth causes spectacular light shows by interacting with the earth&rsquo;s magnetic field called Aurora&rsquo;s.</li>
<li>Solar Flares can also disrupt radio transmission and harm satellites in orbit.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>How Solar Tsunami leads to Sunspot?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The extreme temperature and pressure conditions that prevail some 20,000 km below the sun&rsquo;s surface cause its material to form a plasma consisting primarily of hydrogen and helium in a highly ionized state.</li>
<li>The plasma is confined with huge magnetic fields inside the sun. Holding these fields in their place requires that there is extra mass (plasma mass) pushing at the bands from higher latitudes.</li>
<li>Thus, a magnetic dam is formed which is storing a big mass of plasma. At the end of a solar cycle, this magnetic dam can break, releasing huge amounts of plasma cascading like a tsunami towards the poles.</li>
<li>These tsunami waves travel at high speeds of about 1,000 km per hour carrying excess plasma to the mid-latitudes. There they give rise to magnetic flux eruptions. These are seen as the bright patches that signal the start of the next cycle of sunspots.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/solar-tsunami-can-trigger-the-sunspot-cycle'
		],
		(int) 6 => [
			'title' => 'Hayabusa 2',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p><strong>Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)</strong> has decided to make a<strong> crater on asteroid 1999 JU3 (Ryugu)</strong> to collect underground samples.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>This is part of the<a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/hayabusa-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong> Hayabusa 2 mission,</strong></a> launched in December 2014, to explore asteroid 1999 JU3 (Ryugu).</li>
<li>The purpose of drilling is to collect samples for possible clues to the origin of the solar system.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Asteroids</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Asteroids are actually minor planets</strong> which can neither be classified either as a planet or as a comet.</li>
<li>These are generally in the <strong>direct orbit around the Sun.</strong></li>
<li>The larger forms of asteroids are also known as <strong>planetoids</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Hayabusa 2</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Hayabusa 2 was launched in December 2014 and is planned to complete a mission of six years.</strong></li>
<li>It arrived at Ryugu in July 2018 and<strong> will spend 18 months studying the asteroid before making its return to Earth in December 2020.</strong></li>
<li>The mission builds on the original Hayabusa mission that was launched in 2003 and successfully linked up with asteroid Itokawa in 2005.</li>
<li>It returned samples to Earth in 2010 marking the first time sample materials from an asteroid were brought back to Earth.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why Study Asteroids?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Asteroids, like comets, are primitive bodies that can be considered to be the<strong> building blocks of the early solar system.</strong> They hold a record of the birth and initial evolution of the solar system.</li>
<li>Larger planets like Earth went through a more complex evolution over which the pristine materials were melted and altered significantly. Due to this change, the materials found on large planets do not hold information into their early stages of formation.</li>
<li><strong>Comets and asteroids, formed early in the evolution of the Solar System, retain a record of when, where and in what conditions they were formed. Exploration of these primitive bodies is essential in gaining insight into the formation of the Solar System.</strong></li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/hayabusa-2-1'
		],
		(int) 7 => [
			'title' => 'ICAI & NFRA',
			'catname' => 'National Institutions',
			'desc' => '<h2><strong>Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)</strong></h2>
<p><strong>The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)</strong> is the national professional accounting body of India. It was established to regulate the profession of Accountancy. It is the only licensing cum regulating body of the financial audit and accountancy profession in India. It recommends the accounting standards to be followed by companies in India to National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards (NACAS).</p>
<h3>ICAI History</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Companies Act, 1913 passed in pre-independent India prescribed various books which had to be maintained by a Company registered under that Act.</li>
<li>It also provided for the appointment of a formal Auditor with prescribed qualifications to audit such records. In order to act as an auditor a person had to acquire a restricted certificate from the local government upon such conditions as may be prescribed.</li>
<li>In 1932, an Accountancy board was developed called as <strong>Indian Accountancy Board</strong> to <strong>advise the Governor General in Council of India</strong> on the points of Accountancy and the required conduct along with qualification standards of the auditors.</li>
<li>The expert committee appointed in 1947, recommended that a separate autonomous association of accountants should be formed to regulate the profession.</li>
<li>Government of India accepted the recommendation and passed the <strong>Chartered Accountants Act in 1949</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>Under Section 3 of the said Act,</strong> ICAI is established as a statutory body.</li>
<li>It functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India.</li>
<li>Affairs of the ICAI are managed with the provisions of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 and the <strong>Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988</strong>.</li>
<li>ICAI is one of the founder members of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC, 1977), South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA, 1984), and Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA, 1957).</li>
</ul>
<h3>Functions</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>ICAI Council:</strong> Affairs of the Institute is undertaken by a Council constituted under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Council consists of 32 elected fellow members and up to 8 members nominated by the Government of India.</li>
<li>The elected members of the council are elected under the single transferable vote system by the members of the institute.</li>
<li>The Council functions through its <strong>4 Standing Committees and 37 Non-Standing Committees</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Membership:</strong> Members of the Institute are known as <strong>Chartered Accountants (CA)</strong>. Becoming a member requires passing the prescribed examinations, three years of practical training and meeting other requirements under the Act and Regulations. Functions of CA are following:<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Chartered Accountants enjoy a statutory monopoly in audit of financial statements under the Companies Act, 2013, Income Tax Act, 1961</li>
<li><strong>Areas of expertise</strong> include Financial Reporting, Auditing and Assurance, Corporate Finance, Investment Banking, Financial Modelling, Equity Research. Fund Management, Credit Analysis, Capital Markets, Arbitration, Risk Management, Economics, Strategic/Management Consultancy, Management Accounting, Information Systems Audit, Corporate Law, Direct Tax, Indirect Tax and valuation of businesses.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Accounting Research Foundation (ARF):</strong> ICAI Accounting Research Foundation (ICAI ARF) has undertaken and completed various basic and applied research projects. It also provides financial assistance to researchers / scholars for undertaking basic research projects of contemporary national/ international significance in the aforesaid areas.</li>
<li>ICAI provides technical advice and necessary inputs on matters of economic relevance and alike to various Ministries such as Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Commerce &amp; Industry, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Railways etc.</li>
<li>ICAI also provides technical advice to various bodies such as &ndash; Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Controller General of Accounts, Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Central Board of Excise &amp; Customs, GST Council, Insurance Regulatory &amp; Development Authority etc.</li>
<li>It has provided comprehensive suggestions at <strong>each stage of GST implementation,</strong> be it Constitutional Amendment Bill, Model GST Law, Revised Model GST Law, Draft GST Rule or Post implementation of GST.</li>
<li><strong>Indian Institute of Insolvency Professionals of ICAI (IIIPI),</strong> a wholly owned subsidiary of the ICAI, is a <strong>Section 8 Public Company</strong> established to enrol and regulate insolvency professionals as its members in accordance with the <strong>Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016</strong> read with regulations and rules incidental thereto.</li>
<li><strong>Quality Review Board:</strong> Under <strong>Section 28A</strong> of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, as inserted by the <strong>Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Act, 2006,</strong> the Central Government is empowered to constitute a Quality Review Board consisting of a Chairperson and ten other members. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Board reviews and recommends to the Council of the ICAI with regard to the quality of services provided by the members of Institute including audit services.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Disciplinary Mechanism:</strong> <strong>The Disciplinary Directorate,</strong> the <strong>Board of Discipline,</strong> and the <strong>Disciplinary Committee</strong> form the foundation of the disciplinary process of the ICAI. These entities are quasi-judicial and have substantial powers like that of a Civil Court to summon and enforce attendance or require discovery and production of documents on affidavit or otherwise.</li>
<li><strong>International Affairs:</strong> The <strong>International Affairs Committee of ICAI</strong> has the multi fold objective of positioning brand Indian CA at the global level by establishing Qualification Recognition Arrangements with accounting bodies (like The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales(ICAEW), Certified Public Accountants of Australia(CPA Australia) etc.).</li>
</ul>
<h2><strong>National Financial Regulatory Authority (NFRA)</strong></h2>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>NFRA</strong> is an Indian body provided in Companies Act 2013 for the establishment and enforcement of accounting and auditing standards and oversight of the work of auditors.</li>
<li>As per the Companies Act, 2013 the NFRA is tasked with the job of recommending accounting and auditing standards, ensuring compliance with them and overseeing the quality of service of the accounting and audit professions.</li>
<li>It has also been given the power to investigate matters of professional misconduct by chartered accountants or CA firms, impose penalty and debar the CA or firm for up to 10 years.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Evolution of NFRA</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The world over more than 50 countries have moved away from <strong>self-regulatory professional accountant bodies</strong> (like ICAI) and created independent audit regulators (like NFRA).<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In India, the move to set up a new oversight body for the accounting and audit professions was approved by a parliamentary panel. <strong>After the Satyam scandal</strong> took place in 2009, the <strong>Standing Committee on Finance</strong> proposed the concept of the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) for the first time.</li>
<li>Indian Parliament passed The Company Act 2013 (amendment) with inclusion of NFRA (section 132).</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Act states that &ldquo;no other institute or body shall initiate or continue any proceedings in such matters of misconduct where the NFRA has initiated an investigation.&rdquo;</li>
<li><strong>ICAI,</strong> a self-regulatory body, has <strong>had the monopoly</strong> on training and qualifying chartered accountants, giving them license to practice and regulating them including scrutinising audit quality. <strong>Establishment of NFRA was a case of departing of powers from ICAI.</strong></li>
<li>Opposition by the ICAI has been a key reason why the government has delayed notifying the NFRA rules.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Constitution of NFRA (As per section 132 of Companies Act 2013)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Central Government may, by notification, constitute a National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) to provide for matters relating to accounting and auditing standards under this Act.</li>
<li>Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the National Financial Reporting Authority shall<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Make recommendations to the Central Government on the formulation and laying down of accounting and auditing policies and standards for adoption by companies or class of companies or their auditors.</li>
<li>Monitor and enforce the compliance with accounting standards and auditing standards in such manner as may be prescribed;</li>
<li>Oversee the quality of service of the professions associated with ensuring compliance with such standards, and suggest measures required for improvement in quality of service.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>It shall consist of a <strong>chairperson,</strong> who shall be a person of eminence and having expertise in accountancy, auditing, finance or law to be appointed by the Central Government and such other <strong>members not exceeding fifteen</strong> consisting of part-time and full-time members.</li>
<li>It shall have the <strong>power to investigate, either suo motu or on a reference made to it by the Central Government,</strong> for such class of bodies corporate or persons, into the matters of professional or other misconduct committed by any member or firm of chartered accountants, registered under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Provided that no other institute or body shall initiate or continue any proceedings in such matters of misconduct where the NFRA has initiated an investigation under this section.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>It shall have the <strong>same powers as are vested in a civil court</strong> under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, while trying a suit in matters of: <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>discovery and production of books of account and other documents;</li>
<li>summoning and enforcing the attendance of persons and examining them on oath;</li>
<li>Inspection of any books, registers and other documents.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Any person aggrieved by any order of the NFRA, may prefer an appeal before the Appellate Authority constituted under section 132(6) of Companies Act 2013.</li>
<li>The Central Government may, by notification, constitute, an <strong>Appellate Authority</strong> consisting of a chairperson and not more than two other members, for hearing appeals arising out of the orders of the NFRA.</li>
<li>The qualifications for appointment of the chairperson and members of the Appellate Authority, the manner of selection, the terms and conditions of their service and the requirement of the supporting staff and procedure to be followed by the Appellate Authority shall be such as may be prescribed by Parliament.</li>
<li>NFRA shall <strong>prepare its annual report</strong> giving a full account of its activities during the financial year and forward a copy thereof to the Central Government and the Central Government shall cause the annual report to be laid before each House of Parliament.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Standing Committee on Finance (2014-15)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It noted that Constitution of NFRA (section 132 of Companies Act 2013) is a result of the recommendation of the Standing Committee on Finance which examined the Companies Bill, 2009.</li>
<li>Committee desires that the Ministry may ensure that in the process of constituting NFRA, it does not create two parallel jurisdictions, governing the same issue. So it favours ICAI on function overlapping.</li>
<li>This aspect may be addressed, when the rules governing NFRA are finalised by the Ministry.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>The arguments put forth by ICAI:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>NFRA shall result in Multiple regulatory bodies,</li>
<li>ICAI is a world-class regulator,</li>
<li>NFRA will be a costly affair,</li>
<li>Unavailability of adequate competent personnel.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>MCA (Ministry of Corporate Affairs) countered ICAI in favour of creation of NFRA.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In many countries outside auditors perform the important gatekeeper function.</li>
<li>Number of independent audit regulators worldwide is up from 18 in 2006 to 51 in 2018.</li>
<li><strong>NITI Aayog,</strong> in a separate matter, <strong>criticised the self-regulatory structure</strong> of such professional bodies.</li>
<li>An international consultant engaged by SEBI said &ldquo;the ICAI&rsquo;s oversight is passive in nature and with limited focus on active investigations&rdquo;.</li>
<li><strong>ICAI&rsquo;s disciplinary mechanism:</strong> Of the 1,972 cases taken up by the Disciplinary Committee/Board of Discipline of the ICAI, only in the matter relating to Satyam Computers have the members been permanently removed. Penalties of one year or more have been imposed on members in only 14 of these cases.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>SC Judgement (S. Sukumar v/s The Secretary, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India), 2018</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>SC ordered the Government of India to constitute a committee to look and deliberate into the aspects of audit system in India in Feb, 2018.</li>
<li>The Committee was formed in April 2018 by MCA and thereafter submitted its report in October, 2018.</li>
</ul>
<p>Within a span of a little over two weeks from the submission of the Report, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, on November 13, 2018, notified the <strong>National Financial Reporting Authority Rules, 2018 (Rules)</strong> to lay down the powers, jurisdiction, roles, and duties of the NFRA.</p>
<p><strong>NFRA as the regulator to curb the audit mishaps and to bring in stronger audit framework in India is analysed along with recommendations of committee:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>As a middle path,</strong> the ICAI recommended setting up an independent quality review board under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 to refine the quality of attestation of audits.</li>
<li>Section 132 of the Companies Act, 2013 has given the NFRA the <strong>over-riding powers to establish its supremacy over other laws,</strong> with respect accounting and auditing standards, compliance with accounting and auditing standards, investigation into professional misconducts by chartered accountants, empowered with powers of civil court similar to trying a suit, and for imposing penalties and debarment. <strong>This indicates that there is intent to overhaul the regulatory regime in India for the audit and auditors.</strong></li>
<li>NFRA is also empowered to impose heavy monetary penalties and debarring. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Debarring the member or the firm from engaging himself or itself from practice as member of the ICAI for a minimum period of <strong>six months or for such higher period not exceeding ten years</strong> as may be decided by the National Financial Reporting Authority.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Absence of network liability in the Rules:</strong> Committee has acknowledged the concept of auditor and audit firm operating in India as a member/part of an international network, and in view of the same, it made two noteworthy recommendations, as listed below, however, these recommendations have not found <strong>any place in the Rules</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>Monetary penalties on international network/entity:</strong> The Committee recommended imposition of civil liability in the form of <strong>monetary penalties on the international network/entity</strong> with whom/which the Indian audit firm has entered into networking/membership, if any audit failure or fraud is found to have been caused due to any faulty methodology being followed by that particular network.</li>
<li><strong>Jurisdiction of the NFRA:</strong> Primarily, the NFRA&rsquo;s jurisdiction encompasses public companies (with certain prescribed thresholds) and listed companies; however, the reach of the NFRA seems very wide and intends to also cover entities outside India as well. The Rules have also left the discretion with the Central Government to refer any entity to the NFRA in public interest.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Private companies irrespective of their turnover,</strong> or net worth or income, have been <strong>left outside</strong> the jurisdiction of the NFRA along <strong>with public unlisted companies below the prescribed thresholds</strong>.</li>
<li>The Central Government seems to have been given the discretion to make a referral to the NFRA of even private companies or such unlisted public companies, in public interest.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Publication of findings of non-compliances in public domain:</strong> The &ldquo;name shame&rdquo; approach has <strong>found its way in the Rules</strong>. This is one of the key powers given to the NFRA to publish its findings on its website which are available in public domain regarding the non-compliances with accounting and auditing standards.</li>
<li><strong>Suo moto review of financial statements:</strong> NFRA is empowered to review the financial statements of the companies or body corporate falling within its jurisdiction for the purpose of monitoring and enforcing compliance with accounting standards.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<p>As an independent audit regulator, it will be expected that the NFRA enhances an investor's confidence and bring more transparency and accountability in the auditing profession. As we see more complex and multi-layered structures and increased corporate governance, it will be interesting to see whether the NFRA will be able to act as the watchdog to protect the public interest and the interests of investors, creditors and others associated with the companies or bodies corporate falling within its purview.</p>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/icai-nfra'
		],
		(int) 8 => [
			'title' => 'Septic Tanks Meet Norms: MoDWS',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDWS) has said that Septic tanks and single pits are safe sanitation technologies that meet the standards prescribed by the Sustainable Development Goals.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Union Ministry was responding to a report on National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) 2018-19 on use of Septic Tanks.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Findings of the Survey</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) 2018-19 has concluded that Only 26% of rural toilets use twin-leach pits and rural toilets [that do not use twin-leach pits] could create a new &ldquo;sanitation nightmare.&rdquo;</li>
<li>Not using twin pit can be harmful to health and the environment, and can push a new generation into manual scavenging.</li>
<li>Septic tanks are the most popular option, with 28% of toilets connected to a septic tank with a soak pit and 6% to a tank without a soak pit.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Union Ministry&rsquo;s Response</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Ministry responded that Septic tanks and single pits are safe sanitation technologies that meet the standards prescribed by the Sustainable Development Goals(SDG).</li>
<li>The twin-leach pit toilet is among the most economical and safe sanitation technologies, and has been promoted and extensively adopted.</li>
<li>Ministry accepted, there is a manpower challenge to empty and clean such tanks, given the social context of the country and caste prejudices against such cleaning work.</li>
<li>It is preparing technological and entrepreneurial solutions to the problem.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) 2018-19</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It was conducted by an Independent Verification Agency under the World Bank support project&nbsp; to the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen).</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Twin-pit and Single-pit system</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Two pits are dug with honeycombed walls and earthen floors which allow liquid to percolate into the surrounding soil.</li>
<li>When one pit is filled and closed off, waste flow is transferred to the second pit, allowing waste in the first pit to be converted into manure after a year or two.</li>
<li>It is an in-situ sanitation system which claims to bypass thorny issues such as caste purity, as owners will be dealing with manure, not excreta.</li>
<li>In case of single pit system, once this single pit is filled, there is an immediate emergency to empty excreta not manure(it needs long time for conversion of excreta into manure).</li>
</ul>
</div>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/septic-tanks-meet-norms-modws'
		],
		(int) 9 => [
			'title' => 'Migration',
			'catname' => 'Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions',
			'desc' => '<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/37aZp4TNmNQ" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>In the latest terror attack at two mosques in New Zealand, 49 people have lost their lives and scores of people got injured. A majority of the deceased have been identified as migrants and refugees. An Australian national has claimed the responsibility by posting a manifesto stating his racist and anti-immigrant ideologies.</p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Drishti Input:</strong></p>
<p><strong>Human Migration:</strong> It is the movement by people from one place to another with the intention of settling, permanently or temporarily in a new location (within or outside the home country). Such people are called <strong>migrants</strong>.</p>
<p><strong>Immigration</strong> is coming to a foreign country with the intention of permanently living there whereas <strong>Emigration</strong> is leaving a resident country with the intent to settle elsewhere.</p>
<p><strong>Refugees:</strong> These are the people who have been forced to flee their resident country because of war, violence or persecution. Such people are protected by international law, specifically the 1951 Refugee Convention.</p>
<p><strong>1951 Refugee Convention</strong> deals with the rights of the displaced as well as the legal obligations of states to protect them. <strong>India, despite having a large population of refugees, is not a signatory to this convention.</strong></p>
<p><strong>An asylum seeker</strong> is someone who claims to be a refugee but whose claim hasn&rsquo;t been evaluated yet. This person has applied for the asylum on the grounds that returning to his or her country would lead to persecution on account of race, religion, nationality or political beliefs.</p>
<p><strong>World Migration Report:</strong> It is International Organisation for Migration&rsquo;s (IOM) flagship publication that features the latest trends in international migration, discusses emerging policy issues and provides regional recent developments in Africa, America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania.</p>
<p><strong>International Organisation for Migration (IOM)</strong> is a leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners. It was established in 1951 and has its head office at Le Grand-Saconnex, Switzerland.</p>
<p><strong>International Migration Day-18<sup>th</sup> December</strong></p>
</div>
<h3>World Migration Report 2018 Key Findings</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There are 244 million international migrants globally, accounting 3.3% of the world&rsquo;s total population.</li>
<li>In the year 2015, Europe and Asia hosted around 75 million migrants each, 62% of the total global international migrants.</li>
<li>Europe and Asia was followed by North America with 54 million international migrants in 2015, 22% of the global migrant stock.</li>
<li>Africa and Oceania had 9% and 3% of the total migrant population respectively in 2015.</li>
<li>Latin America and Caribbean had 4% of total migrants in 2015.</li>
<li>U.S.A has been the main country of destination for international migrants since 1970. The number has quadrupled since 1970, from less than 12 million migrants in 1970 to 46.6 million in 2015.</li>
<li>Germany is the second most preferred country with over 12 million international migrants residing in the country in 2015.</li>
<li>Nearly half of all international migrants worldwide in the year 2015 were born in Asia, primarily originating from India, China and other South Asian Countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.</li>
<li>Mexico was the second largest country of origin followed by number of European countries.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Findings Related to Displacement</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There are over 68 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, out of which 40.3 million are internally displaced and 25.4 million are refugees.</li>
<li>Over 3 million people are seeking asylum around the world.</li>
<li>24 people per minute per day worldwide were forced to flee their home in the year 2015.</li>
<li>About 1 out of every 113 people worldwide were either asylum seekers, refugees or internally displaced in 2015.</li>
<li>About half of the world&rsquo;s refugee population was under 18 in the year 2015.</li>
<li>The reason for the displacement is mainly civil and transnational conflict which also includes acts of violence, extremism etc.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Recent Cases of Migration</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Syria is focal point of 'global refugee crises'. Lot of people migrate from the country.</li>
<li>People crossing Mediterranean Sea from Libya to Italy.</li>
<li>Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar fleeing to Bangladesh and India.</li>
<li>Thousands of Dominicans and Stateless in Caribbean.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Benefits of Immigration</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Immigrants generally take up that job which people in the host country (the country to which people have fled) will not or cannot do.</li>
<li><strong>Migrant workers often work longer hours and for lower salaries</strong> which benefits host nations.</li>
<li>Immigrants <strong>contribute to the diversity</strong> of the host country and thus also increase tolerance and understanding in the society.</li>
<li>For the host country&rsquo;s economy, Immigrants offer<strong> increased talent pool</strong> provided they have been well educated in their original country.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Drawbacks</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is often seen that immigrants are <strong>exploited for their cheap labour</strong>.</li>
<li>Developing countries may suffer <strong>'Brain Drain'</strong> as the limited resources they spend in educating their students would amount to very little if that talent gets enticed to another country.</li>
<li>Immigration also <strong>attracts criminal elements</strong> from drug and people traffickers to other forms of crime and corruption.</li>
<li><strong>Immigration sometimes also becomes social or political issue;</strong> racism is used to exploit feelings or as an excuse for current woes of the local population.</li>
<li>When there is a perception that immigrants and refugees get more benefits than local poor population, <strong>tensions and hostilities</strong> rise.</li>
<li>Concerns about illegal migration spill over to ill feelings towards the majority of immigrants who may be law-abiding and contributing to the economy.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Recent Steps taken by Countries to regulate Irregular Migration</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Strategies adopted by European Union (EU):</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Divergent national approaches to accepting Asylum Seekers.</li>
<li>Using EU budgets to support refugee integration.</li>
<li>Strengthening external borders.</li>
<li>Collaborating with third countries to cut off transit routes.</li>
<li>Tying Foreign Assistance to stemming migration</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Hungary has restricted illegal immigration by suspending the acceptance of asylum seekers sent back to it by other EU states.</li>
<li>U.S. has also made some changes in its Immigration policy.</li>
<li>Italy has called for detention and deportation of migrants, who it blames for the instability and threats in the country.</li>
<li>Dutch has adopted a zero tolerance approach towards those immigrants who are unwilling to sign up to the country&rsquo;s way of life.</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Migration will likely remain a long term challenge for the countries&rsquo; politics, institutions, governments and values. Even with the drop in numbers and the development of institutional capabilities to manage it, its pros and cons will always remain attached to it.</em></p>
<p><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/migration-in-bengal-delta" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>For further reading click on the link below.</em></a></p>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/migration-4'
		],
		(int) 10 => [
			'title' => 'A Model Policy for Women in the Police',
			'catname' => 'News Editorials',
			'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">(This editorial is based on the article </span></i><b><i>&lsquo;<a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-model-policy-for-women-in-the-police/article26524978.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Model Policy for Women in the Police</a>&rsquo;</i></b> <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">which appeared in &lsquo;&rsquo;The Hindu&rsquo;&rsquo; on 14</span></i><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">th</span></i><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> March, 2019. The article talks about participation of women in the Police departments and the challenges faced by them.)</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
</div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Women in Independent India have evolved with the flow of history, but it has only been over the last 35 years that they have experienced the post-industrial revolution and subsequent positives of globalisation. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These developments have radically transformed their gender relations at home, the workplace, with peers, and possibly in society at large, quite similar to the kind of social transformations women in the US experienced in the 1960s.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Indian woman ever since has come a long way in being part of the active workforce and has possibly broken all barriers in most professional fields, including that of donning the uniform of the </span><b>Police and the Para-Military.</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, this is not enough. The discourse on mainstreaming women in the police by making policing inclusive, non-discriminatory and efficient in India is missing in policy circles.</span></p>
<h3>Unwomanly Police Department: the case in point<br /><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">While the number of women in the police forces nationally has grown in India, it remains just over 7 per cent of the total strength of the police department.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li>There is a wide variation between the States, with 12 per cent of Tamil Nadu&rsquo;s police force being women as against less than 1 per cent in Assam. This is despite the fact that 12 States have over the years passed rules setting a quota of 30 per cent or more for women in the police force.</li>
<li>The chronicle of women in Indian police started in the early 70s when woman began joining the uniformed force. During those decades, thousands of women joined the force from the ranks of constable all the way across the spectrum.</li>
<li>The Police in India have recruited a decent number of women over the last twenty years, but acceptability and assimilation as &ldquo;equal partners&rdquo; to men within the professional core has left much to be desired.</li>
<li>The meagre representation highlights the fact that women in uniform are still perceived as <b>&ldquo;they&rdquo; versus &ldquo;us&rdquo; in all ranks and files of the uniformed profession</b><span>.</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges Grappling the System<br /><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Decisions on deployment of women are not free of gender stereotyping restricting women from leading operational positions. This biasness is not limited only from male colleague sometimes female superiors too consider them weak, less willing to work and less tough.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">There appears to be a tendency to sideline women, or give them policing tasks that are physically less demanding, or relegate them to desk duty, or make them work on crimes against women alone.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Women police persons are relegated to dealing with crimes against women and accompanying women prisoners the concept works against the interests of women as it segregates them.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Current data reveal that most women in the police are concentrated in the lower ranks reflecting the dearth of females at key operational positions.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The police department suffers from gender apathy as evident through the absence of separate toilets, </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">changing rooms for women, and separate accommodation for women</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and other facilities and child-care support, in addition to persistent and widespread gender bias.</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>Gender Neutral Policing<br /><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">The very presence of women could create an environment for women to access police stations with less diffidence and difficulty.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li>International research illustrates that women police and enforcement officers utilise a different feminine policing style &mdash; relying less on physical force and more on communications skills &mdash; to control potentially violent or conflict situations, and which are therefore less likely to escalate into excessive force or uncontrolled situations.</li>
<li>The under-representation of women at all levels in any progressive and modern police agency negatively impacts the culture and operational efficiency of law enforcement agencies and throughout that community or country in which it prevails.</li>
<li>Today, in India, crime against women is at an all-time high, and socially-destructive and exploitative practices such as dowry, molestation, sexual assault, and coercion are common. &nbsp;The cases often go unreported as the victim at times suffers from the insensitivity perpetrated by male officials who lacks sensitization. More women in the system can help address this problem.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/563drishti_ias_number%20of women in police force.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/563drishti_ias_number of women in police force.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>
<h3>The Impetus Required<br /><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">There is a need to have more women in the field in executive postings &ndash; from constables to inspectors and higher ranks. </span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Departments should undertake special recruitment drives in every district to ensure geographical diversity.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The police should reach out to the media and educational institutions to spread awareness about opportunities for women in the police.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Women in the constabulary must get the training, support and confidence needed to put them on a par in every sense with their male counterparts.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">A common gender-neutral cadre needs to be created for all ranks so that promotional opportunities are evenly available.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Resource centres for mentoring, creating awareness about opportunities and prospects, and helping with career planning and training and coping with workplace challenges are essential.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">While women have a role in making up for the lack of training and sensitisation of the force in general in dealing with crimes against women they should not be ghettoised into dealing only with such crimes.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Women do have some special needs, like during and post pregnancies, which need to be catered to. They shouldn&rsquo;t be shunted to non-executive postings. The force needs to encourage more women to be in the field.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Most State police departments have received funds under the Modernisation of State Police Forces Scheme for providing separate toilets and changing rooms for women, and for constructing separate accommodation for women with attached toilets in all police stations and units. Police departments must ensure the best use of this fund.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Police departments must also ensure safe working spaces for women and adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination and harassment, in order to make policing a viable career option for women.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Departments must operationalise the </span><b>Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of 2013.</b></li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward<br /><b></b></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">While more women are urgently needed in the police forces, the numbers alone will not be enough without equity.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li>To counter the prevalence of sexist attitudes within the bureaucracy and police, an organisational response from the force is needed to enable women to realise their full potential.</li>
<li>Integrating women in the force should become an essential component of the process of police reform in India, enabling them to become <b>Real Agents of Change</b><span>.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><b>More women in the force is not only an expression of the formal fulfilment of sexual equality but it is also about achieving a true Lebensraum- a space conducive for natural development.</b></li>
</ul>
<p><i></i></p>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/a-model-policy-for-women-in-the-police'
		],
		(int) 11 => [
			'title' => 'Migration in Bengal Delta ',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>Recently an international study titled <strong>Deltas, Vulnerability and Climate Change: Migration and Adaptation (DECMA)</strong> was published.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The study found that the economic reasons are the precipitating factor for migration in the Indian Bengal Delta and most migrants are in the age group of 20-30 years.</li>
<li>The study, held between 2014 and 2018 focusing on three deltas Ganga Brahmaputra Meghna Delta (India and Bangladesh) Volta (Ghana) and Mahanadi (India) looks into the aspect of climate change, adaptation, and migration in these deltas.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Findings of The Report</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Reasons for Migration in Delta</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The study which covers the district of South and North 24 Parganas reveals that 64% of people migrate because of economic reasons, unsustainable agriculture, lack of economic opportunities and debt.</li>
<li>28 % of the migration from the region is for social reasons and about 7% for environmental reasons like cyclones and flooding.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Gender Disparity in Migration</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The study finds a huge gender disparity in the migration out of Indian Bengal Delta, with men outnumbering women by almost five times.</li>
<li>It shows that of the people migrating 83% are men and only 17 % are women.</li>
<li>While most of the men migrate due to economic reasons, women do so, driven by mostly social factors.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Destination of Migration</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In terms of the destination of migrations, the study finds that 51% of migration from the Indian Bengal Delta is to other areas of the State particularly to the city of Kolkata, 10% to Maharashtra, 9% to Tamil Nadu, 7% Kerala and 6% to Gujarat.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Type of Migration in Delta</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>57% of migration is seasonal, where people move once or twice a year.</li>
<li>19% is circular where those migrating move thrice a year irrespective of reasons.</li>
<li>24% of migration is permanent where people intend to stay for at least six months in the place they are migrating to.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>What is Migration?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Migration is the movement of people from one place to another. It can be over a short or long distance, be short-term or permanent, voluntary or forced, intranational or international.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Pull Factors</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A pull factor is a feature or event that attracts a person to move to another area.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Push Factors</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Push factors are those that drive people away from their place of origins.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Causes of Migration</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Economic factors</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Push factors</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Unemployment or lack of employment opportunities</li>
<li>Rural poverty</li>
<li>Unsustainable livelihood</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Pull factors</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Job opportunities</li>
<li>Better income and prospects for wealth creation</li>
<li>Industrial innovation and technical know-how for a new industry</li>
<li>The pursuit of specialized education</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Sociopolitical factors</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Push factors</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Political instability</li>
<li>Safety and security concerns (ethnic, religious, racial or cultural persecution)</li>
<li>Conflicts or threat of a conflict</li>
<li>Inadequate or limited urban services and infrastructure (including healthcare, education, utilities, transport and water</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Pull factors</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Family reunification</li>
<li>Independence and freedom</li>
<li>Integration and social cohesion</li>
<li>Food security</li>
<li>Affordable and accessible urban services (including healthcare, education, utilities, and transport)</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Ecological factors</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Push factors</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Climate change (including extreme weather events)</li>
<li>Crop failure and scarcity of food</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Pull factors</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>The abundance of natural resources and minerals (e.g. water, oil)</li>
<li>Favorable climate</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Types of migration</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Migration can be classified in several ways. It is usually categorized:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>By political boundaries</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>Internal migration &ndash;</strong> Migration occurring within a country from crossing political boundaries, either within a state or between states, whether urban to rural, urban to urban, rural to rural, or rural to urban.</li>
<li><strong>International migration &ndash;</strong> Migration occurring across country boundaries. Such migrants are known as immigrants (coming into a foreign country) and emigrants (leaving their own country)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>By movement pattern</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>Step migration:</strong> Migration initiating from a small settlement and moving to a larger one in the urban hierarchy over the years.Such as movement from a farm to a village, then to a town and subsequently to a suburb (if applicable) and finally into a city.</li>
<li><strong>Circular migration:</strong> Cyclical migration experiences between an origin and a destination with at least one migration and return.
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>Seasonal migration</strong> is a very common form of circular migration, driven by seasonal peaks in labor demand, mostly in agriculture.</li>
<li><strong>Return migration&nbsp;</strong>refers to a one-time emigration and returns after an extended stay outside the host territory.</li>
<li><strong>Chain migration:</strong> Migration of families at different stages of the life cycle from one location to the next, who subsequently bring people from their home location to this new place.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>By decision-making approach</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>Voluntary migration:</strong> Based on a person&rsquo;s free will, initiative and desire to live in a better place and to improve their financial status, among other factors.</li>
<li><strong>Involuntary migration:</strong> Based on a person&rsquo;s being forced out of their home due to certain unfavorable environmental and political situations.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Benefits of Migration</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The areas of destinations benefit due to the reduction in the cost of production, availability of the human resource, rising productivity, size of consumer and capital market.</li>
<li>At the same time, areas of origin also benefit through the flow of remittances, information, and innovations influencing the households and people left behind.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Issues Related to Migration</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Low-quality jobs:</strong> Migrants mostly dominate the low-paying, hazardous and informal market jobs in key sectors in urban destinations, such as construction, hotel, textile, manufacturing, transportation, services, domestic work etc.</li>
<li><strong>Access to employment:</strong> Certain states have introduced domicile requirements with regard to employment. This puts migrants at a disadvantage.</li>
<li><strong> Housing and sanitation:</strong> One of the key issues with regard to housing is poor supply, for both ownership and rental. Short-term migrants do not have access to short-duration accommodation. So migrants live in overcrowded colonies in unhygienic conditions.</li>
<li><strong> Exploitation and intimidation:</strong> Usually migrants are exploited at the behest of the majoritarian native population, they are the target of social profiling, stereotyping, abuse and are made to work under exploitative conditions with no social security cover. e.g. Gujarat migrant crisis.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/migration-in-bengal-delta'
		],
		(int) 12 => [
			'title' => 'New Hydro Policy',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The government, under<a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-fact-for-prelims-8th-march-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong> New Hydroelectricity Policy,</strong> </a>has approved &lsquo;renewable energy status&rsquo; for<strong> large hydel projects.</strong></p>
<p>Earlier, <strong>only smaller projects of less than 25 Megawatt (</strong>MW) in capacity were categorised as renewable energy. Large hydro projects were treated as a separate source of energy.</p>
<h3>Renewable Energy Sector</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India&rsquo;s renewable energy sector had an installed capacity of 75,055.92 MW as of February 2019, according to data with the Central Electricity Authority.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>This made up <strong>about 21.4% of the overall energy mix</strong>, with the rest coming from thermal, nuclear and large hydro sources.</li>
<li>However, with the inclusion of large hydro in renewable energy, the energy mix will change drastically.</li>
<li>Renewable energy capacity would now be 1,20,455.14 MW or 34.4% of the overall energy mix.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>This policy will also drastically change the <strong>renewable energy mix as well.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Before February 2019, the wind energy contributed nearly 50% of all renewable energy capacity, it will now make up only 29.3%.</li>
<li>Similarly, solar energy&rsquo;s share will fall from 34.68% to 21.61%.</li>
<li>The hydro sector, however, will see its share grow from just over 6% to over 41%.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Impact</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Hydroelectric energy provides grid stability which a renewable source like wind and solar do not. The key reasoning seems to be providing grid stability and a <strong>better energy mix.</strong></li>
<li>There has been a huge imbalance in the thermal-hydro mix for the last few years because of a sharp growth in thermal and complete stagnation in hydro.</li>
<li>This reclassification will<strong> immediately help India</strong> achieve its target of <strong>175 GW by 2022.</strong></li>
<li>Another benefit from the policy could be the <strong>positive impact on the stock prices</strong> of State-run hydroelectric companies such as Sutlej Jal Vikas Nigam (SJVN)</li>
<li>This will help large hydel projects avail cheaper credit and increase demand from distribution companies for cleaner energy.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>State distribution companies will be obliged to purchase a certain percentage of hydropower&mdash;similar to renewable purchase obligations. This will create a market for hydropower, making the sector competitive.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>These projects will not only get the budgetary support for infrastructure, but will also be able to access &ldquo;green finance&rdquo;.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/new-hydro-policy'
		],
		(int) 13 => [
			'title' => 'Important Facts For Prelims (18th March 2019)',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<h3>Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Recent trials of <strong>Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)</strong> have shown that it is just as <strong>useful in younger and healthier patients</strong> as it has been for old and sick patients.</li>
<li>The procedure, TAVR, has been reserved mostly for patients<strong> so old and sick</strong> who might not survive open-heart surgery.</li>
<li><strong>TAVR</strong> and an <strong>open heart surgery</strong> both can be <strong>done to replace failing Aortic Valves.</strong> TAVR is also known as <strong>Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI).</strong></li>
<li>In an open heart surgery, the chest is surgically separated (open) for the procedure. While, the TAVR or TAVI procedures can be done through very small openings that leave all the chest bones in place.</li>
<li>With TAVR, recovery time is less for patient and and also has lower risks of disabling strokes and death, compared to open-heart surgery.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Aortic valve disease</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Aortic valve disease is a condition in which the <strong>valve between the main pumping chamber of the heart (left ventricle)</strong> and the <strong>main artery of the body (aorta)</strong> doesn't work properly.</li>
<li>Aortic valve disease may be a condition <strong>present at birth (congenital heart disease), or it may result from other causes.</strong></li>
<li>The aorta is the<strong> largest artery in the body</strong>. It begins at the top of the left ventricle, the heart's muscular pumping chamber. The heart pumps blood from the left ventricle into the aorta through the aortic valve.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The <strong>arteries are the blood vessels that deliver oxygen-rich blood</strong> from the heart to the tissues of the body, with the <strong>exception of Pulmonary Arteries</strong> which carry oxygen-poor blood from the heart to the lungs under low pressure, making these arteries unique.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>India&rsquo;s First Lokpal</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Former Supreme Court judge and current member of the <strong><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/daily-updates-news-editorials-nhrc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)</a>,</strong> <strong>Pinaki Chandra Ghose</strong>, is likely to be <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/lokpal-lokayukta-ombudsman-upsc-governance-transparency" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>India&rsquo;s first anti-corruption ombudsman or Lokpal.</strong></a></li>
<li>His name was cleared and recommended by the<strong> high-level selection committee chaired by the Prime Minister.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Other members of the selection committee are <strong>Chief Justice of India, Lok Sabha Speaker, and an eminent jurist.</strong></li>
<li>Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, who is part of the committee, did not attend the meeting after he was invited as &ldquo;special invitee.&rdquo;</li>
<li>He had leader refused to attend earlier meetings too, protesting against his being invited as a &ldquo;special invitee.&rdquo;</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The government was prompted to make the selection after the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/supreme-court-sets-deadline-for-lokpal-appointment" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Supreme Court set the February-end deadline.</strong></a></li>
<li>Justice Ghose, 67, who is a <strong>member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) since June 2017,</strong> <strong>retired from the Supreme Court on May 27, 2017.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>CAPEX</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>According to a recent study by Reserve Bank of India, the projects sanctioned in the first half of 2018-19 show recovery in the capital expenditure (CapEx) cycle.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>What Are Capital Expenditures (CapEx)?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Capital expenditures, commonly known as CapEx</strong>, are funds used by a company to acquire, upgrade, and maintain physical assets such as property, buildings, an industrial plant, technology or equipment.</li>
<li>Capital expenditures might include:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Plant and equipment purchases,</li>
<li>Building expansion and improvements,</li>
<li>Hardware purchases, such as computers,</li>
<li>Vehicles to transport goods.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>India&rsquo;s First Missile Tracking Ship</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Initial sea trials of <strong>India&rsquo;s First Missile Tracking Ship (VC 11184) has been successful.</strong></li>
<li>India&rsquo;s first Missile Tracking Ship (a kind of ocean surveillance ship) has been built by Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL).</li>
<li>The ship is being built for the <strong>National Technical Research Organisation,</strong> the technical intelligence agency working directly under the supervision of the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office and the National Security Adviser.</li>
<li>India will now be among the<strong> few countries to operate a ship such as this.</strong> It will be inducted in the Indian Navy once sea trials are completed.</li>
<li>Other Countries that have a missile tracking ship are<strong> Russia, US, China, and France.</strong></li>
<li>It will be named after its induction into the Indian Navy. For now, it is<strong> simply called as VC 11184.</strong></li>
<li>A tracking ship also called a missile range instrumentation ship or range ship is a ship equipped with antennas and electronics to support the launching and tracking of missiles and rockets.</li>
</ul>
<h3>INS Khanderi</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indian Navy will induct the <strong>second Scorpene submarine Khanderi</strong> by early May 2019.</li>
<li>It is a part of <strong>six Scorpene submarines manufactured by Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL)</strong>.</li>
<li>The other submarines in Scorpene Class are <strong>INS Kalvari</strong> joined service in December 2017.</li>
<li><strong>Karanj</strong> which is in advanced stage of trials and could be ready for induction by year end.</li>
<li><strong>The remaining submarines(Vela, Vagir, and Vagsheer)</strong> in the series are in advanced stages of manufacturing and trials.</li>
<li>Indian Navy has two <strong>Nuclear-powered submarines Arihant class</strong>(India) &amp; Chakra class(Russia); <strong>14 Diesel-electric submarines</strong> 4 German HDW(Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft) class, 9 Sindhughosh class(Kilo Class)(Indo-Russian), &amp; 1 Kalvari class(Indo-French).</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Scorpene-class submarine</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Scorpene-class submarines are a class of diesel-electric attack submarines jointly developed by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders in collaboration with DCNS, France under Project-75.</li>
<li>It features diesel propulsion and an additional air-independent propulsion (AIP).</li>
<li>Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai, is manufacturing six Scorpene submarines under technology transfer from Naval Group of France under a 2005 contract.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Mazagon Docks Shipbuilders Limited</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>MDL is one of the leading shipbuilding yard and only submarine builder in India.</li>
<li>It was incorporated as a Public Limited Company in 1934.</li>
<li>It was nationalised in 1960 and is now a Public Sector Undertaking of the Government of India.</li>
<li>It manufactures warships and submarines for the Indian Navy and offshore platforms and associated support vessels for offshore oil drilling. It also builds tankers, cargo bulk carriers, passenger ships and ferries.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India&rsquo;s first real estate investment trust (REIT) is now available for investment.</li>
<li>Embassy Office Parks, a Bangalore-based real estate developer has launched initial public offering (IPO) for first REIT.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>REIT</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>REITs are securities linked to real estate that can be traded on stock exchanges once they get listed.</li>
<li>The structure of REITs is similar to that of a mutual fund. Just like mutual funds, there are sponsors, trustees, fund managers and unitholders in REITs.</li>
<li>However, unlike mutual funds, where the underlying asset is bonds, stocks and gold, REITs invest in physical real estate.</li>
<li>The money collected is deployed in income-generating real estate. This income gets distributed among the unitholders.</li>
<li>Besides regular income from rents and leases, gains from capital appreciation of real estate also form an income for the unitholders.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>REITS in INDIA</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>REITs are governed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (&ldquo;SEBI&rdquo;) (Real Estate Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014.</li>
<li>Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) issued draft guideline of REITs in 2013.</li>
<li>These regulations provide a framework for registration and regulation of REITs in the country.</li>
<li>According to the Income Tax Act, 1961, all the incomes received from REITs is exempt from taxation except the interest income received from the special purpose vehicle by the REIT and rental income from the property that is owned directly by the REITs.</li>
<li>March 2019, Sebi reduced the minimum investment limit in REIT to ₹50,000 from ₹2 lakh.</li>
<li>REITs are far less volatile than the stock market, FDs, mutual funds and gold as regulations maintain that 80% of the REITs listings must be of rent-generating assets.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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		],
		(int) 14 => [
			'title' => 'Fifth Generation (5G) Cellular Technology',
			'catname' => 'Paper 3',
			'desc' => '<h3>Why in News?<b></b></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><b><span style="font-weight: 400;">Worldwide, chipmakers and smartphone companies are conducting trials of 5G technology based services that are going to hit the globe in 2019.&nbsp;</span></b></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">India has also set up a high-level forum to develop a roadmap for adopting 5G in the country and the spectrum auction for 5G is expected during the latter half of 2019.</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>About<br /><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">5G is the fifth generation cellular technology that apart from increasing the downloading and uploading speeds over the mobile network, also reduces the latency i.e. the time taken by a network to respond.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">5G will provide download speed of 1 Gbps, which is at least 100 times the existing data speeds.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> It also increases energy efficiency and offers more stable network connections.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">5G will have a wider area in the frequency spectrum (range of frequencies) that will ensure no network congestion.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">In addition, it will also ensure connectivity to a full circle i.e. everything is connected to every other thing.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The standards for the usage of 5G are defined and driven by 3rd Generation&nbsp;Partnership Project.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg"><strong>Evolution from First Generation to Fifth Generation</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">1G was launched in the 1980s and worked on analog radio signals and supported only voice calls.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">2G was&nbsp;Launched in the 1990s which uses digital radio signals and supported both voice and data transmission with a Bandwidth of 64 Kbps.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">3G was launched in the 2000s with a speed of 1 Mbps to 2 Mbps and it has the ability to transmit telephone signal including digitised voice, video calls and conferencing.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">4G was launched in 2009 with a peak speed of 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps and it also enables 3D virtual reality.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Deployment of 5G<br /><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Its deployment will happen with the auction of the millimetre-wave spectrum i.e. the frequency range of 28 - 100 GHz. In this area India is not fully prepared and that&rsquo;s why 5G implementation will take more time.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Three mobile carriers of U.S. - Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon have taken the task to upgrade the existing 4G infrastructure to 5G. Verizon has already launched its 5G home service in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento. </span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The switch from 4G to 5G will be infrastructure intensive i.e. mobile service providers will have to upgrade their underlying hardware countrywide in order to provide 5G speeds.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Overnight upgradation of hardware is not possible so telecom companies would use the 4G LTE infrastructure to eventually migrate to 5G.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It means that even when 5G is deployed, it will take the telecom giants, a couple of years to achieve the speed of 5G.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The customers will have to upgrade their SIM cards and buy new 5G enabled phones to access better speeds. </span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">India being a traditional late adopter of advanced technologies, still struggling to achieve the speed which 4G network offers. </span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">In that scenario any major developments in coming year is doubtful. Though the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has started the process of auctioning the 5G spectrum, analysts have predicted that India will only fully adopt 5G by 2022.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><b> Steering Committee on 5G</b></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The committee was set up in September 2017 and submitted its report on August 24, 2018, under the chairmanship of </span><b>AJ Paulraj</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to suggest road map for 5G adoption.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It gave wide-ranging recommendations to Department of Telecommunication for areas like spectrum policy, regulatory policy, standards and education.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It has asked for setting up a Standing Committee with five-year term to advice on building Spectrum Technology Infrastructure.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It has proposed promulgation of key norms on regulatory matters by March 2019 in order to facilitate early deployment of 5G technology and noted that 5G technologies will start entering service globally beginning 2019 and advance to full range of services by 2024.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It recommended deployment classification of 5G into three phases based on technologies and expects that economic impact of 5G to be over $1 trillion by 2035.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It said that the early adoption of 5G will make equipments needed for 5G roll out more expensive but early adoption will fast track India&rsquo;s embrace of 5G&rsquo;s benefits.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The committee pointed out that even after entry of 5G, the earlier generation mobile technologies will continue to remain in use for almost 10 more years.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Applications</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">High-Speed mobile network</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Entertainment and multimedia&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Internet of Things&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Smart cities&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Smart farming&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Telemedicine services&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Controlling of critical infrastructure and vehicles.</span></li>
<li><span>Industrial applications</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>Advantages</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">5G is expected to offer enhanced mobile broadband that can meet high coverage requirements.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It will offer very high upload and download speed. </span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> 5G can diversify services and has potential to demonstrate spectral efficiency.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> High data speed of 5G Network might help cloud systems to stream software updates, music, and navigation data.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">5G will help to incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) in our daily lives.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It will also facilitate the ecosystem for the Internet of Things (IoT).</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It will help in digital growth of country that will result in rise of GDP and employment generation in the country.</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>Government Steps in this Direction</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Recently approved, </span><b>National Electronics Policy 2019</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> aims to position India as a global hub for </span><b>Electronics System Design and Manufacturing</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and promotes early stage Start-ups in emerging technology areas such as 5G, loT, Artificial Intelligence etc.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Bharat Net</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> project aims to provide digital infrastructure on a non-discriminatory basis by an affordable broadband connectivity of 2 Mbps to 20 Mbps for all households.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Indian government also initiated measures to introduce 5G technology via the</span><b> National Telecom Policy (NTP)</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which aims to reach 100% teledensity, high-speed internet highways and delivery of citizen-centric services electronically.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Department of Telecommunications set up a high-level forum to develop the roadmap for 5G services in India by 2020.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The government is also working on creating a corpus of Rs 500 crore for research and development for 5G technology in India.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The government has invited leading telecom companies to undertake pilot projects on spectrum allocated free of charge for a year.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">India is making efforts to have its own </span>Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) <span style="font-weight: 400;">as a part of 5G global standards.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The auction for a broad range of spectrum bands for 5G, later this year, will set the stage for India to power the next generation mobile networks.</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges<br /><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">The promised speed of 5G is difficult to achieve considering the incompetent technological support in most parts of the world.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Many of the old devices will need to be replaced as they are not supporting 5G.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">In India average download speed is 9.12 Mbps which is very less in comparison to the global average speed of 23.54 Mbps.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Number of users in India also poses huge challenge in terms of swift upsurge in mobile broadband consumption and the subsequent network congestion.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">The switch from 4G to 5G will be infrastructure intensive and development of infrastructure for 5G is very expensive.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">5G cannot take off without basic infrastructure foundation, such as standard servers, open application programming interface (APIs) etc.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">The transition experience from one technology generation to another is not very good as one has to buy a whole another phone to start using latest cellular technology, thereby creating financial liability.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li>There are expected to be 20 billion connected devices in the world by 2020 and as a result data will become highly distributed. It will be a new challenge to manage, analyze, store and protect data, irrespective of where it exists<b>.</b></li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Ahead</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The arrival of 5G-enabling smart devices will change the way we live &amp; think and can be a game changer for better service delivery, faster access to services and deeper penetration of digital services.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It is high time that India should strengthen the domestic telecommunication manufacturing market to enable local industries to capture both domestic as well as global market.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">An "intelligence-first" approach will need to be adopted by Telecom providers for managing core networks as an important business investment.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">For widespread 5G deployment, it needs to become financially viable otherwise rural integration will remain a pipe dream.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The roadmap for digital futures of masses is being chalked out this year so 2019 will be the defining year.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Given that 4G networks are still nascent in India, for developing a robust telecom infrastructure and backhaul spectrum to associated bandwidth and a well-defined data protection law, we have a long way to go.</span></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/956Drishti_ias_Fifth-Generation-(5G)-Cellular-Technology.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/956Drishti_ias_Fifth-Generation-(5G)-Cellular-Technology.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></span></a></p>',
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		],
		(int) 15 => [
			'title' => 'Fifth Generation (5G) Cellular Technology',
			'catname' => 'Paper 3',
			'desc' => '<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/774Drishti_ias_Fifth-Generation-(5G)-Cellular-Technology.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/774Drishti_ias_Fifth-Generation-(5G)-Cellular-Technology.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/fifth-generation-5g-cellular-technology-mindmap'
		],
		(int) 16 => [
			'title' => 'An Abhorrent And Unjust Device',
			'catname' => 'News Editorials',
			'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/an-abhorrent-and-unjust-device/article26537190.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"An Abhorrent And Unjust Device"</a> which appeared in "The Hindu" on 15<sup>th</sup> March 2019. The article talks about the morality of retaining death penalty.)</p>
</div>
<p>Recently Supreme Court delivered verdicts in three different death penalty cases. In two of those the court entirely exonerated the suspects, while in the third it not only found the accused guilty of murder, but also deserving of capital punishment.</p>
<p>The judgments typify the deep confusion that pervades India&rsquo;s criminal justice system.</p>
<p>The cases demonstrate how arbitrary the death penalty is, how its application is mired by a belief in conflicting values, and how the fundamental requirement of precision in criminal law has been replaced by a rhetorical cry for avenging crime by invoking the &ldquo;collective conscience&rdquo; of society.</p>
<h3>Death Penalty in India</h3>
<p>Death penalty or capital punishment is the highest degree of punishment that can be awarded to an individual under any penal law in force in any part of the world.</p>
<p><strong>The Indian Penal Code, 1860 provides for the provision of a death sentence for various offenses like criminal conspiracy, murder, waging war against the nation, dacoity etc. Various other legislations like Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 also provides for the death penalty.</strong></p>
<p>Under <strong>Article 72, the Constitution has created a provision for clemency of capital punishment</strong>. Under this Article, the President of India has the power to grant pardon or commute or remit the death sentence in certain cases.</p>
<p><strong>(Article 161 provides for powers of the Governor of the State to grant clemency, however he cannot grant pardon to the person who is assigned capital punishment)</strong></p>
<p>Also, when a Sessions Court awards the capital punishment, it must be confirmed by the High Court of the particular state, and only then the execution can be carried out.</p>
<p>India also has provision of assigning death punishment to anyone convicted of raping children under the age of 12.</p>
<h3>Loopholes in Judicial System</h3>
<p>While India follows the doctrine of death penalty in only rarest of rare cases it is often affected by rhetorical cry for avenging crime by invoking the &ldquo;collective conscience&rdquo; of society.</p>
<p>Judiciary is riddled with hundreds of cases where it has assigned the highest form of punishment possible in Indian Penal Code and backtracked from its verdict, reflecting the error in judgement, lack of reliable evidence and corruption prevalent in police department.</p>
<p><strong>Our criminal justice system has a very low rate of conviction.</strong> And at the same time, nearly 75 per cent of our prison population is made of under trials that spend long periods in prison without ever being found guilty.</p>
<p>There remains tremendous pressure on the police and prosecutors to produce convictions using methods that are colonial relics creating context to manufacture torture-based evidence, plant evidence, engage in prosecutorial misconduct and to routinely suppress exculpatory evidence.</p>
<p><strong>If the quality of the investigation, trials, and the judgments in the recent cases are anything to go by, it is safe to assume that a large number of such death penalties have been awarded by the courts in cases with grievously faulty trials.</strong></p>
<p><strong>As the report by National Law University, lower judiciary is perversely enthusiastic about death penalties</strong> despite the evident failings in the prosecution&rsquo;s case or the ability of the defendant to mount a proper defence.</p>
<p>The torment suffered by convicts as a result of the endless delays and flawed decision-making in a broken criminal justice system is rarely remedied thereby creating more criminals.</p>
<h3>The Voices Supporting the Demise of Capital Punishment</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Law Commission of India has recommended that capital punishment should go citing multiple examples such as its futility in acting as a deterrent which has been proved by multiple researches. States that employ capital punishment have had drastically higher rates of homicide in comparison with those States where the death penalty is no longer engaged.</li>
<li>There are no clear guidelines as to who shall be given capital punishment giving ample scope for arbitrary judgement; administration of capital punishment is also vulnerable to misapplication.</li>
<li>Mercy powers have failed to act as the final safeguard against miscarriage of justice; long delays in trials and appeals and final execution is almost torture and does more harm by creating anti social thinking in the criminals.</li>
<li><strong>According to a the Death Penalty India Report (DPIR), most of the prisoners on death row are economically vulnerable, from religious minorities, and are hardly literate, making them victims more of circumstances then of their acts.</strong></li>
<li>Moreover India is in a minority on death penalty as 140 countries have abolished.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Supporters of Capital Punishment</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Its constitutionality has not only been upheld in India but also in liberal democracies like that of the U.S.</strong> Therefore, the retention of the death penalty is not a reflection of &ldquo;uncivilized&rdquo; polity in theocratic state.</li>
<li>As noted by the Law Commission itself, cases of violent terror are constant reminders of the need to protect national stability by ensuring appropriate responses to such actions, and the death penalty forms part of the national response.</li>
<li>Many people support capital punishment as punishment cannot be judged by its impact on criminals but by its impact on those who are still innocent.</li>
<li>Those who defend the death penalty often do it on the basis of retributive justice. It determines that there are certain acts which the society so essentially detest that they justify the taking of the most crucial of rights &ndash; the right to life.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenging the Ghost of Capital Punishment</h3>
<p>In assigning the highest punishment it is prudent to secure the input of the jail superintendent &ndash; whether he gives a clean chit of good behaviour to the death row inmate if so, courts should refrain from imposing the death penalty, in the interest of rehabilitative justice.</p>
<p>Another safeguard is to ensure that the prosecution meets its burden of proving that the convict is in fact irredeemable. There should also be a mandatory psychiatric evaluation of the convict.</p>
<p>Defence cases are often riddled with procedural and due process lapse. A retired justice of SC has suggested that the disadvantaged must not be further oppressed by procedural irregularities. He argues that a death penalty conviction should be set aside if such irregularities come to light..</p>
<p>The death penalty should be less about the victim of an incident and more about the social ramifications of the crime.</p>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<p>This has been established beyond doubt that irrational criteria are applied to arrive at dangerously irreversible decisions, the law&rsquo;s application is made all the more worse by invariably imposing these standards on the most vulnerable members of society.</p>
<p>It is therefore very important to reduce arbitrariness and in keeping view of the error proneness of the judiciary the step of capital punishment should be taken with highest degree of caution.</p>
<p>The Constitution promises to every person equality before the law. But as it appears capital punishment renders this pledge hollow. It legalises a form of violence, and confuses the distinction between justice and vengeance. Thus necessitating that justice does not become the moralised form of revenge.</p>',
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		],
		(int) 17 => [
			'title' => 'STAR Rating Program',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>Recently, the Ministry of Power, Government of India has expanded its ambitious <strong>Standards &amp; Labelling (Star Rating) program for Energy Efficient for Appliances to cover the Microwave Ovens and Washing Machines</strong> (with revised parameters) in the country.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>This program is expected to save over <strong>3.0 Billion Units by 2030</strong>. This would be equivalent to Green House Gases (GHG) reduction of 2.4 Million-ton of CO<sub>2</sub> by the year 2030 through these initiatives.</li>
<li>The <strong>Star Labelling Programs has been formulated by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)</strong> for improving energy efficiency and lowering energy cost of appliances/equipment for the consumers.</li>
<li>Initially, the program for the above two appliances will be implemented on a voluntary basis and will be valid up to 31st December 2020.</li>
<li>This<strong> will create awareness amongst the domestic consumers</strong> to encourage the transition towards energy efficient microwave ovens and Washing machines.</li>
<li>The manufacturers will be able to register products online, on a portal developed by BEE.</li>
<li>Any model/brand of Washing Machine or a Microwave Oven can avail Star Rating on a scale of 1 to 5 based on test report from <strong>National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)</strong> or equivalent labs subsequent to scrutiny by BEE.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>BEE is a statutory body under the Ministry of Power, Government of India.</strong></li>
<li>It assists in <strong>developing policies and strategies with the primary objective of reducing the energy intensity</strong> of the Indian economy.</li>
<li>BEE coordinates with designated consumers, designated agencies, and other organizations to identify and utilize the existing resources and infrastructure, in performing the functions assigned to it under the <strong>Energy Conservation Act, 2001</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>NABL is a<strong> Constituent Board of Quality Council of India. </strong></li>
<li>NABL has been established with the objective of providing Government, Industry Associations and Industry in general with a scheme of Conformity Assessment Body&rsquo;s accreditation which involves third-party assessment of the technical competence of testing including medical and calibration laboratories, proficiency testing providers and reference material producers.</li>
<li><strong>Quality Council of India (QCI) as a non-profit autonomous society registered under Societies Registration Act, 1860.</strong></li>
<li>The aim of&nbsp;QCI is to establish an accreditation structure in the country and to spread quality movement in India by undertaking a National Quality Campaign.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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		],
		(int) 18 => [
			'title' => 'Cyclone Idai',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>Recently the <strong>Cyclone Idai</strong> has hit the port city of<strong> Beira in Mozambique</strong>.<a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1577163641_image6.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1577163641_image6.png" width="300" caption="false" style="float: right;" /></a></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Mozambique has been struck by <strong>severe cyclones in the past,</strong> including <strong>Eline in 2000,</strong> when 350 people died and 650,000 were displaced across the region.</li>
<li>According to the <strong>Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR),</strong> Mozambique is the<strong> third most at-risk country in Africa</strong> when it comes to extreme weather.</li>
<li>The cyclone has been<strong> named by Zimbabwe.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>GFDRR is a global partnership that <strong>helps developing countries better understand and reduce</strong> their vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change.</li>
<li>GFDRR was <strong>established in September 2006</strong> as a global partnership of the<strong> World Bank, UN agencies and bilateral donors, located in World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC.</strong></li>
<li>Its missions are:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>to mainstream disaster reduction and <strong>climate change adaptation (CCA) in country development strategies</strong>, and</li>
<li>to foster and strengthen global and regional cooperation among various stakeholders under the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) system.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>GFDRR contributes to the implementation of the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/what-is-a-national-disaster" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction</strong></a>&nbsp; by helping countries to integrate disaster risk management and climate change adaptation into development strategies and investment programs and recover from disasters quickly and effectively.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Tropical Cyclone</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Cyclone is the formation of <strong>very low-pressure system</strong> with <strong>very high-speed winds revolving</strong> around it. Factors like wind speed, wind direction, temperature and humidity contribute to the development of cyclones.</li>
<li>Before cloud formation, water takes up heat from the atmosphere to change into vapour. When water vapour changes back to liquid form as raindrops, this heat is released to the atmosphere.</li>
<li>The heat released to the atmosphere warms the air around. The air tends to rise and causes a drop in pressure. More air rushes to the centre of the storm. This cycle is repeated.</li>
<li>Since Hurricanes derive their energy from<strong> heated seawater</strong> which can be prevented by presence of upper-level-winds that disrupt the storm circulation forcing it to lose its strength.</li>
</ul>',
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		(int) 19 => [
			'title' => 'SC Notice to EC over VVPAT’s',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Supreme Court (SC) has issued a notice to the<a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/election-commission-of-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Election Commission (EC)</a> on a<strong> plea by leaders from 21 political parties who wanted random verification of at least 50% Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) using their Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips</strong> in the upcoming general elections.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There are <strong>concerns</strong> being raised by many political parties<strong> regarding the functioning of EVMs.</strong></li>
<li>To allay these fears,<strong> EC has decided that it will verify VVPAT slips of only one randomly selected booth of a constituency.</strong></li>
<li>Recently, the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/tallying-of-vvpat-with-evms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SC has directed the EC to respond to a plea that the counts from EVMs and VVPAT</a> units should be cross-verified in at least 30% randomly chosen polling stations in each&nbsp;assembly and Lok Sabha constituency.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Argument of Petitioner</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Randomly verifying at least 50% Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) using their Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips in the upcoming elections was in the interest of free and fair elections, which is part of the basic structure of the Constitution.</li>
<li>The&nbsp;50% randomized verification in each assembly constituency/assembly segment is a reasonable sample size to
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>allay the fears of the general public with regard to EVM tampering and;</li>
<li>be a statistically significant sample size to ensure that EVMs are working properly.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The decision of ECI to verify VVPAT of only one randomly selected booth of a constituency will account only for 0.44% of the votes polled.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>This guideline defeats the entire purpose of VVPAT and makes the same "ornamental" without actual substance.</li>
<li>The petition refers to the decision in <em><strong>Dr. Subramanian Swamy v ECI (2013)</strong></em> which held that VVPAT is an "indispensable requirement of free and fair elections". To give meaningful effect to this judgment, at least 50% of VVPAT should be verified.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>VVPAT is an independent verification printer machine and is attached to electronic voting machines. It allows voters to verify if their vote has gone to the intended candidate.</li>
<li>When a voter presses a button in the EVM, a paper slip is printed through the VVPAT. The slip contains the poll symbol and name of the candidate. It allows the voter to verify his/her choice.</li>
<li>After being visible to the voter from a glass case in the VVPAT for seven seconds, the ballot slip will be cut and dropped into the drop box in the VVPAT machine and a beep will be heard.</li>
<li>VVPAT machines can be accessed by polling officers only.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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	(int) 0 => [
		'title' => 'Aurora Supercomputer',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The United States has decided to build the fastest supercomputer.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The supercomputer is<strong> named as Aurora.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>About Aurora</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is scheduled to be delivered to the <strong>Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago in 2021. </strong></li>
<li>It will be the first machine<strong> to reach a milestone called &ldquo;exascale&rdquo; performance, i.e. one billion billion calculations per second.</strong></li>
<li>This <strong>speed is around seven times the speed of the most powerful system built to date, or 1,000 times faster than the first &ldquo;petascale&rdquo; systems built in 2008. </strong></li>
<li>The new machines will let researchers create significantly <strong>more accurate simulations of</strong> phenomena such as<strong> drug responses, climate changes, the inner workings of combustion engines and solar panels.</strong></li>
<li>An <strong>International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation</strong> system called<strong> Summit(OLCF-4)</strong>, built for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the USA is the<strong> fastest supercomputer in the world with a clocked speed of 143.5 petaflops.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Supercomputer in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India&rsquo;s first supercomputer called <strong>PARAM 8000 was launched in 1991.</strong></li>
<li>At present, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology has<strong> Pratyush supercomputer, which is the fastest supercomputer in India,</strong> it has a speed of 4.0 Petaflops.</li>
<li>National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting has <strong>Mihir</strong>, which has a speed of 2.8 petaflops.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Unit of Computing Speed</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Teraflops:</strong> It is a unit of computing speed equal to <strong>one million million (10^12)</strong> <strong>floating-point operations per second (FLOPS).</strong></li>
<li><strong>Petaflops:</strong> It is a unit of computing speed equal to<strong> one thousand million million (10^15)</strong> floating-point operations per second (FLOPS).</li>
<li><strong>Exaflops:</strong> It is a unit of computing speed equal to <strong>one billion billion (10^18)</strong> floating-point operations per second (FLOPS).</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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	(int) 1 => [
		'title' => 'Important Facts For Prelims (20th March 2019)	',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<h3>Ind-Indo CORPAT 2019<a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1577337136_image36.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1577337136_image36.jpg" width="399" caption="false" style="float: right;" /></a></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The opening ceremony of <strong>33rd Edition of India-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (Ind-Indo Corpat)</strong> took place at <strong>Port Blair, Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands, India.</strong></li>
<li>The 33rd IND-INDO CORPAT, also coinciding with<strong> 70 of the establishment of India-Indonesia diplomatic ties.</strong></li>
<li>Under this exercise, <strong>the ship and aircraft from both the countries would undertake to patrol on the respective sides of 236 nautical miles long International Maritime Boundary line.</strong></li>
<li>As part of the Indian Government&rsquo;s vision of <strong>SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region),</strong> the Indian Navy has also been involved in<strong> assisting countries in the Indian Ocean Region with Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Surveillance, Search and Rescue, and other capacity-building and capability-enhancement activities.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The<strong> vision of SAGAR was enunciated by Prime Minister in March 2015.</strong> It is an articulation of <strong>India&rsquo;s vision for the Indian Ocean.</strong></li>
<li>SAGAR has inter-related elements and underscores India&rsquo;s engagement in the Indian Ocean. These are<strong> enhancing capacities to safeguard land and maritime territories &amp; interests;</strong> deepening <strong>economic and security cooperation</strong> in the littoral; action to <strong>deal with natural disasters and maritime threats like piracy, terrorism.</strong></li>
<li>It also includes <strong>engaging with countries beyond our shores</strong> with the aim of <strong>building greater trust and promoting respect for maritime rules, norms and peaceful resolution of disputes</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Mitra-Shakti VI</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Annual joint military exercise <strong>Mitra-Shakti 2019 between India India-Sri Lanka</strong> will be conducted in Sri Lanka.</li>
<li>The<strong> aim of the exercise is to build and promote close relations between armies of both the countries</strong> and to enhance the ability of joint exercise commander to take military contingents of both nations under command.</li>
<li>This exercise is one of the <strong>major bilateral defense cooperation initiatives between India and Sri Lanka since 2013.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Copyright License for Google</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Google has been granted a copyright license by the <strong>Indian Performing Right Society Limited (IPRS).</strong></li>
<li>The copyright license will <strong>enable Google to use IPRS members&rsquo; work and material in India on YouTube and other services.</strong></li>
<li>Google recently launched<strong> YouTube Music,</strong> a paid music streaming service, in the country.</li>
<li><strong>IPRS is the country&rsquo;s only copyright society, authorized to carry out the copyright business for musical works and literary works (lyrics), associated with its members.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Members of IPRS comprises of the author (lyricists), music composers and music publishers.</strong></li>
<li>The IPRS was founded on 23rd August 1969.</li>
<li>The IPRS is a representative body of Owners of Music, viz. The Composers, Lyricists (or Authors) and the Publishers of Music and<strong> is also the sole Authorised Body to issue Licences for usage of Musical Works &amp; Literary Music within India by any person.</strong></li>
</ul>',
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	(int) 2 => [
		'title' => 'International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>Recently an International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (IWDRI) was held in New Delhi.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The two-day workshop was organised by the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/what-is-a-national-disaster" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)</strong></a> in collaboration with <strong>United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)</strong>, and in partnership with the <strong>Global Commission on Adaptation</strong>, <strong>United Nations Development Programme</strong> and the<strong> <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-international-institution/world-bank-group" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Bank</a></strong>.</li>
<li>The objective of workshop were to:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Identify good practices</strong> of disaster risk management in key infrastructure sectors,</li>
<li><strong>Identify specific areas and pathways</strong> for collaborative research on DRI (Transport, Energy, Telecom and Water),</li>
<li>Discuss and co-create the <strong>broad contours of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)</strong> as well as a notional roll-out plan for the next three years, and</li>
<li>Build a forum for members to work on areas of common interest and make specific commitments.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The UNISDR was <strong>established in 1999</strong> as a dedicated secretariat to facilitate the implementation of the <strong>International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR).</strong></li>
<li>It is headquartered in<strong> Geneva, Switzerland.</strong></li>
<li>It is mandated to serve as the focal point in the United Nations system for the coordination of disaster reduction and to ensure synergies among the disaster reduction activities.</li>
<li>It is an <strong>organisational unit of the UN Secretariat</strong> and is led by the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction (SRSG).</li>
<li>UNISDR's Strategic Framework 2016-2021 has a vision to substantially reduce disaster risk and losses for a sustainable future with the<strong> mandate to act as the custodian of the Sendai Framework</strong>, supporting countries and societies in its implementation, monitoring and review of progress.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>first</strong> International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure <strong>(IWDRI 2018)</strong> was held in <strong>January 2018 in India.</strong></li>
<li>India announced the <strong>creation of a Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)</strong> soon after the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, which was held in New Delhi in 2016.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The CDRI is envisaged as a <strong>knowledge exchange and capacity development partnership.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Various international agreements</strong> have also reiterated the importance and long-term benefits of investing in resilient infrastructure.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The <strong>Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), 2015-2030,</strong> identifies investing in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) for resilience and to build back better in reconstruction as priorities for action towards reducing disaster risk.</li>
<li>Similarly, <strong>Goal 9 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)</strong> recognizes disaster resilient infrastructure as a crucial driver of economic growth and development.</li>
<li>Besides reducing infrastructure losses, disaster resilient infrastructure will also help achieve targets pertaining to<strong> reduction in mortality,</strong> number of affected people and economic losses due to disasters.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction&nbsp;</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The SFDRR 2015-2030 outlines <strong>seven clear targets</strong> and <strong>four priorities for action</strong> to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risks:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Understanding</strong> disaster risk;</li>
<li><strong>Strengthening disaster risk governance</strong> to manage disaster risk;</li>
<li><strong>Investing in disaster reduction</strong> for resilience and;</li>
<li><strong>Enhancing disaster preparedness</strong> for effective response, and to<strong> "Build Back Better"</strong> in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The Sendai Framework is a<strong> 15-year, voluntary, non-binding agreement</strong> which recognizes that the State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk but that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders including local government, the private sector and other stakeholders.</li>
<li>It aims to achieve the <strong>substantial reduction of disaster risk</strong> and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries over the next 15 years.</li>
<li>The Framework was adopted at the<strong> third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan, on March 18, 2015.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>',
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	],
	(int) 3 => [
		'title' => 'Cloud Over Solar Sector',
		'catname' => 'News Editorials',
		'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/cloud-over-solar-sector-curbing-tender-cancellation-and-a-couple-other-moves-can-bring-sunshine-back/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'Cloud Over Solar Sector'</a> which appeared in 'The Times of India' on 19th March, 2019. The article talks about the challenges faced by solar sector and the potential ways to overcome them.)</p>
</div>
<p>With 300 clear sunny days, over a dozen perennial rivers and a coastline of more than 7,500 KMs, India since the age of Puranas, had realised the importance of the sun and other sources of renewable energy and the power they possess for the benefit of its inhabitants.</p>
<p>Growing Indian energy requirement and the need to adopt greener and cleaner modes of energy has reinforced India&rsquo;s attempt at making a transitional change from traditional modes of energy to renewable sources of energy.</p>
<p>However capacity additions have slowed in the recent past, which means the 175 GW renewable generation &ndash; including 100 GW solar &ndash; target set for 2022 could become difficult to achieve.</p>
<h3>Answer to Climatic Woes</h3>
<p>Human-induced climate change is considered one of the most prominent challenges of our time, with a warming planet being a present-day reality, rather than a potential future threat.</p>
<p>The Climate Change concern across the Globe has propelled the Government and Decision Makers to develop a detailed blueprint for clean and sustainable power for all.</p>
<p>Shifting to renewable energy offers an opportunity to save the environment as renewable energy resources produce little to no global warming emissions. <strong>Renewable energy can aid in the reduction of emissions in the electricity sector by 81 percent.</strong></p>
<p>Pollution produced by coal and natural gas plants also leads to several health problems such as cancer, neurological damage, heart attacks and other serious problems. The shift to renewable and cleaner sources will drastically result in improving the health of the general public.</p>
<p>As part of the initial commitments to the Paris Climate Accord, India too plans to reduce its carbon emission intensity - emission per unit of GDP - by 33-35% from 2005 levels over 15 years. It is working towards producing 40% of its installed electricity capacity by 2030 from non-fossil fuels.</p>
<p>India is the third largest energy consumer of the world and any change in the energy matrix of India is bound to reflect in the world&rsquo;s attempt to curb the menace of global warming.</p>
<h3>Indian Potential</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>India&rsquo;s energy mix is dominated by coal with a 49.6% share followed by oil- 28%, biomass- 11.6%, gas - 7.3%, renewable and clean energy 2.2% and nuclear energy 1.2%.</strong></li>
<li>The potential for solar energy capacity in India is enormous. The majority of the country&rsquo;s tropical landmass is located optimally for peak solar radiation. <strong>According to World Bank India has the best conditions in the world to capture and use solar energy.</strong></li>
<li>According to Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the country&rsquo;s total solar power potential is pegged at nearly 750GW, with 142GW of solar resource available in the state of Rajasthan alone.</li>
<li>India is one of the most attractive markets in the world because of its sheer size: 10-12GW annually. This is even more relevant when one considers that the largest market, China, is virtually closed to foreign investors.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Bottlenecks in the sector</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Solar sector suffers from infrastructural problems such as development of access roads, land acquisition for parks, and demarcation of land areas within solar park remains incomplete, even after bids for projects are completed, which affects project costs and profitability.</li>
<li>Lenders and equity investors find it risky to invest in renewable energy because of uncertainty regarding the potential buyers of the electricity.</li>
<li><strong>Further, electricity distribution companies (i.e. DISCOMS) do not always pay for electricity on time, with payment delays being common in Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.</strong></li>
<li>Power from sources such as wind and solar is intermittent, and forecasting of energy levels is weak which makes it an unattractive venture for power distribution companies to connect to renewable sources.</li>
<li><strong>India faces the challenge of moving 21% of its population out of poverty. No country has been able to achieve a Human Development Index of 0.9 &ndash; which suggests high life expectancy, income and education &ndash;without an annual energy availability of four tonnes of oil equivalent per capita.</strong></li>
<li>Solar energy is a capital-intensive industry and if the initial cost of setting up the plant is high, the cost of solar energy is pushed up. Overall cost of imported solar modules has gone up as the government has raised the duty for solar imports.</li>
<li>A majority of India&rsquo;s solar module imports are from China and Malaysia, steep duty has resulted in cranking up the overall cost for solar project developers.</li>
<li>Higher proportion of renewable in a grid leads to greater grid instability and makes controlling electricity flows a challenge making discoms chary of increasing their renewable including solar energy sourcing.</li>
<li>The grid should also have the capacity to carry power from regions where power is generated to the regions where power is needed.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The government need to speed up the execution of Green Energy Corridor and encourage massive investments in up gradation and creation of new transmission and grid infrastructure.</li>
<li>One way out would be to store energy when excess is produced, but storage equipment for solar energy is expensive.</li>
<li><strong>The primary problem of the solar sector can be resolved only if the government adopts an integrated approach, such as by bundling renewable with conventional energy.</strong></li>
<li>Also, the tariffs discovered during competitive bidding should be considered and adopted rather than artificially capping them.</li>
</ul>
<p><em><strong>The solar energy sector has a clear social impact and the potential to grow at a fast pace. All it needs is policy and infrastructure support from the government and a pragmatic approach from industry players.</strong></em></p>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/cloud-over-solar-sector'
	],
	(int) 4 => [
		'title' => 'Important Facts For Prelims (19th March 2019)	',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<h3>Vaquita Porpoise</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Recently a dead <strong>Vaquita Porpoise</strong> was found in a fishnet off the <strong>coast of Mexico.</strong></li>
<li>It is<strong> critically endangered (IUCN) marine animal</strong> of which only about 10 remain in the world.</li>
<li>It is also known as <strong>"the panda of the sea"</strong> for the <strong>distinctive black circles around its eyes.</strong></li>
<li>Vaquita Porpoises are among the <strong>ocean&rsquo;s smallest cetaceans</strong> and they only <strong>reside in the northern Gulf of California.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Cetaceans are one of the most <strong>distinctive and highly specialized aquatic mammals.</strong> They include <strong>blue whale, dolphins, blind river dolphins, Porpoise, etc.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The vaquitas are threatened primarily by <strong>gillnet fishing for the totoaba fish</strong>, another endangered species in the area that is hunted for its swim bladder, considered a delicacy in China. Dried totoaba bladders are often smuggled through the United States to China.</li>
<li>Therefore, the <strong>conservation of Vaquita primarily rests with US, China and Mexico.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1577336846_image42.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1577336846_image42.jpg" width="554" caption="false" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>
<h3>Dongria Kondh Tribe</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Dongria Kondh tribe live in <strong>Niyamgiri hill range of Odisha state.</strong></li>
<li>They derive their <strong>name from dongar,</strong> meaning <strong>&lsquo;hill&rsquo; and worship the mountain god Niyam Raja.</strong></li>
<li>The Dongria have <strong>distinctive jewellery, tattoos and hairstyles.</strong> Women wear many rings through their ears and three through their noses, while boys wear two nose rings. Dongria girls wear clips in their hair and rings and beads around their necks.</li>
<li>The Dongria Kondh have <strong>no overarching political or religious leader;</strong> clans and villages have their own leaders and individuals with specific ceremonial functions.</li>
<li>The Dongria believe that animals, plants, mountains and other specific sites and streams have a<strong> life-force or soul, jela,</strong> which comes from the mother goddess.</li>
</ul>
<h3>AFINDEX-19</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>Africa-India Field Training Exercise-2019 called AFINDEX-19</strong> started at Aundh Military Station<strong>, Pune. </strong></li>
<li>India and contingents of the<strong> 17 African Nations</strong> i.e. Benin, Botswana, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe are participating in the exercise.</li>
<li>The aim of the exercise is to <strong>practice the participating nations in planning and conduct of Humanitarian Mine Assistance and Peacekeeping Operations.</strong></li>
<li>It is a positive step towards <strong>growing political and military ties</strong> between India and African nations and will boost the already strong strategic cooperation between the countries.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-19th-march-2019'
	],
	(int) 5 => [
		'title' => 'Solar Tsunami Can Trigger the Sunspot Cycle',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The scientists have found that solar tsunamis are responsible for triggering an 11-year cycle of sunspots.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is believed that the &ldquo;solar dynamo&rdquo; is linked to the production of sunspots.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Solar Dynamo</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Solar Dynamo is a naturally occurring generator which produces electric and magnetic fields in the sun.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Sun Spot</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Sunspots are areas that appear dark on the surface of the Sun. They appear dark because they are cooler than other parts of the Sun&rsquo;s surface.</li>
<li>The temperature of a sunspot is still high around 6,500 degrees Fahrenheit.</li>
<li>Sunspots are relatively cool. It&rsquo;s because they form at areas where magnetic fields are particularly strong. These magnetic fields are so strong that they keep some of the heat within the Sun from reaching the surface.</li>
<li>The amount of magnetic flux that rises up to the Sun's surface varies with time in a cycle called the solar cycle. This cycle lasts 11 years on average. This cycle is sometimes referred to as the sunspot cycle.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Solar Tsunami</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Solar tsunami is the waves of the magnetic field and hot, ionized gas moving across the Sun at about 400 km per second.</li>
<li>Tsunamis are generated after a release of matter into space called a coronal mass ejection (CME).</li>
<li>Solar tsunamis were discovered in 1997 by the SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) of Europen Space Agency.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Coronal Mass Ejection</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a significant release of plasma and accompanying magnetic field from the solar corona. They are often followed by solar flares.</li>
<li>Solar Flares on reaching earth causes spectacular light shows by interacting with the earth&rsquo;s magnetic field called Aurora&rsquo;s.</li>
<li>Solar Flares can also disrupt radio transmission and harm satellites in orbit.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>How Solar Tsunami leads to Sunspot?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The extreme temperature and pressure conditions that prevail some 20,000 km below the sun&rsquo;s surface cause its material to form a plasma consisting primarily of hydrogen and helium in a highly ionized state.</li>
<li>The plasma is confined with huge magnetic fields inside the sun. Holding these fields in their place requires that there is extra mass (plasma mass) pushing at the bands from higher latitudes.</li>
<li>Thus, a magnetic dam is formed which is storing a big mass of plasma. At the end of a solar cycle, this magnetic dam can break, releasing huge amounts of plasma cascading like a tsunami towards the poles.</li>
<li>These tsunami waves travel at high speeds of about 1,000 km per hour carrying excess plasma to the mid-latitudes. There they give rise to magnetic flux eruptions. These are seen as the bright patches that signal the start of the next cycle of sunspots.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/solar-tsunami-can-trigger-the-sunspot-cycle'
	],
	(int) 6 => [
		'title' => 'Hayabusa 2',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p><strong>Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)</strong> has decided to make a<strong> crater on asteroid 1999 JU3 (Ryugu)</strong> to collect underground samples.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>This is part of the<a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/hayabusa-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong> Hayabusa 2 mission,</strong></a> launched in December 2014, to explore asteroid 1999 JU3 (Ryugu).</li>
<li>The purpose of drilling is to collect samples for possible clues to the origin of the solar system.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Asteroids</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Asteroids are actually minor planets</strong> which can neither be classified either as a planet or as a comet.</li>
<li>These are generally in the <strong>direct orbit around the Sun.</strong></li>
<li>The larger forms of asteroids are also known as <strong>planetoids</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Hayabusa 2</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Hayabusa 2 was launched in December 2014 and is planned to complete a mission of six years.</strong></li>
<li>It arrived at Ryugu in July 2018 and<strong> will spend 18 months studying the asteroid before making its return to Earth in December 2020.</strong></li>
<li>The mission builds on the original Hayabusa mission that was launched in 2003 and successfully linked up with asteroid Itokawa in 2005.</li>
<li>It returned samples to Earth in 2010 marking the first time sample materials from an asteroid were brought back to Earth.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why Study Asteroids?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Asteroids, like comets, are primitive bodies that can be considered to be the<strong> building blocks of the early solar system.</strong> They hold a record of the birth and initial evolution of the solar system.</li>
<li>Larger planets like Earth went through a more complex evolution over which the pristine materials were melted and altered significantly. Due to this change, the materials found on large planets do not hold information into their early stages of formation.</li>
<li><strong>Comets and asteroids, formed early in the evolution of the Solar System, retain a record of when, where and in what conditions they were formed. Exploration of these primitive bodies is essential in gaining insight into the formation of the Solar System.</strong></li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/hayabusa-2-1'
	],
	(int) 7 => [
		'title' => 'ICAI & NFRA',
		'catname' => 'National Institutions',
		'desc' => '<h2><strong>Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)</strong></h2>
<p><strong>The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)</strong> is the national professional accounting body of India. It was established to regulate the profession of Accountancy. It is the only licensing cum regulating body of the financial audit and accountancy profession in India. It recommends the accounting standards to be followed by companies in India to National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards (NACAS).</p>
<h3>ICAI History</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Companies Act, 1913 passed in pre-independent India prescribed various books which had to be maintained by a Company registered under that Act.</li>
<li>It also provided for the appointment of a formal Auditor with prescribed qualifications to audit such records. In order to act as an auditor a person had to acquire a restricted certificate from the local government upon such conditions as may be prescribed.</li>
<li>In 1932, an Accountancy board was developed called as <strong>Indian Accountancy Board</strong> to <strong>advise the Governor General in Council of India</strong> on the points of Accountancy and the required conduct along with qualification standards of the auditors.</li>
<li>The expert committee appointed in 1947, recommended that a separate autonomous association of accountants should be formed to regulate the profession.</li>
<li>Government of India accepted the recommendation and passed the <strong>Chartered Accountants Act in 1949</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>Under Section 3 of the said Act,</strong> ICAI is established as a statutory body.</li>
<li>It functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India.</li>
<li>Affairs of the ICAI are managed with the provisions of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 and the <strong>Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988</strong>.</li>
<li>ICAI is one of the founder members of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC, 1977), South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA, 1984), and Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA, 1957).</li>
</ul>
<h3>Functions</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>ICAI Council:</strong> Affairs of the Institute is undertaken by a Council constituted under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Council consists of 32 elected fellow members and up to 8 members nominated by the Government of India.</li>
<li>The elected members of the council are elected under the single transferable vote system by the members of the institute.</li>
<li>The Council functions through its <strong>4 Standing Committees and 37 Non-Standing Committees</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Membership:</strong> Members of the Institute are known as <strong>Chartered Accountants (CA)</strong>. Becoming a member requires passing the prescribed examinations, three years of practical training and meeting other requirements under the Act and Regulations. Functions of CA are following:<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Chartered Accountants enjoy a statutory monopoly in audit of financial statements under the Companies Act, 2013, Income Tax Act, 1961</li>
<li><strong>Areas of expertise</strong> include Financial Reporting, Auditing and Assurance, Corporate Finance, Investment Banking, Financial Modelling, Equity Research. Fund Management, Credit Analysis, Capital Markets, Arbitration, Risk Management, Economics, Strategic/Management Consultancy, Management Accounting, Information Systems Audit, Corporate Law, Direct Tax, Indirect Tax and valuation of businesses.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Accounting Research Foundation (ARF):</strong> ICAI Accounting Research Foundation (ICAI ARF) has undertaken and completed various basic and applied research projects. It also provides financial assistance to researchers / scholars for undertaking basic research projects of contemporary national/ international significance in the aforesaid areas.</li>
<li>ICAI provides technical advice and necessary inputs on matters of economic relevance and alike to various Ministries such as Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Commerce &amp; Industry, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Railways etc.</li>
<li>ICAI also provides technical advice to various bodies such as &ndash; Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Controller General of Accounts, Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Central Board of Excise &amp; Customs, GST Council, Insurance Regulatory &amp; Development Authority etc.</li>
<li>It has provided comprehensive suggestions at <strong>each stage of GST implementation,</strong> be it Constitutional Amendment Bill, Model GST Law, Revised Model GST Law, Draft GST Rule or Post implementation of GST.</li>
<li><strong>Indian Institute of Insolvency Professionals of ICAI (IIIPI),</strong> a wholly owned subsidiary of the ICAI, is a <strong>Section 8 Public Company</strong> established to enrol and regulate insolvency professionals as its members in accordance with the <strong>Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016</strong> read with regulations and rules incidental thereto.</li>
<li><strong>Quality Review Board:</strong> Under <strong>Section 28A</strong> of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, as inserted by the <strong>Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Act, 2006,</strong> the Central Government is empowered to constitute a Quality Review Board consisting of a Chairperson and ten other members. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Board reviews and recommends to the Council of the ICAI with regard to the quality of services provided by the members of Institute including audit services.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Disciplinary Mechanism:</strong> <strong>The Disciplinary Directorate,</strong> the <strong>Board of Discipline,</strong> and the <strong>Disciplinary Committee</strong> form the foundation of the disciplinary process of the ICAI. These entities are quasi-judicial and have substantial powers like that of a Civil Court to summon and enforce attendance or require discovery and production of documents on affidavit or otherwise.</li>
<li><strong>International Affairs:</strong> The <strong>International Affairs Committee of ICAI</strong> has the multi fold objective of positioning brand Indian CA at the global level by establishing Qualification Recognition Arrangements with accounting bodies (like The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales(ICAEW), Certified Public Accountants of Australia(CPA Australia) etc.).</li>
</ul>
<h2><strong>National Financial Regulatory Authority (NFRA)</strong></h2>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>NFRA</strong> is an Indian body provided in Companies Act 2013 for the establishment and enforcement of accounting and auditing standards and oversight of the work of auditors.</li>
<li>As per the Companies Act, 2013 the NFRA is tasked with the job of recommending accounting and auditing standards, ensuring compliance with them and overseeing the quality of service of the accounting and audit professions.</li>
<li>It has also been given the power to investigate matters of professional misconduct by chartered accountants or CA firms, impose penalty and debar the CA or firm for up to 10 years.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Evolution of NFRA</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The world over more than 50 countries have moved away from <strong>self-regulatory professional accountant bodies</strong> (like ICAI) and created independent audit regulators (like NFRA).<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In India, the move to set up a new oversight body for the accounting and audit professions was approved by a parliamentary panel. <strong>After the Satyam scandal</strong> took place in 2009, the <strong>Standing Committee on Finance</strong> proposed the concept of the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) for the first time.</li>
<li>Indian Parliament passed The Company Act 2013 (amendment) with inclusion of NFRA (section 132).</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Act states that &ldquo;no other institute or body shall initiate or continue any proceedings in such matters of misconduct where the NFRA has initiated an investigation.&rdquo;</li>
<li><strong>ICAI,</strong> a self-regulatory body, has <strong>had the monopoly</strong> on training and qualifying chartered accountants, giving them license to practice and regulating them including scrutinising audit quality. <strong>Establishment of NFRA was a case of departing of powers from ICAI.</strong></li>
<li>Opposition by the ICAI has been a key reason why the government has delayed notifying the NFRA rules.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Constitution of NFRA (As per section 132 of Companies Act 2013)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Central Government may, by notification, constitute a National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) to provide for matters relating to accounting and auditing standards under this Act.</li>
<li>Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the National Financial Reporting Authority shall<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Make recommendations to the Central Government on the formulation and laying down of accounting and auditing policies and standards for adoption by companies or class of companies or their auditors.</li>
<li>Monitor and enforce the compliance with accounting standards and auditing standards in such manner as may be prescribed;</li>
<li>Oversee the quality of service of the professions associated with ensuring compliance with such standards, and suggest measures required for improvement in quality of service.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>It shall consist of a <strong>chairperson,</strong> who shall be a person of eminence and having expertise in accountancy, auditing, finance or law to be appointed by the Central Government and such other <strong>members not exceeding fifteen</strong> consisting of part-time and full-time members.</li>
<li>It shall have the <strong>power to investigate, either suo motu or on a reference made to it by the Central Government,</strong> for such class of bodies corporate or persons, into the matters of professional or other misconduct committed by any member or firm of chartered accountants, registered under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Provided that no other institute or body shall initiate or continue any proceedings in such matters of misconduct where the NFRA has initiated an investigation under this section.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>It shall have the <strong>same powers as are vested in a civil court</strong> under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, while trying a suit in matters of: <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>discovery and production of books of account and other documents;</li>
<li>summoning and enforcing the attendance of persons and examining them on oath;</li>
<li>Inspection of any books, registers and other documents.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Any person aggrieved by any order of the NFRA, may prefer an appeal before the Appellate Authority constituted under section 132(6) of Companies Act 2013.</li>
<li>The Central Government may, by notification, constitute, an <strong>Appellate Authority</strong> consisting of a chairperson and not more than two other members, for hearing appeals arising out of the orders of the NFRA.</li>
<li>The qualifications for appointment of the chairperson and members of the Appellate Authority, the manner of selection, the terms and conditions of their service and the requirement of the supporting staff and procedure to be followed by the Appellate Authority shall be such as may be prescribed by Parliament.</li>
<li>NFRA shall <strong>prepare its annual report</strong> giving a full account of its activities during the financial year and forward a copy thereof to the Central Government and the Central Government shall cause the annual report to be laid before each House of Parliament.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Standing Committee on Finance (2014-15)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It noted that Constitution of NFRA (section 132 of Companies Act 2013) is a result of the recommendation of the Standing Committee on Finance which examined the Companies Bill, 2009.</li>
<li>Committee desires that the Ministry may ensure that in the process of constituting NFRA, it does not create two parallel jurisdictions, governing the same issue. So it favours ICAI on function overlapping.</li>
<li>This aspect may be addressed, when the rules governing NFRA are finalised by the Ministry.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>The arguments put forth by ICAI:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>NFRA shall result in Multiple regulatory bodies,</li>
<li>ICAI is a world-class regulator,</li>
<li>NFRA will be a costly affair,</li>
<li>Unavailability of adequate competent personnel.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>MCA (Ministry of Corporate Affairs) countered ICAI in favour of creation of NFRA.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In many countries outside auditors perform the important gatekeeper function.</li>
<li>Number of independent audit regulators worldwide is up from 18 in 2006 to 51 in 2018.</li>
<li><strong>NITI Aayog,</strong> in a separate matter, <strong>criticised the self-regulatory structure</strong> of such professional bodies.</li>
<li>An international consultant engaged by SEBI said &ldquo;the ICAI&rsquo;s oversight is passive in nature and with limited focus on active investigations&rdquo;.</li>
<li><strong>ICAI&rsquo;s disciplinary mechanism:</strong> Of the 1,972 cases taken up by the Disciplinary Committee/Board of Discipline of the ICAI, only in the matter relating to Satyam Computers have the members been permanently removed. Penalties of one year or more have been imposed on members in only 14 of these cases.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>SC Judgement (S. Sukumar v/s The Secretary, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India), 2018</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>SC ordered the Government of India to constitute a committee to look and deliberate into the aspects of audit system in India in Feb, 2018.</li>
<li>The Committee was formed in April 2018 by MCA and thereafter submitted its report in October, 2018.</li>
</ul>
<p>Within a span of a little over two weeks from the submission of the Report, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, on November 13, 2018, notified the <strong>National Financial Reporting Authority Rules, 2018 (Rules)</strong> to lay down the powers, jurisdiction, roles, and duties of the NFRA.</p>
<p><strong>NFRA as the regulator to curb the audit mishaps and to bring in stronger audit framework in India is analysed along with recommendations of committee:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>As a middle path,</strong> the ICAI recommended setting up an independent quality review board under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 to refine the quality of attestation of audits.</li>
<li>Section 132 of the Companies Act, 2013 has given the NFRA the <strong>over-riding powers to establish its supremacy over other laws,</strong> with respect accounting and auditing standards, compliance with accounting and auditing standards, investigation into professional misconducts by chartered accountants, empowered with powers of civil court similar to trying a suit, and for imposing penalties and debarment. <strong>This indicates that there is intent to overhaul the regulatory regime in India for the audit and auditors.</strong></li>
<li>NFRA is also empowered to impose heavy monetary penalties and debarring. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Debarring the member or the firm from engaging himself or itself from practice as member of the ICAI for a minimum period of <strong>six months or for such higher period not exceeding ten years</strong> as may be decided by the National Financial Reporting Authority.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Absence of network liability in the Rules:</strong> Committee has acknowledged the concept of auditor and audit firm operating in India as a member/part of an international network, and in view of the same, it made two noteworthy recommendations, as listed below, however, these recommendations have not found <strong>any place in the Rules</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>Monetary penalties on international network/entity:</strong> The Committee recommended imposition of civil liability in the form of <strong>monetary penalties on the international network/entity</strong> with whom/which the Indian audit firm has entered into networking/membership, if any audit failure or fraud is found to have been caused due to any faulty methodology being followed by that particular network.</li>
<li><strong>Jurisdiction of the NFRA:</strong> Primarily, the NFRA&rsquo;s jurisdiction encompasses public companies (with certain prescribed thresholds) and listed companies; however, the reach of the NFRA seems very wide and intends to also cover entities outside India as well. The Rules have also left the discretion with the Central Government to refer any entity to the NFRA in public interest.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Private companies irrespective of their turnover,</strong> or net worth or income, have been <strong>left outside</strong> the jurisdiction of the NFRA along <strong>with public unlisted companies below the prescribed thresholds</strong>.</li>
<li>The Central Government seems to have been given the discretion to make a referral to the NFRA of even private companies or such unlisted public companies, in public interest.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Publication of findings of non-compliances in public domain:</strong> The &ldquo;name shame&rdquo; approach has <strong>found its way in the Rules</strong>. This is one of the key powers given to the NFRA to publish its findings on its website which are available in public domain regarding the non-compliances with accounting and auditing standards.</li>
<li><strong>Suo moto review of financial statements:</strong> NFRA is empowered to review the financial statements of the companies or body corporate falling within its jurisdiction for the purpose of monitoring and enforcing compliance with accounting standards.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<p>As an independent audit regulator, it will be expected that the NFRA enhances an investor's confidence and bring more transparency and accountability in the auditing profession. As we see more complex and multi-layered structures and increased corporate governance, it will be interesting to see whether the NFRA will be able to act as the watchdog to protect the public interest and the interests of investors, creditors and others associated with the companies or bodies corporate falling within its purview.</p>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/icai-nfra'
	],
	(int) 8 => [
		'title' => 'Septic Tanks Meet Norms: MoDWS',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDWS) has said that Septic tanks and single pits are safe sanitation technologies that meet the standards prescribed by the Sustainable Development Goals.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Union Ministry was responding to a report on National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) 2018-19 on use of Septic Tanks.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Findings of the Survey</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) 2018-19 has concluded that Only 26% of rural toilets use twin-leach pits and rural toilets [that do not use twin-leach pits] could create a new &ldquo;sanitation nightmare.&rdquo;</li>
<li>Not using twin pit can be harmful to health and the environment, and can push a new generation into manual scavenging.</li>
<li>Septic tanks are the most popular option, with 28% of toilets connected to a septic tank with a soak pit and 6% to a tank without a soak pit.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Union Ministry&rsquo;s Response</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Ministry responded that Septic tanks and single pits are safe sanitation technologies that meet the standards prescribed by the Sustainable Development Goals(SDG).</li>
<li>The twin-leach pit toilet is among the most economical and safe sanitation technologies, and has been promoted and extensively adopted.</li>
<li>Ministry accepted, there is a manpower challenge to empty and clean such tanks, given the social context of the country and caste prejudices against such cleaning work.</li>
<li>It is preparing technological and entrepreneurial solutions to the problem.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) 2018-19</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It was conducted by an Independent Verification Agency under the World Bank support project&nbsp; to the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen).</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Twin-pit and Single-pit system</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Two pits are dug with honeycombed walls and earthen floors which allow liquid to percolate into the surrounding soil.</li>
<li>When one pit is filled and closed off, waste flow is transferred to the second pit, allowing waste in the first pit to be converted into manure after a year or two.</li>
<li>It is an in-situ sanitation system which claims to bypass thorny issues such as caste purity, as owners will be dealing with manure, not excreta.</li>
<li>In case of single pit system, once this single pit is filled, there is an immediate emergency to empty excreta not manure(it needs long time for conversion of excreta into manure).</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/septic-tanks-meet-norms-modws'
	],
	(int) 9 => [
		'title' => 'Migration',
		'catname' => 'Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions',
		'desc' => '<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/37aZp4TNmNQ" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>In the latest terror attack at two mosques in New Zealand, 49 people have lost their lives and scores of people got injured. A majority of the deceased have been identified as migrants and refugees. An Australian national has claimed the responsibility by posting a manifesto stating his racist and anti-immigrant ideologies.</p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Drishti Input:</strong></p>
<p><strong>Human Migration:</strong> It is the movement by people from one place to another with the intention of settling, permanently or temporarily in a new location (within or outside the home country). Such people are called <strong>migrants</strong>.</p>
<p><strong>Immigration</strong> is coming to a foreign country with the intention of permanently living there whereas <strong>Emigration</strong> is leaving a resident country with the intent to settle elsewhere.</p>
<p><strong>Refugees:</strong> These are the people who have been forced to flee their resident country because of war, violence or persecution. Such people are protected by international law, specifically the 1951 Refugee Convention.</p>
<p><strong>1951 Refugee Convention</strong> deals with the rights of the displaced as well as the legal obligations of states to protect them. <strong>India, despite having a large population of refugees, is not a signatory to this convention.</strong></p>
<p><strong>An asylum seeker</strong> is someone who claims to be a refugee but whose claim hasn&rsquo;t been evaluated yet. This person has applied for the asylum on the grounds that returning to his or her country would lead to persecution on account of race, religion, nationality or political beliefs.</p>
<p><strong>World Migration Report:</strong> It is International Organisation for Migration&rsquo;s (IOM) flagship publication that features the latest trends in international migration, discusses emerging policy issues and provides regional recent developments in Africa, America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania.</p>
<p><strong>International Organisation for Migration (IOM)</strong> is a leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners. It was established in 1951 and has its head office at Le Grand-Saconnex, Switzerland.</p>
<p><strong>International Migration Day-18<sup>th</sup> December</strong></p>
</div>
<h3>World Migration Report 2018 Key Findings</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There are 244 million international migrants globally, accounting 3.3% of the world&rsquo;s total population.</li>
<li>In the year 2015, Europe and Asia hosted around 75 million migrants each, 62% of the total global international migrants.</li>
<li>Europe and Asia was followed by North America with 54 million international migrants in 2015, 22% of the global migrant stock.</li>
<li>Africa and Oceania had 9% and 3% of the total migrant population respectively in 2015.</li>
<li>Latin America and Caribbean had 4% of total migrants in 2015.</li>
<li>U.S.A has been the main country of destination for international migrants since 1970. The number has quadrupled since 1970, from less than 12 million migrants in 1970 to 46.6 million in 2015.</li>
<li>Germany is the second most preferred country with over 12 million international migrants residing in the country in 2015.</li>
<li>Nearly half of all international migrants worldwide in the year 2015 were born in Asia, primarily originating from India, China and other South Asian Countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.</li>
<li>Mexico was the second largest country of origin followed by number of European countries.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Findings Related to Displacement</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There are over 68 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, out of which 40.3 million are internally displaced and 25.4 million are refugees.</li>
<li>Over 3 million people are seeking asylum around the world.</li>
<li>24 people per minute per day worldwide were forced to flee their home in the year 2015.</li>
<li>About 1 out of every 113 people worldwide were either asylum seekers, refugees or internally displaced in 2015.</li>
<li>About half of the world&rsquo;s refugee population was under 18 in the year 2015.</li>
<li>The reason for the displacement is mainly civil and transnational conflict which also includes acts of violence, extremism etc.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Recent Cases of Migration</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Syria is focal point of 'global refugee crises'. Lot of people migrate from the country.</li>
<li>People crossing Mediterranean Sea from Libya to Italy.</li>
<li>Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar fleeing to Bangladesh and India.</li>
<li>Thousands of Dominicans and Stateless in Caribbean.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Benefits of Immigration</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Immigrants generally take up that job which people in the host country (the country to which people have fled) will not or cannot do.</li>
<li><strong>Migrant workers often work longer hours and for lower salaries</strong> which benefits host nations.</li>
<li>Immigrants <strong>contribute to the diversity</strong> of the host country and thus also increase tolerance and understanding in the society.</li>
<li>For the host country&rsquo;s economy, Immigrants offer<strong> increased talent pool</strong> provided they have been well educated in their original country.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Drawbacks</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is often seen that immigrants are <strong>exploited for their cheap labour</strong>.</li>
<li>Developing countries may suffer <strong>'Brain Drain'</strong> as the limited resources they spend in educating their students would amount to very little if that talent gets enticed to another country.</li>
<li>Immigration also <strong>attracts criminal elements</strong> from drug and people traffickers to other forms of crime and corruption.</li>
<li><strong>Immigration sometimes also becomes social or political issue;</strong> racism is used to exploit feelings or as an excuse for current woes of the local population.</li>
<li>When there is a perception that immigrants and refugees get more benefits than local poor population, <strong>tensions and hostilities</strong> rise.</li>
<li>Concerns about illegal migration spill over to ill feelings towards the majority of immigrants who may be law-abiding and contributing to the economy.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Recent Steps taken by Countries to regulate Irregular Migration</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Strategies adopted by European Union (EU):</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Divergent national approaches to accepting Asylum Seekers.</li>
<li>Using EU budgets to support refugee integration.</li>
<li>Strengthening external borders.</li>
<li>Collaborating with third countries to cut off transit routes.</li>
<li>Tying Foreign Assistance to stemming migration</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Hungary has restricted illegal immigration by suspending the acceptance of asylum seekers sent back to it by other EU states.</li>
<li>U.S. has also made some changes in its Immigration policy.</li>
<li>Italy has called for detention and deportation of migrants, who it blames for the instability and threats in the country.</li>
<li>Dutch has adopted a zero tolerance approach towards those immigrants who are unwilling to sign up to the country&rsquo;s way of life.</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Migration will likely remain a long term challenge for the countries&rsquo; politics, institutions, governments and values. Even with the drop in numbers and the development of institutional capabilities to manage it, its pros and cons will always remain attached to it.</em></p>
<p><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/migration-in-bengal-delta" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>For further reading click on the link below.</em></a></p>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/migration-4'
	],
	(int) 10 => [
		'title' => 'A Model Policy for Women in the Police',
		'catname' => 'News Editorials',
		'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">(This editorial is based on the article </span></i><b><i>&lsquo;<a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-model-policy-for-women-in-the-police/article26524978.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Model Policy for Women in the Police</a>&rsquo;</i></b> <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">which appeared in &lsquo;&rsquo;The Hindu&rsquo;&rsquo; on 14</span></i><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">th</span></i><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> March, 2019. The article talks about participation of women in the Police departments and the challenges faced by them.)</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
</div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Women in Independent India have evolved with the flow of history, but it has only been over the last 35 years that they have experienced the post-industrial revolution and subsequent positives of globalisation. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These developments have radically transformed their gender relations at home, the workplace, with peers, and possibly in society at large, quite similar to the kind of social transformations women in the US experienced in the 1960s.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Indian woman ever since has come a long way in being part of the active workforce and has possibly broken all barriers in most professional fields, including that of donning the uniform of the </span><b>Police and the Para-Military.</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, this is not enough. The discourse on mainstreaming women in the police by making policing inclusive, non-discriminatory and efficient in India is missing in policy circles.</span></p>
<h3>Unwomanly Police Department: the case in point<br /><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">While the number of women in the police forces nationally has grown in India, it remains just over 7 per cent of the total strength of the police department.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li>There is a wide variation between the States, with 12 per cent of Tamil Nadu&rsquo;s police force being women as against less than 1 per cent in Assam. This is despite the fact that 12 States have over the years passed rules setting a quota of 30 per cent or more for women in the police force.</li>
<li>The chronicle of women in Indian police started in the early 70s when woman began joining the uniformed force. During those decades, thousands of women joined the force from the ranks of constable all the way across the spectrum.</li>
<li>The Police in India have recruited a decent number of women over the last twenty years, but acceptability and assimilation as &ldquo;equal partners&rdquo; to men within the professional core has left much to be desired.</li>
<li>The meagre representation highlights the fact that women in uniform are still perceived as <b>&ldquo;they&rdquo; versus &ldquo;us&rdquo; in all ranks and files of the uniformed profession</b><span>.</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges Grappling the System<br /><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Decisions on deployment of women are not free of gender stereotyping restricting women from leading operational positions. This biasness is not limited only from male colleague sometimes female superiors too consider them weak, less willing to work and less tough.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">There appears to be a tendency to sideline women, or give them policing tasks that are physically less demanding, or relegate them to desk duty, or make them work on crimes against women alone.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Women police persons are relegated to dealing with crimes against women and accompanying women prisoners the concept works against the interests of women as it segregates them.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Current data reveal that most women in the police are concentrated in the lower ranks reflecting the dearth of females at key operational positions.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The police department suffers from gender apathy as evident through the absence of separate toilets, </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">changing rooms for women, and separate accommodation for women</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and other facilities and child-care support, in addition to persistent and widespread gender bias.</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>Gender Neutral Policing<br /><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">The very presence of women could create an environment for women to access police stations with less diffidence and difficulty.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li>International research illustrates that women police and enforcement officers utilise a different feminine policing style &mdash; relying less on physical force and more on communications skills &mdash; to control potentially violent or conflict situations, and which are therefore less likely to escalate into excessive force or uncontrolled situations.</li>
<li>The under-representation of women at all levels in any progressive and modern police agency negatively impacts the culture and operational efficiency of law enforcement agencies and throughout that community or country in which it prevails.</li>
<li>Today, in India, crime against women is at an all-time high, and socially-destructive and exploitative practices such as dowry, molestation, sexual assault, and coercion are common. &nbsp;The cases often go unreported as the victim at times suffers from the insensitivity perpetrated by male officials who lacks sensitization. More women in the system can help address this problem.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/563drishti_ias_number%20of women in police force.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/563drishti_ias_number of women in police force.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>
<h3>The Impetus Required<br /><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">There is a need to have more women in the field in executive postings &ndash; from constables to inspectors and higher ranks. </span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Departments should undertake special recruitment drives in every district to ensure geographical diversity.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The police should reach out to the media and educational institutions to spread awareness about opportunities for women in the police.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Women in the constabulary must get the training, support and confidence needed to put them on a par in every sense with their male counterparts.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">A common gender-neutral cadre needs to be created for all ranks so that promotional opportunities are evenly available.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Resource centres for mentoring, creating awareness about opportunities and prospects, and helping with career planning and training and coping with workplace challenges are essential.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">While women have a role in making up for the lack of training and sensitisation of the force in general in dealing with crimes against women they should not be ghettoised into dealing only with such crimes.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Women do have some special needs, like during and post pregnancies, which need to be catered to. They shouldn&rsquo;t be shunted to non-executive postings. The force needs to encourage more women to be in the field.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Most State police departments have received funds under the Modernisation of State Police Forces Scheme for providing separate toilets and changing rooms for women, and for constructing separate accommodation for women with attached toilets in all police stations and units. Police departments must ensure the best use of this fund.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Police departments must also ensure safe working spaces for women and adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination and harassment, in order to make policing a viable career option for women.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Departments must operationalise the </span><b>Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of 2013.</b></li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward<br /><b></b></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">While more women are urgently needed in the police forces, the numbers alone will not be enough without equity.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li>To counter the prevalence of sexist attitudes within the bureaucracy and police, an organisational response from the force is needed to enable women to realise their full potential.</li>
<li>Integrating women in the force should become an essential component of the process of police reform in India, enabling them to become <b>Real Agents of Change</b><span>.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><b>More women in the force is not only an expression of the formal fulfilment of sexual equality but it is also about achieving a true Lebensraum- a space conducive for natural development.</b></li>
</ul>
<p><i></i></p>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/a-model-policy-for-women-in-the-police'
	],
	(int) 11 => [
		'title' => 'Migration in Bengal Delta ',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>Recently an international study titled <strong>Deltas, Vulnerability and Climate Change: Migration and Adaptation (DECMA)</strong> was published.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The study found that the economic reasons are the precipitating factor for migration in the Indian Bengal Delta and most migrants are in the age group of 20-30 years.</li>
<li>The study, held between 2014 and 2018 focusing on three deltas Ganga Brahmaputra Meghna Delta (India and Bangladesh) Volta (Ghana) and Mahanadi (India) looks into the aspect of climate change, adaptation, and migration in these deltas.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Findings of The Report</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Reasons for Migration in Delta</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The study which covers the district of South and North 24 Parganas reveals that 64% of people migrate because of economic reasons, unsustainable agriculture, lack of economic opportunities and debt.</li>
<li>28 % of the migration from the region is for social reasons and about 7% for environmental reasons like cyclones and flooding.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Gender Disparity in Migration</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The study finds a huge gender disparity in the migration out of Indian Bengal Delta, with men outnumbering women by almost five times.</li>
<li>It shows that of the people migrating 83% are men and only 17 % are women.</li>
<li>While most of the men migrate due to economic reasons, women do so, driven by mostly social factors.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Destination of Migration</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In terms of the destination of migrations, the study finds that 51% of migration from the Indian Bengal Delta is to other areas of the State particularly to the city of Kolkata, 10% to Maharashtra, 9% to Tamil Nadu, 7% Kerala and 6% to Gujarat.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Type of Migration in Delta</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>57% of migration is seasonal, where people move once or twice a year.</li>
<li>19% is circular where those migrating move thrice a year irrespective of reasons.</li>
<li>24% of migration is permanent where people intend to stay for at least six months in the place they are migrating to.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>What is Migration?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Migration is the movement of people from one place to another. It can be over a short or long distance, be short-term or permanent, voluntary or forced, intranational or international.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Pull Factors</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A pull factor is a feature or event that attracts a person to move to another area.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Push Factors</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Push factors are those that drive people away from their place of origins.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Causes of Migration</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Economic factors</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Push factors</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Unemployment or lack of employment opportunities</li>
<li>Rural poverty</li>
<li>Unsustainable livelihood</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Pull factors</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Job opportunities</li>
<li>Better income and prospects for wealth creation</li>
<li>Industrial innovation and technical know-how for a new industry</li>
<li>The pursuit of specialized education</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Sociopolitical factors</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Push factors</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Political instability</li>
<li>Safety and security concerns (ethnic, religious, racial or cultural persecution)</li>
<li>Conflicts or threat of a conflict</li>
<li>Inadequate or limited urban services and infrastructure (including healthcare, education, utilities, transport and water</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Pull factors</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Family reunification</li>
<li>Independence and freedom</li>
<li>Integration and social cohesion</li>
<li>Food security</li>
<li>Affordable and accessible urban services (including healthcare, education, utilities, and transport)</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Ecological factors</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Push factors</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Climate change (including extreme weather events)</li>
<li>Crop failure and scarcity of food</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Pull factors</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>The abundance of natural resources and minerals (e.g. water, oil)</li>
<li>Favorable climate</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Types of migration</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Migration can be classified in several ways. It is usually categorized:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>By political boundaries</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>Internal migration &ndash;</strong> Migration occurring within a country from crossing political boundaries, either within a state or between states, whether urban to rural, urban to urban, rural to rural, or rural to urban.</li>
<li><strong>International migration &ndash;</strong> Migration occurring across country boundaries. Such migrants are known as immigrants (coming into a foreign country) and emigrants (leaving their own country)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>By movement pattern</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>Step migration:</strong> Migration initiating from a small settlement and moving to a larger one in the urban hierarchy over the years.Such as movement from a farm to a village, then to a town and subsequently to a suburb (if applicable) and finally into a city.</li>
<li><strong>Circular migration:</strong> Cyclical migration experiences between an origin and a destination with at least one migration and return.
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>Seasonal migration</strong> is a very common form of circular migration, driven by seasonal peaks in labor demand, mostly in agriculture.</li>
<li><strong>Return migration&nbsp;</strong>refers to a one-time emigration and returns after an extended stay outside the host territory.</li>
<li><strong>Chain migration:</strong> Migration of families at different stages of the life cycle from one location to the next, who subsequently bring people from their home location to this new place.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>By decision-making approach</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>Voluntary migration:</strong> Based on a person&rsquo;s free will, initiative and desire to live in a better place and to improve their financial status, among other factors.</li>
<li><strong>Involuntary migration:</strong> Based on a person&rsquo;s being forced out of their home due to certain unfavorable environmental and political situations.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Benefits of Migration</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The areas of destinations benefit due to the reduction in the cost of production, availability of the human resource, rising productivity, size of consumer and capital market.</li>
<li>At the same time, areas of origin also benefit through the flow of remittances, information, and innovations influencing the households and people left behind.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Issues Related to Migration</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Low-quality jobs:</strong> Migrants mostly dominate the low-paying, hazardous and informal market jobs in key sectors in urban destinations, such as construction, hotel, textile, manufacturing, transportation, services, domestic work etc.</li>
<li><strong>Access to employment:</strong> Certain states have introduced domicile requirements with regard to employment. This puts migrants at a disadvantage.</li>
<li><strong> Housing and sanitation:</strong> One of the key issues with regard to housing is poor supply, for both ownership and rental. Short-term migrants do not have access to short-duration accommodation. So migrants live in overcrowded colonies in unhygienic conditions.</li>
<li><strong> Exploitation and intimidation:</strong> Usually migrants are exploited at the behest of the majoritarian native population, they are the target of social profiling, stereotyping, abuse and are made to work under exploitative conditions with no social security cover. e.g. Gujarat migrant crisis.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/migration-in-bengal-delta'
	],
	(int) 12 => [
		'title' => 'New Hydro Policy',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The government, under<a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-fact-for-prelims-8th-march-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong> New Hydroelectricity Policy,</strong> </a>has approved &lsquo;renewable energy status&rsquo; for<strong> large hydel projects.</strong></p>
<p>Earlier, <strong>only smaller projects of less than 25 Megawatt (</strong>MW) in capacity were categorised as renewable energy. Large hydro projects were treated as a separate source of energy.</p>
<h3>Renewable Energy Sector</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India&rsquo;s renewable energy sector had an installed capacity of 75,055.92 MW as of February 2019, according to data with the Central Electricity Authority.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>This made up <strong>about 21.4% of the overall energy mix</strong>, with the rest coming from thermal, nuclear and large hydro sources.</li>
<li>However, with the inclusion of large hydro in renewable energy, the energy mix will change drastically.</li>
<li>Renewable energy capacity would now be 1,20,455.14 MW or 34.4% of the overall energy mix.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>This policy will also drastically change the <strong>renewable energy mix as well.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Before February 2019, the wind energy contributed nearly 50% of all renewable energy capacity, it will now make up only 29.3%.</li>
<li>Similarly, solar energy&rsquo;s share will fall from 34.68% to 21.61%.</li>
<li>The hydro sector, however, will see its share grow from just over 6% to over 41%.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Impact</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Hydroelectric energy provides grid stability which a renewable source like wind and solar do not. The key reasoning seems to be providing grid stability and a <strong>better energy mix.</strong></li>
<li>There has been a huge imbalance in the thermal-hydro mix for the last few years because of a sharp growth in thermal and complete stagnation in hydro.</li>
<li>This reclassification will<strong> immediately help India</strong> achieve its target of <strong>175 GW by 2022.</strong></li>
<li>Another benefit from the policy could be the <strong>positive impact on the stock prices</strong> of State-run hydroelectric companies such as Sutlej Jal Vikas Nigam (SJVN)</li>
<li>This will help large hydel projects avail cheaper credit and increase demand from distribution companies for cleaner energy.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>State distribution companies will be obliged to purchase a certain percentage of hydropower&mdash;similar to renewable purchase obligations. This will create a market for hydropower, making the sector competitive.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>These projects will not only get the budgetary support for infrastructure, but will also be able to access &ldquo;green finance&rdquo;.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/new-hydro-policy'
	],
	(int) 13 => [
		'title' => 'Important Facts For Prelims (18th March 2019)',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<h3>Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Recent trials of <strong>Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)</strong> have shown that it is just as <strong>useful in younger and healthier patients</strong> as it has been for old and sick patients.</li>
<li>The procedure, TAVR, has been reserved mostly for patients<strong> so old and sick</strong> who might not survive open-heart surgery.</li>
<li><strong>TAVR</strong> and an <strong>open heart surgery</strong> both can be <strong>done to replace failing Aortic Valves.</strong> TAVR is also known as <strong>Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI).</strong></li>
<li>In an open heart surgery, the chest is surgically separated (open) for the procedure. While, the TAVR or TAVI procedures can be done through very small openings that leave all the chest bones in place.</li>
<li>With TAVR, recovery time is less for patient and and also has lower risks of disabling strokes and death, compared to open-heart surgery.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Aortic valve disease</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Aortic valve disease is a condition in which the <strong>valve between the main pumping chamber of the heart (left ventricle)</strong> and the <strong>main artery of the body (aorta)</strong> doesn't work properly.</li>
<li>Aortic valve disease may be a condition <strong>present at birth (congenital heart disease), or it may result from other causes.</strong></li>
<li>The aorta is the<strong> largest artery in the body</strong>. It begins at the top of the left ventricle, the heart's muscular pumping chamber. The heart pumps blood from the left ventricle into the aorta through the aortic valve.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The <strong>arteries are the blood vessels that deliver oxygen-rich blood</strong> from the heart to the tissues of the body, with the <strong>exception of Pulmonary Arteries</strong> which carry oxygen-poor blood from the heart to the lungs under low pressure, making these arteries unique.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>India&rsquo;s First Lokpal</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Former Supreme Court judge and current member of the <strong><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/daily-updates-news-editorials-nhrc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)</a>,</strong> <strong>Pinaki Chandra Ghose</strong>, is likely to be <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/lokpal-lokayukta-ombudsman-upsc-governance-transparency" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>India&rsquo;s first anti-corruption ombudsman or Lokpal.</strong></a></li>
<li>His name was cleared and recommended by the<strong> high-level selection committee chaired by the Prime Minister.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Other members of the selection committee are <strong>Chief Justice of India, Lok Sabha Speaker, and an eminent jurist.</strong></li>
<li>Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, who is part of the committee, did not attend the meeting after he was invited as &ldquo;special invitee.&rdquo;</li>
<li>He had leader refused to attend earlier meetings too, protesting against his being invited as a &ldquo;special invitee.&rdquo;</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The government was prompted to make the selection after the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/supreme-court-sets-deadline-for-lokpal-appointment" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Supreme Court set the February-end deadline.</strong></a></li>
<li>Justice Ghose, 67, who is a <strong>member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) since June 2017,</strong> <strong>retired from the Supreme Court on May 27, 2017.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>CAPEX</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>According to a recent study by Reserve Bank of India, the projects sanctioned in the first half of 2018-19 show recovery in the capital expenditure (CapEx) cycle.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>What Are Capital Expenditures (CapEx)?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Capital expenditures, commonly known as CapEx</strong>, are funds used by a company to acquire, upgrade, and maintain physical assets such as property, buildings, an industrial plant, technology or equipment.</li>
<li>Capital expenditures might include:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Plant and equipment purchases,</li>
<li>Building expansion and improvements,</li>
<li>Hardware purchases, such as computers,</li>
<li>Vehicles to transport goods.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>India&rsquo;s First Missile Tracking Ship</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Initial sea trials of <strong>India&rsquo;s First Missile Tracking Ship (VC 11184) has been successful.</strong></li>
<li>India&rsquo;s first Missile Tracking Ship (a kind of ocean surveillance ship) has been built by Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL).</li>
<li>The ship is being built for the <strong>National Technical Research Organisation,</strong> the technical intelligence agency working directly under the supervision of the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office and the National Security Adviser.</li>
<li>India will now be among the<strong> few countries to operate a ship such as this.</strong> It will be inducted in the Indian Navy once sea trials are completed.</li>
<li>Other Countries that have a missile tracking ship are<strong> Russia, US, China, and France.</strong></li>
<li>It will be named after its induction into the Indian Navy. For now, it is<strong> simply called as VC 11184.</strong></li>
<li>A tracking ship also called a missile range instrumentation ship or range ship is a ship equipped with antennas and electronics to support the launching and tracking of missiles and rockets.</li>
</ul>
<h3>INS Khanderi</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indian Navy will induct the <strong>second Scorpene submarine Khanderi</strong> by early May 2019.</li>
<li>It is a part of <strong>six Scorpene submarines manufactured by Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL)</strong>.</li>
<li>The other submarines in Scorpene Class are <strong>INS Kalvari</strong> joined service in December 2017.</li>
<li><strong>Karanj</strong> which is in advanced stage of trials and could be ready for induction by year end.</li>
<li><strong>The remaining submarines(Vela, Vagir, and Vagsheer)</strong> in the series are in advanced stages of manufacturing and trials.</li>
<li>Indian Navy has two <strong>Nuclear-powered submarines Arihant class</strong>(India) &amp; Chakra class(Russia); <strong>14 Diesel-electric submarines</strong> 4 German HDW(Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft) class, 9 Sindhughosh class(Kilo Class)(Indo-Russian), &amp; 1 Kalvari class(Indo-French).</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Scorpene-class submarine</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Scorpene-class submarines are a class of diesel-electric attack submarines jointly developed by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders in collaboration with DCNS, France under Project-75.</li>
<li>It features diesel propulsion and an additional air-independent propulsion (AIP).</li>
<li>Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai, is manufacturing six Scorpene submarines under technology transfer from Naval Group of France under a 2005 contract.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Mazagon Docks Shipbuilders Limited</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>MDL is one of the leading shipbuilding yard and only submarine builder in India.</li>
<li>It was incorporated as a Public Limited Company in 1934.</li>
<li>It was nationalised in 1960 and is now a Public Sector Undertaking of the Government of India.</li>
<li>It manufactures warships and submarines for the Indian Navy and offshore platforms and associated support vessels for offshore oil drilling. It also builds tankers, cargo bulk carriers, passenger ships and ferries.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India&rsquo;s first real estate investment trust (REIT) is now available for investment.</li>
<li>Embassy Office Parks, a Bangalore-based real estate developer has launched initial public offering (IPO) for first REIT.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>REIT</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>REITs are securities linked to real estate that can be traded on stock exchanges once they get listed.</li>
<li>The structure of REITs is similar to that of a mutual fund. Just like mutual funds, there are sponsors, trustees, fund managers and unitholders in REITs.</li>
<li>However, unlike mutual funds, where the underlying asset is bonds, stocks and gold, REITs invest in physical real estate.</li>
<li>The money collected is deployed in income-generating real estate. This income gets distributed among the unitholders.</li>
<li>Besides regular income from rents and leases, gains from capital appreciation of real estate also form an income for the unitholders.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>REITS in INDIA</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>REITs are governed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (&ldquo;SEBI&rdquo;) (Real Estate Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014.</li>
<li>Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) issued draft guideline of REITs in 2013.</li>
<li>These regulations provide a framework for registration and regulation of REITs in the country.</li>
<li>According to the Income Tax Act, 1961, all the incomes received from REITs is exempt from taxation except the interest income received from the special purpose vehicle by the REIT and rental income from the property that is owned directly by the REITs.</li>
<li>March 2019, Sebi reduced the minimum investment limit in REIT to ₹50,000 from ₹2 lakh.</li>
<li>REITs are far less volatile than the stock market, FDs, mutual funds and gold as regulations maintain that 80% of the REITs listings must be of rent-generating assets.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-18th-march-2019'
	],
	(int) 14 => [
		'title' => 'Fifth Generation (5G) Cellular Technology',
		'catname' => 'Paper 3',
		'desc' => '<h3>Why in News?<b></b></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><b><span style="font-weight: 400;">Worldwide, chipmakers and smartphone companies are conducting trials of 5G technology based services that are going to hit the globe in 2019.&nbsp;</span></b></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">India has also set up a high-level forum to develop a roadmap for adopting 5G in the country and the spectrum auction for 5G is expected during the latter half of 2019.</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>About<br /><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">5G is the fifth generation cellular technology that apart from increasing the downloading and uploading speeds over the mobile network, also reduces the latency i.e. the time taken by a network to respond.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">5G will provide download speed of 1 Gbps, which is at least 100 times the existing data speeds.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> It also increases energy efficiency and offers more stable network connections.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">5G will have a wider area in the frequency spectrum (range of frequencies) that will ensure no network congestion.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">In addition, it will also ensure connectivity to a full circle i.e. everything is connected to every other thing.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The standards for the usage of 5G are defined and driven by 3rd Generation&nbsp;Partnership Project.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg"><strong>Evolution from First Generation to Fifth Generation</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">1G was launched in the 1980s and worked on analog radio signals and supported only voice calls.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">2G was&nbsp;Launched in the 1990s which uses digital radio signals and supported both voice and data transmission with a Bandwidth of 64 Kbps.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">3G was launched in the 2000s with a speed of 1 Mbps to 2 Mbps and it has the ability to transmit telephone signal including digitised voice, video calls and conferencing.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">4G was launched in 2009 with a peak speed of 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps and it also enables 3D virtual reality.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Deployment of 5G<br /><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Its deployment will happen with the auction of the millimetre-wave spectrum i.e. the frequency range of 28 - 100 GHz. In this area India is not fully prepared and that&rsquo;s why 5G implementation will take more time.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Three mobile carriers of U.S. - Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon have taken the task to upgrade the existing 4G infrastructure to 5G. Verizon has already launched its 5G home service in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento. </span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The switch from 4G to 5G will be infrastructure intensive i.e. mobile service providers will have to upgrade their underlying hardware countrywide in order to provide 5G speeds.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Overnight upgradation of hardware is not possible so telecom companies would use the 4G LTE infrastructure to eventually migrate to 5G.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It means that even when 5G is deployed, it will take the telecom giants, a couple of years to achieve the speed of 5G.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The customers will have to upgrade their SIM cards and buy new 5G enabled phones to access better speeds. </span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">India being a traditional late adopter of advanced technologies, still struggling to achieve the speed which 4G network offers. </span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">In that scenario any major developments in coming year is doubtful. Though the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has started the process of auctioning the 5G spectrum, analysts have predicted that India will only fully adopt 5G by 2022.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><b> Steering Committee on 5G</b></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The committee was set up in September 2017 and submitted its report on August 24, 2018, under the chairmanship of </span><b>AJ Paulraj</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to suggest road map for 5G adoption.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It gave wide-ranging recommendations to Department of Telecommunication for areas like spectrum policy, regulatory policy, standards and education.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It has asked for setting up a Standing Committee with five-year term to advice on building Spectrum Technology Infrastructure.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It has proposed promulgation of key norms on regulatory matters by March 2019 in order to facilitate early deployment of 5G technology and noted that 5G technologies will start entering service globally beginning 2019 and advance to full range of services by 2024.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It recommended deployment classification of 5G into three phases based on technologies and expects that economic impact of 5G to be over $1 trillion by 2035.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It said that the early adoption of 5G will make equipments needed for 5G roll out more expensive but early adoption will fast track India&rsquo;s embrace of 5G&rsquo;s benefits.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The committee pointed out that even after entry of 5G, the earlier generation mobile technologies will continue to remain in use for almost 10 more years.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Applications</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">High-Speed mobile network</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Entertainment and multimedia&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Internet of Things&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Smart cities&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Smart farming&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Telemedicine services&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Controlling of critical infrastructure and vehicles.</span></li>
<li><span>Industrial applications</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>Advantages</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">5G is expected to offer enhanced mobile broadband that can meet high coverage requirements.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It will offer very high upload and download speed. </span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> 5G can diversify services and has potential to demonstrate spectral efficiency.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> High data speed of 5G Network might help cloud systems to stream software updates, music, and navigation data.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">5G will help to incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) in our daily lives.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It will also facilitate the ecosystem for the Internet of Things (IoT).</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It will help in digital growth of country that will result in rise of GDP and employment generation in the country.</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>Government Steps in this Direction</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Recently approved, </span><b>National Electronics Policy 2019</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> aims to position India as a global hub for </span><b>Electronics System Design and Manufacturing</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and promotes early stage Start-ups in emerging technology areas such as 5G, loT, Artificial Intelligence etc.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Bharat Net</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> project aims to provide digital infrastructure on a non-discriminatory basis by an affordable broadband connectivity of 2 Mbps to 20 Mbps for all households.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Indian government also initiated measures to introduce 5G technology via the</span><b> National Telecom Policy (NTP)</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which aims to reach 100% teledensity, high-speed internet highways and delivery of citizen-centric services electronically.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Department of Telecommunications set up a high-level forum to develop the roadmap for 5G services in India by 2020.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The government is also working on creating a corpus of Rs 500 crore for research and development for 5G technology in India.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The government has invited leading telecom companies to undertake pilot projects on spectrum allocated free of charge for a year.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">India is making efforts to have its own </span>Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) <span style="font-weight: 400;">as a part of 5G global standards.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The auction for a broad range of spectrum bands for 5G, later this year, will set the stage for India to power the next generation mobile networks.</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges<br /><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">The promised speed of 5G is difficult to achieve considering the incompetent technological support in most parts of the world.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Many of the old devices will need to be replaced as they are not supporting 5G.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">In India average download speed is 9.12 Mbps which is very less in comparison to the global average speed of 23.54 Mbps.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Number of users in India also poses huge challenge in terms of swift upsurge in mobile broadband consumption and the subsequent network congestion.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">The switch from 4G to 5G will be infrastructure intensive and development of infrastructure for 5G is very expensive.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">5G cannot take off without basic infrastructure foundation, such as standard servers, open application programming interface (APIs) etc.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">The transition experience from one technology generation to another is not very good as one has to buy a whole another phone to start using latest cellular technology, thereby creating financial liability.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li>There are expected to be 20 billion connected devices in the world by 2020 and as a result data will become highly distributed. It will be a new challenge to manage, analyze, store and protect data, irrespective of where it exists<b>.</b></li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Ahead</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The arrival of 5G-enabling smart devices will change the way we live &amp; think and can be a game changer for better service delivery, faster access to services and deeper penetration of digital services.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It is high time that India should strengthen the domestic telecommunication manufacturing market to enable local industries to capture both domestic as well as global market.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">An "intelligence-first" approach will need to be adopted by Telecom providers for managing core networks as an important business investment.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">For widespread 5G deployment, it needs to become financially viable otherwise rural integration will remain a pipe dream.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The roadmap for digital futures of masses is being chalked out this year so 2019 will be the defining year.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Given that 4G networks are still nascent in India, for developing a robust telecom infrastructure and backhaul spectrum to associated bandwidth and a well-defined data protection law, we have a long way to go.</span></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/956Drishti_ias_Fifth-Generation-(5G)-Cellular-Technology.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/956Drishti_ias_Fifth-Generation-(5G)-Cellular-Technology.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></span></a></p>',
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	(int) 15 => [
		'title' => 'Fifth Generation (5G) Cellular Technology',
		'catname' => 'Paper 3',
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	(int) 16 => [
		'title' => 'An Abhorrent And Unjust Device',
		'catname' => 'News Editorials',
		'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/an-abhorrent-and-unjust-device/article26537190.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"An Abhorrent And Unjust Device"</a> which appeared in "The Hindu" on 15<sup>th</sup> March 2019. The article talks about the morality of retaining death penalty.)</p>
</div>
<p>Recently Supreme Court delivered verdicts in three different death penalty cases. In two of those the court entirely exonerated the suspects, while in the third it not only found the accused guilty of murder, but also deserving of capital punishment.</p>
<p>The judgments typify the deep confusion that pervades India&rsquo;s criminal justice system.</p>
<p>The cases demonstrate how arbitrary the death penalty is, how its application is mired by a belief in conflicting values, and how the fundamental requirement of precision in criminal law has been replaced by a rhetorical cry for avenging crime by invoking the &ldquo;collective conscience&rdquo; of society.</p>
<h3>Death Penalty in India</h3>
<p>Death penalty or capital punishment is the highest degree of punishment that can be awarded to an individual under any penal law in force in any part of the world.</p>
<p><strong>The Indian Penal Code, 1860 provides for the provision of a death sentence for various offenses like criminal conspiracy, murder, waging war against the nation, dacoity etc. Various other legislations like Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 also provides for the death penalty.</strong></p>
<p>Under <strong>Article 72, the Constitution has created a provision for clemency of capital punishment</strong>. Under this Article, the President of India has the power to grant pardon or commute or remit the death sentence in certain cases.</p>
<p><strong>(Article 161 provides for powers of the Governor of the State to grant clemency, however he cannot grant pardon to the person who is assigned capital punishment)</strong></p>
<p>Also, when a Sessions Court awards the capital punishment, it must be confirmed by the High Court of the particular state, and only then the execution can be carried out.</p>
<p>India also has provision of assigning death punishment to anyone convicted of raping children under the age of 12.</p>
<h3>Loopholes in Judicial System</h3>
<p>While India follows the doctrine of death penalty in only rarest of rare cases it is often affected by rhetorical cry for avenging crime by invoking the &ldquo;collective conscience&rdquo; of society.</p>
<p>Judiciary is riddled with hundreds of cases where it has assigned the highest form of punishment possible in Indian Penal Code and backtracked from its verdict, reflecting the error in judgement, lack of reliable evidence and corruption prevalent in police department.</p>
<p><strong>Our criminal justice system has a very low rate of conviction.</strong> And at the same time, nearly 75 per cent of our prison population is made of under trials that spend long periods in prison without ever being found guilty.</p>
<p>There remains tremendous pressure on the police and prosecutors to produce convictions using methods that are colonial relics creating context to manufacture torture-based evidence, plant evidence, engage in prosecutorial misconduct and to routinely suppress exculpatory evidence.</p>
<p><strong>If the quality of the investigation, trials, and the judgments in the recent cases are anything to go by, it is safe to assume that a large number of such death penalties have been awarded by the courts in cases with grievously faulty trials.</strong></p>
<p><strong>As the report by National Law University, lower judiciary is perversely enthusiastic about death penalties</strong> despite the evident failings in the prosecution&rsquo;s case or the ability of the defendant to mount a proper defence.</p>
<p>The torment suffered by convicts as a result of the endless delays and flawed decision-making in a broken criminal justice system is rarely remedied thereby creating more criminals.</p>
<h3>The Voices Supporting the Demise of Capital Punishment</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Law Commission of India has recommended that capital punishment should go citing multiple examples such as its futility in acting as a deterrent which has been proved by multiple researches. States that employ capital punishment have had drastically higher rates of homicide in comparison with those States where the death penalty is no longer engaged.</li>
<li>There are no clear guidelines as to who shall be given capital punishment giving ample scope for arbitrary judgement; administration of capital punishment is also vulnerable to misapplication.</li>
<li>Mercy powers have failed to act as the final safeguard against miscarriage of justice; long delays in trials and appeals and final execution is almost torture and does more harm by creating anti social thinking in the criminals.</li>
<li><strong>According to a the Death Penalty India Report (DPIR), most of the prisoners on death row are economically vulnerable, from religious minorities, and are hardly literate, making them victims more of circumstances then of their acts.</strong></li>
<li>Moreover India is in a minority on death penalty as 140 countries have abolished.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Supporters of Capital Punishment</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Its constitutionality has not only been upheld in India but also in liberal democracies like that of the U.S.</strong> Therefore, the retention of the death penalty is not a reflection of &ldquo;uncivilized&rdquo; polity in theocratic state.</li>
<li>As noted by the Law Commission itself, cases of violent terror are constant reminders of the need to protect national stability by ensuring appropriate responses to such actions, and the death penalty forms part of the national response.</li>
<li>Many people support capital punishment as punishment cannot be judged by its impact on criminals but by its impact on those who are still innocent.</li>
<li>Those who defend the death penalty often do it on the basis of retributive justice. It determines that there are certain acts which the society so essentially detest that they justify the taking of the most crucial of rights &ndash; the right to life.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenging the Ghost of Capital Punishment</h3>
<p>In assigning the highest punishment it is prudent to secure the input of the jail superintendent &ndash; whether he gives a clean chit of good behaviour to the death row inmate if so, courts should refrain from imposing the death penalty, in the interest of rehabilitative justice.</p>
<p>Another safeguard is to ensure that the prosecution meets its burden of proving that the convict is in fact irredeemable. There should also be a mandatory psychiatric evaluation of the convict.</p>
<p>Defence cases are often riddled with procedural and due process lapse. A retired justice of SC has suggested that the disadvantaged must not be further oppressed by procedural irregularities. He argues that a death penalty conviction should be set aside if such irregularities come to light..</p>
<p>The death penalty should be less about the victim of an incident and more about the social ramifications of the crime.</p>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<p>This has been established beyond doubt that irrational criteria are applied to arrive at dangerously irreversible decisions, the law&rsquo;s application is made all the more worse by invariably imposing these standards on the most vulnerable members of society.</p>
<p>It is therefore very important to reduce arbitrariness and in keeping view of the error proneness of the judiciary the step of capital punishment should be taken with highest degree of caution.</p>
<p>The Constitution promises to every person equality before the law. But as it appears capital punishment renders this pledge hollow. It legalises a form of violence, and confuses the distinction between justice and vengeance. Thus necessitating that justice does not become the moralised form of revenge.</p>',
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	],
	(int) 17 => [
		'title' => 'STAR Rating Program',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>Recently, the Ministry of Power, Government of India has expanded its ambitious <strong>Standards &amp; Labelling (Star Rating) program for Energy Efficient for Appliances to cover the Microwave Ovens and Washing Machines</strong> (with revised parameters) in the country.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>This program is expected to save over <strong>3.0 Billion Units by 2030</strong>. This would be equivalent to Green House Gases (GHG) reduction of 2.4 Million-ton of CO<sub>2</sub> by the year 2030 through these initiatives.</li>
<li>The <strong>Star Labelling Programs has been formulated by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)</strong> for improving energy efficiency and lowering energy cost of appliances/equipment for the consumers.</li>
<li>Initially, the program for the above two appliances will be implemented on a voluntary basis and will be valid up to 31st December 2020.</li>
<li>This<strong> will create awareness amongst the domestic consumers</strong> to encourage the transition towards energy efficient microwave ovens and Washing machines.</li>
<li>The manufacturers will be able to register products online, on a portal developed by BEE.</li>
<li>Any model/brand of Washing Machine or a Microwave Oven can avail Star Rating on a scale of 1 to 5 based on test report from <strong>National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)</strong> or equivalent labs subsequent to scrutiny by BEE.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>BEE is a statutory body under the Ministry of Power, Government of India.</strong></li>
<li>It assists in <strong>developing policies and strategies with the primary objective of reducing the energy intensity</strong> of the Indian economy.</li>
<li>BEE coordinates with designated consumers, designated agencies, and other organizations to identify and utilize the existing resources and infrastructure, in performing the functions assigned to it under the <strong>Energy Conservation Act, 2001</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>NABL is a<strong> Constituent Board of Quality Council of India. </strong></li>
<li>NABL has been established with the objective of providing Government, Industry Associations and Industry in general with a scheme of Conformity Assessment Body&rsquo;s accreditation which involves third-party assessment of the technical competence of testing including medical and calibration laboratories, proficiency testing providers and reference material producers.</li>
<li><strong>Quality Council of India (QCI) as a non-profit autonomous society registered under Societies Registration Act, 1860.</strong></li>
<li>The aim of&nbsp;QCI is to establish an accreditation structure in the country and to spread quality movement in India by undertaking a National Quality Campaign.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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	(int) 18 => [
		'title' => 'Cyclone Idai',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>Recently the <strong>Cyclone Idai</strong> has hit the port city of<strong> Beira in Mozambique</strong>.<a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1577163641_image6.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1577163641_image6.png" width="300" caption="false" style="float: right;" /></a></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Mozambique has been struck by <strong>severe cyclones in the past,</strong> including <strong>Eline in 2000,</strong> when 350 people died and 650,000 were displaced across the region.</li>
<li>According to the <strong>Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR),</strong> Mozambique is the<strong> third most at-risk country in Africa</strong> when it comes to extreme weather.</li>
<li>The cyclone has been<strong> named by Zimbabwe.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>GFDRR is a global partnership that <strong>helps developing countries better understand and reduce</strong> their vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change.</li>
<li>GFDRR was <strong>established in September 2006</strong> as a global partnership of the<strong> World Bank, UN agencies and bilateral donors, located in World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC.</strong></li>
<li>Its missions are:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>to mainstream disaster reduction and <strong>climate change adaptation (CCA) in country development strategies</strong>, and</li>
<li>to foster and strengthen global and regional cooperation among various stakeholders under the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) system.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>GFDRR contributes to the implementation of the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/what-is-a-national-disaster" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction</strong></a>&nbsp; by helping countries to integrate disaster risk management and climate change adaptation into development strategies and investment programs and recover from disasters quickly and effectively.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Tropical Cyclone</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Cyclone is the formation of <strong>very low-pressure system</strong> with <strong>very high-speed winds revolving</strong> around it. Factors like wind speed, wind direction, temperature and humidity contribute to the development of cyclones.</li>
<li>Before cloud formation, water takes up heat from the atmosphere to change into vapour. When water vapour changes back to liquid form as raindrops, this heat is released to the atmosphere.</li>
<li>The heat released to the atmosphere warms the air around. The air tends to rise and causes a drop in pressure. More air rushes to the centre of the storm. This cycle is repeated.</li>
<li>Since Hurricanes derive their energy from<strong> heated seawater</strong> which can be prevented by presence of upper-level-winds that disrupt the storm circulation forcing it to lose its strength.</li>
</ul>',
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	(int) 19 => [
		'title' => 'SC Notice to EC over VVPAT’s',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Supreme Court (SC) has issued a notice to the<a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/election-commission-of-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Election Commission (EC)</a> on a<strong> plea by leaders from 21 political parties who wanted random verification of at least 50% Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) using their Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips</strong> in the upcoming general elections.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There are <strong>concerns</strong> being raised by many political parties<strong> regarding the functioning of EVMs.</strong></li>
<li>To allay these fears,<strong> EC has decided that it will verify VVPAT slips of only one randomly selected booth of a constituency.</strong></li>
<li>Recently, the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/tallying-of-vvpat-with-evms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SC has directed the EC to respond to a plea that the counts from EVMs and VVPAT</a> units should be cross-verified in at least 30% randomly chosen polling stations in each&nbsp;assembly and Lok Sabha constituency.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Argument of Petitioner</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Randomly verifying at least 50% Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) using their Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips in the upcoming elections was in the interest of free and fair elections, which is part of the basic structure of the Constitution.</li>
<li>The&nbsp;50% randomized verification in each assembly constituency/assembly segment is a reasonable sample size to
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>allay the fears of the general public with regard to EVM tampering and;</li>
<li>be a statistically significant sample size to ensure that EVMs are working properly.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The decision of ECI to verify VVPAT of only one randomly selected booth of a constituency will account only for 0.44% of the votes polled.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>This guideline defeats the entire purpose of VVPAT and makes the same "ornamental" without actual substance.</li>
<li>The petition refers to the decision in <em><strong>Dr. Subramanian Swamy v ECI (2013)</strong></em> which held that VVPAT is an "indispensable requirement of free and fair elections". To give meaningful effect to this judgment, at least 50% of VVPAT should be verified.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>VVPAT is an independent verification printer machine and is attached to electronic voting machines. It allows voters to verify if their vote has gone to the intended candidate.</li>
<li>When a voter presses a button in the EVM, a paper slip is printed through the VVPAT. The slip contains the poll symbol and name of the candidate. It allows the voter to verify his/her choice.</li>
<li>After being visible to the voter from a glass case in the VVPAT for seven seconds, the ballot slip will be cut and dropped into the drop box in the VVPAT machine and a beep will be heard.</li>
<li>VVPAT machines can be accessed by polling officers only.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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