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GSAT-7A Launched

Indian Space and Research Organization (ISRO) has recently launched communication satellite GSAT-7A onboard the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch...

20 Dec 2018 News Analysis
Important Facts for Prelims (20th December 2018)

Black-necked Crane Black-necked cranes also known as 'Trung-Trung Karmo' migrate every winter from Tibet and China's Xinjiang province to...

20 Dec 2018 News Analysis
Lok Sabha Passes Surrogacy Bill

The Lok Sabha passed Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016, banning commercial renting of wombs and allowing only “altruistic...

20 Dec 2018 News Analysis
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016

The Lok Sabha has passed the transgender persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016. The bill will now be placed in Rajya Sabha. The Bill was...

20 Dec 2018 News Analysis
Packaging in Jute Bags Made Mandatory

Recently the Government has mandated the packaging of 100% of foodgrain and 20% of sugar in jute bags for 2018-19. The decision aims to benefit...

20 Dec 2018 News Analysis
Blue Economy

Why in News? Recently the first global conference on the Sustainable Blue Economy was held on 26-28 November, 2018 in Nairobi Kenya. Seychelles...

19 Dec 2018 Paper 3
Maldives President's Visit to India

The President of the Republic of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih visited India on a state visit from 16-18 December 2018. This is the first foreign...

19 Dec 2018 News Analysis
Restoring the Balance

(This editorial is based on the article “Restoring the Balance” which appears in The Hindu on 19th December) Maldivian President...

19 Dec 2018 News Editorials
New Rules On The Block

(The editorial is based on the article “New rules on the block” which appears in Indian Express on 18th November 2018. It analyses some...

18 Dec 2018 News Editorials
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)

What is FSSAI? Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is an autonomous statutory body established under the Food Safety and...

18 Dec 2018 National Institutions
The Big Picture: Transforming Indian Cities

According to Oxford Economics report, Indian cities will make up most of the fastest-growing cities in the world between 2019 and 2035, considering...

18 Dec 2018 Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions
Eklavya Model Residential Schools

The Central Government has approved the proposal of setting up of Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs) under Ministry of Tribal Affairs. As...

18 Dec 2018 News Analysis
Important Facts for Prelims (18th December 2018)

Ujjwala Yojana Extended to all Poor Households The government has extended Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) of providing free cooking gas...

18 Dec 2018 News Analysis
Conference of the Parties (COP 24)

Recently, 24th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) concluded in...

18 Dec 2018 News Analysis
Agriculture Export Policy, 2018

Why in News? The Union Cabinet recently approved the agriculture export policy. The Cabinet also approved the proposal for establishment of...

17 Dec 2018 Paper 3
National Supercomputing Mission

French technology firm Atos will build a network of 70 supercomputers across India under the National Supercomputing Mission. The supercomputers...

17 Dec 2018 News Analysis
Important Facts for Prelims (17th December 2018)

Great Indian Bustard The population of Great Indian Bustard has significantly shrunk to less than 150 in five States (Rajasthan, Gujarat,...

17 Dec 2018 News Analysis
Information Fusion Center of Indian Navy

The Indian Navy will inaugurate the Information Fusion Centre (IFC) for the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The Information Fusion Centre will serve...

17 Dec 2018 News Analysis
Why Commodity Transaction Tax Must Go

(This editorial is based on the article “Why commodity transaction tax must go” which appeared in The Hindu on 17th...

17 Dec 2018 News Editorials
National Medical Devices Promotion Council to be set up

The government has decided to set up the National Medical Devices Promotion Council (NMDPC) to boost manufacturing, attract investments and promote...

15 Dec 2018 News Analysis

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			'title' => 'GSAT-7A Launched',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>Indian Space and Research Organization (ISRO) has recently launched communication satellite GSAT-7A onboard the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle F-11 (GSLV F-11).</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>GSLV F-11 is the seventh flight of GSLV Mk-II and is equipped with <strong>indigenously developed cryogenic upper stage engine.</strong></li>
<li>The satellite is nicknamed as<strong> &lsquo;angry bird&rsquo;</strong> as it will enhance Indian Air Force (IAF) capabilities.</li>
<li>It is heaviest satellite launch in GSLV&rsquo;s Mk-II version launch vehicle.</li>
<li>In September 2013, Isro launched <strong>GSAT-7 (Rukmini),</strong> a communication satellite <strong>exclusively for Navy</strong> to monitor Indian Ocean Region up to 2,000 nautical miles and provide real-time inputs to Indian warships, submarines, and maritime aircraft.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Significance</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The satellite will give a boost to the strategic communication and networking capabilities of the IAF.</li>
<li>GSAT-7A will enable superior real-time aircraft-to-aircraft communication and between aircraft and base station.</li>
<li>GSAT-7A is expected to boost the IAF&rsquo;s network-centric warfare capabilities by interlinking all ground-based radars, airborne early warning and control aircraft for surveillance, maintain air superiority, gather intelligence by detecting aircraft, vessels and other vehicles in long range.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>GSAT-7A</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Weight:<strong> 2250 Kg</strong></li>
<li>Orbit:<strong> Super Synchronous Orbit</strong> (Orbit beyond Geosynchronous Orbit)</li>
<li>Mission Life: <strong>8 years</strong></li>
<li>GSAT-7A is the<strong> 35th communication satellite built by ISRO.</strong></li>
<li>GSAT-7A is an advanced communication satellite with a<strong> Gregorian Antenna. </strong></li>
<li>The satellite will operate in the <strong>Ku band</strong> (This frequency range is often used for satellite communications).</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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		(int) 1 => [
			'title' => 'Important Facts for Prelims (20th December 2018)',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<h3>Black-necked Crane</h3>
<p></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Black-necked cranes</strong> also known as '<strong>Trung-Trung Karmo</strong>' migrate every winter from Tibet and China's Xinjiang province to Arunachal Pradesh in India.</li>
<li><strong>Sangti Valley</strong> in West Kameng district and <strong>Zemithang</strong> of<strong> Arunachal Pradesh</strong> are the only wintering sites of the bird in India. The crane also breeds in Ladakh and Bhutan.</li>
<li>The bird is revered by the 1 lakh-strong community of&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Monpas</strong> (major Buddhist ethnic group of Arunachal Pradesh)</span> as an embodiment&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: 400;">of the sixth</span>&nbsp; <strong>Dalai Lama (Tsangyang Gyatso)</strong>.</li>
<li>It is protected under Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 - the highest legal protection given to birds and wildlife.</li>
<li>It has been classified as 'vulnerable' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in its Red List of Threatened Species.</li>
</ul>
<h3>World&rsquo;s First Drone-delivered Vaccine in Vanuatu</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A one-month-old baby in <strong>Vanuatu</strong> has become the first person in the world to be immunised using vaccines delivered by a commercial drone which has raised hopes that the method could save lives in other far-flung areas.</li>
<li>Vaccines are difficult to transport as they need to be kept at specific temperatures. During the drone flight, they were kept in Styrofoam boxes with ice-packs and a temperature sensor.</li>
</ul>',
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		],
		(int) 2 => [
			'title' => 'Lok Sabha Passes Surrogacy Bill',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The Lok Sabha passed Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016, <strong>banning commercial renting of wombs</strong> and allowing only <strong>&ldquo;altruistic surrogacy&rdquo;.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Bill was approved by the Cabinet in August 2016. It was introduced in the Lok Sabha in November 2016 and was later referred to a parliamentary standing committee on health and family welfare in January 2017.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Key Provisions</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Bill seeks to regulate the surrogacy part of a <strong>flourishing infertility industry</strong> in the country.</li>
<li>It defines &lsquo;surrogacy&rsquo; as a practice in which a woman undertakes to give birth to a child for another couple and agrees to hand over the child to them after birth.</li>
<li>It allows &lsquo;altruistic surrogacy&rsquo; &mdash; wherein <strong>only the medical expenses</strong> and <strong>insurance coverage</strong> is provided by the couple to the surrogate mother during pregnancy. <strong>No other monetary consideration will be allowed.</strong></li>
<li>It allows surrogacy for <strong>infertile married (at least five years) Indian couples only</strong>. The female must be <strong>between 23 and 50 years and the male 26 and 55 years</strong>; and they cannot have any surviving child (biological, adopted or surrogate).
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>However, this would <strong>not include</strong> a &lsquo;child who is mentally or physically challenged or suffers from life threatening disorder or fatal illness.&rsquo;</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Only a <strong>close relative of the couple</strong>, who is able to provide a medical fitness certificate, can be a surrogate mother. She should have been married, having a child of her own, and must be between 25 and 35 years, but can be a surrogate mother only once.</li>
<li>The stated objective of the new Bill is to constitute a <strong>National Surrogacy Board, State Surrogacy Board</strong> and appointment of authorities for regulation of practice and process of surrogacy. In short, the law is meant to end commercial surrogacy or, as the Supreme Court had once in 2009, termed &ldquo;fertility tourism&rdquo; in the country</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It does<strong> not allow</strong> single women or men, or gay couples to go in for surrogacy.</li>
<li>Despite a similar stringent law, the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, illegal organ commerce continues to thrive. Clearly, the issue will have to be handled firmly, even as the sensitivities of people are factored in.</li>
<li>Adoption of a child borne out of surrogacy: An <strong>unhealthy child borne</strong> out of surrogacy is often not accepted by the parents, due to the lack of legal safeguards for the child and the surrogate mother. The bill has<strong> not addressed</strong> this issue comprehensively.</li>
<li>The <strong>Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC)</strong> has rejected a blanket ban on commercial surrogacy proposed in the Bill. It said that commercial surrogacy could trigger a<strong> black market for surrogacy</strong> services in India.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The whole surrogacy service could <strong>go underground</strong> and it would lead to increased exploitation with no mechanism for protection of any of the parties involved in the surrogacy arrangement.</li>
<li>It could result in<strong> trafficking of surrogate mothers</strong> to foreign nations or safe surrogacy havens around the globe for monetary returns.</li>
<li>The provision of no monetary incentive in the proposed Bill except medical expenses can make surrogacy <strong>similar to &ldquo;forced labour&rdquo;</strong> which is prohibited under Article-23 of the Constitution.</li>
<li>Endorsing altruistic surrogacy will enforce <strong>emotional and social pressure on close female relatives</strong> without any compensation for immense emotional and bodily labour of gestation involved in surrogacy as well as loss of livelihood.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why the Need for a Surrogacy Bill</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Fertility tourism:</strong> India has emerged as a hub for infertility treatment, attracting people from the world over with its state-of-the-art technology and competitive prices to treat infertility.</li>
<li><strong>End exploitation:&nbsp;</strong>India has emerged as a surrogacy hub for couples from different countries and there have been reports of unethical practices such as exploitation of surrogate mothers, abandonment of children born out of surrogacy and cases of intermediaries importing human embryos and gametes.</li>
<li>Commercial surrogacy has been legal in India since 2002 under the<strong> guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)</strong>. The <strong>Law Commission of India</strong> had also recommended prohibiting commercial surrogacy and allowing only ethical altruistic surrogacy to the needy Indian citizens by enacting a suitable legislation.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Surrogacy</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>When a couple wants a baby but is unable to have a child because either or both partners are medically unfit to conceive, another woman (surrogate mother) is <strong>artificially inseminated</strong> with the sperm of the father. She then carries the child full term and delivers it for the couple.</li>
<li>In such a case, the <strong>surrogate mother is the biological mother of the child</strong>. In instances when the father&rsquo;s sperm cannot be used, a donor sperm can also be used. This is traditional surrogacy.</li>
<li>In <strong>gestational surrogacy,</strong> eggs from the mother are fertilised with the father&rsquo;s/donor&rsquo;s sperm and then the embryo is placed into the uterus of the surrogate, who carries the child to term and delivers it. In this case, the biological mother is still the woman whose eggs are used, while the surrogate is called the birth mother.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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		],
		(int) 3 => [
			'title' => 'The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The Lok Sabha has passed the transgender persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016. The bill will now be placed in Rajya Sabha.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Bill was brought following a 2014 order of the Supreme Court (<em>NALSA vs. Union of India</em>) that asked the central and state governments to take steps for the welfare of the transgender community and to treat them as a third gender for the purpose of safeguarding their rights under Part III of the Constitution.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Provisions in the bill</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Definition of a Transgender Persons:</strong>&nbsp;In the amended bill transgender person means a person whose gender does not match with the gender assigned to that person at birth and includes trans-man (whether or not such person has undergone sex reassignment surgery or hormone therapy or laser therapy or such other therapy), person with intersex variations, gender-queer and person having such socio-cultural identities as <g class="gr_ gr_82 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling" id="82" data-gr-id="82">kinnar</g>, hijra,&nbsp;<g class="gr_ gr_80 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="80" data-gr-id="80">aaravani</g> and <g class="gr_ gr_81 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="81" data-gr-id="81">jogta</g>.</li>
<li><strong>Prohibition against discrimination:</strong> The Bill prohibits the discrimination against a transgender person, including denial of service or unfair treatment in relation to: <strong>(i) education (ii) employment (iii) healthcare (iv) public goods (v) right to movement (vi) right to reside, rent, own or occupy property (vii) opportunity to hold public or private office; and (viii) access to a government or private establishment.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Offenses and Penalties:</strong> The Bill recognizes the following offenses: (i) begging, forced or bonded labor (ii) denial of use of a public place; (iii) denial of residence in the household, village, etc.; (iv) physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic abuse.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>These offenses will attract imprisonment between six months and two years and a fine.<strong></strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Certificate of identity for a transgender person:</strong> A transgender person may make an application to the District Magistrate for a certificate of identity, indicating the gender as &lsquo;transgender&rsquo;.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The District Magistrate will issue such certificate based on the <strong>recommendations of a District Screening Committee.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>The right of residence:</strong> If the immediate family is unable to care for the transgender person, the person may be placed in a rehabilitation center, on the orders of a competent court.<strong></strong></li>
<li><strong>Welfare measures by the government:</strong> The Bill states that the government will take measures to ensure the full inclusion and participation of transgender persons in society.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It must also take steps for their rescue and rehabilitation, vocational training and self-employment, create schemes that are transgender-sensitive.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Setting up of National Council for Transgender persons (NCT):</strong>&nbsp;Under the Bill, NCT will be set up which will consist of:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Union Minister for Social Justice (Chairperson);</li>
<li>Minister of State for Social Justice (Vice-Chairperson);</li>
<li>Secretary of the Ministry of Social Justice;</li>
<li>One representative from ministries like Health, Home Affairs, Minority Affairs, Housing and Poverty Alleviation, Human Resources Development, etc.</li>
<li>Other members include representatives of the NITI Aayog, National Human Rights Commission, and the National Commission for Women. State governments will also be represented.</li>
<li>The Council will also consist of five members from the transgender community and five experts from non-governmental organizations.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Concerns in the Bill</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Bill does <strong>not give the right of self-identification to transgender persons,</strong> instead, it is certified by a district screening committee.</li>
<li>Bill is<strong> silent on granting reservations</strong> to transgender persons. The Bill does not give effect to the directive of the Supreme Court to grant backward class reservation to the transgender community.</li>
<li>The Bill lack robustness as it has provision for a<strong> lower punishment for sexual violence against transgender persons,&nbsp;</strong>as against seven years&rsquo; imprisonment awarded in case of sexual assault on women.</li>
<li>The Bill treats <strong>transgender persons as victims who need protection</strong> rather than an empowered subject with rights.</li>
<li>The Bill <strong>criminalizes begging by making it an offense.</strong> When begging itself is no more seen as an offense, it may harm the community if such a means of <strong>livelihood &ndash; in the absence of employment &ndash; is criminalized.</strong></li>
<li>The bill<strong> does not provide a mechanism for appeal if a transgender person is denied a certificate of identity.</strong></li>
<li>The Standing Committee&rsquo;s concerns about recognizing rights in marriage, divorce <g class="gr_ gr_56 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="56" data-gr-id="56">and</g> adoption of transgender person have not been addressed.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/the-transgender-persons-protection-of-rights-bill-2016'
		],
		(int) 4 => [
			'title' => 'Packaging in Jute Bags Made Mandatory',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>Recently the Government has mandated the packaging of <strong>100% of foodgrain</strong> and <strong>20% of sugar</strong> in jute bags for 2018-19.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The decision aims to benefit farmers and workers in the Eastern and Northeastern parts of the country like West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura.</li>
<li>The jute industry is predominantly dependent on the government sector, which purchases jute bags worth more than Rs 6,500 crore every year for packing food grains.</li>
<li>Initially 10% of the orders of jute bags for packing foodgrain would be placed through reverse auction on the GeM (Government e-Marketplace) portal that would facilitate price discovery.</li>
<li>The order follows the <strong>Jute Packaging Materials (Compulsory Use in Packing Commodities) Act (JPM), 1987</strong> to protect the jute sector from the plastic packaging segment.</li>
<li>The Act mandates compulsory use of sacks in certain areas to bring buoyancy to the raw jute market.</li>
<li>Initially there was reservation for sugar, cement, fertiliser and foodgrain packaging. However, certain sectors have been taken out of the ambit due to market demand for alternative synthetic packaging as there was seepage of materials through jute sacks.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>About Jute</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Known as the <strong>&lsquo;golden fibre&rsquo;</strong> jute is one of the longest and most used natural fibre for various textile applications.</li>
<li>It thrives in <strong>tropical lowland areas</strong> with <strong>humidity of 60% to 90%</strong>. Jute is a rain-fed crop with little need for fertilizer or pesticides.</li>
<li><strong>Retting of Jute</strong> is a process in which the tied bundles of jute stalks are immersed in water by which fibres get loosened and separated from the woody stalk.</li>
<li><strong>World's leading jute producing</strong> countries are <strong>India</strong> , <strong>Bangladesh</strong> , China and Thailand . <strong>India</strong> is the <strong>world's largest producer</strong> of raw jute and jute goods , contributing to over 50% and 40% respectively of global production.</li>
<li>The cultivation of jute in India is mainly confined to the eastern region of the country . The jute crop is grown in seven states - West Bengal , Assam , Orissa , Bihar , Uttar Pradesh , Tripura and Meghalaya . <strong>West Bengal</strong> alone accounts for over <strong>50% of the total raw jute production</strong>.</li>
<li>To promote and popularize jute diversification work, <strong>National Jute Board</strong>, Ministry of Textiles, acts as the <strong>apex body for promotion of the products</strong> in India and abroad.</li>
<li>The<strong> first jute mill</strong> was established at <strong>Rishra (Bengal - now in West Bengal)</strong>, on the<strong> river Hooghly</strong> near <strong>Calcutta</strong> in the year <strong>1855</strong>, by Mr. George Aclend. In 1959, the first power driven weaving factory was set up.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Potential of Jute Industry</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Jute Geotextile is (a variety of jute available in woven and non-woven fabrics) used in <strong>erosion control</strong>, separation, <strong>filtration and drainage in civil engineering work</strong>, and agricultural uses. It also has application in rural road pavement construction and agro plant mulching.</li>
<li><strong>Diversification of jute products</strong> has opened up large opportunity for <strong>employment generation</strong>. Examples of diversified jute products include fancy jute bags, soft luggage, footwear, door panels, check sarees, wide range of furnishing, gift items, table lamps, floor decor, wall decor and many more items.</li>
<li>Jute bags have porosity, easily withstand the high temperature and are much stronger than poly sacks. Jute bags can be recycled and reused and can be easily repaired.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Government Initiatives for Promoting Jute Industry</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Jute Corporation of India (JCI)</strong> <strong>procures raw jute at Minimum Support Price (MSP)</strong>, fixed on the basis of recommendation of the commission for Agricultural Cost and Prices (CACP), from jute growers to safeguard their interest.</li>
<li><strong>Incentive Scheme for Acquisition of Plants and Machinery (ISAPM)</strong>: Launched in 2013, it aims to facilitate modernization in existing and new jute mills and up- gradation of technology in existing jute mills .</li>
<li><strong>Jute-ICARE (Jute: Improved Cultivation and Advanced Retting Exercise)</strong>: This pilot project launched in 2015 is aimed at addressing the difficulties faced by the jute cultivators by providing them certified seeds at subsidized rates, and by popularizing several newly developed retting technologies under water limiting conditions.</li>
<li>The <strong>National Jute Board</strong> implements various schemes for market development, workers&rsquo; welfare and promotion of diversification and exports.</li>
<li>In order to boost demand in the jute sector, the Government has also imposed<strong> anti-dumping duty on import of jute goods</strong> from <strong>Bangladesh</strong> and Nepal.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/packaging-in-jute-bags-made-mandatory'
		],
		(int) 5 => [
			'title' => 'Blue Economy',
			'catname' => 'Paper 3',
			'desc' => '<h3>Why in News?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Recently the first global conference on the <strong>Sustainable Blue Economy</strong> was held on 26-28 November, 2018 in Nairobi Kenya.</li>
<li>Seychelles recently launched the sovereign <strong>Blue Bonds</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Blue Bond</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Seychelles became the first country in the world to launch sovereign <strong>Blue Bonds</strong>.</li>
<li>It is a debt instrument issued by governments, development banks etc to raise capital from investors to finance marine and ocean-based projects.</li>
<li>It will help in expansion of marine protected areas, improved governance of priority fisheries and the development of the Seychelles&rsquo; blue economy.</li>
<li>The blue bond is inspired by the green bond concept.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Blue Economy</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The concept was introduced by Gunter Pauli in his 2010 book- &ldquo;The Blue Economy: 10 years, 100 innovations, 100 million jobs&rdquo;.</li>
<li>It is the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, and ocean ecosystem health.</li>
<li>It advocates the greening of ocean development strategies for higher productivity and conservation of ocean's health.</li>
<li>It encompasses&ndash;
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Renewable Energy:</strong> Sustainable marine energy can play a vital role in social and economic development.</li>
<li><strong>Fisheries:</strong> Sustainable fisheries can generate more revenue, more fish and help restore fish stocks.</li>
<li><strong>Maritime Transport</strong>: Over 80% of international goods traded are transported by sea.</li>
<li><strong>Tourism:</strong> Ocean and coastal tourism can bring jobs and economic growth.</li>
<li><strong>Climate Change:</strong> Oceans are an important carbon sink (blue carbon) and help mitigate climate change.</li>
<li><strong>Waste Management:</strong> Better waste management on land can help oceans recover.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Blue Economy emphasizes on integration of development of ocean economy with social inclusion, environmental sustainability, combined with innovative business model.</li>
<li>This is reflected in <strong>Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 14),</strong> which calls to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Need for Blue Economy</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Oceans cover three-quarters of the Earth&rsquo;s surface, contain 97% of the Earth&rsquo;s water, and represent 99% of the living area on the planet.</li>
<li>Oceans protect biodiversity, keep the planet cool, and absorb about 30% of global CO<sub>2</sub> emissions.</li>
<li>At least 3-5% of global GDP is derived from oceans.</li>
<li>Blue economy, through sustainable use of oceans, has great potential for boosting the economic growth by providing opportunities for income generation and jobs etc.</li>
<li>It can support food security, and diversification to address new resources for energy, new drugs valuable chemicals, protein food, deep sea minerals, security etc.</li>
<li>It is the next <strong>sunrise sector</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border">
<p><strong>Note:</strong> Sunrise Sector is a sector that is expanding rapidly and is expected to be increasingly important in the future.</p>
</div>
<h3>Challenges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Threat of sea borne terror &ndash;</strong> piracy and armed robbery, maritime terrorism, illicit trade in crude oil, arms, drug and human trafficking and smuggling of contraband etc.</li>
<li><strong>Natural Disasters &ndash;</strong> every year tsunamis, cyclones, hurricanes typhoons etc leave thousands of people stranded and property worth millions destroyed.</li>
<li><strong>Man-Made problems &ndash;</strong> Oil spills, climate change continue to risk the stability of the maritime domain.</li>
<li><strong>Impact of climate change &ndash;</strong> changes in sea temperature, acidity, threaten marine life, habitats, and the communities that depend on them.</li>
<li><strong>Marine pollution &ndash;</strong> in form of excess nutrients from untreated sewerage, agricultural runoff, and marine debris such as plastics</li>
<li><strong>Overexploitation of marine resources &ndash;</strong> illegal, unreported, and unregulated extraction of marine resources.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Blue Economy for India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Blue economy presents India with an unprecedented opportunity to meet its national socio-economic objectives as well as strengthen connectivity with neighbors.</li>
<li>Blue Economy can help in focusing on livelihood generation, achieving energy security, building ecological resilience, and improving health and living standards of coastal communities.</li>
<li>Blue economy would reinforce and strengthen the efforts of the Indian government as it strives to achieve the SDGs of hunger and poverty eradication along with sustainable use of marine resources by 2030.</li>
<li>India has a long coastline of 7,517 km covering nine states and two union territories &ndash; with an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 2.02 mn. sq.km.</li>
<li>Marine services sector could serve as the backbone of its blue economy and help India become 10 trillion dollar economy by 2022.</li>
<li>Indian Ocean is a major conduit of trade with as much as 80% of global oil trade happening through it.</li>
<li>Better connectivity in the region will significantly cut the transport cost and maritime wastage of resources making the trade sustainable and cost effective.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Developments Initiated by India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Sagarmala project is the strategic initiative for port-led development through the extensive use of IT enabled services for modernization of ports.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Sagarmala Project </strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Project aims at developing Inland waterways and coastal shipping which will revolutionize maritime logistics, creating million new jobs, reduce logistics costs etc.</li>
<li>It focuses on the development of coastal communities and people in the sustainable use of ocean resources, modern fishing techniques and coastal tourism.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India has an umbrella scheme by the name of <strong>O-SMART</strong> which aims at regulated use of oceans, marine resources for sustainable development.</li>
<li><strong>Integrated Coastal Zone Management</strong> focuses on conservation of coastal and marine resources, and improving livelihood opportunities for coastal communities etc.</li>
<li>Development of <strong>Coastal Economic Zones (CEZ)</strong> under Sagarmala would become a microcosm of the blue economy, wherein industries and townships that depend on the sea will contribute to global trade.</li>
<li>India has a National Fisheries policy for promoting 'Blue Growth Initiative' which focus on sustainable utilization of fisheries wealth from the marine and other aquatic resources.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India should look to adopt the <strong>Gandhian approach</strong> of balancing economic benefits with sustainability for meeting the broader goals of growth, employment generation, equity and protection of environment.</li>
<li>India must focus on marine ICTs, and transport (shipping) and communication services, and the creation of a knowledge hub for marine research and development.</li>
<li>An effective response mechanism to address humanitarian crises and natural disasters should be made for the evolving Indian Ocean security strategy.</li>
<li>India should not look at its oceans as just water bodies, but as global stage for continued economic, social, and cultural dialogue.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/paper3/blue-economy'
		],
		(int) 6 => [
			'title' => 'Maldives President's Visit to India',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The President of the Republic of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih visited India on a state visit from 16-18 December 2018.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>This is the first foreign visit by President of Maldives after assuming office in November 2018.</li>
</ul>
<h3><g class="gr_ gr_59 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="59" data-gr-id="59">Outcome</g> of the visit</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The two countries signed the following Agreements/MoUs/Joint Declaration of Intent during the visit:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Agreement on the facilitation of<strong> visa arrangements.</strong></li>
<li>Memorandum of understanding on <strong>cultural</strong> <strong>cooperation</strong>, improve the ecosystem for <strong>agribusiness</strong>.</li>
<li>Cooperation in the field of <strong>communications</strong> <strong>technology</strong> and <strong>electronics</strong>.</li>
<li>Countries agreed to work together in the following areas, health, mutual legal assistance, investment promotion, human resource development, and tourism</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>India announced <strong>financial assistance of US$ 1.4 billion</strong> in the form of budgetary support, currency swap and concessional lines of credit to fulfill the socio-economic development programmes of the Maldives.</li>
<li>The Maldives reaffirmed its <strong>"India-First Policy&rdquo;,</strong> and commitment to working together closely with India.</li>
<li>Both countries agreed on the importance of maintaining<strong> peace and security in the Indian Ocean Region.</strong></li>
<li>The two countries reaffirmed their commitment and support for increased cooperation in <strong>combating terrorism.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>India-Maldives Relation</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India and the Maldives share<strong> deep historical, cultural, and economic ties.</strong></li>
<li>India was among the first to<strong> recognize the Maldives after its independence in 1965</strong> and to establish diplomatic relations with the country. India established its embassy at Mal&eacute; in 1972.</li>
<li>India&rsquo;s bilateral and financial assistance to the Maldives has been reciprocated through an &ldquo;India first&rdquo; policy by the Maldives.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Importance of the Maldives for India</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Maldives is an important aspect of<strong> India&rsquo;s &lsquo;Neighbourhood First&rsquo; policy.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Strategically located in the Indian Ocean,</strong> Maldives archipelago comprising 1200 coral Islands lies next to key shipping lanes which ensure uninterrupted energy supplies to countries like China, Japan, and India. More than 97% of India&rsquo;s international trade by volume and 75% by value passes through the region.</li>
<li>As the pre-eminent South Asian power and<strong> a &lsquo;net security provider&rsquo;</strong> in the Indian Ocean region, <strong>India needs to cooperate with the Maldives in the security and defense sectors.</strong></li>
<li>India is also a preferred destination for Maldivians for education, medical treatment, recreation, and business.</li>
<li><strong>Maldives is also a member of SAARC.</strong> It is important for India to have the Maldives on board to maintain its leadership in the region.</li>
<li>Since<strong> China&rsquo;s naval expansion into the Indian Ocean</strong> - Maldives significance has steadily grown and now it&rsquo;s at the heart of international geopolitics.</li>
<li>There is significant<strong> Indian diaspora in the Maldives.</strong> Innumerable Indians work across the hospitality, education, and health-care sectors of the Maldives economy.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/maldives-presidents-visit-to-india'
		],
		(int) 7 => [
			'title' => 'Restoring the Balance',
			'catname' => 'News Editorials',
			'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article &ldquo;Restoring the Balance&rdquo; which appears in The Hindu on 19th December)</p>
</div>
<p><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/maldives-presidents-visit-to-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih&rsquo;s three-day visit</a> to India this week seems to have brought a unpredictable phase in India-Maldives ties.</p>
<p>President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih defeated Abdulla Yameen in a surprise victory in the Maldivian presidential elections in September 2018, since then, he has recalibrated Maldives&rsquo; ties with India. <strong>While Mr. Yameen had drawn the Maldives closer to China and brutally crushed the Opposition, Mr. Solih&rsquo;s victory has been a shot in the arm for those who favour strengthening democratic forces in the island nation.</strong></p>
<p>The <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/maldives-election-result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent elections</a> in the Maldives represented the collective aspirations of the people for democracy, the rule of law and a prosperous future. India also desired &ldquo;to see a stable, democratic, prosperous and peaceful Republic of Maldives&rdquo;.</p>
<h3>Points of Engagement between India and Maldives</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Mr. Solih&rsquo;s India visit has seen the two sides emphasise their traditionally close bond. He called India the island nation&rsquo;s &ldquo;closest friend&rdquo; and &ldquo;reaffirmed his government&rsquo;s &lsquo;India-First&rsquo; Policy&rdquo;, committing to working together closely with India.</li>
<li>India, for its part, announced a financial assistance package of $1.4 billion for the Maldives in the form of budgetary support, currency swap agreements and concessional lines of credit.</li>
<li>Both have agreed to ensure that they would keep other&rsquo;s security interests in mind as they consolidate cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).</li>
<li>They have agreed to strengthen maritime security cooperation in the IOR through coordinated patrol and aerial surveillance.</li>
<li>Areas such as fisheries development, tourism, transportation, connectivity, health, education, information technology, new and renewable energy and communications were earmarked for enhancing bilateral cooperation.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Importance for India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is important from New Delhi&rsquo;s perspective that Mr. Solih succeeds in the Maldives.</li>
<li>Under Mr. Yameen, the Maldives had veered too close to China for India&rsquo;s comfort, welcoming Chinese money for major infrastructure projects and signing a controversial free trade agreement (FTA).</li>
<li>India&rsquo;s entreaties for political moderation and closer security ties were summarily ignored. China&rsquo;s role in the Maldivian economy is under the scanner today amid growing concerns about the money the Maldives owes to China for infrastructure projects undertaken by Chinese construction companies. These infrastructure projects include the China-Maldives Friendship Bridge, which connects Mal&eacute;&rsquo;s eastern edge to the western corner of the island of Hulhul&eacute;.</li>
<li>It is now estimated that China&rsquo;s loans to the Maldives total at least $1.3 billion, or a quarter of the island nation&rsquo;s gross domestic product. Faced with this crisis, the new Maldivian government is looking to India for more budgetary support to help meet its development goals and is also planning to revise the FTA with China.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India is also trying to ensure help reaches Male in time so that New Delhi regains some of its lost space in the Maldives&rsquo; foreign policy and politics. <strong>Mal&eacute; has also made it clear that while the neighbourhood will clearly be a priority for the Solih government, China will continue to play an important role as an economic partner. So, China is not going to disappear from the Maldivian foreign policy matrix.</strong> Nor should India expect it to. <strong>But the logic of geography dictates that India&rsquo;s role will be critical in determining the trajectory of political developments in the Maldives.</strong></li>
<li>India&rsquo;s patient handling of the Maldives crisis over the last few years has positioned it well. By coordinating its response with other like-minded regional and extra-regional players, India underscored that there are options available to the Maldives should it decide to move away from China.</li>
<li><strong>Going forward, the Maldives would need the support of India as its challenges remain acute.</strong> The institutional fabric of the country has been battered under Mr. Yameen&rsquo;s assault even as the threat of Islamist extremism has grown in potency.</li>
<li><strong>India should not be deterred by temporary setbacks.</strong> Instead of perpetually viewing the dynamics from a China-centric perspective, it must keep its eyes firmly on the long term.</li>
<li><strong>The more invested New Delhi is in strengthening democratic institutions in its neighbourhood, the better returns it will get in its foreign policy.</strong></li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/restoring-the-balance'
		],
		(int) 8 => [
			'title' => 'New Rules On The Block',
			'catname' => 'News Editorials',
			'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(The editorial is based on the article &ldquo;New rules on the block&rdquo; which appears in Indian Express on 18th November 2018. It analyses some of the results of the Katowice climate negotiations.)</p>
</div>
<p>The latest UN climate negotiations finally drew to a close in Katowice, Poland, where climate negotiators finalised a new set of rules to operationalise the 2015 Paris Agreement, as well as a year-long <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-3rd-december-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&ldquo;Talanoa Dialogue&rdquo;</a>.<img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/753drishti_ias_katowice- climate.jpeg" width="464" height="193" style="float: right; margin: 5px;" caption="false" /></p>
<p>In doing so, the international community hopes to send an urgent political signal, given the dire warnings in the recent <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/global-warming-of-1-5-c-ipcc-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change&rsquo;s special report on 1.5&deg;C</a> and the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-30th-november-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2018 UNEP Emissions Gap Report,</a> highlighting just how far states are from this temperature goal.</p>
<h3>Achievements in Katowice</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Although deep political divisions toned down the Katowice results, negotiators did indeed deliver the bulk of the rules (in the form of a Rulebook that lists yardsticks to measure GHG of individual nations) to operationalise the Paris Agreement.</strong></li>
<li><strong>It is a significant diplomatic achievement in the current geopolitical context</strong> specially when seen in the context of the US&rsquo;s announced withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and its hearty embrace of coal, and the newly-elected Brazilian president&rsquo;s evasion on the agreement and withdrawal of its offer to host next year&rsquo;s conference.</li>
</ul>
<h3>The Functions that Katowice Rules will Perform</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>First, the Katowice rules seek to instil discipline in a process</strong> governed by &ldquo;national determination&rdquo;, which is the first step towards a truly international body (in the lines of UNO, WTO etc) on climate change.</li>
<li>Under the Paris Agreement, states have complete autonomy on the nature and type of climate actions they choose to take, subject to the expectation that they represent a progression on past actions. However, the Katowice rules now require them to provide detailed information of their actions. If states have absolute economy-wide targets, they need to provide quantifiable information on their reference points for measurements, the gases covered, their planning processes, assumptions and methodological approaches, how they consider their contribution as fair and ambitious, and how it contributes to the objective of the regime.</li>
<li><strong>Second, the Katowice rules also bring out the obligations of states identified in the Paris Agreement,</strong> and make them meaningful. For instance, the Paris Agreement contained a general obligation for developed countries to report biennially on their provision and mobilisation of climate finance. The rules identify 15 specific pieces of information that states should submit in these reports, including &ldquo;projected levels of public financial resources to be provided to developing countries&rdquo;.</li>
<li><strong>Third, the rules operationalise the key processes established by the Paris Agreement &mdash; a transparency framework, a &ldquo;global stocktake&rdquo; and a compliance regime &mdash;</strong> that seek to impose accountability and facilitate implementation.</li>
<li>The <strong>transparency framework</strong> requires states to report on indicators for measuring progress in achieving their targets, which is significant as the Paris Agreement does not impose a binding obligation on states to achieve their targets. <strong>More broadly, the transparency rules phase in uniform reporting requirements on developed and developing countries in 2024, something India had consistently opposed.</strong></li>
<li><strong>In compliance to the concerns of developing countries, the rules allow developing countries to self-determine the reporting flexibility they need.</strong> Developing countries, with capacity constraints, can choose both how often and in what detail to report. They will also be provided support in addressing these capacity constraints.</li>
<li>The rules operationalising the <strong>global stocktake</strong> include information from a wide variety of sources, including non-state actors, and on the full spectrum of issues including loss and damage, equity and science, to assess collective progress towards the long-term goals of the agreement. <strong>The rules specify that the results of the global stocktake will simply identify challenges and opportunities in relation to action and support. It will not have an &ldquo;individual focus&rdquo; (i.e on any particular country) and will only include &ldquo;non-policy prescriptive consideration of collective progress&rdquo; (i.e global progress only).</strong></li>
<li><strong>Finally, the Katowice rules seek to infuse accountability and facilitate implementation.</strong> They permit a compliance committee to consider cases where countries have breached binding procedural obligations. Thus, if a state does not submit a contribution every five years or a developed country does not submit its report on provision of finance, the committee will step in. The committee can also step in if there are significant and persistent inconsistencies in reporting. <strong>However, it can do this only with the consent of the state concerned.</strong></li>
<li>The committee is also empowered to assist the defaulting state in identifying and addressing the challenges to implementation. The committee is further authorised to identify systemic challenges in compliance and implementation faced by many parties, with a view to addressing them.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Katowice rules - <strong>detailed, complex and science-based</strong> <strong>strike a fine balance between competing interests</strong> (between companies and governments, for example), create rules for all parties to operationalise <strong>equity</strong> (here: Conformity with rules or standards), and <strong>allow the flow of information within the system</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>While the Katowice rules do not touch upon markets for now and the rules in general could have been more robust, the basic rules needed to implement the Paris Agreement are now in place.</strong></li>
<li>Moreover, even though countries are not pressured into submitting their stocktake individually, nevertheless, the steady flow of information on the <strong>&ldquo;ambition gap&rdquo;</strong> (the ambition to limit global temperature rises to well-below 2&deg; Celsius above pre-industrial levels from the currently agreed 1.5&deg; Celsius - which to scientists is not enough) will generate its own pressure on them.</li>
<li><strong>Countries will as such, not be able to escape their individual responsibilities towards climate change mitigation.</strong> Already, the Talanoa Dialogue, the alarming IPCC 1.5&deg;C Report, and the various catastrophic climate events this year, have elicited promises from several countries that they will submit more ambitious actions by 2020.</li>
<li><strong>Therefore, now is the time to take the pressure off the international negotiations to set the rules, and begin the arduous process of following them. With new rules in hand, it&rsquo;s finally time to begin implementing the Paris Agreement and delivering action on the ground.</strong></li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/new-rules-on-the-block'
		],
		(int) 9 => [
			'title' => 'Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)',
			'catname' => 'National Institutions',
			'desc' => '<h3>What is FSSAI?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is an autonomous statutory body established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSS Act).</li>
<li><strong>Ministry of Health &amp; Family Welfare,</strong> Government of India is the administrative Ministry of FSSAI.</li>
<li><strong>Headquarters:</strong> Delhi.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Genesis</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>FSS Act, 2006 consolidates various acts &amp; orders that had earlier handled food related issues in various Ministries and Departments, such as&ndash;</li>
</ul>
<ol>
<li>Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954</li>
<li>Fruit Products Order, 1955</li>
<li>Meat Food Products Order, 1973</li>
<li>Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order, 1947</li>
<li>Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation) Order 1988</li>
<li>Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992</li>
</ol>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>These were repealed after commencement of FSS Act, 2006.</li>
<li>FSSAI was consequently established in 2008 but work within the Food Authority effectively began in 2011 after its Rules and key Regulations were notified.</li>
<li>This marked a shift from a multi-level to a single line of control with focus on self-compliance rather than a pure regulatory regime.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>7 Key Processes</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>Set standards of food products</li>
<li>Develop safe food practices</li>
<li>License food businesses</li>
<li>Ensure compliance through inspections</li>
<li>Test food for standards</li>
<li>Train and build capacity</li>
<li>Citizens Outreach</li>
</ol>
</div>
<h3>Functions</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Framing of regulations to lay down the standards and guidelines of food safety.</li>
<li>Granting FSSAI food safety license and certification for food businesses.</li>
<li>Laying down procedure and guidelines for laboratories in food businesses.</li>
<li>To provide suggestions to the government in framing the policies.</li>
<li>To collect data regarding contaminants in foods products, identification of emerging risks and introduction of rapid alert system.</li>
<li>Creating an information network across the country about food safety.</li>
<li>Promote general awareness about food safety and food standards.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>FSSAI Legislative Framework:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Highlights of the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Act aims to establish a single reference point for all matters relating to food safety and standards, by moving from multi- level, multi-departmental control to a single line of command.</li>
<li>The Act established <strong>FSSAI and the State Food Safety Authorities</strong> for each State.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Highlights of Food Safety and Standards Rule, 2011. The Rules provides for:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The <strong>Food Safety Appellate Tribunal</strong> and the Registrar of the Appellate Tribunal, for adjudication of food safety cases.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Highlights of Food Safety and Standards Regulations 2011
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It covers Licensing and Registration, <strong>Packaging and Labelling</strong> of Food Businesses, Food Product Standards and <strong>Food Additives</strong> Regulation.</li>
<li>It prohibits and restricts on sales or approval for <strong>Non-Specified Food and Food Ingredients,</strong> such ingredients may cause harm to human health.</li>
<li>It provides for Food Safety and Standards on Organic Food and regulates <strong>Food Advertising</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>FSSAI Structure</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The FSSAI comprises of a Chairperson and twenty two members out of which one &ndash; third are to be women.</li>
<li>The Chairperson of FSSAI is appointed by the Central Government.</li>
<li>The Food Authority is assisted by Scientific Committees and Panels in setting standards and the Central Advisory Committee in coordinating with enforcement agencies.</li>
<li>The primary responsibility for enforcement is largely with the State Food Safety Commissioners.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges and Shortcomings</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The &ldquo;petty <strong>manufacturer</strong>s, retailers and hawkers&rdquo; are exempted from FSSAI ambit. These segments greatly contributes to unorganised food sector and due to its low prices, most of the population prefer food consumption from these segments.</li>
<li><strong>Lack of infrastructure</strong> such as food testing laboratories. There are only 87 National Accreditation Board for testing and calibration Laboratories (NABL) accredited Labs, where as there are more than 1500 private labs in India.</li>
<li>Shortage of qualified manpower and functional food testing equipment in state food laboratories and referral laboratories resulted in deficient testing of food samples.</li>
<li>There is an acute shortage of licensing and enforcement officers in the states which severely affected food safety measures.</li>
<li>The body has been only prescriptive in nature and failed to ensure safety, quality and hygiene in food industry.</li>
<li>There are only 377 products mentioned in the FSSAI regulations &ndash; whereas other countries have over 10,000 standards. Moreover, the list is not regularly reviewed.</li>
<li>FSSAI is highly underfunded to monitor the widening ambit of food laws. Also, there are no standard practices for food inspection, the process being mostly discretionary.</li>
<li>Cumbersome and lengthy approval procedures have delayed the pre-launch approvals for products from the FSSAI for over a year.</li>
<li>Consignments of imported food products often remain stuck at the ports awaiting clearance by the FSSAI &ndash; sometimes due to small issues like labelling of the packages not conforming to arbitrary norms specified by the FSSAI, which differ from the widely accepted global standards.</li>
<li>Differences of opinion between the food regulator and the food processing ministry also handicap the FSSAI functioning.</li>
<li>According to a CAG Report, FSSAI is yet to frame regulations and guidelines to govern different procedures.</li>
<li>The CAG also found that "licenses were issued on the basis of incomplete documents in more than 50 per cent of cases, checked in Audit".</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Landmark cases with FSSAI:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Nestle India Limited Maggi Case: The maggi noodles were reported with excess lead unfit for human consumption and FSSAI prescribed for ban.</li>
<li>Cadbury India: It was reported that worms was found in Cadbury's Dairy Milk. The FSSAI declared packaging was not proper or airtight and made it mandatory to change the packaging.</li>
</ul>
<h3>FSSAI Initiatives</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Heart Attack Rewind&nbsp;&ndash;</strong> It is the first mass media campaign of FSSAI. It is aimed to support FSSAI&rsquo;s target of eliminating trans fat in India by the year 2022.</li>
<li><strong>FSSAI-CHIFSS &ndash;</strong> It is collaboration between FSSAI and CII-HUL Initiative on Food Safety Sciences to promote collaborations between Industry, Scientific Community, Academia for food safety.</li>
<li><strong>Swasth Bharat Yatra &ndash;</strong> It is a Pan-India cycle movement called as &lsquo;Eat Right India' aimed to create consumer awareness about eating safe and nutritious food.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>FSSAI should also bring the manufacturers under the responsibility of imposing food safety. The focus should be on covering each person in supply chain for assessment of food manufacturing, storing and distribution.</li>
<li>FSSAI has recently notified the draft Regulations on Food Recall Procedure to provide guidance to Food Business Organisations (FBO). This will enhance the present regulatory system.</li>
<li>FSSAI and the state food authorities should conduct surveys of food business activity under their jurisdiction to ensure a comprehensive and reliable database of FBOs and ensure better enforcement and administration of the FSS Act.</li>
<li>Increasing limits of compensation and fine in cases of injury or death and providing adequate infrastructure such as food testing laboratories.</li>
<li>CAG has recommended that FSSAI should frame standard operating procedures on the formulation and review of standards, and ensure that these are being followed in the near future.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/food-safety-and-standards-authority-of-india-fssai'
		],
		(int) 10 => [
			'title' => 'The Big Picture: Transforming Indian Cities',
			'catname' => 'Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions',
			'desc' => '<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ru2ceOoReTo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>According to Oxford Economics report, Indian cities will make up most of the fastest-growing cities in the world between 2019 and 2035, considering the year-on-year Gross Domestic Product growth. <strong>Over 17 of the 20 top cities on the list will be in India.</strong> The report said that Indian cities including <strong>Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai will be among the strongest performers across the globe</strong>. According to a Bloomberg report, <strong>India will dominate the top 10 cities in terms of economic growth over the span of 20 years</strong>. <strong>Surat, a commercial center for textiles in Gujarat, will witness the fastest GDP growth by an average exceeding 9%.</strong> While economic output in many of those Indian cities will remain rather small in comparison to the world&rsquo;s biggest metropolises, <strong>aggregated gross domestic product of all Asian cities will exceed that of all North American and European urban centres combined in 2027</strong>.</p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p>DRISHTI INPUT</p>
<p><strong>Oxford Economics Report Highlights</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Top 780 cities around the globe, currently are part of almost 60% of all world economic activity, and they will grow in importance as urbanisation continues. By 2035, these cities will be home to almost half a billion additional people with GDP rising by $32trillion (constant 2015 prices and exchange rates).</strong></li>
<li>The forecast is that there will be <strong>significant growth disparities between cities</strong> and therefore one can expect to see considerable changes in the world over this period. Many of today&rsquo;s emerging market cities, particularly in <strong>Asia, will continue to progress along the development path and the balance of urban economic power will shift further east as a result</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>By 2035, Asian cities will account for almost half of global activity, overtaking the aggregate of European and North American cities in just over a decade.</strong> But it is still expected that most of today&rsquo;s urban superpowers will retain their positions as the largest cities in terms of GDP in 2035, <strong>led by New York, Tokyo, London and Los Angeles</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Urbanisation in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Housing and employment are the most crucial needs for the migrating population.</strong> Presently, the cities are ill-equipped to tackle such influx due to lack of employment generation capability as well as housing capacity.</li>
<li>The consequence of such deficiency is <strong>rampant proliferation of illegal housings and slums</strong>. Lack of job opportunity also leads to rise in crime rate. Hence, the need of the hour is to make cities capable to absorb the growing population.</li>
<li><strong>But, the critical fact is that India has not urbanized enough.</strong> India is one of the least urbanized countries in the world. <strong>Most of the developed and developing countries have more than 50% urbanisation and western European countries along with the US and Canada has 80% urbanisation.</strong></li>
<li>The 2011 census states that extent of <strong>urbanization in India is 32%</strong>. However, the experts believe that the percentage is much higher. In one estimate it is as high as over 40%. The reason for such under reporting is that many adjoining urban areas are still being considered as rural areas.</li>
<li>The urban India is facing population burden. <strong>There is a huge influx of migrant workers into the cities.</strong> These cities are ill equipped to bear the burden of the unskilled workers. Rural urban migration is a point of concern, but intra city migration is also a rising phenomenon.</li>
<li>The Top 10 Indian cities mentioned in the Report are <strong>situated either in the western belt or in the southern belt</strong>. <strong>Eastern cities do not even feature in the Top 10</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<h3>The Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The recent survey has shown that the smaller cities and towns have grown faster than the big cities like Delhi and Mumbai. Hence, <strong>the focus must be put in to develop the tier-3 and tie-4 towns</strong>. Waste management system, schools, roads, proper sanitation infrastructure, water supply, power and most importantly, housing facility have to be developed so as to make small cities engines of growth.</li>
<li>There is need to revisit urban planning system and the focus should be on to <strong>improve the quality of life by developing the social and the physical infrastructure</strong>.</li>
<li>The local administration is the key to ensure the sustainable growth of the cities. The <strong>Smart City Mission</strong> in fact strengthens the governance system by empowering the local administration. The local municipal corporations should improve their respective credit scores and issue <strong>Municipal bonds</strong> to raise funds.</li>
<li>In this regard government schemes like <strong>Housing for All</strong> and <strong>Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana</strong> <strong>(National Urban Livelihoods Mission)</strong> have been playing an important role.</li>
<li>Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana (National Urban Livelihoods Mission) to <strong>reduce poverty and vulnerability of the urban poor households by enabling them to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities can help in tackling the issues related to urbanization.</strong></li>
<li>Housing for All &ndash; The Mission seeks to address the housing requirement of urban poor including slum dwellers through following programme:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Slum rehabilitation with the participation of private developers <strong>using land as a resource</strong>.</li>
<li>Promotion of Affordable Housing for weaker section <strong>through credit linked subsidy</strong>.</li>
<li>Affordable Housing in <strong>partnership with Public &amp; Private sectors</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>Subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction/enhancement.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/the-big-picture-transforming-indian-cities'
		],
		(int) 11 => [
			'title' => 'Eklavya Model Residential Schools',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The Central Government has approved the proposal of setting up of Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs) under <strong>Ministry of Tribal Affairs.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>As per the <strong>budget 2018-19</strong>, <strong>every block with more than 50% Schedule Tribe (ST) population and at least 20,000 tribal persons</strong>, will have an <strong>Eklavya Model Residential School by the year 2022.</strong></li>
<li>These are being set up by <strong>grants provided under Article 275(1)</strong> of the Constitution.</li>
<li>There will be an <strong>autonomous society</strong> under the ministry of tribal affairs &mdash; similar to Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti &mdash; to run the EMRSs.</li>
<li>The objective of EMRS is to provide <strong>quality middle and high level education to Scheduled Tribe (ST)</strong> students in remote areas, not only to enable them to avail of reservation in high and professional educational courses and as jobs in government and public and private sectors but also to have access to the best opportunities in education at par with the non ST population.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>STs, <strong>constitute 8.6%</strong> of the country&rsquo;s total population and <strong>11.3% of the total rural population.</strong></li>
<li>Despite the <strong>increase in literacy rates</strong> among STs from <strong>8.53% in 1961 to 58.96% in 2011</strong>, and the fact that the<strong> Right to Education Act, 2009</strong> makes it mandatory that all children between the <strong>ages of 6 and 14</strong> be provided <strong>free and compulsory education,</strong> significant disparities exist in enrolment rates, drop-outs, across states, districts and blocks.</li>
<li>In the case of tribals,<strong> dropout rates are still very high</strong> &ndash; 35.6% in Classes I to V; 55% in Classes I to VIII; and 70.9% in Classes I to X in 2010-11, according to the Statistics Of School Education 2010-2011.</li>
<li>According to a <strong>2014 UNICEF-sponsored South Asia regional study All Children in School by 2015,</strong> economic and socio-cultural factors are reasons behind the education deprivation for certain groups in India, especially SCs, STs and Muslims.</li>
<li>The<strong> India Human Development Survey</strong> shows the incidence of poverty is<strong> highest among the STs (49.6%), followed by the SCs (32.3%), and then the Muslims (30.6%).</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>EMRS can impact quality education to Scheduled Tribes (ST) children. Apart from school building, including hostels and staff quarters, playgrounds, computer labs and teacher resource rooms are also included in the scheme. This initiative will benefit ST students immensely.</li>
<li>By focusing on specific intervention to cater to the educational needs of STs, their quality of life is expected to improve to the level of the rest of the social groups and a visible impact by the 2021 Census.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/eklavya-model-residential-schools'
		],
		(int) 12 => [
			'title' => 'Important Facts for Prelims (18th December 2018)',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<h3>Ujjwala Yojana Extended to all Poor Households</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The government has extended Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) of providing free cooking gas (LPG) <strong>connections to all poor households not having LPG connections</strong>.</li>
<li>The scheme,<strong> launched in 2016</strong>, originally targeted giving LPG connections to mostly rural women members of below the poverty line (BPL) households. The list was later expanded to include all SC/ST households and forest dwellers among others.</li>
<li><g class="gr_ gr_31 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="31" data-gr-id="31">PMUY</g>, initiated by <strong>Ministry of Petroleum &amp; Natural Gas</strong> aims to <strong>safeguard the health of women &amp; children</strong> by providing them with a clean cooking fuel so that they don&rsquo;t have to compromise their health in smoky kitchens or wander in unsafe areas collecting firewood.</li>
<li>Under the scheme, the government provides a subsidy of Rs 1,600 to state-owned fuel retailers for every free LPG gas connection that they give to poor households. This subsidy is intended to cover the security fee for the cylinder and the fitting charges.</li>
<li>The <strong>World Health Organisation</strong> hailed PMUY as decisive intervention by the government to facilitate the switch to clean household energy use, thereby addressing the problems associated with indoor household pollution.</li>
</ul>
<h3>'Under the Sal Tree' Theatre Festival</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>&lsquo;Under the Sal Tree&rsquo; theatre festival is held every December inside the sal forest of <strong>Rampur village in Goalpara district of Assam</strong>.</li>
<li>It is a <g class="gr_ gr_37 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="37" data-gr-id="37">three day</g> theatre festival <g class="gr_ gr_35 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="35" data-gr-id="35">organised</g> in the middle of a jungle with an<strong> aim to connect human beings with nature</strong>.</li>
<li>The festival was initiated by noted Assamese theatre personality <strong>Sukracharya Rabha</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Brightest Object in the Universe</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Astronomers using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) system of 10 radio telescopes discovered the brightest object in the Universe named as <strong>Quasar P352-15</strong>.</li>
<li>A Quasar is the brightest object in the Universe. It exists at the center of galaxies and <g class="gr_ gr_39 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="39" data-gr-id="39">draw</g> energy from supermassive black holes.</li>
<li>P352-15 is approximately 13 billion light years away which means that the Quasar being witnessed belongs to the time when the universe was less than a billion years <g class="gr_ gr_32 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="32" data-gr-id="32">old,</g> or only about 7% of its current age.</li>
<li>This finding could help experts studying the early stages of the universe to understand what happened during the transition from the Big Bang.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Kanchenjunga Landscape</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The governments of <strong>India, Nepal, and Bhutan</strong> are considering having a joint task force<strong> for allowing free movement of wildlife across political boundaries</strong> and checking <g class="gr_ gr_77 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="77" data-gr-id="77">smuggling</g> of wildlife across the Kanchenjunga Landscape, a trans-boundary region spread across Nepal, India, and Bhutan</li>
<li><strong>The landscape stretches along the southern side of Mount Kanchenjunga covers an area of 25,080 sq km spread across parts of eastern Nepal (21%), Sikkim and West Bengal (56%) and western and southwestern parts of Bhutan (23%).</strong></li>
<li>According to the<strong> International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development ( ICIMOD)&nbsp;</strong>1,118 sq km of riverine grassland and tree cover were lost to agriculture and rangeland in the landscape between 2000 and 2010.</li>
<li><strong>Other than seven million people, the Kanchenjunga Landscape is home to 169 species of mammals and 713 species of birds.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Cyclone Phethai</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The cyclonic storm Phethai has made landfall in <strong>Andhra Pradesh.</strong></li>
<li>Phethai, name of the cyclone is suggested by<strong> Thailand.</strong> It is pronounced as <strong>`Pay-ti&rsquo;,</strong> means a <strong>vegetarian bean in Thailand.</strong></li>
<li>This comes barely months after <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/cyclone-gaja" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cyclone Gaja</a> wreaked havoc in Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, and Pudukottai districts of <strong>Tamil Nadu.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>India&rsquo;s First Military Flight using Blended Bio-Jet Fuel</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>For the first time, an <strong>An-32 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF)</strong> flew with 10% bio-jet <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/indias-first-biofuel-flight" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blended ATF (aviation turbine fuel) made from Jatropha oil.</a></li>
<li>This has the<strong> dual benefit</strong> of <strong>reducing the carbon footprint</strong> as well as <strong>usage of fossil fuels.</strong></li>
<li>With this, India joins a league of select nations to have developed, tested and certified the single step <strong>Hydroprocessed Renewable Jet (HRJ) process to convert non-edible oil into biofuel for use on military aircraft.</strong></li>
<li>A biofuel is a fuel<strong> produced from living matter</strong> that includes plant waste and animal fat, rather than a fuel produced through the geological process, such as coal, diesel and petroleum.</li>
<li>The project is a combined effort of <strong>Indian Air Force (IAF), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Directorate General Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum).</strong></li>
<li>The IAF will gradually start using this <strong>fuel blend for even fighter jets like Su-30MKIs and MiG-29s.</strong></li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-18th-december-2018'
		],
		(int) 13 => [
			'title' => 'Conference of the Parties (COP 24)',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>Recently, 24th meeting of the <strong>Conference of the Parties (COP24)</strong> to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) concluded in <strong>Katowice, Poland.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The aim of the conference was to fi<strong>nalize a rulebook for Paris agreement 2015.</strong> Paris climate pact will come into effect in 2020 and replace the existing Kyoto Protocol.</li>
<li>Paris Climate Pact has voluntary emission reduction targets called as &ldquo;Nationally Determined Contributions&rdquo; (NDCs) &mdash; of individual nations, who have different definitions and timetables for their greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction pledges. The rulebook will ensure that the signatories of the pact are held to standards.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Outcome of Summit</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Katowice conference has <strong>finalized a rulebook for implementation of the Paris Agreement,</strong> which was unanimously adopted by all member countries.</li>
<li>The guidelines set out <strong>how countries will provide information about their Nationally Determined Contributions</strong> describing their domestic climate actions, mitigation and adaptation measures how countries will report and monitor their national pledges to curb greenhouse gas emissions and update their emissions plans.</li>
<li>States are required to provide detailed information on the type of actions they have taken. If they have absolute economy-wide targets, they need to provide quantifiable information on their reference points for measurements, the gases covered, their planning processes, how countries consider their contribution fair and ambitious, and how it contributes to the objective of the NDC&rsquo;s.</li>
<li>The conference also saw some progress on the major issue of climate finance. <strong>The rulebook has addressed some concerns about the opaqueness of climate financing.</strong> Now, Developed Nations had to provide hard data on the sources of future financial flows.</li>
<li>The rulebook says what kinds of financial flows &mdash; loans, concessions, grants &mdash; can be classified as climate finance, how they should be accounted for, and the kind of information about them needed to be submitted.</li>
<li>The rulebook is a dynamic document, meaning new rules can be added, or existing rules amended.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Issues in Conference</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Disagreement on IPCC Report:</strong> The <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/global-warming-of-1-5-c-ipcc-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1.5&deg;C Report,</a> which was produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in October 2018 was not acknowledged as an evidence-based cause for alarm by the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Russia.</li>
<li><strong><g class="gr_ gr_82 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="82" data-gr-id="82">Issue</g> of Equity: Provisions did not reflect the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities.</strong> Poorer nations vulnerable to climate change also wanted more clarity on how an already agreed $100 billion a year of climate finance by 2020 will be provided.</li>
<li><strong>Market Mechanism:</strong> The <strong>conference could not reach a consensus on voluntary market mechanisms.</strong> Article 6 of the Paris Agreement talks about setting up a market mechanism for trading of carbon emissions.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>A carbon market allows countries, or industries, to earn carbon credits for the emission reductions they make in excess of what is required of them. These carbon credits can be traded to the highest bidder in exchange for money. The buyers of carbon credits can show the emission reductions as their own and use them to meet their own reduction targets.</li>
<li>Developing countries like China, India, and Brazil have accumulated huge amounts of unused carbon credits. These countries argued that their unused carbon credits should be considered valid in the new market mechanism that was being created, which was opposed by the developed countries.</li>
<li>Developed countries questioned the authenticity of the unused carbon credits, pointing to weak verification mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol that allowed dubious projects to claim carbon credits.</li>
<li><strong>The discussion over carbon markets is deferred to the next year.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>India&rsquo;s Stand at the conference</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India <strong>reaffirmed its commitment to meeting the goals under the 2015 Paris Agreement</strong> while protecting its key interest including climate justice ( "Climate Justice" means solutions to the climate change problem that promote human rights, equity, labor rights, and environmental justice globally and locally).</li>
<li>India<strong> expressed strong reservation over the lack of equity in the global stock-take</strong> (taking stock of collective progress toward achieving the purpose of the Paris Agreement and its long-term goals) in the rule book of the agreement.</li>
<li>It sought a<strong> robust transparency regime for countries to disclose their emissions.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>India's INDC</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Sustainable Lifestyles</strong> - To put forward and further propagate a healthy and sustainable way of living based on traditions and values of conservation and moderation.</li>
<li><strong>Cleaner Economic Development</strong> - To adopt a climate-friendly and a cleaner path than the one followed hitherto by others at the corresponding level of economic development.</li>
<li><strong>Reducing Emission intensity of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)</strong> - To<strong> reduce the emissions </strong>intensity of its GDP by <strong>33 to 35 percent by 2030 from 2005 level.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Increasing the Share of Non-Fossil Fuel Based Electricity</strong> - To achieve about 40 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030 with the help of transfer of technology and low-cost international finance including from Green Climate Fund (GCF). India has a target to install 227 GW target of renewable energy by 2022.&nbsp;</li>
<li><strong>Enhancing Carbon Sink (Forests)</strong> - To create an <strong>additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2</strong> equivalent through additional forest and<strong> tree cover by 2030.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Adaptation</strong> - To better adapt to climate change by enhancing investments in development programmes in sectors vulnerable to climate change, particularly agriculture, water resources, Himalayan region, coastal regions, health, and disaster management.</li>
<li><strong>Mobilizing Finance</strong> - To mobilize domestic and new &amp; additional funds from developed countries to implement the above mitigation and adaptation actions in view of the resource required and the resource gap.</li>
<li><strong>Technology Transfer and Capacity Building -</strong> To build capacities, create a domestic framework and international architecture for quick diffusion of cutting-edge climate technology in India and for joint collaborative R&amp;D for such future technologies.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p><strong></strong></p>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/conference-of-the-parties-cop-24'
		],
		(int) 14 => [
			'title' => 'Agriculture Export Policy, 2018',
			'catname' => 'Paper 3',
			'desc' => '<h3>Why in News?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Union Cabinet recently approved the agriculture export policy.</li>
<li>The Cabinet also approved the proposal for establishment of Monitoring Framework to oversee the implementation of Agriculture Export Policy.</li>
<li>India&rsquo;s agricultural export is a paltry 15% of its total produce; which stands 25 % for US and 49 % for China.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Agriculture Export Policy</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Policy looks to provide impetus to agricultural exports, it is aimed at doubling the agricultural exports and integrating Indian farmers and agricultural products with the global value chains</li>
<li>It envisions making India global power in agriculture and raising farmers&rsquo; income through various policy instruments.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Objective</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>To double agricultural exports from 30 billion dollars to 60 Billion by 2022.</li>
<li>To diversify export basket, destinations and boost high value and value added agricultural exports including focus on perishables.</li>
<li>It looks to promote novel, indigenous, organic, ethnic, traditional and non-traditional Agri products exports.</li>
<li>To provide an institutional mechanism for pursuing market access, tackling barriers and deal with sanitary and <strong>phytosanitary</strong> issues.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures </strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>With the establishment of the World Trade Organization on 1 January 1995, an agreement on the Application of <strong>Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the "SPS Agreement")</strong> entered into force.</li>
<li>It concerns the application of food safety and animal and plant health regulations.</li>
<li>Countries can set their own standards but they should be based on science and should be safe for the consumers.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>To strive to double India&rsquo;s share in world agri-exports by integrating with global value chain at the earliest.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Elements of the Policy</h3>
<p>Agriculture Export Policy has been organised in two categories &ndash; <strong>Strategic and Operational</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Strategic:</strong> It Includes,
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Policy measures</li>
<li>Infrastructure and logistics support</li>
<li>Holistic approach to boost exports</li>
<li>Greater involvement of State Governments in agri exports</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Operational:</strong> It includes,
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Focus on Clusters</li>
<li>Promoting value added exports</li>
<li>Marketing and promotion of &ldquo;Brand India&rdquo;</li>
<li>Attract private investments into production and processing</li>
<li>Establishment of strong quality regimen</li>
<li>Research &amp; Development</li>
<li>Miscellaneous</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>India and WTO</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>All the measures proposed in the Agriculture Export Policy are compatible with World Trade Organisation norms.</li>
<li>With India moving out of the income bracket of per capital gross national income of less than $1000, it is not allowed by the WTO to give any financial assistance or export SOPs.</li>
<li>Therefore measures such as marketing and promotion and infrastructure building such as development of clusters are only considered in the policy.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Benefits of Export Policy</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India&rsquo;s agricultural trade policies are inconsistent with respect to guaranteed availability of produce for exports which makes India an unreliable trading partner; the policy would help India become a reliable partner.</li>
<li>It will help India in turning the unfavorable balance of payment as it will become an important source of foreign exchange.</li>
<li>It will act as a catalyst for crop diversification which helps in averting crop failure, better price realization etc.</li>
<li>It will also result in social upliftment by increasing farm income.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Prices in international market for food grain, sugar, cooking oil as well as dairy and meat products are very low leaving Indian products at disadvantage from their global peer.</li>
<li>Current minimum support price (MSP) of wheat and rice make India&rsquo;s food grain quite dear in the domestic market.</li>
<li>Indian government is always "pro-consumer", backing cheap imports to keep inflation in food prices low, hurting local producer.</li>
<li>Farmers are not aware of the external factors like global price, quality standard etc which makes them a poor choice as reliable suppliers.</li>
<li>India&rsquo;s farm produce suffers from poor customs and port infrastructure, and high logistics cost that cut into the exporters&rsquo; margins.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Effective cold chains can increase the exports of processed agricultural products, but government needs to put in money to push infrastructure.</li>
<li>Limited state interference, reform of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act, liberalization of land leasing norms etc is required to make India a reliable supplier with continued stability.</li>
<li>Government should ensure easy credit flow to the export sector, especially small exporters to ensure adequate availability of funds to them.</li>
<li>Trade promotion organizations can be setup at strategic overseas location which can boost India&rsquo;s paltry export to those nations.</li>
</ul>',
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			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/paper3/agriculture-export-policy-2018-1'
		],
		(int) 15 => [
			'title' => 'National Supercomputing Mission',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>French technology firm <strong>Atos</strong> will build a network of 70 supercomputers across India under the <strong>National Supercomputing Mission.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The supercomputers will be<strong> manufactured and designed in India</strong>, and will boost India&rsquo;s supercomputing capabilities. However, in terms of the speed, they will <strong>greatly lag those built by China</strong>, the world&rsquo;s largest supercomputer powerhouse.</li>
<li>The<strong> first three supercomputers</strong> will be set up in <strong>IIT BHU, IIT Kharagpur and IIITM Pune</strong>. While IIT BHU will get a one Petaflop supercomputer, the other two institutes will have 650 Teraflops each.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>National Supercomputing Mission</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The National Supercomputing Mission was<strong> announced in March 2015</strong>, with an aim to connect <strong>national academic and R&amp;D institutions with a grid of more than 70 high-performance computing facilities</strong> at an estimated cost of <strong>₹4,500 crore</strong> over the period of <strong>seven years.</strong></li>
<li>It supports the government's vision of <strong>'Digital India'</strong> and <strong>'Make in India'</strong> initiatives.</li>
<li>The mission will be implemented by the <strong>Department of Science and Technology (Ministry of Science and Technology )</strong> and <strong>Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)</strong>, through the <strong>Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.</strong></li>
<li>These supercomputers will also be networked on the National Supercomputing grid over the National Knowledge Network (NKN). The NKN connects academic institutions and R&amp;D labs over a high speed network.</li>
<li>Under NSM, the long-term plan is to<strong> build a strong base of 20,000 skilled persons</strong> over the next five years who will be equipped to handle the complexities of supercomputers.</li>
<li><strong>PARAM Shavak</strong> is one such machine that has been deployed to provide training.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Advantages</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>These supercomputers will <strong>meet the &nbsp;increasing computing demand of the scientific and academic community</strong> in the country, international technology trends and roadmaps of leading countries in the area, strategic importance and emergence of supercomputing as a benchmark for Scientific &amp; Technological advancements.</li>
<li>These machines will be part of the <strong>National Supercomputing grid over the National Knowledge Network (NKN),</strong> which will have wide-scale applications in the fields of<strong> climate modelling, weather prediction, aerospace engineering , computational biology, molecular dynamics, atomic energy simulations, national security and defence applications, seismic analysis, disaster prediction and management, computational chemistry, big data analytics, finance and more.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Supercomputers in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India's supercomputer program was started in <strong>late 1980s because Cray supercomputers</strong> could not be imported into India due to an <strong>arms embargo imposed on India,</strong> as it was a dual-use technology and could be used for developing nuclear weapons.</li>
<li>This led to setting up the <strong>Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in March 1988</strong> with the clear mandate to develop an indigenous supercomputer to meet high-speed computational needs.</li>
<li><strong>PARAM 8000,</strong> considered to be India&rsquo;s first supercomputer &nbsp;was<strong> indigenously built in 1991</strong> by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).</li>
<li>Presently, <strong>Pratyush, a Cray XC40 system -</strong> an array of computers that can deliver a <strong>peak power of 6.8 petaflops,</strong> installed at the <strong>Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune,</strong> is the fastest supercomputer in India. Launched in January 2018, it is the<strong> fourth fastest High Performance Computer (HPC) dedicated to climate modelling in the world.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The biggest challenge for India is <strong>limited funding.</strong> Limited investments and delayed release of funds slowed things down further.</li>
<li>This is one of the main reasons why India, which has the capacity to build a world-class system, has never reached the top position in the rankings.</li>
<li>While India&rsquo;s stronghold is in the field of software development, it has to depend on imports to procure the hardware components required for building supercomputers.</li>
<li>But the situation is changing, with India now venturing into design, manufacture and assembly of hardware components. This will not only cut down import costs, it will also ensure that while assembling supercomputers, applications are tailored to address problems that are specific to India.</li>
</ul>',
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		],
		(int) 16 => [
			'title' => 'Important Facts for Prelims (17th December 2018)',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<h3>Great Indian Bustard</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The population of <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-15th-september-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Great Indian Bustard</a> has significantly shrunk to less than 150 in<strong> five States (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh)</strong>. India is the only country that habitats the Great Indian Bustard.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Threats</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Hunting:</strong> The bird was a <strong>popular game bird</strong> and still is in some pockets.</li>
<li><strong>Agriculture:</strong> Habitat of bustards are categorised as &lsquo;wastelands&rsquo;, like most grassland habitats in India. The <strong>push to make these areas more &lsquo;productive&rsquo; has seen an increase in irrigation facilities</strong> in these parts, resulting in the spillover of agricultural land into bustard habitats. Intensification of agriculture, including more pesticides, barbed-wire fences and new crops are endangering the birds&rsquo; survival.</li>
<li><strong>Development :</strong> Their habitat grassland are now sites for renewable power projects. New wind turbines and more power line affect the flight of Bustards as they have poor frontal vision and heavy bodies.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Markermeer Lake</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Markermeer is one of <strong>Europe&rsquo;s largest Freshwater Lake</strong> and is located in <strong>the Netherlands.</strong></li>
<li>An artificial archipelago is being built on Markermeer Lake <strong>from the sediments in the lake to bring wildlife back</strong>.</li>
<li>These islands are named as Marker Wadden Islands. These <strong>'Marker Wadden' will form a unique ecosystem</strong> that will boost biodiversity in the region.</li>
</ul>',
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		],
		(int) 17 => [
			'title' => 'Information Fusion Center of Indian Navy',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The Indian Navy will inaugurate the <strong>Information Fusion Centre (IFC) for the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Information Fusion Centre will serve countries that have<strong> White Shipping Information Exchange</strong> (White-shipping refers to commercial shipping information about the movement of cargo ships) agreements with India.</li>
<li>The IFC-IOR is established with the<strong> vision of strengthening maritime security</strong> in the region, by building a<strong> common coherent maritime situation picture</strong> and acting as a <strong>maritime information hub</strong> for the region.</li>
<li>The IOR apart from being <strong>heavily militarized ocean</strong> also faces<strong> threats like maritime terrorism, piracy, arms-running, human trafficking.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Information Fusion Centre (IFC)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The IFC has been established at the Indian Navy&rsquo;s<strong> Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) in Gurugram, Haryana.</strong></li>
<li>IFC is the single point center<strong> linking all the coastal radar chains</strong> to generate a <strong>seamless real-time picture</strong> of the nearly 7,500-km coastline.</li>
<li>All countries that have signed white shipping information exchange agreements with India can now position liaison officers at the IFC.</li>
<li>The IFC-IOR is a separate platform and all members of the <strong>Indian Ocean Naval Symposium are expected to be part of it.</strong> The IONS, launched in 2008, seeks to increase maritime cooperation in IOR.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Significance</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Information on commercial shipping will be exchanged with countries in the region to<strong> improve maritime domain awareness</strong> in the Indian Ocean.</li>
<li>It will strengthen the<strong> mutual collaboration and understanding of the threats prevalent in the region.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Trans-Regional Maritime Network (T-RMN)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Recently, India has also signed the Trans Regional Maritime Network (T-RMN) agreement.</li>
<li>The multilateral agreement <strong>comprises of 30 countries and is steered by Italy.</strong></li>
<li>This will facilitate information<strong> exchange on the movement of commercial traffic</strong> on the high seas.</li>
<li>Under the T-RMN, information is available mainly through the <strong>Automatic Identification System (AIS),</strong> fitted on the merchant ships as mandated by the International Maritime Organisation.</li>
<li>The AIS is used to identify passenger and commercial ships in international waters. AIS comprises the name, number, position, course, speed, last port visited, destination etc.</li>
<li>Such multilateral agreements help Indian Navy monitor whole Indian Ocean. As due to the large traffic, the Indian Ocean cannot be entirely monitored by any one nation.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) is <strong>located in Gurugram.</strong></li>
<li>It is the <strong>main center of the Indian Navy for coastal surveillance and monitoring.</strong></li>
<li>IMAC is the nodal center of the <strong>National Command Control Communications and Intelligence Network (NC3I Network).</strong></li>
<li>IMAC is a joint initiative of Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Bharat Electronics Ltd. and functions under the <strong>National Security Adviser (NSA).</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>National Command Control Communication and Intelligence Network (NC3IN)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Indian Navy has established the NC3IN linking 51 stations, including 20 of the Navy and 31 of the Coast Guard, with a nodal Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC).</li>
<li>The NC3I links 20 naval and 31 Coast Guard monitoring stations to generate a seamless real-time picture of the nearly 7,500-km long coastline.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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		],
		(int) 18 => [
			'title' => 'Why Commodity Transaction Tax Must Go',
			'catname' => 'News Editorials',
			'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article &ldquo;Why commodity transaction tax must go&rdquo; which appeared in The Hindu on 17th December.)</p>
</div>
<p>Commodity Transaction Tax (CTT) is claimed as a tax that harmed more than doing good in India. It is argued that it was introduced for the wrong reason. While typically such taxes are levied to curb excessive speculation or to garner tax revenue, the Centre used CTT as a tool to make trading shift from commodity to equity futures.</p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>A commodity futures contract</strong> is an agreement to buy or sell a predetermined amount of a commodity at a specific price on a specific date in the future. Buyers use such contracts to avoid the risks associated with the price fluctuations of a futures' underlying product or raw material. Sellers use futures contracts to lock in guaranteed prices for their products.</p>
<p><strong>Stock Futures are financial contracts</strong> where the underlying asset is an individual stock. Stock Future contract is an agreement to buy or sell a specified quantity of underlying equity share for a future date at a price agreed upon between the buyer and seller.(A stock is a share in the ownership of a company).</p>
<p><strong>What is Commodity Transaction Tax?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is introduced to tax commodity trading in India where both parties&mdash;buyer &amp; seller of contract&mdash;will be taxed depending on the amount of the contract size. CCT is similar to the securities transaction tax (STT)-( a tax payable in India on the value of securities (excluding commodities and currency) transacted through a recognized stock exchange) levied on the purchase and sale of equities in the stock market.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>In the Union Budget of 2008-09, P Chidambaram first mooted the idea of CTT.</strong></li>
<li>At that time, the intention appears to have been to garner revenue from a section of the market that was growing at a brisk pace.</li>
<li>The Budget proposal was not implemented due to ardent opposition of the commodity exchanges and traders.</li>
<li>However, in 2013, lobbying by stock exchanges drowned the protests of commodity exchanges in the corridors of power. The stock exchanges argued that Securities Transaction Tax levied on equity derivatives had made transacting in stock futures and options more expensive and an unfair advantage was being given to commodity derivatives that were free from transaction tax until then. They were of the view that this was resulting in shifting volumes from equity to commodity futures.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Commodity derivatives</strong> are financial instruments whose value is based on underlying commodities, such as oil, gas, metals, agricultural products, and minerals.</p>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In 2013 CTT was imposed on non-agricultural commodities futures contracts at 0.01 per cent of the contract price. While most agri commodities were exempt from this tax, some processed commodities were brought under the purview of this taxation. In 2018, CTT has been imposed on commodity options too.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Impacts</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A lot has changed with the introduction of the CTT by the Government in 2013.</li>
<li>The reason why CTT was introduced during financial year 2013-2014 (for non-agricultural commodities) was to bring parity between the equity and commodity derivative markets.</li>
<li>However, with CTT, transaction cost for a trader increased five times, causing the trader to rethink his/her options as the proposed rate does not reflect the volatility conditions of the commodity vis-&agrave;-vis equity derivative markets (equity markets are more volatile/unstable as compared to commodities).</li>
<li>This resulted in CTT having a significant negative impact on the trading volumes of all commodities, leading to India&rsquo;s global ranking dropping to lower levels.</li>
<li>By 2025, the Government potentially stands to lose about ₹4,300 crore in aggregate if CTT remains in force. Due to the lower volume, the revenue from CTT collection has been so meager that it is clubbed with other income taxes in the Union Budget.</li>
<li>Financial participants in non-agri segments were also affected. There is some increase in market volatility in the last year for bullion contracts (copper, gold, and silver) also.</li>
<li>Introduction of CTT has, therefore, dealt a severe blow to the volume of bullion, energy and base metal contracts traded on commodity exchanges while causing an unnecessary spike in stock futures trading.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Financial participants such as arbitrageurs [someone who engages in arbitrage i.e purchases securities in one market for immediate resale in another in the hope of profiting from the price differential] and traders, who have moved away due to the CTT levy, are needed to impart liquidity in any market. The Centre therefore needs to seriously consider removing the transaction tax on commodity derivatives.</li>
<li>The commodity derivative segment is more important than equity because it helps commodity producers and other manufacturers manage their price risk.</li>
<li>Since this segment is still at a nascent stage, burdening it with additional transaction taxes, which yield paltry sums to the exchequer, makes very little sense.</li>
<li>The Government could also consider a reduction in this transaction tax (in line with other international exchanges) if not removal, as this would make Indian exchanges globally competitive, thereby increasing trading volumes significantly leading to higher revenues through taxation on profits made by each stakeholder in the system.</li>
</ul>',
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		],
		(int) 19 => [
			'title' => 'National Medical Devices Promotion Council to be set up ',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The government has decided to set up the <strong>National Medical Devices Promotion Council (NMDPC)</strong> to boost manufacturing, attract investments and promote exports in the medical device sector which is a sunrise sector.</p>
<h3>Significance</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>Medical Devices Industry (MDI)</strong> plays a critical role in the healthcare ecosystem in the country.</li>
<li>Having self-reliance in medical devices is important to achieve the goal of health for all citizens of the country. It will also help in reducing an import bill of over Rs 31, 000 crore in&nbsp;the medical devices sector.</li>
<li>As Indian manufacturing companies and startups move towards creating innovative products, the setting-up of the Council will boost domestic manufacturing in this sector.</li>
<li>Medical Devices Development Council will help in making India top 5 Medical Devices manufacturing hubs worldwide.</li>
</ul>
<h3>About NMDPC</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Council will be headed by Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.</li>
<li>Council will have representatives from concerned departments of Government, health care industry and quality control institutions.</li>
<li>Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone, Visakhapatnam, will provide technical support to the Council.</li>
<li>The National Medical Devices Promotion Council will have the following <strong>objectives and activities:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Act as a facilitating and promotion &amp; developmental body for the Indian MDI.</li>
<li>Hold periodic seminars, workshops, and all related networking activities to garner views of the industry.</li>
<li>Identify redundant processes and render technical assistance to the agencies and government departments to simplify the approval processes.</li>
<li>Enable entry of emerging interventions and support certifications for manufacturers to reach levels of global trade norms and lead India to an export-driven market in the sector.</li>
<li>Support dissemination and documentation of international norms and standards for medical devices, by capturing the best practices in the global market.</li>
<li>Drive a robust and dynamic Preferential Market Access (PMA) policy.</li>
<li>Undertake validation of Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) and other such entities within the MDI sector.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Sunrise Sector:</strong> An industry that produces new types of products or services, especially one that is expected to grow quickly. For example&nbsp;the food processing industry, space tourism, biotechnology etc.</p>
<p><strong>The Medical Devices Industry in India</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Medical Devices industry in India has steadily grown and is valued at more than $5 billion.</li>
<li>As per industry estimates, the Indian medical devices market will grow to USD 50 billion by 2025.</li>
<li>Currently, India is counted among the top 20 global medical devices market and is the 4th largest medical devices market in Asia after Japan, China, and South Korea.</li>
<li>Up to 100% Foreign Direct Investment is permitted in Medical devices through the automatic route.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Challenges to Medical Device industry in India</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Low Penetration</strong> - The per capita medical device spending of USD 3, compared to USD 7 in China and USD 42 in Russia is significantly low.</li>
<li><strong>Lack of Accessibility</strong> - The Indian healthcare system is inadequate, inefficient, and unevenly distributed. 69% of the Indian population lives in rural areas, while 73% of qualified consulting doctors reside in urban areas. Eight percent of qualified doctors are in rural areas, and the remaining 19% are in semi-rural areas.</li>
<li><strong> Inadequate regulatory systems-&nbsp;</strong>Non-alignment with global standards and the lack of quality product testing infrastructure are issues that hinder sectoral progress.</li>
<li><strong>Real estate prices</strong> and high capital costs limit the growth of delivery infrastructure.</li>
<li>Insufficient attention by policymakers and a<strong> complex tax regime</strong> are also responsible for the sector&rsquo;s underdevelopment.</li>
<li>The <strong>lack of a comprehensive policy</strong> and focus to develop the healthcare eco-system.</li>
<li>The limited attractiveness of India as a destination for medical devices due to<strong> uncertain regulations and pricing environment,</strong> unavailability of skilled resources, and ease of doing business compared to other comparable destinations in Asia.</li>
<li><strong>Lack of innovation</strong> and customization resulting in fewer options available to the patients.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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		'title' => 'GSAT-7A Launched',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>Indian Space and Research Organization (ISRO) has recently launched communication satellite GSAT-7A onboard the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle F-11 (GSLV F-11).</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>GSLV F-11 is the seventh flight of GSLV Mk-II and is equipped with <strong>indigenously developed cryogenic upper stage engine.</strong></li>
<li>The satellite is nicknamed as<strong> &lsquo;angry bird&rsquo;</strong> as it will enhance Indian Air Force (IAF) capabilities.</li>
<li>It is heaviest satellite launch in GSLV&rsquo;s Mk-II version launch vehicle.</li>
<li>In September 2013, Isro launched <strong>GSAT-7 (Rukmini),</strong> a communication satellite <strong>exclusively for Navy</strong> to monitor Indian Ocean Region up to 2,000 nautical miles and provide real-time inputs to Indian warships, submarines, and maritime aircraft.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Significance</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The satellite will give a boost to the strategic communication and networking capabilities of the IAF.</li>
<li>GSAT-7A will enable superior real-time aircraft-to-aircraft communication and between aircraft and base station.</li>
<li>GSAT-7A is expected to boost the IAF&rsquo;s network-centric warfare capabilities by interlinking all ground-based radars, airborne early warning and control aircraft for surveillance, maintain air superiority, gather intelligence by detecting aircraft, vessels and other vehicles in long range.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>GSAT-7A</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Weight:<strong> 2250 Kg</strong></li>
<li>Orbit:<strong> Super Synchronous Orbit</strong> (Orbit beyond Geosynchronous Orbit)</li>
<li>Mission Life: <strong>8 years</strong></li>
<li>GSAT-7A is the<strong> 35th communication satellite built by ISRO.</strong></li>
<li>GSAT-7A is an advanced communication satellite with a<strong> Gregorian Antenna. </strong></li>
<li>The satellite will operate in the <strong>Ku band</strong> (This frequency range is often used for satellite communications).</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/gsat-7a-launched'
	],
	(int) 1 => [
		'title' => 'Important Facts for Prelims (20th December 2018)',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<h3>Black-necked Crane</h3>
<p></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Black-necked cranes</strong> also known as '<strong>Trung-Trung Karmo</strong>' migrate every winter from Tibet and China's Xinjiang province to Arunachal Pradesh in India.</li>
<li><strong>Sangti Valley</strong> in West Kameng district and <strong>Zemithang</strong> of<strong> Arunachal Pradesh</strong> are the only wintering sites of the bird in India. The crane also breeds in Ladakh and Bhutan.</li>
<li>The bird is revered by the 1 lakh-strong community of&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Monpas</strong> (major Buddhist ethnic group of Arunachal Pradesh)</span> as an embodiment&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: 400;">of the sixth</span>&nbsp; <strong>Dalai Lama (Tsangyang Gyatso)</strong>.</li>
<li>It is protected under Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 - the highest legal protection given to birds and wildlife.</li>
<li>It has been classified as 'vulnerable' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in its Red List of Threatened Species.</li>
</ul>
<h3>World&rsquo;s First Drone-delivered Vaccine in Vanuatu</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A one-month-old baby in <strong>Vanuatu</strong> has become the first person in the world to be immunised using vaccines delivered by a commercial drone which has raised hopes that the method could save lives in other far-flung areas.</li>
<li>Vaccines are difficult to transport as they need to be kept at specific temperatures. During the drone flight, they were kept in Styrofoam boxes with ice-packs and a temperature sensor.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-20th-december-2018'
	],
	(int) 2 => [
		'title' => 'Lok Sabha Passes Surrogacy Bill',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The Lok Sabha passed Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016, <strong>banning commercial renting of wombs</strong> and allowing only <strong>&ldquo;altruistic surrogacy&rdquo;.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Bill was approved by the Cabinet in August 2016. It was introduced in the Lok Sabha in November 2016 and was later referred to a parliamentary standing committee on health and family welfare in January 2017.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Key Provisions</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Bill seeks to regulate the surrogacy part of a <strong>flourishing infertility industry</strong> in the country.</li>
<li>It defines &lsquo;surrogacy&rsquo; as a practice in which a woman undertakes to give birth to a child for another couple and agrees to hand over the child to them after birth.</li>
<li>It allows &lsquo;altruistic surrogacy&rsquo; &mdash; wherein <strong>only the medical expenses</strong> and <strong>insurance coverage</strong> is provided by the couple to the surrogate mother during pregnancy. <strong>No other monetary consideration will be allowed.</strong></li>
<li>It allows surrogacy for <strong>infertile married (at least five years) Indian couples only</strong>. The female must be <strong>between 23 and 50 years and the male 26 and 55 years</strong>; and they cannot have any surviving child (biological, adopted or surrogate).
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>However, this would <strong>not include</strong> a &lsquo;child who is mentally or physically challenged or suffers from life threatening disorder or fatal illness.&rsquo;</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Only a <strong>close relative of the couple</strong>, who is able to provide a medical fitness certificate, can be a surrogate mother. She should have been married, having a child of her own, and must be between 25 and 35 years, but can be a surrogate mother only once.</li>
<li>The stated objective of the new Bill is to constitute a <strong>National Surrogacy Board, State Surrogacy Board</strong> and appointment of authorities for regulation of practice and process of surrogacy. In short, the law is meant to end commercial surrogacy or, as the Supreme Court had once in 2009, termed &ldquo;fertility tourism&rdquo; in the country</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It does<strong> not allow</strong> single women or men, or gay couples to go in for surrogacy.</li>
<li>Despite a similar stringent law, the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, illegal organ commerce continues to thrive. Clearly, the issue will have to be handled firmly, even as the sensitivities of people are factored in.</li>
<li>Adoption of a child borne out of surrogacy: An <strong>unhealthy child borne</strong> out of surrogacy is often not accepted by the parents, due to the lack of legal safeguards for the child and the surrogate mother. The bill has<strong> not addressed</strong> this issue comprehensively.</li>
<li>The <strong>Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC)</strong> has rejected a blanket ban on commercial surrogacy proposed in the Bill. It said that commercial surrogacy could trigger a<strong> black market for surrogacy</strong> services in India.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The whole surrogacy service could <strong>go underground</strong> and it would lead to increased exploitation with no mechanism for protection of any of the parties involved in the surrogacy arrangement.</li>
<li>It could result in<strong> trafficking of surrogate mothers</strong> to foreign nations or safe surrogacy havens around the globe for monetary returns.</li>
<li>The provision of no monetary incentive in the proposed Bill except medical expenses can make surrogacy <strong>similar to &ldquo;forced labour&rdquo;</strong> which is prohibited under Article-23 of the Constitution.</li>
<li>Endorsing altruistic surrogacy will enforce <strong>emotional and social pressure on close female relatives</strong> without any compensation for immense emotional and bodily labour of gestation involved in surrogacy as well as loss of livelihood.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why the Need for a Surrogacy Bill</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Fertility tourism:</strong> India has emerged as a hub for infertility treatment, attracting people from the world over with its state-of-the-art technology and competitive prices to treat infertility.</li>
<li><strong>End exploitation:&nbsp;</strong>India has emerged as a surrogacy hub for couples from different countries and there have been reports of unethical practices such as exploitation of surrogate mothers, abandonment of children born out of surrogacy and cases of intermediaries importing human embryos and gametes.</li>
<li>Commercial surrogacy has been legal in India since 2002 under the<strong> guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)</strong>. The <strong>Law Commission of India</strong> had also recommended prohibiting commercial surrogacy and allowing only ethical altruistic surrogacy to the needy Indian citizens by enacting a suitable legislation.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Surrogacy</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>When a couple wants a baby but is unable to have a child because either or both partners are medically unfit to conceive, another woman (surrogate mother) is <strong>artificially inseminated</strong> with the sperm of the father. She then carries the child full term and delivers it for the couple.</li>
<li>In such a case, the <strong>surrogate mother is the biological mother of the child</strong>. In instances when the father&rsquo;s sperm cannot be used, a donor sperm can also be used. This is traditional surrogacy.</li>
<li>In <strong>gestational surrogacy,</strong> eggs from the mother are fertilised with the father&rsquo;s/donor&rsquo;s sperm and then the embryo is placed into the uterus of the surrogate, who carries the child to term and delivers it. In this case, the biological mother is still the woman whose eggs are used, while the surrogate is called the birth mother.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/lok-sabha-passes-surrogacy-bill'
	],
	(int) 3 => [
		'title' => 'The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The Lok Sabha has passed the transgender persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016. The bill will now be placed in Rajya Sabha.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Bill was brought following a 2014 order of the Supreme Court (<em>NALSA vs. Union of India</em>) that asked the central and state governments to take steps for the welfare of the transgender community and to treat them as a third gender for the purpose of safeguarding their rights under Part III of the Constitution.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Provisions in the bill</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Definition of a Transgender Persons:</strong>&nbsp;In the amended bill transgender person means a person whose gender does not match with the gender assigned to that person at birth and includes trans-man (whether or not such person has undergone sex reassignment surgery or hormone therapy or laser therapy or such other therapy), person with intersex variations, gender-queer and person having such socio-cultural identities as <g class="gr_ gr_82 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling" id="82" data-gr-id="82">kinnar</g>, hijra,&nbsp;<g class="gr_ gr_80 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="80" data-gr-id="80">aaravani</g> and <g class="gr_ gr_81 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="81" data-gr-id="81">jogta</g>.</li>
<li><strong>Prohibition against discrimination:</strong> The Bill prohibits the discrimination against a transgender person, including denial of service or unfair treatment in relation to: <strong>(i) education (ii) employment (iii) healthcare (iv) public goods (v) right to movement (vi) right to reside, rent, own or occupy property (vii) opportunity to hold public or private office; and (viii) access to a government or private establishment.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Offenses and Penalties:</strong> The Bill recognizes the following offenses: (i) begging, forced or bonded labor (ii) denial of use of a public place; (iii) denial of residence in the household, village, etc.; (iv) physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic abuse.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>These offenses will attract imprisonment between six months and two years and a fine.<strong></strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Certificate of identity for a transgender person:</strong> A transgender person may make an application to the District Magistrate for a certificate of identity, indicating the gender as &lsquo;transgender&rsquo;.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The District Magistrate will issue such certificate based on the <strong>recommendations of a District Screening Committee.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>The right of residence:</strong> If the immediate family is unable to care for the transgender person, the person may be placed in a rehabilitation center, on the orders of a competent court.<strong></strong></li>
<li><strong>Welfare measures by the government:</strong> The Bill states that the government will take measures to ensure the full inclusion and participation of transgender persons in society.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It must also take steps for their rescue and rehabilitation, vocational training and self-employment, create schemes that are transgender-sensitive.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Setting up of National Council for Transgender persons (NCT):</strong>&nbsp;Under the Bill, NCT will be set up which will consist of:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Union Minister for Social Justice (Chairperson);</li>
<li>Minister of State for Social Justice (Vice-Chairperson);</li>
<li>Secretary of the Ministry of Social Justice;</li>
<li>One representative from ministries like Health, Home Affairs, Minority Affairs, Housing and Poverty Alleviation, Human Resources Development, etc.</li>
<li>Other members include representatives of the NITI Aayog, National Human Rights Commission, and the National Commission for Women. State governments will also be represented.</li>
<li>The Council will also consist of five members from the transgender community and five experts from non-governmental organizations.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Concerns in the Bill</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Bill does <strong>not give the right of self-identification to transgender persons,</strong> instead, it is certified by a district screening committee.</li>
<li>Bill is<strong> silent on granting reservations</strong> to transgender persons. The Bill does not give effect to the directive of the Supreme Court to grant backward class reservation to the transgender community.</li>
<li>The Bill lack robustness as it has provision for a<strong> lower punishment for sexual violence against transgender persons,&nbsp;</strong>as against seven years&rsquo; imprisonment awarded in case of sexual assault on women.</li>
<li>The Bill treats <strong>transgender persons as victims who need protection</strong> rather than an empowered subject with rights.</li>
<li>The Bill <strong>criminalizes begging by making it an offense.</strong> When begging itself is no more seen as an offense, it may harm the community if such a means of <strong>livelihood &ndash; in the absence of employment &ndash; is criminalized.</strong></li>
<li>The bill<strong> does not provide a mechanism for appeal if a transgender person is denied a certificate of identity.</strong></li>
<li>The Standing Committee&rsquo;s concerns about recognizing rights in marriage, divorce <g class="gr_ gr_56 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="56" data-gr-id="56">and</g> adoption of transgender person have not been addressed.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/the-transgender-persons-protection-of-rights-bill-2016'
	],
	(int) 4 => [
		'title' => 'Packaging in Jute Bags Made Mandatory',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>Recently the Government has mandated the packaging of <strong>100% of foodgrain</strong> and <strong>20% of sugar</strong> in jute bags for 2018-19.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The decision aims to benefit farmers and workers in the Eastern and Northeastern parts of the country like West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura.</li>
<li>The jute industry is predominantly dependent on the government sector, which purchases jute bags worth more than Rs 6,500 crore every year for packing food grains.</li>
<li>Initially 10% of the orders of jute bags for packing foodgrain would be placed through reverse auction on the GeM (Government e-Marketplace) portal that would facilitate price discovery.</li>
<li>The order follows the <strong>Jute Packaging Materials (Compulsory Use in Packing Commodities) Act (JPM), 1987</strong> to protect the jute sector from the plastic packaging segment.</li>
<li>The Act mandates compulsory use of sacks in certain areas to bring buoyancy to the raw jute market.</li>
<li>Initially there was reservation for sugar, cement, fertiliser and foodgrain packaging. However, certain sectors have been taken out of the ambit due to market demand for alternative synthetic packaging as there was seepage of materials through jute sacks.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>About Jute</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Known as the <strong>&lsquo;golden fibre&rsquo;</strong> jute is one of the longest and most used natural fibre for various textile applications.</li>
<li>It thrives in <strong>tropical lowland areas</strong> with <strong>humidity of 60% to 90%</strong>. Jute is a rain-fed crop with little need for fertilizer or pesticides.</li>
<li><strong>Retting of Jute</strong> is a process in which the tied bundles of jute stalks are immersed in water by which fibres get loosened and separated from the woody stalk.</li>
<li><strong>World's leading jute producing</strong> countries are <strong>India</strong> , <strong>Bangladesh</strong> , China and Thailand . <strong>India</strong> is the <strong>world's largest producer</strong> of raw jute and jute goods , contributing to over 50% and 40% respectively of global production.</li>
<li>The cultivation of jute in India is mainly confined to the eastern region of the country . The jute crop is grown in seven states - West Bengal , Assam , Orissa , Bihar , Uttar Pradesh , Tripura and Meghalaya . <strong>West Bengal</strong> alone accounts for over <strong>50% of the total raw jute production</strong>.</li>
<li>To promote and popularize jute diversification work, <strong>National Jute Board</strong>, Ministry of Textiles, acts as the <strong>apex body for promotion of the products</strong> in India and abroad.</li>
<li>The<strong> first jute mill</strong> was established at <strong>Rishra (Bengal - now in West Bengal)</strong>, on the<strong> river Hooghly</strong> near <strong>Calcutta</strong> in the year <strong>1855</strong>, by Mr. George Aclend. In 1959, the first power driven weaving factory was set up.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Potential of Jute Industry</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Jute Geotextile is (a variety of jute available in woven and non-woven fabrics) used in <strong>erosion control</strong>, separation, <strong>filtration and drainage in civil engineering work</strong>, and agricultural uses. It also has application in rural road pavement construction and agro plant mulching.</li>
<li><strong>Diversification of jute products</strong> has opened up large opportunity for <strong>employment generation</strong>. Examples of diversified jute products include fancy jute bags, soft luggage, footwear, door panels, check sarees, wide range of furnishing, gift items, table lamps, floor decor, wall decor and many more items.</li>
<li>Jute bags have porosity, easily withstand the high temperature and are much stronger than poly sacks. Jute bags can be recycled and reused and can be easily repaired.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Government Initiatives for Promoting Jute Industry</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Jute Corporation of India (JCI)</strong> <strong>procures raw jute at Minimum Support Price (MSP)</strong>, fixed on the basis of recommendation of the commission for Agricultural Cost and Prices (CACP), from jute growers to safeguard their interest.</li>
<li><strong>Incentive Scheme for Acquisition of Plants and Machinery (ISAPM)</strong>: Launched in 2013, it aims to facilitate modernization in existing and new jute mills and up- gradation of technology in existing jute mills .</li>
<li><strong>Jute-ICARE (Jute: Improved Cultivation and Advanced Retting Exercise)</strong>: This pilot project launched in 2015 is aimed at addressing the difficulties faced by the jute cultivators by providing them certified seeds at subsidized rates, and by popularizing several newly developed retting technologies under water limiting conditions.</li>
<li>The <strong>National Jute Board</strong> implements various schemes for market development, workers&rsquo; welfare and promotion of diversification and exports.</li>
<li>In order to boost demand in the jute sector, the Government has also imposed<strong> anti-dumping duty on import of jute goods</strong> from <strong>Bangladesh</strong> and Nepal.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/packaging-in-jute-bags-made-mandatory'
	],
	(int) 5 => [
		'title' => 'Blue Economy',
		'catname' => 'Paper 3',
		'desc' => '<h3>Why in News?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Recently the first global conference on the <strong>Sustainable Blue Economy</strong> was held on 26-28 November, 2018 in Nairobi Kenya.</li>
<li>Seychelles recently launched the sovereign <strong>Blue Bonds</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Blue Bond</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Seychelles became the first country in the world to launch sovereign <strong>Blue Bonds</strong>.</li>
<li>It is a debt instrument issued by governments, development banks etc to raise capital from investors to finance marine and ocean-based projects.</li>
<li>It will help in expansion of marine protected areas, improved governance of priority fisheries and the development of the Seychelles&rsquo; blue economy.</li>
<li>The blue bond is inspired by the green bond concept.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Blue Economy</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The concept was introduced by Gunter Pauli in his 2010 book- &ldquo;The Blue Economy: 10 years, 100 innovations, 100 million jobs&rdquo;.</li>
<li>It is the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, and ocean ecosystem health.</li>
<li>It advocates the greening of ocean development strategies for higher productivity and conservation of ocean's health.</li>
<li>It encompasses&ndash;
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Renewable Energy:</strong> Sustainable marine energy can play a vital role in social and economic development.</li>
<li><strong>Fisheries:</strong> Sustainable fisheries can generate more revenue, more fish and help restore fish stocks.</li>
<li><strong>Maritime Transport</strong>: Over 80% of international goods traded are transported by sea.</li>
<li><strong>Tourism:</strong> Ocean and coastal tourism can bring jobs and economic growth.</li>
<li><strong>Climate Change:</strong> Oceans are an important carbon sink (blue carbon) and help mitigate climate change.</li>
<li><strong>Waste Management:</strong> Better waste management on land can help oceans recover.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Blue Economy emphasizes on integration of development of ocean economy with social inclusion, environmental sustainability, combined with innovative business model.</li>
<li>This is reflected in <strong>Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 14),</strong> which calls to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Need for Blue Economy</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Oceans cover three-quarters of the Earth&rsquo;s surface, contain 97% of the Earth&rsquo;s water, and represent 99% of the living area on the planet.</li>
<li>Oceans protect biodiversity, keep the planet cool, and absorb about 30% of global CO<sub>2</sub> emissions.</li>
<li>At least 3-5% of global GDP is derived from oceans.</li>
<li>Blue economy, through sustainable use of oceans, has great potential for boosting the economic growth by providing opportunities for income generation and jobs etc.</li>
<li>It can support food security, and diversification to address new resources for energy, new drugs valuable chemicals, protein food, deep sea minerals, security etc.</li>
<li>It is the next <strong>sunrise sector</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border">
<p><strong>Note:</strong> Sunrise Sector is a sector that is expanding rapidly and is expected to be increasingly important in the future.</p>
</div>
<h3>Challenges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Threat of sea borne terror &ndash;</strong> piracy and armed robbery, maritime terrorism, illicit trade in crude oil, arms, drug and human trafficking and smuggling of contraband etc.</li>
<li><strong>Natural Disasters &ndash;</strong> every year tsunamis, cyclones, hurricanes typhoons etc leave thousands of people stranded and property worth millions destroyed.</li>
<li><strong>Man-Made problems &ndash;</strong> Oil spills, climate change continue to risk the stability of the maritime domain.</li>
<li><strong>Impact of climate change &ndash;</strong> changes in sea temperature, acidity, threaten marine life, habitats, and the communities that depend on them.</li>
<li><strong>Marine pollution &ndash;</strong> in form of excess nutrients from untreated sewerage, agricultural runoff, and marine debris such as plastics</li>
<li><strong>Overexploitation of marine resources &ndash;</strong> illegal, unreported, and unregulated extraction of marine resources.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Blue Economy for India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Blue economy presents India with an unprecedented opportunity to meet its national socio-economic objectives as well as strengthen connectivity with neighbors.</li>
<li>Blue Economy can help in focusing on livelihood generation, achieving energy security, building ecological resilience, and improving health and living standards of coastal communities.</li>
<li>Blue economy would reinforce and strengthen the efforts of the Indian government as it strives to achieve the SDGs of hunger and poverty eradication along with sustainable use of marine resources by 2030.</li>
<li>India has a long coastline of 7,517 km covering nine states and two union territories &ndash; with an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 2.02 mn. sq.km.</li>
<li>Marine services sector could serve as the backbone of its blue economy and help India become 10 trillion dollar economy by 2022.</li>
<li>Indian Ocean is a major conduit of trade with as much as 80% of global oil trade happening through it.</li>
<li>Better connectivity in the region will significantly cut the transport cost and maritime wastage of resources making the trade sustainable and cost effective.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Developments Initiated by India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Sagarmala project is the strategic initiative for port-led development through the extensive use of IT enabled services for modernization of ports.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Sagarmala Project </strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Project aims at developing Inland waterways and coastal shipping which will revolutionize maritime logistics, creating million new jobs, reduce logistics costs etc.</li>
<li>It focuses on the development of coastal communities and people in the sustainable use of ocean resources, modern fishing techniques and coastal tourism.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India has an umbrella scheme by the name of <strong>O-SMART</strong> which aims at regulated use of oceans, marine resources for sustainable development.</li>
<li><strong>Integrated Coastal Zone Management</strong> focuses on conservation of coastal and marine resources, and improving livelihood opportunities for coastal communities etc.</li>
<li>Development of <strong>Coastal Economic Zones (CEZ)</strong> under Sagarmala would become a microcosm of the blue economy, wherein industries and townships that depend on the sea will contribute to global trade.</li>
<li>India has a National Fisheries policy for promoting 'Blue Growth Initiative' which focus on sustainable utilization of fisheries wealth from the marine and other aquatic resources.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India should look to adopt the <strong>Gandhian approach</strong> of balancing economic benefits with sustainability for meeting the broader goals of growth, employment generation, equity and protection of environment.</li>
<li>India must focus on marine ICTs, and transport (shipping) and communication services, and the creation of a knowledge hub for marine research and development.</li>
<li>An effective response mechanism to address humanitarian crises and natural disasters should be made for the evolving Indian Ocean security strategy.</li>
<li>India should not look at its oceans as just water bodies, but as global stage for continued economic, social, and cultural dialogue.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/paper3/blue-economy'
	],
	(int) 6 => [
		'title' => 'Maldives President's Visit to India',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The President of the Republic of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih visited India on a state visit from 16-18 December 2018.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>This is the first foreign visit by President of Maldives after assuming office in November 2018.</li>
</ul>
<h3><g class="gr_ gr_59 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="59" data-gr-id="59">Outcome</g> of the visit</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The two countries signed the following Agreements/MoUs/Joint Declaration of Intent during the visit:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Agreement on the facilitation of<strong> visa arrangements.</strong></li>
<li>Memorandum of understanding on <strong>cultural</strong> <strong>cooperation</strong>, improve the ecosystem for <strong>agribusiness</strong>.</li>
<li>Cooperation in the field of <strong>communications</strong> <strong>technology</strong> and <strong>electronics</strong>.</li>
<li>Countries agreed to work together in the following areas, health, mutual legal assistance, investment promotion, human resource development, and tourism</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>India announced <strong>financial assistance of US$ 1.4 billion</strong> in the form of budgetary support, currency swap and concessional lines of credit to fulfill the socio-economic development programmes of the Maldives.</li>
<li>The Maldives reaffirmed its <strong>"India-First Policy&rdquo;,</strong> and commitment to working together closely with India.</li>
<li>Both countries agreed on the importance of maintaining<strong> peace and security in the Indian Ocean Region.</strong></li>
<li>The two countries reaffirmed their commitment and support for increased cooperation in <strong>combating terrorism.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>India-Maldives Relation</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India and the Maldives share<strong> deep historical, cultural, and economic ties.</strong></li>
<li>India was among the first to<strong> recognize the Maldives after its independence in 1965</strong> and to establish diplomatic relations with the country. India established its embassy at Mal&eacute; in 1972.</li>
<li>India&rsquo;s bilateral and financial assistance to the Maldives has been reciprocated through an &ldquo;India first&rdquo; policy by the Maldives.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Importance of the Maldives for India</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Maldives is an important aspect of<strong> India&rsquo;s &lsquo;Neighbourhood First&rsquo; policy.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Strategically located in the Indian Ocean,</strong> Maldives archipelago comprising 1200 coral Islands lies next to key shipping lanes which ensure uninterrupted energy supplies to countries like China, Japan, and India. More than 97% of India&rsquo;s international trade by volume and 75% by value passes through the region.</li>
<li>As the pre-eminent South Asian power and<strong> a &lsquo;net security provider&rsquo;</strong> in the Indian Ocean region, <strong>India needs to cooperate with the Maldives in the security and defense sectors.</strong></li>
<li>India is also a preferred destination for Maldivians for education, medical treatment, recreation, and business.</li>
<li><strong>Maldives is also a member of SAARC.</strong> It is important for India to have the Maldives on board to maintain its leadership in the region.</li>
<li>Since<strong> China&rsquo;s naval expansion into the Indian Ocean</strong> - Maldives significance has steadily grown and now it&rsquo;s at the heart of international geopolitics.</li>
<li>There is significant<strong> Indian diaspora in the Maldives.</strong> Innumerable Indians work across the hospitality, education, and health-care sectors of the Maldives economy.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/maldives-presidents-visit-to-india'
	],
	(int) 7 => [
		'title' => 'Restoring the Balance',
		'catname' => 'News Editorials',
		'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article &ldquo;Restoring the Balance&rdquo; which appears in The Hindu on 19th December)</p>
</div>
<p><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/maldives-presidents-visit-to-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih&rsquo;s three-day visit</a> to India this week seems to have brought a unpredictable phase in India-Maldives ties.</p>
<p>President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih defeated Abdulla Yameen in a surprise victory in the Maldivian presidential elections in September 2018, since then, he has recalibrated Maldives&rsquo; ties with India. <strong>While Mr. Yameen had drawn the Maldives closer to China and brutally crushed the Opposition, Mr. Solih&rsquo;s victory has been a shot in the arm for those who favour strengthening democratic forces in the island nation.</strong></p>
<p>The <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/maldives-election-result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent elections</a> in the Maldives represented the collective aspirations of the people for democracy, the rule of law and a prosperous future. India also desired &ldquo;to see a stable, democratic, prosperous and peaceful Republic of Maldives&rdquo;.</p>
<h3>Points of Engagement between India and Maldives</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Mr. Solih&rsquo;s India visit has seen the two sides emphasise their traditionally close bond. He called India the island nation&rsquo;s &ldquo;closest friend&rdquo; and &ldquo;reaffirmed his government&rsquo;s &lsquo;India-First&rsquo; Policy&rdquo;, committing to working together closely with India.</li>
<li>India, for its part, announced a financial assistance package of $1.4 billion for the Maldives in the form of budgetary support, currency swap agreements and concessional lines of credit.</li>
<li>Both have agreed to ensure that they would keep other&rsquo;s security interests in mind as they consolidate cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).</li>
<li>They have agreed to strengthen maritime security cooperation in the IOR through coordinated patrol and aerial surveillance.</li>
<li>Areas such as fisheries development, tourism, transportation, connectivity, health, education, information technology, new and renewable energy and communications were earmarked for enhancing bilateral cooperation.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Importance for India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is important from New Delhi&rsquo;s perspective that Mr. Solih succeeds in the Maldives.</li>
<li>Under Mr. Yameen, the Maldives had veered too close to China for India&rsquo;s comfort, welcoming Chinese money for major infrastructure projects and signing a controversial free trade agreement (FTA).</li>
<li>India&rsquo;s entreaties for political moderation and closer security ties were summarily ignored. China&rsquo;s role in the Maldivian economy is under the scanner today amid growing concerns about the money the Maldives owes to China for infrastructure projects undertaken by Chinese construction companies. These infrastructure projects include the China-Maldives Friendship Bridge, which connects Mal&eacute;&rsquo;s eastern edge to the western corner of the island of Hulhul&eacute;.</li>
<li>It is now estimated that China&rsquo;s loans to the Maldives total at least $1.3 billion, or a quarter of the island nation&rsquo;s gross domestic product. Faced with this crisis, the new Maldivian government is looking to India for more budgetary support to help meet its development goals and is also planning to revise the FTA with China.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India is also trying to ensure help reaches Male in time so that New Delhi regains some of its lost space in the Maldives&rsquo; foreign policy and politics. <strong>Mal&eacute; has also made it clear that while the neighbourhood will clearly be a priority for the Solih government, China will continue to play an important role as an economic partner. So, China is not going to disappear from the Maldivian foreign policy matrix.</strong> Nor should India expect it to. <strong>But the logic of geography dictates that India&rsquo;s role will be critical in determining the trajectory of political developments in the Maldives.</strong></li>
<li>India&rsquo;s patient handling of the Maldives crisis over the last few years has positioned it well. By coordinating its response with other like-minded regional and extra-regional players, India underscored that there are options available to the Maldives should it decide to move away from China.</li>
<li><strong>Going forward, the Maldives would need the support of India as its challenges remain acute.</strong> The institutional fabric of the country has been battered under Mr. Yameen&rsquo;s assault even as the threat of Islamist extremism has grown in potency.</li>
<li><strong>India should not be deterred by temporary setbacks.</strong> Instead of perpetually viewing the dynamics from a China-centric perspective, it must keep its eyes firmly on the long term.</li>
<li><strong>The more invested New Delhi is in strengthening democratic institutions in its neighbourhood, the better returns it will get in its foreign policy.</strong></li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/restoring-the-balance'
	],
	(int) 8 => [
		'title' => 'New Rules On The Block',
		'catname' => 'News Editorials',
		'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(The editorial is based on the article &ldquo;New rules on the block&rdquo; which appears in Indian Express on 18th November 2018. It analyses some of the results of the Katowice climate negotiations.)</p>
</div>
<p>The latest UN climate negotiations finally drew to a close in Katowice, Poland, where climate negotiators finalised a new set of rules to operationalise the 2015 Paris Agreement, as well as a year-long <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-3rd-december-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&ldquo;Talanoa Dialogue&rdquo;</a>.<img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/753drishti_ias_katowice- climate.jpeg" width="464" height="193" style="float: right; margin: 5px;" caption="false" /></p>
<p>In doing so, the international community hopes to send an urgent political signal, given the dire warnings in the recent <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/global-warming-of-1-5-c-ipcc-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change&rsquo;s special report on 1.5&deg;C</a> and the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-30th-november-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2018 UNEP Emissions Gap Report,</a> highlighting just how far states are from this temperature goal.</p>
<h3>Achievements in Katowice</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Although deep political divisions toned down the Katowice results, negotiators did indeed deliver the bulk of the rules (in the form of a Rulebook that lists yardsticks to measure GHG of individual nations) to operationalise the Paris Agreement.</strong></li>
<li><strong>It is a significant diplomatic achievement in the current geopolitical context</strong> specially when seen in the context of the US&rsquo;s announced withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and its hearty embrace of coal, and the newly-elected Brazilian president&rsquo;s evasion on the agreement and withdrawal of its offer to host next year&rsquo;s conference.</li>
</ul>
<h3>The Functions that Katowice Rules will Perform</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>First, the Katowice rules seek to instil discipline in a process</strong> governed by &ldquo;national determination&rdquo;, which is the first step towards a truly international body (in the lines of UNO, WTO etc) on climate change.</li>
<li>Under the Paris Agreement, states have complete autonomy on the nature and type of climate actions they choose to take, subject to the expectation that they represent a progression on past actions. However, the Katowice rules now require them to provide detailed information of their actions. If states have absolute economy-wide targets, they need to provide quantifiable information on their reference points for measurements, the gases covered, their planning processes, assumptions and methodological approaches, how they consider their contribution as fair and ambitious, and how it contributes to the objective of the regime.</li>
<li><strong>Second, the Katowice rules also bring out the obligations of states identified in the Paris Agreement,</strong> and make them meaningful. For instance, the Paris Agreement contained a general obligation for developed countries to report biennially on their provision and mobilisation of climate finance. The rules identify 15 specific pieces of information that states should submit in these reports, including &ldquo;projected levels of public financial resources to be provided to developing countries&rdquo;.</li>
<li><strong>Third, the rules operationalise the key processes established by the Paris Agreement &mdash; a transparency framework, a &ldquo;global stocktake&rdquo; and a compliance regime &mdash;</strong> that seek to impose accountability and facilitate implementation.</li>
<li>The <strong>transparency framework</strong> requires states to report on indicators for measuring progress in achieving their targets, which is significant as the Paris Agreement does not impose a binding obligation on states to achieve their targets. <strong>More broadly, the transparency rules phase in uniform reporting requirements on developed and developing countries in 2024, something India had consistently opposed.</strong></li>
<li><strong>In compliance to the concerns of developing countries, the rules allow developing countries to self-determine the reporting flexibility they need.</strong> Developing countries, with capacity constraints, can choose both how often and in what detail to report. They will also be provided support in addressing these capacity constraints.</li>
<li>The rules operationalising the <strong>global stocktake</strong> include information from a wide variety of sources, including non-state actors, and on the full spectrum of issues including loss and damage, equity and science, to assess collective progress towards the long-term goals of the agreement. <strong>The rules specify that the results of the global stocktake will simply identify challenges and opportunities in relation to action and support. It will not have an &ldquo;individual focus&rdquo; (i.e on any particular country) and will only include &ldquo;non-policy prescriptive consideration of collective progress&rdquo; (i.e global progress only).</strong></li>
<li><strong>Finally, the Katowice rules seek to infuse accountability and facilitate implementation.</strong> They permit a compliance committee to consider cases where countries have breached binding procedural obligations. Thus, if a state does not submit a contribution every five years or a developed country does not submit its report on provision of finance, the committee will step in. The committee can also step in if there are significant and persistent inconsistencies in reporting. <strong>However, it can do this only with the consent of the state concerned.</strong></li>
<li>The committee is also empowered to assist the defaulting state in identifying and addressing the challenges to implementation. The committee is further authorised to identify systemic challenges in compliance and implementation faced by many parties, with a view to addressing them.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Katowice rules - <strong>detailed, complex and science-based</strong> <strong>strike a fine balance between competing interests</strong> (between companies and governments, for example), create rules for all parties to operationalise <strong>equity</strong> (here: Conformity with rules or standards), and <strong>allow the flow of information within the system</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>While the Katowice rules do not touch upon markets for now and the rules in general could have been more robust, the basic rules needed to implement the Paris Agreement are now in place.</strong></li>
<li>Moreover, even though countries are not pressured into submitting their stocktake individually, nevertheless, the steady flow of information on the <strong>&ldquo;ambition gap&rdquo;</strong> (the ambition to limit global temperature rises to well-below 2&deg; Celsius above pre-industrial levels from the currently agreed 1.5&deg; Celsius - which to scientists is not enough) will generate its own pressure on them.</li>
<li><strong>Countries will as such, not be able to escape their individual responsibilities towards climate change mitigation.</strong> Already, the Talanoa Dialogue, the alarming IPCC 1.5&deg;C Report, and the various catastrophic climate events this year, have elicited promises from several countries that they will submit more ambitious actions by 2020.</li>
<li><strong>Therefore, now is the time to take the pressure off the international negotiations to set the rules, and begin the arduous process of following them. With new rules in hand, it&rsquo;s finally time to begin implementing the Paris Agreement and delivering action on the ground.</strong></li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/new-rules-on-the-block'
	],
	(int) 9 => [
		'title' => 'Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)',
		'catname' => 'National Institutions',
		'desc' => '<h3>What is FSSAI?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is an autonomous statutory body established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSS Act).</li>
<li><strong>Ministry of Health &amp; Family Welfare,</strong> Government of India is the administrative Ministry of FSSAI.</li>
<li><strong>Headquarters:</strong> Delhi.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Genesis</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>FSS Act, 2006 consolidates various acts &amp; orders that had earlier handled food related issues in various Ministries and Departments, such as&ndash;</li>
</ul>
<ol>
<li>Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954</li>
<li>Fruit Products Order, 1955</li>
<li>Meat Food Products Order, 1973</li>
<li>Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order, 1947</li>
<li>Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation) Order 1988</li>
<li>Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992</li>
</ol>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>These were repealed after commencement of FSS Act, 2006.</li>
<li>FSSAI was consequently established in 2008 but work within the Food Authority effectively began in 2011 after its Rules and key Regulations were notified.</li>
<li>This marked a shift from a multi-level to a single line of control with focus on self-compliance rather than a pure regulatory regime.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>7 Key Processes</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>Set standards of food products</li>
<li>Develop safe food practices</li>
<li>License food businesses</li>
<li>Ensure compliance through inspections</li>
<li>Test food for standards</li>
<li>Train and build capacity</li>
<li>Citizens Outreach</li>
</ol>
</div>
<h3>Functions</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Framing of regulations to lay down the standards and guidelines of food safety.</li>
<li>Granting FSSAI food safety license and certification for food businesses.</li>
<li>Laying down procedure and guidelines for laboratories in food businesses.</li>
<li>To provide suggestions to the government in framing the policies.</li>
<li>To collect data regarding contaminants in foods products, identification of emerging risks and introduction of rapid alert system.</li>
<li>Creating an information network across the country about food safety.</li>
<li>Promote general awareness about food safety and food standards.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>FSSAI Legislative Framework:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Highlights of the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Act aims to establish a single reference point for all matters relating to food safety and standards, by moving from multi- level, multi-departmental control to a single line of command.</li>
<li>The Act established <strong>FSSAI and the State Food Safety Authorities</strong> for each State.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Highlights of Food Safety and Standards Rule, 2011. The Rules provides for:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The <strong>Food Safety Appellate Tribunal</strong> and the Registrar of the Appellate Tribunal, for adjudication of food safety cases.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Highlights of Food Safety and Standards Regulations 2011
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It covers Licensing and Registration, <strong>Packaging and Labelling</strong> of Food Businesses, Food Product Standards and <strong>Food Additives</strong> Regulation.</li>
<li>It prohibits and restricts on sales or approval for <strong>Non-Specified Food and Food Ingredients,</strong> such ingredients may cause harm to human health.</li>
<li>It provides for Food Safety and Standards on Organic Food and regulates <strong>Food Advertising</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>FSSAI Structure</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The FSSAI comprises of a Chairperson and twenty two members out of which one &ndash; third are to be women.</li>
<li>The Chairperson of FSSAI is appointed by the Central Government.</li>
<li>The Food Authority is assisted by Scientific Committees and Panels in setting standards and the Central Advisory Committee in coordinating with enforcement agencies.</li>
<li>The primary responsibility for enforcement is largely with the State Food Safety Commissioners.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges and Shortcomings</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The &ldquo;petty <strong>manufacturer</strong>s, retailers and hawkers&rdquo; are exempted from FSSAI ambit. These segments greatly contributes to unorganised food sector and due to its low prices, most of the population prefer food consumption from these segments.</li>
<li><strong>Lack of infrastructure</strong> such as food testing laboratories. There are only 87 National Accreditation Board for testing and calibration Laboratories (NABL) accredited Labs, where as there are more than 1500 private labs in India.</li>
<li>Shortage of qualified manpower and functional food testing equipment in state food laboratories and referral laboratories resulted in deficient testing of food samples.</li>
<li>There is an acute shortage of licensing and enforcement officers in the states which severely affected food safety measures.</li>
<li>The body has been only prescriptive in nature and failed to ensure safety, quality and hygiene in food industry.</li>
<li>There are only 377 products mentioned in the FSSAI regulations &ndash; whereas other countries have over 10,000 standards. Moreover, the list is not regularly reviewed.</li>
<li>FSSAI is highly underfunded to monitor the widening ambit of food laws. Also, there are no standard practices for food inspection, the process being mostly discretionary.</li>
<li>Cumbersome and lengthy approval procedures have delayed the pre-launch approvals for products from the FSSAI for over a year.</li>
<li>Consignments of imported food products often remain stuck at the ports awaiting clearance by the FSSAI &ndash; sometimes due to small issues like labelling of the packages not conforming to arbitrary norms specified by the FSSAI, which differ from the widely accepted global standards.</li>
<li>Differences of opinion between the food regulator and the food processing ministry also handicap the FSSAI functioning.</li>
<li>According to a CAG Report, FSSAI is yet to frame regulations and guidelines to govern different procedures.</li>
<li>The CAG also found that "licenses were issued on the basis of incomplete documents in more than 50 per cent of cases, checked in Audit".</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Landmark cases with FSSAI:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Nestle India Limited Maggi Case: The maggi noodles were reported with excess lead unfit for human consumption and FSSAI prescribed for ban.</li>
<li>Cadbury India: It was reported that worms was found in Cadbury's Dairy Milk. The FSSAI declared packaging was not proper or airtight and made it mandatory to change the packaging.</li>
</ul>
<h3>FSSAI Initiatives</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Heart Attack Rewind&nbsp;&ndash;</strong> It is the first mass media campaign of FSSAI. It is aimed to support FSSAI&rsquo;s target of eliminating trans fat in India by the year 2022.</li>
<li><strong>FSSAI-CHIFSS &ndash;</strong> It is collaboration between FSSAI and CII-HUL Initiative on Food Safety Sciences to promote collaborations between Industry, Scientific Community, Academia for food safety.</li>
<li><strong>Swasth Bharat Yatra &ndash;</strong> It is a Pan-India cycle movement called as &lsquo;Eat Right India' aimed to create consumer awareness about eating safe and nutritious food.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>FSSAI should also bring the manufacturers under the responsibility of imposing food safety. The focus should be on covering each person in supply chain for assessment of food manufacturing, storing and distribution.</li>
<li>FSSAI has recently notified the draft Regulations on Food Recall Procedure to provide guidance to Food Business Organisations (FBO). This will enhance the present regulatory system.</li>
<li>FSSAI and the state food authorities should conduct surveys of food business activity under their jurisdiction to ensure a comprehensive and reliable database of FBOs and ensure better enforcement and administration of the FSS Act.</li>
<li>Increasing limits of compensation and fine in cases of injury or death and providing adequate infrastructure such as food testing laboratories.</li>
<li>CAG has recommended that FSSAI should frame standard operating procedures on the formulation and review of standards, and ensure that these are being followed in the near future.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/food-safety-and-standards-authority-of-india-fssai'
	],
	(int) 10 => [
		'title' => 'The Big Picture: Transforming Indian Cities',
		'catname' => 'Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions',
		'desc' => '<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ru2ceOoReTo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>According to Oxford Economics report, Indian cities will make up most of the fastest-growing cities in the world between 2019 and 2035, considering the year-on-year Gross Domestic Product growth. <strong>Over 17 of the 20 top cities on the list will be in India.</strong> The report said that Indian cities including <strong>Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai will be among the strongest performers across the globe</strong>. According to a Bloomberg report, <strong>India will dominate the top 10 cities in terms of economic growth over the span of 20 years</strong>. <strong>Surat, a commercial center for textiles in Gujarat, will witness the fastest GDP growth by an average exceeding 9%.</strong> While economic output in many of those Indian cities will remain rather small in comparison to the world&rsquo;s biggest metropolises, <strong>aggregated gross domestic product of all Asian cities will exceed that of all North American and European urban centres combined in 2027</strong>.</p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p>DRISHTI INPUT</p>
<p><strong>Oxford Economics Report Highlights</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Top 780 cities around the globe, currently are part of almost 60% of all world economic activity, and they will grow in importance as urbanisation continues. By 2035, these cities will be home to almost half a billion additional people with GDP rising by $32trillion (constant 2015 prices and exchange rates).</strong></li>
<li>The forecast is that there will be <strong>significant growth disparities between cities</strong> and therefore one can expect to see considerable changes in the world over this period. Many of today&rsquo;s emerging market cities, particularly in <strong>Asia, will continue to progress along the development path and the balance of urban economic power will shift further east as a result</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>By 2035, Asian cities will account for almost half of global activity, overtaking the aggregate of European and North American cities in just over a decade.</strong> But it is still expected that most of today&rsquo;s urban superpowers will retain their positions as the largest cities in terms of GDP in 2035, <strong>led by New York, Tokyo, London and Los Angeles</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Urbanisation in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Housing and employment are the most crucial needs for the migrating population.</strong> Presently, the cities are ill-equipped to tackle such influx due to lack of employment generation capability as well as housing capacity.</li>
<li>The consequence of such deficiency is <strong>rampant proliferation of illegal housings and slums</strong>. Lack of job opportunity also leads to rise in crime rate. Hence, the need of the hour is to make cities capable to absorb the growing population.</li>
<li><strong>But, the critical fact is that India has not urbanized enough.</strong> India is one of the least urbanized countries in the world. <strong>Most of the developed and developing countries have more than 50% urbanisation and western European countries along with the US and Canada has 80% urbanisation.</strong></li>
<li>The 2011 census states that extent of <strong>urbanization in India is 32%</strong>. However, the experts believe that the percentage is much higher. In one estimate it is as high as over 40%. The reason for such under reporting is that many adjoining urban areas are still being considered as rural areas.</li>
<li>The urban India is facing population burden. <strong>There is a huge influx of migrant workers into the cities.</strong> These cities are ill equipped to bear the burden of the unskilled workers. Rural urban migration is a point of concern, but intra city migration is also a rising phenomenon.</li>
<li>The Top 10 Indian cities mentioned in the Report are <strong>situated either in the western belt or in the southern belt</strong>. <strong>Eastern cities do not even feature in the Top 10</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<h3>The Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The recent survey has shown that the smaller cities and towns have grown faster than the big cities like Delhi and Mumbai. Hence, <strong>the focus must be put in to develop the tier-3 and tie-4 towns</strong>. Waste management system, schools, roads, proper sanitation infrastructure, water supply, power and most importantly, housing facility have to be developed so as to make small cities engines of growth.</li>
<li>There is need to revisit urban planning system and the focus should be on to <strong>improve the quality of life by developing the social and the physical infrastructure</strong>.</li>
<li>The local administration is the key to ensure the sustainable growth of the cities. The <strong>Smart City Mission</strong> in fact strengthens the governance system by empowering the local administration. The local municipal corporations should improve their respective credit scores and issue <strong>Municipal bonds</strong> to raise funds.</li>
<li>In this regard government schemes like <strong>Housing for All</strong> and <strong>Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana</strong> <strong>(National Urban Livelihoods Mission)</strong> have been playing an important role.</li>
<li>Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana (National Urban Livelihoods Mission) to <strong>reduce poverty and vulnerability of the urban poor households by enabling them to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities can help in tackling the issues related to urbanization.</strong></li>
<li>Housing for All &ndash; The Mission seeks to address the housing requirement of urban poor including slum dwellers through following programme:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Slum rehabilitation with the participation of private developers <strong>using land as a resource</strong>.</li>
<li>Promotion of Affordable Housing for weaker section <strong>through credit linked subsidy</strong>.</li>
<li>Affordable Housing in <strong>partnership with Public &amp; Private sectors</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>Subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction/enhancement.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/the-big-picture-transforming-indian-cities'
	],
	(int) 11 => [
		'title' => 'Eklavya Model Residential Schools',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The Central Government has approved the proposal of setting up of Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs) under <strong>Ministry of Tribal Affairs.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>As per the <strong>budget 2018-19</strong>, <strong>every block with more than 50% Schedule Tribe (ST) population and at least 20,000 tribal persons</strong>, will have an <strong>Eklavya Model Residential School by the year 2022.</strong></li>
<li>These are being set up by <strong>grants provided under Article 275(1)</strong> of the Constitution.</li>
<li>There will be an <strong>autonomous society</strong> under the ministry of tribal affairs &mdash; similar to Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti &mdash; to run the EMRSs.</li>
<li>The objective of EMRS is to provide <strong>quality middle and high level education to Scheduled Tribe (ST)</strong> students in remote areas, not only to enable them to avail of reservation in high and professional educational courses and as jobs in government and public and private sectors but also to have access to the best opportunities in education at par with the non ST population.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>STs, <strong>constitute 8.6%</strong> of the country&rsquo;s total population and <strong>11.3% of the total rural population.</strong></li>
<li>Despite the <strong>increase in literacy rates</strong> among STs from <strong>8.53% in 1961 to 58.96% in 2011</strong>, and the fact that the<strong> Right to Education Act, 2009</strong> makes it mandatory that all children between the <strong>ages of 6 and 14</strong> be provided <strong>free and compulsory education,</strong> significant disparities exist in enrolment rates, drop-outs, across states, districts and blocks.</li>
<li>In the case of tribals,<strong> dropout rates are still very high</strong> &ndash; 35.6% in Classes I to V; 55% in Classes I to VIII; and 70.9% in Classes I to X in 2010-11, according to the Statistics Of School Education 2010-2011.</li>
<li>According to a <strong>2014 UNICEF-sponsored South Asia regional study All Children in School by 2015,</strong> economic and socio-cultural factors are reasons behind the education deprivation for certain groups in India, especially SCs, STs and Muslims.</li>
<li>The<strong> India Human Development Survey</strong> shows the incidence of poverty is<strong> highest among the STs (49.6%), followed by the SCs (32.3%), and then the Muslims (30.6%).</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>EMRS can impact quality education to Scheduled Tribes (ST) children. Apart from school building, including hostels and staff quarters, playgrounds, computer labs and teacher resource rooms are also included in the scheme. This initiative will benefit ST students immensely.</li>
<li>By focusing on specific intervention to cater to the educational needs of STs, their quality of life is expected to improve to the level of the rest of the social groups and a visible impact by the 2021 Census.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/eklavya-model-residential-schools'
	],
	(int) 12 => [
		'title' => 'Important Facts for Prelims (18th December 2018)',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<h3>Ujjwala Yojana Extended to all Poor Households</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The government has extended Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) of providing free cooking gas (LPG) <strong>connections to all poor households not having LPG connections</strong>.</li>
<li>The scheme,<strong> launched in 2016</strong>, originally targeted giving LPG connections to mostly rural women members of below the poverty line (BPL) households. The list was later expanded to include all SC/ST households and forest dwellers among others.</li>
<li><g class="gr_ gr_31 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="31" data-gr-id="31">PMUY</g>, initiated by <strong>Ministry of Petroleum &amp; Natural Gas</strong> aims to <strong>safeguard the health of women &amp; children</strong> by providing them with a clean cooking fuel so that they don&rsquo;t have to compromise their health in smoky kitchens or wander in unsafe areas collecting firewood.</li>
<li>Under the scheme, the government provides a subsidy of Rs 1,600 to state-owned fuel retailers for every free LPG gas connection that they give to poor households. This subsidy is intended to cover the security fee for the cylinder and the fitting charges.</li>
<li>The <strong>World Health Organisation</strong> hailed PMUY as decisive intervention by the government to facilitate the switch to clean household energy use, thereby addressing the problems associated with indoor household pollution.</li>
</ul>
<h3>'Under the Sal Tree' Theatre Festival</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>&lsquo;Under the Sal Tree&rsquo; theatre festival is held every December inside the sal forest of <strong>Rampur village in Goalpara district of Assam</strong>.</li>
<li>It is a <g class="gr_ gr_37 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="37" data-gr-id="37">three day</g> theatre festival <g class="gr_ gr_35 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="35" data-gr-id="35">organised</g> in the middle of a jungle with an<strong> aim to connect human beings with nature</strong>.</li>
<li>The festival was initiated by noted Assamese theatre personality <strong>Sukracharya Rabha</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Brightest Object in the Universe</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Astronomers using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) system of 10 radio telescopes discovered the brightest object in the Universe named as <strong>Quasar P352-15</strong>.</li>
<li>A Quasar is the brightest object in the Universe. It exists at the center of galaxies and <g class="gr_ gr_39 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="39" data-gr-id="39">draw</g> energy from supermassive black holes.</li>
<li>P352-15 is approximately 13 billion light years away which means that the Quasar being witnessed belongs to the time when the universe was less than a billion years <g class="gr_ gr_32 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="32" data-gr-id="32">old,</g> or only about 7% of its current age.</li>
<li>This finding could help experts studying the early stages of the universe to understand what happened during the transition from the Big Bang.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Kanchenjunga Landscape</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The governments of <strong>India, Nepal, and Bhutan</strong> are considering having a joint task force<strong> for allowing free movement of wildlife across political boundaries</strong> and checking <g class="gr_ gr_77 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="77" data-gr-id="77">smuggling</g> of wildlife across the Kanchenjunga Landscape, a trans-boundary region spread across Nepal, India, and Bhutan</li>
<li><strong>The landscape stretches along the southern side of Mount Kanchenjunga covers an area of 25,080 sq km spread across parts of eastern Nepal (21%), Sikkim and West Bengal (56%) and western and southwestern parts of Bhutan (23%).</strong></li>
<li>According to the<strong> International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development ( ICIMOD)&nbsp;</strong>1,118 sq km of riverine grassland and tree cover were lost to agriculture and rangeland in the landscape between 2000 and 2010.</li>
<li><strong>Other than seven million people, the Kanchenjunga Landscape is home to 169 species of mammals and 713 species of birds.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Cyclone Phethai</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The cyclonic storm Phethai has made landfall in <strong>Andhra Pradesh.</strong></li>
<li>Phethai, name of the cyclone is suggested by<strong> Thailand.</strong> It is pronounced as <strong>`Pay-ti&rsquo;,</strong> means a <strong>vegetarian bean in Thailand.</strong></li>
<li>This comes barely months after <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/cyclone-gaja" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cyclone Gaja</a> wreaked havoc in Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, and Pudukottai districts of <strong>Tamil Nadu.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>India&rsquo;s First Military Flight using Blended Bio-Jet Fuel</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>For the first time, an <strong>An-32 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF)</strong> flew with 10% bio-jet <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/indias-first-biofuel-flight" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blended ATF (aviation turbine fuel) made from Jatropha oil.</a></li>
<li>This has the<strong> dual benefit</strong> of <strong>reducing the carbon footprint</strong> as well as <strong>usage of fossil fuels.</strong></li>
<li>With this, India joins a league of select nations to have developed, tested and certified the single step <strong>Hydroprocessed Renewable Jet (HRJ) process to convert non-edible oil into biofuel for use on military aircraft.</strong></li>
<li>A biofuel is a fuel<strong> produced from living matter</strong> that includes plant waste and animal fat, rather than a fuel produced through the geological process, such as coal, diesel and petroleum.</li>
<li>The project is a combined effort of <strong>Indian Air Force (IAF), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Directorate General Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum).</strong></li>
<li>The IAF will gradually start using this <strong>fuel blend for even fighter jets like Su-30MKIs and MiG-29s.</strong></li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-18th-december-2018'
	],
	(int) 13 => [
		'title' => 'Conference of the Parties (COP 24)',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>Recently, 24th meeting of the <strong>Conference of the Parties (COP24)</strong> to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) concluded in <strong>Katowice, Poland.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The aim of the conference was to fi<strong>nalize a rulebook for Paris agreement 2015.</strong> Paris climate pact will come into effect in 2020 and replace the existing Kyoto Protocol.</li>
<li>Paris Climate Pact has voluntary emission reduction targets called as &ldquo;Nationally Determined Contributions&rdquo; (NDCs) &mdash; of individual nations, who have different definitions and timetables for their greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction pledges. The rulebook will ensure that the signatories of the pact are held to standards.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Outcome of Summit</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Katowice conference has <strong>finalized a rulebook for implementation of the Paris Agreement,</strong> which was unanimously adopted by all member countries.</li>
<li>The guidelines set out <strong>how countries will provide information about their Nationally Determined Contributions</strong> describing their domestic climate actions, mitigation and adaptation measures how countries will report and monitor their national pledges to curb greenhouse gas emissions and update their emissions plans.</li>
<li>States are required to provide detailed information on the type of actions they have taken. If they have absolute economy-wide targets, they need to provide quantifiable information on their reference points for measurements, the gases covered, their planning processes, how countries consider their contribution fair and ambitious, and how it contributes to the objective of the NDC&rsquo;s.</li>
<li>The conference also saw some progress on the major issue of climate finance. <strong>The rulebook has addressed some concerns about the opaqueness of climate financing.</strong> Now, Developed Nations had to provide hard data on the sources of future financial flows.</li>
<li>The rulebook says what kinds of financial flows &mdash; loans, concessions, grants &mdash; can be classified as climate finance, how they should be accounted for, and the kind of information about them needed to be submitted.</li>
<li>The rulebook is a dynamic document, meaning new rules can be added, or existing rules amended.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Issues in Conference</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Disagreement on IPCC Report:</strong> The <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/global-warming-of-1-5-c-ipcc-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1.5&deg;C Report,</a> which was produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in October 2018 was not acknowledged as an evidence-based cause for alarm by the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Russia.</li>
<li><strong><g class="gr_ gr_82 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="82" data-gr-id="82">Issue</g> of Equity: Provisions did not reflect the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities.</strong> Poorer nations vulnerable to climate change also wanted more clarity on how an already agreed $100 billion a year of climate finance by 2020 will be provided.</li>
<li><strong>Market Mechanism:</strong> The <strong>conference could not reach a consensus on voluntary market mechanisms.</strong> Article 6 of the Paris Agreement talks about setting up a market mechanism for trading of carbon emissions.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>A carbon market allows countries, or industries, to earn carbon credits for the emission reductions they make in excess of what is required of them. These carbon credits can be traded to the highest bidder in exchange for money. The buyers of carbon credits can show the emission reductions as their own and use them to meet their own reduction targets.</li>
<li>Developing countries like China, India, and Brazil have accumulated huge amounts of unused carbon credits. These countries argued that their unused carbon credits should be considered valid in the new market mechanism that was being created, which was opposed by the developed countries.</li>
<li>Developed countries questioned the authenticity of the unused carbon credits, pointing to weak verification mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol that allowed dubious projects to claim carbon credits.</li>
<li><strong>The discussion over carbon markets is deferred to the next year.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>India&rsquo;s Stand at the conference</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India <strong>reaffirmed its commitment to meeting the goals under the 2015 Paris Agreement</strong> while protecting its key interest including climate justice ( "Climate Justice" means solutions to the climate change problem that promote human rights, equity, labor rights, and environmental justice globally and locally).</li>
<li>India<strong> expressed strong reservation over the lack of equity in the global stock-take</strong> (taking stock of collective progress toward achieving the purpose of the Paris Agreement and its long-term goals) in the rule book of the agreement.</li>
<li>It sought a<strong> robust transparency regime for countries to disclose their emissions.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>India's INDC</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Sustainable Lifestyles</strong> - To put forward and further propagate a healthy and sustainable way of living based on traditions and values of conservation and moderation.</li>
<li><strong>Cleaner Economic Development</strong> - To adopt a climate-friendly and a cleaner path than the one followed hitherto by others at the corresponding level of economic development.</li>
<li><strong>Reducing Emission intensity of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)</strong> - To<strong> reduce the emissions </strong>intensity of its GDP by <strong>33 to 35 percent by 2030 from 2005 level.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Increasing the Share of Non-Fossil Fuel Based Electricity</strong> - To achieve about 40 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030 with the help of transfer of technology and low-cost international finance including from Green Climate Fund (GCF). India has a target to install 227 GW target of renewable energy by 2022.&nbsp;</li>
<li><strong>Enhancing Carbon Sink (Forests)</strong> - To create an <strong>additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2</strong> equivalent through additional forest and<strong> tree cover by 2030.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Adaptation</strong> - To better adapt to climate change by enhancing investments in development programmes in sectors vulnerable to climate change, particularly agriculture, water resources, Himalayan region, coastal regions, health, and disaster management.</li>
<li><strong>Mobilizing Finance</strong> - To mobilize domestic and new &amp; additional funds from developed countries to implement the above mitigation and adaptation actions in view of the resource required and the resource gap.</li>
<li><strong>Technology Transfer and Capacity Building -</strong> To build capacities, create a domestic framework and international architecture for quick diffusion of cutting-edge climate technology in India and for joint collaborative R&amp;D for such future technologies.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p><strong></strong></p>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/conference-of-the-parties-cop-24'
	],
	(int) 14 => [
		'title' => 'Agriculture Export Policy, 2018',
		'catname' => 'Paper 3',
		'desc' => '<h3>Why in News?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Union Cabinet recently approved the agriculture export policy.</li>
<li>The Cabinet also approved the proposal for establishment of Monitoring Framework to oversee the implementation of Agriculture Export Policy.</li>
<li>India&rsquo;s agricultural export is a paltry 15% of its total produce; which stands 25 % for US and 49 % for China.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Agriculture Export Policy</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Policy looks to provide impetus to agricultural exports, it is aimed at doubling the agricultural exports and integrating Indian farmers and agricultural products with the global value chains</li>
<li>It envisions making India global power in agriculture and raising farmers&rsquo; income through various policy instruments.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Objective</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>To double agricultural exports from 30 billion dollars to 60 Billion by 2022.</li>
<li>To diversify export basket, destinations and boost high value and value added agricultural exports including focus on perishables.</li>
<li>It looks to promote novel, indigenous, organic, ethnic, traditional and non-traditional Agri products exports.</li>
<li>To provide an institutional mechanism for pursuing market access, tackling barriers and deal with sanitary and <strong>phytosanitary</strong> issues.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures </strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>With the establishment of the World Trade Organization on 1 January 1995, an agreement on the Application of <strong>Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the "SPS Agreement")</strong> entered into force.</li>
<li>It concerns the application of food safety and animal and plant health regulations.</li>
<li>Countries can set their own standards but they should be based on science and should be safe for the consumers.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>To strive to double India&rsquo;s share in world agri-exports by integrating with global value chain at the earliest.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Elements of the Policy</h3>
<p>Agriculture Export Policy has been organised in two categories &ndash; <strong>Strategic and Operational</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Strategic:</strong> It Includes,
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Policy measures</li>
<li>Infrastructure and logistics support</li>
<li>Holistic approach to boost exports</li>
<li>Greater involvement of State Governments in agri exports</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Operational:</strong> It includes,
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Focus on Clusters</li>
<li>Promoting value added exports</li>
<li>Marketing and promotion of &ldquo;Brand India&rdquo;</li>
<li>Attract private investments into production and processing</li>
<li>Establishment of strong quality regimen</li>
<li>Research &amp; Development</li>
<li>Miscellaneous</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>India and WTO</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>All the measures proposed in the Agriculture Export Policy are compatible with World Trade Organisation norms.</li>
<li>With India moving out of the income bracket of per capital gross national income of less than $1000, it is not allowed by the WTO to give any financial assistance or export SOPs.</li>
<li>Therefore measures such as marketing and promotion and infrastructure building such as development of clusters are only considered in the policy.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Benefits of Export Policy</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India&rsquo;s agricultural trade policies are inconsistent with respect to guaranteed availability of produce for exports which makes India an unreliable trading partner; the policy would help India become a reliable partner.</li>
<li>It will help India in turning the unfavorable balance of payment as it will become an important source of foreign exchange.</li>
<li>It will act as a catalyst for crop diversification which helps in averting crop failure, better price realization etc.</li>
<li>It will also result in social upliftment by increasing farm income.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Prices in international market for food grain, sugar, cooking oil as well as dairy and meat products are very low leaving Indian products at disadvantage from their global peer.</li>
<li>Current minimum support price (MSP) of wheat and rice make India&rsquo;s food grain quite dear in the domestic market.</li>
<li>Indian government is always "pro-consumer", backing cheap imports to keep inflation in food prices low, hurting local producer.</li>
<li>Farmers are not aware of the external factors like global price, quality standard etc which makes them a poor choice as reliable suppliers.</li>
<li>India&rsquo;s farm produce suffers from poor customs and port infrastructure, and high logistics cost that cut into the exporters&rsquo; margins.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Effective cold chains can increase the exports of processed agricultural products, but government needs to put in money to push infrastructure.</li>
<li>Limited state interference, reform of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act, liberalization of land leasing norms etc is required to make India a reliable supplier with continued stability.</li>
<li>Government should ensure easy credit flow to the export sector, especially small exporters to ensure adequate availability of funds to them.</li>
<li>Trade promotion organizations can be setup at strategic overseas location which can boost India&rsquo;s paltry export to those nations.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/paper3/agriculture-export-policy-2018-1'
	],
	(int) 15 => [
		'title' => 'National Supercomputing Mission',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>French technology firm <strong>Atos</strong> will build a network of 70 supercomputers across India under the <strong>National Supercomputing Mission.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The supercomputers will be<strong> manufactured and designed in India</strong>, and will boost India&rsquo;s supercomputing capabilities. However, in terms of the speed, they will <strong>greatly lag those built by China</strong>, the world&rsquo;s largest supercomputer powerhouse.</li>
<li>The<strong> first three supercomputers</strong> will be set up in <strong>IIT BHU, IIT Kharagpur and IIITM Pune</strong>. While IIT BHU will get a one Petaflop supercomputer, the other two institutes will have 650 Teraflops each.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>National Supercomputing Mission</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The National Supercomputing Mission was<strong> announced in March 2015</strong>, with an aim to connect <strong>national academic and R&amp;D institutions with a grid of more than 70 high-performance computing facilities</strong> at an estimated cost of <strong>₹4,500 crore</strong> over the period of <strong>seven years.</strong></li>
<li>It supports the government's vision of <strong>'Digital India'</strong> and <strong>'Make in India'</strong> initiatives.</li>
<li>The mission will be implemented by the <strong>Department of Science and Technology (Ministry of Science and Technology )</strong> and <strong>Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)</strong>, through the <strong>Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.</strong></li>
<li>These supercomputers will also be networked on the National Supercomputing grid over the National Knowledge Network (NKN). The NKN connects academic institutions and R&amp;D labs over a high speed network.</li>
<li>Under NSM, the long-term plan is to<strong> build a strong base of 20,000 skilled persons</strong> over the next five years who will be equipped to handle the complexities of supercomputers.</li>
<li><strong>PARAM Shavak</strong> is one such machine that has been deployed to provide training.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Advantages</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>These supercomputers will <strong>meet the &nbsp;increasing computing demand of the scientific and academic community</strong> in the country, international technology trends and roadmaps of leading countries in the area, strategic importance and emergence of supercomputing as a benchmark for Scientific &amp; Technological advancements.</li>
<li>These machines will be part of the <strong>National Supercomputing grid over the National Knowledge Network (NKN),</strong> which will have wide-scale applications in the fields of<strong> climate modelling, weather prediction, aerospace engineering , computational biology, molecular dynamics, atomic energy simulations, national security and defence applications, seismic analysis, disaster prediction and management, computational chemistry, big data analytics, finance and more.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Supercomputers in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India's supercomputer program was started in <strong>late 1980s because Cray supercomputers</strong> could not be imported into India due to an <strong>arms embargo imposed on India,</strong> as it was a dual-use technology and could be used for developing nuclear weapons.</li>
<li>This led to setting up the <strong>Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in March 1988</strong> with the clear mandate to develop an indigenous supercomputer to meet high-speed computational needs.</li>
<li><strong>PARAM 8000,</strong> considered to be India&rsquo;s first supercomputer &nbsp;was<strong> indigenously built in 1991</strong> by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).</li>
<li>Presently, <strong>Pratyush, a Cray XC40 system -</strong> an array of computers that can deliver a <strong>peak power of 6.8 petaflops,</strong> installed at the <strong>Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune,</strong> is the fastest supercomputer in India. Launched in January 2018, it is the<strong> fourth fastest High Performance Computer (HPC) dedicated to climate modelling in the world.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The biggest challenge for India is <strong>limited funding.</strong> Limited investments and delayed release of funds slowed things down further.</li>
<li>This is one of the main reasons why India, which has the capacity to build a world-class system, has never reached the top position in the rankings.</li>
<li>While India&rsquo;s stronghold is in the field of software development, it has to depend on imports to procure the hardware components required for building supercomputers.</li>
<li>But the situation is changing, with India now venturing into design, manufacture and assembly of hardware components. This will not only cut down import costs, it will also ensure that while assembling supercomputers, applications are tailored to address problems that are specific to India.</li>
</ul>',
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		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/national-supercomputing-mission'
	],
	(int) 16 => [
		'title' => 'Important Facts for Prelims (17th December 2018)',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<h3>Great Indian Bustard</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The population of <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-15th-september-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Great Indian Bustard</a> has significantly shrunk to less than 150 in<strong> five States (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh)</strong>. India is the only country that habitats the Great Indian Bustard.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Threats</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Hunting:</strong> The bird was a <strong>popular game bird</strong> and still is in some pockets.</li>
<li><strong>Agriculture:</strong> Habitat of bustards are categorised as &lsquo;wastelands&rsquo;, like most grassland habitats in India. The <strong>push to make these areas more &lsquo;productive&rsquo; has seen an increase in irrigation facilities</strong> in these parts, resulting in the spillover of agricultural land into bustard habitats. Intensification of agriculture, including more pesticides, barbed-wire fences and new crops are endangering the birds&rsquo; survival.</li>
<li><strong>Development :</strong> Their habitat grassland are now sites for renewable power projects. New wind turbines and more power line affect the flight of Bustards as they have poor frontal vision and heavy bodies.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Markermeer Lake</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Markermeer is one of <strong>Europe&rsquo;s largest Freshwater Lake</strong> and is located in <strong>the Netherlands.</strong></li>
<li>An artificial archipelago is being built on Markermeer Lake <strong>from the sediments in the lake to bring wildlife back</strong>.</li>
<li>These islands are named as Marker Wadden Islands. These <strong>'Marker Wadden' will form a unique ecosystem</strong> that will boost biodiversity in the region.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-17th-december-2018'
	],
	(int) 17 => [
		'title' => 'Information Fusion Center of Indian Navy',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The Indian Navy will inaugurate the <strong>Information Fusion Centre (IFC) for the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Information Fusion Centre will serve countries that have<strong> White Shipping Information Exchange</strong> (White-shipping refers to commercial shipping information about the movement of cargo ships) agreements with India.</li>
<li>The IFC-IOR is established with the<strong> vision of strengthening maritime security</strong> in the region, by building a<strong> common coherent maritime situation picture</strong> and acting as a <strong>maritime information hub</strong> for the region.</li>
<li>The IOR apart from being <strong>heavily militarized ocean</strong> also faces<strong> threats like maritime terrorism, piracy, arms-running, human trafficking.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Information Fusion Centre (IFC)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The IFC has been established at the Indian Navy&rsquo;s<strong> Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) in Gurugram, Haryana.</strong></li>
<li>IFC is the single point center<strong> linking all the coastal radar chains</strong> to generate a <strong>seamless real-time picture</strong> of the nearly 7,500-km coastline.</li>
<li>All countries that have signed white shipping information exchange agreements with India can now position liaison officers at the IFC.</li>
<li>The IFC-IOR is a separate platform and all members of the <strong>Indian Ocean Naval Symposium are expected to be part of it.</strong> The IONS, launched in 2008, seeks to increase maritime cooperation in IOR.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Significance</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Information on commercial shipping will be exchanged with countries in the region to<strong> improve maritime domain awareness</strong> in the Indian Ocean.</li>
<li>It will strengthen the<strong> mutual collaboration and understanding of the threats prevalent in the region.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Trans-Regional Maritime Network (T-RMN)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Recently, India has also signed the Trans Regional Maritime Network (T-RMN) agreement.</li>
<li>The multilateral agreement <strong>comprises of 30 countries and is steered by Italy.</strong></li>
<li>This will facilitate information<strong> exchange on the movement of commercial traffic</strong> on the high seas.</li>
<li>Under the T-RMN, information is available mainly through the <strong>Automatic Identification System (AIS),</strong> fitted on the merchant ships as mandated by the International Maritime Organisation.</li>
<li>The AIS is used to identify passenger and commercial ships in international waters. AIS comprises the name, number, position, course, speed, last port visited, destination etc.</li>
<li>Such multilateral agreements help Indian Navy monitor whole Indian Ocean. As due to the large traffic, the Indian Ocean cannot be entirely monitored by any one nation.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) is <strong>located in Gurugram.</strong></li>
<li>It is the <strong>main center of the Indian Navy for coastal surveillance and monitoring.</strong></li>
<li>IMAC is the nodal center of the <strong>National Command Control Communications and Intelligence Network (NC3I Network).</strong></li>
<li>IMAC is a joint initiative of Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Bharat Electronics Ltd. and functions under the <strong>National Security Adviser (NSA).</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>National Command Control Communication and Intelligence Network (NC3IN)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Indian Navy has established the NC3IN linking 51 stations, including 20 of the Navy and 31 of the Coast Guard, with a nodal Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC).</li>
<li>The NC3I links 20 naval and 31 Coast Guard monitoring stations to generate a seamless real-time picture of the nearly 7,500-km long coastline.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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	(int) 18 => [
		'title' => 'Why Commodity Transaction Tax Must Go',
		'catname' => 'News Editorials',
		'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article &ldquo;Why commodity transaction tax must go&rdquo; which appeared in The Hindu on 17th December.)</p>
</div>
<p>Commodity Transaction Tax (CTT) is claimed as a tax that harmed more than doing good in India. It is argued that it was introduced for the wrong reason. While typically such taxes are levied to curb excessive speculation or to garner tax revenue, the Centre used CTT as a tool to make trading shift from commodity to equity futures.</p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>A commodity futures contract</strong> is an agreement to buy or sell a predetermined amount of a commodity at a specific price on a specific date in the future. Buyers use such contracts to avoid the risks associated with the price fluctuations of a futures' underlying product or raw material. Sellers use futures contracts to lock in guaranteed prices for their products.</p>
<p><strong>Stock Futures are financial contracts</strong> where the underlying asset is an individual stock. Stock Future contract is an agreement to buy or sell a specified quantity of underlying equity share for a future date at a price agreed upon between the buyer and seller.(A stock is a share in the ownership of a company).</p>
<p><strong>What is Commodity Transaction Tax?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is introduced to tax commodity trading in India where both parties&mdash;buyer &amp; seller of contract&mdash;will be taxed depending on the amount of the contract size. CCT is similar to the securities transaction tax (STT)-( a tax payable in India on the value of securities (excluding commodities and currency) transacted through a recognized stock exchange) levied on the purchase and sale of equities in the stock market.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>In the Union Budget of 2008-09, P Chidambaram first mooted the idea of CTT.</strong></li>
<li>At that time, the intention appears to have been to garner revenue from a section of the market that was growing at a brisk pace.</li>
<li>The Budget proposal was not implemented due to ardent opposition of the commodity exchanges and traders.</li>
<li>However, in 2013, lobbying by stock exchanges drowned the protests of commodity exchanges in the corridors of power. The stock exchanges argued that Securities Transaction Tax levied on equity derivatives had made transacting in stock futures and options more expensive and an unfair advantage was being given to commodity derivatives that were free from transaction tax until then. They were of the view that this was resulting in shifting volumes from equity to commodity futures.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Commodity derivatives</strong> are financial instruments whose value is based on underlying commodities, such as oil, gas, metals, agricultural products, and minerals.</p>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In 2013 CTT was imposed on non-agricultural commodities futures contracts at 0.01 per cent of the contract price. While most agri commodities were exempt from this tax, some processed commodities were brought under the purview of this taxation. In 2018, CTT has been imposed on commodity options too.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Impacts</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A lot has changed with the introduction of the CTT by the Government in 2013.</li>
<li>The reason why CTT was introduced during financial year 2013-2014 (for non-agricultural commodities) was to bring parity between the equity and commodity derivative markets.</li>
<li>However, with CTT, transaction cost for a trader increased five times, causing the trader to rethink his/her options as the proposed rate does not reflect the volatility conditions of the commodity vis-&agrave;-vis equity derivative markets (equity markets are more volatile/unstable as compared to commodities).</li>
<li>This resulted in CTT having a significant negative impact on the trading volumes of all commodities, leading to India&rsquo;s global ranking dropping to lower levels.</li>
<li>By 2025, the Government potentially stands to lose about ₹4,300 crore in aggregate if CTT remains in force. Due to the lower volume, the revenue from CTT collection has been so meager that it is clubbed with other income taxes in the Union Budget.</li>
<li>Financial participants in non-agri segments were also affected. There is some increase in market volatility in the last year for bullion contracts (copper, gold, and silver) also.</li>
<li>Introduction of CTT has, therefore, dealt a severe blow to the volume of bullion, energy and base metal contracts traded on commodity exchanges while causing an unnecessary spike in stock futures trading.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Financial participants such as arbitrageurs [someone who engages in arbitrage i.e purchases securities in one market for immediate resale in another in the hope of profiting from the price differential] and traders, who have moved away due to the CTT levy, are needed to impart liquidity in any market. The Centre therefore needs to seriously consider removing the transaction tax on commodity derivatives.</li>
<li>The commodity derivative segment is more important than equity because it helps commodity producers and other manufacturers manage their price risk.</li>
<li>Since this segment is still at a nascent stage, burdening it with additional transaction taxes, which yield paltry sums to the exchequer, makes very little sense.</li>
<li>The Government could also consider a reduction in this transaction tax (in line with other international exchanges) if not removal, as this would make Indian exchanges globally competitive, thereby increasing trading volumes significantly leading to higher revenues through taxation on profits made by each stakeholder in the system.</li>
</ul>',
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	(int) 19 => [
		'title' => 'National Medical Devices Promotion Council to be set up ',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The government has decided to set up the <strong>National Medical Devices Promotion Council (NMDPC)</strong> to boost manufacturing, attract investments and promote exports in the medical device sector which is a sunrise sector.</p>
<h3>Significance</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>Medical Devices Industry (MDI)</strong> plays a critical role in the healthcare ecosystem in the country.</li>
<li>Having self-reliance in medical devices is important to achieve the goal of health for all citizens of the country. It will also help in reducing an import bill of over Rs 31, 000 crore in&nbsp;the medical devices sector.</li>
<li>As Indian manufacturing companies and startups move towards creating innovative products, the setting-up of the Council will boost domestic manufacturing in this sector.</li>
<li>Medical Devices Development Council will help in making India top 5 Medical Devices manufacturing hubs worldwide.</li>
</ul>
<h3>About NMDPC</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Council will be headed by Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.</li>
<li>Council will have representatives from concerned departments of Government, health care industry and quality control institutions.</li>
<li>Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone, Visakhapatnam, will provide technical support to the Council.</li>
<li>The National Medical Devices Promotion Council will have the following <strong>objectives and activities:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Act as a facilitating and promotion &amp; developmental body for the Indian MDI.</li>
<li>Hold periodic seminars, workshops, and all related networking activities to garner views of the industry.</li>
<li>Identify redundant processes and render technical assistance to the agencies and government departments to simplify the approval processes.</li>
<li>Enable entry of emerging interventions and support certifications for manufacturers to reach levels of global trade norms and lead India to an export-driven market in the sector.</li>
<li>Support dissemination and documentation of international norms and standards for medical devices, by capturing the best practices in the global market.</li>
<li>Drive a robust and dynamic Preferential Market Access (PMA) policy.</li>
<li>Undertake validation of Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) and other such entities within the MDI sector.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Sunrise Sector:</strong> An industry that produces new types of products or services, especially one that is expected to grow quickly. For example&nbsp;the food processing industry, space tourism, biotechnology etc.</p>
<p><strong>The Medical Devices Industry in India</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Medical Devices industry in India has steadily grown and is valued at more than $5 billion.</li>
<li>As per industry estimates, the Indian medical devices market will grow to USD 50 billion by 2025.</li>
<li>Currently, India is counted among the top 20 global medical devices market and is the 4th largest medical devices market in Asia after Japan, China, and South Korea.</li>
<li>Up to 100% Foreign Direct Investment is permitted in Medical devices through the automatic route.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Challenges to Medical Device industry in India</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Low Penetration</strong> - The per capita medical device spending of USD 3, compared to USD 7 in China and USD 42 in Russia is significantly low.</li>
<li><strong>Lack of Accessibility</strong> - The Indian healthcare system is inadequate, inefficient, and unevenly distributed. 69% of the Indian population lives in rural areas, while 73% of qualified consulting doctors reside in urban areas. Eight percent of qualified doctors are in rural areas, and the remaining 19% are in semi-rural areas.</li>
<li><strong> Inadequate regulatory systems-&nbsp;</strong>Non-alignment with global standards and the lack of quality product testing infrastructure are issues that hinder sectoral progress.</li>
<li><strong>Real estate prices</strong> and high capital costs limit the growth of delivery infrastructure.</li>
<li>Insufficient attention by policymakers and a<strong> complex tax regime</strong> are also responsible for the sector&rsquo;s underdevelopment.</li>
<li>The <strong>lack of a comprehensive policy</strong> and focus to develop the healthcare eco-system.</li>
<li>The limited attractiveness of India as a destination for medical devices due to<strong> uncertain regulations and pricing environment,</strong> unavailability of skilled resources, and ease of doing business compared to other comparable destinations in Asia.</li>
<li><strong>Lack of innovation</strong> and customization resulting in fewer options available to the patients.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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