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Operation Greens

Why in News? Recently government approved guidelines for Rs 500 crore 'Operation Greens' program. Finance Minister of India had announced...

05 Dec 2018 Paper 3
Operation Greens

05 Dec 2018 Paper 3
GSAT-11 Launched

Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) heaviest communication satellite GSAT-11 was launched by European Space Agency’s (ESA)...

05 Dec 2018 News Analysis
Important Facts for Prelims (5th December 2018)

USMCA trade deal The United States, Canada and Mexico have reached an agreement to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The...

05 Dec 2018 News Analysis
Status on Implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016

A study conducted by the Disability Rights India Foundation (DRIF) on the implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act,...

05 Dec 2018 News Analysis
Untenable Assault On Our Farm Subsidies

(This editorial is based on the article “Untenable Assault On Our Farm Subsidies” which appears in BusinessLine on 5th December...

05 Dec 2018 News Editorials
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

What is CBI? Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating police agency in India. It functions under the superintendence of...

04 Dec 2018 National Institutions
Qatar Quits OPEC

Qatar has decided to withdraw its membership from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) effective from January 2019 to focus on...

04 Dec 2018 News Analysis
The Big Picture: Floods and Dam Management

Dams are one of the vital elements for the growth of the country’s economy. In India, over the years, dams have played an important role in...

04 Dec 2018 Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions
Warmer Winters Ahead as El Niño Conditions Develop

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), India is likely to experience a warmer winter for a second consecutive year due to the...

04 Dec 2018 News Analysis
Important Facts for Prelims (4th December 2018)

SHINYUU Maitri-2018 The bilateral air exercise between the Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) and Indian Air Force is being held in Agra,...

04 Dec 2018 News Analysis
Corridor Of Uncertainty

(This editorial is based on the article “Corridor Of Uncertainty” which appears in The Indian Express on 4th December 2018.) Peace in...

04 Dec 2018 News Editorials
Generalized System of Preference

Why in News? Recently the US government has withdrawn its GSP (Generalized System of Preferences) benefits to India worth $70 million on as many as...

03 Dec 2018 Paper 3
Generalized System of Preference

03 Dec 2018 Paper 3
Important Facts for Prelims (3rd December 2018)

Hornbill Festival- 2018 Recently Union Home Minister has inaugurated the 10-day long annual Hornbill festival. At the beginning of December each...

03 Dec 2018 News Analysis
Digital Sky Platform: Drone Regulation 1.0

The guidelines (Drone Regulations 1.0) issued by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for commercial use of drones or remotely operated...

03 Dec 2018 News Analysis
Rendering The Perennial Lifeless

(The editorial is based on the article “Rendering the Perennial Lifeless” which appears in EPW on 1st December 2018.) The pollution...

03 Dec 2018 News Editorials
The Big Picture: One World, One Sun, One Grid

Stressing that India would generate 40 percent of power from non-fossil fuels by 2030, the Prime Minister has called for connecting solar energy...

01 Dec 2018 Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions
India Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue

1st ever India-Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue was held at St. Petersburg in Russia to identify greater synergy in trade and investment. The...

01 Dec 2018 News Analysis
India to Chair Kimberley Process

India will chair the Kimberley System Certification Scheme (KPCS) which is also known as Kimberley Process (KP) from January 2019. India took over...

01 Dec 2018 News Analysis

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			'title' => 'Operation Greens',
			'catname' => 'Paper 3',
			'desc' => '<h3>Why in News?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Recently government approved guidelines for Rs 500 crore 'Operation Greens' program.</li>
<li>Finance Minister of India had announced Operation Greens in the Union Budget 2018-19, on the line of 'Operation Flood'.</li>
</ul>
<h3>What is Operation Green?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is a price fixation scheme that aims to ensure farmers are given the right price for their produce.</li>
<li>It aims to promote Farmer Producers Organizations (FPO), Agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management of agri-produce.</li>
<li>It focuses on organized marketing of Tomatoes, Onions and Potatoes (TOP vegetables) by connecting farmers with consumers.</li>
<li>State Agriculture and other Marketing Federations, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPO), cooperatives, companies, Self-help groups, food processors etc. can avail the financial assistance under it.</li>
<li>To help in the structural and infrastructure part of the scheme, agriculture market committee (APMCs) promoted markets will be connected to the e-NAM platform.</li>
<li>The government will also help in development of 22,000 agricultural markets.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>E-NAM (e-National Agriculture Market)</strong> is an important initiative of GoI to use pan-India electronic trading portal for bidding and network the existing APMC mandis to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities.</p>
<p><strong>Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC)</strong> is a statutory market committee constituted by a State Government in respect of trade in certain notified agricultural or horticultural or livestock products, under the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act issued by that state government.</p>
</div>
<h3>Objectives</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Enhancing value realisation of TOP farmers by targeted interventions to strengthen TOP production clusters and their FPOs, and linking/connecting them with the market.</li>
<li>Price stabilisation for producers and consumers by proper production planning in the TOP clusters and introduction of dual use varieties.</li>
<li>Reduction in post-harvest losses by creation of farm gate infrastructure, development of suitable agro-logistics, creation of appropriate storage capacity linking consumption centres.</li>
<li>Increase in food processing capacities and value addition in TOP value chain with firm linkages with production clusters.</li>
<li>Setting up of a market intelligence network to collect and collate real time data on demand and supply and price of TOP crops.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Strategies</h3>
<p>The scheme will have two-pronged strategy of Price stabilisation measures (for short term) and integrated value chain development projects (for long term).</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Short term Price Stabilisation Measures:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED)</strong> will be the Nodal Agency to implement price stabilization measure.</li>
<li>Ministry of Food Processing Industry will provide 50% of the subsidy on:
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Transportation of Tomato Onion Potato(TOP) Crops from production to storage;</li>
<li>Hiring of appropriate storage facilities for TOP Crops</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Long Term Integrated value chain development projects:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Capacity Building of FPOs &amp; their consortium</li>
<li>Quality production</li>
<li>Post-harvest processing facilities</li>
<li>Agri-Logistics</li>
<li>Marketing/Consumption Points</li>
<li>Creation and Management of e-platform for demand and supply management of TOP Crops.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why Operation Greens?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The scheme is launched on the lines of <strong>Operation Flood</strong> and seeks to replicate the success of milk in fruits and vegetables.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Operation Flood</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Operation Flood was started by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1970s.</li>
<li>It was also known as white revolution.</li>
<li>Objective of the program was to create a nationwide milk grid and raise milk production in the country.</li>
<li>It led to India becoming the largest producer of milk in 2016-17.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Idea behind Operation Greens is to double the income of farmers by the end of 2022.</li>
<li>The problem with vegetable commodities is that when their production increases sharply, their prices collapse because there is not enough modern storage capacity.</li>
<li>The links between processing and organized retailing are very weak and small in India which often result in farmer receiving less than 1/4th of what consumers pay for their produce in major cities.</li>
<li>Operation Greens will focus on these problems for basic ingredients and not on additional commodities in agriculture.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges in Implementation</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There are so many varieties of TOP vegetables, grown in different climatic conditions and in different seasons, making marketing intervention (processing and storage) all the more complex, unlike in milk that is a relatively homogenous product produced round the year.</li>
<li>Viable technology options for long-term storage, transport, and processing are still being developed.</li>
<li>Energy intensity of available technologies, especially with rising fuel prices, poses additional challenge.</li>
<li>Organized market at present is very small in relation to total production. The market has to be developed through a viable business model which is both time and cost consuming.</li>
<li>The scheme has no provision for institutional setup in implementing the scheme like the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Operation Flood.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There is a need to link major consumption centre to major production centre with a minimal number of intermediaries.</li>
<li>Linking the processing industry with organized retailing. On an average, about one-fourth of the produce must be processed. Budget announcement of increasing the allocation for the food processing industry by 100% is a welcome step in this regard.</li>
<li>By developing forward and backward linkages, the government can ease large price fluctuations, raise farmers&rsquo; share in the price paid by the consumer and at the same time, ensure lower prices for the consumers &mdash; a win-win situation for all.</li>
</ul>',
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		(int) 1 => [
			'title' => 'Operation Greens',
			'catname' => 'Paper 3',
			'desc' => '<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/215Operation%20Greens.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/215Operation Greens.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>',
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		(int) 2 => [
			'title' => 'GSAT-11 Launched',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>Indian Space Research Organization&rsquo;s (ISRO) heaviest communication satellite GSAT-11 was launched by European Space Agency&rsquo;s (ESA) Ariane-5 Rocket, from Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana, South America.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>ISRO&rsquo;s rocket GSLV III can carry load up to four thousand kilograms. Beyond that capacity, all heavier ISRO payloads are launched by ESA.</li>
<li>
<p>GSAT-11 is part of ISRO&rsquo;s high-throughput communication satellite (HTS) fleet. Two HTSs &mdash; <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/gsat-29-satellite-launched-1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GSAT-29</a> and GSAT-19 are already in space.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>GSAT-11</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>GSAT-11 is an advanced communication satellite.</li>
<li>The GSAT 11 has Ka x Ku-Band Forward Link Transponders and Ku x Ka-band Return Link Transponders.</li>
<li>Mass: 5,854 Kg</li>
<li>Orbit type: Geostationary Orbit</li>
<li>Mission Life: 15 Years</li>
</ul>
<h3>Applications</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Faster Internet Connectivity:</strong> GSAT will play a vital role in providing broadband services across the country. It will enable greater capacity and high data rates over region due to use of the spot beam technology.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>
<p>The broadband domain in India is through the underground fiber and covers partial and convenient locations. GSAT will drive the country's Internet broadband from space to untouched areas.&nbsp;</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Bharat Net Connectivity:</strong> It will provide substantial bandwidth coverage to gram panchayats for supporting e-governance and other platforms.</li>
<li><strong>VSAT Terminals:</strong> Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) support high data rate applications for enterprise network and consumer broadband applications.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Spot Beam</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A spot beam is a satellite signal that is especially concentrated so that it covers only a limited geographical area. The narrower the beam greater the power. The satellite reuse beams (signals) several times in order to cover the entire country.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Types of Orbits</strong></p>
<p>In general, there are two types of orbits:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Polar Synchronous</li>
<li>Geosynchronous</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Polar Orbit</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A polar orbit travels<strong> north-south over the poles</strong> and takes approximately<strong> 90 minutes for a full rotation.</strong></li>
<li>These orbits have an <strong>inclination near 90 degrees.</strong> This allows the satellite to see virtually every part of the Earth as the Earth rotates underneath it.</li>
<li>These satellites have many uses such as<strong> monitoring crops, global security, measuring ozone concentrations in the stratosphere or measuring temperatures in the atmosphere.</strong></li>
<li>Almost all the satellites that are in a polar orbit are at <strong>lower altitudes.</strong></li>
<li>An orbit is called <strong>sun-synchronous</strong> when the angle between the <strong>line joining the center of the Earth and the satellite and the Sun is constant throughout the orbit.</strong></li>
<li>These orbits are also referred to as <strong>&ldquo;Low Earth Orbit (LEO)&rdquo;</strong> which enables the onboard camera to take images of the earth under the same sun-illumination conditions during each of the repeated visits, thus making the satellite useful for earth resources monitoring.</li>
<li><strong>It passes over any given point on Earth&rsquo;s surface at the same local solar time.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Geosynchronous Orbit</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Geosynchronous satellites are launched into orbit in the same direction the Earth is spinning and can have any inclination.</li>
<li>When the satellite is in orbit at a specific altitude (approximately 36,000km above the Earth's surface)<strong>, it will exactly match the rotation of the Earth.</strong></li>
<li>While, <strong>Geostationary</strong> <strong>orbits</strong> fall in the same category as geosynchronous orbits, but with that one special quality of being<strong> parked over the equator.</strong></li>
<li>In the case of geostationary satellites, the Earth&rsquo;s force of gravity is exactly enough to provide acceleration required for circular motion.</li>
<li><strong>Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit(GTO):</strong> To attain geostationary or geosynchronous earth orbits, a spacecraft is first launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.</li>
<li>From the <strong>GTO the spacecraft uses its engines to shift to geostationary or geosynchronous orbit.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>',
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			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/gsat-11-launched'
		],
		(int) 3 => [
			'title' => 'Important Facts for Prelims (5th December 2018)',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<h3>USMCA trade deal</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>United States</strong>, <strong>Canada</strong> and <strong>Mexico</strong> have reached an agreement to <strong>replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)</strong>.</li>
<li>The original 1994 NAFTA deal has also been renamed as the <strong>United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement or USMCA</strong>.</li>
<li>The goal of NAFTA was to encourage economic activity by eliminating barriers to trade and investment between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.</li>
<li>USMCA will give workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses a high-standard trade agreement that will result in freer markets, fairer trade and robust economic growth in the region.</li>
<li>It will strengthen the middle class, and create good, well-paying jobs and new opportunities for the nearly half billion people of North America.</li>
</ul>
<h3>India Water Impact Summit-2018</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India Water Impact Summit is being jointly organized by the <strong>National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)</strong> and the <strong>Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga)</strong> from 5-7 December 2018 in New Delhi.</li>
<li>The India Water Impact Summit is an annual event where stakeholders get together to discuss, debate and develop model solutions for some of the biggest water-related problems in the country.</li>
<li>The discussions this year will be on <strong>rejuvenation of the Ganga River Basin.</strong></li>
<li>There will be multi-country dialogue on the subject, with showcasing of technological innovations, research, policy frameworks and funding models from India and abroad.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG) was<strong> registered as a society in 2011</strong> under the <strong>Societies Registration Act 1860</strong>.</li>
<li>It acted as <strong>implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority(NGRBA)</strong> which was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),1986.</li>
<li>NGRBA has since been dissolved in 2016, consequent to constitution of<strong> National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga</strong> (referred as National Ganga Council which comes under the chairmanship of Prime Minister of India.)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Indian Navy Day 2018</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indian maritime forces celebrated Navy Day on <strong>4 December</strong>.</li>
<li>The day marks the <strong>exemplary role</strong> of the naval branch of the <strong>Indian Armed Forces in the 1971 India-Pakistan War</strong>.</li>
<li>The Indian Navy of the 21st century is emerging as a formidable force likely to influence the Indian Ocean Region.</li>
</ul>
<h3>India&rsquo;s First Private Satellite Launched</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>US space agency <strong>SpaceX</strong> launched India&rsquo;s first privately built satellite <strong>ExseedSAT 1</strong> along with 63 other satellites from 17 countries.</li>
<li>The mini communication satellite weighs just a kg and is made up of aluminium alloy.</li>
<li>The satellite is owned by Mumbai-based startup Exseed Space and will serve the amateur radio communication.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Mangdechhu Project</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Project is a <strong>hydropower project</strong> in<strong> Bhutan</strong>.</li>
<li>720MW run-of-river power plant was built on the <strong>Mangdechhu River in</strong> Trongsa Dzongkhag District of <strong>central Bhutan</strong>.</li>
<li>It was built by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) with<strong> support from Government of India</strong>.</li>
<li>It is among the ten Hydroelectric Projects planned under the 10,000MW hydropower development by the year 2020 programme of the Royal Government of Bhutan.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
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		],
		(int) 4 => [
			'title' => 'Status on Implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>A study conducted by the Disability Rights India Foundation (DRIF) on the implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, across 24 States, has revealed that <strong>more than half have not notified the State rules.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Only ten states including Bihar, Chandigarh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have notified the rules.</li>
<li>Recently,<strong> Rajasthan was recognised as the best State in implementation of Accessible India Campaign</strong> on the occasion of <strong>International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3rd).</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>This year's <strong>theme</strong> for International Day of Persons with Disabilities was-<strong> "Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality"</strong>- declared by the United Nations (UN).</li>
<li>It focuses on the <strong>2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and pledges to "leave no one behind".</strong> This year also marks the<strong> 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Article 41&nbsp;of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP)</strong> states that State shall make effective provision for securing right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, within the limits of its economic capacity and development.</li>
<li>The subject of &lsquo;relief of the disabled and unemployable&rsquo; is specified in <strong>state list of the Seventh schedule of the constitution.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Accessible India Campaign (AIC)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Accessible India Campaign (AIC) is the nationwide flagship campaign of the <strong>Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.</strong></li>
<li>The aim of the Campaign is to make a barrier free and conducive environment for Divyangjans all over the country.</li>
<li>It was <strong>launched on International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3rd December, 2015.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Right of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Disability has been defined based on an <strong>evolving and dynamic concept.</strong></li>
<li>The types of disabilities have been<strong> increased from 7 to 21.</strong> The act added mental illness, autism, spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, chronic neurological conditions, speech and language disability, thalassemia, hemophilia, sickle cell disease, multiple disabilities including deaf blindness,<strong> acid attack victims</strong> and Parkinson&rsquo;s disease which were largely ignored in earlier act. In addition, the<strong> Government has been authorized to notify</strong> any other category of specified disability.</li>
<li>It increases the quantum of reservation for people suffering from disabilities from<strong> 3% to 4% in government jobs</strong> and from <strong>3% to 5% in higher education institutes.</strong></li>
<li>Every child with benchmark disability between the age group of<strong> 6 and 18 years shall have the right to free education.</strong> Government funded educational institutions as well as the government recognized institutions will have to provide inclusive education.</li>
<li>Stress has been given to ensure accessibility in public buildings in a prescribed time frame along with Accessible India Campaign.</li>
<li>The Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities and the State Commissioners will act as regulatory bodies and Grievance Redressal agencies, monitoring implementation of the Act.</li>
<li>A separate National and State Fund be created to provide financial support to the persons with disabilities.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Convention was adopted by the <strong>General Assembly in December 2006</strong> and it came into<strong> force on in May 2008.</strong></li>
<li>The convention seeks to engage member countries in developing and carrying out policies, laws and administrative measures for securing the rights recognized in the Convention and abolish laws, regulations, customs and practices that constitute discrimination.</li>
<li>It requires countries to identify and eliminate obstacles and barriers and ensure that persons with disabilities can access their environment, transportation, public facilities and services, and information and communications technologies.</li>
<li>It asks member countries to recognize the right to an adequate standard of living and social protection which includes public housing, services and assistance for disability-related needs, as well as assistance with disability-related expenses in case of poverty.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/status-on-implementation-of-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-act-2016'
		],
		(int) 5 => [
			'title' => 'Untenable Assault On Our Farm Subsidies',
			'catname' => 'News Editorials',
			'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article &ldquo;Untenable Assault On Our Farm Subsidies&rdquo; which appears in BusinessLine on 5th December 2018.)</p>
</div>
<p><strong>At a time when the government is offering enhanced Minimum Support Prices (MSP) to the farmers for the Kharif crops, India&rsquo;s farm subsidies&rsquo; regime has come under intense scrutiny in the World Trade Organization (WTO).</strong></p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Minimum Support Price (MSP)</strong> is a form of market intervention by the Government of India to ensure agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices. The minimum support prices are announced by the Government of India at the beginning of the sowing season for certain crops on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).</p>
</div>
<p><strong>Over the past few years, the implementation of the National Food Security Act has also been questioned in the WTO, as several members argued that India&rsquo;s agricultural subsidies were violating the disciplines of the Agreement on Agriculture* (AoA).</strong> After considerable remonstration, India obtained a temporary respite after being assured that no WTO member would initiate a dispute against India, even if its subsidies were in excess of its commitments.<strong><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/714subsidy.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 10px;" width="268" height="162" caption="false" /></strong></p>
<p>Recently, various aspects of India&rsquo;s agricultural policies came in for close scrutiny by several WTO members, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, European Union, Japan, Russia, and the USA. <strong>India has been questioned on its supply management policies for skimmed milk powder, sugar, and pulses, in particular, the export subsidies granted to all these products/commodities and the import restriction on pulses.</strong></p>
<div class="border-bg"><strong>Agreement on Agriculture (AoA)</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The WTO Agreement on Agriculture, which came into force in 1995, represents a significant step towards reforming agricultural trade and making it fairer and more competitive. The Agriculture Committee oversees implementation of the Agreement. Members continue to conduct negotiations for further reform.</li>
<li><strong>In 2015, they adopted a historic decision to abolish agricultural export subsidies and to set rules for other forms of farm export support.</strong></li>
<li><strong>AoA fixes the market price support that countries can provide to each crop. For developing countries like India, the market price support for a crop cannot exceed 10 percent of the total value of its production.</strong></li>
<li>AoA gives the freedom to the WTO members to calculate their market price support using any currency; the tacit understanding is that the data presented by a country must be consistent.</li>
<li><strong>AoA does not allow India to use direct export subsidies, but subsidies for reducing the costs of marketing exports of agricultural products and for internal transport and freight charges on export shipments can be provided.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In May, the US questioned the basis for the grant of MSP to wheat and rice and more recently subsidies for cotton. In its submission to the WTO, the US has shown India&rsquo;s market price support for rice was consistently above 70 percent of the value of production since 2010-11 and above 60 percent for wheat during the same period, while for cotton it varied between 53 and 81 percent.</li>
<li><strong>A second issue that the US has raised is regarding the quantity procured or &ldquo;eligible production&rdquo;. India has maintained that &ldquo;eligible production&rdquo; must be that part of the total production of a crop that is actually procured by the agencies.</strong></li>
<li>The US has been hinting that India must declare its &ldquo;eligible production&rdquo; before the actual procurement takes place (which India opposes). Announcing &ldquo;eligible production&rdquo; prior to actual procurement can have two adverse implications for the farmers in India. If &ldquo;eligible production&rdquo; is set at a higher level, it can either influence their decision to produce a particular crop and if it is set a relatively low level, they would be denied the benefit of the MSP.</li>
<li><strong>Australia has followed the US to challenge India&rsquo;s price policy for sugarcane.</strong> Its main argument is that India provides implicit subsidies but has not declared this to the WTO. This is despite India&rsquo;s long-standing position that it only sets Fair and Remunerative Price for sugarcane, according to the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966, which the sugar mills are expected to pay to the farmers.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Fair and Remunerative Price</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>With the amendment of the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966, the concept of Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) of sugarcane was replaced with the &lsquo;Fair and Remunerative Price&rsquo; (FRP) of sugarcane for 2009-10 and subsequent sugar seasons.</li>
<li>The cane price announced by the Central Government is decided on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) after consulting the State Governments and associations of the sugar industry.</li>
<li>Under the FRP system, the farmers are not required to wait until the end of the season or for an announcement of the profits by sugar mills or the Government.</li>
<li>This system also assures margins on account of profit and risk to farmers, irrespective of the fact whether sugar mills generate profit or not and is not dependent on the performance of any individual sugar mill</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Calculation of Subsidies</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Subsidies provided by WTO members are calculated with reference to international prices, which are assumed to be the competitive prices.</li>
<li>In the negotiations leading to the adoption of the AoA, the international price of each commodity was a fixed &ldquo;external reference price&rdquo; (ERP), taken as the average of the international prices during 1986-88.</li>
<li>For developing countries like India, the market price support for a crop cannot exceed 10 percent of the total value of its production. India&rsquo;s market price support to its crops never exceeded 10 percent of their value of production. However, the US has challenged India arguing that its market price support to the major crops is well above this threshold.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The first observation is that the creeping crisis in Indian agriculture requires flexibility in the use of policy instruments, which the framework provided by the AoA does not provide.</strong></li>
<li>The Centre must get its act together for undertaking a structural transformation of the agricultural sector, one that puts the interests of the small and marginal farmer and the landless labour at the center. T<strong>he WTO rules have little tolerance for ad hoc policy making in agriculture; only a coherent set of policies that result in sustained improvement of peasant agriculture can stand scrutiny.</strong></li>
<li>There is a strong need for India to focus on the revival of the Doha Round. India needs a flexible policy regime to deal with its fragile farm sector. It is imperative to revive the Doha Round of WTO.</li>
<li><strong>The Nairobi Ministerial Conference held in 2015 had taken a decision that developing countries would be allowed to use indirect export subsidies only up to the end of 2023.</strong> This would mark the end of all policy instruments to support export subsidies in agriculture. Alternative support systems should be initiated by developing countries.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>The Doha Round</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Doha Round is the latest round of trade negotiations among the WTO membership.</li>
<li>The agriculture negotiations began in 2000, under a commitment members made in the 1986&ndash;94 Uruguay Round to continue reform in the trade. They were brought into the Doha Round when it was launched in 2001.</li>
<li>Broadly, the objective is to reduce distortions in agricultural trade caused by high tariffs and other barriers, export subsidies, and some kinds of domestic support.</li>
<li>The negotiations also take into account social and political sensitivities in the sector and the needs of developing countries.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/untenable-assault-on-our-farm-subsidies'
		],
		(int) 6 => [
			'title' => 'Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)',
			'catname' => 'National Institutions',
			'desc' => '<h3>What is CBI?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating police agency in India.</li>
<li>It functions under the superintendence of the Deptt. of Personnel, Ministry of Personnel, Pension &amp; Public Grievances, Government of India - which falls under the prime minister&rsquo;s office.</li>
<li>However for investigations of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, its superintendence vests with the Central Vigilance Commission.</li>
<li>It is also the nodal police agency in India which coordinates investigation on behalf of Interpol Member countries.</li>
<li>Its conviction rate is as high as 65 to 70% and it is comparable to the best investigation agencies in the world.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Historical Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>During the period of World War II, a Special Police Establishment (SPE) was constituted in 1941 in the Department of War of the British India to enquire into allegations of bribery and corruption in the war related procurements.</li>
<li>Later on it was formalized as an agency of the Government of India to investigate into allegations of corruption in various wings of the Government of India by enacting the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946.</li>
<li><strong>CBI derives power to investigate from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946.</strong></li>
<li>In 1963, the CBI was established by the Government of India with a view to investigate serious crimes related to defence of India, corruption in high places, serious fraud, cheating and embezzlement and social crime, particularly of hoarding, black-marketing and profiteering in essential commodities, having all-India and inter-state ramifications.</li>
<li>With the passage of time, CBI started investigations in conventional crimes like assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, crimes committed by extremists, etc.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Cases Handled by the CBI</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Anti-Corruption Crimes -</strong> for investigation of cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Public officials and the employees of Central Government, Public Sector Undertakings, Corporations or Bodies owned or controlled by the Government of India.</li>
<li><strong>Economic Crimes -</strong> for investigation of major financial scams and serious economic frauds, including crimes relating to Fake Indian Currency Notes, Bank Frauds and Cyber Crime, bank frauds, Import Export &amp; Foreign Exchange violations, large-scale smuggling of narcotics, antiques, cultural property and smuggling of other contraband items etc.</li>
<li><strong>Special Crimes -</strong> for investigation of serious and organized crime under the Indian Penal Code and other laws on the requests of State Governments or on the orders of the Supreme Court and High Courts - such as cases of terrorism, bomb blasts, kidnapping for ransom and crimes committed by the mafia/the underworld.</li>
<li><strong>Suo Moto Cases -</strong> CBI can suo-moto take up investigation of offences only in the Union Territories.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Central Government can authorize CBI to investigate a crime in a State but only with the consent of the concerned State Government.</li>
<li>The Supreme Court and High Courts, however, can order CBI to investigate a crime anywhere in the country without the consent of the State.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Director of CBI</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Director, CBI as Inspector General of Police, Delhi Special Police Establishment, is responsible for the administration of the organisation.</li>
<li>Till 2014, the CBI Director was appointed on the basis of the DSPE Act, 1946.</li>
<li>In 2003, DSPE Act was revised on Supreme Court&rsquo;s recommendation in the Vineet Narain case. A committee that had members from Central Vigilance Commission, Secretaries from Home Ministry, Ministry of Personnel and Public Grievances would send recommendations to Central Government for the appointment of CBI Director.</li>
<li>In 2014, the Lokpal Act provided a committee for appointment of CBI Director:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Headed by Prime Minister</li>
<li>Other members - Leader of Opposition/ Leader of the single largest opposition party, Chief Justice of India/ a Supreme Court Judge.</li>
<li>Home Ministry sends a list of eligible candidates to DoPT. Then, the DoPT prepares the final list on basis of seniority, integrity, and experience in the investigation of anti-corruption cases, and sends it to the committee.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Director of CBI has been provided <strong>security of two year tenure,</strong> by the CVC Act, 2003.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Supreme Court of India has criticised the CBI by calling it a "caged parrot speaking in its master's voice", due to <strong>excessive political interference</strong> in its functioning.</li>
<li>It has often been used by the government of the day to cover up wrongdoing, keep coalition allies in line and political opponents at bay.</li>
<li>It has been accused of <strong>enormous delays in concluding investigations</strong> - For example, the inertia in its probe against the high dignitaries in Jain hawala diaries case [of the 1990s].</li>
<li><strong>Loss of Credibility:</strong> Improving the image of the agency is one of the biggest challenges till now as the agency has been criticised for its mismanagement of several cases involving prominent politicians and mishandling of several sensitive cases like Bofors scandal; Hawala scandal, Sant Singh Chatwal case, Bhopal gas tragedy, 2008 Noida double murder case(Aarushi Talwar).</li>
<li><strong>Lack of Accountability:</strong> CBI is exempted from the provisions of the Right to Information Act, thus, lacking public accountability.</li>
<li><strong>Acute shortage of personnel:</strong> A major cause of the shortfall is the government's sheer mismanagement of CBI's workforce, through a system of inefficient, and inexplicably biased, recruitment policies - used to bring in favoured officers, possibly to the detriment of the organisation.</li>
<li><strong>Limited Powers:</strong> The powers and jurisdiction of members of the CBI for investigation are subject to the consent of the State Govt., thus limiting the extent of investigation by CBI.</li>
<li><strong>Restricted Access:</strong> Prior approval of Central Government to conduct inquiry or investigation on the employees of the Central Government, of the level of Joint Secretary and above is a big obstacle in combating corruption at higher levels of bureaucracy.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>USA and FBI </strong></p>
<p>In the United States of America (USA), the federal States have their own Constitution and yet they have subjected themselves to the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which is a Central agency. Like India, police and public order is a State subject in the USA too and that in all cases involving a federal offence in the USA, the FBI and the local police have concurrent jurisdictions; but the moment the FBI steps in, the local police stops investigation.</p>
</div>
<h3>Suggestions</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Delink the CBI from the administrative control of the government - As long as the government of the day has the power to transfer and post officials of its choice in the CBI, the investigating agency will not enjoy autonomy and will be unable to investigate cases freely.</li>
<li>Providing statutory status through legislation equivalent to that provided to the Comptroller &amp; Auditor General and the Election Commission wil help maintain the independence of the institution.</li>
<li>Twenty fourth report of Department related parliamentary standing committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice on working of CBI recommended the following:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Strengthening human resources by increasing strength of CBI;</li>
<li>Better investments in infrastructural facilities;</li>
<li>Increased financial resource and administrative empowerment with accountability;</li>
<li>Give more Powers (related to Union, State and Concurrent list of the 7<sup>th</sup> schedule of Indian constitution), to the CBI;</li>
<li>Separate enactment under &ndash; "Central Bureau of Intelligence and Investigation Act" and replace DSPE Act.
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>In 1978, the L P Singh committee recommended enactment of a &ldquo;comprehensive central legislation to remove the deficiency of not having a central investigative agency with a self-sufficient statutory charter of duties and functions&rdquo;.</li>
<li>The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2007) also suggested that &ldquo;a new law should be enacted to govern the working of the CBI&rdquo;.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/central-bureau-of-investigation-cbi'
		],
		(int) 7 => [
			'title' => 'Qatar Quits OPEC',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>Qatar has decided to withdraw its membership from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) effective from January 2019 to focus on Liquefied Natural Gas (gas isn&rsquo;t part of OPEC&rsquo;s mandate) production.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Qatar is a small oil producer which accounts for less than 2 <g class="gr_ gr_46 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="46" data-gr-id="46">percent</g> of total oil output, so its departure may not have a significant impact on the oil market.</li>
<li>OPEC&rsquo;s policy has become more concentrated in the hands of Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC member Russia.</li>
<li>It is notable that some of the world's largest oil producers, including <strong>Russia</strong>, <strong>China</strong> and the <strong>United</strong> <strong>States</strong>, are <strong>not members of OPEC</strong> and pursue their own objectives.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Saudi -Qatar Conflict</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Saudi Arabia has been leading a <strong>regional blockade</strong> on Qatar that has seen trade and travel links severed over its <strong>alleged support for terrorism</strong>.</li>
<li>OPEC members, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and fellow Arab states Bahrain and Egypt have imposed a <strong>political and economic boycott</strong> leading to the regional blockade on Qatar since June 2017.</li>
<li>However, according&nbsp;to Qatar, Saudi led blockade is <strong>aimed to impinge on its sovereignty</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Impact Analysis</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Qatar will continue to produce oil and seek deals in countries including Latin America's top oil producer Brazil.</li>
<li>It could signal that smaller producers are dissatisfied with the cartel's dominance by Saudi Arabia and Russia. So a&nbsp;group of small producers exiting the cartel will decrease OPEC's influence in the oil market.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>OPEC</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent,<strong> intergovernmental Organization</strong>, created at the<strong> Baghdad Conference in 1960</strong>, by <strong>Iran</strong>, <strong>Iraq</strong>, <strong>Kuwait</strong>, <strong>Saudi</strong> <strong>Arabia</strong> and <strong>Venezuela</strong>.</li>
<li>OPEC is a <strong>cartel</strong> that aims to manage the supply of oil in an effort to set the price of oil on the world market, in order to avoid fluctuations that might affect the economies of both producing and purchasing countries.</li>
<li>According to its statutes, OPEC <strong>membership is open to any country that is a substantial exporter of oil</strong> and that shares the ideals of the organization.</li>
<li>These countries were later joined by Qatar (1961), Indonesia (1962), Libya (1962), the United Arab Emirates (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador (1973), Gabon (1975), Angola (2007), Equatorial Guinea (2017) and Congo (2018).</li>
<li>Ecuador suspended its membership in December 1992 but rejoined OPEC in October 2007.</li>
<li>Indonesia suspended its membership in January 2009, reactivated it again in January 2016, but decided to suspend its membership once more in November 2016.</li>
<li>Gabon terminated its membership in January 1995. However, it rejoined the Organization in July 2016.</li>
<li>OPEC has its <strong>headquarter</strong> in <strong>Vienna, Austria</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/qatar-quits-opec'
		],
		(int) 8 => [
			'title' => 'The Big Picture: Floods and Dam Management',
			'catname' => 'Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions',
			'desc' => '<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N8mhbpaUJz4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Dams are one of the vital elements for the growth of the country&rsquo;s economy.<strong> In India, over the years, dams have played an important role in fostering rapid and sustained agricultural and rural growth</strong>. Substantial investment has been done in building dams and related infrastructure.</p>
<p><strong>Dams are built to control floods; however, they are also responsible for the increasing frequency of floods as well.</strong> In the routine, dams regulate the flow of water, provide water for electricity generation, irrigation and other needs. However, during extreme meteorological conditions, dams amplify the situation.</p>
<p>India has more than 5000 large dams. 75 percent of these are more than 25 years old and about 164 dams are more than 100 years old<strong>. A poorly maintained, unsafe dam can be a hazard to both human life and the environment</strong>. This has been proved by several dam failures in the past. In June 2018 the central government had approved the proposal for introduction of the Dam Safety Bill, 2018 which aims to develop uniform countrywide guidelines for ensuring the safety of dams.</p>
<div class="border-bg">
<h3>2018 Kerala Floods</h3>
<p><strong>In August 2018 following torrential rainfall, Kerala witnessed its worst floods since 1924.</strong> The dams were stored to the brim. Too much water was stored and consequently, the gates had to be opened. At least 35 of 50 large dams were open for releasing water on to the already flooded areas downstream. With time, silt deposition had considerably reduced the holding capacity of the dams and the nearby rivers, leading to flooding of embankments and levees. Encroachment has decreased dam&rsquo;s built-in area (further reducing the capacity), sand mining and rampant felling of trees and clearing of forest in the Western Ghats have played a factor.</p>
</div>
<h3>Dam Safety Bill, 2018</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Union Cabinet approved the proposal for introduction of Dam Safety Bill, 2018 in the Parliament.</li>
<li>The objective of this Bill is to help develop a uniform, countrywide guidelines for ensuring the safety of dams.</li>
<li><strong>The Bill provides for:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Proper surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of all specified dams in the country to ensure their safe functioning.</li>
<li>Constitution of a National Committee on Dam Safety which shall evolve dam safety policies and recommend necessary regulations.</li>
<li>Establishment of National Dam Safety Authority as a regulatory body which shall discharge functions to implement the policy, guidelines, and standards for dam safety in the country.</li>
<li>Constitution of a State Committee on Dam Safety by State Government.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>All the institutions that are named in the dam safety bill are already functioning. The Dam Safety Bill will only give these institutions legal backing.</li>
<li>This bill will make sure that every state government follows a uniform policy laid down by it.</li>
<li>In the Dam Safety Bill, the provisions for the robust functioning of the dam have been laid. As of now, some of the dams have an operational manual. However, most are operating dams from experience. This bill will make it legally binding for all the dams to have a codified manual for the operation as per their need.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>State governments should follow the dam safety manual with precision</strong>. Especially, where human settlements are scattered all around, the building of dams has to be regulated as per the guidelines.</li>
<li><strong>Creation of buffer zone</strong> has to be done to protect land near dams from encroachment.</li>
<li>However, the growth of population will lead to encroachment, and it would be physically impossible to shift people during calamity. Proper dissemination of information has to be done in the surrounding areas on a real-time basis and regular flushing of water should be carried downstream to keep the river beds dry.<strong> Hence, dam safety and proper village, town and city planning have to be integrated.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Ensuring &ldquo;dam safety&rdquo; should be a continuous exercise</strong>. The present catastrophe is more related to, how the dam should be operated when there is heavy rainfall and the water level has reached a critical level.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/the-big-picture-floods-and-dam-management'
		],
		(int) 9 => [
			'title' => 'Warmer Winters Ahead as El Niño Conditions Develop',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), India is likely to experience a warmer winter for a second consecutive year due to the influence of a brewing El Nino over the Pacific Ocean.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is likely that a <strong>weak and&nbsp;short duration El Nino</strong> will develop towards February 2019, i.e by the end of winters.</li>
<li>This was stated in <strong>IMD&rsquo;s &lsquo;Seasonal Outlook for Temperatures&rsquo;</strong> which it has been issuing since 2016, for both hot and cold weather seasons. These forecasts are based on predictions from the Monsoon Mission Coupled Forecasting System (MMCFS).</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>India Meteorological Department (IMD)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>IMD was established in<strong> 1875.</strong></li>
<li>It is an agency of the <strong>Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India.</strong></li>
<li>It is the principal agency responsible for <strong>meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>El Nino</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>El Nino refers to the<strong> unusual warming of the central and east-central equatorial Pacific Ocean</strong> which affects global weather. The warmer waters of the Pacific Ocean cause the winds in various regions to reverse, like the trade winds that come towards India.</li>
<li>This change of wind direction leads to warmer winters and summers and a decrease in rainfall during the monsoon. Most of the time, it also leads to drought.</li>
<li>There is also an <strong>opposite of an El Ni&ntilde;o, called La Ni&ntilde;a means The Little Girl in Spanish.</strong> This refers to times when waters of the tropical eastern Pacific are colder than normal and trade winds blow more strongly than usual.</li>
<li><strong>Collectively, El Ni&ntilde;o and La Ni&ntilde;a are parts of an oscillation in the ocean-atmosphere system called the El Ni&ntilde;o-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO cycle.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>What Happens Normally?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Normally, the warmest part of the Pacific Ocean is the region near the equator. Due to the spinning of the earth, the prevailing winds flow from east to west. This <strong>pushes the warm waters westwards, say towards Indonesia.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>During an El Nino event,</strong> the prevailing winds across the Pacific weaken, and sometimes they can even reverse and blow the other way. This allows some of the <strong>warmer waters to move eastwards, away from Indonesia and towards South America.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>In the east, around the coast of South America, <strong>cool waters normally well up</strong>. These waters are <strong>rich in nutrients and fish, and provide plenty of food for the Peruvian Fisherman.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It is interesting to note that the <strong>El Nino was discovered by Peruvian Fisherman</strong> when they noticed that every three to seven years, in the months of December and January, there would be <strong>virtually no fish in the seas</strong>, because of <strong>unusual presence of warm waters.</strong> As it was noticed around <strong>Christmas time, they named this phenomenon El Nino (Spanish for &lsquo;the baby boy&rsquo;).</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Effects of El Nino</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>El Nino affects global weather. It<strong> favours eastern Pacific hurricanes and tropical storms.</strong> Recorded unusual rainfall in Peru, Chile and Ecuador are linked to the climate pattern.</li>
<li>El Nino reduces upwelling of cold water,<strong> decreasing the uplift of nutrients from the bottom of the ocean.</strong> This affects marine life and sea birds. The fishing industry is also affected.</li>
<li><strong>Drought</strong> caused by El Nino can be widespread, <strong>affecting southern Africa, India, Southeast Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands.</strong> Countries dependent on agriculture are affected.</li>
<li>WHO report on the health consequences of El Nino forecasts a<strong> rise in vector-borne diseases,</strong> including those spread by mosquitoes, in Central and South America. Cycles of malaria in India are also linked to El Nino.</li>
<li>Over India, the El Nino has usually been the harbinger of drought and the La Nina of rain.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/warmer-winters-ahead-as-el-nino-conditions-develop'
		],
		(int) 10 => [
			'title' => 'Important Facts for Prelims (4th December 2018)',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<h3>SHINYUU Maitri-2018</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The bilateral air exercise between the <strong>Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) </strong>and<strong> Indian Air Force</strong> is being held in Agra, India.</li>
<li>The theme of the exercise is joint Mobility/Humanitarian Assistance &amp; Disaster Relief (HADR) on Transport aircraft.</li>
<li>Recently, the <strong>joint military exercise</strong> between <g class="gr_ gr_41 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="41" data-gr-id="41">Indian</g> Army and Japan Ground Self Defence Force, named <strong>Dharma Guardian</strong> 2018 was held in Mizoram, India.</li>
<li>Japan-India <strong>Maritime Exercise</strong> knows as <strong>JIMEX</strong> was also held in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.</li>
</ul>
<h3><br />&ldquo;<g class="gr_ gr_56 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="56" data-gr-id="56">Chemputer</g>&rdquo; to Manufacture Drugs</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Scientists at <g class="gr_ gr_66 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="66" data-gr-id="66">University</g> of Glasgow, UK have developed a new method to produce drug molecules, which uses downloadable blueprints to easily and reliably synthesise organic chemicals via a programmable &lsquo;chemputer&rsquo;.</li>
<li>This is the first time synthesis of important drug molecules was achieved in an affordable and modular chemical-robot system called a <g class="gr_ gr_54 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="54" data-gr-id="54">chemputer</g>.</li>
<li>The <g class="gr_ gr_39 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="39" data-gr-id="39">chemputer</g> is underpinned by a <strong>new universal and interoperable standard for writing</strong> and <strong>sharing chemical recipes</strong>.</li>
<li>Those chemical recipes, run on a computer programme the team calls the &lsquo;chempiler&rsquo;, instruct the <g class="gr_ gr_53 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="53" data-gr-id="53">chemputer</g> how to produce molecules on-demand, more <g class="gr_ gr_42 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del" id="42" data-gr-id="42">affordably</g> and safely than ever possible before.</li>
<li>This is a <strong>key step in the digitisation of chemistry</strong> and will allow the universal assembly of complex molecules on demand, democratising the ability to discover and make new molecules using a simple software app and a modular <g class="gr_ gr_46 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="46" data-gr-id="46">chemputer</g>.</li>
<li><g class="gr_ gr_48 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="48" data-gr-id="48">Chemputer</g> <g class="gr_ gr_55 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="55" data-gr-id="55">system,</g> could allow medical professionals in remote parts of the world to create life-saving drugs as and when required.</li>
</ul>
<h3>International Conference on Bears</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>International conference on bears has been organised in <strong>Agra (Uttar Pradesh)</strong>.</li>
<li>The conference is hosted by <strong>Wildlife SOS (a conservation non-profit organisation)</strong> in collaboration with <strong>Bear Care Group from the US and Canada</strong>.</li>
<li>The conference is focused on <strong>bear care</strong>, <strong>wildlife conservation</strong> and <strong>human-wildlife conflict mitigation</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Acute Flaccid Myelitis</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM), a&nbsp;polio-like disease affecting children has come into public focus.</li>
<li><strong>Enteroviruses</strong> (a group of viruses such as poliovirus and enterovirus A71, and West Nile virus. ) are the main cause of the disease in children.</li>
<li>The concerns emanate from the US, more than 100 cases of AFM have been confirmed in 2018.</li>
<li>AFM is characterised by muscle weakness &mdash; weak limbs, pain, absent reflexes.</li>
</ul>',
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			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-4th-december-2018'
		],
		(int) 11 => [
			'title' => 'Corridor Of Uncertainty',
			'catname' => 'News Editorials',
			'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p style="text-align: justify;">(This editorial is based on the article &ldquo;Corridor Of Uncertainty&rdquo; which appears in The Indian Express on 4th December 2018.)</p>
</div>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Peace in the Indian subcontinent presumes harmony between India and Pakistan.</strong> More than 40 years of efforts at regionalism has been held hostage by the hostility of the two, with the other countries of the world watching suspiciously.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Both the countries talk about peace, trade and people-to-people contacts, things which had not turned into reality till today. <strong>The abuse hurled by the establishments of each side is nothing but a populist political tool that distracts the public from pressing matters of growth, equity, democracy, </strong>and<strong> accountability.</strong> It also hides the fact that the cost of maintaining massive militaries in each country undermines the efforts for ensuring social justice.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The inauguration of the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/kartarpur-corridor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kartarpur corridor</a> is a positive step, but whether this could be the means to the end called &lsquo;peace between India and Pakistan&rsquo;, remains an open question.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>India and Pakistan had entered into an agreement on pilgrimages in 1974</strong> under which both sides issue visitor visas for a handful of shrines on either side. The Kartarpur visa-free corridor is only for Indians. But it will require a separate agreement for operationalization, which will involve complex negotiations given the security ramifications.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square; text-align: justify;">
<li>As mentioned above, a protocol constituting an agreement between India and Pakistan on the visit to Religious Shrines was signed on 1974.</li>
<li><strong>Both the countries had agreed on the following principle for facilitating visits to such shrines:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>That such visits from one country to the other should be allowed without discrimination as to religion or sect.</li>
<li>The list of shrines to be visited were to be finalized through correspondence.</li>
<li>The agreed list is enlarged from time to time by mutual agreement.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Kartarpur visa-free Corridor</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square; text-align: justify;">
<li>In terms of history, Pakistan has never had any claim on Punjab, unlike Kashmir, which remains an unresolved territorial dispute. Therefore, fewer chances of further disturbances exist for the construction of this corridor.</li>
<li>Given its easy logistics, the 7-km-long Kartarpur corridor is a low-hanging fruit and yet serves as a meaningful confidence-building measure.</li>
<li><strong>The significance of the Kartarpur Corridor is that the demand for it from the Sikh community was so great that neither the Indian nor Pakistani side wanted to be seen as opposing it. This is also probably the first instance of the two sides set aside mutual hostility to bow to the will of the people.</strong></li>
<li>The initiative can also become a template for cross-border exchanges based on faith, which could provide relief for many communities such as Kashmiri Pandits, who have for long asked access to visit the Sharda Peeth in the Neelum Valley in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir or the Sufis in Pakistan who wish to visit the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, Rajasthan or the Sikhs in India and Pakistan wanting to visit important shrines on both sides of the border.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Challenges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square; text-align: justify;">
<li><strong>The first challenge is to sustain and keep the idea of the corridor alive beyond 2019.</strong></li>
<li>The potential of South Asia for sustained high growth has been blocked by the tightened national borders, with India playing its part by building barbed wire fences on the Pakistan frontier for security.</li>
<li>There is concern among skeptics that India will not be able to control security in the corridor. Also, there are chances that the opening of the corridor may lead to the revival of the Khalistan movement.</li>
<li>Even more, will depend on how the two governments manage their relationship in a way that avoids making pilgrims a pawn in bilateral tensions.</li>
<li>Apart from the obvious politico-diplomatic issues, logistical challenges are also one of the trials this corridor would face. For example, there is a need to build two bridges, one across the fast flowing Ravi, and another, across a seasonal tributary of the Ravi, Begh Baein. The Ravi is about 1,200 ft and the Begh Bain about 400 ft in breadth. Both are in Pakistan. Pakistan will have to find a way to bridge the two water bodies before next year's celebrations to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. No details are available on how it will go about doing this.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>India, as the more stable democracy, should inculcate empathy for the </strong>neighbour, it should recognize the difference between the Pakistani state and its people, the latter struggling against extremism, military supremacy and state-centralism all at one go.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>As the historical &lsquo;connectivity&rsquo; of the Subcontinent crumbled after Partition, it created massive a dysfunction as economies of scale and production chains were disrupted.</strong> This is a chance to restore that.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The goal of the future should be to learn to compartmentalize one&rsquo;s perceptions of the &lsquo;other&rsquo;, that Pakistan is made up of its state and its people just as India to is made up of its state and its people. The mutual integration has to do with conflating the two, state apparatus and citizenry, as one.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>India should, therefore, build on the leap of faith that it took on the Kartarpur corridor.</strong> For starters, both countries must relax visa norms so, that there is more people-to-people interaction across the border. An agreement for this already exists since 2012. All that needs to be done is to implement it. A large part of the failure of the two countries to come out of the holes into which they have dug themselves in owes to the vacuum created in citizen interaction. It is time to undo that.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Moreover, South Asia must be understood as a project for social justice, to be achieved through economic </strong>rationalisation<strong>, sub-regional interactions and reduced military budgets &ndash; and open borders such as exists between Nepal and India.</strong></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Everything is now going to depend on how quickly India and Pakistan act on their respective commitments.<img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/389fig2.JPG" width="385" height="219" /></li>
</ul>',
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		],
		(int) 12 => [
			'title' => 'Generalized System of Preference',
			'catname' => 'Paper 3',
			'desc' => '<h3>Why in News?</h3>
<p>Recently the US government has withdrawn its GSP (Generalized System of Preferences) benefits to India worth $70 million on as many as 50 items mostly from handloom and agriculture sector.</p>
<h3>GSP</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) is an umbrella that comprises the bulk of preferential schemes granted by industrialized nations to developing countries.</li>
<li>It involves reduced <strong>Most Favored Nations (MFN)</strong> Tariffs or duty-free entry of eligible products exported by beneficiary countries to the markets of donor countries.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The idea of granting developing countries preferential tariff rates in the markets of industrialized countries was originally presented at the first UNCTAD conference in 1964.</li>
<li>The <strong>GSP was adopted at UNCTAD in New Delhi in 1968 and was instituted in 1971</strong>.</li>
<li>There are currently 13 national GSP schemes notified to the UNCTAD secretariat.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>UNCTAD</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is a permanent intergovernmental body established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1964.</li>
<li>It supports developing countries to access the benefits of a globalized economy more fairly and effectively.</li>
<li>It has 194 member nations.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Most Favored Nations (MFN)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>As per the WTO&rsquo;s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade&rsquo;s MFN principle, each of the WTO member countries should &ldquo;treat all the other members equally as &lsquo;most-favoured&rsquo; trading partners.&rdquo;</li>
<li>According to the WTO, though the term &lsquo;MFN&rsquo; &ldquo;suggests special treatment, it actually means nondiscrimination.&rdquo;</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The following countries grant GSP preferences:</strong></li>
</ul>
<ol>
<li>Australia</li>
<li>Belarus</li>
<li>Canada</li>
<li>European Union</li>
<li>Iceland</li>
<li>Japan</li>
<li>Kazakhstan</li>
<li>New Zealand</li>
<li>Norway</li>
<li>Russian Federation</li>
<li>Switzerland</li>
<li>Turkey</li>
<li>United States of America.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Benefits of Generalized System of Preference</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Economic growth and development in the developing world</strong> by helping beneficiary countries to increase and diversify their trade with the developed nations.</li>
<li><strong>Employment &ndash;</strong> Moving GSP imports from the docks to consumers, farmers, and manufacturers supports tens of thousands of jobs in the developed nation.</li>
<li><strong>Company Competitiveness</strong> is boosted by GSP as it reduces costs of imported inputs used by companies to manufacture goods.</li>
<li><strong>GSP promotes Global values</strong> by supporting beneficiary countries in affording worker rights to their people, enforcing intellectual property rights, and supporting the rule of law.</li>
</ul>
<h3>GSP for India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indian exporters benefit indirectly by way of reduced tariff or duty free entry of eligible Indian products.</li>
<li>Reduction or removal of import duty on an Indian product makes it more competitive.</li>
<li>This tariff preference helps new exporters to penetrate a market and established exporters to increase their market share and to improve upon the profit margins.</li>
<li>It allows India to integrate with global value chains and hence with global markets.</li>
</ul>
<h3>GSP for US</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Cheaper imports of intermediary products from India enable availability of cost-effective and price-competitive inputs to the US downstream industries.</li>
<li>It also helps the US firms remain domestically and internationally competitive.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Impact of GSP Withdrawal</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The products on which India receives GSP benefits belong to labour intensive sectors such as textile, handloom and agriculture.</li>
<li>India will lose out on preferential tariff on exports worth of nearly $ 5. 6 billion under the GSP route out of the total exports of $48 bn in 2017-18.</li>
<li>India could lose US market share to rivals like Vietnam and Bangladesh, which will continue have duty-free access.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indian exports to the US under GSP program are mostly intermediaries and are not in direct competition with US producers which ultimately benefit US economy.</li>
<li>The US should consider continuing India's eligibility as a gesture of goodwill that reaffirms its commitment to the mutually beneficial relationship between our two countries.</li>
<li>GSP remains a central aspect of the overall trade engagement and must remain available for Indian exporters keen to address the US markets.</li>
</ul>',
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		],
		(int) 13 => [
			'title' => 'Generalized System of Preference',
			'catname' => 'Paper 3',
			'desc' => '<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/463GSP.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/463GSP.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>',
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			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/mind-map/gs-paper3/generalized-system-of-preference-paper-3'
		],
		(int) 14 => [
			'title' => 'Important Facts for Prelims (3rd December 2018)',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<h3>Hornbill Festival- 2018</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Recently Union Home Minister has inaugurated the 10-day long annual Hornbill festival.</li>
<li>At the <strong>beginning of December each year</strong>, Nagaland hosts its biggest event&mdash;the Hornbill Festival to <strong>celebrate its diverse community and culture</strong>.</li>
<li>The event has been taking place every year since 2000, and takes place from December 1-10, coinciding with the <strong>Nagaland Statehood Day on December 1</strong>.</li>
<li>The festival has tribes and sub-tribes from different regions of Nagaland come to <strong>Kisama (close to state capital Kohima)</strong> and display best of their community&mdash;from dance and song to literature and food.</li>
<li>The festival has been <strong>named after</strong> the <strong>Great Indian Hornbill</strong> because this bird features heavily in Naga folktales and stories, and feathers of the hornbill form an important part of the tribal dresses.</li>
<li>The<strong> name of the festival is misleading</strong> because the <strong>hornbill isn&rsquo;t Nagaland&rsquo;s state bird</strong>. The state bird of Nagaland is the lesser-known and endangered bird- <strong>Blyth's Tragopan</strong>.</li>
<li>People from all over the world come together to take part in the celebrations.</li>
<li>This festival is one of its kind because it <strong>opens up the areas with &lsquo;restricted entry&rsquo; into protected areas for visitors</strong> without compromising on ethics and traditions.</li>
<li>The Hornbill festival of Nagaland is an <strong>excellent example of tribal tourism</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Additional Information</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Major tribes of Nagaland include- Ao, Angami, Chang, Konyak, Lotha, Sumi, Chakhesang, Khiamniungan, Kachari, Phom, Rengma, Sangtam, Yimchungr&uuml;, Kuki, Zeliang and Pochury.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Cope India 2018</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>Air Forces of the United States and India</strong> are participating in a 12-day <strong>joint exercise</strong> called 'Cope India 2018'. It is being held after a gap of eight years, with the last one having taken place in 2010.</li>
<li>Cope India 2018, which was <strong>first held in 2004</strong>, is the fourth edition in the series of bilateral joint exercises held between the Indian Air Force and the US Air Force, which is conducted in India.</li>
<li>For the <strong>first time</strong>, the exercise is being planned at <strong>two air force bases</strong>, <strong>Kalaikunda and Panagarh of West Bengal</strong> from December 3-14.</li>
<li>The aim of the exercise is to provide operational exposure and undertake a <strong>mutual exchange of best practices</strong> towards enhancing operational capability.</li>
<li>The exercise showcases the efforts and commitment of the two nations to a <strong>free and open Indo-Pacific region</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Saharia Tribe</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Saharia or Sahariya Tribe, one of the most backward tribes in the country, resides in <strong>Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh</strong>.</li>
<li>They <strong>worship many Hindu God and Goddesses</strong> and also celebrate various Hindu festivals.</li>
<li>They have been classified as a <strong>Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group</strong> (PVTG) because of low development indices.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Talanoa Dialogue</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Dialogue was launched at the <strong>UN Climate Change Conference COP-23 in Bonn (Germany) in 2017</strong> and will run throughout 2018.</li>
<li>Talanoa is a <strong>traditional word in Fijian</strong> (Fiji being the island nation presiding over the COP-23 in Bonn) to <strong>reflect a process of inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue</strong>.</li>
<li>The purpose of Talanoa is to <strong>share stories</strong>, <strong>build empathy</strong> and to <strong>make wise decisions</strong> for the <strong>collective good</strong>.</li>
<li>The process of Talanoa involves the <strong>sharing of ideas</strong>, <strong>skills</strong> and <strong>experience</strong> through storytelling.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Food Sustainability Index (FSI)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Food Sustainability Index (FSI), is developed by <strong>The Economist Intelligence Unit</strong> with the<strong> Barilla Center for Food &amp; Nutrition.</strong> This editions&rsquo; title was </span><b>'Fixing Food-2018: Best Practices towards the Sustainable Development Goals'.</b></li>
<li>It is a model designed <strong>to assess the sustainability of national food systems</strong> in a qualitative and quantitative manner.</li>
<li>The FSI studies the infrastructure and processes that go into feeding the population, such as growing, harvesting and transportation.</li>
<li>The Food Sustainability Index is based on three broad categories: <b>food loss &amp; waste, sustainable agriculture and nutritional challenges.</b></li>
<li>A comparison with the global scenario indicates that India does well on preventing food loss and wastage, but is below average in sustainable agriculture and is one of the worst while tackling nutritional challenges.</li>
<li>Despite the increase in food production, it ranks India 33<sup>rd</sup> among 67 countries in 2018. Among BRICS countries, onl<span>y China (23) is ranked better than India.</span></li>
<li><strong>France topped the index</strong> followed by Netherlands and Canada.</li>
<li>The<strong> first edition</strong> of the FSI was <strong>published in 2016.</strong></li>
</ul>',
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		],
		(int) 15 => [
			'title' => 'Digital Sky Platform: Drone Regulation 1.0',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The guidelines <strong>(Drone Regulations 1.0)</strong> issued by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for commercial use of drones or remotely operated aircraft<strong> came into force from December 1, 2018.</strong></p>
<h3>Drone Regulation 1.0</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Under this regulation, the <strong>Digital Sky Platform</strong> will enable online registration of pilots, devices, service providers, and NPNT (no permission, no take-off).</li>
<li>The Digital Sky Platform is a unique unmanned traffic management (UTM) system which is expected to facilitate registration and licensing of drones and operators in addition to giving<strong> instant (online) clearances to operators</strong> for every flight.</li>
<li>The airspace has been partitioned into <strong>Red Zone (flying not permitted),</strong> <strong>Yellow Zone (controlled airspace),</strong> and <strong>Green Zone (automatic permission)</strong>. The restricted locations are airports, near international border, near coast line, state secretariat complexes strategic locations, military installations.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Drone</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Drone is a layman terminology for Unmanned Aircraft (UA). There are <strong>three subsets of Unmanned Aircraft- Remotely Piloted Aircraft,&nbsp; Autonomous Aircraft and Model Aircraft.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Remotely Piloted Aircraft consists of remote pilot station(s), the required command and control links and any other components, as specified in the type design.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Remotely piloted aircraft have been divided into<strong> five categories-</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Nano : Less than or equal to 250 grams.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Micro : From 250 grams to 2kg.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Small : From 2 kg to 25kg.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Medium : From 25kg to 150kg.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Large : Greater than 150kg.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>All civilian drone operations will be restricted to <strong>only during day time</strong> and a <strong>maximum of 400 feet altitude.</strong></li>
<li>There can&rsquo;t be any human or animal payloads, or anything hazardous.</li>
<li>It cannot in any manner cause danger to people or property and insurance will be mandatory to cover third-party damage.</li>
<li><strong>Except nano drones</strong> and those <strong>owned by National Technical Research Organisation and the central agencies,</strong> the rest would be registered and issued Unique Identification Number.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Drone Regulations 2.0</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Meanwhile, the government is already working on <strong>drone regulations 2.0</strong>, focussing on three thresholds:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight),</li>
<li>Delivery of payloads, and</li>
<li>Automate the air traffic management to the extent possible.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The current policy allows one drone pilot for each drone whereas in the next set of regulations, one pilot can operate any number of drones.</li>
<li>Under drone regulations 2.0, the drones will be tracked by computers through artificial intelligence.</li>
<li>However,delivery of products by e-commerce players like Amazon and flying taxis like Uber Elevate are likely to be part of drone regulations 3.0.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Applications</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Agriculture-</strong> Gather data and automate redundant processes to maximize efficiency, to spray medicines, In a process of planting by distributing seed on the land, etc.</li>
<li><strong>Healthcare-</strong> Delivering quick access to drugs, blood, and medical technology in remote areas, transportation of harvested organs to recipients (through drones corridor), etc.</li>
<li><strong>Disaster Management-</strong> Surveillance of disaster-affected areas to assess damage, locate victims, and deliver aid.</li>
<li><strong>Urban Planning-</strong> Instant mapping and survey of the land which has to be developed avoiding congestion and increasing green cover. <strong>E.g.:</strong> Recently, the Greater Chennai Municipal Corporation (GCMC) became first Municipal Corporation to map Chennai using drones.</li>
<li><strong>Conservation of Endangered Species-</strong> Monitor and track the number of animals.</li>
<li><strong>Weather Forecasting-</strong> Drones can physically follow weather patterns as they develop to understand the environment and imminent weather trends in a better way.</li>
<li><strong>Waste Management-</strong> Identify where the garbage is so that it can be picked up the garbage picking vans. Drones can be used to clean ocean waste as well. UAV like Roomba by RanMarine operates at the vanguard of these initiatives and have helped to clean oceans in past.</li>
<li><strong>Mining-</strong> Drones in mining can be used in volumetric data capturing of ore, rock and minerals storage which is extremely difficult to measure manually.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Drones have immense potential apart from few mentioned above. This new policy initiative will open up many new and exciting applications that can propel India's economy forward. It can provide strong impetus to all players in the drone ecosystem and place India among the global leaders.</li>
<li>Although drone-enabled deliveries, air taxis, and many other innovations will not be widely available for years, but when available they could be as disruptive as the advent of automobiles. That gives all industry stakeholders impetus to<strong> identify roadblocks and realistically consider potential applications now.</strong></li>
</ul>',
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		],
		(int) 16 => [
			'title' => 'Rendering The Perennial Lifeless',
			'catname' => 'News Editorials',
			'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(The editorial is based on the article &ldquo;Rendering the Perennial Lifeless&rdquo; which appears in EPW on 1st December 2018.)</p>
</div>
<p>The pollution of the Ganges is a huge challenge. It has already shown its adverse impact on the environment, ecosystem, and animal and human health. About 40 percent of India&rsquo;s population across 5 states (Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal) is dependent on the river for its water, but unfortunately, the water is severely polluted.</p>
<p>While other rivers are equally in danger and are no doubt equally significant, the Ganga has been in a precarious condition despite <g class="gr_ gr_85 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar replaceWithoutSep" id="85" data-gr-id="85">of</g> the government&rsquo;s added attention towards it.</p>
<h3>Causes of Pollution of the Ganges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Industrial Waste</strong> &ndash; There are a large number of industries on the bank of the Ganges in cities like Patna, Kanpur, Varanasi, and Allahabad. Numerous tanneries, slaughterhouses, textile mills, hospitals, chemical plants, and distilleries dump untreated wastes into the river resulting in pollution of the river. Out of the total volume of effluent reaching the river, 12% is contributed by the industries.</li>
<li><strong>Human Waste</strong> &ndash; The Ganges flows through 52 cities and 48 towns. The domestic water used by the population in these cities and towns adds to the pollution of the river.</li>
<li><strong>Religious Traditions</strong> &ndash; More than 70 million people bathe in the Ganges during the festive season. Food, leaves, flowers, <g class="gr_ gr_102 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling" id="102" data-gr-id="102">diyas</g> and other wastes are left in the Ganges that adds to its pollution. According to Hindu tradition, if a deceased person is cremated on the banks of the Ganges then that would bring instant salvation. This results in thousands of bodies being cremated on the banks of the river every year, many of which are only half-burnt, thus, adding to the pollution.</li>
<li><strong>Dams are also one of the main cause of pollution</strong> in the Ganga. Dams obstruct the flow of the river and make it slow which hinders the self-purification capacity of the river.</li>
<li>T<strong>he high use of fertilizers and pesticides</strong> in agriculture field directly flows to the river through rainwater adding to its pollution level.</li>
<li>Many <strong>hydropower projects</strong> planned on the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi in Uttarakhand pose a threat to Himalayan ecology and severely impact Ganga&rsquo;s natural flow.<a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/537drishti_ganges%20(1).jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/537drishti_ganges (1).jpg" style="float: right;" width="447" height="387" caption="false" /></a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Action Plans to Save The Ganga</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><a href="https://nmcg.nic.in/about_nmcg.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)</strong></a> envisages five-tier structure at national, state and district level to take measures for prevention, control, and abatement of environmental pollution in river Ganga and to ensure continuous adequate flow of water so as to rejuvenate the river, Ganga.&nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="https://nmcg.nic.in/NamamiGanga.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Namami Gange</strong></a> integrates the efforts to clean and protect the Ganga River in a comprehensive manner.&nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="https://nmcg.nic.in/ngrbaread.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA)</strong></a> has been mandated as a planning, financing, monitoring and coordinating authority for strengthening the collective efforts of the Central and State governments for effective abatement of pollution and conservation of river Ganga so as to ensure that by the year 2020 no untreated municipal sewage or industrial effluent will flow into the river Ganga.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<h3>Loopholes in the Policies to Clean Ganga</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Treatment infrastructure could not be in line with the scale of pollution</strong>, and riparian states and the Centre had not ensured that pollution was checked at the source before being emptied into the river.</li>
<li><strong>Lack of political will</strong> has been one of the major issues. Pollution has rarely been an electoral issue. Employment, economic growth, and poverty alleviation are more urgent.</li>
<li>Even though policies for cleaning the Ganga mention partnerships with Gram Panchayats there is <strong>almost no involvement of civil society or any citizen participation for monitoring the sustainability of the policy implementations.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Rampant violation of laws, ubiquitous corruption</strong> and absence of coordination between the Centre and States along with the delays in reviewing projects, poor inter-agency cooperation, funding imbalances across sites add to the woes of implementation of the policies.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<p>The health and aliveness of a river <g class="gr_ gr_91 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="91" data-gr-id="91">is</g> no longer seen in its ability to support the beings living in harmony with it, but it has come to mean how much it can be used for commercial purposes, as a waterway, as energy, as sludge flush, and for religious tourism.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>As long as the river continues to be seen merely as an entity for extraction, its further concretization and pollution will continue unabated. This mindset has to change.</li>
<li><strong>Making violations cognizable offenses</strong> and bringing in an armed Ganga Protection Corps under the National River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection, and Management) Bill, to be tabled soon, will be able to put a stop to pollution offenses.</li>
<li><strong>Accept that the river needs water to dilute waste.</strong> In India, where the cost of pollution control is unaffordable and massive, a cheaper option is to dilute the waste with clean and flowing water. The standards for water quality also provide for a dilution factor of 10, but it is not followed. This is why discharge standards for water bodies are set at 30 biological oxygen demand (BOD<g class="gr_ gr_94 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="94" data-gr-id="94">),</g> while bathing water quality standard is 3 BOD. So, even after the best treatment, the river needs 10 times the water to bring it to acceptable quality.</li>
<li><strong>Funding for various projects can be kept conditional</strong> for the State government and it should be held accountable for maintaining the ecological flow of the river in all its stretches.</li>
<li><strong>River-centric urban planning</strong> that strengthens decentralized public participation is the need of the hour.</li>
<li>The private sector can be given a wider role in installation and management of the STPs (Sewer Treatment Plants), besides launching schemes for cultural and tourist-interest activities, including development, maintenance, and management of bathing and cremation ghats, without impairing the sanctity and dignity of the river.</li>
<li><strong>We need more publicly available data and more local analysis of this data.</strong> There is also a need for more education and awareness on the health effects of pollution, as well as the very causes of pollution.</li>
<li><strong>The government needs to take a comprehensive look at the interconnection between policies</strong> - such as subsidies, electricity consumption, power use patterns, industrial development, urbanization plans - and pollution.</li>
<li><strong>All these policy measures should be supplemented by creativity, innovation, discipline, transparency, and strong leadership.</strong></li>
</ul>',
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		(int) 17 => [
			'title' => 'The Big Picture: One World, One Sun, One Grid',
			'catname' => 'Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions',
			'desc' => '<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HaEJSgNoboE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Stressing that <strong>India would generate 40 percent of power from non-fossil fuels by 2030,</strong> the Prime Minister has called for connecting solar energy supply across borders, giving the mantra of 'One World, One Sun One, Grid'. The Prime Minister also considers the 121-country International Solar Alliance as the future OPEC for meeting the energy needs of the world. Oil cartel OPEC led by Saudi Arabia currently meets close to half of the world's oil needs. Solar power will play the same role that oil wells have played over the past few decades in meeting global energy needs. India will add as much as 50 GW of non-hydro renewable energy to existing 72 GW and is on its way to <g class="gr_ gr_122 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="122" data-gr-id="122">achieve</g><strong> the target of having 175 GW of clean energy by 2022.</strong></p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>International Solar Alliance</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The International Solar Alliance (ISA)</strong> is an initiative jointly launched by the Prime Minister of India and the President of France on 30 November 2015 at Paris, on the sidelines of Conference of Parties (CoP 21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.</li>
<li><strong>Headquarters-</strong> National Institute for Solar Energy, Gurugram (Haryana), India.</li>
<li>It<strong> aims at addressing obstacles to deployment at the scale of solar energy through better harmonization and aggregation of demand</strong> from solar rich countries lying fully or partially between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn.</li>
<li>After ratification by a minimum number of countries, on 6 December 2017, ISA became the first full-fledged treaty-based international intergovernmental organization headquartered in India.</li>
<li>Till date, out of 121 prospective member countries that<strong> lie either fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, 68 countries have signed the Framework Agreement of the ISA.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>One World, One Sun, One Grid</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Humans have in the last 150-200 years relied on resources trapped below the earth&rsquo;s surface for meeting energy needs. But for a secure future, resources available above the ground like solar and wind energy need to be harnessed.</li>
<li>Sun never sets for entire earth and therefore can be the source for the entire earth if every country is connected to a single grid.</li>
<li>Hence, keeping in mind the Paris Agreement where it has been categorically mentioned that in order to prevent irrevocable changes in the climate, the stakeholders should limit the rise of temperature to 2 degrees, it is but imperative that by 2040 the world should make a substantial transition to the renewable energy.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Feasibility of such an idea</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>This idea is very much feasible since countries like India (India has integrated national grid) or even big continents like Europe are connected by more or less single grid.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><em>DRISHTI INPUT</em></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The total world energy usage (coal+oil+hydroelectric+nuclear+renewable) in 2015 was 13,000 Million Ton Oil Equivalent (13,000 MTOE). This translates to 17.3 Terawatts continuous power during the year.</li>
<li>If the area of the Earth is covered with solar panels, even with moderate efficiencies achievable easily today, it will provide more than 174 TW power.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>So, solar energy generated in one part of the world can be taken where enough landmass is not available to generate such quantity of power. For example, the power generated in the Sahara desert can be transmitted to Europe and in turn, Europe can give up on gas if they are connected via a single grid.</li>
<li>Within India itself, there are huge tracts of desert in Rajasthan and Gujarat where solar panels can generate enough power so as to meet substantially the rising demand <g class="gr_ gr_92 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="92" data-gr-id="92">of</g> energy.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In order to see the idea come through the most important challenge is to integrate economic policy imperative and energy policy imperative. Right now these two policies are in not blended.</li>
<li><strong>Solar power depends on the efficient system of storage, which is yet to develop</strong>.</li>
<li>The mineral resources that contribute to making efficient and effective battery are dominated by China.</li>
</ul>
<h3>How to fuel and secure the energy need?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>In the last five years, India has doubled energy generating capacity from 175GW to 350GW.</strong></li>
<li>With economic growth and bettering of economic and social condition, the per capita demand for electricity is bound to increase.</li>
<li>In this regard, it is imperative that the policies are so designed that the energy demand is more tilted towards renewable energy and away from fossil fuels. The best example will be electric cars. It will bring down fossil fuel consumption and solar power can take care of electricity generation.</li>
<li><strong>India has succeeded in large solar projects.</strong> The next big target is to get the solar panel in our 6 lakh villages. Such decentralization would lead to the production of 6 lakh kilowatts into the system.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The first and foremost action would be to develop storage technology.</strong> In this regard, both the government and the private sector need to make a substantial investment.</li>
<li>Continents like Africa can be explored for ensuring the constant supply of rare earth minerals that are important for making batteries for energy storage.</li>
<li><strong>An alternative to storage like solar thermal can be explored.</strong></li>
<li>However, the most important work has to be done at the front of ISA. The team of 121 countries should come together and work as a facilitator instead of a cartel (OPEC).</li>
</ul>',
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		(int) 18 => [
			'title' => 'India Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>1st ever India-Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue was held at St. Petersburg in Russia to identify greater synergy in trade and investment.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The decision to hold strategic economic dialogue was taken during the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/india-russia-summit-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">19th India-Russia Annual Summit</a>&nbsp;held in October 2018 in New Delhi.</li>
<li>The Indian side was led by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman, while the Russian delegation was headed by Economic Development Minister.</li>
<li>The Strategic Economic Dialogue focused on five core areas - <strong>Transport Infrastructure, Agriculture and agro-processing sector, Small &amp; Medium Business support, Digital Transformation &amp; Frontier technologies and Industrial &amp; Trade Cooperation.</strong></li>
<li>Through the dialogue, India Russia can address a number of issues that hinder India-Russia trade like <strong>connectivity issues, distance, weak banking links, cumbersome regulations on both sides and Russia&rsquo;s restrictive visa regime.</strong></li>
<li>The next round of Strategic Economic dialogue will be held in end-July/August 2019 in India.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Areas of Cooperation Discussed</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Operationalization of INSTC </strong>(International North-South Transport Corridor) route on priority and early organization of its coordination council.</li>
<li><strong>Improvement of Inland Waterways in India</strong> through Russian collaboration and setting up of special techno-parks for Russian investments.</li>
<li><strong>Addressing market restrictions</strong> and access for both sides on agri-products, textiles, diamonds and establishing a broader dialogue on national currencies.</li>
<li>Joint action by Public and Private sector in nurturing Small and Medium Enterprises, including information exchange mechanism needed to access credit and market and for learning from best practices and mutual recognition of each others companies.</li>
<li>On the digital front, <strong>cooperation in Financial Technology, Artificial Intelligence(AI), blockchain system and Quantum</strong> <strong>computing</strong> were discussed.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Joint working arrangements and pilot projects in healthcare, Tourism, projects which can be developed for third-country markets, and to invest resources jointly in projects in the far eastern region of the Russian Federation.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Importance of Strategic Economic Dialogue</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India had shared strong ties with the former Soviet Union as which was India&rsquo;s biggest defense and trade partner during the Cold War. Despite having a Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership, India-Russia relation faces a number of challenges.</li>
<li>The reasons for the downturn in relations:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In 2017, the trade between the two countries was around $ 10 billion. <strong>They account for a meager 1% of each other&rsquo;s total trade volume.</strong></li>
<li>
<p>In the wake of the Ukraine crisis in 2013,<strong> Russia&rsquo;s proximity with China increased.</strong></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>India&rsquo;s efforts at diversifying its defense procurement</strong> and thus bringing in other partners such as the United States, Israel, and France has also impacted the relations.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>India&rsquo;s<strong> growing proximity to the United States.</strong></p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>As the defense cooperation is decreasing it is necessary for both nations to develop a strong bilateral economic and trade relationship. A weak economic base is a problematic part of India Russia engagement which requires attention for long-term sustenance of the strategic partnership.</li>
<li>The importance of strategic dialogue is to identify areas where both countries could work together to further improve their trade and economic cooperation.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A strategic bilateral relationship between major powers cannot be sustained without a strong economic partnership as strong trade relations bring strategic character to the relationship.</li>
<li>The<strong> good political ties between India and Russia are not reflected in their economic links.</strong> Thus, the institution of Strategic Economic Dialogue is a positive step to address this issue given it leads to substantial changes on the ground.</li>
<li>Measures like the<strong> International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC)</strong> can solve the connectivity issue between the two.</li>
<li>There is a need to expedite the free trade negotiations between India and Russia steered Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). Once finalized, the FTA with EEU aided by INSTC could increase India-Russia trade manifold.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>International North-South Transport Corridor</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>INSTC is a multi-modal transportation route linking the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea via Iran, and onward to northern Europe via St. Petersburg in Russia.</li>
<li>The INSTC was initiated by Russia, India, and Iran in September 2000 to establish transportation networks among the member states and to enhance connectivity with the landlocked region of Central Asia.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Eurasian Economic Union</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Eurasian Economic Union<strong> was started in 2015</strong> based on the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan <g class="gr_ gr_82 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="82" data-gr-id="82">and</g> Belarus.</li>
<li>The bloc was launched to ensure the free movement of goods, services, capital and workforce within its borders.</li>
<li>Members:&nbsp;<strong> Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>',
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		(int) 19 => [
			'title' => 'India to Chair Kimberley Process',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>India will chair the <strong>Kimberley System Certification Scheme (KPCS) which is also known as Kimberley Process (KP)</strong> from <strong>January 2019.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India took over the Chairmanship of the Kimberley System Certification Scheme (KPCS) during the KPCS Plenary 2018, which was held in<strong> Belgium in November, 2018.</strong></li>
<li>The 4-day Plenary also witnessed discussion on<strong> environmental challenges in diamond mining and industry responsibility.</strong></li>
<li>India, during its chairmanship will continue with the tradition and aim to support the artisanal and small-scale mining, capacity building, technical assistance and education on valuation, differentiation between natural and lab grown diamonds, importance of legal and formal mining practices.</li>
<li>The<strong> next Intersessional session is slated to be held in India</strong> with Botswana and the Russian Federation serving as Vice-Chair during the period of 2019-2020.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Kimberley Process</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Kimberley Process (KP) is a commitment to remove <strong>conflict diamonds</strong> from the global supply chain.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p>Conflict diamonds, <strong>also known as &lsquo;blood' diamonds</strong>, are rough diamonds used by rebel movements or their allies to finance armed conflicts <strong>aimed at undermining legitimate governments.</strong></p>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is an international certification scheme which&nbsp;<strong>came into force in 2003</strong> to regulate trade in rough diamonds. It aims to prevent the flow of conflict diamonds, while helping to protect legitimate trade in rough diamonds.</li>
<li>The Kimberley Process is <strong>also described in the United Nation Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions.</strong></li>
<li>The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) outlines the rules that govern the trade in rough diamonds. The KPCS has developed a set of minimum requirements that each participant must meet.&nbsp;</li>
<li>The KP is not, strictly speaking, an international organisation: it has <strong>no permanent offices or permanent staff</strong>. It relies on the contributions &ndash; under the <strong>principle of &lsquo;burden-sharing</strong>' &ndash; of participants, supported by industry and civil society observers.</li>
<li>The Kimberley Process (KP) is a <strong>binding agreement</strong> that imposes extensive requirements through the<strong> national legislations</strong> of its participants.&nbsp;</li>
<li><strong>India is the founding member</strong> of Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS).</li>
</ul>',
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		'title' => 'Operation Greens',
		'catname' => 'Paper 3',
		'desc' => '<h3>Why in News?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Recently government approved guidelines for Rs 500 crore 'Operation Greens' program.</li>
<li>Finance Minister of India had announced Operation Greens in the Union Budget 2018-19, on the line of 'Operation Flood'.</li>
</ul>
<h3>What is Operation Green?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is a price fixation scheme that aims to ensure farmers are given the right price for their produce.</li>
<li>It aims to promote Farmer Producers Organizations (FPO), Agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management of agri-produce.</li>
<li>It focuses on organized marketing of Tomatoes, Onions and Potatoes (TOP vegetables) by connecting farmers with consumers.</li>
<li>State Agriculture and other Marketing Federations, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPO), cooperatives, companies, Self-help groups, food processors etc. can avail the financial assistance under it.</li>
<li>To help in the structural and infrastructure part of the scheme, agriculture market committee (APMCs) promoted markets will be connected to the e-NAM platform.</li>
<li>The government will also help in development of 22,000 agricultural markets.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>E-NAM (e-National Agriculture Market)</strong> is an important initiative of GoI to use pan-India electronic trading portal for bidding and network the existing APMC mandis to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities.</p>
<p><strong>Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC)</strong> is a statutory market committee constituted by a State Government in respect of trade in certain notified agricultural or horticultural or livestock products, under the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act issued by that state government.</p>
</div>
<h3>Objectives</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Enhancing value realisation of TOP farmers by targeted interventions to strengthen TOP production clusters and their FPOs, and linking/connecting them with the market.</li>
<li>Price stabilisation for producers and consumers by proper production planning in the TOP clusters and introduction of dual use varieties.</li>
<li>Reduction in post-harvest losses by creation of farm gate infrastructure, development of suitable agro-logistics, creation of appropriate storage capacity linking consumption centres.</li>
<li>Increase in food processing capacities and value addition in TOP value chain with firm linkages with production clusters.</li>
<li>Setting up of a market intelligence network to collect and collate real time data on demand and supply and price of TOP crops.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Strategies</h3>
<p>The scheme will have two-pronged strategy of Price stabilisation measures (for short term) and integrated value chain development projects (for long term).</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Short term Price Stabilisation Measures:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED)</strong> will be the Nodal Agency to implement price stabilization measure.</li>
<li>Ministry of Food Processing Industry will provide 50% of the subsidy on:
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Transportation of Tomato Onion Potato(TOP) Crops from production to storage;</li>
<li>Hiring of appropriate storage facilities for TOP Crops</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Long Term Integrated value chain development projects:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Capacity Building of FPOs &amp; their consortium</li>
<li>Quality production</li>
<li>Post-harvest processing facilities</li>
<li>Agri-Logistics</li>
<li>Marketing/Consumption Points</li>
<li>Creation and Management of e-platform for demand and supply management of TOP Crops.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why Operation Greens?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The scheme is launched on the lines of <strong>Operation Flood</strong> and seeks to replicate the success of milk in fruits and vegetables.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Operation Flood</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Operation Flood was started by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1970s.</li>
<li>It was also known as white revolution.</li>
<li>Objective of the program was to create a nationwide milk grid and raise milk production in the country.</li>
<li>It led to India becoming the largest producer of milk in 2016-17.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Idea behind Operation Greens is to double the income of farmers by the end of 2022.</li>
<li>The problem with vegetable commodities is that when their production increases sharply, their prices collapse because there is not enough modern storage capacity.</li>
<li>The links between processing and organized retailing are very weak and small in India which often result in farmer receiving less than 1/4th of what consumers pay for their produce in major cities.</li>
<li>Operation Greens will focus on these problems for basic ingredients and not on additional commodities in agriculture.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges in Implementation</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There are so many varieties of TOP vegetables, grown in different climatic conditions and in different seasons, making marketing intervention (processing and storage) all the more complex, unlike in milk that is a relatively homogenous product produced round the year.</li>
<li>Viable technology options for long-term storage, transport, and processing are still being developed.</li>
<li>Energy intensity of available technologies, especially with rising fuel prices, poses additional challenge.</li>
<li>Organized market at present is very small in relation to total production. The market has to be developed through a viable business model which is both time and cost consuming.</li>
<li>The scheme has no provision for institutional setup in implementing the scheme like the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Operation Flood.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There is a need to link major consumption centre to major production centre with a minimal number of intermediaries.</li>
<li>Linking the processing industry with organized retailing. On an average, about one-fourth of the produce must be processed. Budget announcement of increasing the allocation for the food processing industry by 100% is a welcome step in this regard.</li>
<li>By developing forward and backward linkages, the government can ease large price fluctuations, raise farmers&rsquo; share in the price paid by the consumer and at the same time, ensure lower prices for the consumers &mdash; a win-win situation for all.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/paper3/operation-greens-ttp-1-1'
	],
	(int) 1 => [
		'title' => 'Operation Greens',
		'catname' => 'Paper 3',
		'desc' => '<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/215Operation%20Greens.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/215Operation Greens.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/mind-map/gs-paper3/operation-greens-paper-3'
	],
	(int) 2 => [
		'title' => 'GSAT-11 Launched',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>Indian Space Research Organization&rsquo;s (ISRO) heaviest communication satellite GSAT-11 was launched by European Space Agency&rsquo;s (ESA) Ariane-5 Rocket, from Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana, South America.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>ISRO&rsquo;s rocket GSLV III can carry load up to four thousand kilograms. Beyond that capacity, all heavier ISRO payloads are launched by ESA.</li>
<li>
<p>GSAT-11 is part of ISRO&rsquo;s high-throughput communication satellite (HTS) fleet. Two HTSs &mdash; <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/gsat-29-satellite-launched-1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GSAT-29</a> and GSAT-19 are already in space.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>GSAT-11</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>GSAT-11 is an advanced communication satellite.</li>
<li>The GSAT 11 has Ka x Ku-Band Forward Link Transponders and Ku x Ka-band Return Link Transponders.</li>
<li>Mass: 5,854 Kg</li>
<li>Orbit type: Geostationary Orbit</li>
<li>Mission Life: 15 Years</li>
</ul>
<h3>Applications</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Faster Internet Connectivity:</strong> GSAT will play a vital role in providing broadband services across the country. It will enable greater capacity and high data rates over region due to use of the spot beam technology.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>
<p>The broadband domain in India is through the underground fiber and covers partial and convenient locations. GSAT will drive the country's Internet broadband from space to untouched areas.&nbsp;</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Bharat Net Connectivity:</strong> It will provide substantial bandwidth coverage to gram panchayats for supporting e-governance and other platforms.</li>
<li><strong>VSAT Terminals:</strong> Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) support high data rate applications for enterprise network and consumer broadband applications.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Spot Beam</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A spot beam is a satellite signal that is especially concentrated so that it covers only a limited geographical area. The narrower the beam greater the power. The satellite reuse beams (signals) several times in order to cover the entire country.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Types of Orbits</strong></p>
<p>In general, there are two types of orbits:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Polar Synchronous</li>
<li>Geosynchronous</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Polar Orbit</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A polar orbit travels<strong> north-south over the poles</strong> and takes approximately<strong> 90 minutes for a full rotation.</strong></li>
<li>These orbits have an <strong>inclination near 90 degrees.</strong> This allows the satellite to see virtually every part of the Earth as the Earth rotates underneath it.</li>
<li>These satellites have many uses such as<strong> monitoring crops, global security, measuring ozone concentrations in the stratosphere or measuring temperatures in the atmosphere.</strong></li>
<li>Almost all the satellites that are in a polar orbit are at <strong>lower altitudes.</strong></li>
<li>An orbit is called <strong>sun-synchronous</strong> when the angle between the <strong>line joining the center of the Earth and the satellite and the Sun is constant throughout the orbit.</strong></li>
<li>These orbits are also referred to as <strong>&ldquo;Low Earth Orbit (LEO)&rdquo;</strong> which enables the onboard camera to take images of the earth under the same sun-illumination conditions during each of the repeated visits, thus making the satellite useful for earth resources monitoring.</li>
<li><strong>It passes over any given point on Earth&rsquo;s surface at the same local solar time.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Geosynchronous Orbit</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Geosynchronous satellites are launched into orbit in the same direction the Earth is spinning and can have any inclination.</li>
<li>When the satellite is in orbit at a specific altitude (approximately 36,000km above the Earth's surface)<strong>, it will exactly match the rotation of the Earth.</strong></li>
<li>While, <strong>Geostationary</strong> <strong>orbits</strong> fall in the same category as geosynchronous orbits, but with that one special quality of being<strong> parked over the equator.</strong></li>
<li>In the case of geostationary satellites, the Earth&rsquo;s force of gravity is exactly enough to provide acceleration required for circular motion.</li>
<li><strong>Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit(GTO):</strong> To attain geostationary or geosynchronous earth orbits, a spacecraft is first launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.</li>
<li>From the <strong>GTO the spacecraft uses its engines to shift to geostationary or geosynchronous orbit.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/gsat-11-launched'
	],
	(int) 3 => [
		'title' => 'Important Facts for Prelims (5th December 2018)',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<h3>USMCA trade deal</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>United States</strong>, <strong>Canada</strong> and <strong>Mexico</strong> have reached an agreement to <strong>replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)</strong>.</li>
<li>The original 1994 NAFTA deal has also been renamed as the <strong>United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement or USMCA</strong>.</li>
<li>The goal of NAFTA was to encourage economic activity by eliminating barriers to trade and investment between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.</li>
<li>USMCA will give workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses a high-standard trade agreement that will result in freer markets, fairer trade and robust economic growth in the region.</li>
<li>It will strengthen the middle class, and create good, well-paying jobs and new opportunities for the nearly half billion people of North America.</li>
</ul>
<h3>India Water Impact Summit-2018</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India Water Impact Summit is being jointly organized by the <strong>National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)</strong> and the <strong>Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga)</strong> from 5-7 December 2018 in New Delhi.</li>
<li>The India Water Impact Summit is an annual event where stakeholders get together to discuss, debate and develop model solutions for some of the biggest water-related problems in the country.</li>
<li>The discussions this year will be on <strong>rejuvenation of the Ganga River Basin.</strong></li>
<li>There will be multi-country dialogue on the subject, with showcasing of technological innovations, research, policy frameworks and funding models from India and abroad.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG) was<strong> registered as a society in 2011</strong> under the <strong>Societies Registration Act 1860</strong>.</li>
<li>It acted as <strong>implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority(NGRBA)</strong> which was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),1986.</li>
<li>NGRBA has since been dissolved in 2016, consequent to constitution of<strong> National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga</strong> (referred as National Ganga Council which comes under the chairmanship of Prime Minister of India.)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Indian Navy Day 2018</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indian maritime forces celebrated Navy Day on <strong>4 December</strong>.</li>
<li>The day marks the <strong>exemplary role</strong> of the naval branch of the <strong>Indian Armed Forces in the 1971 India-Pakistan War</strong>.</li>
<li>The Indian Navy of the 21st century is emerging as a formidable force likely to influence the Indian Ocean Region.</li>
</ul>
<h3>India&rsquo;s First Private Satellite Launched</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>US space agency <strong>SpaceX</strong> launched India&rsquo;s first privately built satellite <strong>ExseedSAT 1</strong> along with 63 other satellites from 17 countries.</li>
<li>The mini communication satellite weighs just a kg and is made up of aluminium alloy.</li>
<li>The satellite is owned by Mumbai-based startup Exseed Space and will serve the amateur radio communication.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Mangdechhu Project</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Project is a <strong>hydropower project</strong> in<strong> Bhutan</strong>.</li>
<li>720MW run-of-river power plant was built on the <strong>Mangdechhu River in</strong> Trongsa Dzongkhag District of <strong>central Bhutan</strong>.</li>
<li>It was built by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) with<strong> support from Government of India</strong>.</li>
<li>It is among the ten Hydroelectric Projects planned under the 10,000MW hydropower development by the year 2020 programme of the Royal Government of Bhutan.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-5th-december-2018'
	],
	(int) 4 => [
		'title' => 'Status on Implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>A study conducted by the Disability Rights India Foundation (DRIF) on the implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, across 24 States, has revealed that <strong>more than half have not notified the State rules.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Only ten states including Bihar, Chandigarh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have notified the rules.</li>
<li>Recently,<strong> Rajasthan was recognised as the best State in implementation of Accessible India Campaign</strong> on the occasion of <strong>International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3rd).</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>This year's <strong>theme</strong> for International Day of Persons with Disabilities was-<strong> "Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality"</strong>- declared by the United Nations (UN).</li>
<li>It focuses on the <strong>2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and pledges to "leave no one behind".</strong> This year also marks the<strong> 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Article 41&nbsp;of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP)</strong> states that State shall make effective provision for securing right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, within the limits of its economic capacity and development.</li>
<li>The subject of &lsquo;relief of the disabled and unemployable&rsquo; is specified in <strong>state list of the Seventh schedule of the constitution.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Accessible India Campaign (AIC)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Accessible India Campaign (AIC) is the nationwide flagship campaign of the <strong>Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.</strong></li>
<li>The aim of the Campaign is to make a barrier free and conducive environment for Divyangjans all over the country.</li>
<li>It was <strong>launched on International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3rd December, 2015.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Right of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Disability has been defined based on an <strong>evolving and dynamic concept.</strong></li>
<li>The types of disabilities have been<strong> increased from 7 to 21.</strong> The act added mental illness, autism, spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, chronic neurological conditions, speech and language disability, thalassemia, hemophilia, sickle cell disease, multiple disabilities including deaf blindness,<strong> acid attack victims</strong> and Parkinson&rsquo;s disease which were largely ignored in earlier act. In addition, the<strong> Government has been authorized to notify</strong> any other category of specified disability.</li>
<li>It increases the quantum of reservation for people suffering from disabilities from<strong> 3% to 4% in government jobs</strong> and from <strong>3% to 5% in higher education institutes.</strong></li>
<li>Every child with benchmark disability between the age group of<strong> 6 and 18 years shall have the right to free education.</strong> Government funded educational institutions as well as the government recognized institutions will have to provide inclusive education.</li>
<li>Stress has been given to ensure accessibility in public buildings in a prescribed time frame along with Accessible India Campaign.</li>
<li>The Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities and the State Commissioners will act as regulatory bodies and Grievance Redressal agencies, monitoring implementation of the Act.</li>
<li>A separate National and State Fund be created to provide financial support to the persons with disabilities.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Convention was adopted by the <strong>General Assembly in December 2006</strong> and it came into<strong> force on in May 2008.</strong></li>
<li>The convention seeks to engage member countries in developing and carrying out policies, laws and administrative measures for securing the rights recognized in the Convention and abolish laws, regulations, customs and practices that constitute discrimination.</li>
<li>It requires countries to identify and eliminate obstacles and barriers and ensure that persons with disabilities can access their environment, transportation, public facilities and services, and information and communications technologies.</li>
<li>It asks member countries to recognize the right to an adequate standard of living and social protection which includes public housing, services and assistance for disability-related needs, as well as assistance with disability-related expenses in case of poverty.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/status-on-implementation-of-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-act-2016'
	],
	(int) 5 => [
		'title' => 'Untenable Assault On Our Farm Subsidies',
		'catname' => 'News Editorials',
		'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article &ldquo;Untenable Assault On Our Farm Subsidies&rdquo; which appears in BusinessLine on 5th December 2018.)</p>
</div>
<p><strong>At a time when the government is offering enhanced Minimum Support Prices (MSP) to the farmers for the Kharif crops, India&rsquo;s farm subsidies&rsquo; regime has come under intense scrutiny in the World Trade Organization (WTO).</strong></p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Minimum Support Price (MSP)</strong> is a form of market intervention by the Government of India to ensure agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices. The minimum support prices are announced by the Government of India at the beginning of the sowing season for certain crops on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).</p>
</div>
<p><strong>Over the past few years, the implementation of the National Food Security Act has also been questioned in the WTO, as several members argued that India&rsquo;s agricultural subsidies were violating the disciplines of the Agreement on Agriculture* (AoA).</strong> After considerable remonstration, India obtained a temporary respite after being assured that no WTO member would initiate a dispute against India, even if its subsidies were in excess of its commitments.<strong><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/714subsidy.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 10px;" width="268" height="162" caption="false" /></strong></p>
<p>Recently, various aspects of India&rsquo;s agricultural policies came in for close scrutiny by several WTO members, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, European Union, Japan, Russia, and the USA. <strong>India has been questioned on its supply management policies for skimmed milk powder, sugar, and pulses, in particular, the export subsidies granted to all these products/commodities and the import restriction on pulses.</strong></p>
<div class="border-bg"><strong>Agreement on Agriculture (AoA)</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The WTO Agreement on Agriculture, which came into force in 1995, represents a significant step towards reforming agricultural trade and making it fairer and more competitive. The Agriculture Committee oversees implementation of the Agreement. Members continue to conduct negotiations for further reform.</li>
<li><strong>In 2015, they adopted a historic decision to abolish agricultural export subsidies and to set rules for other forms of farm export support.</strong></li>
<li><strong>AoA fixes the market price support that countries can provide to each crop. For developing countries like India, the market price support for a crop cannot exceed 10 percent of the total value of its production.</strong></li>
<li>AoA gives the freedom to the WTO members to calculate their market price support using any currency; the tacit understanding is that the data presented by a country must be consistent.</li>
<li><strong>AoA does not allow India to use direct export subsidies, but subsidies for reducing the costs of marketing exports of agricultural products and for internal transport and freight charges on export shipments can be provided.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In May, the US questioned the basis for the grant of MSP to wheat and rice and more recently subsidies for cotton. In its submission to the WTO, the US has shown India&rsquo;s market price support for rice was consistently above 70 percent of the value of production since 2010-11 and above 60 percent for wheat during the same period, while for cotton it varied between 53 and 81 percent.</li>
<li><strong>A second issue that the US has raised is regarding the quantity procured or &ldquo;eligible production&rdquo;. India has maintained that &ldquo;eligible production&rdquo; must be that part of the total production of a crop that is actually procured by the agencies.</strong></li>
<li>The US has been hinting that India must declare its &ldquo;eligible production&rdquo; before the actual procurement takes place (which India opposes). Announcing &ldquo;eligible production&rdquo; prior to actual procurement can have two adverse implications for the farmers in India. If &ldquo;eligible production&rdquo; is set at a higher level, it can either influence their decision to produce a particular crop and if it is set a relatively low level, they would be denied the benefit of the MSP.</li>
<li><strong>Australia has followed the US to challenge India&rsquo;s price policy for sugarcane.</strong> Its main argument is that India provides implicit subsidies but has not declared this to the WTO. This is despite India&rsquo;s long-standing position that it only sets Fair and Remunerative Price for sugarcane, according to the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966, which the sugar mills are expected to pay to the farmers.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Fair and Remunerative Price</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>With the amendment of the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966, the concept of Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) of sugarcane was replaced with the &lsquo;Fair and Remunerative Price&rsquo; (FRP) of sugarcane for 2009-10 and subsequent sugar seasons.</li>
<li>The cane price announced by the Central Government is decided on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) after consulting the State Governments and associations of the sugar industry.</li>
<li>Under the FRP system, the farmers are not required to wait until the end of the season or for an announcement of the profits by sugar mills or the Government.</li>
<li>This system also assures margins on account of profit and risk to farmers, irrespective of the fact whether sugar mills generate profit or not and is not dependent on the performance of any individual sugar mill</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Calculation of Subsidies</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Subsidies provided by WTO members are calculated with reference to international prices, which are assumed to be the competitive prices.</li>
<li>In the negotiations leading to the adoption of the AoA, the international price of each commodity was a fixed &ldquo;external reference price&rdquo; (ERP), taken as the average of the international prices during 1986-88.</li>
<li>For developing countries like India, the market price support for a crop cannot exceed 10 percent of the total value of its production. India&rsquo;s market price support to its crops never exceeded 10 percent of their value of production. However, the US has challenged India arguing that its market price support to the major crops is well above this threshold.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The first observation is that the creeping crisis in Indian agriculture requires flexibility in the use of policy instruments, which the framework provided by the AoA does not provide.</strong></li>
<li>The Centre must get its act together for undertaking a structural transformation of the agricultural sector, one that puts the interests of the small and marginal farmer and the landless labour at the center. T<strong>he WTO rules have little tolerance for ad hoc policy making in agriculture; only a coherent set of policies that result in sustained improvement of peasant agriculture can stand scrutiny.</strong></li>
<li>There is a strong need for India to focus on the revival of the Doha Round. India needs a flexible policy regime to deal with its fragile farm sector. It is imperative to revive the Doha Round of WTO.</li>
<li><strong>The Nairobi Ministerial Conference held in 2015 had taken a decision that developing countries would be allowed to use indirect export subsidies only up to the end of 2023.</strong> This would mark the end of all policy instruments to support export subsidies in agriculture. Alternative support systems should be initiated by developing countries.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>The Doha Round</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Doha Round is the latest round of trade negotiations among the WTO membership.</li>
<li>The agriculture negotiations began in 2000, under a commitment members made in the 1986&ndash;94 Uruguay Round to continue reform in the trade. They were brought into the Doha Round when it was launched in 2001.</li>
<li>Broadly, the objective is to reduce distortions in agricultural trade caused by high tariffs and other barriers, export subsidies, and some kinds of domestic support.</li>
<li>The negotiations also take into account social and political sensitivities in the sector and the needs of developing countries.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/untenable-assault-on-our-farm-subsidies'
	],
	(int) 6 => [
		'title' => 'Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)',
		'catname' => 'National Institutions',
		'desc' => '<h3>What is CBI?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating police agency in India.</li>
<li>It functions under the superintendence of the Deptt. of Personnel, Ministry of Personnel, Pension &amp; Public Grievances, Government of India - which falls under the prime minister&rsquo;s office.</li>
<li>However for investigations of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, its superintendence vests with the Central Vigilance Commission.</li>
<li>It is also the nodal police agency in India which coordinates investigation on behalf of Interpol Member countries.</li>
<li>Its conviction rate is as high as 65 to 70% and it is comparable to the best investigation agencies in the world.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Historical Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>During the period of World War II, a Special Police Establishment (SPE) was constituted in 1941 in the Department of War of the British India to enquire into allegations of bribery and corruption in the war related procurements.</li>
<li>Later on it was formalized as an agency of the Government of India to investigate into allegations of corruption in various wings of the Government of India by enacting the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946.</li>
<li><strong>CBI derives power to investigate from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946.</strong></li>
<li>In 1963, the CBI was established by the Government of India with a view to investigate serious crimes related to defence of India, corruption in high places, serious fraud, cheating and embezzlement and social crime, particularly of hoarding, black-marketing and profiteering in essential commodities, having all-India and inter-state ramifications.</li>
<li>With the passage of time, CBI started investigations in conventional crimes like assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, crimes committed by extremists, etc.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Cases Handled by the CBI</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Anti-Corruption Crimes -</strong> for investigation of cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Public officials and the employees of Central Government, Public Sector Undertakings, Corporations or Bodies owned or controlled by the Government of India.</li>
<li><strong>Economic Crimes -</strong> for investigation of major financial scams and serious economic frauds, including crimes relating to Fake Indian Currency Notes, Bank Frauds and Cyber Crime, bank frauds, Import Export &amp; Foreign Exchange violations, large-scale smuggling of narcotics, antiques, cultural property and smuggling of other contraband items etc.</li>
<li><strong>Special Crimes -</strong> for investigation of serious and organized crime under the Indian Penal Code and other laws on the requests of State Governments or on the orders of the Supreme Court and High Courts - such as cases of terrorism, bomb blasts, kidnapping for ransom and crimes committed by the mafia/the underworld.</li>
<li><strong>Suo Moto Cases -</strong> CBI can suo-moto take up investigation of offences only in the Union Territories.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Central Government can authorize CBI to investigate a crime in a State but only with the consent of the concerned State Government.</li>
<li>The Supreme Court and High Courts, however, can order CBI to investigate a crime anywhere in the country without the consent of the State.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Director of CBI</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Director, CBI as Inspector General of Police, Delhi Special Police Establishment, is responsible for the administration of the organisation.</li>
<li>Till 2014, the CBI Director was appointed on the basis of the DSPE Act, 1946.</li>
<li>In 2003, DSPE Act was revised on Supreme Court&rsquo;s recommendation in the Vineet Narain case. A committee that had members from Central Vigilance Commission, Secretaries from Home Ministry, Ministry of Personnel and Public Grievances would send recommendations to Central Government for the appointment of CBI Director.</li>
<li>In 2014, the Lokpal Act provided a committee for appointment of CBI Director:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Headed by Prime Minister</li>
<li>Other members - Leader of Opposition/ Leader of the single largest opposition party, Chief Justice of India/ a Supreme Court Judge.</li>
<li>Home Ministry sends a list of eligible candidates to DoPT. Then, the DoPT prepares the final list on basis of seniority, integrity, and experience in the investigation of anti-corruption cases, and sends it to the committee.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Director of CBI has been provided <strong>security of two year tenure,</strong> by the CVC Act, 2003.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Supreme Court of India has criticised the CBI by calling it a "caged parrot speaking in its master's voice", due to <strong>excessive political interference</strong> in its functioning.</li>
<li>It has often been used by the government of the day to cover up wrongdoing, keep coalition allies in line and political opponents at bay.</li>
<li>It has been accused of <strong>enormous delays in concluding investigations</strong> - For example, the inertia in its probe against the high dignitaries in Jain hawala diaries case [of the 1990s].</li>
<li><strong>Loss of Credibility:</strong> Improving the image of the agency is one of the biggest challenges till now as the agency has been criticised for its mismanagement of several cases involving prominent politicians and mishandling of several sensitive cases like Bofors scandal; Hawala scandal, Sant Singh Chatwal case, Bhopal gas tragedy, 2008 Noida double murder case(Aarushi Talwar).</li>
<li><strong>Lack of Accountability:</strong> CBI is exempted from the provisions of the Right to Information Act, thus, lacking public accountability.</li>
<li><strong>Acute shortage of personnel:</strong> A major cause of the shortfall is the government's sheer mismanagement of CBI's workforce, through a system of inefficient, and inexplicably biased, recruitment policies - used to bring in favoured officers, possibly to the detriment of the organisation.</li>
<li><strong>Limited Powers:</strong> The powers and jurisdiction of members of the CBI for investigation are subject to the consent of the State Govt., thus limiting the extent of investigation by CBI.</li>
<li><strong>Restricted Access:</strong> Prior approval of Central Government to conduct inquiry or investigation on the employees of the Central Government, of the level of Joint Secretary and above is a big obstacle in combating corruption at higher levels of bureaucracy.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>USA and FBI </strong></p>
<p>In the United States of America (USA), the federal States have their own Constitution and yet they have subjected themselves to the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which is a Central agency. Like India, police and public order is a State subject in the USA too and that in all cases involving a federal offence in the USA, the FBI and the local police have concurrent jurisdictions; but the moment the FBI steps in, the local police stops investigation.</p>
</div>
<h3>Suggestions</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Delink the CBI from the administrative control of the government - As long as the government of the day has the power to transfer and post officials of its choice in the CBI, the investigating agency will not enjoy autonomy and will be unable to investigate cases freely.</li>
<li>Providing statutory status through legislation equivalent to that provided to the Comptroller &amp; Auditor General and the Election Commission wil help maintain the independence of the institution.</li>
<li>Twenty fourth report of Department related parliamentary standing committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice on working of CBI recommended the following:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Strengthening human resources by increasing strength of CBI;</li>
<li>Better investments in infrastructural facilities;</li>
<li>Increased financial resource and administrative empowerment with accountability;</li>
<li>Give more Powers (related to Union, State and Concurrent list of the 7<sup>th</sup> schedule of Indian constitution), to the CBI;</li>
<li>Separate enactment under &ndash; "Central Bureau of Intelligence and Investigation Act" and replace DSPE Act.
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>In 1978, the L P Singh committee recommended enactment of a &ldquo;comprehensive central legislation to remove the deficiency of not having a central investigative agency with a self-sufficient statutory charter of duties and functions&rdquo;.</li>
<li>The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2007) also suggested that &ldquo;a new law should be enacted to govern the working of the CBI&rdquo;.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/central-bureau-of-investigation-cbi'
	],
	(int) 7 => [
		'title' => 'Qatar Quits OPEC',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>Qatar has decided to withdraw its membership from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) effective from January 2019 to focus on Liquefied Natural Gas (gas isn&rsquo;t part of OPEC&rsquo;s mandate) production.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Qatar is a small oil producer which accounts for less than 2 <g class="gr_ gr_46 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="46" data-gr-id="46">percent</g> of total oil output, so its departure may not have a significant impact on the oil market.</li>
<li>OPEC&rsquo;s policy has become more concentrated in the hands of Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC member Russia.</li>
<li>It is notable that some of the world's largest oil producers, including <strong>Russia</strong>, <strong>China</strong> and the <strong>United</strong> <strong>States</strong>, are <strong>not members of OPEC</strong> and pursue their own objectives.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Saudi -Qatar Conflict</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Saudi Arabia has been leading a <strong>regional blockade</strong> on Qatar that has seen trade and travel links severed over its <strong>alleged support for terrorism</strong>.</li>
<li>OPEC members, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and fellow Arab states Bahrain and Egypt have imposed a <strong>political and economic boycott</strong> leading to the regional blockade on Qatar since June 2017.</li>
<li>However, according&nbsp;to Qatar, Saudi led blockade is <strong>aimed to impinge on its sovereignty</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Impact Analysis</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Qatar will continue to produce oil and seek deals in countries including Latin America's top oil producer Brazil.</li>
<li>It could signal that smaller producers are dissatisfied with the cartel's dominance by Saudi Arabia and Russia. So a&nbsp;group of small producers exiting the cartel will decrease OPEC's influence in the oil market.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>OPEC</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent,<strong> intergovernmental Organization</strong>, created at the<strong> Baghdad Conference in 1960</strong>, by <strong>Iran</strong>, <strong>Iraq</strong>, <strong>Kuwait</strong>, <strong>Saudi</strong> <strong>Arabia</strong> and <strong>Venezuela</strong>.</li>
<li>OPEC is a <strong>cartel</strong> that aims to manage the supply of oil in an effort to set the price of oil on the world market, in order to avoid fluctuations that might affect the economies of both producing and purchasing countries.</li>
<li>According to its statutes, OPEC <strong>membership is open to any country that is a substantial exporter of oil</strong> and that shares the ideals of the organization.</li>
<li>These countries were later joined by Qatar (1961), Indonesia (1962), Libya (1962), the United Arab Emirates (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador (1973), Gabon (1975), Angola (2007), Equatorial Guinea (2017) and Congo (2018).</li>
<li>Ecuador suspended its membership in December 1992 but rejoined OPEC in October 2007.</li>
<li>Indonesia suspended its membership in January 2009, reactivated it again in January 2016, but decided to suspend its membership once more in November 2016.</li>
<li>Gabon terminated its membership in January 1995. However, it rejoined the Organization in July 2016.</li>
<li>OPEC has its <strong>headquarter</strong> in <strong>Vienna, Austria</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/qatar-quits-opec'
	],
	(int) 8 => [
		'title' => 'The Big Picture: Floods and Dam Management',
		'catname' => 'Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions',
		'desc' => '<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N8mhbpaUJz4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Dams are one of the vital elements for the growth of the country&rsquo;s economy.<strong> In India, over the years, dams have played an important role in fostering rapid and sustained agricultural and rural growth</strong>. Substantial investment has been done in building dams and related infrastructure.</p>
<p><strong>Dams are built to control floods; however, they are also responsible for the increasing frequency of floods as well.</strong> In the routine, dams regulate the flow of water, provide water for electricity generation, irrigation and other needs. However, during extreme meteorological conditions, dams amplify the situation.</p>
<p>India has more than 5000 large dams. 75 percent of these are more than 25 years old and about 164 dams are more than 100 years old<strong>. A poorly maintained, unsafe dam can be a hazard to both human life and the environment</strong>. This has been proved by several dam failures in the past. In June 2018 the central government had approved the proposal for introduction of the Dam Safety Bill, 2018 which aims to develop uniform countrywide guidelines for ensuring the safety of dams.</p>
<div class="border-bg">
<h3>2018 Kerala Floods</h3>
<p><strong>In August 2018 following torrential rainfall, Kerala witnessed its worst floods since 1924.</strong> The dams were stored to the brim. Too much water was stored and consequently, the gates had to be opened. At least 35 of 50 large dams were open for releasing water on to the already flooded areas downstream. With time, silt deposition had considerably reduced the holding capacity of the dams and the nearby rivers, leading to flooding of embankments and levees. Encroachment has decreased dam&rsquo;s built-in area (further reducing the capacity), sand mining and rampant felling of trees and clearing of forest in the Western Ghats have played a factor.</p>
</div>
<h3>Dam Safety Bill, 2018</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Union Cabinet approved the proposal for introduction of Dam Safety Bill, 2018 in the Parliament.</li>
<li>The objective of this Bill is to help develop a uniform, countrywide guidelines for ensuring the safety of dams.</li>
<li><strong>The Bill provides for:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Proper surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of all specified dams in the country to ensure their safe functioning.</li>
<li>Constitution of a National Committee on Dam Safety which shall evolve dam safety policies and recommend necessary regulations.</li>
<li>Establishment of National Dam Safety Authority as a regulatory body which shall discharge functions to implement the policy, guidelines, and standards for dam safety in the country.</li>
<li>Constitution of a State Committee on Dam Safety by State Government.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>All the institutions that are named in the dam safety bill are already functioning. The Dam Safety Bill will only give these institutions legal backing.</li>
<li>This bill will make sure that every state government follows a uniform policy laid down by it.</li>
<li>In the Dam Safety Bill, the provisions for the robust functioning of the dam have been laid. As of now, some of the dams have an operational manual. However, most are operating dams from experience. This bill will make it legally binding for all the dams to have a codified manual for the operation as per their need.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>State governments should follow the dam safety manual with precision</strong>. Especially, where human settlements are scattered all around, the building of dams has to be regulated as per the guidelines.</li>
<li><strong>Creation of buffer zone</strong> has to be done to protect land near dams from encroachment.</li>
<li>However, the growth of population will lead to encroachment, and it would be physically impossible to shift people during calamity. Proper dissemination of information has to be done in the surrounding areas on a real-time basis and regular flushing of water should be carried downstream to keep the river beds dry.<strong> Hence, dam safety and proper village, town and city planning have to be integrated.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Ensuring &ldquo;dam safety&rdquo; should be a continuous exercise</strong>. The present catastrophe is more related to, how the dam should be operated when there is heavy rainfall and the water level has reached a critical level.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/the-big-picture-floods-and-dam-management'
	],
	(int) 9 => [
		'title' => 'Warmer Winters Ahead as El Niño Conditions Develop',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), India is likely to experience a warmer winter for a second consecutive year due to the influence of a brewing El Nino over the Pacific Ocean.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is likely that a <strong>weak and&nbsp;short duration El Nino</strong> will develop towards February 2019, i.e by the end of winters.</li>
<li>This was stated in <strong>IMD&rsquo;s &lsquo;Seasonal Outlook for Temperatures&rsquo;</strong> which it has been issuing since 2016, for both hot and cold weather seasons. These forecasts are based on predictions from the Monsoon Mission Coupled Forecasting System (MMCFS).</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>India Meteorological Department (IMD)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>IMD was established in<strong> 1875.</strong></li>
<li>It is an agency of the <strong>Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India.</strong></li>
<li>It is the principal agency responsible for <strong>meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>El Nino</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>El Nino refers to the<strong> unusual warming of the central and east-central equatorial Pacific Ocean</strong> which affects global weather. The warmer waters of the Pacific Ocean cause the winds in various regions to reverse, like the trade winds that come towards India.</li>
<li>This change of wind direction leads to warmer winters and summers and a decrease in rainfall during the monsoon. Most of the time, it also leads to drought.</li>
<li>There is also an <strong>opposite of an El Ni&ntilde;o, called La Ni&ntilde;a means The Little Girl in Spanish.</strong> This refers to times when waters of the tropical eastern Pacific are colder than normal and trade winds blow more strongly than usual.</li>
<li><strong>Collectively, El Ni&ntilde;o and La Ni&ntilde;a are parts of an oscillation in the ocean-atmosphere system called the El Ni&ntilde;o-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO cycle.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>What Happens Normally?</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Normally, the warmest part of the Pacific Ocean is the region near the equator. Due to the spinning of the earth, the prevailing winds flow from east to west. This <strong>pushes the warm waters westwards, say towards Indonesia.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>During an El Nino event,</strong> the prevailing winds across the Pacific weaken, and sometimes they can even reverse and blow the other way. This allows some of the <strong>warmer waters to move eastwards, away from Indonesia and towards South America.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>In the east, around the coast of South America, <strong>cool waters normally well up</strong>. These waters are <strong>rich in nutrients and fish, and provide plenty of food for the Peruvian Fisherman.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It is interesting to note that the <strong>El Nino was discovered by Peruvian Fisherman</strong> when they noticed that every three to seven years, in the months of December and January, there would be <strong>virtually no fish in the seas</strong>, because of <strong>unusual presence of warm waters.</strong> As it was noticed around <strong>Christmas time, they named this phenomenon El Nino (Spanish for &lsquo;the baby boy&rsquo;).</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Effects of El Nino</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>El Nino affects global weather. It<strong> favours eastern Pacific hurricanes and tropical storms.</strong> Recorded unusual rainfall in Peru, Chile and Ecuador are linked to the climate pattern.</li>
<li>El Nino reduces upwelling of cold water,<strong> decreasing the uplift of nutrients from the bottom of the ocean.</strong> This affects marine life and sea birds. The fishing industry is also affected.</li>
<li><strong>Drought</strong> caused by El Nino can be widespread, <strong>affecting southern Africa, India, Southeast Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands.</strong> Countries dependent on agriculture are affected.</li>
<li>WHO report on the health consequences of El Nino forecasts a<strong> rise in vector-borne diseases,</strong> including those spread by mosquitoes, in Central and South America. Cycles of malaria in India are also linked to El Nino.</li>
<li>Over India, the El Nino has usually been the harbinger of drought and the La Nina of rain.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/warmer-winters-ahead-as-el-nino-conditions-develop'
	],
	(int) 10 => [
		'title' => 'Important Facts for Prelims (4th December 2018)',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<h3>SHINYUU Maitri-2018</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The bilateral air exercise between the <strong>Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) </strong>and<strong> Indian Air Force</strong> is being held in Agra, India.</li>
<li>The theme of the exercise is joint Mobility/Humanitarian Assistance &amp; Disaster Relief (HADR) on Transport aircraft.</li>
<li>Recently, the <strong>joint military exercise</strong> between <g class="gr_ gr_41 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="41" data-gr-id="41">Indian</g> Army and Japan Ground Self Defence Force, named <strong>Dharma Guardian</strong> 2018 was held in Mizoram, India.</li>
<li>Japan-India <strong>Maritime Exercise</strong> knows as <strong>JIMEX</strong> was also held in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.</li>
</ul>
<h3><br />&ldquo;<g class="gr_ gr_56 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="56" data-gr-id="56">Chemputer</g>&rdquo; to Manufacture Drugs</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Scientists at <g class="gr_ gr_66 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="66" data-gr-id="66">University</g> of Glasgow, UK have developed a new method to produce drug molecules, which uses downloadable blueprints to easily and reliably synthesise organic chemicals via a programmable &lsquo;chemputer&rsquo;.</li>
<li>This is the first time synthesis of important drug molecules was achieved in an affordable and modular chemical-robot system called a <g class="gr_ gr_54 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="54" data-gr-id="54">chemputer</g>.</li>
<li>The <g class="gr_ gr_39 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="39" data-gr-id="39">chemputer</g> is underpinned by a <strong>new universal and interoperable standard for writing</strong> and <strong>sharing chemical recipes</strong>.</li>
<li>Those chemical recipes, run on a computer programme the team calls the &lsquo;chempiler&rsquo;, instruct the <g class="gr_ gr_53 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="53" data-gr-id="53">chemputer</g> how to produce molecules on-demand, more <g class="gr_ gr_42 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del" id="42" data-gr-id="42">affordably</g> and safely than ever possible before.</li>
<li>This is a <strong>key step in the digitisation of chemistry</strong> and will allow the universal assembly of complex molecules on demand, democratising the ability to discover and make new molecules using a simple software app and a modular <g class="gr_ gr_46 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="46" data-gr-id="46">chemputer</g>.</li>
<li><g class="gr_ gr_48 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="48" data-gr-id="48">Chemputer</g> <g class="gr_ gr_55 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="55" data-gr-id="55">system,</g> could allow medical professionals in remote parts of the world to create life-saving drugs as and when required.</li>
</ul>
<h3>International Conference on Bears</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>International conference on bears has been organised in <strong>Agra (Uttar Pradesh)</strong>.</li>
<li>The conference is hosted by <strong>Wildlife SOS (a conservation non-profit organisation)</strong> in collaboration with <strong>Bear Care Group from the US and Canada</strong>.</li>
<li>The conference is focused on <strong>bear care</strong>, <strong>wildlife conservation</strong> and <strong>human-wildlife conflict mitigation</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Acute Flaccid Myelitis</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM), a&nbsp;polio-like disease affecting children has come into public focus.</li>
<li><strong>Enteroviruses</strong> (a group of viruses such as poliovirus and enterovirus A71, and West Nile virus. ) are the main cause of the disease in children.</li>
<li>The concerns emanate from the US, more than 100 cases of AFM have been confirmed in 2018.</li>
<li>AFM is characterised by muscle weakness &mdash; weak limbs, pain, absent reflexes.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-4th-december-2018'
	],
	(int) 11 => [
		'title' => 'Corridor Of Uncertainty',
		'catname' => 'News Editorials',
		'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p style="text-align: justify;">(This editorial is based on the article &ldquo;Corridor Of Uncertainty&rdquo; which appears in The Indian Express on 4th December 2018.)</p>
</div>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Peace in the Indian subcontinent presumes harmony between India and Pakistan.</strong> More than 40 years of efforts at regionalism has been held hostage by the hostility of the two, with the other countries of the world watching suspiciously.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Both the countries talk about peace, trade and people-to-people contacts, things which had not turned into reality till today. <strong>The abuse hurled by the establishments of each side is nothing but a populist political tool that distracts the public from pressing matters of growth, equity, democracy, </strong>and<strong> accountability.</strong> It also hides the fact that the cost of maintaining massive militaries in each country undermines the efforts for ensuring social justice.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The inauguration of the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/kartarpur-corridor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kartarpur corridor</a> is a positive step, but whether this could be the means to the end called &lsquo;peace between India and Pakistan&rsquo;, remains an open question.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>India and Pakistan had entered into an agreement on pilgrimages in 1974</strong> under which both sides issue visitor visas for a handful of shrines on either side. The Kartarpur visa-free corridor is only for Indians. But it will require a separate agreement for operationalization, which will involve complex negotiations given the security ramifications.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square; text-align: justify;">
<li>As mentioned above, a protocol constituting an agreement between India and Pakistan on the visit to Religious Shrines was signed on 1974.</li>
<li><strong>Both the countries had agreed on the following principle for facilitating visits to such shrines:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>That such visits from one country to the other should be allowed without discrimination as to religion or sect.</li>
<li>The list of shrines to be visited were to be finalized through correspondence.</li>
<li>The agreed list is enlarged from time to time by mutual agreement.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Kartarpur visa-free Corridor</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square; text-align: justify;">
<li>In terms of history, Pakistan has never had any claim on Punjab, unlike Kashmir, which remains an unresolved territorial dispute. Therefore, fewer chances of further disturbances exist for the construction of this corridor.</li>
<li>Given its easy logistics, the 7-km-long Kartarpur corridor is a low-hanging fruit and yet serves as a meaningful confidence-building measure.</li>
<li><strong>The significance of the Kartarpur Corridor is that the demand for it from the Sikh community was so great that neither the Indian nor Pakistani side wanted to be seen as opposing it. This is also probably the first instance of the two sides set aside mutual hostility to bow to the will of the people.</strong></li>
<li>The initiative can also become a template for cross-border exchanges based on faith, which could provide relief for many communities such as Kashmiri Pandits, who have for long asked access to visit the Sharda Peeth in the Neelum Valley in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir or the Sufis in Pakistan who wish to visit the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, Rajasthan or the Sikhs in India and Pakistan wanting to visit important shrines on both sides of the border.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Challenges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square; text-align: justify;">
<li><strong>The first challenge is to sustain and keep the idea of the corridor alive beyond 2019.</strong></li>
<li>The potential of South Asia for sustained high growth has been blocked by the tightened national borders, with India playing its part by building barbed wire fences on the Pakistan frontier for security.</li>
<li>There is concern among skeptics that India will not be able to control security in the corridor. Also, there are chances that the opening of the corridor may lead to the revival of the Khalistan movement.</li>
<li>Even more, will depend on how the two governments manage their relationship in a way that avoids making pilgrims a pawn in bilateral tensions.</li>
<li>Apart from the obvious politico-diplomatic issues, logistical challenges are also one of the trials this corridor would face. For example, there is a need to build two bridges, one across the fast flowing Ravi, and another, across a seasonal tributary of the Ravi, Begh Baein. The Ravi is about 1,200 ft and the Begh Bain about 400 ft in breadth. Both are in Pakistan. Pakistan will have to find a way to bridge the two water bodies before next year's celebrations to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. No details are available on how it will go about doing this.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>India, as the more stable democracy, should inculcate empathy for the </strong>neighbour, it should recognize the difference between the Pakistani state and its people, the latter struggling against extremism, military supremacy and state-centralism all at one go.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>As the historical &lsquo;connectivity&rsquo; of the Subcontinent crumbled after Partition, it created massive a dysfunction as economies of scale and production chains were disrupted.</strong> This is a chance to restore that.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The goal of the future should be to learn to compartmentalize one&rsquo;s perceptions of the &lsquo;other&rsquo;, that Pakistan is made up of its state and its people just as India to is made up of its state and its people. The mutual integration has to do with conflating the two, state apparatus and citizenry, as one.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>India should, therefore, build on the leap of faith that it took on the Kartarpur corridor.</strong> For starters, both countries must relax visa norms so, that there is more people-to-people interaction across the border. An agreement for this already exists since 2012. All that needs to be done is to implement it. A large part of the failure of the two countries to come out of the holes into which they have dug themselves in owes to the vacuum created in citizen interaction. It is time to undo that.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Moreover, South Asia must be understood as a project for social justice, to be achieved through economic </strong>rationalisation<strong>, sub-regional interactions and reduced military budgets &ndash; and open borders such as exists between Nepal and India.</strong></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Everything is now going to depend on how quickly India and Pakistan act on their respective commitments.<img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/389fig2.JPG" width="385" height="219" /></li>
</ul>',
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	],
	(int) 12 => [
		'title' => 'Generalized System of Preference',
		'catname' => 'Paper 3',
		'desc' => '<h3>Why in News?</h3>
<p>Recently the US government has withdrawn its GSP (Generalized System of Preferences) benefits to India worth $70 million on as many as 50 items mostly from handloom and agriculture sector.</p>
<h3>GSP</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) is an umbrella that comprises the bulk of preferential schemes granted by industrialized nations to developing countries.</li>
<li>It involves reduced <strong>Most Favored Nations (MFN)</strong> Tariffs or duty-free entry of eligible products exported by beneficiary countries to the markets of donor countries.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The idea of granting developing countries preferential tariff rates in the markets of industrialized countries was originally presented at the first UNCTAD conference in 1964.</li>
<li>The <strong>GSP was adopted at UNCTAD in New Delhi in 1968 and was instituted in 1971</strong>.</li>
<li>There are currently 13 national GSP schemes notified to the UNCTAD secretariat.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>UNCTAD</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is a permanent intergovernmental body established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1964.</li>
<li>It supports developing countries to access the benefits of a globalized economy more fairly and effectively.</li>
<li>It has 194 member nations.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Most Favored Nations (MFN)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>As per the WTO&rsquo;s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade&rsquo;s MFN principle, each of the WTO member countries should &ldquo;treat all the other members equally as &lsquo;most-favoured&rsquo; trading partners.&rdquo;</li>
<li>According to the WTO, though the term &lsquo;MFN&rsquo; &ldquo;suggests special treatment, it actually means nondiscrimination.&rdquo;</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The following countries grant GSP preferences:</strong></li>
</ul>
<ol>
<li>Australia</li>
<li>Belarus</li>
<li>Canada</li>
<li>European Union</li>
<li>Iceland</li>
<li>Japan</li>
<li>Kazakhstan</li>
<li>New Zealand</li>
<li>Norway</li>
<li>Russian Federation</li>
<li>Switzerland</li>
<li>Turkey</li>
<li>United States of America.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Benefits of Generalized System of Preference</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Economic growth and development in the developing world</strong> by helping beneficiary countries to increase and diversify their trade with the developed nations.</li>
<li><strong>Employment &ndash;</strong> Moving GSP imports from the docks to consumers, farmers, and manufacturers supports tens of thousands of jobs in the developed nation.</li>
<li><strong>Company Competitiveness</strong> is boosted by GSP as it reduces costs of imported inputs used by companies to manufacture goods.</li>
<li><strong>GSP promotes Global values</strong> by supporting beneficiary countries in affording worker rights to their people, enforcing intellectual property rights, and supporting the rule of law.</li>
</ul>
<h3>GSP for India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indian exporters benefit indirectly by way of reduced tariff or duty free entry of eligible Indian products.</li>
<li>Reduction or removal of import duty on an Indian product makes it more competitive.</li>
<li>This tariff preference helps new exporters to penetrate a market and established exporters to increase their market share and to improve upon the profit margins.</li>
<li>It allows India to integrate with global value chains and hence with global markets.</li>
</ul>
<h3>GSP for US</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Cheaper imports of intermediary products from India enable availability of cost-effective and price-competitive inputs to the US downstream industries.</li>
<li>It also helps the US firms remain domestically and internationally competitive.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Impact of GSP Withdrawal</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The products on which India receives GSP benefits belong to labour intensive sectors such as textile, handloom and agriculture.</li>
<li>India will lose out on preferential tariff on exports worth of nearly $ 5. 6 billion under the GSP route out of the total exports of $48 bn in 2017-18.</li>
<li>India could lose US market share to rivals like Vietnam and Bangladesh, which will continue have duty-free access.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indian exports to the US under GSP program are mostly intermediaries and are not in direct competition with US producers which ultimately benefit US economy.</li>
<li>The US should consider continuing India's eligibility as a gesture of goodwill that reaffirms its commitment to the mutually beneficial relationship between our two countries.</li>
<li>GSP remains a central aspect of the overall trade engagement and must remain available for Indian exporters keen to address the US markets.</li>
</ul>',
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	],
	(int) 13 => [
		'title' => 'Generalized System of Preference',
		'catname' => 'Paper 3',
		'desc' => '<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/463GSP.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/463GSP.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>',
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	],
	(int) 14 => [
		'title' => 'Important Facts for Prelims (3rd December 2018)',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<h3>Hornbill Festival- 2018</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Recently Union Home Minister has inaugurated the 10-day long annual Hornbill festival.</li>
<li>At the <strong>beginning of December each year</strong>, Nagaland hosts its biggest event&mdash;the Hornbill Festival to <strong>celebrate its diverse community and culture</strong>.</li>
<li>The event has been taking place every year since 2000, and takes place from December 1-10, coinciding with the <strong>Nagaland Statehood Day on December 1</strong>.</li>
<li>The festival has tribes and sub-tribes from different regions of Nagaland come to <strong>Kisama (close to state capital Kohima)</strong> and display best of their community&mdash;from dance and song to literature and food.</li>
<li>The festival has been <strong>named after</strong> the <strong>Great Indian Hornbill</strong> because this bird features heavily in Naga folktales and stories, and feathers of the hornbill form an important part of the tribal dresses.</li>
<li>The<strong> name of the festival is misleading</strong> because the <strong>hornbill isn&rsquo;t Nagaland&rsquo;s state bird</strong>. The state bird of Nagaland is the lesser-known and endangered bird- <strong>Blyth's Tragopan</strong>.</li>
<li>People from all over the world come together to take part in the celebrations.</li>
<li>This festival is one of its kind because it <strong>opens up the areas with &lsquo;restricted entry&rsquo; into protected areas for visitors</strong> without compromising on ethics and traditions.</li>
<li>The Hornbill festival of Nagaland is an <strong>excellent example of tribal tourism</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Additional Information</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Major tribes of Nagaland include- Ao, Angami, Chang, Konyak, Lotha, Sumi, Chakhesang, Khiamniungan, Kachari, Phom, Rengma, Sangtam, Yimchungr&uuml;, Kuki, Zeliang and Pochury.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Cope India 2018</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>Air Forces of the United States and India</strong> are participating in a 12-day <strong>joint exercise</strong> called 'Cope India 2018'. It is being held after a gap of eight years, with the last one having taken place in 2010.</li>
<li>Cope India 2018, which was <strong>first held in 2004</strong>, is the fourth edition in the series of bilateral joint exercises held between the Indian Air Force and the US Air Force, which is conducted in India.</li>
<li>For the <strong>first time</strong>, the exercise is being planned at <strong>two air force bases</strong>, <strong>Kalaikunda and Panagarh of West Bengal</strong> from December 3-14.</li>
<li>The aim of the exercise is to provide operational exposure and undertake a <strong>mutual exchange of best practices</strong> towards enhancing operational capability.</li>
<li>The exercise showcases the efforts and commitment of the two nations to a <strong>free and open Indo-Pacific region</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Saharia Tribe</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Saharia or Sahariya Tribe, one of the most backward tribes in the country, resides in <strong>Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh</strong>.</li>
<li>They <strong>worship many Hindu God and Goddesses</strong> and also celebrate various Hindu festivals.</li>
<li>They have been classified as a <strong>Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group</strong> (PVTG) because of low development indices.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Talanoa Dialogue</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Dialogue was launched at the <strong>UN Climate Change Conference COP-23 in Bonn (Germany) in 2017</strong> and will run throughout 2018.</li>
<li>Talanoa is a <strong>traditional word in Fijian</strong> (Fiji being the island nation presiding over the COP-23 in Bonn) to <strong>reflect a process of inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue</strong>.</li>
<li>The purpose of Talanoa is to <strong>share stories</strong>, <strong>build empathy</strong> and to <strong>make wise decisions</strong> for the <strong>collective good</strong>.</li>
<li>The process of Talanoa involves the <strong>sharing of ideas</strong>, <strong>skills</strong> and <strong>experience</strong> through storytelling.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Food Sustainability Index (FSI)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Food Sustainability Index (FSI), is developed by <strong>The Economist Intelligence Unit</strong> with the<strong> Barilla Center for Food &amp; Nutrition.</strong> This editions&rsquo; title was </span><b>'Fixing Food-2018: Best Practices towards the Sustainable Development Goals'.</b></li>
<li>It is a model designed <strong>to assess the sustainability of national food systems</strong> in a qualitative and quantitative manner.</li>
<li>The FSI studies the infrastructure and processes that go into feeding the population, such as growing, harvesting and transportation.</li>
<li>The Food Sustainability Index is based on three broad categories: <b>food loss &amp; waste, sustainable agriculture and nutritional challenges.</b></li>
<li>A comparison with the global scenario indicates that India does well on preventing food loss and wastage, but is below average in sustainable agriculture and is one of the worst while tackling nutritional challenges.</li>
<li>Despite the increase in food production, it ranks India 33<sup>rd</sup> among 67 countries in 2018. Among BRICS countries, onl<span>y China (23) is ranked better than India.</span></li>
<li><strong>France topped the index</strong> followed by Netherlands and Canada.</li>
<li>The<strong> first edition</strong> of the FSI was <strong>published in 2016.</strong></li>
</ul>',
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	],
	(int) 15 => [
		'title' => 'Digital Sky Platform: Drone Regulation 1.0',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The guidelines <strong>(Drone Regulations 1.0)</strong> issued by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for commercial use of drones or remotely operated aircraft<strong> came into force from December 1, 2018.</strong></p>
<h3>Drone Regulation 1.0</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Under this regulation, the <strong>Digital Sky Platform</strong> will enable online registration of pilots, devices, service providers, and NPNT (no permission, no take-off).</li>
<li>The Digital Sky Platform is a unique unmanned traffic management (UTM) system which is expected to facilitate registration and licensing of drones and operators in addition to giving<strong> instant (online) clearances to operators</strong> for every flight.</li>
<li>The airspace has been partitioned into <strong>Red Zone (flying not permitted),</strong> <strong>Yellow Zone (controlled airspace),</strong> and <strong>Green Zone (automatic permission)</strong>. The restricted locations are airports, near international border, near coast line, state secretariat complexes strategic locations, military installations.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Drone</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Drone is a layman terminology for Unmanned Aircraft (UA). There are <strong>three subsets of Unmanned Aircraft- Remotely Piloted Aircraft,&nbsp; Autonomous Aircraft and Model Aircraft.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Remotely Piloted Aircraft consists of remote pilot station(s), the required command and control links and any other components, as specified in the type design.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Remotely piloted aircraft have been divided into<strong> five categories-</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Nano : Less than or equal to 250 grams.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Micro : From 250 grams to 2kg.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Small : From 2 kg to 25kg.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Medium : From 25kg to 150kg.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Large : Greater than 150kg.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>All civilian drone operations will be restricted to <strong>only during day time</strong> and a <strong>maximum of 400 feet altitude.</strong></li>
<li>There can&rsquo;t be any human or animal payloads, or anything hazardous.</li>
<li>It cannot in any manner cause danger to people or property and insurance will be mandatory to cover third-party damage.</li>
<li><strong>Except nano drones</strong> and those <strong>owned by National Technical Research Organisation and the central agencies,</strong> the rest would be registered and issued Unique Identification Number.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Drone Regulations 2.0</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Meanwhile, the government is already working on <strong>drone regulations 2.0</strong>, focussing on three thresholds:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight),</li>
<li>Delivery of payloads, and</li>
<li>Automate the air traffic management to the extent possible.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The current policy allows one drone pilot for each drone whereas in the next set of regulations, one pilot can operate any number of drones.</li>
<li>Under drone regulations 2.0, the drones will be tracked by computers through artificial intelligence.</li>
<li>However,delivery of products by e-commerce players like Amazon and flying taxis like Uber Elevate are likely to be part of drone regulations 3.0.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Applications</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Agriculture-</strong> Gather data and automate redundant processes to maximize efficiency, to spray medicines, In a process of planting by distributing seed on the land, etc.</li>
<li><strong>Healthcare-</strong> Delivering quick access to drugs, blood, and medical technology in remote areas, transportation of harvested organs to recipients (through drones corridor), etc.</li>
<li><strong>Disaster Management-</strong> Surveillance of disaster-affected areas to assess damage, locate victims, and deliver aid.</li>
<li><strong>Urban Planning-</strong> Instant mapping and survey of the land which has to be developed avoiding congestion and increasing green cover. <strong>E.g.:</strong> Recently, the Greater Chennai Municipal Corporation (GCMC) became first Municipal Corporation to map Chennai using drones.</li>
<li><strong>Conservation of Endangered Species-</strong> Monitor and track the number of animals.</li>
<li><strong>Weather Forecasting-</strong> Drones can physically follow weather patterns as they develop to understand the environment and imminent weather trends in a better way.</li>
<li><strong>Waste Management-</strong> Identify where the garbage is so that it can be picked up the garbage picking vans. Drones can be used to clean ocean waste as well. UAV like Roomba by RanMarine operates at the vanguard of these initiatives and have helped to clean oceans in past.</li>
<li><strong>Mining-</strong> Drones in mining can be used in volumetric data capturing of ore, rock and minerals storage which is extremely difficult to measure manually.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Drones have immense potential apart from few mentioned above. This new policy initiative will open up many new and exciting applications that can propel India's economy forward. It can provide strong impetus to all players in the drone ecosystem and place India among the global leaders.</li>
<li>Although drone-enabled deliveries, air taxis, and many other innovations will not be widely available for years, but when available they could be as disruptive as the advent of automobiles. That gives all industry stakeholders impetus to<strong> identify roadblocks and realistically consider potential applications now.</strong></li>
</ul>',
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	],
	(int) 16 => [
		'title' => 'Rendering The Perennial Lifeless',
		'catname' => 'News Editorials',
		'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(The editorial is based on the article &ldquo;Rendering the Perennial Lifeless&rdquo; which appears in EPW on 1st December 2018.)</p>
</div>
<p>The pollution of the Ganges is a huge challenge. It has already shown its adverse impact on the environment, ecosystem, and animal and human health. About 40 percent of India&rsquo;s population across 5 states (Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal) is dependent on the river for its water, but unfortunately, the water is severely polluted.</p>
<p>While other rivers are equally in danger and are no doubt equally significant, the Ganga has been in a precarious condition despite <g class="gr_ gr_85 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar replaceWithoutSep" id="85" data-gr-id="85">of</g> the government&rsquo;s added attention towards it.</p>
<h3>Causes of Pollution of the Ganges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Industrial Waste</strong> &ndash; There are a large number of industries on the bank of the Ganges in cities like Patna, Kanpur, Varanasi, and Allahabad. Numerous tanneries, slaughterhouses, textile mills, hospitals, chemical plants, and distilleries dump untreated wastes into the river resulting in pollution of the river. Out of the total volume of effluent reaching the river, 12% is contributed by the industries.</li>
<li><strong>Human Waste</strong> &ndash; The Ganges flows through 52 cities and 48 towns. The domestic water used by the population in these cities and towns adds to the pollution of the river.</li>
<li><strong>Religious Traditions</strong> &ndash; More than 70 million people bathe in the Ganges during the festive season. Food, leaves, flowers, <g class="gr_ gr_102 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling" id="102" data-gr-id="102">diyas</g> and other wastes are left in the Ganges that adds to its pollution. According to Hindu tradition, if a deceased person is cremated on the banks of the Ganges then that would bring instant salvation. This results in thousands of bodies being cremated on the banks of the river every year, many of which are only half-burnt, thus, adding to the pollution.</li>
<li><strong>Dams are also one of the main cause of pollution</strong> in the Ganga. Dams obstruct the flow of the river and make it slow which hinders the self-purification capacity of the river.</li>
<li>T<strong>he high use of fertilizers and pesticides</strong> in agriculture field directly flows to the river through rainwater adding to its pollution level.</li>
<li>Many <strong>hydropower projects</strong> planned on the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi in Uttarakhand pose a threat to Himalayan ecology and severely impact Ganga&rsquo;s natural flow.<a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/537drishti_ganges%20(1).jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/537drishti_ganges (1).jpg" style="float: right;" width="447" height="387" caption="false" /></a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Action Plans to Save The Ganga</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><a href="https://nmcg.nic.in/about_nmcg.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)</strong></a> envisages five-tier structure at national, state and district level to take measures for prevention, control, and abatement of environmental pollution in river Ganga and to ensure continuous adequate flow of water so as to rejuvenate the river, Ganga.&nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="https://nmcg.nic.in/NamamiGanga.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Namami Gange</strong></a> integrates the efforts to clean and protect the Ganga River in a comprehensive manner.&nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="https://nmcg.nic.in/ngrbaread.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA)</strong></a> has been mandated as a planning, financing, monitoring and coordinating authority for strengthening the collective efforts of the Central and State governments for effective abatement of pollution and conservation of river Ganga so as to ensure that by the year 2020 no untreated municipal sewage or industrial effluent will flow into the river Ganga.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<h3>Loopholes in the Policies to Clean Ganga</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Treatment infrastructure could not be in line with the scale of pollution</strong>, and riparian states and the Centre had not ensured that pollution was checked at the source before being emptied into the river.</li>
<li><strong>Lack of political will</strong> has been one of the major issues. Pollution has rarely been an electoral issue. Employment, economic growth, and poverty alleviation are more urgent.</li>
<li>Even though policies for cleaning the Ganga mention partnerships with Gram Panchayats there is <strong>almost no involvement of civil society or any citizen participation for monitoring the sustainability of the policy implementations.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Rampant violation of laws, ubiquitous corruption</strong> and absence of coordination between the Centre and States along with the delays in reviewing projects, poor inter-agency cooperation, funding imbalances across sites add to the woes of implementation of the policies.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<p>The health and aliveness of a river <g class="gr_ gr_91 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="91" data-gr-id="91">is</g> no longer seen in its ability to support the beings living in harmony with it, but it has come to mean how much it can be used for commercial purposes, as a waterway, as energy, as sludge flush, and for religious tourism.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>As long as the river continues to be seen merely as an entity for extraction, its further concretization and pollution will continue unabated. This mindset has to change.</li>
<li><strong>Making violations cognizable offenses</strong> and bringing in an armed Ganga Protection Corps under the National River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection, and Management) Bill, to be tabled soon, will be able to put a stop to pollution offenses.</li>
<li><strong>Accept that the river needs water to dilute waste.</strong> In India, where the cost of pollution control is unaffordable and massive, a cheaper option is to dilute the waste with clean and flowing water. The standards for water quality also provide for a dilution factor of 10, but it is not followed. This is why discharge standards for water bodies are set at 30 biological oxygen demand (BOD<g class="gr_ gr_94 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="94" data-gr-id="94">),</g> while bathing water quality standard is 3 BOD. So, even after the best treatment, the river needs 10 times the water to bring it to acceptable quality.</li>
<li><strong>Funding for various projects can be kept conditional</strong> for the State government and it should be held accountable for maintaining the ecological flow of the river in all its stretches.</li>
<li><strong>River-centric urban planning</strong> that strengthens decentralized public participation is the need of the hour.</li>
<li>The private sector can be given a wider role in installation and management of the STPs (Sewer Treatment Plants), besides launching schemes for cultural and tourist-interest activities, including development, maintenance, and management of bathing and cremation ghats, without impairing the sanctity and dignity of the river.</li>
<li><strong>We need more publicly available data and more local analysis of this data.</strong> There is also a need for more education and awareness on the health effects of pollution, as well as the very causes of pollution.</li>
<li><strong>The government needs to take a comprehensive look at the interconnection between policies</strong> - such as subsidies, electricity consumption, power use patterns, industrial development, urbanization plans - and pollution.</li>
<li><strong>All these policy measures should be supplemented by creativity, innovation, discipline, transparency, and strong leadership.</strong></li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/rendering-the-perennial-lifeless'
	],
	(int) 17 => [
		'title' => 'The Big Picture: One World, One Sun, One Grid',
		'catname' => 'Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions',
		'desc' => '<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HaEJSgNoboE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Stressing that <strong>India would generate 40 percent of power from non-fossil fuels by 2030,</strong> the Prime Minister has called for connecting solar energy supply across borders, giving the mantra of 'One World, One Sun One, Grid'. The Prime Minister also considers the 121-country International Solar Alliance as the future OPEC for meeting the energy needs of the world. Oil cartel OPEC led by Saudi Arabia currently meets close to half of the world's oil needs. Solar power will play the same role that oil wells have played over the past few decades in meeting global energy needs. India will add as much as 50 GW of non-hydro renewable energy to existing 72 GW and is on its way to <g class="gr_ gr_122 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="122" data-gr-id="122">achieve</g><strong> the target of having 175 GW of clean energy by 2022.</strong></p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>International Solar Alliance</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The International Solar Alliance (ISA)</strong> is an initiative jointly launched by the Prime Minister of India and the President of France on 30 November 2015 at Paris, on the sidelines of Conference of Parties (CoP 21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.</li>
<li><strong>Headquarters-</strong> National Institute for Solar Energy, Gurugram (Haryana), India.</li>
<li>It<strong> aims at addressing obstacles to deployment at the scale of solar energy through better harmonization and aggregation of demand</strong> from solar rich countries lying fully or partially between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn.</li>
<li>After ratification by a minimum number of countries, on 6 December 2017, ISA became the first full-fledged treaty-based international intergovernmental organization headquartered in India.</li>
<li>Till date, out of 121 prospective member countries that<strong> lie either fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, 68 countries have signed the Framework Agreement of the ISA.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>One World, One Sun, One Grid</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Humans have in the last 150-200 years relied on resources trapped below the earth&rsquo;s surface for meeting energy needs. But for a secure future, resources available above the ground like solar and wind energy need to be harnessed.</li>
<li>Sun never sets for entire earth and therefore can be the source for the entire earth if every country is connected to a single grid.</li>
<li>Hence, keeping in mind the Paris Agreement where it has been categorically mentioned that in order to prevent irrevocable changes in the climate, the stakeholders should limit the rise of temperature to 2 degrees, it is but imperative that by 2040 the world should make a substantial transition to the renewable energy.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Feasibility of such an idea</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>This idea is very much feasible since countries like India (India has integrated national grid) or even big continents like Europe are connected by more or less single grid.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><em>DRISHTI INPUT</em></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The total world energy usage (coal+oil+hydroelectric+nuclear+renewable) in 2015 was 13,000 Million Ton Oil Equivalent (13,000 MTOE). This translates to 17.3 Terawatts continuous power during the year.</li>
<li>If the area of the Earth is covered with solar panels, even with moderate efficiencies achievable easily today, it will provide more than 174 TW power.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>So, solar energy generated in one part of the world can be taken where enough landmass is not available to generate such quantity of power. For example, the power generated in the Sahara desert can be transmitted to Europe and in turn, Europe can give up on gas if they are connected via a single grid.</li>
<li>Within India itself, there are huge tracts of desert in Rajasthan and Gujarat where solar panels can generate enough power so as to meet substantially the rising demand <g class="gr_ gr_92 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="92" data-gr-id="92">of</g> energy.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Challenges</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In order to see the idea come through the most important challenge is to integrate economic policy imperative and energy policy imperative. Right now these two policies are in not blended.</li>
<li><strong>Solar power depends on the efficient system of storage, which is yet to develop</strong>.</li>
<li>The mineral resources that contribute to making efficient and effective battery are dominated by China.</li>
</ul>
<h3>How to fuel and secure the energy need?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>In the last five years, India has doubled energy generating capacity from 175GW to 350GW.</strong></li>
<li>With economic growth and bettering of economic and social condition, the per capita demand for electricity is bound to increase.</li>
<li>In this regard, it is imperative that the policies are so designed that the energy demand is more tilted towards renewable energy and away from fossil fuels. The best example will be electric cars. It will bring down fossil fuel consumption and solar power can take care of electricity generation.</li>
<li><strong>India has succeeded in large solar projects.</strong> The next big target is to get the solar panel in our 6 lakh villages. Such decentralization would lead to the production of 6 lakh kilowatts into the system.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The first and foremost action would be to develop storage technology.</strong> In this regard, both the government and the private sector need to make a substantial investment.</li>
<li>Continents like Africa can be explored for ensuring the constant supply of rare earth minerals that are important for making batteries for energy storage.</li>
<li><strong>An alternative to storage like solar thermal can be explored.</strong></li>
<li>However, the most important work has to be done at the front of ISA. The team of 121 countries should come together and work as a facilitator instead of a cartel (OPEC).</li>
</ul>',
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	],
	(int) 18 => [
		'title' => 'India Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>1st ever India-Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue was held at St. Petersburg in Russia to identify greater synergy in trade and investment.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The decision to hold strategic economic dialogue was taken during the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/india-russia-summit-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">19th India-Russia Annual Summit</a>&nbsp;held in October 2018 in New Delhi.</li>
<li>The Indian side was led by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman, while the Russian delegation was headed by Economic Development Minister.</li>
<li>The Strategic Economic Dialogue focused on five core areas - <strong>Transport Infrastructure, Agriculture and agro-processing sector, Small &amp; Medium Business support, Digital Transformation &amp; Frontier technologies and Industrial &amp; Trade Cooperation.</strong></li>
<li>Through the dialogue, India Russia can address a number of issues that hinder India-Russia trade like <strong>connectivity issues, distance, weak banking links, cumbersome regulations on both sides and Russia&rsquo;s restrictive visa regime.</strong></li>
<li>The next round of Strategic Economic dialogue will be held in end-July/August 2019 in India.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Areas of Cooperation Discussed</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Operationalization of INSTC </strong>(International North-South Transport Corridor) route on priority and early organization of its coordination council.</li>
<li><strong>Improvement of Inland Waterways in India</strong> through Russian collaboration and setting up of special techno-parks for Russian investments.</li>
<li><strong>Addressing market restrictions</strong> and access for both sides on agri-products, textiles, diamonds and establishing a broader dialogue on national currencies.</li>
<li>Joint action by Public and Private sector in nurturing Small and Medium Enterprises, including information exchange mechanism needed to access credit and market and for learning from best practices and mutual recognition of each others companies.</li>
<li>On the digital front, <strong>cooperation in Financial Technology, Artificial Intelligence(AI), blockchain system and Quantum</strong> <strong>computing</strong> were discussed.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Joint working arrangements and pilot projects in healthcare, Tourism, projects which can be developed for third-country markets, and to invest resources jointly in projects in the far eastern region of the Russian Federation.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Importance of Strategic Economic Dialogue</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India had shared strong ties with the former Soviet Union as which was India&rsquo;s biggest defense and trade partner during the Cold War. Despite having a Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership, India-Russia relation faces a number of challenges.</li>
<li>The reasons for the downturn in relations:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In 2017, the trade between the two countries was around $ 10 billion. <strong>They account for a meager 1% of each other&rsquo;s total trade volume.</strong></li>
<li>
<p>In the wake of the Ukraine crisis in 2013,<strong> Russia&rsquo;s proximity with China increased.</strong></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>India&rsquo;s efforts at diversifying its defense procurement</strong> and thus bringing in other partners such as the United States, Israel, and France has also impacted the relations.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>India&rsquo;s<strong> growing proximity to the United States.</strong></p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>As the defense cooperation is decreasing it is necessary for both nations to develop a strong bilateral economic and trade relationship. A weak economic base is a problematic part of India Russia engagement which requires attention for long-term sustenance of the strategic partnership.</li>
<li>The importance of strategic dialogue is to identify areas where both countries could work together to further improve their trade and economic cooperation.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A strategic bilateral relationship between major powers cannot be sustained without a strong economic partnership as strong trade relations bring strategic character to the relationship.</li>
<li>The<strong> good political ties between India and Russia are not reflected in their economic links.</strong> Thus, the institution of Strategic Economic Dialogue is a positive step to address this issue given it leads to substantial changes on the ground.</li>
<li>Measures like the<strong> International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC)</strong> can solve the connectivity issue between the two.</li>
<li>There is a need to expedite the free trade negotiations between India and Russia steered Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). Once finalized, the FTA with EEU aided by INSTC could increase India-Russia trade manifold.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>International North-South Transport Corridor</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>INSTC is a multi-modal transportation route linking the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea via Iran, and onward to northern Europe via St. Petersburg in Russia.</li>
<li>The INSTC was initiated by Russia, India, and Iran in September 2000 to establish transportation networks among the member states and to enhance connectivity with the landlocked region of Central Asia.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Eurasian Economic Union</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Eurasian Economic Union<strong> was started in 2015</strong> based on the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan <g class="gr_ gr_82 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="82" data-gr-id="82">and</g> Belarus.</li>
<li>The bloc was launched to ensure the free movement of goods, services, capital and workforce within its borders.</li>
<li>Members:&nbsp;<strong> Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>',
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		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/india-russia-strategic-economic-dialogue'
	],
	(int) 19 => [
		'title' => 'India to Chair Kimberley Process',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>India will chair the <strong>Kimberley System Certification Scheme (KPCS) which is also known as Kimberley Process (KP)</strong> from <strong>January 2019.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India took over the Chairmanship of the Kimberley System Certification Scheme (KPCS) during the KPCS Plenary 2018, which was held in<strong> Belgium in November, 2018.</strong></li>
<li>The 4-day Plenary also witnessed discussion on<strong> environmental challenges in diamond mining and industry responsibility.</strong></li>
<li>India, during its chairmanship will continue with the tradition and aim to support the artisanal and small-scale mining, capacity building, technical assistance and education on valuation, differentiation between natural and lab grown diamonds, importance of legal and formal mining practices.</li>
<li>The<strong> next Intersessional session is slated to be held in India</strong> with Botswana and the Russian Federation serving as Vice-Chair during the period of 2019-2020.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Kimberley Process</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Kimberley Process (KP) is a commitment to remove <strong>conflict diamonds</strong> from the global supply chain.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p>Conflict diamonds, <strong>also known as &lsquo;blood' diamonds</strong>, are rough diamonds used by rebel movements or their allies to finance armed conflicts <strong>aimed at undermining legitimate governments.</strong></p>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is an international certification scheme which&nbsp;<strong>came into force in 2003</strong> to regulate trade in rough diamonds. It aims to prevent the flow of conflict diamonds, while helping to protect legitimate trade in rough diamonds.</li>
<li>The Kimberley Process is <strong>also described in the United Nation Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions.</strong></li>
<li>The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) outlines the rules that govern the trade in rough diamonds. The KPCS has developed a set of minimum requirements that each participant must meet.&nbsp;</li>
<li>The KP is not, strictly speaking, an international organisation: it has <strong>no permanent offices or permanent staff</strong>. It relies on the contributions &ndash; under the <strong>principle of &lsquo;burden-sharing</strong>' &ndash; of participants, supported by industry and civil society observers.</li>
<li>The Kimberley Process (KP) is a <strong>binding agreement</strong> that imposes extensive requirements through the<strong> national legislations</strong> of its participants.&nbsp;</li>
<li><strong>India is the founding member</strong> of Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS).</li>
</ul>',
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