INDIA YEAR BOOK CRUX Part-1

INDIA YEAR BOOK CRUX

Part-1

Note- I have covered only those points which is not included in Current affairs or PIB News or which is important for UPSC ONLY

INDEX

1. LAND & THE PEOPLE
2. NATIONAL SYMBOLS
3. POLITY
4. AGRICULTURE
5. CULTURE & TOURISM
6. BASIC ECONOMIC DATA
7. COMMERCE
8. COMMUNICATION & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
9. DEFENCE

 

 

Chapter-1 : LAND & THE PEOPLE

India à seventh largest country in the world and ranks second in population.

• Lying entirely in the northern hemisphere, the mainland extends between latitudes 8°4’ and 37°6’ north, longitudes 68°7’ and 97°25’ east and measures about 3,214 km from north to south between the extreme latitudes and about 2,933 km from east to west between the extreme longitudes.
• It has a land frontier of about 15,200 km. The total length of the coastline of the mainland, Lakshadweep Islands and Andaman and Nicobar Islands is 7,516.6 km
• Sri Lanka is separated from India by a narrow channel of sea formed by the Palk Strait and the Gulf ” of Mannar
• The desert region can be divided into two parts—the ‘great desert’ and the ‘little desert’. ” The great desert extends from the edge of the Rann of Kutch beyond the Luni river northward
• The little desert extends from the Luni between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur up to the northern west
• The Peninsular Plateau is marked off from the plains of the Ganga and the Indus by a mass of mountain ” and hill ranges varying from 460 to 1,220 metres in height. Prominent among these are the Aravali, Vindhya, Satpura, Maikala and Ajanta
• The southern point of the plateau is formed by the Nilgiri Hills where the Eastern and the Western ” Ghats meet.
• The Cardamom Hills lying beyond may be regarded as a continuation of the Western Ghats

Geological Structure

• The Himalayan mountain belt to the north and the Naga-Lushai mountain in the east, are the regions ” of mountain-building movement.
• The Indo-Ganga plains are a great alluvial tract that separate the Himalayas in the north from the ” Peninsula in the south. The Peninsula is a region of relative stability and occasional seismic disturbances

River Systems

• Already covered in 11^th class NCERT geography book
• A few rivers in Rajasthan do not drain into the sea. These are Luni, Machhu, Rupen, Saraswati, Banas, ” Ghaggar and others
• India’s climate is affected by two seasonal winds—the north-east monsoon and the south-west ” monsoon.
• The north-east monsoon commonly known as winter monsoon blows from land to sea
• India can be divided into eight distinct floral regions, namely, the western Himalayas, the eastern ” Himalayas, Assam, the Indus plain, the Ganga plain, the Deccan, the Malabar and the Andamans. The western Himalayan region extends from Kashmir to Kumaon.
• Its temperate zone is rich in forests of chir, pine, other conifers and broad-leaved temperate trees. ” Higher up, forests of deodar, blue pine, spruce and silver fi r occur.
• The alpine zone extends from the upper limit of the temperate zone of about 4,750 metres or even ” higher.  The characteristic trees of this zone are high-level silver fir, silver birch and junipers.
• The temperate zone has forests of oaks, laurels, maples, rhododendrons, alder and birch.  ” The Indus plain region comprises the plains of Punjab, western Rajasthan and northern Gujarat.
• It is ” dry, hot and supports natural vegetation.
• The Deccan region comprises the entire table land of the Indian Peninsula and supports vegetation “ of various kinds from shrub jungles to mixed deciduous forests.
• The Andaman region abounds in evergreen, mangrove, beach and diluvial forests.
• According to world biogeographic classification, India represents two of the major realms (the ” Palearctic and Indo-Malayan) and three biomes (Tropical Humid Forests, Tropical Dry/Deciduous Forests and Warm Deserts/Semi-Deserts). 
• Within only about ” 2 per cent of world’s total land surface, India is known to have over 7.50 per cent of the species of animals that the world holds.

Census: Census 2011 was the 15th census of its kind since 1872

Literacy

 

• The literacy rate in the country is 73.0 per cent, 80.9 for males and 64.6 for females.
• Kerala retained its position by being on top with a 94 per cent literacy rate, closely followed by Lakshadweep (91.9 per cent).
• Bihar with a literacy rate of 61.8 per cent ranks last in the country. Bihar has recorded the lowest literacy rates both in case of males (71.2 per cent) and females (51.5 per cent).

Chapter 2 National Flag

• The design of the National Flag was adopted by the ” Constituent Assembly of India on July 22, 1947
• The flag is ” based on the Swaraj flag, a flag of the Indian National Congress designed by Pingali Venkayya
• Art 51A(a) – ” To abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem
• The “Ashoka Chakra” in the centre of the white is the wheel of the law of dharma. The wheel denotes ” motion – India should no more resist change, it must move and go forward. The wheel represents the dynamism of a peaceful change.
• In the state emblem, adopted by the Government of India (by Madhav ” Sawhney) in 1950 on January 26, 1950, only 3 lions are visible. The wheel appears in the centre of the abacus with a bull on right and a horse on left.
• The outlines of other wheels on extreme right and left. The bell-shaped ” lotus has been omitted.
• The words Satyameva Jayate from Mundaka Upanishad, meaning ‘Truth ” Alone Triumphs’, are inscribed below the abacus in Devanagari script.

National Anthem

• The song Jana-gana-mana, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted in ” its Hindi version as the National Anthem of India on January 24, 1950.
• It was first sung on December 27, 1911 at the Kolkata Session of the Indian National Congress

National Song

• The song Vande Mataram, composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji, was a source of ” inspiration to the people in their struggle for freedom.
• It has an equal status with Jana-gana-mana.
• ” It was first sung at the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress

National Calendar

The National Calendar based on the Saka Era, with Chaitra as its fi rst month and a normal year of 365  ” days was adopted from March 22, 1957 along with the Gregorian  calendar

 

Chapter 3 : Polity

Note- Maximum Topic already covered in M. laxmikant book.

National Authority for Chemical Weapons Convention

• The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical ” Weapons (NACWC) is a multilateral international treaty which outlaws the production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons and their precursors.
• The CWC came into force with effect from 1997.
• ” The National Authority for Chemical Weapons Convention (NACWC) was set up as an office of ” the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India to fulfill,on behalf of the Government of India, the obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and to act as the national focal point for effective liaison with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and other state parties on matters relating to the Convention

Project Monitoring Group

• Project Monitoring Group (PMG), is an institutional mechanism for resolving a variety of issues ” including fast tracking of approvals for setting up an expeditious commissioning of large Public, Private and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project.
• Project Monitoring Group (PMG) was set up in 2013 under cabinet secretariat.
• ” PMG is presently functioning under Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) since 2015.

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)

• The NDMA is apex statutory body for disaster management in India
• It is under control of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
• Its provisions are envisaged in Disaster Management Act, 2005
• It was established in 2009.
• It is headed by the Prime Ministerof India.
• Mandate: Its primary purpose is to coordinate response to natural or man-made disasters and for capacity-building in disaster resiliency and crisis response. It is also apex body to lay down policies, plans and guidelines for Disaster Management to ensure timely and effective response to disasters..

National Conference on e-Governance

• The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) along with the Ministry  of Electronics and Information Technology in association with one of the state governments organises the National Conference on e-Governance every year since 1997.
• This conference provides platform for the senior offi cers of the government including IT secretaries  of state governments.
• IT managers of the central government, and resource persons, experts, intellectuals from the industry and academic institutions, etc., to discuss, exchange views and experiences relating to various e-Governance initiatives.

Cooperation with Commonwealth Association for Public 

• Administration and Management The Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM), with its ” headquarters at Ottawa, Canada, is an organization dedicated to strengthening public management and consolidating democracy and good governance in the Commonwealth.
• It was formed in 1994 as a ” result of decisions taken at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings in Harare in 1991 and in Cyprus in 1993.
• The membership enables ” the Government of India to keep pace with the latest developments in the fi eld of public administration, through participation in various programmes of CAPAM viz., international innovations awards programme, international innovations cascading programme, international meetings, seminars and conferences organized by CAPAM, as well as through various publications, journals and study reports.
• CAPAM recognizes and promotes good governance through its award ” programmes given under four categories.

Committees/Samitis

• The Kendriya Hindi Samiti was constituted in 1967.
• ” Chaired by Prime Minister it is the apex policy making body which lays the guidelines for the ” propagation and progressive use of Hindi as official language of the Union.

 

Chapter 4 Agriculture

• 6 per cent of the population is engaged in agriculture ” and allied activities (census 2011) and it contributes 17.4 per cent to the country’s Gross Value Added (current price 2016-17, 2011-12 series).

Production

• Rice production is higher than the previous record
• wheat production is higher than the previous record
• Production of coarse cereals increased

 Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices

• Commission for ‘Agricultural Costs and Prices’ (CACP), set up with a view to evolve a balanced and ” integrated price structure, is mandated to advice on the price policy (MSP) of 23 crops.
• CACP submits its recommendations in the form of Price Policy Reports every year, separately for five ” groups of commodities namely kharif crops, rabi crops, sugarcane, raw jute and copra

Minimum Support Prices

• Minimum Support Price (MSP) is a form of market intervention by the Government of India to insure 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).
• MSP is price fixed by Government of India to protect the producer – farmers – against excessive fall in price during bumper production years.
• The minimum support prices are a guarantee price for their produce from the Government.
• The major objectives are to support the farmers from distress sales and to procure food grains for public distribution. In case the market price for the commodity falls below the announced minimum price due to  y bumper production and glut in the market, govt. agencies purchase the entire quantity offered by the farmers at the announced minimum price.

 How the price are fixed?

• Government fixes MSPs of various kharif and rabi crops every year on the recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP), views of concerned State Governments and Central Ministries/Departments and other relevant factors.

 Who does the procurement under MSP?

• Procurement under MSP is undertaken by the designated Central and State Government agencies and Cooperatives. MSP is in the nature of minimum price offered by the Government. Producers have the option to sell their produce to Government agencies or in the open market as is advantageous to them

 Factual Information:

• MSP is announced for 25 crops
• No MSP for Sugarcane. Instead government fixes FRP (Fair & Remunerative Price) for sugarcane. Each state then fixes its own SAP(State Advised Price)
• For Oil seeds and Pulses, there is a Price Support Scheme by NAFED (nodal Agency). So, when the prices of oilseeds, pulses and cotton fall below MSP, NAFED purchases them from the farmers.

Determinants of MSP

• Cost of production (CoP) is one of the important factors in the determination of MSP of mandated Besides cost, the Commission considers other important factors such as demand and supply, price trend in the domestic and international markets, inter-crop price parity, terms of trade between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors and the likely impact of MSPs on consumers, in addition to ensuring rational utilization of natural resources like land and water.
• The pricing policy is rooted not in ‘cost plus’ approach, though cost is an important determinant of MSP.
• India’s food grain production 4 per cent higher( 2016 to 2017) than the previous record production(2013 to 14)

Livestock Production

• Per capita availability of egg is around 69 eggs per annum.
• ” Wool production showed negative growth
• Milk production has shown an annual growth of 6.37 per cent.
• ” India is the second largest producer of fi sh and also second largest producer of fresh water fish in ” the world.
• Meat production registered a healthy growth at the end of Tenth and Eleventh Five year Plan
• The first Livestock census was conducted during 1919-1920 and since then it is being conducted ” quinquennially by all states/UTs of the country.
• The 19^th Livestock Census was conducted in 2012 in the country in participation with animal husbandry departments of the states/UTs.
• Breed Survey was also undertaken in 2013 in order to estimate the breedwise number of livestock population on a general principle of 15 per cent sample village across the country.
• Presently, India is the second largest fish producing and second largest aquaculture nation in the ” world. India is also a major producer of fish through aquaculture and ranks second in the world after China.
• inland fi sheries emerged as a major contributor to the overall fi sh production in the country.
• Within inland fisheries there is a shift from capture fisheries to aquaculture during the last two and a half decade.

 

Chapter 5 Culture & Tourism

Lalit Kala Akademi

• It is national academy of Arts and government’s apex cultural body in the field of visual arts in India.
• It ” has been established to promote and propagate understanding of Indian art, both within and outside the country.
• It was established on August 5, 1954 at New Delhi.
• The Academy has been organizing national exhibition of contemporary Indian art with 15 national awards.
• The akademi has also started a regular programme on research and documentation

 

Sangeet Natak Akademi

• Sangeet Natak Akademi, India’s National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, is a pioneer in creation ” of modern India.
• In 1961, the Sangeet Natak Akademi was reconstituted by the Government as a society and registered ” under the Societies Registration Act, 1860
• The Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards conferred annually on eminent artists and scholars
• The Akademi establishes and looks after institutions and projects of national importance in the field of performing arts. In 1959, the Akademi established the National School of Drama and in 1964, the Kathak Kendra).
• Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy in Imphal , the premier institution in teaching of Manipuri dance and music was established in 1954.
• Being the apex body, the Akademi also advises and assists the Government of India in formulating and implementing policies and projects in the fi eld.

Sahitya Akademi

• The Akademi was founded in March ” 1954 as an autonomous body fully funded by the Department of Culture.
• It was registered as a Society in 1956 under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The Akademi has ” recognized 24 languages. It has an office at Shillong for promotion of oral and tribal literature and an Archive of Indian literature  ” in Delhi.

The three fellowships by Sahitya Akademi are:-

1. ” Sahitya Akademi Honorary Fellowship
2. Ananda Coomaraswamy
3. Premachand Fellowship

• Every year since its inception in 1954, the Sahitya Akademi awards prizes to the most outstanding ” books of literary merit published in any of the major Indian languages
• It has also launched a new project Encyclopedia of Indian Poetics
• Recently Sahitya Akademi has launched a Village Outreach programme, Gramalok, to promote literature in rural spaces

National School of Drama

• The National School of Drama (NSD) – one of the foremost theatre institutions in the world and the ” only one of its kind in India was set up by Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1959.
• Later in 1975, it became an autonomous organization

Archaeological Survey of India

• It was established in 1861. It functions as an attached offi ce of the Ministry of Culture
• Under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, ASI has declared 3, ” 686 sites of National importance.
• Out of this 21 are inscribed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO. 3 sites namely, Champaner- Pavagarh Archaeological park in Gujarat, Chtarpati Shivaji Terminus Staion in Mumbai and the Brihadeshawara temple complex, Gangaikondacholapuram and Airavatesvara temple complex, Darasuram as an extension of Brihadeswara temple complex, Thanjavur have been inscribed on World heritage list of UNESCO in 2004

Cultural Heritage of the Himalayas

• The objective of the scheme is to promote and preserve the cultural heritage of the Himalayas. The ” scheme was revised in 2011.
• As per the revised scheme the grant shall be provided for undertaking the following activities: ” Study and research on cultural heritage; y Preservation of old manuscripts, literature, art & crafts and documentation of cultural activities events like music, dance, etc.; Dissemination through audio-visual programmes of art and culture

 

Swachh Paryatan Mobile App

• “Swachh Paryatan Mobile App” operated by the Ministry of Tourism for 25 Adarsh Smarak Monuments. The Ministry of Tourism has launched an initiative for providing pre-loaded Sim Cards to foreign tourists arriving in India on e-Visa.
• This initiative was launched in 2017 in association with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd., (BSNL), wherein BSNL would distribute pre-loaded SIM cards to foreign tourists on e-Visa.
• This initiative is aimed at providing connectivity to foreign tourists to enable them to stay in touch with their family and friends and also help them to contact with the 24×7 multi-lingual toll free helpline of Ministry of Tourism for any assistance and guidance during times of distress / medical emergency, etc.

Chapter 6 Basic Economic Data

 

Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

• The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation came into existence as an independent ” ministry in 1999 after the merger of the Department of Statistics and the Department of Programme Implementation. The ministry has two wings, one relating to Statistics and the other relating to Programme  ” Implementation.
• The Statistics Wing re-designated as National Statistics Office (NSO) consists of the Central Statistical ” Office (CSO) and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).

National Statistical Commission 

• GOI through a resolution in 2005 decided to set up the National Statistical ” Commission (NSC).
• The NSC was initially constituted in 2006, to serve as a nodal and empowered body for all core ” statistical activities of the country, to evolve, monitor and enforce statistical priorities and standards and to ensure statistical coordination.

Real Income and Net National Income

• The per capita real income i.e., per capita net national income at constant (201T-12) prices, as per ” the provisional estimates for 2017-18 turned out to be X 86,668 as against the first revised estimate of X 82,229 for 2016-17/This indicates growth in per capita real income of about 5.4 per cent during 2017-18).
• The growth in real GDP during 2017-18 is estimated at 6.7 per cent as compared to the growth rate ” of 7.1 per cent in 2016-17.

Services Sector

• The share of services in India’s Gross Value Added (GVA) at basic prices (at current prices) increased ” from 49 per cent in 2011-12 to 53.9 per cent in 2017-18 as per Provisional Estimates (PE). On including construction, this share increases and becomes 61.2 per cent in 2017-18.
• In 2017-18, growth of the services sector at constant (2011-12) was observed higher than the overall ” GVA growth of 7per cent ( Approx.) and 6.5 per cent at constant prices in 2016-17 and 2017-18 respectively

Services Trade

• There has been a negative growth of (-3.2) per cent on net import of services in 2016-17 as compared ” to (9.1) per cent in 2015-16.  In 2016-17, net import of services fi nanced almost 63.3 per cent of the India’s trade defi cit on net import of goods.

 

The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)

• NSSO in Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, is responsible for conduct of large ” scale sample surveys, in diverse fields, on all India basis.
• Primary data is collected regularly through nationwide household surveys on various Socio-Economic ” subjects, Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) under the Collection of Statistics Act and Enterprise surveys, as a follow up of the Economic Census. Besides these surveys, NSSO collects data on rural and urban prices; plays a significant role in the  ” improvement of crop statistics through supervision of the area enumeration and crop estimation surveys of the state agencies.
• It also maintains a frame of urban areal units for drawing samples for Socio-Economic Surveys in urban areas.
• The NSSO functions with requisite autonomy, in matters relating to data collection, processing ” and publication/dissemination of results/data based on its surveys, under overall guidance and supervision of National Statistical Commission (NSC) which appoints Working Groups/ Technical Committees comprising both official and non-official members on different subjects for finalization of survey instruments for its surveys and methodologies for the same.

 

 Indexes

Index of Industrial Production

• IIP is an abstract number or ratio which measures the growth of various sectors in the economy.
• In India, IIP is a representative figure which measures the general level of Industrial activity in the country.
• Being an abstract number, it does not show volume of activity and only shows the magnitude which represents the status of production in the industrial sector for a given period of time as compared to a reference period of time.
• The annual IIP increased by 4.3 per cent in 2017-18 as compared to a growth of 4.6 per cent in 2016-17.
• During this period electricity sector registered an annual growth of 5.4 per cent as compared to 5.8 per cent of 2.3 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively during 2017-18 as compared to 5.3 per cent and 4.4 per cent growths in 2016-17.

 

Additional Input by Team à WPI series has been changed in May 2017 **

Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is based on the price  prevailing in the wholesale markets or the price at which bulk  transactions are made.

• It includes three components
  • Manufactured products = 65% approx (64.2% now)
  • Primary articles = 20% approx(22.6% now)
  • Fuel and power = 15% approx (13.1% now)
• The WPI basket includes 676(Changed to 697 now) commodities in total- all of these are only goods and whose prices are captured at the wholesale/producer level. The CPI considers inflation at the retail end, while also including services.
• It is measured by Ministry of commerce and industry with base year as 2004-05 (Changed to 2011-12 now).

New WPI Series

• Base year has been changed from 2004-05 to 2011-12
• The  number of items covered in the new series of the WPI has increased from 676 to 697.
• Under the primary articles, new vegetables and fruits like radish, carrot, cucumber, bitter gourd, mosambi (sweet lime), pomegranate, jackfruit, and pear have been added.
• Under the mineral group, new items like copper concentrate, lead concentrate and garnet have been added and other items like copper ore, gypsum, kaolin, dolomite, and magnesite have been dropped.
• Under the manufacturing items, 173 new items including conveyer belt, rubber tread, steel cables, tissue paper, and wooden splint have been added, while 135 items like khandsari, poppadom, and video CD players have been taken out.
• Under the new series of WPI, weight of manufactured items has decreased to 64.2 per cent from 64.9 per cent in old series.
• Similarly, the weight of fuel and power has decreased to 13.1 per cent from 14.9 per cent.
• On the other hand, the weight of primary items have increased to 22.6 per cent from 20.1 per cent.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) is based on the final prices of goods at the retail level. Because of the wide disparities in the consumption baskets for different segment of consumers, India has adopted four CPIs

• CPI (Industrial Workers)
• CPI (Urban Non- Manual Employees)
• CPI (Agricultural Labour)
• CPI (Rural Worker)
• In India, RBI uses CPI (combined) released by CSO for inflation purpose with base year as 2012.
• The number of items in CPI basket include 448 in rural and 460 in urban

Both  these indices are the weighted averages of prices of a specified set of  goods and services.

1. Data on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is available every week, while data on Consumer Price Index (CPI) is only available every month, so there is a time lag in CPI data availability compared to WPI data availability, which can impact decision making both for RBI and the Government of India, as the previous answer states.
2. In India, we do not have one CPI calculated per se. Earlier, there were 4 CPIs calculated for 4 different sets of workers, and now we have three such CPIs, out of which the most famous is CPI for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW). The others used currently are CPI for agricultural laborers and CPI for rural laborers.

The argument used therefore is that there is no one CPI value which can be used for decision making by either RBI or the Government of India.

3. According to our policy makers/decision makers at RBI and elsewhere, or so it seems, WPI has a broader coverage compared to all the CPIs, in terms of the commodities covered, quotations, larger number of non-agricultural products and tradeable items, which are missing in the CPIs.

Also, interest rates which the RBI controls may not have much of a correlation with high food prices and therefore decision makers may feel that since they can’t target inflation across major sections constituting the CPI, they would rather focus on WPI constituted of goods on whose demand interest rates may have a more significant impact.

4. WPI is calculated on an all India basis, while CPI is calculated for specific centres in India and then this is aggregated to an all India index.

Why CPI is better than WPI?

• Conceptually, retail inflation—price rise driven by potential consumer demand and available supply—is a better indicator of inflation for guiding monetary policy decisions than WPI inflation.
• WPI excludes prices of servicessuch as education, healthcare, and rents. However, services now account for nearly 60 per cent of GDP and a vast majority of these services are not traded with other countries. Conversely, the new CPI measure assigns nearly 36% weightage on services and includes price changes in housing, education, healthcare, transport and communication, personal care and entertainment
• WPI assigns nearly 15% and 10.7% weightage for the fuel group and metal and metal products group, respectively.Any sharp movements in international prices of fuels and metals, therefore, lead to sharp changes in WPI.CPI shows the consumer trends of the common man

What are recent changes in CPI methodology?

• The Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has revised the Base Year of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from 2010 to 2012.
• In this revised series, many methodological changes have been incorporated, in order to make the indices more robust
• The new index will include school uniforms, pyjamas, skirts, infant clothing, kurtas, belle shoes, shoes and chappals as well
• The methodology of calculating inflation will also see a change from thepresent average method to geometric mean, which will take care of a particular category driving the entire index, an internationally accepted practice

What are the implication of these changes?

• These changes reflect thefalling share of household expenditure on food and the rising share of the non-food items. In addition, the number of items will also increase from 437 to 448 in the rural basket and from 450 to 460 in the urban basket
• Weightage for food is downfrom 47.58 percent to 45.86 percent. This means future increases in food prices will impact the index marginally less than in the old CPI. As incomes rise, people spend less on food
• The weightage for housing and clothing are higher.
• The sharp downward reduction in the weightage for fuel –from 9.49 percent to 6.84 percent. This will have the effect of reducing the deflationary impact of recent oil prices decreases – which means overall CPI will look higher than in the old index

 

Chapter 7 Commerce

• India enjoys a strong competitive advantage in global markets across a range of sectors including agri- products, plantations, engineering, textiles, leather, services, pharmaceuticals, marine products, gems and jewellery, chemicals and plastics.
• In continuation with positive growth exhibited by exports for the last thirteen months, exports during September 2017 showed growth of 25.67 per cent in dollar terms valued at US$ 28.61 billion as compared to US$ 22.76 billion during September, 2016.

Global and Domestic Economic Environment

• The estimate for growth in world merchandise trade volume in 2017 was raised to 3.6 per cent. The ” previous estimate for 2017 was 2.4 per cent. For 2017 trade growth is placed within a range from 3.2 per cent to 3.9 per cent, accompanied by global GDP growth of 2.8 per cent at market exchange rates (WTO, 2017).
• For India, trade (Exports + Imports) growth in last four years has remained on the negative side with ” a slight improvement in 2014, showing a growth of 0.7 per cent. This is despite the fact that India’s GDP growth numbers improved to 7.2 per cent in 2014 and further to 7.9 per cent in 2015 but again declined to 7.1 per cent in 2016
• Growth in China and other parts of emerging Asia remains strong.
• fact that 70 per cent of India’s exports involve products whose share in the total world exports is only 30 per cent.
• Exports of the top five commodities during the period Apr-Sep 2017-18 (P) registered a share of 32.52 ” per cent mainly due to significant contribution in the exports of petroleum products; pearl, precious, semi-precious stones; drug formulation biological; gold and other precious metal jewellery and iron and steel.
• Import of the top five commodities during the period Apr-Sep (2017-18) (P) registered a share of y 42.48 per cent mainly due to significant import of petroleum crude; pearls, precious and semiprecious stones; gold; telecom instrument and coal, coke and briquettes, etc.
• India was one of the first in Asia to recognise the effectiveness of the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) ” model in promoting exports, with Asia’s first EPZ set up in Kandla in 1965
• SEZs in India functioned from 2000 to 2006 under the provisions of the Foreign Trade Policy and fiscal ” incentives were made effective through the provisions of relevant statutes. The SEZ Act, 2005, supported by SEZ Rules, came into effect in 2006, providing simplification of  ” procedures and single window clearance on matters relating to central and state governments. The main objectives of the SEZ Act are: generation of additional economic activity; promotion of exports of goods and services; promotion of investment from domestic and foreign sources; creation of employment opportunities; and Development of infrastructure facilities.
• The Foreign Trade Policy (FTP )2015-20 has merged 6 incentive schemes {Focus Product Scheme (FPS), Focus Market Scheme ” (FMS), Market Linked Focus Product Scrip (MLFPS), Vishesh Krishi and Gram Udyog Yojana (VKGUY), Agri.

Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) 

• India has signed comprehensive bilateral trade agreements, including trade in services, with the ” Governments of Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Malaysia.
• A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in services and investment was signed with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2014.

 

Chapter 8 :Communication & Information Technology

Posts

• The modern postal system was set up by Lord Clive in 1766 which was further developed by Warren ” Hastings in 1774.
• These were regulated through an Act of 1837 on a uniform basis to unite all the post offices into one all-India Service.
• Post Office Act of 1854 reformed the postal system when the fi rst postage stamp valid across the ” country was issued at an affordable and uniform rate of postage, fixed by weight and not by distance. For the first time the common man could use postal facility, which was enjoyed only by heads of states and state officials.

e-Sampark Database: is developed to send messages and emails to public representatives and government employees

e-Taal: is a web portal for dissemination of e-transactions statistics of national and state level e-governance projects including mission mode projects. It receives transaction statistics from web based applications periodically on near real time basis. 

The Government has approved a scheme titled “PradhanMantriGramin Digital SakshartaAbhiyan” (PMGDISHA) to usher in digital literacy in rural India by covering 6 crore rural households (one person per household) by 2019

 

National Informatics Centre (NIC) 

• National Informatics Centre (NIC) is a premier IT organization of the country under the Department of Electronics and Information Technology.
• It was established in 1976.
• NIC services include Certifying Authority, Video-Conferencing, NIC e-MAIL (NICeMail) and SMS services across the country.

Cyber Appellate Tribunal

• The first and the only Cyber Court in the country has been established by the Central Government in accordance with the provisions contained under Section 48(1) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
• Provision has been made in the amended IT Act, 2009 for the Tribunal to comprise a Chairperson and many other members, as the Central Government may notify/appoint.

C-DAC

• Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) is the premier R&D organization of y the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY for carrying out R&D in IT, Electronics and associated areas.

Phases of the Project

• The first phase envisages providing one lakh gram panchayats with broadband connectivity by laying ” underground optic fibre cable (OFC) lines have been achieved.
• The second phase will provide connectivity to all 2,50,500 gram panchayats in the country using ” an optimal mix of underground fiber, fiber over power lines, radio and satellite media. It is to be completed by March 2019. For success in phase-2, which will also involve laying of OFC over electricity poles, the participation of ” states will be important. This is a new element of the BharatNet strategy as the mode of connectivity by aerial OFC has several advantages, including lower cost, speedier implementation, easy maintenance and utilization of existing power line infrastructure. The last mile connectivity to citizens was proposed to be provided creating Wi-Fi hotspots in gram  ” panchayats.
• In the third phase from 2019 to 2023, state-of-the-art, future-proof network, including fi ber between ” districts and blocks, with ring topology to provide redundancy would be created

 

Chapter -9 : Défense

Nothing Special Found already EVERYTHING covered in Current affairs

 

Chapter 10 Education

 

Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education and Sarva  Shiksha Abhiyan

 

• Article 21-A ” of the Constitution of India and its consequent legislation, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 became operative in the country in 2010.
• The RTE Act confers the right to elementary education on all children, in the age group of 6-14 years, ” on the basis of equality of opportunity in a formal school which satisfies certain essential norms and standards. All States and UTs have notified their State RTE Rules. The centrally sponsored scheme of  ” Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) supports states and UTs in their efforts to implement the RTE Act.

 

• Sub-Programmes under SSA The Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat (PBBB): For classes I and II. It is focusing on foundational learning in early grades with an emphasis on reading, writing and comprehension and mathematics.
• The Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyan (RAA): Aims to motivate and engage children of the age group 6-18 years, in science, mathematics and technology by observation, experimentation, inference drawing and model building, through both inside and outside classroom activities. Schools have been adopted for mentoring by institutions of higher education like IIT’s, IISER’s and NIT’s.
• Vidyanjali: Launched to enhance community and private sector involvement in Government run elementary schools across the country. The aim of the programme is to strengthen implementation of co-scholastic activities in government schools through services of volunteers.
• ShaGun portal: An initiative to monitor the implementation of SSA : MHRD has developed this web portal called ShaGun (from the words Shaala and Gunvatta).

 

Admissions under Section 12(1) (c) of the RTE Act

• Section 12(1) (c) mandates all private unaided schools and special category schools to reserve a ” minimum of 25 per cent of seats for economically weaker sections.
• Under the SSA, the Government of India will reimburse the state expenditure towards 25 per cent ” admissions to private unaided schools, based on per child cost norms notified by the state government, subject to a maximum ceiling of 20 per cent of the size of the SSA annual work plan and budget.

Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan

• Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) was launched in 2009 with the objective to enhance ” access to secondary education and improve its quality.
• The schemes envisages to enhance the enrolment at secondary stage by providing a secondary school ” with a reasonable distance of habitation, with an aim to ensure GER of 100 per cent and universal retention by 2020.
• The other objectives include improving quality of education imparted at secondary level through ” making all secondary schools conform to prescribed norms, removing gender, socio-economic and disability barriers, etc.

 

ShalaDarpan:

• The “Shaala Darpan Project” to cover all the Kendriya Vidyalayas was launched in June, 2015. The ” objective of this project is to provide services based on school management systems to students, parents and communities

 

GIS Mapping:

• To ensure universal access to schools including secondary schools within a reasonable distance of ” any habitation and without any discrimination, the geographic coordinates of school being uploaded on the school GIS Web enabled platform.
• National Achievement Survey for Class X:
• ” The National Achievement Survey for Class X was undertaken for the first time by MHRD. The survey ” investigates student achievement in five subjects: English, mathematics, social science, science and modern Indian language.
• The test has been administered in 33 states and union territories after a scientific and robust process of ” sample design, test development and translation, with rigorous adherence to technical procedures

 

SAKSHAM – Scholarship for Differently-Abled Children

• Scheme of AICTE aims at providing encouragement and support to differently-abled children to pursue technical education.
• Scholarships amounting to Rs. 5 crore per annum as tuition fees and incidentals are to be provided to needy and meritorious students for pursuing technical education at AICTE approved institution.
• This is to help them to achieve their college goals, despite learning issues, environmental challenges or medical bills.

 

IshanUday for Students of North East Region

• The UGC has launched a special scholarship scheme for students of north east region, IshanUday from the academic session 2014-15.
• The Scheme envisages grant of 10,000 scholarships to students from the region whose parental income is below Rs. 4.5 lakh per annum and would be provided scholarship ranging from Rs. 3,500 to Rs. 5,000 per month for studying at under graduate level in colleges/universities of the country.

 

IshanVikas – Academic Exposure for North Eastern Students

• The programme has been launched with a plan to bring selected college and school students from the north eastern states into close contact with IITs, NITs and IISERs during their vacation periods for academic exposure.

 

Pragati

• Pragati (Scholarship for Girl Students) – Pragati is a scheme of AICTE aimed at providing assistance for advancement of girls participation in technical education.
• Education is one of the most important means of empowering women with the knowledge, skill and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process

 

Global Initiative for Academic Network (GIAN)

• GIAN aims at tapping the talent pool of scientists and entrepreneurs, internationally to encourage their engagement with the institutes of higher education in India so as to augment the country’s existing academic resources, accelerate the pace of quality reform, and elevate India’s scientific and technological capacity to global excellence

Copyright

• Acquisition of copyright is automatic and it does not require any formality. Copyright comes into ” existence as soon as a work is created and no formality is required to be completed for acquiring it.
• The Copyright Office was established in 1958.
• It functions under the administrative control of the ” Department of Higher Education. It is headed by the Registrar of Copyright, who has quasi-judicial powers in handling cases relating to copyright. The main function of the Copyright Office is to undertake registration of copyright.
• The Copyright Board also determines and fixes rate of royalties for statutory licences for cover ” versions and broadcasting of literary and musical works and sound recordings. It also hears cases in other miscellaneous matters instituted before it under the Copyright Act, 1957.  ” The Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012 provides for a three member permanent Copyright Board  ” consisting of a Chairman and two other members.

 

 

Chapter 11 Energy

• Ministry of Power is primarily responsible for the development of electrical energy in the country
• Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) and Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) are responsible for ” the execution of the Nathpa Jhakri Power Project in Himachal Pradesh and projects of Tehri Hydro Power Complex in Uttarakhand respectively.
• Three statutory bodies, i.e., the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), the Bhakra-Beas Management ” Board (BBMB) and Bureau of Energy Effi  ciency (BEE), are also under the administrative control of the Ministry of Power.
• Programmes of ” rural electrification are provided financial assistance by the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC).

Power Generation:

• Power generation during 2016-17 was 1,160 BU comprising 994 BU thermal, 122 BU hydro, 37 BU from nuclear and 5 BU imports from Bhutan

Ultra Mega Power Projects:

• The Government of India through Ministry of Power launched the initiative of Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs), of 4,000 MW
• Super thermal power projects in November 2005 with the objective to develop large capacity power projects in India. Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC) has been appointed as the Nodal Agency to facilitate the development of these projects.

Automatic Approval for FDI

• Government of India has also allowed the FDI up to 49 per cent in power exchanges registered under Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Power Market) Regulations, 2010, under the automatic route.

Schemes

 Saubhagya – Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana

Aim : Achieve universal household electrifi cation in India by March 2019.  Scope of the scheme: (1)electricity connections to all unelectrifi ed households in rural areas on a payment of Rs.500.

(2) providing Solar Photo Voltaic based system in remote villages.

(3) providing electricity connections to un-electrifi ed households in Urban Areas.

Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana: ” Objectives:

(a) To separate agriculture and nonagriculture feeders for judicious rostering of supply to agricultural and non-agricultural consumers in rural areas;

(b) Strengthening and augmentation of sub transmission and distribution infrastructure in rural areas; and (c) Metering in rural areas.

Development of National Grid:  ” National power grid in the country is being developed in a phased manner. All five regional grids, namely northern region, western region, eastern region, north-eastern region and southern region have been inter-connected in synchronous mode and total transfer capacity of inter-regional links in June, 2017 is about 75,050 MW

• Crude Oil Production decline in this year
• Natural Gas production increased
• India is second largest refi ner in Asia after China

Coal Reserves

• The reserves have been found mainly in Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Madhya ” Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra

 

Lignite Reserves

 The major deposits are located in Tamil Nadu, followed by Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala, West Bengal,  ” Jammu & Kashmir and Union Territory of Puducherry.

 

Drivers for Development

• At present around 69.5 per cent of India’s power generation capacity is based on coal. Despite increase ” in installed capacity by more than 113 times in 65 years, India is still not in a position to meet its peak electricity demand as well as energy requirement.
• The peak power deficit during financial year 2001-02 was approximately 9,252 MW, however, at the ” end of Financial Year 2014-15, the peak power deficit decreased to the order of 2.4 per cent.
• India has taken a voluntary commitment of reducing emission intensity of its GDP by 33-35 percent ” from 2005 levels by 2030.
• In the recently concluded 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention ” on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held at Paris, France, India committed to achieve about 40 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030 with the help of transfer of technology and low cost international finance including from Green Climate Fund (GCF).

Renewable Energy Potential:

India has an estimated renewable energy potential of about 900 GW from commercially exploitable “ sources viz.:

• Wind – 102 GW,
• Small hydro – 20 GW;
• Bio-energy – 25 GW; and
• Solar power – 750 GW
• Over 1.2 million households are using solar energy to meet their lighting energy needs and almost “ similar numbers of the households meet their cooking energy needs from biogas plants

National Solar Mission

Under National Solar Mission, the target for setting up solar capacity increased from 20 GW to 100  ” GW by 2021-22

 

Chapter 12 Environment

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

• It is the nodal agency in the central government for overseeing the implementation of India’s ” environment and forest policies, programmes and related schemes

 

The Ministry is also the nodal agency for the:

• ” United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP);
• International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD); and
• United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).

 

• The Ministry also coordinates with multilateral bodies such as the Commission on Sustainable ” Development (CSD), Global Environment Facility (GEF) and regional bodies such as Economic and Social Council for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) on matters pertaining to environment

 

Forest Survey of India

• Forest Survey of India (FSI), a national level organization under the Ministry is engaged in the assessment of the country’s forest resources on a regular interval.
• Established in 1981, the Forest Survey of India succeeded the “Pre-investment Survey of Forest Resources” (PISFR), a project initiated in 1965 by Government of India with the sponsorship of FAO and UNDP

Forest Survey of India is involved in the following

Forest Cover Mapping

• FSI is involved in forest cover assessment of the country on biennial basis and publishes ‘India State of Forest Report’.
• Forest and Tree Cover of the country has increased by 8,021 sq km (1%) as compared to assessment of 2015.
• The very dense forest has increased by 1.36% as compared to last assessment.
• Successful agro-forestry practices, better conservation of forests, improvement of scrub areas to forest areas, increase in mangrove cover, conservation and protection activities have also led to increase in the forest and tree cover.
• Top 5 states where maximum forest cover has increased are Andhra Pradesh (2,141 sqkms), Karnataka (1,101 sq kms), Kerala (1,043 sq kms), Odisha (885 sq kms) and Telangana (565 sq kms).
• Top 5 states where forest cover has decreased are Mizoram (531 sq km), Nagaland (450 sq km), Arunachal Pradesh (190 sq km), Tripura (164 sq km) and Meghalaya (116 sq km).

 

Forests Inventory

• Inventory of forests and Trees Outside Forests (TOF) is the second major activity of FSI.
• The country has been divided into 14 physiographic zones.
• In the recent past, TOF resources have gained importance because of their increasing role in meeting the needs of wood based industries and society.
• The outcome of the TOF inventory is estimation of growing stock in TOF areas, estimation of production of wood from TOF and tree cove

 

 International Tropical Timber Organization

• The International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA) was negotiated under United Nation Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) auspices to provide an effective framework for cooperation and consultation among countries producing and consuming tropical timber promote the expansion and diversification of international trade in tropical timber and the improvement of structural conditions in the tropical timber market; promote and support research and development to improve forest management and wood utilization.
• The ITTA, 1983 established the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) whose headquarter is at Yokohama, Japan. India is a founder member (producer country category).

 

 International Network of Bamboo and Rattan

• The International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) is an intergovernmental organization established in 1997.
• INBAR is dedicated to improving the social, economic, and environmental benefi ts of bamboo and
• NBAR connects a global network of partners from the government, private, and non-for-profit sectors in over 50 countries. India is its member

 

GLOBE

• Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) is a hands-on international ” environmental science and education programme that brings students, teachers and scientists together to study the global environment.
• MoEFCC and US Government signed an agreement in 2000 to implement the Globe programme in ” India. Indian Environmental Society, Delhi is an implementing agency for Globe in India.
• Ecologically Sensitive Area: ” Western Ghats is a global biodiversity hotspot. It is a ESA.
• The concept of Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) provides a mechanism to conserve biological diversity of an area while allowing for sustainable development to take place.
• Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education ” (ICFRE), an autonomous organization under the Ministry. Government of India had set up five regional offices of the MoEF&CC at Bengaluru, Bhopal, ” Bhubaneshwar, Lucknow and Shillong with a headquarters unit at New Delhi

 

Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016

• The Ministry revised the rules for management of solid waste in the municipal areas after 16
• The new rules are now applicable beyond municipal areas and extend to urban agglomerations,census towns, notified industrial townships, areas under the control of Indian Railways, airports, airbase, port and harbour, defence establishments, special economic zones, state and central government organizations, places of pilgrimage, religious and historical importance.
• The segregation of waste at source has been mandated.
• Responsibilities of generators have been fixed for segregation of waste in to three streams, wet (biodegradable), dry (plastic, paper, metal, wood, etc.) and domestic hazardous wastes (diapers, napkins, empty containers of cleaning agents, mosquito repellents, etc.)
• The Rules provide ways for integration of waste pickers/rag pickers

 

 

Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016

The Rules provide for:

• Increase in minimum thickness of plastic carry bags from 40 to 50 microns.
• First time cover and stipulate minimum thickness of 50 microns for plastic sheets being used for packaging and wrapping commodities to facilitate collection and recycle of plastic waste.
• Revamped pricing mechanisms for plastic carry bags by introducing plastic waste management fee to be paid by retailers/street vendors willing to provide carry bags as pre-registration charge.
• Ways and means to promote gainful utilization of plastic waste such as energy recovery, in road construction, etc.
• Introducing user charge and spot fines by local authority.
• The Ministry for the fi rst time notified the separate set of rules for management of construction and ” demolition waste in the country as Construction and Demolition Management Rules, 2016.

 

International Conventions

Basel Convention

• The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal was adopted in 1989 in Basel, Switzerland
• The overarching objective of the Basel Convention is to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects of hazardous wastes

 

Rotterdam Convention

• The Rotterdam Convention on the prior informed consent procedure for certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade came into force in 2004.
• India acceded to the convention a year later. The Designated National authorities (DNAs) for India are in Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation. 
• The Official Contact Points (OCPs) are designated in Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• There are 47 chemicals listed in Annex III to this Convention, which include 33 pesticides and 14 industrial chemicals.

 

Stockholm Convention

• The Stockholm Convention on persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from POPs
• The Convention sought initially 12 chemicals, for restriction or elimination of the production and Now, the Convention covers 23 chemicals
• The Convention came into force in 2004
• India ratifi ed the Convention in 2006
• As per Article 7 of the Convention, Parties to the Convention were required to develop a National Implementation Plan (NIP) to demonstrate how their obligations to the Convention would be implemented and NIP has been developed through Global Environment Facility (GEF) funding
• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change serves as the focal point for GEF and Stockholm Convention.
• Designated national authorities are in Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation and Ministry of Chemicals and Petrochemicals.

 

Minamata Convention on Mercury

• In February 2009, the Governing Council of UNEP adopted Decision 25/5 on the development of a global legally binding instrument on mercury.
• At the Conference of Plenipotentiaries held in 2013 in Minamata and Kumamoto, Japan, the “Minamata Convention on Mercury”, a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury, was formally adopted

 

The Montreux Record

• The Montreux Record is a register of wetland sites on the List of Wetlands of International Importance where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference.
• It is maintained as part of the Ramsar List

 

World Wetland Day

• Celebrated on 2nd February.
• The World Wetland Day-2017 with the theme ‘Wetlands for Disaster Risk Reduction’ was celebrated in collaboration with the Government of Madhya Pradesh at Bhoj Wetlands, Bhopal, one of the 26 Ramsar Sites that India has designated under the Ramsar Convention

 

Ozone Layer Protection

• About 90 per cent of ozone formed lies between 10 and 50 kilometres above the earth’s surface, called the Stratosphere.
• The ozone found in the part of the atmosphere is called the ozone layer.
• Ozone layer absorbs all the harmful UV-B radiations
• The UV-B radiation has the potential to cause:
• Skin cancer
• Eye cataract
• Suppress body’s immune system
• Decrease crop yield

 

• Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer in 1985 and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1987.
• The mandate of the Montreal Protocol is to phase out the production and consumption of the Ozone Depleting Substances (ODSs). India is a party to Vienna convention
• The MoEF&CC has set up the Ozone Cell as a National Ozone Unit (NOU) to render necessary services for effective and timely implementation of the protocol and its ODs phase-out programme in India.

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

Land degradation and desertification gets reflected in many of the national policies

• National Water Policy, 2012.
• National Forest Policy, 1988.
• National Agricultural Policy, 2000.
• Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
• Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
• National Environmental Policy, 2006.
• National Policy for Farmers, 2007.
• National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA)-2007 which have enabling provisions for addressing these
• India became a signatory to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertifi cation (UNCCD) in ” 1994. MoEF&CC is the nodal Ministry in the government of India for the UNCCD.
• ” Desertification cell is the nodal point within MoEF&CC to co-ordinate all issues pertaining to the ” convention.

 International Cooperation and Sustainable Development

• International Cooperation and Sustainable Development (IC&SD) Division of the Ministry coordinates “ matters related to international environmental cooperation and sustainable development including Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to transform our world:
• GOAL 1: No Poverty
• GOAL 2: Zero Hunger
• GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being
• GOAL 4: Quality Education
• GOAL 5: Gender Equality
• GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
• GOAL 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
• GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
• GOAL 10: Reduced Inequality
• GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
• GOAL 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
• GOAL 13: Climate Action
• GOAL 14: Life Below Water
• GOAL 15: Life on Land
• GOAL 16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions
• GOAL 17: Partnerships to Achieve the Goal

 

 

 United Nations Environment Programme

• India is a member of UNEP and provides annual financial contribution of USD 100,000 to UNEP ” Environment Fund.
• The Environment Fund is the main source of funding for the implementation of UNEP’s Programme ” of Work and Medium Term Strategy.
• It enables UNEP to deliver in an efficient, effective, balanced and flexible manner as it leverages ” Member States’ investments into pooled resources to ensure the positive impact of environmental initiatives across national boundaries and specific thematic issues.
• Multi-year commitments, adequate resources and timely payments into the Environment Fund ” facilitate the successful delivery of the approved Medium Term Strategy and Programmes

 

Global Environment Facility

• India is a founder member of Global Environment Facility (GEF).
• ” Set up in 1991, GEF is the designated multilateral funding mechanism of 183 countries to provide ” incremental finance for addressing global environmental benefits which are also identified national priorities
• The GEF mandate is decided as per the guidance provided by the Conference of the parties of the ” multilateral environmental conventions namely:
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertifi cation (UNCCD),
• Stockholm Convention on PoPs, and
• Minamata Convention on Mercury
• The GEF grants are available under five focal areas namely, biodiversity, climate change, land ” degradation, international waters and chemicals and waste.

 

 

Chapter 13 : Finance

 

Climate Change Finance

• India ratifi ed the Paris Agreement in 2016
• India’s comprehensive NDC target is
• To lower the emissions intensity of GDP by 33 to 35 per cent by 2030 from 2005 levels;
• To increase the share of non-fossil fuels based power generation capacity to 40 per cent of installed electric power capacity by 2030; and
• To create an additional (cumulative) carbon sink of 2.5-3 GtCO2e through additional forest and tree cover by 2030

 

The Green Climate Fund

• (GCF) is a multilateral fund created to support the efforts of developing countries to respond to the challenge of climate change.
• GCF launched its initial resource mobilization in 2014, and mobilized resources worth USD 10.3 billion.
• India also has one project approved by the Board with NABARD on “Ground water recharge and Solar Micro Irrigation to ensure food security and enhance resilience in vulnerable tribal areas of Odisha” from 16th GCF Board meeting

 

Foreign Exchange Reserves

India’s foreign exchange reserves comprise

• Foreign currency assets (FCAs),
• Gold,
• SDRs, and
• Reserve tranche position (RTP) in the IMF

Foreign exchange reserves stood at US$ 421.7 billion by February 2018, showing an increase from last year

 

Financial Stability and Development Council

• The Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) was set up as the apex level forum in 2010
• The Council, inter-alia, monitors macro prudential supervision of the economy including functioning ” of large financial conglomerates, and addresses inter-regulatory coordination and financial sector development issues, including issues relating to financial literacy and financial inclusion
• The FSDC Secretariat in Department of Economic Affairs provides secretarial support to the council

 

• e-Biz programme is a mission mode project of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry to facilitate the investors by providing Single Window clearance like licensing, environment and land clearances, approvals from various ministries and departments for start-up businesses

 

• e-Nivaran aims to fast track taxpayer’s grievance redressal, ensuring early resolution by integrating y all the online and physical grievances received by the department and keeping track of it until it reaches its logical conclusion

 

• The Department of Revenue exercises control in respect of revenue matters relating to Direct and ” Indirect Union taxes through two statutory boards namely, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).

 

Common Service Centresà The initiative has resulted in outreach of PAN services at village level

 

Customs Board New Initiatives

• The e-commerce web portal, Indian Customs EDI Gateway (ICEGATE), is the single point of interaction between ICES and Partners in the Customs community and provides such services as registration, e-filing, e-payment, document status and helpdesk as well as data exchange between customs and various regulatory and licensing authorities and facilitation of compliant trade (with concomitant reduction in transaction costs and cargo dwell time) and targeting of non-compliant or risky transactions is achieved through the risk management system.
• SWIFT: In 2016, CBEC launched single window interface for facilitating trade (SWIFT) at all customs EDI locations with six major participating government agencies (PGAs), as a single point interface for clearance of imported goods. SWIFT enables importers to fi le common electronic ‘Integrated Declaration’ which compiles the information requirements of customs, FSSAI, plant quarantine, animal quarantine, drug controller, wild life control bureau and textile committee and replaces nine separate forms earlier required by these agencies

 

At present, the  ” Directorate of Enforcement enforces two laws, viz., the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) apart from looking after the residual work initiated under FERA

 

Financial Intelligence Unit – India

• Financial Intelligence Unit – India (FIU-IND) is the central national agency for receiving, processing, ” analyzing and disseminating information relating to suspected financial transactions
• FIU-IND was established by the Government of India in 2004 for coordinating and strengthening ” collection and sharing of financial intelligence through an effective national, regional and global network to combat money laundering, related crimes and terrorist financing.
• It is an independent body reporting to the Economic Intelligence Council (EIC) headed by the ” Finance Minister.
• For administrative purposes, FIU-IND is under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of ” Finance.
• FIU-IND does not investigate cases

 

From 2004, the Department of Disinvestment is one of the departments under the Ministry of Finance.  ” The Department of Disinvestment has been renamed as Department of investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) from 2016

The mandate of the Department includes all matters related to management of Central Government  ” investments in equity including disinvestment of equity in Central Public Sector Undertakings

 

National Investment Fund

• Government constituted the National Investment Fund (NIF) in 2005 into which the proceeds from disinvestment of Central Public Sector Enterprises were to be channelized

 

 

Chapter 14 : Corporate Affairs

 

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

• CSR is referred as a corporate initiative to assess and take responsibility for the company’s effects ” on the environment and impact on social welfare and to promote positive social and environmental change.

Legal mandate of CSR

Under Companies Act, 2013 any company with a

• net worth of the company to be Rs 500 crore or more or
• turnover of the company to be Rs 1000 crore or more or
• net profi t of the company to be Rs 5 crore or more.

Company has to spend at least 2% of last 3 years average net profits on CSR activities as specified  in Schedule VII and as amended from time to time. The rules came into effect from 1 April 2014

 

MCA21-e-Governance project

• The Ministry operated an end-to-end e-governance project called MCA21 for end to end service ” delivery comprising Company and Limited liability partnership (LLP) registration, incorporation, registry and other compliance related services. 
• The project was started in March, 2006 on Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) Model with ” the vision was “to introduce a service-oriented approach in the design and delivery of Government services”

Serious Fraud Investigation Office

• set up in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs
• main function of SFIO is to investigate corporate frauds of serious and complex nature
• The Companies Act, 2013 has enlarged the scope of SFIO to a statutory recognition and SFIO has y been vested with police power in their investigation

 

Competition Commission of India

• Competition Commission of India is a body of the Government of India responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002throughout India and to prevent activities that have an adverse effect on competition in India.
• It was established on 14 October 2003.
• It became fully functional in May 2009.
• CCI is quasi-judicial statutory body established under The Competition Act, 2002.
• The objectives of the Act are sought to be achieved through the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
• CCI earlier consisted of a Chairperson and 6 Membersappointed by the Central Government. Government has now approved reduction of members from 6 to 3.
• The duty of the Commission is to eliminate practices having adverse effect on competition, promote and sustain competition, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India.

Chapter 15 Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer affairs

 

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food And Public Distribution is a ministry of two departments-The department of Food and Public Distribution and the Department of Consumer Affair. Department of Consumer Affair is constituted as a separate department in 1997.

 

Consumer Protection Act

A key milestone in consumer advocacy in the country was the_enaetment of Consumer Protection  y Act, 1986. This Act provided the legislative framework to better protect the interests of the consumer by creating a formal but quasi- judicial dispute resolution mechanism exclusively for consumers.

 

Bureau of Indian Standards

A new Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act 2016 came into force from 2017. The Act establishes  y the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as the national Standards Body of India. It has enabling provisions for the Government to ‘bring under compulsory certifi cation regime any goods or article of any scheduled industry, process, system or service which it considers necessary in’ the public interest or for the protection of human, animal or plant health, safety of the environment, or prevention of unfair trade practices, or national security

 

 

India is the largest consumer and the second largest producer of sugar in the world

 

Sugarcane Pricing Policy

With the amendment of the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966 in 2009, the concept of Statutory  Minimum Price (SMP) of sugarcane was replaced with the ‘Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP)’ for 2009-10 and subsequent sugar seasons.

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 sugar industry.

The amended provisions of the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966 provides for fixation of FRP of sugarcane having regard to the following factors

• Cost of production of sugarcane;
• Return to the growers from alternative crops and the general trend of prices of agricultural commodities;
• Availability of sugar to consumers at a fair price;
• Price at which sugar produced from sugarcane is sold by sugar producers;
• Recovery of sugar from sugarcane;
• The realization made from sale of by-products viz. molasses, bagasse and press mud or their imputed value; and
• Reasonable margins for the growers of sugarcane on account of risk and profits

 

Ban on Export of Edible Oils

Exports of edible oils has been banned from March 2008 with certain exemptions i.e., coconut  y oil from all Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) ports and through notifi ed Land Customs Stations (LCS), castor oil, organic edible oils and certain oils produced from minor forest produce ( Last year UPSC Question came from here)

 

100 per cent FDI is permitted under the automatic route in food processing industries manufacturing  y sector. FDI is allowed through approval route for trading, including through e-commerce in respect of food products manufactured and/or produced in India