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  • [Prelims Spotlight] National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), Joint Polar Satellite System-1

    Here are 2 Back2Basics collections from today’s news items

    B2B #1: From news- Only 20% of Clean Ganga Mission funds spent till March 2018

    National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)

    1. NMCG was registered as a society on 12th August 2011 under the Societies Registration Act 1860.
    2. It acted as implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority(NGRBA) which was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),1986.
    3. The Act 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 as below;
    • National Ganga Council under chairmanship of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.
    • Empowered Task Force (ETF) on river Ganga under chairmanship of Hon’ble Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
    • National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG).
    • State Ganga Committees and
    • District Ganga Committees in every specified district abutting river Ganga and its tributaries in the states.
    1. MCG has a two tier management structure and comprises of Governing Council and Executive Committee.

     

    B2B #2: From news-India merges anti-dumping, import safeguard bodies

    Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR)

    1. The Government of India carried out an Amendment to the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 for the creation of an integrated single umbrella National Authority to be called the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) for providing comprehensive and swift trade defense mechanism in India
    2. The amendment of Allocation of Business Rules has also mandated Department of Commerce with work pertaining to the recommendation of Safeguard measures
    3. The DGTR will bring DGAD, DGS and Safeguards (QR) functions of DGFT into its fold by merging them into one single national entity
    4. DGTR will deal with Anti-dumping, CVD and Safeguard measures
    5. The DGTR will function as an attached office of Department of Commerce
    6. The recommendation of DGTR for the imposition of Anti-dumping, countervailing & Safeguard duties would be considered by the Department of Revenue

    As a part of revision for Prelims 2018, Here’s a Factoid to brush up your concepts

    Name :  Joint Polar Satellite System-1

    Details :  The satellite is the first of four next-generation spacecraft for NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

    Agency :  NASA

  • [Prelims Spotlight] ESCAP, Pyrogen Test, AgniII

    Here are 2 Back2Basics collections from today’s news items

    B2B #1: From news- UN report for social inclusion

    ESCAP

    1. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is the regional development arm of the United Nations for the Asia-Pacific region.
    2. It is established in 1947 with its headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand.
    3. Parent Organisation: UN ECOSOC
    4. ESCAP works to overcome some of the region’s greatest challenges by providing results-oriented projects, technical assistance, and capacity building to member States in the following areas:
    • Macroeconomic Policy and Development including the publishing of Asia-Pacific Development Journal (APDJ) twice a year
    • Trade and Investment
    • Transport
    • Social Development
    • Environment and Sustainable Development
    • Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction
    • Statistics
    • Sub-regional activities for development

    B2B #2: From news- Commission approves modern animal-free testing for drugs

    Pyrogen Test

    1. The pyrogen test is carried out to check impurity or substance that can cause adverse side-effects
    2. For the test, the drug is injected into a rabbit and the animal is closely observed for feverish symptoms
    3. The abnormal toxicity test is carried out to check potential hazardous biological contamination in vaccine formulations
    4. This batch test is done before the product is approved for marketing. In this, mice or guinea pigs are injected with the vaccine. The scientists observe if there is the death of any animal.

    As a part of revision for Prelims 2018, Here’s a Factoid to brush up your concepts

    Name : AgniII

    Defence Forces : Army

    Module Type : Missiles

    Brief Intro : 1.Agni-II, is a strategic ballistic missile. The Agni missile family is envisaged to be the mainstay of the Indian missile-based strategic nuclear deterrence. 2.The Agni-II is a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) with two solid fuel stages and a Post Boost Vehicle (PBV) integrated into the missile’s Re-entry Vehicle (RV). . 3.The Agni-IIA is a more advanced version of Agni-II, albeit with more sophisticated and lighter materials, yielding a better range and operating regime. Agni-IIA was later renamed as Agni-IV plugging the gap between Agni-II and Agni-III. Range: 2000 Km

  • [Prelims Spotlight] Western Ghats, Machine Learning, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)

    Here are 2 Back2Basics collections from today’s news items

    B2B #1: From news- Western Ghats forest cover vital for Tamil Nadu’s South-West monsoon rainfall

    Western Ghats

    1. It is also known as Sahyadri (Benevolent Mountains) is a mountain range that runs parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula, located entirely in India
    2. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the eight “hottest hot-spots” of biological diversity in the world It is sometimes called the Great Escarpment of India
    3. The range runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain, called Konkan, along the Arabian Sea
    4. A total of thirty-nine properties including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserve forests were designated as world heritage sites – twenty in Kerala, ten in Karnataka, five in Tamil Nadu and four in Maharashtra

    B2B #2: From news- Niti Aayog partners with Google to grow India’s artificial intelligence ecosystem

    Machine Learning

    1. Machine learning is the science of getting computers to act without being explicitly programmed.
    2. It is an application of artificial intelligence (AI) that provides systems the ability to automatically learn and improve from experience without being explicitly programmed.
    3. Machine learning focuses on the development of computer programs that can access data and use it learn for themselves.
    4. The process of learning begins with observations or data, such as examples, direct experience, or instruction, in order to look for patterns in data and make better decisions in the future based on the examples that we provide.
    5. In the past decade, machine learning has given us self-driving cars, practical speech recognition, effective web search, etc.
    6. Examples: Google Assistant, Google Allo etc.

    As a part of revision for Prelims 2018, Here’s a Factoid to brush up your concepts

    Name : International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)

    Recently in News because : Neeru Chadha won a crucial election to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), becoming the first Indian woman to be elected as judge to the tribunal

    Objective : To adjudicate disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

    Members : The Tribunal is composed of 21 independent members elected by secret ballot by the States Parties to the Convention

    Headquarters : Hamburg, Germany

    Year Founded : Created by UNCLOS in 1982 (Came in force in 1994)

  • [Static Revision] The Cost of Inflation

    The Cost of Inflation

    • The inflation is considered to be bad for an economy mainly because it destroys the purchasing power of the money. When Price rise, each Rupee that you had will but less quantity of goods and services. Therefore, inflation destroys the real income of the people and makes them worse off.
    • The argument is particularly true for a country like India, which has a large informal sector and agriculture sector. Since most of the population is employed in informal and agriculture sector where minimum wage laws and social security benefits do not apply, the people in such sectors suffer the most due to inflation. The wages in these sectors are not indexed for inflation. Thus, when the price rises their wage does not rise, and they lose due to a reduction in real income on the one hand and no rise in wages on the other.

    There is also two associated social cost of inflation.

    • The Shoe Leather Cost

    Suppose in an economy the inflation is rising at the rate of 5% from the past few years. In such a case, everybody will expect the inflation to be 5% in future also. In such a case, all the economic transactions will be done adjusting for 5% inflation. In such an anticipated inflation scenario, the only cost of inflation will be shoe leather cost.

    The Shoe Leather Cost occurs because of the cost associated with holding money during inflation. Since inflation destroys the real power of money, and cash holding does not pay any interest, people will start depositing their money in banks to earn interest rate.

    The less money they hold in cash, the more they have to visit banks or ATMs to withdraw money. Since going to the bank is not free of cost both in terms of time and the transaction cost levied by banks on ATM usage, counter withdrawals, as well as the cost of travel to banks will all add to Shoe Leather Cost.

    • Menu Cost

    Menu cost is another social cost associated with anticipated inflation. The name menu cost is derived from the restaurants business. Menu cost arises because inflation makes the business change their listed price often. The change requires the firm to bear expense related to printing of new catalogues, new price list etc. they also have to incur expenditure on advertisement to inform customers about their new prices.

    Effects of Inflation on Different Sections

    Creditor/lender Debtor/Borrower Pensioner Producers Wealth Holders
    Inflation harms creditors, as they lose in real terms.

    A 1000 RS lent @ 5%, will pay an interest rate of 50. If inflation rises to 10%, the price of goods will be 1100, but after interest, the return will only be 1050.

    		 Inflation benefits the Debtor as they gain in real terms. Inflation harms the pensioners, if their pensions are not indexed to inflation, and loses money. They stand to gain by inflation since the price of goods and services rise faster than the cost of production as wages take time lag to react. They stand to lose due to inflation, as their real returns fall due to rise in prices.

     

    By
    Himanshu Arora
    Doctoral Scholar in Economics & Senior Research Fellow, CDS, Jawaharlal Nehru University

  • [Prelims Spotlight] Jaipur Foot, Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, Digital India

    Here are 2 Back2Basics collections from today’s news items

    B2B #1: From news- Jaipur Foot to be exhibited at the U.N.

    Jaipur Foot

    1. The Jaipur Foot, also known as the Jaipur Leg, is a rubber-based prosthetic leg for people with below-knee amputations
    2. Designed in and named after Jaipur, India, the prosthetic leg was designed to be inexpensive, water-resistant, and quick to fit and manufacture
    3. The Jaipur Foot is made of polyurethane
    4. It is fitted free of cost by Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahyata Samiti
    5. The government of India supports Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahyata Samiti with financial aid to carry out the work done by the organization

    B2B #2: From news- Inter-country child abduction: Central panel questions key principle of Hague Convention

    Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction

    1. Hague Abduction Convention is a multilateral treaty developed by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) that provides an expeditious method to return a child internationally abducted by a parent from one member country to another
    2. The Convention was drafted to ensure the prompt return of children who have been abducted from their country of habitual residence or wrongfully retained in a contracting state not their country of habitual residence
    3. The Convention applies only to children under the age of 16
    4. The Convention requires that a court in which a Hague Convention action is filed should not consider the merits of any underlying child custody dispute, but should determine only that country in which those issues should be heard
    5. The Convention mandates return of any child who was “habitually resident” in a contracting nation immediately before an action that constitutes a breach of custody or access rights
    6. The Convention provides special rules for admission and consideration of evidence independent of the evidentiary standards set by any member nation
    7. The Convention was concluded 25 October 1980 and entered into force between the signatories on 1 December 1983

    As a part of revision for Prelims 2018, Here’s a Factoid to brush up your concepts

    Name of the scheme : Digital India

    Objectives : To transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy

    Salient Features : The Digital India programme is centred on three key vision areas: – Digital Infrastructure as a Utility to Every Citizen -Governance & Services on Demand -Digital Empowerment of Citizens It aims to provide the much needed thrust to the nine pillars of growth areas, namely : -Broadband Highways, -Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity, – Public Internet Access Programme, -e-Governance: Reforming Government through Technology, -e-Kranti – Electronic Delivery of Services, -Information for All, Electronics Manufacturing, -IT for Jobs and -Early Harvest Programmes

    Nodal Ministry : The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)

     

  • [Prelims Spotlight] GAVI- the Vaccine Alliance, Revised National Security Clearance Policy 2015, G-7

    Here are 2 Back2Basics collections from today’s news items

    B2B #1: From news- Accelerate efforts to end rabies: WHO to India, South East Asian countries

    GAVI- the Vaccine Alliance

    1. Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization is a public-private global health partnership committed to increasing access to immunization in poor countries
    2. It is a global Vaccine Alliance with the goal of creating equal access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries
    3. Gavi brings together developing countries and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry in both industrialized and developing countries, research and technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private philanthropists
    4. Gavi was launched in 2000
    5. It is based in Geneva, Switzerland

     

    B2B #2: From news- MHA fast-tracks security clearance for overseas investment proposals

    Revised National Security Clearance Policy, 2015

    1. The Ministry of Home Affairs had formulated a new national security clearance policy in 2015 after the government decided to speed up projects, which were stuck for lack of approval by Intelligence Bureau (IB) or other agencies including the State police
    2. It has introduced the National Security Clause as an important component of this Policy
    3. It aims to extend fast-track security clearance to foreign investment proposals in the critical sectors such as telecom, private security, and defense while ensuring that national interests are not endangered
    4. The clearance process aims to boost government’s ease-of-doing-business and Make in India initiative.
    5. The policy has 15 parameters on which inputs from security agencies are sought. Once it has got an application from an investor, the Ministry decides on the status of security clearance to the company within 4-6 weeks.
    6. As per the policy, the promoters, owners, and directors of the company are mandated to give self-declarations regarding any criminal history on their part, which reduced the period required to give security clearance from 2-3 months earlier to just 4-6 weeks now
    7. Security inputs from the Intelligence Bureau, the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate and other agencies are sought only in cases of serious crimes and not in case of minor offenses

     

    As a part of revision for Prelims 2018, Here’s a Factoid to brush up your concepts

    Name : G-7

    Brief Intro : The Group of Seven (G7) is an informal bloc of industrialized democracies—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States—that meets annually to discuss issues such as global economic governance, international security, and energy policy.

    Objective : To discuss issues such as global economic governance, international security, and energy policy.

    Type : Summit/ Conference

    Category : Economy

    Year : 1975

    Importance (wr. Prelims) : High

    Key Terms/ Institutions spinoffs : Russia belonged to the forum from 1998 through 2014—then the Group of Eight (G8)—but was suspended after its annexation of Crimea in March of that year.

  • [Static Revision] Inflation in India: CPI, WPI, GDP Deflator, Inflation Rate

    Inflation in India

    Understanding Inflation

    Back to Basics: In 1947, when India got independence, the Indian economy was suffering from low growth, poverty and resource shortages. The salary of an average Indian was very low. Ask your Grand Parents ‘how much they use to earn in the 1950’s?

    Today, an average Indian earns 100 times more than what his grandparents use to earn. Does it mean that the standard of living of the people has also risen 100 times? Before reaching to such a conclusion, one must remember that the prices of goods and services in the economy has also risen.

    In 1950’s a Delhi-Mumbai air ticket cost in some hundreds, today it cost in thousand. Similarly, the price of Wheat was in few Paisa; it cost around Rupee 50/kg. Therefore, it is not clear from income, that whether the standard of living of people have risen or not.

    To compare the salary of your grandparents to yours, we need some measure of purchasing power or price. The meaningful measure that can perform the task is “Consumer Price Index”.

    Consumer Price Index: CPI is used to monitor changes in the cost of living over time. When the CPI rises, the average Indian family has to spend more on goods and services to maintain the same standard of living. The economic term used to define such a rising prices of goods and services is Inflation.

    Inflation: Inflation is when the overall general price level in the economy is increasing.

    Inflation Rate: Inflation Rate is the percentage change in the price level from the previous period. If a normal basket of goods was priced at Rupee 100 last year and the same basket of goods now cost Rupee 120, then the rate of inflation this year is 20%.

    Inflation Rate= {(Price in year 2 – Price in year 1)/ Price in year 1} *100

    Whole sale Price Index: WPI is used to monitor the cost of goods and services bought by producer and firms rather than final consumers.

    GDP Deflator: Another important measure of calculating standard of living of people is GDP Deflator. GDP Deflator is the ratio of nominal GDP to real GDP. The nominal GDP is measured at the current prices whereas the real GDP is measured at the base year prices. Therefore, GDP Deflator reflects the current level of prices relative to prices in a base year. Example, In India the base year of calculating deflator is 2011-12.

    The Difference

    Consumer Price Index GDP Deflator
    CPI reflects the price of goods and services bought by the final consumers. GDP deflator reflects the price of all the goods and services produced domestically.
    Example: Suppose the price of a satellite to be launch by ISRO increases. Even though the satellite is part of the GDP of India, but it is not a part of normal CPI index, since we don’t consume satellite. The price rise of the ISRO satellite will be reflected in GDP deflator.
    Similarly, India produces some crude oil, but most of the oil/petroleum is imported from the West Asia, as a result, when the price of oil/petroleum product changes, it is reflected in CPI basket as petroleum products constitute a larger share in CPI. The price change of oil products is not reflected much in the GDP deflator since we do not produce much crude oil.
    The CPI compares the price of a fixed basket of goods and services to the price of the basket in the base year. The GDP deflator compares the price of currently produced goods and services to the price of the same goods and services in the base year. Thus, the group of goods and services used to compute the GDP deflator changes automatically over time.

     

     

    By
    Himanshu Arora
    Doctoral Scholar in Economics & Senior Research Fellow, CDS, Jawaharlal Nehru University

     

  • [Prelims Spotlight] World Gold Council, Linke Hoffman Busche (LHB) coaches, Impeachment of a Supreme Court Judge, Rajsuya

    Here are 3 Back2Basics collections from today’s news items

    B2B #1: From news-  India gold demand seen rising

    World Gold Council

    1. The World Gold Council is the market development organisation for the gold industry. It works across all parts of the industry, from gold mining to investment, and their aim is to stimulate and sustain demand for gold
    2. They frequently publish research that demonstrates gold’s strength as a preserver of wealth – both for investors and countries
    3. They also provide analysis of the industry, offering insights into the drivers of gold demand. They have also launched various products such as SPDR GLD and gold accumulation plans in India and China
    4. The World Gold Council is an association whose members comprise the world’s leading gold mining companies
    5. It helps to support its members to mine in a responsible way and developed the Conflict Free Gold Standard
    6. Headquartered in London United Kingdom, they have offices in India, China, Singapore, Japan and the United States

    B2B #2: From news- What Railways hope to learn from German Rail

    Linke Hoffman Busche (LHB) coaches

    1. LHB coaches are the passenger coaches of Indian Railways that have been developed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch of Germany
    2. These coaches are produced by Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala, Punjab
    3. The coaches are designed for an operating speed up to 160 km/h and could go up to 200 km/h
    4. During derailment or collision, these coaches do not climb over each and crash because of a special type of CBC (center buffer coupler)

    B2B #3: From news- [op-ed snap] Acting against a judge

    Impeachment of a Supreme Court Judge

    1. Article 124(4) of the Constitution of India states: “A Judge of the Supreme Court shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the President passed after an address by each House of Parliament supported by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting has been presented to the President in the same session for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity”
    2. 100 Lok Sabha MPs or 50 Rajya Sabha MPs is the minimum number of signatories required to issue the notice
    3. The notice has to be handed over either to the Speaker if it is from Lok Sabha MPs or to the Chairman if it is Rajya Sabha MPs
    4. If and when the motion is admitted, the Speaker or the Chairman will have to constitute a three-member committee to investigate the charges leveled against the Supreme Court judge
    5. This committee will consist of a senior Supreme Court judge, a High Court judge, and a ‘distinguished jurist’ — who is a highly qualified law professor who has been appointed as a Supreme Court judge by the President of India

    As a part of revision for Prelims 2018, Here’s a Factoid to brush up your concepts

    Key words related to History : Rajsuya

    Dynasty/era : Vedic period

    Meaning : – basically a ceremony for the consecration of a kind. It lasted for a day of prayers and sacrifices and extracting soma, but preceded by a long period, extending to maybe a year, during which time various preliminary rites were observed. During this ritual, the king received a bow and an arrow (or other weapons as the priest was advised) and declares himself the king. He performed various acts symbolising his conquests and was finally anointed by a priest, a kshatriya and a vaishya.

  • [open SIP] Test 28- CA March+ April’18 Link + Discussion

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  • [Prelims Spotlight] Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt), Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY), Cartosat-2 series

    Here are 2 Back2Basics collections from today’s news items

    B2B #1: From news- [op-ed snap] Protect patents: on revoking Monsanto’s Bollgard-2 patent

    Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt)

    1. It is a soil-dwelling bacterium, commonly used as a biological pesticide
    2. It occurs naturally in the gut of caterpillars of various types of moths and butterflies plant leaves etc.
    3. Bt produces insecticidal action when used in the genetic modification of crops
    4. Bt cotton was the first genetically modified crop to be approved for cultivation in India in 2002, with the introduction of Monsanto’s GM cotton seeds
    5. Other Bt crops used in India: Bt Brinjal, Bt/GM Mustard
    6. Issues with Bt modified crops:  Costly seeds, Gene pool contamination,  Increasing incidence of pest resistance, the toxicity of food crops etc

    B2B #2: From news- Govt. doubles PMVVY pension investment limit to ₹ 15 lakh; extends scheme by two years

    Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY)

    1. The government has launched the PMVVY to provide social security during old age and to protect elderly persons aged 60 and above against a future fall in their interest income due to uncertain market conditions
    2. The PMVVY is being implemented through Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC)
    3. The scheme provides an assured pension based on a guaranteed rate of return of 8 percent per annum for ten years, with an option to opt for the pension on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annual basis
    4. The difference between the return generated by LIC and the assured return of 8 percent annually will be borne by the government of as a yearly subsidy

    As a part of revision for Prelims 2018, Here’s a Factoid to brush up your concepts

    Name :  Cartosat-2 series

    Details :  The launch marks the roll out of the 100th satellite by ISRO. 30 other satellites – 28 foreign and 2 Indian. 2nd time that ISRO has been able to place satellites in 2 different orbits This was done through the “multiple burn technology” under which the rocket’s engine is switched off and then switched on to control its height.

    Launch Vehicle :  PSLV C40