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GS Paper: GS3

  • Turtle rehab centre in Bhagalpur, Bihar

    A first-of-its-kind rehabilitation centre for freshwater turtles will be inaugurated in Bihar’s Bhagalpur forest division in January 2020.

    About the rehab centre

    • The centre, spread over half a hectare, will be able to shelter 500 turtles at a time.
    • Earlier, rescued turtles were released into rivers without much treatment in the absence of any facility.
    • In the rehab centre they will be properly monitored before being released in their natural habitat.

    Why need such centre?

    • The need to build such a centre was felt after several turtles were found severely wounded and sick when rescued from smuggles by rescue teams.
    • This centre will play a significant role in treating these animals and their proper upkeep before being returned to their natural habitat.

    Why Bhagalpur?

    • Eastern Bihar has been an ideal breeding ground for turtles.
    • In Bhagalpur, the flow of water in the Ganga is ample. Also, there are many sandbanks in the middle of the river, which are ideal breeding ground for turtles.

    Significance of turtles

    • According to environmentalists, the turtles play a significant role in the river by scavenging dead organic materials and diseased fish.
    • They control fish population by their predation and control aquatic plants and weeds.
    • They are also described as indicators of healthy aquatic ecosystems.

    Various threats

    • According to a recent study conducted by Traffic India, around 11,000 turtles are being smuggled in India every year. In the past 10 years, as many as 110,000 turtles have been traded.
    • These species are now under severe threats due to habitat fragmentation and loss through dams and barrages, pollution, illegal poaching, accidental drowning through fishing nets and threats to their nesting habitats etc.
    • The turtles have come under serious threat primarily for two reasons — food and the flourishing pet trade.
    • Turtles are being frequently targeted for meat due to the prevailing belief that it gives an energy boost and keeps various diseases away.

    Back2Basics

    Operation Save Kurma

    • It is a periodic species specific operation on turtles conducted by Wildlife Crimes Control Bureau since 2017.
    • Under this, a total of 15,739 live turtles were recovered from 45 suspects, having inter-state linkages.
    • It helped the enforcement agencies to focus on the existing trade routes and major trade hubs in the country, which will be continued in future.

  • [pib] Patola Saree

    In a historic initiative taken by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), a first Silk Processing Plant was inaugurated at Surendranagar in Gujarat.

    It would help cut down the cost of production of silk yarn drastically and increase the sale and availability of raw material for Gujarati Patola Sarees.

    Patola Sarees

    • Patola is a double ikat (dying technique) woven sari, usually made from silk made in Patan, Gujarat.
    • They are very expensive, once worn only by those belonging to royal and aristocratic families. These saris are popular among those who can afford the high prices.
    • Reason being the raw material silk yarn is purchased from Karnataka or West Bengal, where silk processing units are situated, thus increasing the cost of the fabric manifolds.
    • Patola-weaving is a closely guarded family tradition. There are three families in Patan that weave these highly prized double ikat saris.
    • It can take six months to one year to make one sari due to the long process of dying each strand separately before weaving them together.

  • [op-ed of the day] Data and its discontents

    Context

    The Personal Data Protection Bill which was introduced in Lok Sabha contains a certain provision that might have implications for India’s digital economy. These provisions must be carefully considered as Parliament reviews the proposed legislation.

    What are the stated objectives of the bill?

    • The first purpose deals with privacy concerns.
    • Its purpose is to safeguard the constitutional guarantee of privacy for Indian citizens
    • The second purpose is to provide a just and equitable vision for the future of India’s digital economy

    What are the incongruent provisions?

    • One of the provision enables the central government to direct the regulated entity under the act to provide anonymised personal data.
    • The government wants to use this anonymised personal data to enable the targeted delivery of services or evidence-based policymaking
    • The above provisions could have certain implications that need to be carefully considered.

    Anonymised data and issues with it

    • Under the bill, anonymised data refers to data from which all the markers of identity have been irreversibly removed.
    • Recent research shows that the present methods of anonymisation are imperfect.
    • With the use of modern machine learning techniques, the data released as “anonymous” can be re-identified.
    • So, the approach to regulation of anonymised data must be contextual and sectoral- with a focus on finance and healthcare.

    Use of big data and AI in governance

    • The government also plans to use big data and artificial intelligence within governance and planning systems.
    • The use of these techniques has the potential to increase government capacity and transparency.
    • It can also help in making an informed decision about economic and social planning.
    • However, the provision ignores the multiplicity of existing and inchoate rights like IPRs (Intellectual Property Rights), copyrights and trade secret protections.

    Consequences of the conflicting provision

    • While the government wants the data to be open for acquisition similar to the power of “eminent domain” over land, but it comes in conflict with existing laws.
    • It comes in conflict with the copyright acts, intellectual property rights, and trade secret laws.
    • Databases are commercially significant for commercial companies.
    • Overlap of these existing rights within the government system can jeopardise accountability and transparency.

     Problems with Big data and AI in governance

    • Unregulated use of the database in governance could have consequences for the people and communities who are being made visible or being invisible by this data.
    • A shift from a qualitative method like census to the quantitative method like big data which is collected in a different context and used for a different purpose may not be smooth.
    • Such data will be incomplete for governance.
    • The data could also be replete with biases of the private entity collecting the data.
    • So, the use of this unregulated data for policymaking or targeting beneficiaries could be disastrous.

    Way forward

    The regulation of non-personal data must take into account both the potential harms to individual privacy as well as the wider social and political consequences of the use of data for governance.

     

     

  • Arabica Coffee

    India’s Arabica production has hit an all-time low this coffee-picking season.

    Coffee Production in India

    • Coffee is grown in three regions of India with Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu forming the traditional coffee growing region.
    • It is followed by the new areas developed in the non-traditional areas of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa in the eastern coast of the country and with a third region comprising the NE states.
    • Indian coffee, grown mostly in southern states under monsoon rainfall conditions, is also termed as “Indian monsooned coffee”.
    • The two well known species of coffee grown are the Arabica and Robusta.

    History of Coffee in India

    • In the Indian context, coffee growing started with a saint, Baba Budan who, while returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca, smuggled seven coffee beans from Yemen to Mysore in India.
    • He planted them on the Chandragiri Hills now named after the saint as Baba Budan Giri in Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka.

  • National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP)

    Union Finance Minister has unveiled Rs 102 lakh crore of infrastructure projects, under National Infrastructure Pipeline. It will be implemented in the next five years as part of the government’s spending push in the infrastructure sector.

    What is the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP)?

    • NIP includes economic and social infrastructure projects.
    • During the fiscals 2020 to 2025, sectors such as Energy (24%), Roads (19%), Urban (16%), and Railways (13%) amount to around 70% of the projected capital expenditure in infrastructure in India.
    • It has outlined plans to invest more than â‚č102 lakh crore on infrastructure projects by 2024-25, with the Centre, States and the private sector to share the capital expenditure in a 39:39:22 formula.

    Key benefits of NIP

    • Economic: Well-planned NIP will enable more infra projects, grow businesses, create jobs, improve ease of living, and provide equitable access to infrastructure for all, making growth more inclusive.
    • Government: Well-developed infrastructure enhances the level of economic activity, creates additional fiscal space by improving the revenue base of the government, and ensures the quality of expenditure focused in productive areas.
    • Developers: Provides a better view of project supply, provides time to be better prepared for project bidding, reduces aggressive bids/ failure in project delivery, ensures enhanced access to sources of finance as a result of increased investor confidence.
    • Banks/financial institutions (F1s)/investors: Builds investor confidence as identified projects are likely to be better prepared, exposures less likely to suffer stress given active project monitoring, thereby less likelihood of NPAs.

    Is NIP a road to $5 trillion economy?

    • Finance minister said that the Rs 102 lakh crore National Infrastructure Projects will help make India a $5 trillion economy by 2025.
    • These projects are on top of Rs 51 lakh crore spent by the Centre and the states during the last six years.
    • The new pipeline consists of 39 per cent projects each by the Centre and states and the balance by 22 per cent by private sector.

  • Millimeter Spectrum

    The DoT plans to auction the 24.75 – 27.25 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum in the 5G band in March-April 2020.

    Millimeter Spectrum

    • The new spectrum under the 5G band called the ‘millimeter-wave bands’ is separate from the 8,300 megahertz (MHz).
    • The millimeter-wave band or extremely high-frequency frequency spectrum is mainly designed for usage in airport security scanners, closed-circuit television, scientific research, machine-to-machine communication, and military fire control.

    What’s so special with this MM spectrum?

    • As the wavelength becomes smaller, the cell size becomes less, which is the footprint of the relay station. This will be used more by the industry.
    • If we you already have fiber connection and want to reach houses, this will be through millimeter bands.

  • Species in news: Senna spectabilis


    The Kerala Forest Department is planning to adopt steps to arrest the rampant growth of invasive plants, especially Senna spectabilis, in the forest areas of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR).

    Senna spectabilis

    • The Senna spectabilis species was planted as avenue trees in Wayanad. The vayal ecosystem (marshy land) of the forest area now has this plant in large numbers.
    • The spread is posing a major threat to the forest areas of the reserve, owing to its quick growth and coppicing character.
    • The tree species was found in nearly 10 sq km area of the 344.44 sq km sanctuary around five years ago.
    • The plant has started to invade the adjacent Bandipur and Nagarhole tiger reserves in Karnataka and the Mudumalai tiger reserve in Tamil Nadu.
    • Now, it had invaded to more than 50 sq km of the sanctuary Wayanad WLS.
    • A recent study of the Ferns Nature Conservation Society recorded the presence of the plant in 78.91 sq km area of the sanctuary.

    Impact

    • An adult tree grows up to 15 to 20 metres in a short period of time and every year distributes thousands of seeds after gregarious flowering.
    • The thick foliage arrests the growth of other indigenous tree and grass species and causes food shortage for the wildlife population, especially herbivores.
    • Moreover, wildlife will not feed on the leaf of the treeas it is not palatable for them.
    • The allelochemicals produced by this plant adversely affect the germination and growth of the native species.

  • Finance Commission – Issues related to devolution of resources

  • Flagship Prelims 2018 Batch 1 & 2 | TS 19 January CA Discussion

    All aspirants who are giving tomorrow’s test should discuss all there doubts/queries about any question on this thread and not in the comments section of the test

    Around 20 questions of the test can be solved using Tikdam method

    Tikdams explanations in those selected questions are given in the explanation column itself

    By closely observing those questions after every test you will gradually learn the art of Tikdams which will assist you in clearing the UPSC prelims

    Highlights of tomorrow’s test:

     

    Q.1) The ‘Justice Srikrishna committee’, recently seen in news, is related to

    a) Transparency and accountability of Municipal Corporations

    b) Medical innovation in the Pharmaceutical Sector

    c) Data Protection Law

    d) Prompt corrective action (PCA)

     

    Q.2) Symbiodinium provides coral host with photosynthetic products in return for nutrients and shelter. The Symbiodinium is basically a/an

    a) Virus

    b) Amoeba

    c) Algae

    d) Macroscopic Animal

     

    Q.3) With reference to the ‘Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment) Bill, 2017’ which of the following statements is/are correct?

    1. The Bill would allow the government to take up infrastructure projects within prohibited areas around protected monuments.

    2. The Bill introduces a definition for ‘public works’, which includes the construction of any infrastructure that is financed and carried out by the central government for public purposes.

    Select the correct answer using the codes given below

    a) Neither 1 nor 2

    b) 1 only

    c) 2 only

    d) Both 1 and 2

     

    Q.4) Which of the following about the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) is incorrect?

    a) It is a fund created under an Act of the Government of India

    b) Currently, funds collected under CAMPA directly go into the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI)

    c) These funds are meant to be used by states to implement agro-forestry in non-forest land to compensate for felled forest

    d) None of the above

     

    Best of luck!

  • Testing Thursday : High Five With Tikdam – 7

    Hello everyone,

    We have been hammering on importance of logical thinking and art of tikdam along with sound preparation as essential ingredients of recipe to clear prelims examination for quite some time now. The flagship prelims test series is based on the same principles so is our prelims daily initiative.

    We started high five with tikdam to reinforce the importance of logical thinking and to get you into the habit of applying your mind while solving questions. In the first installment, there were five tough questions from 2016 paper which could be solved by tikdam.Individually none of you could get all five right but collectively you got all five right using tikdam.  In the 2nd installment, questions were easy to moderate and many more of you got answers right. In the 3rd installment, questions were a bit tricky and many of you failed to read the entire question with all the options carefully to arrive ta the write answer.

    Inference is very simple – USE HAVE TO PRACTICE TO GET BETTER AT DERIVING ANSWERS FROM THE QUESTION USING YOUR AVAILABLE KNOWLEDGE.

    How to practice – join the test series for more practice (600 tikdams) and one on one interaction with mentors (most important to take your thought process in right direction). It will help you get better in answering prelims questions and scoring 120 plus marks in CSE Prelims 2018.

    Further, we will be posting five questions (apart from prelims daily) from previous years papers on every Tuesday   9 a.m  (Testing Tuesday) and Thursday 9 p.m.(Testing Thursday)  to make you practice questions asked in exam so that you can yourself the judge of efficacy of tikdam.

    Here are high five questions from prelims 2010 (Moderate ones) which you can solve with your knowledge, logical thinking and tikdam.

    Please write your thought process/ method you applied to solve the question with the answers. We will get back to you as to how you can further refine your answer deriving capabilities. Note that this initiative will help you only if you apply your mind and write your thought process. Merely reading and learning the answers will not help.

    1. In order to comply with TRIPS Agreement, India enacted the Geographical Indications off Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999. The difference/differences between a ‘Trade Mark’ and a Geographical Indication is/are:
      1. A Trade Mark is an individual or a company’s right whereas a Geographical Indication is a community’s right.
      2. A Trade Mark can be licensed whereas a Geographical Indication cannot be licensed.
      3. A Trade Mark is assigned to the manufactured goods whereas the Geographical Indication is assigned to the agricultural goods/products and handicrafts only.
      Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
      a) 1 only
      b) 1 and 2 only
      c) 2 and 3 only
      d) 1, 2 and 3

    2. The SEZ Act, 2005 which came into effect in February 2006 has certain objectives. In this context, consider the following:
    1. Development of infrastructure facilities.
    2. Promotion of investment from foreign sources.
    3. Promotion of exports of services only.
    Select the correct answer using the code given below.
    a) 1 and 2 only
    b) 3 only
    c) 2 and 3 only
    d) 1, 2 and 3

    3. Consider the following statements:
    1. Biodiversity hotspots are located only in tropical regions.
    2. India has four biodiversity hotspots i.e., Eastern Himalayas, Western Himalayas, Western Ghats and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
    Select the correct answer using the code given below.
    a) 1 only
    b) 2 only
    c) Both 1 and 2
    d) Neither 1 nor 2

    4. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles produce one of the following as “exhaust”
    a) NH3
    b) CH4
    c) H2O
    d) H2O2

    5. Consider the following:
    1. Oxides of Hydrogen
    2. Oxides of Nitrogen
    3. Oxides of Sulphur
    Which of the above causes/cause acid rain?
    a) 1 and 2 only
    b) 3 only
    c) 2 and 3 only
    d) 1, 2 and 3

     

    Dr. Vipin Garg is a medical doctor by training, economist by passion and an IAS (rank 20)officer by profession. He is one of the founding members of Civilsdaily and pioneered the concept of Tikdams (Smart Hacks) for IAS Prelims which form the bedrock of Civilsdaily’s Flagship Prelims Test Series.

     

    MPORTANT STUFF: 

    1. Daily newscards have been enriched with back2basics and note2students – Make notes daily

    2. Liked Tikdams? Join our Flagship TS which helps you perfect this approach – Flagship Prelims for IAS 2018

    3. For attempting previous Prelims Daily Questions – Click here