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  • Ethical Veganism

    | Trivia | Mains Paper 4: Ethics

    An employment tribunal in the UK has ruled that “ethical veganism” is a philosophical belief and has to be protected by law against discrimination.

    What’s the issue about?

    • A man was fired from an animal welfare charity for raising concerns about its pension funds’ alleged investment in companies that use animal testing.
    • He for gross misconduct on insisting to ban fox-hunting and other types of recreational hunting in Britain.
    • The tribunal had to determine if ethical veganism fit the criteria of a religious or philosophical belief.
    • The tribunal determined that ethical veganism meets the test required to be a philosophical belief, because of which it is protected under the British Equality Act, 2010.
    • Many vegetarians claimed that they were discriminated at workplace for not eating meat. In his case, the tribunal had dismissed the case, calling his vegetarianism a lifestyle choice.

    Veganism, ethical veganism, and ethical vegetarianism

    • Broadly, a vegan person does not consume meat products and also products that are derived from animals (such as milk, eggs, etc).
    • ‘The Ethical Case for Veganism’ in the Oxford Handbook of Food Ethics, loosely defines veganism as a lifestyle choice to refrain from eating meat as well as products made from or by animals.
    • Ethical veganism, on the other hand, has been defined as the view that attaches a positive ethical valuation to a vegan lifestyle.
    • Significantly, ethical veganism is different from ethical vegetarianism — the latter makes a distinction between products made from animals, such as meat, and products made by animals, such as milk.
    • Ethical vegetarianism is opposed to products made from animals in particular.
    • There is also an ethical omnivorism, which permits the use of some animal products and may restrict the use of others based on some ethical criterion, say the authors of the Food Ethics paper.

    Types of ethical veganism

    • They mention two types of ethical veganism: broad absolutist veganism, under which it is always wrong to use any product made by or from animals, and modest ethical veganism, under which it is typically wrong to use products made from or by a range of animals including cats, dogs, cows, pigs, etc.
    • An example of the former category is a person who would not press a leather button, “even if doing so were necessary in order to avert global nuclear war”.
    • The reasons for adopting veganism as a lifestyle can range from wanting a better and healthier lifestyle, environmental, or religious reasons.

    Britain’s Equality Act

    • The act protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in the wider society in the UK.
    • The Act offers a basic framework of protection against direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, and victimisation in services and public functions, etc.
    • Under the Act, a belief is defined as any religious or philosophical belief.
    • Since the tribunal has ruled that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief, it is a protected characteristic under the Act.

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  • Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

    Places in news: Nankana Sahib

    Prelims Only | History | Mains Paper 1: Arts & Culture

    Recently tension mounted in Pakistan after few goons vandalized the Nankana Sahib Gurdwara.

    Nankana Sahib

    • Nankana Sahib is a city of 80,000 in Pakistan’s Punjab province, where Gurdwara Janam Asthan (also called Nankana Sahib Gurdwara) is located.
    • The shrine is built over the site where Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, was believed to be born in 1469.
    • It was constructed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, after he visited Nankana Sahib in 1818-19 while returning from the Battle of Multan.
    • It is 75 kms to the west of Lahore, and is the capital of Nankana Sahib district.
    • The city was previously known as Talwandi, and was founded by Rai Bhoi, a wealthy landlord.
    • Rai Bhoi’s grandson, Rai Bular Bhatti, renamed the town ‘Nankana Sahib’ in honour of the Guru. ‘Sahib’ is an Arabic-origin epithet of respect.

    Historical significance

    • During British rule, the Gurdwara Janam Asthan was the site of a violent episode when in 1921, over 130 Akali Sikhs were killed after they were attacked by the Mahant of the shrine.
    • The incident is regarded as one of the key milestones in the Gurdwara Reform Movement, which led to the passing of the Sikh Gurdwara Act in 1925 that ended the Mahant control of Gurdwaras.
    • In 2014, Pakistan had a memorial for the massacre built.

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  • Agmark, Hallmark, ISI, BIS, BEE and Other Ratings

    [pib] New Energy Performance Standards for Air Conditioners

    PIB | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.

    The Central Government in consultation with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has notified new energy performance standards for Room Air Conditioner (RACs).

    240C default setting

    • The 240C default setting has been made mandatory from Jan 1, 2020 for all room air conditioners covered under the ambit of BEE star-labelling program vide this notification.
    • Additionally, the Indian Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (ISEER) as per the new standards will range from (3.30 – 5.00) for split and (2.70 – 3.50) for window air conditioners, which will be applicable from 1st January 2021 onwards.
    • ISEER is the energy performance index used for Room Air Conditioners (RACs) and its assessment is based on the bin hours defined in ISO 16358.

    Voluntary star labelling program

    • BEE launched the voluntary star labelling program for fixed-speed room air conditioners (RACs) in 2006, and this program became mandatory on 12th January 2009.
    • Thereafter, in 2015, voluntary star labelling program for inverter room air conditioners was launched and which was made mandatory with effect from 1st January 2018.
    • The BEE star labelling program for Room Air Conditioners now covers both fixed and inverter RAC up to a cooling capacity of 10,465 watts (2.97 TR).
    • Continual enhancement in performance levels has resulted in substantial energy efficiency improvement of about 43% in the minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) for split units, which are the most popular RACs sold in the market.

    About BEE

    • BEE is a statutory body under the Ministry of Power, Government of India.
    • It is assisted in developing policies and strategies with the primary objective of reducing the energy intensity of the Indian economy.
    • BEE coordinates with designated consumers, designated agencies, and other organization to identify and utilize the existing resources and infrastructure, in performing the functions assigned to it under the energy conservation act.

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  • Food Safety Standards – FSSAI, food fortification, etc.

    [pib] Network for Scientific Co-operation for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (NetSCoFAN)

    PIB | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Food Processing & Related Industries In India

    Union Health Minister has launched NetSCoFAN, a network of research & academic institutions working in the area of food & nutrition.

    NetSCoFAN

    • The NetSCoFAN would comprise of eight groups of institutions working in different areas viz. biological, chemical, nutrition & labelling, food of animal origin, food of plant origin, water & beverages, food testing, and safer & sustainable packaging.
    • FSSAI has identified eight Nodal Institutions who would develop a ‘Ready Reckoner’ that will have inventory of all research work, experts and institutions and would carry out and facilitate research, survey and related activities.
    • It would identify research gaps in respective areas and collect, collate and develop database on food safety issues for risk assessment activities.
    • The need for identify research gaps in respective areas and collect, collate and develop database on food safety issues for risk assessment activities, will be addressed by NetSCoFAN.
    • The NetSCoFAN directory would be covering detailed information of various heads/Directors and lead scientists of lead and associated partnering institutions.

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-United States

    [op-ed of the day]Spotting an opportunity in changing fundamentals

    op-ed snap | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Effect Of Policies & Politics Of World On India’S Interests

    “Phase one” of the trade deal between the U.S. and China notwithstanding, the ongoing dispute between the U.S. and China and other changing scenarios could turn out opportunities in various forms for India.

    Oil prices windfall

    • Slack demand and increased production by the U.S., had lowered oil prices which was good news for India.
    • It could also help India address its current account deficit.
    • But oil prices have surged more than 4% following the killing of Iranian general by the U.S.
    • An outbreak of hostilities could send the oil prices soaring.
    • India’s energy import from the U.S. is likely to touch $10 bn by 2019-20.
    • While China is increasing its stake in Saudi Aramco- one of the largest oil production company in the world.
    • China is also increasing its ties with the other oil producers which gives China the opportunity to increase its naval presence in the Indian Ocean increasing the Strait of Hormuz.

    On trade front

    • According to the State Bank of India report-Ecowrap, India has scarcely benefited from the trade war.
    • Of the $35bn decline in China’s export to the U.S. $21bn was diverted to the other countries and the rest $14bn was made good by the U.S. producers.
    • India contributed only $755-million of this diversion.
    • The U.S. tariff made some other players-Mexico, Taiwan, Vietnam even more competitive.
    • China is facing pork shortage but India exports pork indirectly through Vietnam, increasing its cost and reducing market share.
    • China’s thrust on the AI, robotics, autonomous vehicles, and space technology has raised the U.S. suspicion, raising the prospects of high-tech war.
    • The big three Chines high-tech companies, Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent together invested $5bn in India.
    • India could use this opportunity to insist China open its market for the IT sector and other tech exports.
    • India has allowed all the players including Huawei to participate in the 5G trials but the outcomes are far from over.
    • With all that said, the U.S.-China tensions drive supply chains out of China, with the right policies as Vietnam has done, India could emerge as an alternative destination.
    • Restriction by the U.S. on  China could lead to difficulties in reducing emissions and mitigate climate change in China.
    • Restrictions on technology export often lead to an increase in domestic research.
    • So, China could succeed in developing all the technologies that are denied to it by the U.S. under the restrictions.
    • With the protests in Hong Kong showing no signs of abating, India may have to cater to refugees of Indian origin if things turn uglier.

    Key regional issues

    • The situation in the South China Sea is in favour of China as it already has occupied several of them.
    • Though India is a member of “Quad” dialogue on border issues, it has no role in negotiating the “Code of Conduct” with the ASEAN.
    • On the connectivity issues, the U.S. position is helpful for India. Recently the U.S. criticised China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
    • India is not a member of the Indo-Pacific Business Forum created by the U.S., Japan, and Australia.
    • India is also not a member of Blue Dot network created by the U.S., Japan, and Australia.
    • In future India might have to reconcile its regional connectivity issues with BRI projects that have mushroomed in the region.
    • On the ideological fronts, China is so emboldened by its economic success that it seeks to challenge the liberal democratic model and offers an alternative based on its own system.
    • India might have to contend with the greater Chinese presence in the Asia-Pacific theatre.

    Conclusion

    India’s relations with the U.S. and Chinas growing influence in economic as well as all the other sphere represents multiple challenges for India and are likely to grow in the future.

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  • Citizenship and Related Issues

    [op-ed snap]Secularism’s Brexit moment

    op-ed snap | Polity | : Communalism, Secularism, Regionalism

     

    Context

    In India, the debate on the issue of secularism needs to be based on a more principled and practical basis.

    Change in public discourse

    • Popular skepticism of secularism has been growing these days.
    • Secularism is being increasingly discounted not only by the hardliners but also by the moderate middle.
    • It is no longer taboo to raise questions that were formerly the preserve of the fringe.
    • Today, democracy is taken for granted by all the Indians. No one raises questions over its utility.
    • Secularism need to be elevated to the same level as is the democracy today, where no one raises the question on its utility.

    What are the issues with the defenders of secularism?

    • Rather than make case for secularism, its champions indulge in name-calling and citing the example from the past to tarnish and shut down critics.
    • They also cite the Constitution in their support-without realising that it is this very document’s secular thrust that has became suspect.
    • They also assume the obvious correctness of their cosmopolitan worldview.

    What changes need to be made?

    • They must make a case for secularism anew-principled and practical.
    • On principled basis-individual equality, freedom of conscience and personal habits.
    • On a practical basis-no country can flourish by degrading their minority.
    • They must stress the India’s plurality and “live and let live” culture, syncretic traditions and long history of respect and accommodation of differences.
    • They also need to show some humility.
    • They also have to show openness to fair-minded criticism.

    Conclusion

    These suggestions are urgently needed to be followed by those arguing in the defence of secularism otherwise there is a very real possibility of a large section of a society losing faith in secularism. In this anxious hours India needs to engage in open and self-critical debate-rather than polarising polemic.

     

     

     

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  • Food Procurement and Distribution – PDS & NFSA, Shanta Kumar Committee, FCI restructuring, Buffer stock, etc.

    [op-ed snap]Lifting growth, containing inflation

    op-ed snap | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: PDS, Buffer Stock & Food Security

    Context

    There is a large scope for  the improvement in the efficiency of grain management system under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

    Declining Agri-sector growth rate

    • India’s growth rate plummeted to 4.5 per cent in the second quarter of this fiscal.
    • The quarterly growth in GDPA (agri-GDP) is hovering at around 2 percent, it is a cause for great concern.
    • Agriculture still engages about 44 per cent of India’s workforce, which has serious consequences for the overall economy of the country.

    The bleak picture of the economy

    • Recently inflation has started to surge after a long time.
    • Inflation is led by the different components of the food segment- cereals, pulses, and vegetables.
    • There is a challenge of containing inflation and increasing the demand at the same time.
    • At the same time, there is also the challenge of maintaining the fiscal deficit by 3.3 %.
    • Recently Finance minister has launched an investment package of 102 lakh crores.
    • So, there is a need to take a look at the inefficiencies in food grain management.

    Inefficiencies in NFSA

    • It supplies a certain quantity of wheat and rice to 67 percent population.
    • It gives wheat at Rs. 2/kg and rice at Rs. 3/kg.
    • While the cost of these grains to FCI is at Rs. 25/kg and Rs. 35/kg respectively.
    • This led to the provision of Rs 1.84 lakh crores for food subsidy.
    • The buffer stocks with the FCI is far more than double the buffer stock norms as on January 1 every year.
    • This excess stock is the result of an inefficient strategy for food management.
    • The strategy where the procurement of these grains is open-ended while the disbursement is restricted.
    • The money locked in these excess stock is about 1 lakh crores.
    • If the rabi season procurement is good FCI may run out of storage space to accommodate.

    Suggestions for improvement

    • The open market operation should be increased.
    • Even if the government liquidate half of the excess stock it would fetch Rs.50,000 crores.
    • The Shanta Kumar panel had submitted the blueprint for the improvement in the grain management system.
    • Only three reiterations are needed.
    • First-while the Antyodaya category should keep getting the maximum food subsidy, the issue price should be fixed at 50% of the procurement for the rest.
    • Second- restrict the percentage of population covered under the scheme to 40 % from the present 67%
    • Third-stop the procurement of rice in the north-western states of Punjab and Haryana where the water table is depleting.

    Conclusion

    • If the government implements these three points it can save the country another Rs. 50,000 crores annually. On top of this, it will help the government to reduce its fiscal deficit.

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  • Forest Conservation Efforts – NFP, Western Ghats, etc.

    Miyawaki Method

    | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    Kerala Forest Dept. has adopted Miyawaki afforestation concept to be used in govt. offices, schools and puramboke land.

    Miyawaki Method

    • Miyawaki method is a method of urban afforestation by turning backyards into mini-forests.
    • It includes planting trees as close as possible in the same area which not only saves space, but the planted saplings also support each other in growth and block sunlight reaching the ground, thereby preventing the growth of weed.
    • Thus the saplings become maintenance-free (self sustainable) after the first three years.
    • It helps to create a forest in just 20 to 30 years while through conventional methods it takes anywhere between 200 to 300 years.

    The technique

    • The native trees of the region are identified and divided into four layers — shrub, sub-tree, tree, and canopy.
    • The quality of soil is analysed and biomass which would help enhance the perforation capacity, water retention capacity, and nutrients in it, is mixed with it.
    • A mound is built with the soil and the seeds are planted at a very high density — three to five sapling per square meter.
    • The ground is covered with a thick layer of mulch.

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  • Air Pollution

    Smog Tower

    | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena

    Recently New Delhi got its first smog tower (a prototype air purifier). In November, the Supreme Court had directed the Centre and the Delhi government to prepare a plan to install ‘smog towers’ across the capital to deal with air pollution.

    What is a ‘Smog Tower’?

    • Smog towers are structures designed to work as large-scale air purifiers.
    • They are usually fitted with multiple layers of air filters, which clean the air of pollutants as it passes through them.
    • The smog tower installed at Lajpat Nagar is capable of treating 6,00,000 cubic metres of air per day and can collect more than 75 per cent of particulate matters (PM) 2.5 and 10.
    • After the cleaning, the tower releases clean air.
    • The project is collaboration between the IIT Bombay, IIT-Delhi and the University of Minnesota, the latter having helped design a similar tower of over 100 metres in China’s Xi’an city.
    • The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) will also be involved with the project.

    How it works?

    • The 20-metre (65 feet) high tower will trap particulate matter of all sizes suspended in the air.
    • Large-scale air filters shall draw in the air through fans installed at the top before passing it through the filters and releasing it near the ground.
    • The filters installed in the tower will use carbon nanofibres as a major component and will be fitted along its peripheries. The tower will focus on reducing particulate matter load.

    Other examples in the world

    • China, which has been battling air pollution for years, has two smog towers — in its capital Beijing and in the northern city of Xi’an.
    • The Xi’an tower is dubbed the world’s largest, and has reportedly brought down PM 2.5 by 19% in an area of around 6 sq km in its vicinity.
    • The 100-metre (328 feet) high tower has produced 10 million cubic metres of clean air every day since its launch.
    • On severely polluted days the tower is able to bring down smog close to moderate levels.

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  • Drosophila

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Pune is set to host the fifth edition of the Asia Pacific Drosophila Research Conference (APDRC5) is being organised in the country for the first time by the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER).

    Drosophila

    • Drosophila is a genus of two-winged flies commonly known as fruit flies that are used in evolutionary and developmental studies.
    • It is a genus of flies, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called “small fruit flies” or pomace flies, vinegar flies, or wine flies, a reference to the characteristic of many species to linger around overripe or rotting fruit.
    • It is one of the most widely-used and preferred model organisms in biological research across the world for the last 100 years.
    • Several discoveries in biology have been made using this. Its genome is entirely sequenced and there is enormous information available about its biochemistry, physiology and behaviour.

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