HOW TO ATTEMPT ANSWERS IN DAILY ANSWER WRITING ENHANCEMENT(AWE)?
Daily 4 questions from General studies 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be provided to you.
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In 2021, Mexico and India commemorated 71 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations. This article is written by the Foreign Minister of Mexico, who has been on his official visit to India.
Areas of cooperation between two countries
Mexico and India are members of the G-20, which brings together 20 of the largest economies in the world and whose presidency in 2023 will be assumed by India.
Non-permanent members of the security council: Both countries are non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council this year.
At both forums, India and Mexico will contribute decisively to world peace and security, and will put poverty reduction at the centre of the multilateral debate.
The health sector is another cornerstone of our exchanges.
Mexico will strengthen its cooperation with India as one of the leading global producers of medicines and will also seek joint pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Another key focus area of cooperation will be aerospace.
Although it was started less than a decade ago, this has enormous potential for the Mexican Space Agency and for regional initiatives such as the recently established Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency (ALCE) of which Mexico is the founder.
In the economic sphere, Mexico’s links with India, the sixth-largest economy in the world and our tenth-largest trading partner, undoubtedly offers a wide range of prospects for Mexico’s productive sectors.
Conclusion
Links between India and Mexico have evolved positively in recent years, demonstrating the complementarities between two ancient countries, rich in history and diversity. In this spirit, we will take a firm step towards a tangible alliance to showcase this evolution, which could result in mutual benefits.
Sri Lanka is gearing up to host the Fifth Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit, now in its silver jubilee year. The summit is being held in virtual/hybrid mode and Sri Lanka is the current BIMSTEC chair.
Why BIMSTEC matters for India and the region
The unique ecology of BIMSTEC is witnessing enriched political support and commitment from India.
India has made the Bay of Bengal integral to India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East’ policies which can accelerate the process of regional integration.
Significance in economic and strategic space: Finalising the BIMSTEC Charter; BIMSTEC Master Plan for Transport Connectivity; BIMSTEC Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters; BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility (TTF); cooperation between diplomatic academies/training institutions; and a template of Memorandum of Association for the future establishment of BIMSTEC centres/entities present signs of optimism.
BIMSTEC as a centre of Indo-Pacific: With a re-emergence of the idea of the ‘Indo-Pacific’ region, the growing economic, geopolitical and security connections between the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean regions are creating a shared strategic space.
The Bay of Bengal is evolving as the centre of the Indo-Pacific region again.
The renewed focus has given a new lease of life to the developmental efforts in the region, in particular BIMSTEC.
Way forward for BIMSTEC
1] Political support and strong commitment from all member countries
With a changed narrative and approach, the Bay of Bengal has the potential to become the epicentre of the Indo-Pacific idea — a place where the strategic interests of the major powers of East and South Asia intersect.
Potential of BIMSTEC: There is a greater appreciation of BIMSTEC’s potential due to geographical contiguity, abundant natural and human resources, and rich historical linkages and a cultural heritage for promoting deeper cooperation in the region.
Political support and strong commitment from all member countries are crucial in making BIMSTEC a dynamic and effective regional organisation.
2] Boost connectivity
Connectivity is essential to develop a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable Bay of Bengal region.
The BIMSTEC Master Plan for Transport Connectivity will provide the necessary boost to connectivity.
Therefore, BIMSTEC needs to address two dimensions of connectivity – one, upgrading and dovetailing national connectivity into a regional road map; and two, development of both hard and soft infrastructures.
3] Enhance cooperation in different areas
There is growing involvement of educational institutions, industries and business chambers through various forums and conclaves which are helping to enhance cooperation in the areas of education, trade and investments, information technology and communication among others.
India has implemented its promise to set up a Centre for Bay of Bengal Studies (CBS) at Nalanda University, Bihar for research on art, culture and other subjects related to the Bay of Bengal.
4] Strengthen the institutional capacity of the BIMSTEC Secretariat
The BIMSTEC Secretariat coordinates, monitors and facilitates the implementation of BIMSTEC activities and programmes. The leaders must agree to strengthen the institutional capacity of the BIMSTEC Secretariat.
Charter for BIMSTEC: Approval of a charter for BIMSTEC during the summit will further augment its visibility and stature in international fora.
Conclusion
The quest for economic growth and the development of the BIMSTEC region can be achieved with single-minded focus and cooperation among the member counties. In this endeavour, India has a key role in accelerating regional cooperation under the BIMSTEC framework and in making it vibrant, stronger and result-oriented.
As UPSC Mains results were announced last week, Sajal sir (Co-Founder of Civilsdaily and Mentor ofSmash Mains 2021 Program) was flooded with calls by delighted aspirants who thanked him for his mentorship. Sajal Sir himself is the topper of GS 2017 Mains paper and mentor of 400 UPSC Toppers.
After a quick check, we found out 41 Smash Mains students are qualified to attend the interview this year. As we are waiting for their interview results, we will not be announcing their names right now. However, we are sharing the testimonials of the qualified aspirants. We wish them all the very best!
As prelims is round the corner, you would have already started your revision. The main purpose of the UPSC prelims exam is to test your conceptual clarity in basic topics and application of current affairs in subject-related questions. Since the questions in prelims aren’t direct or straightforward, they appear to be outside the standard book and NCERTs.
Based on our research, we have come up with nearly 30-35 important subject-wise topics for Prelims 2022. In this article, we will be highlighting only 3 topics per subject. Those aspirants interested to get the complete handbook of Must-Read Static+ Current Affairs Prelims Topics can register for ourFree 1-on-1 Mentorship Session.Along With the Free Consultation+Handbook, aspirants will Get Free Personalised 60 Days Revision Timetable for Prelims 2022.
Polity
Important Supreme Court Judgements.
Revise important judgements passed by the Supreme Court in the year 2021 along with those mentioned in your polity standard books like Keshvananda Bharati case, Uman Rao Case and Minerva Mills Case. While reading up the reasoning behind the judgements, you will gain clarity of the constitutional provisions.
Fundamental Rights from Article 12-35
Every year, a minimum of 2-3 questions mandatorily ask about the basic human rights guaranteed by the constitution, their significance and limitations. Sample these questions from Prelims 2021.
1. Under the Indian constitution concentration of wealth violates
(a) The Right to Equality
(b) The Directive Principles of State Policy
(c) The Right to Freedom
(d) The Concept of Welfare
2. A legislation which confers on the executive or administrative authority an unguided and uncontrolled discretionary power in the matter of the application of law violates which one of the following Articles of the Constitution of India?
(a) Article 14
(b) Article 28
(c) Article 32
(d) Article 44
Non-constitutional Bodies
Questions have been consistently asked about the recent developments in the quasi-judicial, statutory and regulatory bodies set up by the state legislatures. Examples include the National Human Rights Commission, National Green Tribunal and National Law Commission. One must be aware of the corresponding laws around which these bodies were established.
Inflation has been a persistent issue that has affected Indians every year. Everytime, there is news on how the RBI plans to tackle the issue or how foreign crises result in inflation of goods in India. Aspirants are expected to understand types of inflation like demand-pull inflation, cost-push inflation and wholesale price inflation. Remedies for inflation can be found in the current affairs section. One can expect 2-3 questions in prelims from this section. The prelims questions would test the conceptual clarity in fiscal policy and inflation.
Money market
Aspirants are expected to have a general and not specialized knowledge on the financial instruments with high liquidity and short term maturities. The different kinds of credit that exist for different sections of the society needs to be read.
GDP Estimates
Every year one question in prelims is about the GDP estimates of a particular year. While reading this topic, aspirants must note down the department that releases this report, the difference between GDP and GVA and the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
Aspirants are expected to make micronotes from the standard books they are reading on the role of international institutions in combating environmental pollution through conventions, acts and policies. Examples of such conventions are Stockholm convention, Ramsar Convention, CITES etc.
Biogeochemical cycles
Aspirants need to be familiar with the process of biogeochemical cycle, the types of biogeochemical cycle and the significance of the same. Questions around this are typically direct and straightforward.
Mapping of national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and wetlands
Every year, aspirants definitely get 3-5 fact based questions on national parks. Some of these questions could be asked due to a recent development in a particular park. For example, the Chilika Lake wetland was recently in news in January due to migratory birds like the Mongolian Gull staying there. The Chilika Lake is the first wetland of international importance under Ramsar convention. Certain aspects the aspirants must note down are the areas where the particular national park or wetland is spread across, the major attractions, the economic and social significance of the place.
Any report released by an international organisation on the performance of India against other countries under certain parameters must be revised. This includes The Global Hunger Index, World Happiness Report and Human Development Index.
GOI schemes for 2021
Ranging from agriculture, education, MSMEs, vulnerable sections and banking, aspirants need to have awareness on government initiatives in 2021. This will make it easier for them to solve indirect questions as well.
Electric Vehicles: India’s commitment towards electric vehicles and COP26 of Glasgow might be areas where prelims questions would be asked. Aspirants should understand the various measures to develop and promote the EV ecosystem in the country such asFaster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME II) scheme, Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) and the recently launched PLI scheme for Auto and Automotive Components for manufacturers of electric vehicles.
Dark Genome
This is a hot topic in DNA research and aspirants must understand why research in this area is essential for treatment of diseases. Questions on genetics can be expected from Prelims this time.
Emerging technologies (5G, AI, Machine learning)
In recent years, a lot of questions have appeared about the latest developments in technology, their discoveries and the latest theories related to them. Few of these technologies are 5G, Quantum Key Distribution technology, hydrogen fuel cell etc. Aspirants must micronotes on these topics from prelims perspective.
Aspirants must practice places in the Indian Map on a regular basis. Particularly, they must focus on himalayan rivers like Ganga, Brahmaputra and Yamuna, peninsular rivers like Damodar, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri and Periyar. Not only rivers, but aspirants must know where exactly their tributaries are located. Apart from this, North to South Alignment of Mountains in Eastern ghat and Western Ghat, Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands and Industrial Location and Ports need to be marked.
Climatic Regions in India
Aspirants must learn about the onset and withdrawal of the Indian Monsoon system, tropical cyclones, different climatic zones, factors that cause shifts in climate and intertropical convergence zone.
Continental Shift Theory
Present in the NCERT textbooks, this theory talks about the formation of different continents. Aspirants must keep an eye for one or two questions that might come from this topic in the Geography section.
Want to Know How a Free 1-on-1 Mentorship Looks Like? Watch This Video
In this video, there is first an initial discussion of the test performance, which is then followed by the mentor discussing the questions which the aspirant had got wrong and then he will ask the aspirant, where did he study the topic and to share the notes he made on that topic. The mentor will find out the problem and suggest the correct method of studying the topics. After the session gets over, the aspirant has to study the topics where he couldn’t score high marks in polity. After this, the next day the mentor will conduct another test only on those topics. This way the aspirant gains an understanding on how to approach the whole subject of polity.
Addressing the ministerial of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi–Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation), EAM S. Jaishankar urged closer cooperation and connectivity among the members.
What is BIMSTEC?
The BIMSTEC formed in 1997 is an international organisation of seven South Asian and Southeast Asian nations, housing 1.73 billion people and having a combined gross domestic product of $3.8 trillion (2021).
The BIMSTEC member states – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand – are among the countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal.
Leadership is rotated in alphabetical order of country names. The permanent secretariat is in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
A BIMSTEC free trade agreement is under negotiation (c. 2018), also referred to as the mini SAARC.
Objectives of BIMSTEC
There are 14 main sectors of BIMSTEC along technological and economic cooperation among South Asian and Southeast Asian countries along the coast of the Bay of Bengal.
Trade & Investment
Transport & Communication
Energy
Tourism
Technology
Fisheries
Agriculture
Public Health
Poverty Alleviation
Counter-Terrorism & Transnational Crime
Environment & Disaster Management
People-to-People Contact
Cultural Cooperation
Climate Change
About the proposed BIMSTEC FTA Framework
The BIMSTEC FTA has been signed by all member nations to stimulate trade and investment in the parties, and attract outsiders to trade with and invest in the BIMSTEC countries at a higher level.
Subsequently, the “Trade Negotiating Committee” (TNC) was set up, with Thailand as the permanent chair, to negotiate in areas of trade in goods and services, investment, economic co-operation, trade facilitations and technical assistance for LDCs.
Once negotiation on trade in goods is completed, the TNC would then proceed with negotiation on trade in services and investment.
Others
(1) BIMSTEC Coastal Shipping Agreement draft
It was discussed on 1 December 2017 in New Delhi, to facilitate coastal shipping within 20 nautical miles of the coastline in the region to boost trade between the member countries.
Compared to the deep sea shipping, coastal ship require smaller vessels with lesser draft and involve lower costs.
Once the agreement becomes operational after it is ratified, a lot of cargo movement between the member countries can be done through the cost effective, environment friendly and faster coastal shipping routes.
(2) BIMSTEC Master Plan for Transport Connectivity
The BIMSTEC Master Plan for Transport Connectivity, finalized under India’s chairmanship of the expert group last year, envisages a seamless multimodal transport system across the region.
This will stimulate intra-regional trade and investment in the region.
It identifies 264 projects requiring an investment of $ 126 billion over a ten year horizon from 2018–2028.
A research, reviewing India’s entrepreneurial policy Startup India, affirmed its positive impact in reducing regional entrepreneurial disparities.
Startup India Initiative
The Startup India campaign was first announced by PM Modi during his speech on 15 August 2015 address from the Red Fort.
The action plan for this initiative is focusing on three areas:
Simplification and Handholding.
Funding Support and Incentives.
Industry-Academia Partnership and Incubation.
An additional area relating to this initiative is to discard restrictive States Government policies within this domain, such as License Raj, Land Permissions, Foreign Investment Proposals, and Environmental Clearances.
It was organized by the Department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPI&IT).
The success of the scheme
Minister for Commerce and Industry has informed the Lok Sabha that the entrepreneurial portal had more than 65,000 startups registered.
Of which, 40 attained the ‘unicorn’ status in the last twelve months, bringing the total as of date to 90.
India now ranks third among global startup eco-systems.
The networking, training and mentoring facilities provided by Startup India alongside entrepreneurship outreach campaigns in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, helped address regional entrepreneurial disparities in India.
Limitations to its success
(1) Heavy concentration in megacities
Entrepreneurship continues to be “highly concentrated” in three megacities, namely, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi NCR.
India’s venture capital industry is also clustered in and around these three cities.
Such concentration can lead to increased economic inequality and hinder emergence of entrepreneurs from industries other than those belonging to the clusters.
(2) Narrow Representation
The Startup India Action Plan document has no mention of the words ‘caste’, ‘tribe’, ‘marginalised’, ‘indigenous’ or ‘social group’.
Additionally, the policy’s reliance on technology does not take into consideration India’s digital divide, especially with respect to urban and rural areas.
(3) Few Women in the industry
There is an under-representation of women and marginalized caste groups in the national startup ecosystem.
Dedicated measures to support Women
10% of the fund in the Fund of Funds operated by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has been reserved for women-led startups.
Further, all the alternate investment funds where the SIDBI takes equity have been mandated to contribute 20% in business which are women led.
There is a capacity-building program and a dedicated webpage for women on the portal.
Way ahead
There is a need for policies and progressive strategies from governments to encourage startups and provide access and assistance in key areas including tax clarity, incubation, affordability and licensing.
In any case, governments should be well prepared and dedicated to creating a culture of startups to impact the entrepreneurial ecosystem in their cities, countries and citizens.
The population of the greater one-horned or Indian rhinoceros in the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve has increased by 200 (from 2413 in 2018) in four years, the latest census of the flagship animal has revealed.
About Indian Rhino
The Indian rhinoceros also called the greater one-horned rhinoceros and great Indian rhinoceros is a rhinoceros native to the Indian subcontinent.
It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and Schedule I animal in the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
It once ranged across the entire northern part of the Indian Subcontinent, along the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra River basins, from Pakistan to the Indian-Myanmar border.
Poaching for rhinoceros horn became the single most important reason for the decline of the Indian rhino.
Why are Rhinos poached for horns?
Ground rhino horn is used in traditional Chinese medicine to cure a range of ailments, from cancer to hangovers, and also as an aphrodisiac.
In Vietnam, possessing a rhino horn is considered a status symbol.
Due to demand in these countries, poaching pressure on rhinos is ever persistent against which one cannot let the guard down.
Try this PYQ:
Q. Consider the following statements:
Asiatic lion is naturally found in India only.
Double-humped camel is naturally found in India only.
One-horned rhinoceros is naturally found in India only.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
A massive fire has broken out in the Sariska Tiger Reserve and Air Force helicopters equipped with water sprays are battling to bring it under control.
Sariska Tiger Reserve
Sariska Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve in Alwar district, Rajasthan.
It stretches over an area of 881 sq km comprising scrub-thorn arid forests, dry deciduous forests, grasslands, and rocky hills.
This area was a hunting preserve of the Alwar state and was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1958.
It was given the status of a tiger reserve making it a part of India’s Project Tiger in 1978.
It is the first reserve in the world with successfully relocated tigers.
It is a part of the Aravalli Range and the Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forests eco-region.
Existential threats
It is rich in mineral resources, such as copper.
In spite of the Supreme Court’s 1991 ban on mining in the area, marble mining continues to threaten the environment.
