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  • [Sansad TV] Billion Dollar Club: India’s Unicorn Era

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

    Context

    India has the second-largest number of unicorns and is only behind the United States (US). It is now home to 71 unicorns.  

    World’s biggest investors, including SoftBank, Tiger Global and Falcon Edge, are pouring money into Indian start-ups, churning out unicorns at a record speed and valuations.

    Unicorns: A Backgrounder

    A unicorn is a start-up with a valuation of at least $1 billion.

    • The term was first coined by Aileen Lee, founder of Cowboy ventures when she referred to the 39 start-ups that had a valuation of over $1 billion as unicorns.
    • The term initially was used to lay emphasis on the rarity of such start-ups.

    Some of the successful Indian unicorns:

    • Lenskart
    • Cred
    • Meesho
    • PharmEasy
    • Licious
    • Grofers etc.

    Unicorn boost in India

    • The growth of Unicorns in India has been phenomenal in the past two years.
    • From 17 Unicorns in 2018 the number went up to 38 in 2020 and it’s 71 and counting in 2021.
    • Many of these unicorns, which have cumulatively raised more than 9 billion dollars till date, have also seen a surge in valuations.

    Features of a unicorn Start-up

    To be a unicorn is no cakewalk and each unicorn today has its own story with a list of features that worked in its favour.

    The few pointers that are commonly seen across all the unicorns is as under:

    • Disruptive innovation: Mostly, all the unicorns have brought a disruption in the field they belong to. Uber, for example, changed the way people commuted.  
    • ‘Firsts’: It is seen that unicorns are mostly the starters in their industry. They change the way people do things and gradually create a necessity for themselves.
    • High on tech: Another common trend across unicorns is that their business model runs on tech. Uber got their model accepted by crafting a friendly app.
    • Consumer-focused: Often, theirgoal is to simplify and make things easy for consumers and be a part of their day-to-day life.
    • Affordability: Keeping things affordable is another key highlight of these startups. Spotify, for example, made listening to music easier to the world. 
    • Privately owned: Most of the unicorns are privately owned which gets their valuation bigger when an established company invests in it. 
    • *Mostly software based: A recent report suggests that 87% of the unicorns’ products are software, 7% are hardware and the rest 6% are other products & services.

    Entrepreneurship today is ‘survival-driven’ self-employment, formed out of necessity, as well as opportunity motivated, largely because poverty and lack of formal employment opportunities rear their ugly head in striving economies.

    Reasons for sudden success

    • COVID pandemic: The pandemic accelerated adoption of digital services by consumers helping start-ups and new-age ventures that typically build tech-focused businesses delivering an array of offerings to customers.
    • Boost in online services: Many Indians who had traditionally been subscribers of brick-and-mortar businesses moved online and explored a host of services ranging from food delivery and edu-tech to e-grocery.
    • Work-from-home culture: This added significant numbers to start-ups’ user base and expedited their business expansion plans and attracting investors.

    Inherent challenges to Start-ups in India

    • Financial scarcity: Availability of finance is critical for the startups and is always a problem to get sufficient amounts.
    • Lack of Infrastructure: There is a lack of support mechanisms that play a significant role in the lifecycle of startups which include incubators, science and technology parks etc.
    • Regulatory bottlenecks: Starting and exiting a business requires a number of permissions from government agencies. Although there is a perceptible change, it is still a challenge.
    • Compliance hurdles: For example, earlier Angel tax, which stands removed no, falls under corruption and bureaucratic inefficiencies.
    • Low success rate: Several startups fail due to shifting away the focus on the fundamentals of business grows.
    • Lack of an Innovative Business Model: To be successful a start-up must be innovative. Unfortunately, Indian startups are less innovative than startups elsewhere.  
    • Non-competitive Indian Markets: Too many startups serving too few consumers are saturating the Indian market.  Most startups serve the fraction of Indians who live in urban India.
    • Digital divide: The majority of Indians who live in rural areas and small towns remain untouched by most startups.

    Various initiatives by the Govt.

    There are numerous government initiatives to assist start-ups:

    • MUDRA Scheme: Through this scheme, start-ups get loans from the banks to set up, grow and stabilize their businesses.
    • SETU (Self-Employment and Talent Utilization) Fund: Government has allotted Rs 1,000 Cr in order to create opportunities for self-employment and new jobs mainly in technology-driven domains.
    • E-Biz Portal: It is India’s first government to business portal that integrates 14 regulatory permissions and licenses at one source.
    • Credit Guarantee Fund: launched by the GoI to make available collateral-free credit to the micro and small enterprise sector.  
    • Fund of Funds for Start-ups (FFS): 10,000 Rs corpus fund established in line with the Start-up India action plan under SIDBI for extending support to Start-ups.
    • Tax Sops: Tax exemption on Capital gain tax, Removal of Angel tax, Tax exemption for 3 years and Tax exemption in investment above Fair Market Value.

    Roadmap for the future success of start-ups

    Start-ups can judiciously take cues from unicorns in understanding the ecosystem and building a business model that adds value while being sustainable.

    • New-age startups should devise a customer-centric business model.
    • Through proper branding and strategy, they should make sure that this value proposition reaches the end-user.
    • What brings startups closer to success is the execution and customer acquisition strategy, where all the action occurs.  
    • Notably, technology (rather deep-technology) has played a key role in the making of pioneer business models.

    Attracting venture capitalists

    • VCs are actively looking for investment opportunities in early-stage startups.
    • They possess the selection ability to effectively screen startups having a higher potential to succeed.
    • VCs primarily look for a mindset alignment with promoters and companies where they, as investors, can add value by leveraging their industry experience, expertise, network and reputation.

    Conclusion

    • The current economic scenario in India is in expansion mode.  Indian Startups are now spread across the length and breadth of the entire country.
    • The word ‘unicorn’ has come a long way from just being a mythological creature to a regular feature in business and finance discussions.
    • Innovation and economic growth depend on being able to produce excellent individuals with the right skills and attitudes to be entrepreneurial in their professional lives.
    • The Indian government’s policies like Make in India, Digital India, Atmanirbhar etc. shows the enthusiasm to arrest this talent.

  • Why India needs an international development cooperation agency

    Context

    Enhancing the efficacy of India’s development cooperation endeavours has been a challenging issue for the past several decades. The country, therefore, needs to expedite work on a specialised agency for proficient delivery of outcomes.

    Development assistance and lack of institutional foundation

    • In the last couple of years, India’s assistance to other developing countries has multiplied several times.
    • India’s development cooperation has converged to an all-encompassing integrated framework, a development compact that has five modalities — capacity building, concessional finance, technology sharing, grant and trade wherein duty-free and quota-free access to the Indian market is provided.
    •  India’s benevolent image does yield tremendous goodwill globally, but quality project delivery is yet to become the country’s USP.
    • On average, India provides development assistance of $6.48 billion and receives assistance of $6.09 billion annually from key partners as Official Development Assistance (ODA).
    • Under Indian Cooperation Mission (ICM) — India partners for development cooperation and does not give aid like OECD members.
    • India has been supporting the developmental endeavours of several partner countries in Africa and Asia, even before Independence.
    • However, this process lacks a firm institutional foundation.

    Efforts to form an institutional framework

    • The first effort by India to shape a framework was in 2003 with the announcement of the India Development Initiative (IDI).
    • Subsequently, the Indian Development and Economic Assistance Scheme (IDEAS) was launched in 2005 for managing credit lines.
    • The IDI was suspended in 2007 and the announcement about the setting up of the India International Development Cooperation Agency (IIDCA), which never took off.
    • Meanwhile, in 2018, China founded its international development cooperation agency.

    Changes in concessional financing

    • At this point, concessional financing in India’s development cooperation portfolio is close to 70 per cent.
    • So any major change would require alterations in the way LOCs (Line of Credit) have been working.
    • In 2015, the government made efforts to bring in operational changes in the way credit lines work.
    •  As of now, the EXIM Bank raises global resources and the Government of India absorbs the interest differential.

    Way forward

    • Countries have sovereign and non-sovereign windows for promoting infrastructure financing abroad — both have their own place.
    • A non-sovereign window would provide greater flexibility and bandwidth.
    • To become a leading strategic investor in commercially viable and financially attractive public-private partnership infrastructure projects, the fund may build an investment ecosystem in Africa with support from leading Indian firms.
    • The proposed new entity may also provide handholding to select performing Indian social enterprises to operate in other countries as well.
    • Besides making an immediate economic impact, these enterprises can facilitate development partnerships between India and other countries.
    • Post-pandemic, countries worldwide are exploring ways to reinvigorate their development cooperation efforts.
    • India’s own development experience is also evolving with programmes like the JAM trinity, Ayushman Bharat and other initiatives like Gati Shakti — the learnings from which should be absorbed in the portfolio to be shared with fellow developing countries.

    Conclusion

    It is high time India restructures its development finance apparatus for deeper and effective engagement and to address the rapidly evolving newer competitive development financing landscape.

  • How to write the Perfect Essay for Mains? || Free Webinar by Arpit Sir || Limited slots available

    How to write the Perfect Essay for Mains? || Free Webinar by Arpit Sir || Limited slots available

    REGISTER HERE FOR FREE ESSAY ORIENTATION WEBINAR

    The Essay Paper in Mains makes or breaks your dream of becoming an IAS officer. Do you know a well-structured essay uplifts your rank by more than a 100 notches?

    While the performance of students is more or less the same in GS papers (especially 1,2,3), but in the case of essay the variation of marks is rather huge (in 60s to 160). Yes, a single Essay paper can create a gulf of 100 marks. 

    If you have not yet started writing essays or if you’re confused on how to write quality answers within a short duration, then this webinar is for you!

    Open to All, Attend the Webinar Essay FLT.

    The orientation session is about learning the basics of essay writing. We welcome all the sincere and serious aspirants who understand the value of scoring 120+ in the essay paper. This is the only paper where mere management of time and thoughts will fetch you marks more than any other paper. 

    Who must join the webinar?

    • One who is attempting Mains in 2021.
    • One who is going to attempt Prelims 2022.
    • Anyone who has a basic understanding of the UPSC syllabus.

    What can you learn from this webinar?

    1. Right sources to prepare Essay Paper for Mains. Is just reading GS Subjects and Current Affairs enough for Essay Paper?

    2. Understanding the type of questions asked. What are the 8 broad themes of essay?

    3. Brainstorming the topic before writing. What are the 10 parameters by which your essay will be evaluated?

    4. Organising your thoughts into paragraphs. How to write 1200 words and maintain the flow with well linked paragraphs?

    5. Framing the correct thesis statement. How to sound persuasive yet logical?

    6. Different types of introduction you can write for your essay. What kind of anecdotes work and how to remember them?

    7. Developing balanced main body arguments. How to be less biased with an interdisciplinary approach?

    8. Concluding the essay perfectly. How can you score additional marks over here?

    Arpit Sir will also hold a Q&A Session where beginners and veterans can clarify their doubts.

    REGISTER HERE FOR FREE ESSAY ORIENTATION WEBINAR

    So attend this webinar and start the very first step of essay writing in the right direction!

    Webinar Details

    Date – 22nd October 2021(Friday)

    Time – 4:00PM-5:00PM

    About Arpit Sir

    Arpit Sir has the experience of attending all the stages of UPSC CSE – prelims, mains and interview. He has been mentoring aspirants for the last 8 years. According to him, enjoying the process of preparation will prevent the fear of the end result.

    Register here for free ESSAY orientation webinar

  • How Civilsdaily Mentorship Program helped UPSC 2020 AIR 148 Ponmani N || Unherd Shorts || Civilsdaily Mentorship Program: Toppers Testimonials (Link Inside)

    How Civilsdaily Mentorship Program helped UPSC 2020 AIR 148 Ponmani N || Unherd Shorts || Civilsdaily Mentorship Program: Toppers Testimonials (Link Inside)

    Talk to Ponmani’s UPSC Mentors:- https://bit.ly/Connect_with_Ponmani_Mentors

    Check our Ponmani’s excerpt on how she cleared UPSC 2020:-

    Starting preparations during her college days, Ponmani was an out and out performer. Being a tech graduate, her love for administrative services was organic. Her affinity for social studies and associated areas only gained ascendency progressively. She forayed into creative writing and it turned out to be a force multiplier. Her Mentorship Program at Civilsdaily helped her find the balance between writing, timing, content and speed. Follow the complete video for her winning experience.

    Heartiest congratulations to Ponmani N

    AIR 148

    UPSC Civil Services 2020

  • How to write the Perfect Essay for Mains? || Free Webinar by Arpit Sir || Limited slots available

    How to write the Perfect Essay for Mains? || Free Webinar by Arpit Sir || Limited slots available

    REGISTER HERE FOR FREE ESSAY ORIENTATION WEBINAR

    The Essay Paper in Mains makes or breaks your dream of becoming an IAS officer. Do you know a well-structured essay uplifts your rank by more than a 100 notches?

    While the performance of students is more or less the same in GS papers (especially 1,2,3), but in the case of essay the variation of marks is rather huge (in 60s to 160). Yes, a single Essay paper can create a gulf of 100 marks. 

    If you have not yet started writing essays or if you’re confused on how to write quality answers within a short duration, then this webinar is for you!

    Open to All, Attend the Webinar Essay FLT.

    The orientation session is about learning the basics of essay writing. We welcome all the sincere and serious aspirants who understand the value of scoring 120+ in the essay paper. This is the only paper where mere management of time and thoughts will fetch you marks more than any other paper. 

    Who must join the webinar?

    • One who is attempting Mains in 2021.
    • One who is going to attempt Prelims 2022.
    • Anyone who has a basic understanding of the UPSC syllabus.

    What can you learn from this webinar?

    1. Right sources to prepare Essay Paper for Mains. Is just reading GS Subjects and Current Affairs enough for Essay Paper?

    2. Understanding the type of questions asked. What are the 8 broad themes of essay?

    3. Brainstorming the topic before writing. What are the 10 parameters by which your essay will be evaluated?

    4. Organising your thoughts into paragraphs. How to maintain the flow and write 1200 words with well linked paragraphs?

    5. Framing the correct thesis statement. How to sound persuasive yet logical?

    6. Different types of introduction you can write for your essay. What kind of anecdotes work and how to remember them?

    7. Developing balanced main body arguments. How to be less biased with an interdisciplinary approach?

    8. Concluding the essay perfectly. How can you score additional marks over here?

    Arpit Sir will also hold a Q&A Session where beginners and veterans can clarify their doubts.

    REGISTER HERE FOR FREE ESSAY ORIENTATION WEBINAR

    So attend this webinar and start the very first step of essay writing in the right direction!

    Webinar Details

    Date – 22nd October 2021(Friday)

    Time – 4:00PM-5:00PM

    About Arpit Sir

    Arpit Sir has the experience of attending all the stages of UPSC CSE – prelims, mains and interview. He has been mentoring aspirants for the last 8 years. According to him, enjoying the process of preparation will prevent the fear of the end result.

    Register here for free ESSAY orientation webinar

  • Historical Significance of Kushinagar

    The Prime Minister has inaugurated the Kushinagar International Airport in Uttar Pradesh, which will help connect key Buddhist pilgrimage sites.

    About Kushinagar

    • Kushinagar is a town in the Kushinagar district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
    • It is an important Buddhist pilgrimage site, where Buddhists believe Gautam Buddha attained Mahaparinirvana after his death.
    • It is an international Buddhist pilgrimage centre.
    • It is also at the centre of a Buddhist tourist circuit, which includes Lumbini (Nepal), Sarnath and Bodhgaya.
    • Other Buddhist destinations nearby include Nalanda, Sravasti and Kapilavastu.

    History of Kushinagar

    The present Kushinagar is identified with Kusavati (in the pre-Buddha period) and Kushinara (in the post-Buddha period).

    [A] Ancient

    • Kushinara was the capital of Mallas which was one of the sixteen mahajanpada of the 6th century BCE.
    • Since then, it remained an integral part of the erstwhile empires of Maurya, Shunga, Kushana, Gupta, Harsha, and Pala dynasties.

    [B] Medieval

    • In the medieval period, Kushinagar had passed under the suzerainty of Kultury Kings.
    • Kushinara continued to be a living city till the 12th century CE and was thereafter lost into oblivion.
    • It was believed to be ruled over by a Rajput adventurer, Madan Singh, in the 15th century CE.

    [C] Modern

    • Kushinagar came into prominence in the 19th century with archaeological excavations carried out by Alexander Cunningham, the first Archaeological Surveyor of India.
    • It was later followed by C.L. Carlleyle who exposed the main stupa and also discovered a 10 meters long statue of reclining Buddha in 1876.
    • Excavations continued till 1907 under J. Ph. Vogel, uncovering a wealth of Buddhist materials.
    • Chandra Swami, a Burmese monk, came to India in 1903 and made Mahaparinirvana Temple into a living shrine.

    What is the Buddhist Tourist Circuit?

    • In 2016, the Ministry of Tourism announced the Buddhist Circuit as the country’s first transnational tourism circuit, covering sites in Nepal and Sri Lanka alongside those in India.
    • The map of the Buddhist Circuit includes Bodh Gaya, Vaishali, and Rajgir in Bihar, Kushinagar, Sarnath, and Shravasti in UP, and Lumbini in Nepal.

    Significance of these places

    • The Buddha was born as the prince Siddhartha Gautama in c. 563 BC in Lumbini, and he lived until the age of 29 with his parents in the Shakya capital of Kapilavastu.
    • He attained enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya, and gave his first sermon at Sarnath near Varanasi.
    • He taught in the area around Rajgir, where he was built a forest monastery by king Bimbisara of Magadha, and he lived the largest part of his life as the Buddha in Shravasti.
    • He delivered his last sermon in Vaishali and got parinirvana at Kushinagar.

    Significance of this Circuit

    Ans. Cultural Diplomacy

    • Look East: There is an awareness in the government that the absence of tourist infrastructure is a major reason why India loses out to Southeast Asian nations such as Indonesia and Thailand.
    • Employment through Tourism: The hope is that world-class facilities will be able to attract Buddhist tourists to India, and boost revenues and employment generation.
    • Gaining soft power: The push is intended to assert and consolidate India’s position as the original centre of Buddhism, against the claims from China.

    Questions based on either Buddhism or Jainism,  are all-time favourite of UPSC and are equally invincible.

    They no more seem to be based on NCERT or other standard references available in market.

    Stay connected if you expect us to resolve this issue. Do let us know in the comment box.

     

    Meantime, try this PYQ:

     

    Which of the following kingdoms were associated with the life of the Buddha?

    1. Avanti
    2. Gandhara
    3. Kosala
    4. Magadha

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1, 2 and 3

    (b) 2 and 3 only

    (c) 1, 3 and 4

    (d) 3 and 4 only

     

    Post your answers here.

     

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  • Explained: Election of Deputy Speaker

    There is an ongoing row in Uttar Pradesh Assembly over the election of Dy Speaker, the post which was lying vacant for two years.

    Read each and every bit of this newscard. It can source you many MCQs.

    Constitutional mandate for Deputy Speaker

    • Article 93 talks about the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker for Lok Sabha and the case for their vacancies.
    • Article 178 contains the corresponding position for Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of a state.

    Is it mandatory under the Constitution to have a Deputy Speaker?

    • Constitutional experts point out that both Articles 93 and 178 use the words “shall” and “as soon as may be”.
    • This indicates that not only is the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker mandatory, it must be held at the earliest.
    • All that the Constitution says is the election must be held as soon as possible.

    Time-frame and rules for their Election

    • Generally speaking, the practice in both Lok Sabha and the state Legislative Assemblies has been to elect the Speaker during the first session of the new House.
    • This usually falls on the third day after oath-taking and affirmations take place over the first two days.
    • The election of the Deputy Speaker usually takes place in the second session, even though there is no bar on having this election too in the first session.
    • However, the election of Deputy Speaker is generally not delayed beyond the second session without genuine and unavoidable constraints.

    Rules for the elections

    • In Lok Sabha, the election of Deputy Speaker is governed by the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.
    • According to the Rule, the election “shall be held on such date as the Speaker may fix”, and the Deputy Speaker is elected once a motion proposing his name is carried.
    • There are similar provisions in the State Legislative Assembly Rules.

    Their tenure

    • Once elected, the Deputy Speaker usually continues in office until the dissolution of the House.
    • Under Article 94 (Article 179 for state legislatures), the Speaker or Dy Speaker “shall vacate his office if (S)he ceases to be a member of the House”.
    • They may also resign (to each other), or “may be removed by a resolution of the House of the People passed by a majority of all the then members of the House”.

    Do the powers of the Speaker extend to the Deputy Speaker as well?

    • Article 95(1) says: While the office of Speaker is vacant, the duties of the office shall be performed by the Deputy Speaker.
    • After the first Speaker, G V Mavalankar died, M Ananth Ayyangar officiated as Acting Speaker for the remaining tenure of the House and was then elected Speaker of the second Lok Sabha.
    • There is another such incident.
    • In general, the Deputy Speaker has the same powers as the Speaker when presiding over a sitting of the House.
    • All references to the Speaker in the Rules are deemed to be references to the Deputy Speaker when he presides.
    • It has been repeatedly held that no appeal lies to the Speaker against a ruling given by the Deputy Speaker or any person presiding over a sitting of the House in the absence of the Speaker.

    Note: UPSC has now gone person-specific in these matters. Kindly refer this PYQ:

    Consider the following statements:

    1. In India, there is no law restricting the candidates from contesting in one Lok Sabha election from three constituencies.
    2. In 1991 Lok Sabha Election, Shri Devi Lal contested from three Lok Sabha constituencies.
    3. As per the existing rules, if a candidate contests in one Lok Sabha election from many constituencies, his/her party should bear the cost of bye-elections to the constituencies vacated by him/her in the event of him/her winning in all the constituencies.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (CSP 2021)

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 1 and 3

    (d) 2 and 3

     

    Post your answers here.

     

    Does being Deputy Speaker protect an MP or MLA from the law of disqualification?

    Ans. No- with one specific exemption.

    • The Tenth Schedule says that a person who has been elected Speaker/ Deputy Speaker shall NOT be disqualified if he voluntarily gives up the membership of the political party to which he belonged.
    • This exemption applies to the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman, Chairman/ Deputy Chairman of a state Legislative Council, and Speaker/ Deputy Speaker of a state Legislative Assembly as well.

    Can courts intervene in cases of a delay in electing the Deputy Speaker?

    • In general, the courts do not intervene in the procedural conduct of Parliament.
    • Article 122(1) says: The validity of any proceedings in Parliament shall not be called in question on the ground of any alleged irregularity of procedure.
    • A petition before the Delhi High Court has argued that the delay in the election of the Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker violates Article 93 of the Constitution.
    • There is no precedent of a court forcing the legislature to elect the Deputy Speaker.
    • However, the courts do have jurisdiction to at least enquire why there has been no election to the post of Deputy Speaker since the Constitution does envisage an election “as soon as maybe”.

     

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  • Extending BSF’s powers won’t resolve policing problems, security threats

    Context

    The Union home ministry’s order to extend the jurisdiction of the Border Security Forces (BSF) has caused furore.

    Justification for the order

    • Increased threats: The Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan has revived serious threats of cross-border infiltration from Pakistan, while China, our other tense neighbour, has been increasingly aggressive over the past year.
    • Change in the jurisdiction: The BSF’s powers have not altered, only its jurisdiction has changed from 15 to 50 kilometres and that is for the purposes of uniformity.

    Issues raised by the order

    • Lack of clarity: That India is facing heightened security threats is undeniable.
    • What is unclear is how the BSF’s extended jurisdiction helps counter these threats.
    • The recent drug seizures in Gujarat’s Adani port were successfully conducted by the customs department and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence — not by the BSF, despite their jurisdiction depth of 80 kilometres in the state.
    • No need for uniformity: In the security context, arguments about uniformity are patently absurd.
    • There is no uniformity between coastal smuggling in Gujarat, cross-border infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir, smuggling and drone drops in Punjab.
    • Risk of civilian resentment: The order raises the risk of civilian resentment, even clashes, given that the BSF is not trained to operate in residential and/or market areas, it will also undermine the state police forces’ morale even further.
    • Overstretching BSF: The BSF is likely to be overstretched by its new tasks.
    • Once again, that could weaken rather than strengthen the BSF’s security capabilities.

    Tackling illegal migration

    • Curbing illegal migration requires coordinated action between India and its neighbours, first at the political and then at the security level.
    • The administration’s migration policies — the Citizenship Amendment Act, deporting Myanmar refugees even when they were locally welcomed, cancelling Afghan visas have made cooperation more difficult and impacting negatively on border security.
    • To think that the BSF can plug what is a government-to-government policy gap is prone to failure.

    Way forward

    • Coordination: The underlying issue when it comes to tackling both smuggling and infiltration threats is coordination between our security agencies.
    • Police reform: The state police forces have weakened, therefore, the solution lies in putting police reforms on an emergency footing, not in extending the BSF’s jurisdiction.
    • That we have a grave policing problem across India is undeniable.
    • But the answer is not to write them off; it is to insulate them from political misuse while holding them accountable for rule of law lapses.
    • Moreover, to strengthen police capabilities it is vital that other security forces cooperate with local police forces, not bypass them.
    • The BSF has had a relatively good record of local police cooperation thus far.
    • When it comes to cross-border infiltration, intelligence is the key.

    Conclusion

    Strengthening police capabilities, improving coordination between security agencies and cooperation with state law enforcement are needed to address these issues.

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  • Punjab farmers create Bio-Enzymes from Kinnow

    Some farmers in Punjab, especially in the Kinnow belt, have started making Bio-Enzymes (BEs) from this waste fruit — peel and ‘D’ grade, very small kinnows.

    What is a Kinnow?

    • The ‘Kinnow’ is a high yield citrus fruit cultivated extensively in the wider Punjab region of India and Pakistan.
    • It is a year-long duration crop and the main harvesting period is from November-end to March.
    • It looks similar to orange but is smaller in size.

    Agricultural significance of Kinnows

    • Fallen fruit is a major challenge for kinnow farmers in the state as one needs to dig up small pits to bury them, otherwise the fallen fruit rot and invite a fly attack on the healthy fruit still on the plants.
    • But now, some farmers are using this waste kinnow to improve the pH level and soil fertility of their land by making BEs from this waste fruit.

    What are Bio-Enzymes?

    • Chemically, the Bio Enzymes are a mixture of complex organic substances such as proteins, salts and other materials that are by-products of the bacteria/yeast.
    • They produced through fermentation of organic waste including various fruits, vegetable peels and flowers, by mixing in sugar, jaggery/molasses and water.
    • BE’s also have a lot of usage in our daily lives. They can be used as natural cleansers.

    Benefits offered by BEs

    • BEs have a lot of good microbes and one of the major methods which helps overall improvement of our ecology.
    • It helps in mitigating the imbalance occurred due to overuse of chemicals, in our soil, air and water.
    • In a state like Punjab where water table is depleting fast and water contamination is also major issue, BEs can bring the soil back to life.
    • It helps in better water recharging and also stops the contamination of water by improving the health of soil.

     

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  • What is the Lucy Mission?

    The NASA has launched Lucy, the spacecraft on a 12-year cruise to look back into the origins of the solar system through Trojans.

    Lucy Mission

    • Lucy will fly by eight Jupiter asteroids—seven Trojans and one main-belt asteroid — over the next 12 years.
    • It is NASA’s first single spacecraft mission in history to explore so many different asteroids.
    • Lucy will run on solar power out to 850 million kilometers away from the Sun.
    • This makes it the farthest-flung solar powered spacecraft ever, according to NASA.

    What is Jupiter Trojan Asteroids?

    • Simply known as Trojans, they are a large group of asteroids that share Jupiter’s orbit around the Sun.
    • Thousands of such asteroids exist in a gravitationally stable space.
    • The swarms lead and follow the planet Jupiter along its orbit around the Sun.

    What exactly are Trojans?

    • Lucy’s Trojan destinations are trapped near Jupiter’s Lagrange (L) points, which are gravitationally stable locations — it is where the gravity from the Sun and from Jupiter cancel each other out.
    • This means their orbits are stable and the Trojans are trapped in the space between.
    • This also means that asteroids are as far away from Jupiter as they are from the Sun.
    • Jupiter’s leading and trailing Lagrangian points (L4 and L5) have been stable over the age of the solar system.
    • This means that their orbits have accumulated many, many asteroids.
    • It makes sense to call a Trojan a co-orbital object, which moves around one of the two stable Lagrangian points.

    When and how were they discovered?

    • It took many a scientist to understand Trojans, and subsequently, name them so.
    • A German astro-photographer in 1906 made an important discovery: An asteroid with a particularly unusual orbit. As Jupiter moved, this asteroid remained ahead of Jupiter.
    • It was observed that the asteroid was nearly 60 degrees in front of Jupiter.

    Students with engineering background would better understand who Lagrange was. Rest need not care.

    Lagrange’s propositions

    • This specific position of a peculiar behaviour was predicted by the Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange over 100 years earlier.
    • Lagrange had argued that if a small celestial body is placed at one of two stable points in a planet’s orbit around the Sun (the L4 and L5), the asteroid would remain stationary from the planet’s perspective.
    • This is due to the combined gravitational forces of the planet and the Sun.
    • Thus, Lagrange’s prediction acquired credibility. More such asteroids were discovered over subsequent months in Jupiter’s Lagrange point L5.

    Behind the name: Lucy

    • It is the fossil of a hominin that lived 3.2 million years ago.
    • She is known to be one of the most famous pre-human fossil in history.
    • Nearly 40 per cent of the fossilised skeleton of this hominin was discovered in 1974 by a team of paleoanthropologists led by Donald Johanson.
    • The name was inspired from the famous Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” which Johanson’s team listened to at camp the night of their discovery.

     

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    Back2Basics: Lagrange Points

    • Lagrange points are positions in space where objects sent there tend to stay put.
    • They are named after Italian-French mathematician Josephy-Louis Lagrange.
    • At Lagrange points, the gravitational pull of two large masses precisely equals the centripetal force required for a small object to move with them.
    • These points in space can be used by spacecraft to reduce the fuel consumption needed to remain in position.
    • There are five special points where a small mass can orbit in a constant pattern with two larger masses.

     

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