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  • What back to back IAS prelims failures taught this IIT B graduate? || Pranav, AIR 65, UPSC 2020 || UNHERD: Civilsdaily’s Topper series || Link inside

    What back to back IAS prelims failures taught this IIT B graduate? || Pranav, AIR 65, UPSC 2020 || UNHERD: Civilsdaily’s Topper series || Link inside

    For free 1-1 Mentorship, fill this form:- https://forms.gle/C3z4jUjD28rze1nE7

    Pranav, a name until now very common is now different. Little did he know that on 25th September evening, he will be set free. Free from years of academic hard work, mentally strenuous sessions and sacrifices. Now he is delighted. He’s IIT Bombay mechanical engineer graduate. And yet he failed 2 prelims. Most folks will move on after 2 failures. Waiting for the 3rd is just too painful. But he remained hooked to the goal he had envisioned. Perhaps he now knows that life has offered him a vantage wherefrom he can reflect and design for what he wants to do. He is now the Republic of India’s collector. The famous position most of us started out aiming for. The search for an ultimate job ends, at least for now.

    Upon talking to him, he was visibly calm and composed. For a greater part that’s because of what a person learns in the process of becoming an IAS officer. Within a short while, he will be busy working through some of the most complex problems of Indian society. We might hear about his enterprises on tv or social media. Being an IAS officer, he would have such great opportunities at his disposal, with which he could bring the much-needed change to the lives of common wo/man.

    We, at Civilsdaily IAS family, are equally thrilled and overjoyed. We wish Pranav Vijayvergiya, all the very best. This turn around which he has experienced in his life, may he reflect upon the society.

    During his earlier stints with Civil services in 2018 and 2019, he couldn’t manage to step past the prelims. For which he blamed his constant nagging for the “know it all” attitude, which was unnecessarily creating an added pressure and compromised his performances. Trust us as eyewitnesses, when in 2020, he decided that he will believe in his hard work and keep his nerves till the very last minute.

    Guys, let’s hear more from Pranav himself and try to learn what a common aspirant learns in this quest to cross the threshold.

    For free 1-1 Mentorship, fill this form:- https://forms.gle/C3z4jUjD28rze1nE7

    Heartiest congratulations to Pranav Vijayvergiya
    AIR 65
    UPSC Civil Services 2020

  • How did our Toppers pick the right study material? What did they study to get RANKS, and how?

    How did our Toppers pick the right study material? What did they study to get RANKS, and how?

    Do you know the one area where UPSC aspirants lose a lot of time and waste a lot of their efforts? It’s finding the right study material to begin their preparation. There are literally thousands of books available in the market and most students end up buying a lot of books without realizing that most of them are not useful.

    In fact, an analysis of the last ten years’ papers has revealed that around 50% of the effort in cracking the exam lies in the strategy. And if you know how to pick the right study material from the start, your chances of cracking the exam increases by 50%.

    The biggest problem new aspirants face is deciding what to study and what not to study. This wastes their time, and the syllabus starts piling up. So, what can you do to identify the right material as you start your preparation? We have spoken with over 400 rankers from the last 2 years to create the most effective and suitable study material.

    In fact, with our strategy, 25 Civilsdaily students had ranks in top 100 and 78+ students secured ranks in 2020. So, how did they pick the right material and what did they study?

    What to read and what not to read? Speak with our mentors for A clear study plan (CLICK HERE)
    • History – Students often buy and read multiple books like Bipin Chandra, Grover, Sumit Sarkar, Chattopadhyay, etc. But if History is not your optional subject, you really do not need to read each of these books. You need to be highly selective and use the most important source that can help you get marks in the exam. A quick review of the previous year’s question papers would give you an idea about the kinds of question that come from History. Eliminate the idea of reading everything, read only the books that matter.
    • Geography – While NCERTs are a must read for any UPSC aspirant, there are specific books like G.C. Leong, Savindra Singh, Majid Hussain, etc. For example, there are many technical chapters in Savindra Singh like isostasy, drainage patterns, etc. Are they important? No! Should you spend time on them? No. Limit your study material but read the selected ones in detail. Instead, you can simply speak to our mentors and reduce your reading material to only the most important chapters.
    • Art and culture – UPSC asks a lot of questions from Art and Culture but there is no one book that is completely helpful. Often, UPSC asks some questions that you may not find in most of the popular books. For example, if you are reading Nitin Singhania, you do not have to read the chapters on Cinema and Circus. You do not have to read every chapter in every book!
    • Current affairs – Yes, it is important to read the newspaper but how do you identify what to read in a newspaper? Is everything important? No! Should you make a note of everything that comes in the newspaper? No! Try to identify only those topics that will fetch you marks, everything else will waste your time.
    • Environment – Most students read Shankar IAS for environment. But the questions from environment often have Current Affairs element in them. So, while you should read the basic concepts from this book, you will have to tie it with Current Affairs to score.
    speak with our mentors to know what to read and what to avoid in every subject (click here)
    • .Science and Tech – Science and tech has a huge syllabus. It contains everything from Biology to Sattelites. But can you read and remember everything? Is it important to know the names of all the human bones? No! It may be important to know India’s space program but do you need to know every sattelite’s details? No! You have to learn to differentiate what is important and what isn’t.
    • Economics – 15 questions were asked from Economics in Prelims 2020. But Economics cannot be completed by reading one book. These questions can only be solved by reading the basic concepts and tying them with current affairs. There is no book that does this perfectly. What will you do? It is best to speak with mentors who know which areas to focus on to get maximum marks. They can help reduce your workload to very specific reading points.
    • Government schemes and plans – You have less than a year to prepare for the exam, can you afford to read all the Yojana, Kurukshetra, etc. before the exam? Should you spend so much time reading topics that may or may not come in the exam? No! Only focused study fetches you marks.

    This is an exam of elimination. You can only succeed when you know which study material to eliminate and which to pick. Otherwise, you will have a library of books that are completely useless for your preparation. All your time, money, and efforts will be wasted and you will start feeling overwhelmed by the syllabus.

    SPEAK WITH OUR MENTORS TO KNOW WHAT TO READ AND WHAT TO AVOID IN EVERY SUBJECT (CLICK HERE)

    Remember: Smart work is needed to clear the exam. It’s better to read a particular book many times rather than reading multiple books without revision.

    After speaking with over 400 rankers from the last 2 years, our mentors have created the most suitable study material that is selective and highly effective. Speak with our mentors. They will tell you exactly which books and which chapters to read. Don’t waste time, read only the focused material.

    Our students secured top ranks in UPSC 2020 [25 in top 100] with a smart strategy, connect with us now to learn how to pick the right study materials for your exam.

    Before you start preparing SPEAK WITH OUR MENTORS TO KNOW WHAT TO READ AND WHAT TO AVOID IN EVERY SUBJECT (CLICK HERE)

  • Important Groupings Related to India

    27th Sept 2021

     

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

     

    Trans-Pacific Partnership

    • The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), or the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), is a trade agreement between Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States (until 23 January 2017) and Vietnam
    • The TPP began as an expansion of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPSEP or P4) signed by Brunei Darussalam, Chile, New Zealand, and Singapore in 2005
    • The TPP contains measures to lower both non-tariff and tariff barriers to trade and establish an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism
    • The agreement will enter into force after ratification by all signatories if this occurs within two years
    • APEC members may accede to the TPP, as may any other jurisdiction to which existing TPP members agree. After an application for membership is received, a commission of parties to the treaty negotiates conditions for accession.

    BRICS

    • BRICS is the acronym coined for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
    • Originally the first four were grouped as “BRIC” (or “the BRICs”), before the induction of South Africa in 2010.
    • The BRICS members are known for their significant influence on regional affairs; all are members of G20.
    • Since 2009, the BRICS nations have met annually at formal summits. China hosted the 9th BRICS summit in Xiamen on September 2017, while Brazil hosted the most recent 11th BRICS summit on 13-14 November 2019.

    New Development Bank and the Fortaleza Declaration

    • During the sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza (2014), the leaders signed the Agreement establishing the New Development Bank (NDB).
    • In the Fortaleza Declaration, the leaders stressed that the NDB will strengthen cooperation among BRICS and will supplement the efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global development, thus contributing to collective commitments for achieving the goal of strong, sustainable and balanced growth.
    • The bank was established in July 2015 by the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
    • The aim of the bank is to mobilize funding for infrastructure and sustainable development.
    • Its ownership structure is unique, as the BRICS countries each have an equal share and no country has any veto power.
    • In this sense, the bank is a physical expression of the desire of emerging markets to play a bigger role in global governance.
    • NDB was created to help fill the funding gap in the BRICS economies and was intended to grow its global scope over time.
    • The bank, with its subscribed capital base of US$50bn, is now poised to become a meaningful additional source of long-term finance for infrastructure in its member countries.

    Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)

    • The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a trade deal that was being negotiated between 16 countries.
    • They include the 10 ASEAN members and the six countries with which the bloc has free trade agreements (FTAs) — India, Australia, China, Korea, Japan, and New Zealand.
    • The purpose of the deal is to create an “integrated market” spanning all 16 countries.
    • This means that it would be easier for the products and services of each of these countries to be available across the entire region.

    RCEP – India

    • It comprises half of the world population and accounts for nearly 40% of the global commerce and 35% of the GDP. RCEP would have become the world’s largest FTA after finalisation, with India being the third-biggest economy in it.
    • Without India, the RCEP does not look as attractive as it had seemed during negotiations.
    • Divided ASEAN – ASEAN has been keen on a diversified portfolio so that member states can deal with major powers and maintain their strategic autonomy. ASEAN member states have tried to keep the U.S. engaged in the region.
    • Act East policy has been well received. With China’s rise in the region, ASEAN member states have been keen on Indian involvement in the region.
    • Indo-Pacific – India’s entire Indo-Pacific strategy might be open to question if steps are not taken to restore India’s profile in the region.
    • Rejected China’s dominance – India signalled that, despite the costs, China’s rise has to be tackled both politically and economically.

    Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

    • After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the then security and economic architecture in the Eurasian region dissolved and new structures had to come up.
    • The original Shanghai Five were China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
    • The SCO was formed in 2001, with Uzbekistan included. It expanded in 2017 to include India and Pakistan.
    • Since its formation, the SCO has focused on regional non-traditional security, with counter-terrorism as a priority:
    • The fight against the “three evils” of terrorism, separatism and extremism has become its mantra.
    • Today, areas of cooperation include themes such as economics and culture.

    India’s entry to the SCO

    • India and Pakistan both were observer countries.
    • While Central Asian countries and China were not in favour of expansion initially, the main supporter — of India’s entry in particular — was Russia.
    • A widely held view is that Russia’s growing unease about an increasingly powerful China prompted it to push for its expansion.
    • From 2009 onwards, Russia officially supported India’s ambition to join the SCO. China then asked for its all-weather friend Pakistan’s entry.

    The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)

    • The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity. This sub-regional organization came into being on 6 June 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
    • The regional group constitutes a bridge between South and South-East Asia and represents a reinforcement of relations among these countries.
    • BIMSTEC has also established a platform for intra-regional cooperation between SAARC and ASEAN members.  The BIMSTEC region is home to around 1.5 billion people which constitute around 22% of the global population with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.7 trillion economies. In the last five years, BIMSTEC Member States have been able to sustain an average 6.5% economic growth trajectory despite a global financial meltdown.

    SAARC & SAARC Countries

    • The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union in South Asia.  Its member states include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.  SAARC was founded in Dhaka in 1985.
    • Its secretariat is based in Kathmandu.
    • The organization promotes the development of economic and regional integration.
    • It launched the South Asian Free Trade Area in 2006.
    • SAARC maintains permanent diplomatic relations at the United Nation as an observer and has developed links with multilateral entities.
    • Observers Of SAARC: – States with observer status include Australia, China, the European Union, Iran, Japan, Mauritius Myanmar, South Korea and the United States.

    Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

    • The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a regional intergovernmental organization comprising ten Southeast Asian countries
    • It promotes Pan-Asianism and intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational and socio-cultural integration amongst its members and other Asian countries
    • It members are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam
    • ASEAN shares land and maritime borders with India, China
    • ASEAN is an official United Nations Observer.

    The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)

    • The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a group of nuclear supplier countries that seeks to contribute to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons through the implementation of two sets of Guidelines for nuclear exports and nuclear-related exports.
    • One of the critical elements for inclusion into the NSG is that the member countries need to signatories of the NPT, a proposal which India has categorically disagreed.
    • However considering India’s history of nuclear non-proliferation, the US and subsequently the NSG have shown some recognition and granted India with the waiver of dealing with other countries for nuclear technology.

    Recent Developments

    • Present Indian government embarked to pursue the ambitious goal of NSG membership aggressively.
    • The prime minister visited countries like the USA, Netherlands, Mexico, and Portugal to secure support from these countries.
    • US administration under Obama and Donald trump reiterated their support for Indian entry to the NSG. Russia also extended its support.
    • NSG takes a decision based on a consensus of the member countries. So it is important to secure the support of each and every member country.
    • China is against the granting membership. Insisted on a criteria-based approach for the non-NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) signatory countries.
    • China has also maintained that for non-NPT members some definite criteria should be evolved rather than granting country-specific waivers. At other times, it has stated that Pakistan also has similar credentials to join the NSG; and that if India is admitted; Pakistan should also be admitted simultaneously.
    • Some other countries, including Turkey, Switzerland, Mexico and New Zealand, were among those which have stressed on the criteria-based approach, without opposing India’s application outright.

    Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)

    • OPCW is an intergovernmental organization and the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, which entered into force on 29 April 1997
    • The OPCW, with its 193 member states, has its seat in The Hague, Netherlands, and oversees the global endeavour for the permanent and verifiable elimination of chemical weapons
    • The organization promotes and verifies the adherence to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits the use of chemical weapons and requires their destruction
    • Verification consists both of evaluation of declarations by member states and onsite inspections
    • The OPCW has the power to say whether chemical weapons were used in an attack it has investigated
    • The organization was awarded the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize “for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons”

    The Australian Group

    • The Australia Group is a multilateral export control regime (MECR) and an informal group of countries (now joined by the European Commission) established in 1985 (after the use of chemical weapons by Iraq in 1984) to help member countries to identify those exports which need to be controlled so as not to contribute to the spread of chemical and biological weapons
    • The group, initially consisting of 15 members, held its first meeting in Brussels, Belgium, in September 1989. With the incorporation of India on January 19, 2018, it now has 43 members, including Australia, the European Commission, all 28 member states of the European Union, Ukraine, and Argentina
    • The name comes from Australia’s initiative to create the group. Australia manages the secretariat
    • The initial members of the group had different assessments of which chemical precursors should be subject to export control
    • Later adherents initially had no such controls
    • Today, members of the group maintain export controls on a uniform list of 54 compounds, including several that are not prohibited for export under the Chemical Weapons Convention but can be used in the manufacture of chemical weapons
    • In 2002, the group took two important steps to strengthen export control
    • The first was the “no-undercut” requirement, which stated that any member of the group considering making an export to another state that had already been denied an export by any other member of the group must first consult with that member state before approving the export
    • The second was the “catch-all” provision, which requires member states to halt all exports that could be used by importers in chemical or biological weapons programs, regardless of whether the export is on the group’s control lists.
    • Delegations representing the members meet every year in Paris, France

    WTO

    • US, UK and a few other countries set up, an interim organisation about trade named GATT (General Agreement on Tariff and Trade) in 1947
    • GATT was biased in favour of the developed countries and was called informally as the Rich men’s club.
    • So, the developing countries insisted on setting up the International Trade Organisation (ITO)
    • That’s the reason, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was set up in 1964 as an alternative, on the recommendation of the UN committee
    • Next development comes in Uruguay Round of GATT, it sought to expand the scope of the organisation by including, services, investment and intellectual property rights (IPR)
    • Agreements were ratified by the legislatures of 85 member-countries by year-end 1994.
    • On such rectification, the WTO started functioning from Jan 1, 1995, < Marrakesh Agreement>

    Functions of WTO

    • The WTO deals with regulation of trade in goods, services and intellectual property between participating countries.
    • It provides a framework for negotiating trade agreements and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participants’ adherence to WTO agreements, which are signed by representatives of member governments and ratified by their parliaments.

    G20

    • Formed in 1999, the G20 is an international forum of the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies.
    • Collectively, the G20 economies account for around 85 percent of the Gross World Product (GWP), 80 percent of world trade.
    • To tackle the problems or the address issues that plague the world, the heads of governments of the G20 nations periodically participate in summits.
    • In addition to it, the group also hosts separate meetings of the finance ministers and foreign ministers.
    • The G20 has no permanent staff of its own and its chairmanship rotates annually between nations divided into regional groupings.

    Aims and objectives

    • The Group was formed with the aim of studying, reviewing, and promoting high-level discussion of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability.
    • The forum aims to pre-empt the balance of payments problems and turmoil on financial markets by improved coordination of monetary, fiscal, and financial policies.
    • It seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organisation.

    Member Countries

    The members of the G20 consist of 19 individual countries plus the European Union (EU).

    • The 19 member countries of the forum are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States.
    • The European Union is represented by the European Commission and by the European Central Bank.

     Who are the G20 Sherpas?

    • A Sherpa is the personal representative of a head of state or government who prepares an international summit, particularly the annual G7 and G20 summits.
    • Between the summits, there are multiple Sherpa conferences where possible agreements are laid out.
    • This reduces the amount of time and resources required at the negotiations of the heads of state at the final summit.
    • The Sherpa is generally quite influential, although they do not have the authority to make a final decision about any given agreement.
    • The name is derived from the Sherpa people, a Nepalese ethnic group, who serve as guides and porters in the Himalayas, a reference to the fact that the Sherpa clears the way for a head of state at a major summit.

    G7

    • The G7 or the Group of Seven is a group of the seven most advanced economies as per the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
    • The seven countries are Canada, USA, UK, France, Germany, Japan and Italy. The EU is also represented in the G7.
    • These countries, with the seven largest IMF-described advanced economies in the world, represent 58% of the global net wealth ($317 trillion).
    • The G7 countries also represent more than 46% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) based on nominal values, and more than 32% of the global GDP based on purchasing power parity.
    • The requirements to be a member of the G7 are a high net national wealth and a high HDI (Human Development Index).

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  • Flood management that cannot be watered down

    Over the years, many of Bihar’s districts have been facing serious challenges with recurrent and massive flooding.  It is the right time to look at some of the key aspects of India-Nepal flood management.

    Simultaneous floods in Bihar and Nepal

    • Some of Nepal’s biggest river systems originate in the Himalayan glaciers which then flow into India through Bihar.
    • During the monsoons, these river systems flood causing many problems for Bihar.
    • It is a necessity that there is process-driven coordination between the Centre and the Government of Bihar to handle the flooding in Nepal’s Terai and North Bihar (largely the Mithilanchal region).

    Which are those flooding rivers?

    • Nepal’s three biggest river systems—Kosi, Gandaki and Karnali—originate in the high mountain glaciers, flow through the country and then enter India through the state of Bihar.
    • During the monsoon season, these river systems often get flooded due to heavy rains/landslides in Nepal which create floods in India’s most flood prone state—Bihar.

    Bihar’s vulnerability

    • The history of floods in Bihar from 1998 to 2012 reveals how strong discharges of water due to heavy rains in the catchment areas of Nepal have created a strong pressure on the river embankments in India.
    • About 76 per cent of the population living in northern Bihar live under threat of floods due to these river systems and a total of 73.06 per cent of the total geographical area of Bihar is flood affected (mostly during the monsoon).

    Measures: Joint flood management program

    • As part of the long-term measures to address the problem of massive and recurrent floods in Bihar, the Joint Project Office (JPO), Biratnagar, was established in Nepal in August 2004.
    • It aimed to prepare a detailed project report to construct a high dam on the Nepal side (on the Kosi, Kamla and Bagmati rivers).

    Flaws: Yet to get effect

    • Despite the best efforts made by the Government of Bihar, the task remains unaccomplished even after 17 years.
    • The Government of Bihar has raised the matter at regular intervals for this.

    Who is the obstructionist? : Fault lies with Nepal

    • The Central Water Commission (CWC) has convened several meetings with Nepali Authorities.
    • However, what is evident is Nepal’s lack of prompt reciprocation.
    • India has long-standing water sharing issues with Nepal.

    What has been done so far?

    • As in the figures shared by Bihar, a total of four new flood protection works in the Gandak basin area were proposed before the floods of 2020.
    • There were proposed Barrage structures located in the border districts.

    Nepal’s reluctance

    • However, Nepal argues that many of the bund area falls into no man’s land along the open international border.
    • This is notwithstanding the fact that the embankment was built by India 30 years ago and there has not been any dispute regarding its maintenance all these years.

    What does this signify?

    • There is a need for India-Nepal collaboration for an efficiently operated barrage.
    • It is evident that Nepal’s attitude towards mutual issues (water sharing, flood control, etc.) has been short of collaboration, unlike in the past.

    Way forward

    • In the best spirit of friendship, Nepal and India should restart the water dialogue and come up with policies to safeguard the interests of all those who have been affected on both sides of the border.
    • It is time the two friendly countries come together and assess the factors that are causing unimaginable losses through flooding every year.
    • Optimisation of the infrastructure will be decisive in finding an alternative paradigm of flood management.
    • By controlling the flooding and using the water resources for common developmental uses such as hydroelectricity, irrigation and waterways, India-Nepal relations can be strengthened even further.
    • Moreover, it is also linked to how the Himalayan glaciers and the green cover are managed.

    Conclusion

    • Water resources are priceless assets.
    • Water cooperation should drive the next big India-Nepal dialogue, and despite the challenges, wisdom should prevail to turn the crisis into an opportunity, for the sake of development and environmental protection.

     

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  • What is a Cartel?

    Last week, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has slapped a penalty on a cartel of beer companies for hiking the prices.

    What is a Cartel?

    • According to CCI, a “Cartel includes an association of producers, sellers, distributors, traders or service providers who, by agreement amongst themselves, limit, control or attempt to control the production, distribution, sale or price of, or, trade in goods or provision of services”.
    • The International Competition Network, which is a global body dedicated to enforcing competition law, has a simpler definition.
    • The three common components of a cartel are:
    1. an agreement
    2. between competitors
    3. to restrict competition

    What is Cartelization?

    • Cartelization is when enterprises collude to fix prices, indulge in bid rigging, or share customers, etc.
    • But when prices are controlled by the government under a law, that is not cartelization.
    • The Competition Act contains strong provisions against cartels.
    • It also has the leniency provision to incentivise a party to a cartel to break away and report to the Commission, and thereby expect total or partial leniency.
    • This has proved a highly effective tool against cartels worldwide.
    • Cartels almost invariably involve secret conspiracies.

    How do they work?

    • According to ICN, four categories of conduct are commonly identified across jurisdictions (countries). These are:
    1. price-fixing
    2. output restrictions
    3. market allocation and
    4. bid-rigging
    • In sum, participants in hard-core cartels agree to insulate themselves from the rigours of a competitive marketplace, substituting cooperation for competition.

    How do cartels hurt?

    • While it may be difficult to accurately quantify the ill-effects of cartels, they not only directly hurt the consumers but also, indirectly, undermine overall economic efficiency and innovations.
    • A successful cartel raises the price above the competitive level and reduces output.
    • Consumers choose either not to pay the higher price for some or all of the cartelised product that they desire, thus forgoing the product, or they pay the cartel price and thereby unknowingly transfer wealth to the cartel operators.

    In other words, by artificially holding back the supply or raising prices in a coordinated manner, companies either force some consumers out of the market by making the commodity (say, beer) more scarce or by earning profits that free competition would not have allowed.

    Are there provisions in the Competition Act against monopolistic prices?

    • There are provisions in the Competition Act against abuse of dominance.
    • One of the abuses is when a dominant enterprise “directly or indirectly imposes unfair or discriminatory prices” in purchase or sale of goods or services.
    • Thus, excessive pricing by a dominant enterprise could, in certain conditions, be regarded as an abuse and, therefore, subject to investigation by the Competition Commission if it were fully functional.
    • However, it should be understood that where pricing is a result of normal supply and demand, the Competition Commission may have no role.

    How might cartels be worse than monopolies?

    • It is generally well understood that monopolies are bad for both individual consumer interest as well as the society at large.
    • That’s because a monopolist completely dominates the concerned market and, more often than not, abuses this dominance either in the form of charging higher than warranted prices or by providing lower than the warranted quality of the good or service in question.

    How to stop the spread of cartelisation?

    • Cartels are not easy to detect and identify.
    • As such, experts often suggest providing a strong deterrence to those cartels that are found guilty of being one.
    • Typically this takes the form of a monetary penalty that exceeds the gains amassed by the cartel.
    • However, it must also be pointed out that it is not always easy to ascertain the exact gains from cartelisation.
    • In fact, the threat of stringent penalties can be used in conjunction with providing leniency — as was done in the beer case.

    Try this PYQ:

    One of the implications of equality in society is the absence of:

    (a) Privileges

    (b) Restraints

    (c) Competition

    (d) Ideology

     

    Post your answers here.

    Back2Basics: Competition Commission of India (CCI)

    • The CCI is the chief national competition regulator in India.
    • It is a statutory body within the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
    • It is responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002 in order to promote competition and prevent activities that have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India.

     

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  • National Mission on Cultural Mapping

    Having made little progress since its launch in 2017, the National Mission on Cultural Mapping has now been handed over to the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).

    About the National Mission on Cultural Mapping

    • The NMCM is a mission mode project of the Ministry of Culture. It was incepted in 2015.
    • It is aimed to address the necessity of preserving the threads of rich Indian Art and Cultural Heritage, convert vast and widespread cultural canvas of India into an objective Cultural Mapping while creating a strong “Cultural Vibrancy” throughout the nation.
    • It will identify, collect and record cultural assets and resources. It correlates this to planning and strategizing.
    • A portal and a database listing organisations, spaces, facilities, festivals and events will be created.
    • This database can be used to preserve culture and provide or ameliorate livelihoods.

    Objectives of the Mission

    Under this Mission, at broad-level, there are three important objectives as follows:

    1. National Cultural Awareness Abhiyan: Hamari Sanskriti Hamari Pahchan Abhiyan (Our Culture Our Identity)
    2. Nationwide Artist Talent Hunt/Scouting Programme: Sanskritik Pratibha Khoj Abhiyan
    3. National Cultural Workplace: Centralised Transactional Web Portal with database and demography of cultural assets and resources including all art forms and artists.

    Significance of the mission

    • Revival and safeguarding of oral traditions
    • Fostering Cultural Awareness
    • Cultural Preservation
    • Sustainable Employment to creative industries
    • Optimal Resource Allocation and Utilization:
    • Creation of objective Database for inclusive growth of cultural heritage

     

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  • What is Dark Energy?

    Last week, an international team of researchers has made the first direct detection of dark energy.

    About the Project

    • The XENON1T experiment is the world’s most sensitive dark matter experiment and was operated deep underground at the INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy.
    • The finding also suggests that experiments like XENON1T, which are designed to detect dark matter, could also be used to detect dark energy.

    What is Dark Energy?

    • Dark energy is an unknown form of energy that affects the universe on the largest scales.
    • The first observational evidence for its existence came from measurements of supernovae, which showed that the universe does not expand at a constant rate; rather, the expansion of the universe is accelerating.
    • Prior to these observations, it was thought that all forms of matter and energy in the universe would only cause the expansion to slow down over time.
    • Measurements of the cosmic microwave background suggest the universe began in a hot Big Bang, from which general relativity explains its evolution and the subsequent large-scale motion.
    • Without introducing a new form of energy, there was no way to explain how an accelerating universe could be measured.

    Does it exist?

    • Since the 1990s, dark energy has been the most accepted premise to account for the accelerated expansion.
    • As of 2021, there are active areas of cosmology research aimed at understanding the fundamental nature of dark energy.

    Dark energy Vs Dark matter

    • Everything we see – the planets, moons, massive galaxies, you, me, this website – makes up less than 5% of the universe.
    • About 27% is dark matter and 68% is dark energy.
    • While dark matter attracts and holds galaxies together, dark energy repels and causes the expansion of our universe.

     

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  • GI in news: Goa Cashew Feni

    The Goa government’s Feni Policy 2021 has paved the way to take the state’s ‘heritage drink’ forward.

    Sounds strange but an alcoholic beverage has been GI tagged!

    Goa Cashew Feni

    • Feni is a spirit produced in Goa, India.
    • The two most popular types of feni are cashew feni and toddy palm feni, depending on the original ingredient; however, many other varieties are sold.
    • Feni distilleries are usually family-run affairs, and the history of the drink goes back to at least 1585.
    • The feni consumed in South Goa is generally of higher alcohol content (43-45% abv) as compared to the feni produced in North Goa.
    • Commercially packaged feni is available at 42.8% abv.
    • Cashew feni was awarded Geographical Indication registration in 2009 as a speciality alcoholic beverage from Goa.
    • It has been described as a colourless, clear liquid that when matured in wooden barrels develops golden brown tint.

    Must read

    GI Tags in News

     

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  • IIT-B develops One-time Programmable Memory

    IIT Bombay researchers have developed a “memory technology” that can, in principle, revolutionise Indian industry and the many applications that need semiconductor chips, such as in the defence sector, automobiles and future aspirations in cell phone manufacturing.

    One-time Programmable Memory

    • Hard disks, flash memory, etc, are examples of memory technology.
    • There is also another form of memory called the one-time programmable memory (OTP) where the memory is written once, stored for a lifetime, and retrieved and used many times.
    • This finds varied uses, one of which is in correcting faulty chips that have been mass produced for specific applications.

    Its utility

    • For instance, think of a chip that helps read off the temperature.
    • Due to a manufacturing defect, the chip may read 100 degree Celsius as 101 degree Celsius.
    • This “offset” of 1 degree may be corrected by storing the error correction parameter in the OTP memory.
    • This is done uniquely for each chip and once stored, the memory corrects the chip’s output for its lifetime.
    • OTP memories are also used for other purposes, mainly three: chip identity, secure information storage and chip calibration for error correction.

    How does it work?

    • To store the correction value, the researchers used eight memory cells, each of which would store one “bit” (that is a value of zero or one).
    • Each of the memory cells consist of an ultrathin silicon dioxide layer which is 10-15 atomic layers thick.
    • This is deposited uniformly over a dinner plate–sized eight-inch silicon wafer to form millions of nanoscale capacitors.
    • The pristine silicon dioxide layer is insulating, passing a very low current [which in digital electronics is read as a “0”].
    • A nanoscale lightning is generated of 3.3 volts to blow the capacitor, leading to a short circuit that produced high current [this is a “1”].
    • Thus, the OTP memory remembers either the “0” state or “1” state through its lifetime.

    Benefits offered

    • The group has successfully demonstrated CMOS 180-nanometre–based, production-ready, eight-bit memory technology.
    • These include successful operation between minus 40 degrees C to 125 degrees C and reliability to ensure excess of 95% yield on eight-bit memories.

    Significance

    • A large fraction of manufactured chips may need to be discarded for faults that can be corrected using this technology.
    • This technology is the first indigenous semiconductor memory technology adoption to manufacturing at 180-nanometre node.
    • Thus, this is a major national milestone for semiconductor innovation.

     

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  • UPSC Prelims 2021 || Innovative Strategy for the Last Two Weeks

    UPSC Prelims 2021 || Innovative Strategy for the Last Two Weeks

    How is your prelims Preparation going on? Do you want to score 120+ in prelims? Are you worried about what to revise or what’s to leave? Should you attempt sectional tests or full tests? What to read in Current affairs?

    Santosh Gupta sir discusses the three pillars approach for the last two weeks for Prelims 2021. This is the most crucial time for prelims. If you are distracted or worried or cannot manage time, his innovative approach will help you to stay on course and sail through. Must watch and share with others.

    You can get to know about his innovative mentorship program super-25 here:
    https://www.civilsdaily.com/course/upsc-prelims-2021-super-25/

    Please join our Telegram Group:- https://t.me/joinchat/Ue3sJ2PxiFYevhFchttps://t.me/joinchat/Ue3sJ2PxiFYevhFc

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    Any doubts reach out to us:- 88829 14738

    About Santosh Gupta sir
    Santosh Gupta sir has scored above 140 twice in UPSC prelims and always 120 plus in all 6 attempts. He wrote all 6 mains and appeared for Interviews 3 times. He has qualified UPSC EPFO and BPSC 56-59th also.
    He has been teaching and mentoring UPSC aspirants for the last 5 years with tremendous interest in environment and ecology and Polity.

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