The Eighth Edition of annual Indian Navy (IN) – Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) bilateral maritime exercise SLINEX-20 is scheduled off Trincomalee.
About SLINEX-20
SLINEX-20 aims to enhance inter-operability, improve mutual understanding and exchange best practices and procedures for multi-faceted maritime operations between both navies.
In addition, the exercise will also showcase the capabilities of our indigenously constructed naval ships and aircraft.
SLINEX series of exercise exemplifies the deep engagement between India and Sri Lanka which has strengthened mutual cooperation in the maritime domain.
Interaction between the SLN and IN has also grown significantly in recent years, in consonance with India’s policy of ‘Neighbourhood First’ and the vision of ‘Security and Growth for all in the Region (SAGAR)’.
A recent survey has found that a tectonic fault line that runs through Ladakh, all along the Indus river, is not inactive as was previously thought and is, in fact, moving northward.
Tap here to read more about Himalayan orogeny:
Indus Suture Zone (ISZ)
A suture zone is a linear belt of intense deformation, where distinct terranes, or tectonic units with different plate tectonic, metamorphic, and paleogeographic histories, join together.
The ISZ represents a belt of tectonic compression caused by the underthrusting of the Indian shield/ plate against the Tibetan mass.
It marks the boundary between the Indian and Eurasian plates.
The suture zone stretches from the North-Western Himalayan syntaxis bordering the Nanga Parbat to the East as far as the Namche Barwa Mountain.
Its tectonic activity
The Karakoram Range and the Ladakh plateau lie to the north of ISZ and originally formed a part of the European plate.
The zone has been neo-tectonically active for the past 78,000-58,000 years.
While the frontal and central parts of the Himalayas — the Shivaliks, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Sikkim — are still known to be active and moving.
The fault line runs all along the Indus river, from China through India and Pakistan.
The study was conducted in Ladakh from the north of Ladakh’s capital, Leh, to the Tso Moriri lake, a distance of 213 kilometres.
Why the Ladakh region is more vulnerable?
Fault lines weaken the rock formation in the region through which it runs, making the area vulnerable to excessive erosion and landslides.
What makes the Ladakh region vulnerable is that unlike other areas in the Himalayas and the rest of the country, there is very little vegetation here and very few trees that can root the soil down.
So, in the case of a flash flood or a cloud burst, this can have a widespread impact.
The first of the five seaplane services in Gujarat, connecting Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad to the Statue of Unity in Kevadia in Narmada district, will be inaugurated on October 31
India’s first seaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-winged aeroplane designed for taking off and landing on water. It offers the public the speed of an aeroplane with the utility of a boat.
The first seaplane project of the country is part of a directive of the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation.
As per the directive, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) requested state governments of Gujarat, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and the administration of Andaman & Nicobar to propose potential locations for setting up water aerodromes to boost the tourism sector.
Where will the seaplane connect?
In Kevadia, the proposed Terminal will be spread over 0.51 acres in the premises of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd., located in the Panchmuli lake (Dyke 3) of the Sardar Sarovar Dam at Limdi village.
It is approximately 90 km from Vadodara, 150 km from Surat and 200 km from Ahmedabad — with an aerial distance of 74.6km from Vadodara airport.
What impact will it have on the environment?
The water aerodrome is not a listed project/activity in the Schedule to the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006 and its amendments.
However, the activities proposed under the water aerodrome project may have a similar type of impact as that of an airport.
There has to be a bathymetric and hydrographic survey by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI).
During seaplane operations, there will be turbulence created in the water while takeoff and landing of seaplanes. This will lead to more operation process i.e. mixing of oxygen in the water.
This will have a positive impact on the aquatic ecosystem near seaplane operations increasing oxygen content and decreasing carbon content in this system.
The makers of the Thanjavur Art Plate, with its roots in a craft that dates back to the Marathas of the 1800s, are banding together for its cultural and commercial rejuvenation.
The Thanjavur Art Plate is an artefact which is exclusively made in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India.
It is a circular plate made as a gift item. It is a handicraft consisting of metals such as silver, bronze, and copper embossed with figures of gods and goddesses at its centre.
Patronised by Maratha ruler Serfoji II (1777-1832), Thanjavur Kalai craftsmen were kept busy with orders for royal gifts, mostly decorative salvers, jewel boxes and vessels like water pots and ewers.
In its contemporary version, the craft has been commercially reinterpreted as ‘Thanjavur kalai thattu’ or Thanjavur Art Plate, a ceremonial platter made with silver, copper and brass layers in three stages.
The base is plated with alternate copper and silver panels, a bigger embossed silver motif on the central section, and the setting of globular jigna or sequins in the secondary relief.
It was given a Geographical Indications (GI) tag in 2007, as a proof of its long heritage.
Back2Basics: Geographical Indications in India
A Geographical Indication is used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
Such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness which is essentially attributable to its origin in that defined geographical locality.
This tag is valid for a period of 10 years following which it can be renewed.
Recently the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry has launched the logo and tagline for the Geographical Indications (GI) of India.
The first product to get a GI tag in India was the Darjeeling tea in 2004.
The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 (GI Act) is a sui generis Act for the protection of GI in India.
India, as a member of the WTO, enacted the Act to comply with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
Geographical Indications protection is granted through the TRIPS Agreement.
Q. What is common to the places known as Aliyar, Isapur and Kangsabati?
(a) Recently discovered uranium deposits
(b) Tropical rain forests
(c) Underground cave systems
(d) Water reservoirs
Mullaperiyar Dam
It is a masonry gravity dam on the Periyar River in the Indian state of Kerala.
It is located 881 m above mean sea level, on the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats in Thekkady, Idukki District of Kerala.
It was constructed between 1887 and 1895 by John Pennycuick and also reached in an agreement to divert water eastwards to the Madras Presidency area (present-day Tamil Nadu).
Pennycuick is widely worshipped as a hero by farmers in the four districts of southern Tamil Nadu, where water from the dam meets the drinking water needs and irrigates thousands of hectares.
Why is the dam special?
The dam was constructed surmounting many odds, with malaria and thick jungles taking a toll on workers. It was a huge challenge before him to construct the dam and divert the river course.
Pennycuick sowed the seeds of river interlinking to bring barren and rain-starved areas under cultivation.
To fund dam construction, gold ornaments were donated by Chettiar families and farmers in Cumbom valley also gave their meagre savings to Pennycuick.
Pennycuick even sold his ancestral property in Britain and spent the amount for completing the works of the dam when the expenses exceeded the allotted funds.
The British government endowed him with the ‘Companion of Star of India’, a high civilian honour. He died on March 9, 1911, at Frimley in Britain.
This newscard is an excerpt from an originally FAQ published in TH.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which of the following is issued by registered foreign portfolio investors to overseas investors who want to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly?
(a) Certificate of Deposit
(b) Commercial Paper
(c) Promissory Note
(d) Participatory Note
Hybrid Fund
A hybrid fund is one that invests in both equity and bonds. So, such funds ought to help investors with their asset allocation decision.
This refers to how you allocate your annual savings between equity and bond investments.
Suppose you are unsure of the proportion of equity and bond investments to have in your portfolio.
By investing in a hybrid fund, you could outsource your asset allocation decision to the manager of the fund, so the argument goes.
The issue is that each goal you pursue requires different asset allocation. For instance, the asset allocation for your child’s education portfolio must be different from your retirement portfolio.
Hybrid funds cannot consider your individual goal requirement as it is a collective investment vehicle.
Tax efficiency of the fund
Based on current tax laws, a hybrid fund that holds 65% or more in equity is considered as an equity fund.
So, if you redeem your units in such hybrid funds after a holding period of more than 12 months, you have to pay long-term capital gains tax of 10%.
If a hybrid fund holds less than 65% in equity, you have to pay 20% capital gains tax with indexation if you sell your units after a holding period of more than 36 months.
Back2Basics: Stocks vs. Bonds vs. Equity
A stock represents a collection of shares in a company which is entitled to receive a fixed amount of dividend at the end of the relevant financial year which are mostly called Equity of the company.
Bonds term is associated with debt raised by the company from outsiders which carry a fixed ratio of return each year and can be earned as they are generally for a fixed period of time.
Bonds are actually loans that are secured by a specific physical asset.
It highlights the amount of debt taken with a promise to pay the principal amount in the future and periodically offering them the yields at a pre-decided percentage.
Equity is ownership of assets that may have debts or other liabilities attached to them. Equity is measured for accounting purposes by subtracting liabilities from the value of an asset.
Celebrating skinks, Zoological Survey of India has listed 62 species.
Try this PYQ:
Q.With reference to India’s Biodiversity, Ceylon frogmouth, Coppersmith barbet, Gray-chinned minivet and White-throated redstart are-
(a) Birds
(b) Primates
(c) Reptiles
(d) Amphibians
What are Skinks?
Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha.
With long bodies, relatively small or no legs, no pronounced neck and glossy scales, skinks are common reptiles around homes.
Although they are common reptiles and have a prominent role in maintaining ecosystems, not much is known about their breeding habits, and ecology because identification of the species can be confusing.
Certain notions about them
Skinks are highly alert, agile and fast-moving and actively forage for a variety of insects and small invertebrates.
The reduced limbs of certain skink species or the complete lack of them make their slithering movements resemble those of snakes, leading people to have the incorrect notion that they are venomous.
This results in several of these harmless creatures being killed.
ZSI study on Skinks
A recent publication by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) reveals that India is home to 62 species of skinks and says about 57% of all the skinks found in India (33 species) are endemic.
Sepsophis (with one species)and Barkudia (with two species) are limbless skinks found in the hills and coastal plains of the eastern coast.
Barkudia insularisis believed to be found only in the Barkud Island in Chilka lake in Odisha. Barkudia melanosticta is endemic to Visakhapatnam.
Sepsophis punctatus is endemic to the northern part of Eastern Ghats.
Five species of Kaestlea (blue-tailed ground skinks) are endemic to the Western Ghats and four species of Ristella (Cat skinks) also endemic to the southern part of Western Ghats.
How to write an essay that will fetch you 160+ marks in IAS mains exam? What are the components of a great essay? How to write philosophical essays? Like these, you might’ve got a lot of questions.
Zeeshan sir will be live today at 7 pm to unlock the mystery around IAS mains Essay paper and answer all of your questions. Click on the video below to set reminder.
Zeeshan sir himself will be mentoring and streamlining your essay preparation in Essay FLTs 2020 program.
What is Essay FLTs 2020?
It is a mentor-driven Essay test series for UPSC 2020 Mains exam. Our focus is on personalized attention in evaluation, execution, and course correction. Our innovative methodology in topic selection, reviews, and evaluation on one hand and mentorship and collaborative approach on the other will build your capacity to write Essays that will fetch 160+ marks.
What are we offering and how is it unique?
We’ve innovated at every step of the process.
Highly relevant, precise and thoughtful topic selection
Our research tells us there are 8 broad themes of essays being asked since 2010 – Economy, Polity, Women Issues, Education, Science & Tech, Philosophy, IR, Miscellaneous.
But there is some rationality to the way UPSC selects essay topics. Those themes are highly relevant to the current times and one can find a strong correlation with current affairs of the past year(s).
We plan to develop your competencies so that you can be better prepared for the actual exam.
Our biggest innovation lies in our review methodology. Specific portions of your essay will be highlighted with symbols to indicate issues in essay writing
(X) Cross – FUNDAMENTAL FLAWS like judgments/strong postures which need to be avoided at all costs.
(*)Star -APPRECIATION for uniqueness.
STRUCTURE is not maintained. Issues with Language and expression.
GENERAL SUGGESTIONS for candidates.
Along with this, Zeeshan sir will also leave specific reviews on strengths and weaknesses.
We don’t want to merely suggest additional points that can be googled by the student themselves or point out superficial flaws like not ‘sticking to the topic’. They don’t necessarily highlight the shortcomings in the essay. This adds very little value to students. We go much beyond that and help students fix major flaws in their essays.
10 parameters on which your essays are going to get evaluated
Comprehension of the topic
Language and Expression
Structure and Organisation of thought.
Objectivity and Biases. Balance of perception
Attitude whether a learner or judgmental
Focus and attention
Content and Source matter, Knowledge and information processing capability
Ability to forge links in an interdisciplinary manner
Model essays with indicative structure and good essay copies
You will be provided with good essay copies to serve as sample answers. This is a better alternative than sample answers which are hastily written and at times not updated with the latest figures.
Students have an incorrect impression that going through a sample essay will somehow help them write better essays. This is absolutely incorrect.
To develop your competency in tackling different topics, you have to be able to come up with appropriate structures. This aspect of the program addresses this issue.
The expectation from you would be that you study the solutions in detail and try to address the shortcomings in your essays. Should doubts still persist, we’re here to help.
One-to-one Mentorship and Civilsdaily’s handholding
This component of the program is the most important. Post-evaluation of your essay test you will get on a one-to-one discussion with Zeeshan sir. He will discuss the topic in considerable depth, appropriate structure, pitfalls to avoid, etc.
Along with that, sir will also discuss copies presenting different styles in which the essays could be attempted.
Membership to exclusive group on Habitat
Habitat is our learning platform, here you’ll be given membership to an exclusive Essay group. This group will be administered by Zeeshan sir, Sajal sir, in-service officers, rankers, and other mentors.
For essays, you need multiple perspectives to understand a topic or an issue in its entirety. You need discussions; arguments; confluence, confrontation, and integration of ideas. Here, discussions will be facilitated by mentors and enriched by different viewpoints by peers. Moreover, you can ask and discuss any of your doubts with peers and Zeeshan sir.
Besides these, you will be given the following
Any additional material that we release for essays.
Notes and reference material including good articles, essays, etc. on Habitat group.
Program inclusion
5 FLTs
Model essays
One-to-one mentorship
Membership to exclusive Essay group on Habitat
Notes and references on Habitat
Price of the program
Rs. 4000 + taxes for Smash Mains 2020 enrolled students
Have you started the mains answer writing practice yet? The first test of Mains FLTs 2020 is live now. Instruction on where to find and attempt the test below.
Mains is the most important stage of the UPSC exam. It’s also becoming more and more unpredictable, analytical and dynamic than ever before.
https://youtu.be/5ay4rql_m18
Watch Sajal sir live today.
What is Mains FLTs 2020?
Mains FLTs 2020 is a personalised and Mentor guided comprehensive and intensive program for GS Mains papers. The focus is on making students understand the requirement of Mains Question, its elements, using information, and imparting answer writing skills for that.
Our previous year Mains tests have had an exceptional hit ratio in 2019 and 2018 UPSC Mains.
It happens under a team of experienced Civilsdaily’s faculty. Questions framed are from the most important UPSC relevant themes and papers are based on the latest pattern of UPSC.
Our questions specifically state:
Whether they are straightforward or thought-provoking/analytical.
Whether they have subparts.
Why this question – similar previous year questions, the importance of the theme, etc.
CD Innovation – Star marked questions We go the extra mile and craft unique, intellectually-stimulating questions. Marked with a star, these questions reward analytical ability and critical thinking.
2. One-to-One Discussion on every checked copy
We believe in personalised individual attention. This is the biggest reason why you should join our TS. Students can schedule a call within 2 days of receiving their checked copies.
A one-to-one discussion with Mentor will not only highlight your weaknesses but will also help in tracking your improvements over the subsequent tests.
Our evaluation focusses on multiple dimensions and parameters like structure, flow, presentation, contextuality, relevance to question, analytical excellence and cross-domain inter-linkages than simply on superficial, memory-based lapses.
More than just simply providing information, our model answers cover all the aspects of a question and provide enriching points to the student. They also include:
For ‘thought-provoking/analytical‘ type of questions, we’ll provide the best way to approach them.
Alternate introductions
Sub-headings and categorization to enhance readability and answer structure.
Colour coding for main arguments, reports, data, scholars, etc.
OTB – Out of the box points for additional marks
5. Video Discussion
Every test is discussed thoroughly in the video lecture. An in-depth explanation of every question, demand from it and the ways in which it could have been answered are discussed. Mentors will also be sharing answer writing strategy with students so that they can gain extra marks in Mains.
You’ll be assigned to a special group on Civilsdaily’s Habitat, it’s headed by Sajal Sir, Atul Sir, Ravi Sir and rankers like Dr Vipin Garg (AIR 20), Swapnil Pawar (AIR 525) and others.
Habitat is where everything comes together learning, doubt clearing, notes, references, mentor’s support, and a focussed community. You’re going to learn and discuss like never before.
How will your queries be resolved?
The moment you have a query, you post it in the group. At 11 PM, 3 AM, doesn’t matter. No need to schedule a call, or drop an email. Just drop a chat. Once our team is up, it will be resolved.
More often than not, your peers will take part in your doubt discussions adding a lot of value.
Besides doubts, what else is there on Habitat?
#DDS sessions – We have dedicated sessions every day to resolve doubts in real-time. Never keep a doubt to yourself.
An ecosystem for co-learning and active learning.
A highly motivated community to bring flexibility and consistency to your preparation.
That’s not all, we’ve Daily news analysis and Op-ed discussion sessions on Habitat. Other activities like revisions, quizzes, test discussion, CSAT, etc. are also planned.
Current affairs magazines – Civilsdaily’s Magazines are the best in terms of comprehensive coverage, superb design, and high readability. Get them here.
Listicles and other relevant study material – Supplementary content provided will be helpful in covering multiple related questions.
Program inclusion:
Tests (12 Full Syllabus) and Model Answers
Video Discussion
On phone One-to-One discussion of checked copy
Civilsdaily’s Handholding and connect with Mentor on Habitat
Civilsdaily’s Habitat special group
Civilsdaily’s Magazines, Listicles, and other relevant study material
The recently passed agri bills seek to expand the choices and opportunities available with the farmers and will help in increasing their income.
Diversified product segment
The Minimum Support Price (MSP) evolved as a mechanism to guard farmers against supply and demand shocks in the cereals segment.
Now, however, farmers and agricultural producers have diversified their product segments, cereals no longer dominate production.
In the last decade itself, India has witnessed tremendous change in the GVA composition of the agri-sector.
The share of crops has decreased from 65.4% in 2011-12 to 55.3% in 2018-19, projected to further fall to 45.6% in 2024-25.
In the same period, value add of livestock and fishing & aquaculture is steadily increasing, as are the total value outputs of sub-segments like horticulture, milk and meat.
With differentiated production strategies that are less reliant on cereals and more on other segments, farmers are accruing better incomes.
By diversifying their produce, they are moving away from one-crop risks.
Government schemes and policies
Keeping farmers dependent on subsidies and restricted by APMCs, and acts like the Essential Commodities Act wasn’t in the nation’s long-term interests.
Recognising this, the government has been making sequential changes in the system.
It started with the introduction of the National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) to facilitate online trading of agri-produce.
Then PM-KISAN was introduced to provide minimum income support to nine crore marginal farmers, at Rs 6,000 annually.
The KISAN credit card with an allotment of a total of Rs 2 lakh crore credit to maintain larger workforces and implements during harvest season is helping farmers plan and organise their harvests better.
The Rs 1 lakh crore Agri Infrastructure Fund as part of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan will help by the creation of agri-infrastructure.
Need for structural changes
The government recently passed three agri-bills, these are:-
1) The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce Bill.
2) Farmers Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill.
3) Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill.
They enable farmers the freedom to diversify their crops and produce, which reduces mono-crop dependence and increases income avenues.
They can also now sell their produce anywhere, to the highest bidder across the country.
The farmers are no longer are they required to go to the mandis where they are subject to middlemen and layers of bureaucracy.
Contract farming enable farmers them to boost the value-add of their products via contracts and assured procurement by the food processing industries.
Retaining the MSP system means the government is underwriting the whole network for certain crops to ensure farmers receive assured income for those crops.
Focusing on the export market
The passage of agri bills gives India the long-awaited opportunity to orient its agriculture sector towards export markets.
By catering to just the Indian economy, the exposure is hardly $3 trillion ; instead, export-orientation caters to an $82 trillion global economy —a 27x expansion.
India’s agri exports in 2018 were at $38.5 billion.
India can comfortably triple this by providing infrastructure for grading, sorting, and supply chain distribution.
Conclusion
The farm Bills are liberating farmers at a pivotal juncture, the nation and farmers have a generational opportunity here to break out of a 70-year sectoral stagnation and aim bigger.
