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.
Instructions and link to register for the Open test below. Test will be made live at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Click here for the Open test. Instructions below.
Dear students,
We have launched Mains 2020 Full-Length Test series, and are providing the first test of the series as open to all.
Details of the test
Subject: GS mains paper 1
Syllabus: Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the world, Society and Current Events
Mains FLTs 2020 is a personalised and Mentor guided comprehensive and intensive program for GS Mains papers.
There are 12 full length FLTs.
The focus is on making students understand the requirement of Mains Question, its elements, using information, and imparting answer writing skills for that.
The article analyses some trends in India’s population growth as found in the Sample Registration System Statistical Report (2018).
Context
There have been some encouraging trends in India’s population in the Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report (2018) and global population projections made by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), US.
Declining TFR
SRS report estimated the Total Fertility Rate (TFR), the number of children a mother would have at the current pattern of fertility during her lifetime, as 2.2 in the year 2018.
It is estimated that replacement TFR of 2.1 would soon be, if not already, reached for India as a whole.
As fertility declines, so does the population growth rate.
This report estimated the natural annual population growth rate to be 1.38 per cent in 2018.
A comparison of 2011 and 2018 SRS statistical reports shows that TFR declined from 2.4 to 2.2 during this period.
Fertility declined in all major states.
In 2011, 10 states had a fertility rate below the replacement rate. This increased to 14 states.
The annual natural population growth rate also declined from 1.47 to 1.38 per cent during this period.
So, when will India’s population stabilise
Duet to population momentum effect, a result of more people entering the reproductive age group of 15-49 years due to the past high-level of fertility, population stabilisation will take some time.
The UN Population Division has estimated that India’s population would possibly peak at 161 crore around 2061.
Recently, IHME estimated that it will peak at 160 crore in 2048.
Some of this momentum effect can be mitigated if young people delay childbearing and space their children.
Factors affecting fertility rates
Fertility largely depends upon social setting and programme strength.
Programme strength is indicated by the unmet need for contraception, which has several components.
The National Family Health Survey (2015-16) provides us estimates for the unmet need at 12.9 per cent and contraceptive prevalence of 53.5 per cent for India.
Female education is a key indicator for social setting, higher the female education level, lower the fertility.
As the literacy of women in the reproductive age group is improving rapidly, we can be sanguine about continued fertility reduction.
Declining sex ratio at birth: Cause for concerrn
The SRS reports show that sex ratio at birth in India, measured as the number of females per 1,000 males, declined marginally from 906 in 2011 to 899 in 2018.
Biologically normal sex ratio at birth is 950 females to 1,000 males.
The UNFPA State of World Population 2020 estimated the sex ratio at birth in India as 910, lower than all the countries in the world except China.
This is a cause for concern for following 2 reasons:
1) This adverse ratio results in a gross imbalance in the number of men and women.
2) Impact on marriage systems as well as other harms to women.
Increasing female education and economic prosperity help to improve the ratio.
It is hoped that a balanced sex ratio at birth could be realised over time, although this does not seem to be happening during the period 2011-18.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there is an urgent need to reach young people both for reproductive health education and services as well as to cultivate gender equity norms. This could reduce the effect of population momentum and accelerate progress towards reaching a more normal sex-ratio at birth. India’s population future depends on it.
Back2Basics: Total Fertility Rate and Replacement rate
Total fertility rate (TFR) in simple terms refers to total number of children born or likely to be born to a woman in her life time if she were subject to the prevailing rate of age-specific fertility in the population.
TFR of about 2.1 children per woman is called Replacement-level fertility (UN, Population Division).
This value represents the average number of children a woman would need to have to reproduce herself by bearing a daughter who survives to childbearing age.
If replacement level fertility is sustained over a sufficiently long period, each generation will exactly replace itself without any need for the country to balance the population by international migration.
The article analyses the changing geopolitical context against the background of the pandemic. China has been facing some challenges at the UN of late. Multilateralism faces an unprecedented crisis. This context provides an opportunity for India to push for reforms in international institutions.
China facing difficulty in elections to UN bodies
Recently, India besting China in the elections for a seat on the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
Soon after the CSW vote, it lost another election, this time to tiny Samoa for a seat on the UN Statistical Commission.
And a couple of days ago, it just about managed to get elected to the UN High Rights Council, coming fourth out of five contestants for four vacancies.
Earlier, China’s candidate had lost to a Singaporean in the race for DG World Intellectual Property Organization.
China’s strengths
Taking advantage of its position as a member of the P-5 and as a huge aid giver, China made itself invincible in UN elections.
It won among others, the top positions at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Historical background on China’s rise at the UN
World War II saw strong U.S.-China collaboration against the Japanese, including U.S. operations conducted from India.
Their bilateral ties saw the U.S. include the Chinese in a group of the most important countries for ensuring world peace post- World War II, along with the U.S., the USSR and the U.K.
This enlarged into the P-5, with France being added by the UK at the San Francisco conference held in 1945 where the UN charter was finalised.
The pure multilateralism of the League of Nations was thus infused with a multipolarity, with the U.S. as the sheet anchor.
Challenges to multilateralism and the need for reform in the international institutions
Multilateralism is under stress due to COVID-19 pandemic and a certain disenchantment with globalisation.
At the root is the rise of China and its challenge to U.S. global hegemony.
But in the current scenario multilateralism backed by strong multipolarity in the need of the hour.
This demands institutional reform in the UN Security Council (UNSC) and at the Bretton Woods Institutions.
In this context, it is good that recently India, Germany, Japan and Brazil (G-4) have sought to refocus the UN on UNSC reform.
As proponents of reform, they must remain focused and determined even if these changes do not happen easily or come soon.
This is also the way forward for India which is not yet in the front row.
Way forward
Earlier in the year, India was elected as a non-permanent member of the UNSC for a two-year term.
India will also host the BRICS Summit next year and G-20 Summit in 2022.
These are openings for India in collaborating the world in critical areas that require global cooperation especially climate change, pandemics and counter-terrorism.
India also needs to invest in the UN with increased financial contributions in line with its share of the world economy and by placing its people in key multilateral positions.
Consider the question “The UN, which came into existence in different time fails to take into account the realities of the changing world. In light of this, examine the basis of India’s claim to a permanent seat at the UN. What are the challenges to India’s claim.”
Conclusion
Against the backdrop of pandemic and subsequent pushback against China at the UN, it is also an opportune moment for India and a Reformed Multilateralism.
India has the highest prevalence of wasted children under five years in the world, which reflects acute undernutrition, according to the Global Hunger Index 2020.
Note the parameters over which the GHI is based and their weightage composition.
Global Hunger Index (GHI)
The GHI has been brought out almost every year by Welthungerhilfe lately in partnerships with Concern Worldwide since 2000; this year’s report is the 14th one.
The reason for mapping hunger is to ensure that the world achieves “Zero Hunger by 2030” — one of the SDGs laid out by the UN.
A low score gets a country a higher ranking and implies better performance.
It is for this reason that GHI scores are not calculated for certain high-income countries.
Each country’s data are standardised on a 100-point scale and a final score is calculated after giving 33.33% weight each to components 1 and 4, and giving 16.66% weight each to components 2 and 3.
For each country in the list, the GHI looks at four indicators:
Undernourishment (which reflects inadequate food availability): calculated by the share of the population that is undernourished (that is, whose caloric intake is insufficient)
Child Wasting (which reflects acute undernutrition): calculated by the share of children under the age of five who are wasted (that is, those who have low weight for their height)
Child Stunting (which reflects chronic undernutrition): calculated by the share of children under the age of five who are stunted (that is, those who have low height for their age)
Child Mortality (which reflects both inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environment): calculated by the mortality rate of children under the age of five.
India’s performance this year
In the 2020 Global Hunger Index, India ranks 94th out of the 107 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2020 GHI scores.
With a score of 27.2, India has a level of hunger that is serious.
The situation has worsened in the 2015-19 period, when the prevalence of child wasting was 17.3%, in comparison to 2010-14, when it was 15.1%.
India fares worst in child wasting (low weight for height, reflecting acute undernutrition) and child stunting (low height for age, reflecting chronic undernutrition), which together make up a third of the total score.
Useful comparative data
Overall, India ranks 94 out of 107 countries in the Index, lower than neighbours such as Bangladesh (75) and Pakistan (88).
In the region of the south, east and south-eastern Asia, the only countries which fare worse than India are Timor-Leste, Afghanistan and North Korea.
