1. निम्न कथनों पर विचार कीजिए।

1 संसद के द्वारा चुनाव पर आयोग की नियुक्ति स्थायी व स्वतंत्र है
2 मुख्य निर्वाचन आयुक्त व अन्य निर्वाचित आयुक्तियों की नियुक्ति राष्ट्रपति द्वारा की जाती हैै 
3 निर्वाचन आयुक्त की सेवा शर्तें संसद द्वारा निर्धारित की जाती है

उपर्युक्त कथनों में  सही कथन है 

a केवल 1
b केवल 2
c 1 एवं 3
d उपर्युक्त सभी

2. निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार कीजिए ।

1 मुख्य निर्वाचन आयुक्त को उसी रीति से हटा सकते है जैसे उच्चतम न्यायालय के मुख्य न्यायाधीश को 
2 मुख्य निर्वाचन आयुक्त को संसद के दोनों सदनों के विशेष बहुमत के द्वारा राष्ट्रपति द्वारा हटाया जाता है।

उपर्युक्त कथनों में सही कथन है 

a केवल 1
b केवल 2
c 1 एवं 2
d कोई नहीं

3. घास भरा पारिस्थितिक तंत्रा में संस्था का पिरामिड होता है?

a सीधा
b रैखिक
c विपरीत
d असंतुलित

4. पृथ्वी पर, निम्न में किसकी जीवन सतत् है?

a जानवर
b जैव समुदाय
c पारिस्थितिकी तंत्रा
d इनमें से कोई नहीं

5. सबसे सतत् पारिस्थितिक तंत्र मेंः

a वन
b घास भूमि
c रेगिस्तान
d महासागर

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ANS: 1(b), 2(c), 3(a), 4(c), 5(d)

1. Researchers at Stanford University on April 2015 created a smartphone battery that charges in only one minute. In this context, consider the following statements:

I. It is the first high-performance aluminum battery which is fast-charging, long-lasting and inexpensive.
II. It comprises of an aluminum anode, a graphite cathode and an ionic liquid electrolyte.

Which is/are incorrect?

1.   Only I
2.   Only II
3.   Both I and II
4.   Neither I nor II

2.  Name the foreign minister of Belarus who visited India from 14 April to 16 April 2015.

1.   Piotr Krauchanka
2.   Sergei Martynov
3.   Mikhail Khvostov
4.   Vladimir Makei

3.  Name the project that was launched by kerala Government on 19 April 2015 to end liquor abuse in the state

1.   Subodham
2.   Punarjani
3.   Battle against alcohol abuse
4.   None of the above

4.  Name the first woman who climbed the 8850 metre (29035 feet) Mount Everest summit twice in a week.

1.   Pasang Lhamu Sherpa
2.   Chhurim Sherpa
3.   Dandu Sherpa
4.   Tenzing Norgay Sherpa

5.  Who among the following Indian race walkers did not qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics during the IAAF Race Walking Challenge at Rio Maiorin Portugal on 19 April 2015?

1.   Khushbir Kaur
2.   Manish Rawat
3.   Sandeep Kumar
4.   Irfan Kolothum Thodi
 

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ANS: 1(d), 2(d), 3(a), 4(b), 5(d)

In ‘act of god’, coercive not cooperative federalism(The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Economy 
Prelims level: Cooperative federalism and GST council 
Mains level: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment

Context:

• It is beyond anyone’s imagination that the Government of India would invoke the “Force Majeure” clause against its own people.
• Unfortunately, this has become reality at a time when every Indian State is massively burdened by the COVID-19 crisis and governance has been severely affected.
• Finance Minister’s statement on Thursday that the financial crisis facing the States is a result of an “act of God” is symptomatic of the callousness with which the Modi government treats State governments.
• This abdicationof responsibility strikes a cruel blow to the social contract that exists between the Government of India and State governments, who are equal representatives of the 1.3 billion citizens of India.

The Basis:

• The Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime was built on the promise that if States faced revenue deficits after the GST’s introduction, the Centre would make good the loss in the first five years.
• It was on the basis of this commitment that States extended their support to GST.
• States sacrificed their constitutionally granted powers of taxation in the national interest. That allowed the Centre to announce the dawn of “one nation one tax” at the stroke of midnight in 2017.
• When the GST compensation cess exceeded the amount that had to be paid to States, the Central government absorbed the surplus.
• Now, the economy has slowed down dramatically and the resources raised are insufficient.
• Instead of exploring other viable options, the Centre is orchestrating a charade and raising questions about whether it is legally accountable to pay compensation.
• A reading of the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act 2017 and the Constitution 101st Amendment answer these questions affirmatively. Alas, the government’s objective is to obfuscate.
• It is one thing to say that there are no funds available but entirely another to assert that there is no commitment to pay compensation.
• This commitment has a history that begins with United Progressive Alliance era when many BJP-ruled States strongly pitched for a compensation mechanism to be a part of the Constitution itself.
• Paragraph 92 of the Standing Committee report shows that the Centre assured payment of compensation for a specified period, if there were such a loss.

Assurance made:

• When the Modi government introduced the GST compensation cess, many States pointed out that proceeds from the cess may be inadequate to fund the losses faced by States after the rollout of GST.
• Allaying these apprehensions, the central government made the assurance that it would provide funds to meet States’ deficits.
• In the seventh meeting of the GST Council, the Chairman (then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley), observed that it was the constitutional commitment of the central government to provide cent per cent compensation.
• This was reinforced in the eight meeting of the Council.
• In the tenth meeting, the Secretary of the GST Council stated that the central government could raise resources by other means for compensation and this could then be recouped by continuing the cess beyond five years.
• Therefore, there was never any ambiguityin the minds of States that succour will be offered by the Centre.
• States never expected to be disappointed so early. The central government has let them down by thrusting on them two options, both of which involve borrowing by States.
• This is akin to asking States to mortgage their future to sustain the present.
• Cooperative federalism has been transformed into coercivefederalism.

Centre is best placed:

• The central government has the ability to raise resources through means that are not available to States.
• Monetary measures are the monopoly of the central government. Even borrowing is more efficient and less expensive if it is undertaken by the Central government.
• Over the last six years, the Centre has continually cornered resources that should have been shared with States.
• The Fourteenth Finance Commission allotted 42% of central government tax revenues to States.
• However, Accountability Initiative’s analysis of State Budgets shows that States received only 30%of central tax collections during the 2015-19 period.
• The Centre raised an estimated ₹3,69,111 crore revenue through cesses and surcharges in 2019-20 alone. These are not shareable with States.
• Similarly, cesses on petroleum products have resulted in the Centre receiving 60% of petroleum tax revenues, with only 40% going to States. In 2013-14, the ratio was 50-50.

Conclusion:

• As equal representatives of the citizens of the federal republic of India, State governments expected the Centre to demonstrate empathy when they are bearing the bruntof the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns that were announced without consultation.
• This is the most appropriate time to provide them relief through the Consolidated Fund of India.
• Prime Minister proudly described GST as a ‘Good and Simple Tax’ which would usher in a glorious economic future for India.
• Unfortunately, just three years later, the harsh reality is that States are staring at ‘grave and sordidtimes’ ahead.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, consider the following statements:

1. International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief was observed on 21 August.
2. The day recognizes the importance of providing victims of acts of violence based on religion or belief and members of their families with appropriate support and assistance in accordance with applicable law.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: B

Mains Questions:

Q.1) Describe the functions of GST council. What is the issue of compensating states for the shortfall in their goods and services tax (GST) collections? Also discuss the necessary steps need to be taken in this regard.

National well-being and the counts that matter (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: Governance 
Prelims level: Adolescent pregnancy 
Mains level: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Education

Context:

• India’s crimes data recording system is not built to capture subtleties; hence we do not know what proportion of pregnancies in India start off without the consent of the woman.
• Measuring and tracking matters of import is critical to individual, community as well as national well-being.

Parameters that are valuable:

• What is valuable is measured frequently, at different life stages, and at disaggregated levels: birthweights; the heights and weights of our children when they enter school; school completion rates; perhaps the age, height and weight of a first-time pregnant woman; and most definitely, the number of women in the formal workforce who are on a par with men in terms of earning.
• Underage marriage of girls must become history.
• Ensuring secondary school completion of every child, especially girls in rural areas, has far-reaching impact, and needs to be pursued single-mindedly.
• Provisioning separate, functional toilets and sanitary pads for girls, and teaching boys biology and gender differences (of their own and female) are key enablers to ensuring gender parity in school completion rates.
• Teaching school-leaving girls and boys the notion of consent, and also the basics of contraception, will ensure that the start of every pregnancy will be a desired and happy one.

Births in the country:

• Not every pregnancy ends up in a live birth — evocatively captured by the six-word allegedly Hemingway novel: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn”.
• A desired pregnancy is to be supported by a fully functional health-care system, able to anticipate complications before time and facilitating a safe delivery.
• Current stillbirth numbers in India are hard to pin down, but after accounting for background losses and abortions, there still remains a distressingly large number of still births, sometimes mis-recorded as early neonatal deaths.
• Despite the trend towards nuclear families, pregnancies in India still are familial events — outcomes are eagerly anticipated by more than just the parents, and stillbirths are a rude end to many fond wishes.
• A young, short and under-schooled woman is more likely to have a bad pregnancy outcome, or, a smaller than expected baby.
• A birth weight is much more than a number — it is a complex outcome, telling of how well the woman and her family eats, her status among them, and also of any particular condition that the individual mother or newborn child has.
• Tracking average birthweights by district and subdistrict on a regular basis is a fair proxy for food security, the status of women and the delivery of primary health care.
• For a nation with plans to assign digital health IDs to everyone, this is not a tall ask — what is additionally required is the making of this moving average data live and visible to the people and their government.
• It should also put to rest all debate about whether some Indians are born more equal than others.

Height-weight proportions:

• A good start is a great advantage, but easily squanderedif subsequent growth and development are blightedby the lack of adequate nutrition, first exclusively from the mother’s breast, then through locally available weaning and complementary foods; and repeated bouts of vaccine preventable or easily treatable illnesses.
• Parental hopes of a child growing up, going to school and becoming successful hit a major hurdle if the height-weight proportions at age five are not normal.
• Ensuring this marker is recorded for every child who enters school will also allow for a correlation with birthweights at the district level — giving a better understanding of multi-dimensional property.
• If India is to be truly taking advantage of its large birth cohort in the form of a demographic dividend, then the correlate of birthweight and five-year height-weight needs to be reviewed at the highest political levels regularly.
• It reflects the physical and cognitive nurture of human capital that the country can bank on for its future.
• Every child born in India is to be considered a ratna – a jewel and handled as such; some of them will go on to get the formal Bharat Ratna tag eventually.

Improved learning:

• Schooling is a socio-economic and gender parity springboard if school completion rates show no gender, rural-urban or parental income divides.
• Consequently, India may not only bring down its maternal mortality ratios but also improve neonatal and under five mortality rates, through delayed marriages and exercising of reproductive choices by its empowered young women.
• Grading cognitively ill-equipped or ill-taught children on standardised tests is as much a waste of effort as letting large numbers of young people graduate through courses which are hopelessly out of sync with the expectations of the job interview board.
• The recently unveiled new education policy seeks to remedy this. It will be a while before we can measure any of the talked about, and hopefully intended, outputs or impact of this policy.
• Unimaginative teaching of anaemic children is a double whammy, partially addressed through protein rich mid-day meals.
• Deworming, school toilets, sanitary pads and bicycles for girls are progressive policy steps in the right direction; adding remedial training and affirmative feedback for teachers will be transformative.
• With better cognitive capacities and supportive environment, the stress of learning reduces, and outcomes improve.
• Improved learning should translate into better completion rates at post-secondary and baccalaureate levels but need not necessarily correspond to universal, meaningful employment.
• It is for the government and the corporate world to make opportunities and workplaces happen, irrespective of their gender.
• Right economic stimuli, anticipating potential workplace disruptions, supporting reskilling and retraining, and decriminalising entrepreneurial failure will go a long way in eliminating work and livelihood-related anxieties making their way back home as domestic violence.
• As a society, we need to understand and make leewayfor failure, and not stigmatise it, whether at school in early childhood, during miscarriages of pregnancies, or when career and business decisions go awry.
• Stigma erodes self-worth and kills silently.

Timely data helps:

• Together, these measurements will tell us far more about where we are, and where we as a nation will go.
• The tools to get these measurements exist; we just have to see them in real time to be able to take corrective actions where needed.
• Public health is about people, their continued well-being, and not just about controlling disease outbreaks.
• Data helps; timely, disaggregated, multidimensional data helps immensely in ensuring collective well-being, physical, mental and social.
• People are India’s greatest possession and will remain so for the conceivable future, provided they are in a state of well-being.
• An ill-educated, anxious population is a tinderbox, capable of self-harm as well as being kindling for malice-driven mobilisation.
• Addressing this requires a whole of life and whole of society approach, and measuring the outcomes that matter, regularly.

Conclusion:

• Hopefully the 2017 edition of the national health policy and the new education policy unveiled last month will be the twin rails that India rides towards a true demographic dividend.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) draft standard for drinking water supply, consider the following statements:

1. It states that after treatment the drinking water should conform to the Indian Standard (IS) 10500 developed by the BIS.
2. The IS 10500 outlines the acceptable limit of various substances in drinking water, including heavy metals such as arsenic, and other parameters like the pH value of water, its turbidity, the total dissolved solids in it, and the colour and odour.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:

Q.1) What are the key reasons behind adolescent pregnancy in India?  Suggest steps that can be taken to tackle the problem. 

Home and the World(Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2: Governance 
Prelims level: National institutional tanking framework
Mains level: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Education

Context:

• The best indicators of a university’s performance are the learning outcomes and how its education has impacted the students and society.
• The hype surrounding the announcement of world university rankings by international ranking organisations is unfortunate.
• Regardless of whether the rankings are beneficial or not, more universities than ever before want to get into these rankings.
• The obsession to be within the top 100 universities in the world is exasperating.
• Since there is a potential danger of creating elitism among universities through this ranking, lower-ranked universities may lose out on many counts.
• Some top-ranked universities want to collaborate only with other top-ranked universities, impairingthe less fortunate ones to further sink.

Perception:

• International ranking organisations also force universities to alter their core missions.
• This has happened with JNU. Although JNU ranks between 100 and 200 in certain disciplines, it does not find a place in world university rankings. The reason is JNU does not offer many undergraduate programmes.
• We were indirectly told to start more undergraduate programmes in order to scale the ranking order while our university is predominantly a research-oriented institution.
• First, let me state the obvious. Indian institutions lose out on perception, which carries almost 50 per cent weightage in many world university ranking schemes.
• Psychologists know that perception is a result of different stimuli such as knowledge, memories, and expectancies of people.
• While one can quantitatively measure the correlation between stimuli and perception, perception cannot be a quantifiable standalone parameter.
• Therefore, perception as a major component in the ranking process can easily lead to inaccurate or unreasonable conclusions.

Citations:

• Rightly or wrongly, international ranking organisations use citations as a primary indicator of productivity and scientific impact a discipline makes.
• However, studies show that the number of citations per paper is highest in multidisciplinary sciences, general internal medicine, and biochemistry.
• It is the lowest in subjects such as visual and performing arts, literature and architecture.
• It is nobody’s case that the latter subjects are of any less importance.
• By making citations of published papers from a university as a strong parameter for rankings, we seem to have developed an inexplicable blind spot when it comes to the differences among subject disciplines.
• It is no wonder that universities such as JNU, whose student intake in science research programmes is less as compared to the other disciplines, will loose out in world university rankings although it has been rated as the second-best university in India.

Rigidity and lack of transparency:

• International ranking organisations are too rigid in their methodology and are not willing to add either additional parameters or change the weightage of current parameters.
• They are disinclined to employ meaningful and universally fair benchmarks of quality and performance.
• This is an absolute requisite to take into account the diversity that prevails among the universities.
• Some Indian higher education institutions even decided not to participate in the world university rankings alleging a lack of transparency in the parameters that are used in the ranking process.
• Since universities are complex organisations with multiple objectives, comparing universities using a single numerical value is as ineffectual as comparing a civil engineer with a biologist or a linguist and a dancer.
• Hence, the danger that such skewed world rankings will downgrade the university education to a mere commodity is a realistic trepidation.
• This inelastic stance of ranking organisations has forced more than 70 countries to have their own national ranking systems for higher educational institutions.

National institutional tanking framework:

• NIRF will stimulate healthy competition among Indian educational institutes, which should eventually lead to a world-class Indian educational system.
• This system will act as a catalyst for the transformation of local universities to world-class institutions.
• The MHRD established the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in 2016.
• The parameters used by NIRF for ranking Indian institutions are also most suited for many other countries — among the parameters are teaching, learning & resources, research and professional practice, graduation outcomes, outreach and inclusivity and peer perception.
• Unlike international ranking organisations, NIRF gives only 10 per cent weightage for perception.
• In 2016, the NIRF rankings were given in four categories — University, Engineering, Management and Pharmacy. College, Medical, Law, Architecture and Dental were added in 2020.
• This shows how NIRF is refining its ranking methodology by taking inputs from the stakeholders, which the international ranking organisations seldom do.
• No right-minded person can plausibly argue against such a ranking system, which recognises and promotes the diversity and intrinsic strengths of Indian educational institutes.

Conclusion:

• International ranking organisations are often sightless about what it takes to build a world-class educational system as compared to a world-class university.
• If a country has a world-class educational system with a focus on innovation, best teaching-learning processes, research-oriented towards social good, affirmative action plans for inclusive and accessible education, it will have a more visible social and economic impact.
• Indian higher educational institutes need to ask themselves: What positive role can they play in improving the quality of higher education?
• What can we do to adopt innovative approaches to become future ready? And they need to act on those questions to make a change and plan beyond what is obvious.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to late payment surcharge (LPS), consider the following statements:

1. The rate of LPS in many cases ranges upto 18 per cent per annum and has adversely impacted Discoms during lockdown phase due to COVID-19.
2. Discoms are given 60 days by power producers for payment of electricity supply bills.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:

Q.1)Discuss the significance of Institutions of Eminence scheme as under National institutional tanking framework.
​​​

Testing times(Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2: Governance 
Prelims level: Not much 
Mains level: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Education

Context:

• The Joint Entrance Examination to the IITs and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Tests for medical institutes are slated for September.

Postponement:

• Both the tests have been postponed twice — the JEE was originally scheduled in April, then deferred to July; the NEET slated for May was also pushed to July.
• With the COVID pandemic showing no sign of letting up, they were rescheduled again. Now, there is a chorus of opposition to holding these examinations next month.
• On Wednesday, chief ministers of seven states threatened to move the Supreme Court to seek the deferment of NEET-JEE — this, after the Court had made it clear last week that it is against putting off these examinations any further.
• So far, the government has been unequivocalabout the September schedule — it should not buckle down.

Key challenges:

• The virus does introduce several challenges to the task of holding examinations.
• But given that the COVID curve continues its upward climb, at different rates in different states, there is no evidence that delaying the exams — by weeks or months — will reduce the risk.
• To ensure trust and a level playing field across income groups, an online examination is challenging to administer.
• Given the numbers who take these tests, losing an entire year in these colleges isn’t an option. This would have a cascading effect on the next year.
• In short, the test is an unavoidable and that needs to be done following the science.
• Today, a lot more is known about the virus than what was known in April — what precautions are needed, from masks to distancing for a test that will take three hours of a student at a desk.
• The epidemiological understanding is virtually mainstream now and has informed the lifting of restrictions on a range of activities.

Passport to dreams:

• This is also the thinking behind the Election Commission’s stated intention to hold the Bihar assembly elections; the Delhi government calling for resuming the Metro services; airlines planning to expand services.
• Everywhere, the discourse is how to open up while minimising the risk.
• That logic should drive these examinations as well.
• As this newspaper has reported, an average of Rs 150 is being spent per candidate to ensure COVID hygiene at the 660 centres across the country.
• But care should also be taken to ensure that holding the test now does not diminish the representative character of these institutes — socially, regionally and with respect to gender.
• The governments must ensure that the candidates can travel safely, and, in time, to the examination centres.
• For lakhs of young women and men, these tests are a passport to their hopes and aspirations.

Conclusion:

• It’s the government’s responsibility to ensure that they get all they need to take the test — safely.
• Yes, there are challenges but, on balance, deferring JEE, NEET doesn’t reduce risk; Govt should work to ensure safety.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) 160, consider the following statements:

1. Under this, Government has proposed stricter norms for construction machinery to ensure greater safety on highways.
2. It includes features like machine-mounted audible travel alarms, requirements for operator station and maintenance areas, non-metallic fuel tank and wider operator visibility for construction equipment machinery.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Burdening the states(Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2: Governance 
Prelims level: GST revenues 
Mains level: Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure

Context:

• The economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened the faultlines in Centre-state fiscal relations.
• A key sore point that has emerged in recent months is that of compensating states for the shortfall in their protected GST revenues — collections from the compensation cess will not be enough to offset the shortfalls this year.

Reneging promise:

• The option that the Centre has now presented to states is allowing them to borrow the amount of the shortfall through an arrangement with the RBI, facilitated by the Centre.
• This suggests that rather than taking the burden of compensating states on itself, as was originally promised, the Centre has shifted the weight of meeting the shortfall in collections to the states.
• While the states have requested for a seven-day period to think this over, they may have no option but to accept these terms.
• However, shifting the burden on to the states is tantamount to the Centre renegingon its promise of protecting their revenues.
• It strikes at the very foundation of the original agreement between the Centre and states on GST.

Shortfall in collection:

• As per the Finance Ministry, the shortfall in state GST collections this year is likely to be around Rs 3 lakh crore. Of this, Rs 65,000 crore will be collected through the cess route, implying a shortfall of Rs 2.35 lakh crore.
• The compensation due, but not paid to states, for the April-July period stands at Rs 1.5 lakh crore, as against cess collections of only Rs 14,482 crore in the first quarter of the current financial year.
• To bridge this growing gap between cess collections and GST shortfalls, state finance ministers had laid out several alternatives.
• Some proposed that the GST Council be allowed to raise funds, securitised against future cess collections.
• Others had suggested increasing the cess levied on products. Another option, one preferred by several states, was for the Centre to borrow the funds and transfer to the states.
• While these options have been debated upon for several months, the Centre has rejected all of them.
• For states, revenue from GST accounts for roughly a third of their revenue receipts in 2019-20 (BE).
• Thus, any reluctance on their part to borrow more to finance these shortfalls (it would add to their debt burden), coupled with further shortfalls in flow of resources to them (tax devolution is likely to be lower), would force them to cut back on spending, imparting a contractionary fiscal impulse to the economy, at a time when there is a growing clamourfor loosening the purse strings.

Conclusion:

• At the current juncture when states are at the forefront of fighting the pandemic, the Centre should have assured them of adequate funds.
• Centre’s refusal to compensate for GST shortfalls could impart contractionary fiscal impulse to economy.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the RLF-100 (Aviptadil), consider the following statements:

1. It is a formulation of synthetic human Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide (VIP).
2. Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide (VIP) is released only in lungs.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:

Q.1) To what extent the GST Council is responsible for collection of revenues. Comment

1. निम्नलिखित कथनों में से कौन से कथन सही है?

I बी एस-4 स्तर के वाहनों में नाइट्रस ऑक्साइड, कार्बन मोनो ऑक्साइड और पार्टिकुलेट मैटर का उत्सर्जन अत्यंत ही कम होता है। 
II बी एस-4 स्तर के वाहनों के इंजन में केवल प्रति दस लाख 50 भाग सल्फर वाले ईंधन का ही उपयोग किया जा सकता है, वही बी एस-3 स्तर के वाहनों में 350 पीपीएम सल्फर वाले ईंधन का प्रयोग किया जाता है।

कूटः

a केवल I
b केवल II
c I एवं II दोनों
d न तो I न ही II

2. उपग्रह निर्माण हेतु इसरो का निजी क्षेत्र में साथ अनुबंध के सन्दर्भ में निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार करें-

I  इसरो ने बेंगलुरु के हाईटेक रक्षा उपकरण आपूतिकर्त्ता अल्फा डिज़ाइन टेक्नोलॉजी को पहले निजी उद्योग के तौर पर चुना गया था। 
II भारत को ई.वी.एम. (EVM) की पहली खेप दिलाने मे मदद करने वाले कर्नल वाई.वी.रेड्डी इस संघ के नेतृत्वकर्त्ता हैं। 
III अल्फा डिज़ाइन टेक्नोलाॅजीज, बेंगलुरु के नेतृत्व वाले एक संघ को भारत के नेविगेशन तंत्र के लिए दो पूर्ण उपग्रह बनाने का काम दिया गया है।

इनमें से कौन सा / से  कथन सत्य है ?

a I एवं II
b I एवं III
c II एवं III
d I, II एवं III

3. मानव विकास सूचकांक में भारत का स्थान निम्नलिखित में से कौन सा है?

a 131 वें
b 132 वें 
c 133 वें
d 134 वें

4. निम्नलिखित कथनों में से कौन से कथन सत्य है-

I चेनानी-नैशारी सुरंग भारत की सबसे लंबी सुरंग है। 
II यह सुरंग जम्मू और उधमपुर से रामबन, बनिहाल और श्रीनगर की यात्रा करने वालो को सुरक्षित एवं सभी मौसमों का सुरक्षित मार्ग मुहैया कराएगी।

कूट:

a केवल I
b केवल II
c I एवं II दोनों
d न तो प न ही पप

5. फाॅल्कन 9 राॅकेट बूस्टर के संदर्भ में निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार करें-

I अमेरिका की अंतरिक्ष कंपनी ने फॉल्कन 9 राॅकेट बूस्टर को दोबारा लाॅन्च किया। 
II फाॅल्कन 9 राॅकेट बूस्टर लक्समबर्ग आधारित उपग्रह आपरेटर एस. ई. एस के लिए एक संचार उपग्रह को कक्षा में स्थापित करने के लिए ले गया है। 
III इस उड़ान से कक्षा में एस. ई.एस उपग्रहों की संस्था बढ़कर 165 हो गयी है।

इनमें से कौन सा/से कथन सत्य है-

a I एवं II
b II एवं III
c I एवं III
d उपरोक्त सभी

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ANS: 1(c), 2(b), 3(a), 4(c), 5(a)

1. Prohibition of discrimination on groups of religion etc (Article 15 of the constitution of India) is a fundamental right classifiable under

(a) The right to freedom of religion
(b) The right against exploitation
(c) The cultural & educational rights
(d) The right to equality.

2. According to the constitution of India the term ‘district judge’ shall not include.

(a) Chief presidency magistrate
(b) Sessions Judge
(c) Tribunal Judge
(d) Chief justice of a small cause court.

3. Which one of the following statements is incorrect?

(a) Goa attainted full state hood in 1987
(b) Diu is an island in the Gulf of Khambhat
(c) Daman & Diu were separated from Goa by the 56th Amendment of the constitution of India
(d) Dadra & Nagar Haveli were under French colonial rule till 1954

4. If a new state of the Indian union is to be created, which one of the following schedules of the constitution must be amended?

(a) First
(b) Second
(c) Third
(d) Fifth

5. Which constitutional authority recommends the principles governing the grants –in- aid of the revenues to the sates out of the consolidated fund of India?

(a) Inter- State Council
(b) Finance Commission
(c) Union Ministry of Finance
(d) Public Accounts Committee
 

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ANS: 1(a), 2(d), 3(c), 4(b), 5(b)

(The Gist of PIB) Pandit Jasraj

Pandit Jasraj

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the demise of Pandit Jasraj. He was 90. 

About:

• Pandit Jasraj (born 1930) was an Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the Mewati gharana.
• He has been awarded Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (2010), Padma Vibhushan (2000) and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1987).
• Jasraj created a novel form of jugalbandi called Jasrangi that is styled on the ancient system of moorchhana, between a male and a female vocalist, who each sing different ragas at the same time.
• In 2019, a minor planet (Asteroid 300128) between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter was named after Pandit Jasraj.
• Pandit Jasraj has also lent vocals to Oscar winning movie 'Life of Pi'.

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Courtesy: PIB

(The Gist of PIB) National Cadet Corps

National Cadet Corps

• Defence minister has approved a proposal of the National Cadet Corps for a major expansion scheme to meet the aspirations of youth in all the border and coastal districts. 

Expansion scheme:

• The proposals of the scheme were announced by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address on 15 Aug.
• A total of one lakh cadets from 173 border and coastal districts will be inducted in the NCC. One-third of the Cadets would be girl Cadets. More than 1000 schools and colleges have been identified in border and coastal districts where NCC will be introduced.
• As part of the expansion plan, a total of 83 NCC units will be upgraded (Army 53, Navy 20, Air Force 10), to impart NCC training to the cadets in the border and coastal areas.
• Army will provide training and administrative support to the NCC units located in the border areas, Navy shall provide support to NCC units in the coastal areas and similarly Air Force will provide support to the NCC units located close to the Air Force stations.
• The expansion plan would be implemented in partnership with the States.

NCC:

• The NCC, which was formed in 1948, currently has a strength of around 14 lakh cadets from Army, Navy and Air Force wings. It enrolls cadets at high school and college level and also awards certificates on completion of various phases.
• Headed by a Director General of three-star military rank, the NCC falls under the purview of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and is led by serving officers from the Armed forces at various hierarchical positions.
• The NCC currently has 17 regional directorates which govern the NCC in units in various states or groups of states and union territories.

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Courtesy: PIB

(The Gist of Science Reporter) CAVILITY — A Transparent Mask

[August-2020]

CAVILITY — A Transparent Mask

• Designers coordinated by French engineer Pierre Blondon have designed and developed the stylish high-security Cavility Mask with features including Thermo-Plastic Elastomer (TPE). It suits any type of face giving you optimal airtight, high performance filters, replaceable filters, etc. It is easy to clean and cost-saving too.

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(The Gist of Science Reporter) AI-based Cyber-physical System

[August-2020]

AI-based Cyber-physical System

• To monitor social distancing in public places, researchers at IIT Kharagpur’s Autonomous Ground Vehicle (AGV under the Centre of Excellence for Robotics Research have developed a low-cost Artificial Intelligence based cyber-physical system. The device will give a proximity alert whenever there is a violation of social distancing norms. 
• The device can visually detect the gap between individuals and play a proximity alert sound
• through audio output, for any violation of the social distancing norms. The device uses images in the field view of a camera and computes the distance as per criterion set by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

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An Unserviced Sector(Indian Express)

Mains Paper 3: Economy 
Prelims level: Services Sector of India
Mains level: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment

Context:

• The service sector has been a key driver of both the global and Indian economy over the last three decades.
• The economic reforms since the early Nineties unleashed the potential of the services sector by utilising available skilled manpower due to state-supported higher education.
• India is probably the only big economy that didn’t follow linear growth theories by jumping from a predominantly agricultural economy to a services-led growth economy without much improvement in manufacturing.
• The share of manufacturing in India’s GDP has remained stagnant around 16 per cent for nearly three decades and we are nowhere near the 2022 target of 25 per cent.
• As a result, India’s growth story has been driven by services, which has a 55 per cent share in the economy.
• Services exports have outperformed goods exports in the recent years.
• India’s share in the world’s commercial services exports has risen steadily over the past decade to reach 3.5 per cent in 2018— twice the sector’s share in the world’s merchandise exports,1.7 per cent.

Service provider:

• India is fast becoming a major quality service provider. Even before the COVID pandemic set in and just before the nationwide lockdown was announced at the end of March, the sector was booming.
• The widely-tracked Nikkei India PMI Index stood at 57.5 in February, up from 55.5 in January.
• However, IHS Markit India Services Index reports that the services sector has been contracting for five consecutive months since March, with an index of 34.2.
• In PMI jargon, the 50-mark level separates expansion from contraction.
• Given the uncertainty in the world market and the projected slowdown of developed economies by 8 per cent this year, India’s services-led growth has to depend mostly on the domestic economy.
• Have we done enough to revive the services sector?
• The Centre rolled out a whopping Rs 20.9 lakh crore stimulus package to pull the economy out from the ravages of the pandemic.
• The package had a strong focus on the MSME sector, employee provident fund, power distribution companies and taxation, among other affected areas.
• Most of the stimulus package is in the form of funding and loan opportunities and, injecting liquidity to the market.

Plight of service sector:

• While the package is a beam of hope for some, it has overlooked the plightof the services sector.
• The sector finds little mention or attention in the government’s Atmanirbhar Reform Package.
• The sector’s significance in the economy continues to grow with its share amounting to two-thirds of total FDI inflows into India and about 38 per cent of total exports.
• As the post-pandemic world is taking shape, the sector is struggling hard to keep its head above water.
• The tourism industry, which contributed nearly 10 per cent of GDP, is now witnessing a large-scale reduction in jobs and operating returns have plummeted to 10 per cent of previous revenues for most.
• If the CAPA Centre for Aviation is to be believed, the aviation sector is expected to have lost $3.6 billion in the three months leading up to June.
• The number of potential job losses in the sector gives an even harder jolt to an already dwindling economy.
• After holding rounds of meetings with industry representatives and making several references to its condition in speeches, the government is not aloof from the catastrophic consequences suffered by the sector. But its by-stander position would only worsen the situation.

Neglect of service sector:

• From tourism, aviation, shipping, space to call centres and delivery services, the standstill in activities is bound to have a knock-out effect on employment, production and the economy as a whole.
• The big picture suggests that the current relief provisions for the primary and secondary sectors would also be nullified as a consequence of neglecting the tertiary sector.
• An immunity-building exercise through capital infusion and appropriate relaxation in relevant sectors will help the economy to survive the pandemic.
• Most of the services sectors are the worst affected and unfortunately, we don’t see any specific fiscal and monetary stimulus for them.
• In fact, some sectors would find it difficult to survive if the pandemic continues.
• In the short run, the government needs to make cuts in VAT, which ranges from 0-30 per cent on aviation fuel, make provisions for GST holidays, compensate for wages of workers under distress and draft flexible terms for working capital credit.
• Since no great incentives were given to this sector in the reform package, it contracted for the fifth successive month in July (34.2 PMI).
• The government is also in the process of scrapping or rationalising most of the export-incentive schemes affecting both goods and services exports — these including the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS), schemes related to export-oriented units and the Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme — due to certain issues raised by the department of revenue and also to make some of these schemes WTO-compliant.
• This is expected to further hurt exporters.

Conclusion:

• The government must focus on the sector in the forthcoming Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) by announcing schemes-based export incentives and provides interim relief by continuing with the existing schemes in the short run, the sector will take a long time to revive.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the 1G and 2G bioethanol plants, consider the following statements:

1. 1G bioethanol plants utilise sugarcane juice and molasses, by-products in the production of sugar, as raw material.
2. 2G plants utilise surplus biomass and agricultural waste to produce bioethanol.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:

Q.1)Describe the major service sectors and their contribution in GDP growth during pandemic period. What are the roles of FDI in the Services Sector?