In his second term, Modi can ensure better urbanisation through greater devolution of power, and finances (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2 : Polity
Prelims level : Not much
Mains level : Urbanisation development

Context

•  As Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his second term with an even larger political mandate, it is time to reflect on what should be the priorities in fixing our cities.
•  The scale of the challenge is massive whether we look at the availability of clean drinking water, unpolluted air, quality of public transport, traffic management and parking, integrated planning of transport and land use, law and order, management and safe disposal of solid waste that is generated, treatment of waste water and effluents, and affordable housing.
•  In short, the state of public service delivery in our cities is abysmal and what is more, the cities are financially broke and cannot address these problems on their own.

Do cities matter?

•  The short answer is, very much so.
•  Rapid economic growth in any country is associated with a decline in the share of agriculture and increase in the shares of manufacturing and services in its GDP, and this involves greater urbanisation.
•  India’s experience in the last two decades has been no different, except that the urbanisation associated with rapid growth has been largely unplanned, much more so than in most other developing countries aspiring to middle-income status.
•  Going forward, as we try to achieve rapid growth which is necessary to provide growing employment opportunities for our young work-force, we need to position our cities as drivers of the structural transformation of the Indian economy.

UN projections suggestions

•  UN projections suggest that India’s urban population will increase from 461 million in 2018 to 877 million in 2050, with India contributing the largest share of global urban population growth from 2018 to 2050.
•  Our cities will have to provide much better quality of life if we want to create a climate which will attract investment.
•  For this, we not only need more and better urban infrastructure but also significantly better institutions, which can manage the infrastructure and deliver public services of high quality.
•  State governments have the principal responsibility for urban development.
•  But in order to deliver, they can and should ensure that city governments are sufficiently empowered to get the job done.
•  This requires strengthening the finances of these governments, building their capacity to take on the new challenges that urbanisation brings, and providing an enabling environment through legislative and administrative support. Most state governments have been failing in this respect.

No transformative action

•  The 74th Constitutional Amendment of 1992 gives the state governments the power to transfer a set of 18 legitimate municipal functions to the municipal governments and also devolve finances to them to enable them to perform these functions and organise the delivery of the public services.
•  State governments were happy to devolve most, though not all, of the 18 functions to the urban local governments.
•  Town planning the golden goose was not typically transferred.
•  Also, action on devolution of funds to urban local governments has been unpredictable and hopelessly inadequate.

Fiscal devolution

•  The talk of cooperative federalism stops at the level of the state government.
•  Over the years, the state governments have claimed and successfully obtained a larger share in the joint revenues of the Centre and the states.
•  The Fourteenth Finance Commission increased the share of states in the revenue pool from 32 per cent to 42 per cent.
•  By contrast, municipal revenues/expenditures in India have been stagnating at around 1 per cent of GDP for over a decade.
•  This is much lower, for example, than the municipal revenues/expenditures in Brazil which account for 7.4 per cent of GDP and 6 per cent in South Africa.
•  The 15th Finance Commission has an opportunity to prescribe grants from the Centre to the urban local governments.

Steps taken by the Centre

•  In the past decade or so, the Centre has come to recognise that urbanisation is set to accelerate with India’s rapid growth.
•  First, the UPA government launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and Rajiv Awas Yojana as centrally sponsored schemes.
•  The NDA government followed up with a number of their own urban development missions like Swachh Bharat, AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission, and Housing for All.
•  These national initiatives have provided some finance and also nudged the state governments to take up the challenges of urban development, and all this made some difference.
•  An important point to note is that the national missions could deliver only where the state governments were pro-active in bringing about the change.
•  While being aspirational and providing strategic leadership, these missions put forth only limited funds and rightly expected the state governments to raise the rest by either mobilising their own financial resources or by attracting public-private partnerships.
•  Only a few state governments have been able to come forward to realise the potential offered by the national missions.
•  The missions played an additional role in igniting a competitive spirit among the state governments in the delivery of public services.

Loopholes

•  A major failing of the national missions has been that they have not addressed the issues of empowerment and devolution to the third tier.
•  A simple solution would be for the Government of India to introduce an incentive grant system whereby states which devolve funds to some desired degree get to top up the financial grant from the Centre.
•  This should be limited to second-tier cities, which are crucial to a new urbanisation thrust. Metropolitan cities need such grants much less, since states can help them raise resources by empowering them to unlock land value.
•  They are also better placed to develop PPPs with viable revenue models to attract private funds.

Conclusion

•  Essentially, co-operative federalism needs to go deeper, below the state level. There are no shortcuts to improving the state of our cities.
•  The state governments need to decentralise, devolve and empower the cities.
•  We, as responsible citizens, need to engage with the government to find collective solutions while at the same time, holding the government accountable.

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Dismal signs (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 3 : Economy
Prelims level : ICRA
Mains level : Trend of anaemic economic activity

Context

•  The initial set of corporate results for the fourth quarter of 2018-19 seems to affirm the trend of anaemic economic activity.
•  Revenue growth fell to a six quarter low of 10.7 per cent in Q4FY19, down from 20.1 per cent in the previous quarter, shows rating agency ICRA’s analysis of 304 companies.
•  In the case of consumer linked sectors, the slowdown is more severe.
•  These numbers, indicative of a wider economic slowdown, are likely to weigh down GDP estimates for Q4FY19, to be released later this week by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). Pointing economic indicators
•  Leading economic indicators suggest a broad-based slowdown in household demand.  Rural wage growth, in both agricultural and non-agricultural occupations, continues to be subdued. Sales of two-wheelers and FMCG companies have been sluggish.
•  And while bank lending is up, it is unlikely to have compensated for the collapse in the lending by NBFCs, which is likely to have impacted household demand for consumer durables.
•  On the flip side, though, the softening of commodity prices did provide a marginal fillip to earnings.
•  But, despite this, the interest coverage ratio, which essentially measures a firm’s ability to repay its interest obligations, declined as interest costs grew at a much faster pace than profits.
•  With corporate earnings, investment as well as exports showing no signs of a revival, the new government clearly has its task cut out.

Reviving the growth

•  The challenge of reviving growth in the immediate term is more complicated than is being appreciated.
•  For one, the government has limited fiscal space. In the fourth quarter itself, government spending is likely to have been severely curtailed as it would have struggled to meet the fiscal deficit target owing to a shortfall in tax revenues.
•  This suggests that the new government will now have to scale down its revenue growth projects in the new budget, leaving it with little space for a stimulus.
•  And while the government can deviate from the path of fiscal consolidation, the move is likely to spook the bond market. This suggests that monetary policy may have to do the heavy lifting.

Conclusion

•  As inflation is likely to remain muted for the foreseeable future, the monetary policy committee, which meets in the first week of June, may oblige by cutting rates.
•  But the challenge is to ensure its transmission as lending rates tend to adjust quicker to monetary tightening than loosening.

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Brexit: U.K's pending divorce with the EU (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2 : International Relations
Prelims level : Brexit
Mains level : Brexit aftermath effect

Context

•  The politics of the United Kingdom has entered a chaotic, if not entirely dark, phase. Prime Minister Theresa May has announced, in the wake of her inability to deliver an acceptable formula for Brexit, that she would step down on June 7.
•  Her colleagues in the Conservative Party remain deeply divided over the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement she negotiated with the European Union and have rejected three times her attempts to get it passed in Parliament.

Background

•  That agreement is, in principle, based on the notion of the U.K. leaving the EU’s single market and customs union, the termination of residency and work rights of EU citizens in the U.K., and a two-year transition period to consolidate new bilateral modalities.
•  This compromise didn’t fly with the ruling Tory lawmakers because the Brexiteers of the party feel it concedes too much to the EU and yet remains bound by the bloc’s rules.
•  Simultaneously, pro-EU lawmakers are firmly against a hard Brexit, or no-deal Brexit, and prefer to keep alive the close economic ties to the continent that have been in place since the U.K. joined in 1973.
•  The last straw that made Ms. May’s resignation all but inevitable, came from the opinion polls for the European parliamentary election matched this week by the results predicting a landslide victory, at the Conservative Party’s cost, for the freshly minted Brexit Party led by Nigel Farage.

Successor of Ms. May

•  The selection of Ms. May’s successor is a relatively straightforward issue at this point.
•  Leading the pack of contenders is former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who has reiterated his commitment to seeing the U.K. quit the EU on October 31.
•  The current deadline, regardless of whether a deal is agreed upon or not.
•  Others include former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, who supports leaving the EU on “WTO terms”; Environment Secretary Michael Gove; and former Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom.
•  The more complex issue is whether the Conservative Party’s next leader can devise a universally acceptable compromise formula that minimises the economic and social pain inflicted on individuals, corporations and the national psyche.
•  The available options are difficult and few: an orderly exit with a deal; a no-deal exit.
•  An election or second referendum that might reverse the 2016 decision to leave the EU or a further extension of the deadline beyond the date.

Conclusion

•  No matter how the politics of this troubled nation turns.
•  It is the resolution of Brexit as a struggle between nativist impulses and the existing liberal order that the world is watching.

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How new military bases could seed new cities and create jobs (Live Mint)

Mains Paper 3 : Economy
Prelims level : Military establishment
Mains level : Requirement of the Military establishment

Context

• India can create over 30 million jobs in the short- and medium-term by creating 20 military bases in the next 15 years
• India can create over 30 million new jobs in the short- and medium-term by creating 20 new military bases over the next 15 years.
• The required run rate to avoid social turmoil is 20 million jobs per year, way higher than the current run rate of a million or two a year. New military bases can form the nucleus (or the catalyst) for new cities, providing high quality living, schooling and working conditions for the armed forces community.

Improving economic activity

• These in turn will create a growing spiral of economic activity that can create millions of jobs.
• There is a general impression that our armed forces have superior living conditions, with “palatial homes", golf clubs and similar luxuries.
• The reality is more prosaic, with housing shortages, buildings too old to be maintained properly, need for better schools and employment opportunities for spouses.
• While military modernization itself is on top of the policy agenda, the modernization of the places where our troops live, train and operate out of gets almost no attention.
• We need to raise living standards, provide much better infrastructure and modern amenities to the families of both officers and the rank and file.

Major significance

• Equivalent land 40-100km away from the city would be available at a fraction of the cost, allowing the surplus to be used for infrastructure development, housing and defence facilities.
• So shifting parts of old cantonments to new sites can, in a single move, address many policy challenges: create new cities, provide the armed forces with modern facilities and create mass employment without adding to the nation’s fiscal burden.
• To balance the interests of the Union and states, the latter could purchase land from the defence ministry in existing cities in the first transaction.
• The defence ministry could then purchase equivalent land, perhaps larger in size, outside the built-up areas of cities from the state government in the second transaction.
• State governments could develop the land acquired in the city centres for urban redevelopment, relieving congestion and building sustainable neighbourhoods.

Boosting employment

• Back-of-the-envelope estimates suggest that for every new military base or cantonment, between 100,000 to 1 million jobs will be created in the construction and infrastructure sector in the short- and medium-term.
• Further, redevelopment of existing city centres will itself account for 200,000-500,000 new construction jobs in each location in the short-term.
• Additional high-value jobs will be created in these areas given the economic potential of city centres.
• Around 7.5 million new construction and infrastructure industry jobs can thus be created if India were to initiate five such projects.
• Over time, the military bases will germinate into new urban centres with populations of 1-5 million that can act as engines of economic and job growth for the future.
• Without doubt the challenges of doing something of this nature are many and complex.
• Cooperative federalism has to operate at a massive scale, the armed forces have to be persuaded to part with land that has been in their possession since before India’s independence, the environmental impact must be mitigated, agricultural land acquisition must be sorted out and finally, urban real estate mafias must be kept in check.

Conclusion

• The most important consideration is the opinion of the armed forces, from both the military preparedness and quality-of-life perspectives.
• The armed forces’ reluctance to part with land under their control is understandable, even if it is frustrating to many municipalities and state governments.
• This is so because negotiations for exchange of land take place in the absence of a broader vision.
• It is the articulation of a win-win-win proposition for all the stakeholders involved that is the secret sauce in this recipe.

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The new government should set up a body along the lines of the GST Council to reform the agri-marketing system (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 3 : Economy
Prelims level : Agri-marketing system
Mains level : Improving the Agri-marketing system

Context

• Political pundits are sure to analyse why economic factors, including demonetisation, the GST’s teething problems, slow growth of industry, rural distress and joblessness, did not have a bearing on the outcome of the elections.
• But one thing seems clear: Indians prefer a “strong” prime minister.
• In some sense, the BJP’s victory is a victory of the Modi brand the party’s election pitch, after all, centred on the prime minister.

What should PM Modi deliver to the nation?

• First and foremost, perhaps, humility is the need of the hour. The PM needs to go back to his 2014 election slogan, ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’.
• In his “thank you” speech, he gave a welcome indication of doing so: PM Modi mentioned that he will forget the bitterness of the election campaign and work with all the states and parties, without any ill will. That is reassuring.
• Second, the PM has to hit the ground running on the economy.
• The macro-economy is facing headwinds. Industry is in the doldrums and agriculture is in poor shape.
• The prime minister has no time to rest because expectations from him have soared even higher.

Doubling farmers income

• In 2016, PM Modi gave a clarion call to double farmers’ real incomes by 2022-23.
• At that time, the timeframe for that task was seven years and it required a growth rate of 10.4 per cent per annum.
• Three years have passed and one does not see any acceleration in farmers’ incomes compared to the trend line of 3.7 per cent during 2002-03 to 2015-16.
• So, in the remaining four years, PM Modi has to increase the farmers’ real incomes by 13 to 15 per cent per annum.
• This seems almost impossible with the set of policies he has followed in the last five years. Agri-marketing reforms, therefore, should be the top priority in the government’s agriculture agenda.

Establishment Model Agricultural Produce and Livestocks Marketing Act

• PM Modi has to ensure that the Model Agricultural Produce and Livestocks Marketing Act of 2017 is implemented by all the states, in letter and spirit.
• Just sending a letter to the states will not ensure effective implementation.
• Such an approach was attempted by the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2003 but it remained largely on paper.
• Recent attempts to implement the Act in Maharashtra show how strong the opposition to it is by mandi commission agents and other vested interests.

Set up Agri-marketing Reforms Council

• If PM Modi is serious about reforming agriculture, he needs to urgently set up an Agri-marketing Reforms Council (AMRC), on the lines of the GST Council, to carry out agri-marketing reforms in states in a synchronised manner.
• This is a low-hanging fruit and can be harvested in the next six to 12 months.
• This council will also have to review and prune the Essential Commodities Act of 1955, revamp the livestock marketing and the warehouse receipt systems and revitalise the agri-futures markes.
• The agri-vision for New India should be based on building competitive and inclusive value chains for several products, on the lines of AMUL’s model for milk.
• Food processors, organised retailers and agri-exporters should be encouraged to bypass the mandi system and buy directly from farmers’ groups.
• The AMRC should be led by the Union agriculture minister, who should be supported by the chief ministers of the agriculturally-important states.
• The experience gained in implementing the GST reforms should be tapped.

Other portfolios

• PM Modi needs to give the agriculture portfolio to someone who is well respected for his understanding of farm-related matters and can also carry his voice in the Cabinet.
• The only sustainable and efficient way to ensure remunerative prices for farmers is through structural reforms in agri-marketing.
• The path of higher minimum support prices (MSPs), based on cost A2+FL as announced for 23 commodities, has serious limitations because it bypasses the demand side of the equation.
• The grain stock with the Food Corporation of India and NAFED is already higher than the buffer stock norms of these commodities.

Lesson from China

• In this context, lessons from China could, perhaps, be of some use.
• After 2008, China increased the MSPs of key commodities such as rice, wheat, corn and cotton significantly.
• China’s list of MSP commodities is smaller than ours (we have 23 commodities under MSP).
• The stocks of grain with the government system in China touched almost 300 million tonnes, leading to massive inefficiency.
• From 2016 onwards, China set out to reform its agri-pricing support system.
• First, the MSP support for corn was withdrawn, then the government’s cotton procurement was reduced and now the MSP for wheat has been reduced.
• Interestingly, and simultaneously, China moved from price support operations to direct income support on a per acre basis.
• In 2016-17 alone, China gave direct income support of 21 billion dollars to its farmers.

Conclusion

• PM Modi’s move toward a direct income support scheme for farmers is a step in the right direction.
• If he ensures this shift is one from price policy to income policy and reforms the current agri-marketing system.
• He will have effected a fundamental structural reform in agriculture with high pay offs in the years to come.

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Transfiguring India (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2 : Polity
Prelims level : Election agenda
Mains level : Voting behavior

Context

• Every election outcome has two aspects: the statistical and the interpretative.
• Once the results are out, the purely statistical side has few mysteries to offer, unless we enter the complicated terrain of statistical inference.
• Basically, data show who won and who lost, revealing also the scale of victories and defeats. The interpretative side, however, is another matter.
• It is, among other things, about meanings. What does the victory signify?
• Here we enter an analytically and politically embattled domain.

Major highlights

• One could suggest that the election verdict was about the electorate’s comparative assessment of Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi as leaders, and people chose Modi over Rahul.
• The fact that the election became semi-Presidential lends some weight to this argument. A lot of commentary has presented Rahul as a hapless combination of sincerity and ineptitude.
• With considerable decency, he repeatedly spoke of love as a way to counter hatred.
• But this Gandhian line uneasily coexisted with his unremitting anti-Modi slogan, chowkidar chor hai (the watchman is a thief). It is also clear that the slogan was not working.
• Yet he persisted, diluting the other aspects of his campaign, such as unemployment and agrarian distress.
• It is also said that Rahul Gandhi’s idea of NYAY came too late and in much too cluttered a form.
• The masses simply could not comprehend what it was all about. While this is true, another argument is worthy of consideration.
• NYAY might have been ethically compelling, but it was politically unwise.
• India is increasingly becoming a middle-class society and the focus on the bottom 20 per cent, which is what NYAY was about, was irrelevant to the vastly larger middle classes,
  carrying many more votes than the absolute poor.
• In the end, he did not get the vote of the poor and also lost much of the middle class vote. The ethical desirability and political rationality were directly in clash.

But was this election primarily about economic issues?

• Modi chose to relegate them to a peripheral status. Instead, he concentrated on national security and nationalism – relentlessly, unerringly, vociferously.
• And if that is so, shouldn’t national security and nationalism be viewed as the principal determinants of the election outcome?
• One should here note that while most election results are shaped by multiple factors, what an election means is something quite distinct.
• Even if we can’t prove with data what turned the election, the question of how the meaning of the election would be interpreted and used is inevitably a political issue.
• Politicians don’t wait for analysts to settle the relative significance of various factors.
• They go ahead and use the victory in a way suitable to them. They do whatever it takes to win, but once in power, the ideological project often takes over.

Here lies the great danger of this election victory

• There is no doubt in my mind that for the ideologues of the BJP and RSS, including the highest rungs of leadership, not simply the so-called fringe, this election has endorsed the project of Hindu nationalism – namely, the creation of a Hindu majoritarian state and polity.
• How else can one interpret the victory of Pragya Thakur, a terror accused and someone who hailed Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin as a hero and a patriot?
• How else can one understand Amit Shah’s claim that Muslim migrants from Bangladesh or Myanmar were “termites” and he would throw out all immigrants except those who were Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain?
• How does one read Modi’s critique that Rahul Gandhi’s choice of Wayanad as a second constituency was because the minorities were a majority there, as if Muslims and Christians are not citizens equal to the Hindus?
• Even more ominously, how else can one comprehend Modi’s statement in his victory speech on May 23rd that these elections have disempowered, and exposed the deceitful claims of, secularists.
• A solitary later speech seeking the trust (vishvaas) of minorities is simply not enough.

Background

• Since the lynchings began in 2015-16, one encounters a lot of scared Muslims in India.
• There was a time when mainstream politics under Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi used to claim that Muslim anxieties and fears were our anxieties and fears. The whole nation needed to deal with them.
• There might have been riots, as there certainly were, especially during Indira Gandhi’s reign, but from the top rungs of the polity.
• The claim was never that secular protections for minorities, constitutionally legitimated, were either deceitful lies or detrimental to national health and strength.
• Since 2014, this argument has disappeared from the corridors of power. This election gives a thunderous push to this ongoing process.

Conclusion

• If this interpretation of the meaning of 2019 elections is right, a transfigured India possibly awaits us.
• The metamorphosis is not certain but, with an enhanced majority for the BJP, it is likely. Equally probable, the pursuit of Hindu rashtra will be painful and deeply unsettling.

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Market rally: Driven more by relief than optimism (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3 : Economy
Prelims level : NBFC liquidity
Mains level : Describe the requirement of NBFC liquidity

Context

• Monday’s market rally which helped the indices post their highest single-day gains in a decade, and put the Sensex within hair’s breadth of a new high, seems to have taken even bullish market participants by surprise.
• But the market’s reaction to the exit polls predicting a clear majority for the ruling NDA, seems to be driven more by relief than optimism about India’s economic or earnings prospects.

The relief is on two counts

• One, with exit polls playing down the probability of a hung Parliament and the prolonged political haggling accompanying it, the market is betting on the new government getting quickly down to business.
• Two, with the post-poll surveys discounting the possibility of a win for the Indian National Congress, over-the-top populist initiatives such as NYAY which would have likely created fiscal challenges, may now be off the table. It’s given that exit poll predictions have been known to go even directionally wrong on occasions, retail investors should remain circumspect until the final verdict on May 23 is out.

Cautioned needs to be addressed

• The caution should be their watchword even if the final election results end up closely mirroring the exit polls.
• Trends in stock market performance after earlier general elections suggest that once the immediate excitement of the results dies down, markets turn their attention to more prosaic matters such as the economy and corporate earnings.
• On this score, the news is not good, with industrial growth floundering, consumption on a slow track and the NBFC liquidity crisis shaking up debt markets and hurting credit flow to the economy.
• India Inc’s earnings scorecard for January-March 2019 quarter has also been a mixed bag.
• Though aggregate profit growth rates are at a strong 20 per cent plus, aided by a turnaround in banking, sales growth is at its lowest ebb in the last six quarters hinting at a demand slowdown.
• With the Sensex price-earnings multiple at a lofty 28 times, India’s stock valuations factor in a 20 per cent plus profit growth not just for this fiscal year but for many more to come. There’s risk of a sharp de-rating should the actual trajectory disappoint.

Way forward

• The NDA will have to double down to the challenging task of stimulating the economy, without over-relying on the stretched fisc.
• For all its pro-business credentials, the NDA didn’t really manage to deliver on its promise of ‘minimum government, maximum governance’ in its current term.
• Even as India managed a brisk climb in the World Bank’s ease of doing business rankings, domestic businesses have complained of increasing regulatory intervention on the ground.
• Expanding discretionary powers to the taxman, ad-hoc tax demands on start-ups, frequent policy flip-flops on GST and FDI and wild card interventions in the workings of PSUs haven’t helped.
• India also remains a global outlier on high corporate tax rates. Trimming these and scaling back regulatory interventions in business are critical to acche din sustaining in the markets.

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Fire and laissez-faire: fix accountability for Surat tragedy (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3 : Disaster Management
Prelims level : Fire and laissez-faire
Mains level : Safety systems needed in buildings, apartments

Context

• The deadly fire in a Surat coaching centre that resulted in the death of 22 young people highlights the gap between India’s dreamy visions of smart cities and the cruel reality of urban chaos and lawlessness.
• Images of students leaping from the blazing building in a bid to escape will remain imprinted on the public consciousness;
• Many more teenagers were hopelessly overpowered by the flames within the premises, while a lucky few escaped with their lives.
• These young Indians are the latest victims of a culture of laissez-faire urbanisation that city governments have bred and which the courts allow to be pursued without severe penalties.

Background

• India’s abysmal record on fire safety is reflected in the death of 17,700 people countrywide in fires in both public and residential buildings during 2015.
• According to the latest available data from the National Crime Records Bureau.
• Periodically, high-profile cases such as the Uphaar cinema blaze in Delhi that killed 59 people in 1997, and the Kumbakonam school fire in Tamil Nadu in 2004 in which 94 children perished shock the nation, but even these are not strong enough to persuade governments to make fire safety the priority it should be.
• Neither has prolonged, aggressive litigation by the affected families in the Uphaar case made a difference, because the criminal culpability of the administrative machinery and officials who sanctioned unsafe buildings, often in return for bribes, remains largely unaddressed.

Reviewing on the accident

• The Surat fire cannot be called an accident, since there are reports of notices having been served to the builder on the risks, but not pursued by the Fire Department.
• Civic officials have displayed unforgivable indifference, since two deaths occurred in another coaching centre in the city late last year.
• That tragedy should have led to a comprehensive review of public buildings.
• The present inquiry into the disaster should go into any deviations from the sanctioned plan for the commercial building housing the coaching centre, and the role of urban planning officials in allowing it to come up.

Way forward

• Ultimately, litigation on fire disasters goes to the courts, and it is essential for the judiciary to send out the message that there will be no tolerance to corruption and evasion in the enforcement of building rules and fire safety.
• Beyond suspending a few officials and filing cases against the building owners, there is a need to make an example of sanctioning and enforcement authorities.
• The unwavering message must be that Indians demand accountability.
• Mandating compulsory insurance for all public buildings against fire risk and public liability can bring about a change to the way architects and builders approach the question of safety, since the insurer would require a reduction of risk and compliance with building plans.
• At least, that would be a start to rewriting India’s shameful record on fire safety.

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Current Affairs MCQ for UPSC Exams - 21 May 2019

Q1. With respect to the newly launched awareness campaign ‘Not all animals migrate by choice’ by UN Environment India and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) of India, Which of the following statements are true ?

1) The campaign ‘Not all animals migrate by choice’ aims at creating awareness and garnering public support for the protection and conservation of wildlife, prevention of smuggling and reduction in demand for wildlife products.
2) The campaign also complements worldwide action on illegal trade in wildlife through UN Environment’s global campaign, Wild for Life.
3) In the first phase of the campaign, Tiger, Pangolin, Star Tortoise and Tokay Gecko have been chosen as they are highly endangered due to illegal trading in International markets.

a) 1 & 2 only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all of the above

Q2. Which of the following Indian dance forms/festivals are included in the UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list ?

1) Chhau dance
2) Kalbelia dance
3) Ramman festival

a) 1 & 2 only
b) 3 only
c) all of the above
d) 2 & 3 only

Q3. Consider the following statements with respect to SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation ):

1) The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation, the creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai.
2) In the 2017 meeting at Astana, the status of a full member of the Organization was granted to the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
3) The SCO’s head of government council is the supreme decision-making body in the SCO which meets once a year and adopts decisions and guidelines on all important matters of the organisation.

Which of the above statements are true?
a) 1 & 2 only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all of the above

Q4. World’s scientific and technical committee has redefined seven basic units including kilogram. Which of the following statements with respect to this are true ?

1) The kilogram now hinges on the definition of the Planck Constant, a constant of nature that relates to how matter releases energy.
2) Kilogram had earlier gained its origin from the weight of a block of platinum-iridium alloy housed at International bureau of weights and measures (France )
3) The CSIR-NPL (National Physical Laboratory ) is the official reference keeper of units of measurements in India.

a) 1 & 2 only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all of the above

Q5. The Global Inequality Index (GII) is prepared by which of the following international institutions/Programmes ?

a) World Economic Forum
b) UN development Programme
c) International labour Organisation
d) World Bank
 

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A merrier game (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2: National
Prelims level: AirBadminton
Mains level: AirBadminton development

Context

•  Taking a cue from how the sport grew organically in back lanes and parks, where more recreational players toss around the shuttle than those sweating it out in high-ceilinged indoor courts, AirBadminton is racing towards a 2020 season.
•  This development holds the potential for roping in a new demographic from untouched corners of Africa and America as well as mixed 3-member teams from the traditional hubs, in a fun format never seen before. .

From India’s perspective

•  For Indians, these are merry tidings.
•  Not many childhoods have missed out on the hurriedly assembled net and the endless summer afternoons and winter evenings spent playing casually outdoors, with the sole motive of keeping the shuttle in play.
•  Badminton is perhaps the most popular recreational sport right upto the senior citizens category. This isn’t too dissimilar to the 3X3 basketball that Americans indulge in with hoops casually jutting out of outer walls.
•  Or how South America scouts for its footballers Pele and Maradona were first spotted off the streets. Closer home, Indian outdoor shuttlers are perhaps closest to how Pakistan channels its tape-ball cricketers and routinely unearths 150+ pace bowlers catapulted into the national team.
•  Next to cricket, badminton has been India’s second largest participatory sport perhaps more even, given girls are not kept away from the ‘building compound’ games.

Conclusion

•  An organised tournament structure for the outdoor sport might well mean that a Pullela Gopichand or Prakash Padukone with their highly trained eye get invited as chief guests to many such breezy AirBadminton outdoor tournaments.
•  It can scout the thousands who for many reasons, financial mostly, never knocked on the doors of the state of the art academies.

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Trade troubles (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 3: Economy
Prelims level: Trade deficit
Mains level: Industrial slowdown and its effects

Context

•  According to the latest trade data, at the aggregate level, exports grew by a mere 0.64 per cent in April.
•  But, strip away the spurt in petroleum exports, and the remaining exports actually contracted by 3 per cent in April.

Background

•  India’s trade deficit surged to a five-month high of $15.3 billion in April with merchandise export growth slumping to 0.64 per cent — the slowest pace since December 2018.
•  These numbers suggest that the high export growth observed in March may indeed have been an aberration.
•  This subdued performance in April comes after recent data showed that industrial production had contracted by 0.1 per cent in March.
•  With both consumer durables as well as capital goods segments contracting sharply the latter is a proxy for investment demand it suggests that the underlying drivers of growth are sputtering.

Rise of lacklustre performance

•  The lacklustre performance can be traced largely to the contraction in exports of engineering goods as well as subdued growth of major labour intensive segments.
•  For instance, gems and jewellery contracted by 13.4 per cent, leather products by 15.25 per cent as did man-made and cotton yarn. Growth of the ready-made garments segment also slumped to 4.4 per cent in April, down from 15 per cent in March.
•  This does not bode well for job creation. On the other hand, imports rose by 4.5 per cent in April, on the back of higher crude and gold shipments.
•  But what is worrisome is that imports, excluding oil and gold, which give a better sense of domestic demand, contracted by 2.2 per cent in April, after contracting by 2.67 per cent in the previous month.
•  The near-term prospects for exports appear to be muted. For one, the escalation of trade tensions between the US and China is likely to impact global growth and trade.
•  In fact, last month, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) lowered its projection for global trade growth.
•  It now expects merchandise trade volume growth to fall to 2.6 per cent in 2019, from 3 per cent in 2018.

Conclusion

•  Clearly, the next government has its task cut out. It will have to carefully navigate the intensifying trade war between the US and China while putting in place measures to boost competitiveness and revive exports.
•  Perhaps, easing the compliance burden of the goods and service tax (GST) would be a good starting point.

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Spectrum reform, the need of the hour (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Economy
Prelims level: Spectrum audit
Mains level: Telecommunication sector growth and issues

Context

•  Developments in technologies such as LTE/4G/5G provide greater speed of access, more bandwidth than earlier generations and hence make possible innovative uses and applications with consequent economic growth.]

•  For these services to be available to citizens of the country, it is important that at the national level, relevant spectrum bands are identified, and streamlined processes are put in place for allocating them to different service providers/users in a timely manner.

•  Proper regulation and management of spectrum at the national level is more critical in India, as mobile is by far the predominant method (>95 per cent) of Internet access.

Wasted opportunity

•  Since spectrum is a natural, perishable resource, unutilised or inefficiently used spectrum is a wasted economic opportunity.
•  In India, although a transition from a command and control framework to a more open process for spectrum regulation has happened, the path has been slow and bumpy.
•  Spectrum availability for commercial services continues to be constrained in relation to other countries.
•  One of the reasons for this state is that spectrum that was allocated to various public agencies was done administratively, and there was no proper framework to “refarm” the existing users to different bands or ensure that it was optimally utilised.
•  “Refarming” often requires investments in new network equipment and end user devices.
•  Many agencies did not have the financial resources or a policy directive to enable them to switch to a different band or the more efficient digital mode.

Spectrum audits

•  Spectrum audits, especially of government and public users, could identify unutilised spectrum.
•  Such agencies may not have an orientation to effective usage as they may have been allocated spectrum in the past at nominal charges or free.
•  The audit could also lead to the digitisation of existing services, freeing some spectrum.
•  To recognise the market potential/price, the released spectrum could be auctioned to service providers.
•  This mechanism called incentive auction creates a win-win situation for both the seller and the service provider who can exploit the released spectrum for commercial opportunities. The auction proceeds may then be used by the seller to go digital.
•  Without such spectrum audits and incentive auctions, it may be difficult for public agencies to make available the spectrum that they are not using or “refarm” to another band.
•  Incentive auctions have been used effectively in the US and UK, especially for the release of spectrum from erstwhile broadcast services to mobile services.

DD’s spectrum

•  While DD has largely ceased analog terrestrial transmission, its DTT platform is yet to take off, leaving the spectrum unutilised.
•  DD also has a free DTH scheme (DD Free Dish – DDFD), where the dish and STB are subsidised and programming is free. DDFD has seen reasonable adoption.
•  This further creates impediments for DTT adoption.
•  Moreover, as per DD’s plans, DTT has an urban focus. However, the raison-d’etre for DD was to provide access in rural areas which are commercially unviable.
•  Review of the role of DTT in the current Indian scenario, where urban users, anyway have competing platforms of C&S, wired Internet and mobile to choose from, could release more than 80 MHz of bandwidth for mobile services. But the I&B Ministry has been reluctant to review this and has plans to further expand its non-existent DTT services.
•  As exemplified above, in order to have more spectrum commercially available and accelerate Internet use, India needs a review of its spectrum management and regulatory policies.
•  The Wireless Planning and Coordination Wing (WPC) under the DoT does not have the required visibility to do so on its own.

Set up inter-ministerial group

•  As a first step, an inter-ministerial group with representation from concerned agencies, both public and private needs to be put in place.
•  An action orientation and a well-laid out road map are necessary.
•  Recommendations from previous such groups and task force have remained only on paper. Industry associations and citizens need to lobby for such reforms as these are also beneficial to them.

Way forward

•  In India, spectrum audit studies have hardly been done.
•  Even when it is known that there is unused spectrum with agencies, it is difficult to get them to “vacate” the spectrum for other uses. A case in point is that of broadcast spectrum.
•  The I and B Ministry has been very slow in digitisation. Doordarshan (DD) has a monopoly in terrestrial services.
•  Since 2003, when I and B came up with a plan for Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) until now, the service has not been commercially deployed, despite the significant investments in equipment.
•  The very limited number of channels that have been provisioned (compared to more than 600 on C and S networks), the need for a DTT specific set-top boxes, and the already high rate (98 per cent) of penetration of cable and satellite (C and S) services in TV owning households are impediments.

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External woes: on India's foreign trade (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Economy
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Highlights of the India's foreign trade

Context

•  The estimates for foreign trade showing a sharp slowdown in merchandise export growth in April, to 0.64% from a year earlier, ought to add to concerns about the economy.
•  If one were to strip away the 31% surge in shipments of petroleum products to overseas markets, India’s export of goods actually contracted by over 3% in dollar terms last month.

Background

•  In contrast, overall merchandise exports had expanded 11% year-on-year in March, with the growth in shipments excluding petroleum products exceeding that pace by about 50 basis points.
•  The slump in exports was fairly widespread, with 16 of the 30 major product groups listed by the Commerce Ministry reflecting contractions, compared with the 10 categories that had shrunk in March.
•  Worryingly, shipments of engineering goods declined by over 7% after having expanded by 16.3% in March, while the traditionally strong export sectors gem and jewellery, leather and leather products, textiles and garments and drugs and pharmaceuticals all weakened.
•  These are all key providers of jobs and any protracted pain across these industries will impact jobs, wages and consumption demand in the domestic market.
•  While the contraction in gem and jewellery exports widened to 13.4% in April, from 0.4% in March.
•  The slump in the leather segment broadened to 15.3% from 6.4%. And the pace of growth of garment exports decelerated to 4.4% from 15.1% in March.

Rise in import

•  Imports grew by 4.5% to $41.4 billion in April, accelerating from March’s 1.4% pace as purchases of crude oil and gold continued to increase.
•  While the 9.3% jump in the oil import bill, from March’s 5.6%, can partly be explained by the rise in international crude prices (Brent crude futures, for instance, advanced 6.4% in April).
•  India’s insatiable appetite for gold, as reflected in the 54% surge in imports last month, must give policymakers cause for reflection.
•  Excluding oil and gold, however, imports shrank by more than 2% last month, signalling that import demand in the real productive sectors is largely becalmed.
•  As a result of merchandise imports outpacing exports, the trade deficit widened to a five-month high of $15.3 billion.
•  The widening trade shortfall will add pressure on India’s burgeoning current account deficit, which at a provisional $51.9 billion in the first nine months of fiscal 2018-19 had already surpassed the preceding financial year’s 12-month shortfall of $48.7 billion.

Conclusion

•  With stronger headwinds ahead in the form of an escalating trade war between the U.S. and China, and its knock-on impact on global growth, the outlook for export demand is far from reassuring.
•  Add the rising military tensions in West Asia and its potential to further push up oil prices, and the scope to contain the trade and current account deficits seems significantly challenging.
•  Clearly, this would be one more pressing concern for the new government to address.

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Slippery slope: on India and Iran developments (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: International Relations
Prelims level: Gulf Crisis
Mains level: India should not be a mute spectator to building crisis in gulf and take measures to protect its interest

Context

•  Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was in New Delhi this week as part of a regional outreach that includes Russia, China, Turkmenistan and Iraq amid rising tensions in West Asia.
•  The U.S. has followed withdrawal of its sanctions-waiver for Iranian oil with a series of actions that it claims are in response to the perceived threat from Iran.
  Hostile measures
•  It has recalled all non-emergency diplomatic staff based in neighbouring Iraq; sent an aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, missile defence hardware and B-52 bombers to the Gulf; imposed fresh sanctions on various Iranian entities; and slapped a terror designation for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
•  Iran has matched some of the rhetoric with threats that it would close off the Strait of Hormuz to trade and treat the U.S. carrier as a legitimate “target” if it came anywhere close to Iranian waters.
•  Making matters worse, it is clear that the U.S. aims to pin on the Iranian government and military forces blame for attacks on two Saudi Arabian oil tankers over the weekend.
•  U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton’s remark that “any attack on United States interests or those of [its] allies will be met with unrelenting force” gives the impression that the ground is being prepared by the U.S., aided by Saudi Arabia and Israel, for an escalation.

From India’s response

•  Given the signs of a gathering storm, India must consider not only its own interests in terms of its ties with Iran and with the U.S. and its allies, but also its position as a regional power.
•  The External Affairs Ministry comment that the government would take a decision on Iranian oil imports after the elections appeared to be an attempt to buy time.
•  The truth is that Indian oil importers have already stopped placing orders for Iranian oil in compliance with the U.S. diktat on “zeroing out” imports.
•  India had been importing about 10% of its oil requirements from Iran, and the losses in terms of finding alternative suppliers in the face of rising oil prices are piling up.
•  News reports also indicate that despite a U.S. waiver on the Chabahar port, banks in India and Afghanistan that planned to finance trade through the port are now being restricted by U.S. sanctions.

Conclusion

•  Instead of being a mute spectator to the crisis that is building for India’s energy bill as well as for regional stability, New Delhi must take the challenge head-on.
•  One immediate priority is to work more closely with European countries in ensuring that Iran does not feel compelled to walk out of the nuclear deal, and to jointly build a sanctions-immune financial infrastructure to facilitate Iranian trade.
•  It is necessary that the countries affected in the region meet urgently, as well as unitedly express concerns over a possible U.S.-Iran clash.

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Current Affairs MCQ for UPSC Exams - 19 May 2019

Q1. Consider the following statements with respect to seed dispensing in forests :

1) Seeds that fall under the parent tree face heavy competition, predation by rodents and insects and fungal infections. So their chances of survival are very low.
2) Plants depend on frugivore birds to disperse the seeds at favourable sites, which have low competition and predation pressures, to expand their geographic range.
3) Hornbills and bulbuls are considered the best fruit seed handling birds in the forest ecosystem.

Which of the above statements are true ?
a) 1 & 2 only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all of the above

Q2. Which amongst the following states in India are the top producers of jute ?

1) Chhattisgarh
2) West Bengal
3) Bihar
4) Jharkhand
5) Assam

a) 1,2 & 4 only
b) 3,4 & 5 only
c) 2,3 & 5 only
d) 1,3 & 5 only

Q3. Which of the following statements regarding exit polls are true ?

1) An exit poll is conducted immediately after people have voted, and assesses the support for political parties and their candidates.
2) Election Commission of India has been empowered under RPA, 1951 sec-126A- to put restriction on conduct and dissemination of results of exit polls.
3) EC has the power to punish violators of the above said act with its prosecution wing with immediate effect.

a) 1 & 2 only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all of the above

Q4. Consider the following statements regarding RBI’s mandate on reporting of divergence by banks :

1) Divergence takes place when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) finds that a lender has under-reported (or not reported at all) bad loans in a particular year.
2) With strict monitoring from RBI, the provision coverage ratio by public sector banks have been increasing since 2014.
3) Banks’ disclosure of divergence practice mandated by RBI aims at improving transparency in asset classification and preventing under-reporting of bad loans.

Which of the above statements are true ?
a) 1 & 2 only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all of the above

Q5. Which of the following national parks was established as a wildlife sanctuary for swamp deer in India and later became a tiger reserve as part of Project Tiger ?

a) Bandipur national park
b) Dudhwa national park
c) Kaziranga national park
d) Keibul Lamjao national park

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Current Affairs MCQ for UPSC Exams - 18 May 2019

Q1. Consider the following statements :

1) Nuclear electricity could significantly reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions and has the potential to meet increasing energy demand in the country.
2) With several favourable geological domains spread across length and breadth of the country which can host potential Uranium, Rare Metals, it would be possible to achieve self-sufficiency in atomic mineral resources for sustainable growth of our Nuclear Power Programme.
3) Nuclear power is one of the most reliable and safe energy options and India has a record of operating a nuclear fleet for over 40 years without any serious incidents of catastrophe.

Which of the above statements are true ?
a) 1 & 2 only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all of the above

Q2. Which of the following personalities/offices has the right to take part and vote at first instance in the parliament of India ?

1) Attorney General
2) Union Home minister
3) Cabinet secretary
4) Speaker
5) Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha

a) 1 ,2 & 3 only
b) 2 & 5 only
c) 1,2 & 4 only
d) all of the above

Q3. Which of the following statements regarding Indian economy and the penetration of digital transactions in the economy stands true ?

1) One of the things that has sustained growth in the economy over the last few years has been consumer spending. The public investment cycle has been the other enabler.
2) UPI, IMPS have scaled up dramatically in the last few years, which means more people are connecting to the digital economy making consumer spending faster and easier.
3) Pre-demonetisation had only about 5 million merchants accepting electronic payments which has reduced to 1.4 million card based terminals as of now.

a) 1 & 2 only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all of the above

Q4. Which of the following statements regarding the recently released global study on incidence of cancer by ‘Lancet’ are true ?

1) Between 2018 and 2040, the number of patients requiring first-course chemotherapy annually will increase from 9.8 million to 15 million.
2) Strategic investments in chemotherapy service provision and cancer physicians are needed to meet the projected increased demand for chemotherapy in 2040.
3) While tobacco chewing and smoking remain the main cause of oral cancers, bad dental hygiene with sharp or broken teeth that irritate the internal area of the mouth are among the causes of mouth cancers in people who do not smoke or chew tobacco.

a) 1 & 2 only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all of the above

Q5. “Boko Haram”, the Islamic terrorist organisation frequently in news is concentrated in which of the following countries of Africa/West Asia ?

a) Somalia
b) Saudi Arabia
c) Nigeria
d) Egypt

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Current Affairs MCQ for UPSC Exams - 17 May 2019

Q1. Which of the following statements describing the differences between bio-similar drugs and generic drugs are true ?

1) A biosimilar drug is a biologic product that is almost an identical copy of an original product that is manufactured by a different company.
2) Biosimilars have the same clinical effect as a generic but are only as similar to the original branded drug as validation technologies can confirm.
3) Unlike with generic drugs of the more common small-molecule type, biologics generally exhibit high molecular complexity and may be quite sensitive to changes in manufacturing processes.

a) 1 & 2 only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all of  the above

Q2. Which of the following pairs of bird sanctuaries and their locations are correctly matched ?

1) Dwarka Marine Park : Gujarat
2) Salim Ali bird sanctuary : Tamilnadu
3) Ranganathittu bird sanctuary : Karnataka
4) Sultanpur sanctuary : Madhya Pradesh

a) 1 & 2 only
b) 1 & 3 only
c) 2 & 4 only
d) 1 & 4 only

Q3. Which of the following statements regarding the recently concluded Basel convention on movement of hazardous wastes are true ?

1) One of the key outcome of the convention includes an amendment which involves making global trade in plastic waste more transparent and better regulated, whilst also ensuring that its management is safer for human health and the environment.
2) India’s laws currently don’t allow electronic and plastic waste to be imported into the country, not even by plastic and waste recyclers in SEZ’s.
3) India and Nigeria were the only countries that had strongly opposed the guidelines, pushed by the European Union, to dilute safeguards against the trans-boundary movement of e-waste.

a) 1 & 2 only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all of the above

Q4. Consider the following statements regarding teen pregnancy and nutriton related study conducted by International Food Policy Research Institute :

1) According to the study, children born to adolescent mothers had higher prevalence of low weight as compared to those born to adult mothers.
2) The study said that lower education levels among adolescent mothers had the strongest impact on stunting levels, followed by their socioeconomic status.
3) While adolescent pregnancy is more likely to occur in low poverty contexts, it could help mothers escape from an unending cycle of poverty as women who bear children early are given care by peer groups and are also benefitted from social sector schemes provided by the government.
Which of the above statements are true ?

a) 1 & 2 only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all of the above

Q5. The Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), which India signed last year would enable exchange of information on preventing threats from all forms of terrorism both from land and sea. COMCASA allows India to procure specialised equipment for encrypted communications from the origin military platforms.
With which country has India signed the COMCASA agreement ?

a) China
b) Saudi Arabia
c) United States
d) Israel

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Current Affairs MCQ for UPSC Exams - 14 May 2019

Q1. Consider the following statements regarding the WTO ministerial conference to be held in New Delhi ?

1) The two-day meeting is an effective move by developing countries to positively influence the outcome of WTO reforms by making development at its core and exploring all means of saving multilateralism.
2) India believes that developing countries need to work together to protect their interests in the WTO negotiations through preservation of the core fundamental principles of the WTO.
3) There has been no active engagement or movement on key issues of concerns for developing countries including LDCs in the negotiating agenda till now .

Which of the above statements are true ?
a) 1 & 2only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all of the above

Q2. Which of the following are the exclusive powers enjoyed by Gram Sabha/Panchayats at appropriate levels under the PESA (Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) act 1996 ?

1) Right to mandatory consultation in land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation of displaced persons .
2) Panchayat at an appropriate level is entrusted with planning and management of minor water bodies.
3) Mandatory recommendations by Gram Sabha or Panchayat for prospective licenses/lease, concessions for mines and minerals.
4) Control over institutions and functionaries in social sector, local plans including Tribal sub plans and resources.

a) 1,2 & 3 only
b) 2,3 & 4 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) 2 & 4 only

Q3. Which of the following statements regarding the recently test fired ABHYAS - High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) are true ?

1) The configuration of ABHYAS is designed on an in-line small gas turbine engine and uses indigenously developed MEMS based navigation system for its navigation and guidance.
2) The HEAT system is utilized to do away with the post-launch recovery mode, which is time-consuming and difficult in a scenario as the sea.
3) The test was conducted indigenously by ISRO from Interim Test Range, Chandipur in Odisha.

a) 1 & 2only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all of the above

Q4. Which of the following statements describing the current status of inflation indices in the economy are true ?

1) Wholesale inflation quickened to a six-month high of 2.92% in April, driven in large part by accelerating food and fuel inflation.
2) CPI headline inflation came slightly below expectations, with core inflation seeing a welcome downside surprise, which is in tandem with the growing slack in the economy.
3) Food inflation continued to rise with sustained upward momentum in fruits and vegetables which might continue in the summer months.

a) 1 & 2only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all the above

Q5. India has extended 1 billion dollar Line of Credit to a country to set up its first-ever grass-root refinery at Sainshand in Dornogobi Province. The capacity of the refinery will be 1.5 Million Metric Tons Per Annum and it will be implemented with Exim Bank funding.
The above said province is in which of the following countries of Asia ?

a) Iran
b) Kazhakhstan
c) Mongolia
d) Maldives

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UP holds huge potential in agriculture it needs right leadership to forge forward-looking path (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 3: Economy
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Agricultural growth in Indian states

Growth slowdown needs policy attention (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Economy
Prelims level: IIP
Mains level: Industrial Growth