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abhimanu magazine Gist november 2018 1

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What Makes It Different

Some Features of Abhimanu’s magazine ______________________________________________________________________________

● Precisely Chosen Articles: We do not copy paste every Article of the magazine rather

than choose the most relevant article from perspective of civil services preparation. So that you can identify the important articles in course of your preparation.

● Focus on Language: The articles are presented in the original language rather than

oversimplifying them. Because such spoon feeding will harm your preparation given to the unexpected nature of UPSC.

● Special Directives after every article: about how to utilize the article, its relevance in

essay, prelims exam and mains exam.

● Assignments: are after every article so that you can check your understanding of the article. Even here we have not provided unnecessary questions. Every assignment is

unique because every article has its own importance.

● Beyond the Magazine: wherever needed it is mentioned that you need to go beyond the scope of this article.

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abhimanu

Magazine November 2018 (The gist of the most important articles from Yojana and Frontline)

For bridging the gap between knowledge and wisdom

by

abhipedia





“ “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it

in a fruit salad."

”

abhimanu’s wisdom

Whenever an aspirant starts preparation of

civil services, one of the first advice she gets

is to read magazines like Yojana and

Frontline.

It is true that these magazines help you to

gain knowledge, which is one of the most

important aspects civil services preparation.

However, certainly it is not enough. But

Unfortunately, by taking this single

dimension of knowledge almost every

institute in the field of civil services

preparation is providing summary of Yojana etc. These summaries can only provide information

but civil services preparation needs more than just information. it needs the art to process the

information unto wisdom, which can help an aspirant to tackle anything which UPSC throws at

her.

To bridge this gap between knowledge and wisdom, abhimanu IAS through its online platform

abhipedia is bringing you a fortnightly document which is to guide you how to read Yojana and

Frontline along with articles from other sources like newspaper. It is to be noted here that this

document is not a replacement of these magazines. The sole purpose of this summary is to

make you learn the “the art of reading and going beyond knowledge”.





Table of Contents

Contents abhimanu’s wisdom ....................................................................................................................... 3

Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ 4

Lead Story ....................................................................................................................................... 6

Article 1. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: A People's Movement. ............................................................ 7

REFERENCE ARTICLE: YOJANA - by Arun Jaitley. ......................................................................... 7

Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 7

Performance of Swachh Bharat Mission................................................................................. 7

Swachh Bharat Mission: A women’s movement .................................................................... 8

Success Story: Punjab ............................................................................................................. 8

Impact of being Open Defection Free ..................................................................................... 8

ASSIGNMENT: ......................................................................................................................... 9

Article 2. Providing Sanitation Infrastructure ................................................................................. 9

REFERENCE ARTICLE: YOJANA – on the road to Swachh Bharat by Nitin Gadkari ..................... 9

Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 9

Reasons for pollution in Ganga ............................................................................................... 9

Government initiatives for Cleaning of Ganga ..................................................................... 10

Swachhata on the Roads ....................................................................................................... 11

Conclusion: ............................................................................................................................ 11

Assignment: .......................................................................................................................... 11

Make a list of all the schemes described in the article and note down the following things:

............................................................................................................................................... 11

Article 3. Taking Rural India Forward ............................................................................................ 12

REFERENCE ARTICLE: YOJANA – Towards Clean and Healthy Villages by Narendar Singh Tomar

................................................................................................................................................... 12

Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 12

Objective of Swachh Bharat Mission .................................................................................... 13

Transforming the Destiny of our Villages ............................................................................. 13





Unique Initiatives Under SBM ............................................................................................... 13

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 14

Assignment: .......................................................................................................................... 14

Article 4. Sanitation Revolution: Implementation at Scale........................................................... 15

REFERENCE ARTICLE: YOJANA - by Parameswaran Iyer ........................................................... 15

Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 15

India’s Journey from being the largest contributor to open defecation to implementer of

the largest behaviour change campaign in the world: ......................................................... 15

Special Initiatives under this project: ................................................................................... 16

Our Swachta Champions ....................................................................................................... 16

Lessons Learned: ................................................................................................................... 17

SATAT initiative to promote Compressed Bio-Gas as an Alternate, Green Transport Fuel . 17

Assignment: .......................................................................................................................... 17

Article 5. Electronic warfare concerns ......................................................................................... 18

Reference Article: cyber warfare capabilities by S G Vombatkere .......................................... 18

Context .................................................................................................................................. 18

Concerns regarding Defensive and offensive cyber capability. ............................................ 18

Type of Cyberthreats ............................................................................................................ 19

Way Ahead ............................................................................................................................ 20

Conclusion: ............................................................................................................................ 20

Assignments .......................................................................................................................... 21

Article 6. Bracing for the bust ....................................................................................................... 21

Reference Article: IMF by CP Chandrashekhar ......................................................................... 21

Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 21

Concerns raised by the report: ............................................................................................. 21

How Developing Countries get hurt ..................................................................................... 22

India’s vulnerability ............................................................................................................... 22

Assignment: .......................................................................................................................... 22

Article 7. All about CBI .................................................................................................................. 23

Reference Article: The CBI story by Anando Bhakto ................................................................ 23





Context: ..................................................................................................................................... 23

Intervention by Supreme Court ............................................................................................ 23

History of CBI ........................................................................................................................ 24

Composition of CBI ............................................................................................................... 24

CBI as a caged Parrot ............................................................................................................ 24

Way Head .............................................................................................................................. 25

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 25

Assignment ............................................................................................................................ 25

Article 8. Critiquing Narrow Critiques of Convention on Biological Diversity .............................. 26

Reference Article: from EPW by Alophonsa Jojan, Prakriti Mukherjee and others ................ 26

Context: ................................................................................................................................. 26

Need of CBD and BDA? ......................................................................................................... 26

Hurdles for India ................................................................................................................... 27

Way across these hurdles ..................................................................................................... 27

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 28

Assignment: .......................................................................................................................... 28

Lead Story Swachhata- A Way of Life

Cleanliness is next to Godliness - for Mahatma

Gandhi this was not just a thought but a way of life.

This is what father of our nation appealed for, in his

call for Swachh Hindustan. Gandhiji not only

preached cleanliness but also practiced it himself. His

concept of cleanliness was not just about cleanliness

of body but also for the soul.

According to Gandhiji’s concept a clean person is not the one who runs away from dirt but who

takes time and effort to tidy up his environment as well.





In case of India, even though India has registered sustained economic growth but it still faces

huge economic losses due to poor hygiene and sanitation. According to world bank India loses

6.4% of GDP annually because of inadequate sanitation facilities.

To tackle this issue Government of India launched Swachh Bharat Mission on 15th August 2014.It

aims build a clean and open defection free India by 2019 l, the 150th anniversary year of

Mahatma Gandhi, as a befitting tribute.

While the Ministry of Drinking water and sanitation was the core implementing ministry, the

mission component have now become Everyone’s business. Political will, public policy and

people's involvement has made Swachh Bharat Abhiyan a people's movement.

Youth serve as the primary messengers and leader for bringing about any change of any kind.

Ministry of human resource development, through its educational institutions, has taken upon

itself to use this segment to cultivate a culture of cleanliness. Swachhata icons like Amitabh

Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar have been roped in to popularize the use of toilets.

Thus, this mission is already on its path to make ‘Swachhata’ a way of life.

Article 1. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: A People's

Movement. REFERENCE ARTICLE: YOJANA - by Arun Jaitley.

Introduction

• In the history of Independent India “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan” have become the first

government programme which is snatched by the people to make it a “People’s Movement”.

• The target of this programme is to make India open defection free by 2nd October 2019 i.e.

the 150th anniversary of father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi. To achieve the same first-time

focus was shifted towards behavioral change in addition to building toilets.

Performance of Swachh Bharat Mission

• When the scheme was announced, the rural sanitation coverage of India was 39%. After four

years of the scheme, 39 per cent rural sanitation coverage has increased to a phenomenal 92

per cent.

• Rural India have crossed the mark of over 90% sanitation coverage as around 8.2 crore toilets

have been built since the launch of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.4.2 lakh Villages, 434 districts and

19 states have been declared open defection free.

• With rural road, rural electrification, rural Awas Yojana, toilets and a cooking gas connection

with food grain provided at a modest cost, the quality of life of India’s rural poor will get a

quantum jump.





• Additionally, when the Ashman Bharat, which provides up to Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year

as hospitalisation expense, is fully implemented, this will change the quality of life of India’s

rural populations.

Swachh Bharat Mission: A women’s movement

• The ‘people’ movement’ has today transformed into a ‘women’s movement’ with rural

women playing a leading role in the programme.

• Women of India are now stepping beyond their roles as mere beneficiaries of this programme

to leaders of it today. For example, construction of toilets has always been a male bastion. In

many States, however, thousands of rural women have been trained as masons and, with the

assistance of Self-Help Groups, are now becoming the primary force in driving a State to be

declared free from open defecation.

• The hygiene in the utilization of the toilet is also a preventive healthcare scheme. Global

experts believe that the SBM will have saved over three lakh lives in the country by the time

we become ‘open-defecation fee’ in 2019. Toilets in several parts of India have been named

“Izzat Ghar’.

Success Story: Punjab

Punjab to launch a bilingual ODF sustainability mobile App. –

• Punjab is the first state to launch an ODF sustainability App under its’ My Village My Pride’

campaign. The sustainability App is one of its kind, to cover all parameters related to

sanitation as well as sustainability.

• My Village, My Pride campaign also features various competitions between villages – ODF

awareness, Morning Nigrani, Cleanliness drive, women mohalls, soak pit awareness, and solid

waste segregation.

Impact of being Open Defection Free

Financial and economic impact

• In an open defecation free village, each family saves over Rs 50,000 per year on account of

avoided medical costs, time saving, lives saved. (UNICEF study, 2017).

Impact by the way of lives saved

• Over 3 lakh lives saved due to improvement in sanitation under Swachh Bharat mission.

(WHO study ,2018).

Health impact

• 46% higher cases of diarrhoea among children in non-open defection free areas.





Impact on gender equality

• 10% reduction in time spent by women involved in household and childcare.

• 1.5 % increase in proportion of women in the workforce. (IMF report 2018).

ASSIGNMENT:

Mains question Q: The success of Swachh Bharat mission will ensure holistic development of India. Analyze with special emphasis on its effect on rural development and women empowerment.

• First, you must show how Swachh Bharat Mission is resulting into holistic development.

• You can use a flowchart to answer first part of question.

• Then answer rural development and women empowerment separately.

• Conclude on how it can be achieved.

MCQ

The term “izzat ghar is in news recently. What is it? a) It is a night shelter scheme for homeless. b) These are dedicated police stations for women in distress.

c) The term is used for toilets in home for awareness purpose.

d) This is the name self-help group programme for rural women.

Answer: c

Article 2. Providing Sanitation Infrastructure REFERENCE ARTICLE: YOJANA – on the road to Swachh Bharat by Nitin Gadkari

Introduction

• When the government gave a clarion call for Swachh Bharat On October 2, 2014, the task

ahead was daunting.

• If providing sanitation infrastructure for 125 crore people was a challenge, then invoking a

sense of cleanliness among them and effecting behavioural changes was even more difficult.

• One of the major Swachhata challenges has been the cleaning or River Ganga to restore its

Aviralta and Nirmalta-its continuous and unpolluted flow.

Reasons for pollution in Ganga

• Ganga has multiple sources of pollution. About 2953 million litres of sewage generated by 97

towns along the banks enter the river untreated every day.





• The sewage treatment infrastructure in these towns is inadequate, and in many cases

defunct for want of proper maintenance. The problem will only get compounded as

population grows in these towns, generating more waste.

• There are untreated effluents from industrial sources, solid waste from the towns and

village along the river banks, agricultural waste, open defecation waste, and polluted

tributaries and nallahs emptying into the river, all contributing to the load of pollutants from

each of these sources regularly, and on a sustained basis.

• This calls for coordinated and concerted action from multiple agencies – central, state, private

as well as the participation of people living along the river.

Government initiatives for Cleaning of Ganga

• Namami Gange programme launched in 2015 has made good headway in this direction. For

the first time a separate ministry was made for Ganga Rejuvenation in 2014.

• The National Mission for Clean Ganga that is responsible for implementing the programme

was declared as an Authority under Environment protection Act 1986, giving it more powers

in 2016, and State and District Ganga Committees were established in 2017.

• Projects Sanctioned - 240 projects have already been sanctioned under the programme

so far. These projects include sewage infrastructure, Ghats and crematoria, river surface

cleaning, institutional development, biodiversity conservation, afforestation, and rural

sanitation.

• Enhancement of sewage treatment capacity - 97 towns have been identified along the

mainstream of river Ganga, generating 3603 MLD of sewage. The existing sewage treatment

capacity in these towns is only 1651 MLD, and will be enhanced under the programme. Out

of these 97 towns, the ten most polluting towns of Haridwar, Kanpur, Allahabad,

Farrukhabad, Varanasi, Patna, Bhagalpur, Kolkata, Howrah and bally are being covered

extensively under STPs.

• Some innovative models are being followed like the Hybrid Annuity Mode and One- City

One-Operator concept where all new and existing STPs will be under charge of one private

operator, ensuring better upkeep and maintenance.

• In addition, 16 projects have been taken up on Ganga tributaries, like Yamuna (Sonipat and

Panipat in Haryana, Delhi, Mathura and Vrindavan in UP), Ramganga (Moradabad, UP), Saryu

(Ayodhya, UP) and Kosi (Naugachia, Bihar).

• This programme is comprehensive and integrated, allows collaborative action between state

and central agencies, and brings Ganga and its tributaries under one umbrella.

• Many private companies are also taking up projects to clean Ganga, renovate the ghats and

crematoria or do afforestation along the banks under their CSR activities.





• Many self-motivated individuals are also coming forward for afforestation, ghat cleaning and

other such work. Known as Ganga Praharis they motivate other people to help keep the river

and its banks clean.

Swachhata on the Roads

• Swachhata is also a major priority in Road Transport and Highways and Shipping. Government

is promoting the use of waterways as a cheaper and more environment friendly mode of

transport. Around 111 waterways have been declared as National Waterways and will be

developed for transport.

• Governments also trying to promote the use of cleaner fuel like Ethanol, Methanol, Bio-

Diesel, Bio CNG and electricity in the transport sector as alternatives to petrol and diesel.

• The National Highways Authority of India is in the process of providing separated ladies and

gents toilets on both upside and down side of toll plazas, and al 372 toll plazas across the

country will get covered by March 2019.

• Road Ministry is also trying for generation of less waste during road building and using waste

material like fly ash, plastic, oil slag and municipal waste for construction of highways.

• The Shipping Ministry and all organisations under it took up a twenty-two-point agenda for

renovation of rooms and toilets, cleaning of wharfs and sheds, auction and disposal of al

unserviceable items and unclaimed goods, beautification and cleaning of parks etc.

• It has also focussed on the setting up of ‘Green Ports’ for sustainable, environment

friendly and long-term development of ports.

• Recently Visakhapatnam Port Trust was adjudged as the winner in the category of

Outstanding Renewable Energy User in the service sector in India by the Indian federation of

Green Energy. The port consumes 1.2 MU of power per year and 100 per cent of its power

consumption is being met from green energy.

Conclusion:

• It must be noted the above endeavors will yield the desired results only if there is good

coordination among different participating agencies of state along with support of NGOs and

people.

Assignment:

Make a list of all the schemes described in the article and note down the following things:

1. Nodal Ministry

2. Nodal Agency

3. Targeted beneficiaries





4. Core objective of the scheme

5. Check whether the scheme is Central Sectoral Scheme

or Centrally Sponsored scheme.

Question for Mains

Clean rivers are not only conserve biodiversity but also result in economic development.

Answer in context of cleaning Ganga and developing inland waterways in India.

• First you need mention present state of pollution in Ganga River.

• Then mention government efforts to clean Ganga. Ample information about the same is

provided in the article of the same.

• In last part of the question link cleaning Ganga with Inland waterways. Use a flowchart for

this.

• Conclude with some suggestion.

MCQs Question Consider the following statements regarding Jal Marg Vikas project.

1. The jal marg Vikas project has been supported by World Bank.

2. The project also covers artificial canals along with natural waterways.

3. It aims to develop 111 waterways.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 3 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: d

Article 3. Taking Rural India Forward REFERENCE ARTICLE: YOJANA – Towards Clean and Healthy Villages by Narendar Singh Tomar .

Introduction

• Our country lives in her villages and only when the villages are developed the holistic and

inclusive development of the country is possible.

• The Government is making all out efforts in bringing about large-scale development in the

villages and cleanliness is the most important component of this effort.

• Many innovative efforts are being made which have transformed or are in process of

transforming the lives of the crores of people living in rural areas.





• An initiative that has made marked contribution in changing the quality of life of rural people

is the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Objective of Swachh Bharat Mission

• Objective of Swachh Bharat Mission is to make human life cleaner, healthier and dignified.

• Cleanliness is not only a life force but also a cornerstone of human development.

• No community or society can be successful till it’s clean. As goals related to education, health,

poverty alleviation, human development etc. cannot be achieved in absence of cleanliness

Transforming the Destiny of our Villages

• Swachh Bharat has transformed the face and destiny of the village today. Studies have

revealed that in every house of an Open Defecation Free village, about Rs. 50000 are being

saved because the family is saving on the expenditure otherwise being incurred on treatment

of various diseases.

• People’s health related expenses have come down and they are able to work for more days.

• According to a study by the World Health Organization, with the implementation of Swachh

Bharat Mission, every year we have successfully prevented a large number of children from

becoming victims of deadly diseases in rural areas and the situation is continuously

improving.

Unique Initiatives Under SBM

• Swachh Bharat has also led to certain unique initiatives in rural areas that have never been

seen before. Women associated with Self-Help Groups have made commendable

contribution in the cleanliness movement. They have invested their savings in cleanliness

related works and thus played an important role in making the environment and surroundings

beautiful and clean.

• The Panchayats’ have made sincere efforts to not only connect the masses with this program

and with the cooperation of all made the village panchayats ODF, but they have also

promoted environment related cleanliness by undertaking activities related to solid and

liquid waste management.

• Swachh Bharat Mission has now acquired the form of a mass movement and with the aim to

take it forward, the Rural Development Ministry has taken a number of measures through

its ambitious scheme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act –

MGNREGA.

• This includes awareness promotion among the village panchayats towards cleanliness in the

rural areas and encouraging and training villagers to take up activities related to livelihood

creation.





• The Ministry is engaged in construction of individual household toilets and soakage pits, solid

waste management works related to solid and liquid waste management, liquid bio-compost,

etc.

• Managing Waste Water For waste water management in Telangana state soakage pits are

being constructed through MGNREGA at family and community level. By constructing

soakage pits, breeding of mosquitoes would be controlled which in turn will control spread

of several diseases.

• Construction of Lingpuri water tank of Tlenguam R G Block in Aizawl district Mizoram was

started as an innovative experiment under MGNREGA.

• Haryana Government has developed a five-pond system in rural areas for stabilization of

waste water under MGNREGA.

Conclusion

• Considering the diversity of the villages in the country it should be kept in mind that no one

model of sanitation can be adopted for all 238617 Gram Panchayats in India. However, we

have to keep focusing on developing such measures which are easy to adopt, economical and

have minimum technical limitations.

Assignment:

Question for Mains:

Unique solutions and participation from PRIs are the real strength behind Swachh Bharat

Mission. Do you agree? Give reasons in support of your answer? 250 words)

• The article contains information on several unique innovation in relation to Swachh

Bharat Abhiyan.

• You can also use this information in essays.

• You must use this information whenever writing answer on empowerment

MCQ

Haryana Government has developed a five-pond system in rural areas for?

a) Irrigation in Cluster villages

b) For supplying clan drinking water to everyone.

c) For the purpose of animal husbandry and fisheries.

d) For stabilization of waste water.

Answer: b





Article 4. Sanitation Revolution: Implementation at

Scale REFERENCE ARTICLE: YOJANA - by Parameswaran Iyer

Introduction

• From being a major cause of the world’s sanitation crisis, with about 600 million people

defecating in the open, about 500 million people now have access to toilets through a

sanitation revolution which has taken place over the last four years.

• After building a phenomenal 87 million individual household toilets, as many as 5.1 lakh

villages, 529 districts and 25 States and Union Territories are now open defecation free.

• Further, a recent, independent large-scale household surveyed which had toilets used them,

confirming the behaviour change focus of the Swachh Bharat Mission.

India’s Journey from being the largest contributor to open defecation to implementer of the

largest behaviour change campaign in the world:

The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), had to change and amplify strategy, in order to address,

what we like to call, the challenge of the 4 Ss.

Scale.

• To meet the need to change the behaviour of 600 million people, the SBM had to

acknowledge the scale it was dealing with and respond with a national Team Swachh Bharat

with the calibre to change the behaviour of the individual, as well as the community.

Speed.

• A sense of urgency needed to be created to kick start and roll through the campaign. Speed

as also required in setting up the team. By creating the team from scratch, the SBM had to

first ensure each individual in the team believed.

• This was true behaviour change in the very leadership which would take the Mission forward

and gave rise to the PM-CM-DM-VM model.

• The Prime Minister gave the vision of an ODF India by October 2019, the Chief Ministers led

at the State- level, District Magistrates prioritized sanitation and put the focus on the SBM,

further empowering the Village Motivators, the swachhagrahis, to partake in inter-personal

communication, and lead behaviour change in the villages.





Stigmas and Myths.

• There were various common myths in rural India regarding sanitation – toilets are only

required for women and children, having a toilet within the premises of one’s home is impure,

cleaning the toilet is not one’s own duty, and many more.

• Along with addressing these on the ground, at a central level, mass media campaign was

launched, each with their own messages and myth busters. The Darwaza Band Campaign,

starring Bollywood icons Amitabh Bachchan and Anushka Sharma, moved beyond access to

toilets and communicated the need to used toilets, not just by women and children, but by

each and every member of the household.

Sustainability.

With the sanitation revolution gaining momentum, the SBM also maintained its parallel focus

on sustaining the Jan andolan and the progress being made on the ground. The following were

key elements of the sustainability strategy:

• ODF-Quality (ODF-Q): Requires every toilet constructed under the Mission to be geo-tagged.

All villages are subject to a double verification system, which includes self-declaration as well

as third party verification.

• ODF-Sustainability (ODF-S): Ensures continuous behaviour change communication, to

remain much after the achievement of ODF.

• ODF plus (ODF+): SMB goes beyond toilets and works towards clean villages by prioritizing

solid and liquid waste management practices in ODF villages, as well as the prioritization on

rural water supply for ODF villages, in coordination with the National Rural Drinking water

programme.

Special Initiatives under this project:

• Swachhata Pakhwada - where all Union Ministries/Departments take up swachhata related

activities for a fortnight each,

• Swachh Iconic Places - A multi-stakeholder initiative focusing on cleaning up 100places

across India that are iconic due to their heritage, religious and/or cultural significance.

• Swacchata Action Plan - where 76 Ministries/Departments have earmarked funds for their

Swachhata plans making villages along the banks of the Ganga River ODF.

Our Swachta Champions

• When mason’s training was offered to women, Sunitha Devi enthusiastically joined the

programme and learned to build twin pit toilets in the proper way. Seeing her skill, the district

administration made her a master trainer who went from village to village, training other Rani

Mistris, to date, she has trained over 1600 Rani Mistris.





• Shamshal Begum, an active campaigner of the SBM-G was to get married. When she received

a proposal from Tousef Reja Ahmad, a cellphone shop owner, she agreed, subject to certain

conditions – including the setting up of a proper toilet in the groom’s home in Murshidabad.

Lessons Learned:

From addressing the 4 Ss, the SBM has guided discourse to lessons learnt in the form of the

importance of the 4 Ps.

• Political Leadership. Political will and leadership from the top are critical.

• Public funding. Over Rs. One lakh crore has been committed by centre states to the SBM to

ensure no shortfall in funding.

• Partnership. Constant engagement with development partners, NGOs, the private sector, civil

society, media, etc.

• Peoples participation. Sanitation is not a government programme, but a Jan andolan.

• The SBM is setting an example for the rest of the world to move towards improving

sanitation for all and achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 6 mission

mode and ensuring that behaviour change communication in all its forms is the only tool for

sustainable change.

SATAT initiative to promote Compressed Bio-Gas as an Alternate, Green Transport Fuel

• An innovative initiative – SATAT – to set up Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) production plants and

make available CBG in the market for use in automotive fuels was launched recently by the

Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

• Besides the potential to boost availability of more affordable transport fuels, better use of

agricultural residue, cattle dung and municipal solid waste, the CBG plants will provide an

additional revenue source to farmers.

• SATAT is aimed at providing a Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation as

a developmental effort that would benefit both vehicle-users as well as farmers and

entrepreneurs. This initiative holds great promise for efficient municipal solid waste

management and in tackling the problem of polluted urban air due to farm stubble-burning

and carbon emissions.

Assignment:

Question for Mains:

Cleaning India is not a task for any single ministry or department, rather, collaboration from

whole government along with States is need of the hour. Comment.

Approach and Inputs from this article

• All the content needs to answer this question is present in this article.





• You should also use information from last article to answer this question.

• As it is a broad-based question, you must use flowcharts and diagram to answer it within

250 words.

MCQ

SATAT initiative is related to:

a) To provide political education to youth.

b) To provide self-defense skills to women.

c) To promote Bio CNG in transportation.

d) To provide self-employment skills to youth.

Answer: c

Article 5. Electronic warfare concerns Reference Article: cyber warfare capabilities by S G Vombatkere

Context

• In present times, actual combat in war calls for the deployment of the Army, the Navy and

the Air Force—the military, in short—in joint operations under a chief of defence staff (CDS),

a commander superior in rank to the three service chiefs.

• The CDS would also be the single point of military advice to the Prime Minister. At present,

India does not have a CDS.

• Military operations involve using command-and-control and weapons systems that are

increasingly dependent upon information technology and based upon C4ISR (command,

control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), with

cyber warfare as a distinct branch. Wars in present times, in a South Asia context, are likely

to be short and intense, with military gains (or losses) in the initial stages of engagement

being more significant from the political-diplomatic angle. Hence the military has to be

capable of rapid movement, deployment and action. Offensive cyber capability is a strategic

asset for deterrence or to pre-empt enemy military action.

• In this scenario, the need for large-scale military airlift, excellent rail, road and signal

communications, and effective C4ISR capability for the movement of troops, weapons and

equipment, is self-evident. This is almost entirely dependent upon computers on the desks

of officials and in the control rooms of various national and State-level executive agencies

and service providers.

Concerns regarding Defensive and offensive cyber capability.





• Weapon systems for conventional on-the-ground, in-the-air and at-sea fighting, and also

cyber operations, are largely dependent on computing power of number-crunching

information technology (IT) machines and their networks.

• These IT machines are run by hardware and purpose-made software, and there are critical

components in these as indeed in every other area. Perhaps the most critical hardware

component is the core central processor on the assembled motherboards of computers and

servers.

• However, these core central processors can be monitored, even controlled by dubious

entities by installing malware clandestinely.

• This compromises the security and integrity of the databases on which the system is based

and the operation of the system itself.

• Moreover, critical IT hardware (processors, servers, mother boards, data diodes, and so on)

and critical software (firewalls, operating systems, crypto systems, and so on) that are at the

core of military and civilian IT infrastructure are purchased from international vendors.

• Most of our critical IT hardware is manufactured in countries over which the United States or

China have the capability of influence on production processes, which compromises safety of

our cyber infrastructure.

• Other threats could be leakage or corruption of data in critical economic, infrastructure

and governmental command-and-control systems, in turn owing to ignorance,

inadvertence, deliberate human factor (secret agent) interference or cyberattack.

Type of Cyberthreats

Proliferation of internet users

• The seriousness of cyberattacks has come into focus as Internet users proliferate at the

staggering rate of eight new Internet users every second.

• There are allegedly 2,50,000 new computer viruses being created every day, which have the

potential to infect private and institutional systems from around 3,00,000 infected websites.

Back door

• Even though the Critical systems are “air gapped” so that they cannot be interfered with

through the Internet. But even air-gapped systems are at risk from embedded malware in the

core hardware or software of the system.

• Further, computer systems can be, and are being, invaded by planting or embedding

hardware at some stage of the manufacturing process or inserting malware during system

installation. This provides a so-called “back door” to the system, permitting individual

criminals, corporate competitors, intelligence outfits or “deep state” actors undetected entry

to the system for nefarious purposes.





Military cyber security

• The speed and effectiveness of military deterrence in threat situations and actual combat

operations in rapidly changing situations, is dependent upon secure, reliable and swift

communications which in turn is dependent upon the security and integrity of computer

systems which control databases, networks and communications.

• Enemy interference by hacking or otherwise attacking databases, can stall or hamper not only

the military effort but also the national political command-and-control system under which

the military functions, and the national economy which supports the military.

• In the present ambience of warfare and combat operations, ineffective cyber security is a

military weakness and compromises deterrence capability.

Way Ahead

• In the present ambience of warfare and combat operations, ineffective cyber security is a

military weakness and compromises deterrence capability. The Indian military’s dependence

on imported critical cyber equipment calls for an immediate, deliberate review of its real-

time power for IT-centric warfare, which is becoming increasingly central to international

politics, even rivalling economic power.

• Thus, there is a need for both offensive and defensive cyber capability, and this is intimately

linked with the nation’s cyber capability.

• The larger picture requires that data systems—which include the bits and bytes which every

civil and military computer store, uses and processes, the enabling software, the basic

hardware and the human resources who are the final users—are secure against loss,

corruption, theft, infiltration and so on.

Indigenous initiative for building Cybersecurity:

• Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) with its Shakti Processor Project has recently

made a path-breaking development for the manufacturing of a “controller class” processor

chip, the first of six in a series of industry-standard microprocessors.

• This will form the core for the so-called Internet of Things (IoT), smart cards, and so on, and

is a significant step forward to cyber security through indigenisation.

• The target is to produce “server class” chips meant for motherboards in applications such as

artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and high-end computers for military use.

Conclusion:

• India’s present cyber vulnerability has military, economic, commercial and political

implications for other nations, whether friendly or otherwise. The National Security Council

(NSC) has a well-defined task of determining threat perception, policy and coordination in the

cyber security area. However, still there much more which needs to be done insofar as

military cyber security is concerned.





Assignments

Question for Mains:

It is high time now for India to have a joint Chief of Staff. Comment while emphasizing on

cyber warfare.

Approach and Inputs from this article

• First of all, introduce by providing information about join chief of Staff.

• Then provide an infographic about current challenges (Highlight cyber warfare challenges).

• Then show how Joint Chief of defence staff will help in tackling these challenges.

• All the content which is needed to answer this question is available in this article.

MCQ

Consider the following statements regarding “National Security Council

1.It is a statutory body.

2.It was established by Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government in in 1998.

3.The main task of this body is to advice PM on matters of national security.

Choose the correct answer from the codes given below:

a) 1 and 3 only

b) 2 and 3 only

c) All of the above,

d) 1 and 2 only

Answer: b

Article 6. Bracing for the bust Reference Article: IMF by CP Chandrashekhar

Introduction

The message from the IMF’s October meeting suggests that a return to recession is a real

possibility, but this time around the crisis could also hammer the emerging markets that are

already financially volatile.

Concerns raised by the report:

• THE message from the October meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the

World Bank, which normally exude optimism, is glum.





• The IMF points to two factors—rising interest rates in the United States and a stronger U.S.

dollar—that are contributing to downside risks, while throwing in rising trade tensions as an

additional cause for concern.

• The first, namely rising interest rates as part of a dose of monetary tightening, was long

overdue. For almost a decade now, the U.S. Fed and Central banks in other developed

economies have been focused on quantitative easing and interest rate reduction as antidotes

for the recession triggered by the 2008 financial crisis.

• The rise in U.S. interest rates and the improved performance of the U.S. economy trigger a

shift of investment in favor of dollar-denominated assets, a strengthening of the dollar would

follow, making that too an expected outcome.

How Developing Countries get hurt

• Investors borrowed cheap in dollar and euro markets and invested in emerging markets that

offered much higher interest rates. When those interest rate differences narrow, portfolio

capital tends to flow out from developing countries.

• Rising interest rates also hurt private players in emerging markets who borrowed quite

happily during the cheap money years but now find that their debt service burden is rising

sharply.

• Today, developing markets are faced with a double whammy—rising interest costs that

increase debt service commitments and sharply depreciating currencies that increase the

domestic currency value of those commitments even more, hurting their bottom line and

even presaging defaults.

India’s vulnerability

• India’s vulnerability stems from its increased exposure to dollar debt, partly because of

investment by foreign portfolio investors in debt markets and partly because of direct

borrowing by corporations seeking to benefit from low international interest rates.

• Rising U.S. interest rates combined with a widening of India’s current account deficit (owing

to the rise in oil prices and other factors) have weakened the rupee considerably vis-a-vis the

dollar. As a result, India has also been badly hit both by the exit of portfolio investors from

debt markets and by the depreciation of the rupee that followed.

Assignment:

Question for Mains:

The recent assessment of IMF predicts another episode of slowdown in world

economy. If it is true how it will be affecting India along with other emerging

economies?

Approach and inputs from the article.





• It is very straight forward question but only if you are well read.

• In answer you should first mention the recent report findings.

• Than directly write points which can affect India. This information is adequately

addressed in this article.

MCQ

Consider the following regarding the IMF:

1. It has 193 members.

2. It was created in 1945.

3. The IMFs primary purpose is to ensure stability of international monetary system.

Which of the five statements is/are correct:

a) 1 and 3 only

b) 2 and 3 only

c) 3 only

d) All of the above.

Answer: b

Article 7. All about CBI Reference Article: The CBI story by Anando Bhakto

Context:

• India's premier investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is witnessing

an unprecedented crisis since the last few weeks.

• The ongoing struggle between the two top bosses - Alok Verma and Rakesh Asthana - of the

CBI escalated as the investigating agency conducted a raid on the 10th floor of its own

headquarters in New Delhi.

• The current crisis within the CBI, triggered by the Centre’s unprecedented intervention to

force its Director, Alok Verma, and Special Director, Rakesh Asthana, to go on leave and

appoint an interim Director until the completion of the Central Vigilance Commission’s (CVC)

inquiry into allegations against them.

Intervention by Supreme Court

• Realizing the seriousness of situation, the Supreme Court bench of the Chief Justice of India,

Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice K.M. Joseph, on October 26, sought to

neutralise the Centre’s decision through its specific directions to govern the interim

arrangement.

• The bench directed the CVC to complete its inquiry into the CBI Director within two weeks

under the supervision of the retired Supreme Court judge Justice A.K. Patnaik.





Simultaneously, the bench restrained the interim Director, M. Nageshwar Rao, from taking

any policy or major decisions and directed him to perform only the routine tasks that are

essential to keep the CBI functional.

History of CBI

• THE Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has its genesis in British India when, during the

Second World War, the Special Police Establishment (SPE) was set up under the War

Department to probe cases of bribery and corruption.

• The SPE came into existence in 1941. In 1946, its mandate was expanded under the Delhi

Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, to investigate corruption in Central and State

governments, as it was brought under the purview of the Home Department.

• In 1963, the Home Ministry renamed the Special Police Force the Central Bureau of

Investigation, vesting in it the power to probe irregularities in all public sector bodies and also

inquire into cases of terrorism, murder, and so on.

• The CBI is not a statutory body. It continues to derive its power from the DSPE Act and

functions as an attached office of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

Composition of CBI

• The agency has a Director, who must be a member of the Indian Police Service, as its head.

He is assisted by a Special Director or an Additional Director besides a team of Joint Directors,

Deputy Inspectors General, and Superintendents of Police.

• In the light of the recommendations of the Supreme Court in 2003, the 1946 Act was revised

to make the process of appointing the Director of the CBI more transparent.

• The CBI Director is now appointed from a panel of candidates on the basis of the

recommendations of a committee headed by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).

CBI as a caged Parrot

• CBI is criticized as a caged parrot by Supreme Court of India. This is because it lacks autonomy.

• Autonomy here means, lack of freedom to investigate the crime and complaints. As it remains

administrative control of government.

• It needs permission of the respective state government to operate in the state even when its

investigation is central government employee.

• No dedicated staff: it is directly dependent on Ministry of Home Affairs for its staffing needs.

• Lack of Authority: because policing comes in the state subject and CBI is a central agency.

• Ambiguity in duty: CBI operates within Croc, which makes it a police body, but its functions

go beyond policing.

• Lack of Manpower: CBI is overburdened when compared to its staff. Even High courts and

Supreme Court assign cases to CBI without taking consent.





• Politically biased: CBI often face allegations for being highly influenced by the ruling political

party.

Way Head

Promulgation of CBI act

• A new CBI act should be promogulated, which should be at par with laws like Custom’s act or

income tax act.

• This will ensure autonomy of CBI while at same time providing for better quality investigation.

• Provide Independence to CBI officers outside CrPC.

• The role, jurisdiction and legal powers should be clearly laid down.

Dedicated cadre for CBI

• At present CBI top position are held by officers from Indian Police Service.

• CBI should be provided with dedicated staff and infrastructure so that present ad hocism

could be stopped.

• It is also possible to consider granting the Director of CBI and other federal investigation

agencies the kind of autonomy that the Comptroller and Auditor General enjoys—he is only

accountable to Parliament.

• The CBI is not really popular among the youth who are looking for Central government

employment through the Union Public Service Commission examination route, other than

those appearing for the All India Services, including the Indian Police Service. This makes a

case for a fresh look at the service conditions for direct recruitment to the CBI.

Conclusion

• It is time to drum up political support to reform the CBI. Why this has not found favor till now

is perhaps the irrational fear that the CBI will become far too autonomous and powerful.

Persons who peddle this argument obfuscate the truth that an autonomous CBI is not one

that is devoid of accountability.

Assignment

Question for Mains

CBI is India’s premier investigation agency. However, it has been transformed into a

caged parrot. In this scenario, suggest measures to ensure independence of CBI.

• First of all, you need to write about CBI.

• Than establish the reasons which transformed CBI into a caged parrot.

• Finally suggest reforms. A bunch of reforms are present in this article only.





MCQ

Consider the following regarding the CBI:

1. It is a statutory body.

2. CBI Director is appointed from a panel of candidates on the basis of the

recommendations of a committee headed by the Central Vigilance Commission

(CVC).

3. It functions under Ministry of Home affairs.

Which of the above given statements is/are not correct:

a) 1 only

b) 2 and 3 only

c) 1 and 3 only

d) 3 only

Answer: c

Article 8. Critiquing Narrow Critiques of Convention on

Biological Diversity Reference Article: from EPW by Alophonsa Jojan, Prakriti Mukherjee and others

Context:

• The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was formally adopted at the Rio Earth Summit

in 1992. It was the first international treaty that acknowledged biodiversity as a matter of

common global concern.

• In a recent article in the journal “Science”, scientists claim that the CBD and Biological

Diversity Act (BDA) of India, restricts collaborative and non-commercial research.

• They have also stressed the importance of creating a facilitative legal environment for such

research.

Need of CBD and BDA?

• CBD recognizes national sovereignty over resources.

• Both BDA and CBD restrict foreign entities on the basis of the principle of equity and

fairness and the past experiences of misappropriation of bio-resources and

knowledge.





• It also prevents “parachute science”, where researchers from developed countries go

into parts of the world to do research on genetic resources of a country without

acknowledging the country’s support in terms of knowledge and resources.

• It promotes a more inclusive approach to collaborative research that will result in the

growth of science across the world.

• It also creates a balance of power between technologically advances countries and

biologically rich countries.

Hurdles for India

Ecological research in India is maturing, but several issues remain.

• Access to resources and expertise in conservation and ecology is limited to a few elite

national institutions.

• The available state-of-art infrastructure and technology are more expensive for use.

• Availability of funding for these researches is scarce.

• Dearth of conventional taxonomic expertise.

• Lack of collaborative research facilit ies acts as a research and learning barrier for a

majority of Indian researchers.

• Conflict between the BDA and subordinate state rules rises inconsistencies in the

procedures followed in seeking permission to undertake a research.

Way across these hurdles

Collaborative research:

• CBD itself offers ways for promoting non-commercial research. It also assists developing

countries like India to boost biodiversity research in their own country itself.

• CBD also places two commitments on the member countries that facilitates collaborative

and non-commercial research:

• Creating a facilitative access regulation framework for genetic resources.

• Access to and transfer of technology to developing countries under fair and favourable

terms. This will have huge implications for conservation and taxonomic research for all

members.

• This is furthered by Nagoya Protocol under the CBD that stresses the importance of non-

monetary benefits like technology transfer, collaboration, cooperation in education,

training, and research.

• BDA enables the Government of India to make policy guidelines with respect to collaborative

research projects.

Non-commercial research:

• While BDA regulates research carried out by foreign entities, NRIs, it doesn’t restrict research

by Indians for non-commercial purpose.





Conflict between BDA and state laws:

• Recently National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has released Operational Guidelines

to check hurdles that Indian researchers may face.

• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has also included provisions for

a simple application process.

Conclusion

• Instead of seeking blanket exemptions, demand for efficient and facilitative regulations

should be raised. This will help in upholding the principle of equity and fairness enshrined in

CBD and facilitated by BDA.

Assignment:

Question for Mains

The objective of Convention of Biodiversity cannot be achieved unless there is harmony between its objective and domestic legislations. Analyze in context of Indian Biodiversity act 2002.

• To answer the above question, you need to know about Convention on Biodiversity

and its provision.

• Moreover, you must also be aware about Indian biodiversity act 2002.

• Then you should go on analyzing how both conflict each other in some aspects and

suggest a way forward. All the content for this is available in the article.

MCQ

Consider the following regarding Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

1 It was adopted at Convention on Biological Diversity was held in Nairobi, Kenya, in

1992.

2 The convention recognized for the first time in international law that the

conservation of biodiversity is "a common concern of humankind" and is an integral part

of the development process

3 The agreement covers all ecosystems, species, and genetic resources.

Which of the above statements is/ are correct?

a) 1 only

b) 1 and 2 only

c) and 3 only

d)All of the above

Answer: d


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosystem

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species

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