6th June 2019

Paper 2:
Topics covered:
Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining
to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges
therein.

Cabinet committees

What to study?
For prelims and mains: Cabinet committees- establishment, mandate, composition,
functions and significance.

Context: The Government reconstituted eight key cabinet committees under

the Transaction of Business Rules.

What are they?

The Cabinet Committee are organizations which are instrumental in reducing the workload
of the Cabinet. These committees are extra-constitutional in nature and are nowhere
mentioned in the Constitution.

Types and Composition of Cabinet Committees:

Standing Cabinet Committee: These are permanent in nature with a specific job. The
Cabinet Ministers are called its ‘members’ while the people without the rank of Cabinet
Committee are called ‘special invitees’.
Ad-hoc Cabinet Committee: These are temporary in nature and are formed time to time to
deal with specific tasks.
Composition: The composition of a Cabinet Committee varies from 3 to 8 people. Even
Ministers who are not the part of the Cabinet can be added to a Cabinet Committee.
Usually, each cabinet committee has at least one Cabinet Minister. The members of the
Cabinet Committee can be from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

Paper 2:
Topics covered:
Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining
to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges
therein.

Economic Census

What to study?
Fo Prelims and Mains: What is Economic Census, who conducts and coordinates, uses and
significance.
Context: The 7th Economic Census -2019 is being conducted by MoSPI to provide
disaggregated information on various operational and structural aspects of all
establishments in the country.
Implementing agency: MoSPI has partnered with Common Service Centres, CSC e-
Governance Services India Limited, a Special Purpose Vehicle under the MEITY as the
implementing agency.

About Economic Censuses:

Launched in 1976 as a plan scheme.
Coverage: All entrepreneurial units in the country which are involved in any economic
activities of either agricultural or non-agricultural sector which are engaged in production
and/or distribution of goods and/or services not for the sole purpose of own consumption.
Objective: It provides detailed information on operational and other characteristics such as
number of establishments, number of persons employed, source of finance, type of
ownership etc.
Significance: This information used for micro level/ decentralized planning and to assess
contribution of various sectors of the economy in the gross domestic product (GDP).
Total Six Economic Censuses (EC) have been conducted till date. First one was conducted in
1977 by CSO.

Paper 2:
Topic covered:
Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate.

2nd Global Disability Summit at Buenos Aires

What to study?
For prelims and mains: key features, location, mandate and significance of the summit.

Context: 2nd Global Disability Summit is being held at Buenos Aires, Argentina.
About the Summit:
The objectives of the summit is to deliberate on issues across the world concerning
empowerment and inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and to work out a
mechanism for enabling them to live an independent and dignified life.
The first-ever Global Disability Summit was held at London, United Kingdom (UK) in 2018.
It was hosted by UK Department for International Development (UK DFID), along with the
co-hosts International Disability Alliance (IDA) and Government of Kenya.
Mandate: The Global leaders attending the summit express their commitments towards
eliminating stigma and discrimination against PwDs and to work towards promoting
inclusive education, economic empowerment, technology and innovation in assistive
devices, data desegregation etc. for them.

Mains Question: OUR UNDERSTANDING OF DISABILITY MUST EXPAND TO INCLUDE PEOPLE

WITH INVISIBLE DISABILITIES. EXAMINE.
Relevant articles from various news sources:
Paper 2:
Topics covered:
Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Gujarat launches India’s first trading programme to combat particulate air pollution

What to study?
For prelims: key features of the program.
For mains: significance, need and potential of such programs, challenges ahead and ways to
address them.

Context: Gujarat has launched India’s first trading programme to combat particulate air
pollution-the emission trading scheme (ETS)
– on World Environment Day 2019, which has air pollution as its theme.

Key features of the programme:

It is a market-based system where the government sets a cap on emissions and allows
industries to buy and sell permits to stay below the cap.
Being initiated in Surat by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB).
Gujarat programme is the first in the world to regulate particulate air pollution.

How it works?
Under the cap and trade system, the regulator first defines the total mass of pollution that
can be put into the air over a defined period by all factories put together.
Then, a set of permits is created, each of which allows a certain amount of pollution, and
the total is equal to the cap.
These permits are the quantity that is bought and sold. Each factory is allocated a share of
these permits (this could be equal or based on size or some other rule).
After this, plants can trade permits with each other, just like any other commodity on the
National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX).

Significance and benefits:

The reason for trading is that in a cap and trade market, the regulator will measure
pollution over a period of time and industries must own enough permits to cover their total
emissions.
Factories who find it very expensive to reduce pollution, will seek to buy more permits.
Those who can easily reduce pollution are encouraged to do so because then they have
excess permits to sell.
Eventually, after buying and selling by plants that find it cheap to cut pollution and those
for whom it is expensive, most pollution is taken care of. Whatever the final allocation, the
total number of permits does not change so the total pollution is still equal to the
predefined cap. And yet the costs to industry are decreased.

Current practice and issues associated:

Under existing regulations, every industry has to meet a certain maximum concentration of
pollutants when it is operating. They are tested occasionally and manually (one or two
times a year). However, there is widespread non-compliance across India. This is partly
because penalties are rarely applied, in large part because they involve punishments such
as closing down the entire plant which is not necessarily appropriate for small violations.

Sources: down to earth.

Paper 2:
Topics covered:
Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

IRENA report ‘Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2018’

What to study?
For prelims and mains: Key findings of the report, challenges and concerns raised, ways and
measures to address them.

Context: International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has released a report titled
‘Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2018’.
For the study, IRENA analysed eight major solar PV markets from 2010 to 2018. These
countries include China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US.

Key findings:
India is now the lowest-cost producer of solar power globally. total installed costs of
utility-scale solar PV in India is as low as $793 per kilowatt (kW) in 2018 which is 27 per cent
lower than for projects commissioned in 2017. Costs have dropped by 80 per cent in India.
Canada has the highest cost at $2,427 per kW.
Renewable energy sources have witnessed cost decline globally.

Reasons behind the low cost:

India has high solar potential that leads to improved asset utilization.
The country imports majority of hardware for installation from China which is cheaperand
helps cut the cost by a huge margin.
As the cost of land and labor is cheaper than the rest of the world, it also contributes to
low-cost production of solar power in India.

About IRENA:
It is an intergovernmental organisation mandated to facilitate cooperation, advance
knowledge, and promote the adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy.
It is the first international organisation to focus exclusively on renewable energy,
addressing needs in both industrialized and developing countries.
It was founded in 2009 & its statute entered into force on 8 July 2010 and is headquartered
in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi.
IRENA is an official United Nations observer.
Sources: down to earth.

Paper 3:
Topic covered:
Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth,
development and employment.

Fiscal Performance Index (FPI) launched by CII

What to study?
For prelims:About CII, components of your PI.
For mains: Significance and the need for such index.

Context: Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has launched a Fiscal Performance

Index (FPI) to assess state and central budgets.

Components of CII:
The Index incorporates qualitative assessments of revenue expenditure, capital
expenditure, revenues, fiscal prudence and the level of public debt.

Key findings:
The CII has used this index to analyse state and central budgets from 2004-05 to 2016-17.
The study found that despite improvement a reduction in the fiscal deficit between FY13
and FY18, the overall performance of the budget has been remained steady with
improvements only in FY16 and FY17.
This is largely due to moderation in the revenue, capital expenditure and and net tax
revenues indices.
The analysis also shows that the combine performance of all state budgets has improved
despite worsening of fiscal deficit numbers because of improvements in revenue and
capital expenditure indices.
The study also points out that relatively high income states including Gujarat, Haryana and
Maharashtra which are presumed to have good fiscal health because of low fiscal deficit to
GDP ratio do not perform well on the composite FPI because of poor expenditure and
revenue quality compared to other states.
Other states including, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have
done well on the FPI because of their good performance in revenue and capital expenditure
indices.

Need for FPI:

A single criterion such as the ‘fiscal deficit to GDP ratio’ does not tell us anything about the
quality of the Budget. Hence, the Government should use multiple indicators to measure
the quality of Budgets at the Central and the State levels rather than a single indicator.

Way ahead- recommendations from CII:

the government should attempt to broaden the tax base, increase investments in education
and healthcare as well as maintenance of assets and well as increase investments in
infrastructure, affordable housing and encourage public sector undertakings to also
increase capital expenditure by limiting dividends to the government.

Sources: the Hindu.

Paper 2:
Topics covered:
Separation of powers between various organs dispute redressal mechanisms and
institutions.

Rule 49MA

What to study?
For prelims: related provisions in News.
For mains: need for protection of electors, concerns over misuse and reforms needed.

Context: The Election Commission may “revisit” the rule for prosecution of a voter for
making a false complaint of malfunction of an electronic voting machine or a voter
verifiable paper audit trail machine- Rule 49MA.

Background:
The Supreme Court, in April 2029, sought a response from the Election Commission on a
plea seeking abolition of a provision in election rules that provides for prosecution of an
elector if a complaint alleging malfunctioning of EVMs and VVPATs turns out to be false.

What is rule 49MA?

Rule 49MA is mentioned under ‘The Conduct of Elections Rules’ .
Under the rule, where printer for paper trail is used, if an elector after having recorded his
vote under rule 49M alleges that the paper slip generated by the printer has shown the
name or symbol of a candidate other than the one he voted for, the presiding officer shall
obtain a written declaration from the elector as to the allegation, after warning the elector
about the consequence of making a false declaration.
The rules outline that if after investigation, the allegation of EVM malfunctioning is found to
be false or incorrect, then the complainant can be prosecuted under Section 177 of the
Indian Penal Code for “furnishing false information”.
In such a case, a jail term of six months or a fine of Rs 1,000 or both is guaranteed.

Arguments against Rule 49MA:

It is unconstitutional as it criminalises reporting of malfunctioning of Electronic Voting
Machines and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails.
The obligation of proving an allegation cannot be on the voter when machines used for
voting showed ‘arbitrary deviant behaviour’.
Putting the responsibility on the elector in cases of arbitrary deviant behaviour of machines
used in the election process, infringes upon a citizen’s right to freedom of expression under
the Constitution.
When an elector is asked to cast test vote as prescribed under Rule 49MA, he may not be
able to reproduce the same result which he was complaining about, one more time in a
sequence, because of the pre-programmed deviant behaviour of the electronic machines.
Therefore, holding an elector accountable for deviant behaviours of EVMs and VVPATs
could deter them from coming forth and making any complaint, which is essential for
improving the process.
Since only an elector could be a witness to the secrecy of his vote cast, it would
violate Article 20(3) of the Constitution which says that no person accused of an offence
shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.

Sources: The Hindu.

Facts for prelims:

BrahMos:
The Anti-ship version of supersonic cruise missile BrahMos was test fired from the launch
complex-3 of Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha.
The name BrahMos is formed from names of two riverse. Indian river Brahmaputraand
the Moskva River of Russia.
Manufactured at BrahMos Aerospace Limited which is a joint venture between
India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and
Russia’s NPOMashinostroyenia (NPOM).
The medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile has a strike range of about 290 km.
The BrahMos is the fastest cruise missile of its class in the world.

Kharga Prahar:
What is it? It is a major training exercise conducted by the Indian Army.
The latest edition was undertaken in plains of Punjab by various units and formations of
Army’s Kharga Corps.
II Corps is a corps of the Indian Army, based in Ambala and known as Kharga Corps.

Confetti:
What is It? it’s a first interactive game show Launched by Facebook in India.
It will air from Wednesday to Sunday on Facebook Watch, Facebook’s dedicated video
platform.
The participants stand a chance to win Rs.3 lakh as cash prize everyday on challenge of
answering pop culture trivia questions.
It seeks to enable its users to engage better and bring communities together around
exceptional, interactive video experiences on Facebook.
The interactive game was first launched in the United States (US) and is already available in
other parts of the world the UK, Mexico, Canada, Vietnam, Philippines and Thailand.
Facebook Watch: It is Facebook’s video-on-demand service. It was globally rolled out by the
social networking giant in 2018, in an attempt to take on its rival YouTube. It allows users to
enjoy videos from different genres in their personalised Watch Feed (carries recent videos
collection from pages followed).

Indian Navy Environment Conservation Roadmap (INECR):

Context: The Navy is pressing ahead with its eco-friendly programme, the Indian Navy
Environment Conservation Roadmap (INECR).
INECR that comprises specific action plans covering the gamut of operations, maintenance,
administration, infrastructure and community living.
The road map envisions ‘reduction in energy consumption’ and ‘diversification of energy
supply’ as the key result areas.
Under the INECR, numerous policies aimed at reduction of energy consumption and
environment sustenance have been formulated and disseminated to all ships, as well as
shore establishments.

Summaries of important Editorials:

OIC’s reference to J&K and India’s response to it:

Context: India has rejected the reference to J&K by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC).

India’s response:
India said, OIC has no locus standi in matters relating to J&K being an integral part of India.
India reiterated that OIC should refrain from making such unwarranted references.

What did the OIC say?

The OIC affirmed its support for the people of J&K for the realization of their legitimate
right to self-determination, in accordance with relevant UN resolutions.
It condemned the recent outbreaks of violence in the region and invited India to implement
the relevant Security Council resolutions to settle its protracted conflict with its neighbour.
It also called for the expedited establishment of a UN commission of inquiry to investigate
into the alleged HR violations in Kashmir.
It called on India to allow this proposed commission and international human rights
organizations to access Indian-occupied Kashmir.
It approved the appointment of Saudi Arabia’s Yousef Aldobeay as its Special Envoy for
Jammu and Kashmir.

India and the OIC:

Last year, Bangladesh had suggested that India, where more than 10% of the world’s
Muslims live, should be given Observer status, but Pakistan had opposed the proposal.
However, EAM Sushma Swaraj had addressed the Inaugural Plenary of the 46th Session of
the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC in Abu Dhabi on March 1 this year.

Way ahead for India:

India has consistently and emphatically underlined that Jammu and Kashmir is an “integral
part of India and is a matter strictly internal to India.
The strength with which India has made this assertion has varied slightly at times, but never
the core message. OIC having no locus standi on J&K itself is stronger statement.

About FATF:

What is it? The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental

body established in 1989 on the initiative of the G7. It is a “policy-making
body” which works to generate the necessary political will to bring about
national legislative and regulatory reforms in various areas. The FATF
Secretariat is housed at the OECD headquarters in Paris.

Objectives: The objectives of the FATF are to set standards and promote
effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for
combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to
the integrity of the international financial system.

Functions: The FATF monitors the progress of its members in implementing

necessary measures, reviews money laundering and terrorist financing
techniques and counter-measures and promotes the adoption and
implementation of appropriate measures globally. In collaboration with other
international stakeholders, the FATF works to identify national-level
vulnerabilities with the aim of protecting the international financial system
from misuse.

What is blacklist and grey list?

FATF maintains two different lists of countries: those that have deficiencies in
their AML/CTF regimes, but they commit to an action plan to address these
loopholes, and those that do not end up doing enough. The former is
commonly known as grey list and latter as blacklist.
Once a country is blacklisted, FATF calls on other countries to apply enhanced
due diligence and counter measures, increasing the cost of doing business with
the country and in some cases severing it altogether. As of now there are only
two countries in the blacklist — Iran and North Korea — and seven on the
grey list, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Syria and Yemen

New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Bill, 2019

What to study?

For Prelims and Mains: Key features and significance of the Bill, need for and
significance of arbitration.

Context: The Union Cabinet has approved the Bill New Delhi International
Arbitration Centre (NDIAC) Bill, 2019 for introduction in the ensuing session
of Parliament.

Benefits:

 The benefits of institutionalized arbitration will accrue to Government

and its agency and to the parties to a dispute.
 This shall be to the advantage of the public and the public institutions in
terms of quality of expertise and costs incurred and will facilitate India
becoming a hub for Institutional Arbitration.

Salient Features:
In order to facilitate the setting up of NDIAC, the Ordinance
envisages the transfer and vesting of the undertakings of the International
Centre For Alternative Dispute Resolution (ICADR)

in the Central Government. The Central Government will subsequently vest

the undertakings in NDIAC.

Composition:

 New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (NDIAC) will be headed by

a chairperson who has been a Judge of the Supreme Court or a Judge
of a High Court or an eminent person, having special knowledge and
experience in the conduct or administration of arbitration law or
management, to be appointed by the Central Government in
consultation with the Chief Justice of India.
 There will be two Full time or Part time Members from amongst
eminent persons having substantial knowledge and experience in
institutional arbitration, both domestic and international.
 Also, one representative of a recognised body of commerce and
industry shall be chosen on rotational basis as Part time Member.
 Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs, Financial Adviser nominated by
the Department of Expenditure and Chief Executive Officer,
NDIAC shall be ex-officio Members.

What is Arbitration?

Arbitration is a settlement of dispute between two parties to a contract by

a neutral third party i.e. the arbitrator without resorting to court action. The
process can be tailored to suit parties’ particular needs.
Arbitrators can be chosen for their expertise. It is confidential and can be
speedier and cheaper than court. There are limited grounds of appeal. Arbitral
awards are binding and enforceable through courts.

Significance of ADR:

It is felt that a reliable and responsive alternative dispute resolution system is

essential for rapidly developing countries like India. While business disputes
need speedy resolution, litigation is the least favoured method for that. The
Indian judicial system is marred by delays because of which businesses suffer
as disputes are not resolved in a reasonable time period. Therefore, need for
alternative dispute resolution processes like negotiation, mediation conciliation
and arbitration is felt from time to time.