Daily News Simplified - DNS

15 11 18
Notes
SL. THE HINDU
TOPICS
NO. PAGE NO.

1 GSAT-29 has a perfect launch 01

2 No plans to give India MFN Status: Pakistan 12

3 Full Disclosure 08

4 Setting a proper diet plan 08

Dated: 15.Nov.2018 DNS Notes

Title 1. GSAT-29 has a perfect launch (The Hindu, Page 1)

Syllabus Prelims: Science and Technology
Mains: GS Paper-III in Indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
Theme Space Technology
Highlights GSAT-29 is a communication satellite weighing 3423 kg. The satellite is designed for a
mission life of 10 years.
Salient features of GSAT-29
 High Throughput Communication Satellite
 Connectivity to Remote Area
 Q/V-Band Payload
 High Resolution Imaging from GEO
 Optical Communication Technology

About GSLV MkIII

 GSLV MkIII is a three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO.
 The vehicle has two solid strap-ons as first stage, a liquid propellant core as second
stage and a cryogenic as third stage.
 GSLV Mk III is designed to carry 4 ton class of satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer
Orbit (GTO) or about 10 tons to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which is about twice the
capability of GSLV Mk II.
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Dated: 15.Nov.2018 DNS Notes

Title 2. No plans to give India MFN Status: Pakistan (The Hindu, Page 12)
Syllabus Prelims: Indian Economy
Mains: GS Paper-II in India and its neighborhood- relations.
Theme Agriculture
Highlights Pakistan has stated that it has no plans to give India the status of MFN. It is to be
noted that India has already granted this status Pakistan in 1996.

Concept of MFN
 The MFN principle provided under WTO ensures that the member countries treat all
other member countries equally. Under the MFN principle, if a member country
offers a trade concession to another member country, such a trade concession gets
automatically extended to all other member countries as well.
 However, the WTO provides for exception to MFN status in the form of Free trade
agreements and Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)

Advantages of MFN
 The MFN increases trade creation and decreases trade diversion. It enables a
country to import goods from the most efficient supplier leading to Trade Creation.
In the absence of MFN, a country may be importing goods from less efficient
supplier leading to Trade Diversion.
 Enables all the member countries to have non-discriminatory access to International
Trade.
 Leads to increase in Exports from the poor and developing countries
 Cuts down on Red tapism since the tariffs remain same for all the countries.
 Reduces the risk of Trade Protectionism and increases international Trade and
Investment.

Disadvantages of MFN
 The country would be required to give same treatment to all the trade partners and
hence may not be able to protect their domestic industry due to import of cheaper
foreign goods.
 It may prompt the member countries to give higher subsidies to their domestic
industries to reduce the prices of their goods in the international market leading to
dumping of such goods in the other countries.
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Dated: 15.Nov.2018 DNS Notes

Title 3. Full Disclosure (The Hindu, Page 8)

Syllabus Prelims: Indian Economy
Mains: GS Paper-III in Indian Economy and various Issues
Theme Credit rating agencies
Highlights  In the wake of IL&FS Crisis, the SEBI has issued guidelines to credit rating
agencies to improve the quality of their disclosures.
 A credit rating agency is an entity which assesses the ability and willingness of the
issuer company for timely payment of interest and principal on a debt instrument.
The rating is assigned to a security or an instrument. The Credit rating agencies
are regulated by SEBI.
 Based on the new norms issued by the SEBI, the credit rating agencies will have to
inform investors about the liquidity situation of the companies such as their cash
balance, liquidity coverage ratio, access to emergency credit lines, asset-liability
mismatch etc.
 Further, rating agencies will have to disclose their own historical rating track record
by informing clients about how often their rating of an entity has changed over a
period of time.
Concerns to be addressed
 The “issuer-pays” model where the entity that issues the instrument also pays the
ratings agency for its services often leads to a situation of conflict of interest.
 The credit rating market in India has high barriers to entry leading to lack of
competition and hence adversely affects the interests of the investors.
 The Credit rating agencies have to come up with lucrative business models which
put the interests of the investors above the interests of borrowers.
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Dated: 15.Nov.2018 DNS Notes

Title 4. Setting a proper diet plan (The Hindu, Page 8)

Syllabus Prelims: Social development
Mains: GS Paper-II in Issues relating to Poverty and Hunger
Theme Management of Malnutrition
Highlights  India is ranked 103 out of 119 countries with hunger levels categorized as „serious‟
in Global Hunger Index 2018.
 National Family Health Survey 2016 has shown that India has higher than global
average in stunted children and underweight children.

Possible Solutions:
 Growth oriented development that prioritises social welfare rather than financial
investment.
 Upgrade Integrated child development Scheme (ICDS) to prioritise diversified
food intake and broadening inclusion of districts.
 Control and regulate food prices by strengthening PDS
 Income support policies that support access to cheaper food
 Effective implementation of National Nutritional Mission.
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