CURRENT BULLETIN-2019 CSB IAS ACADEMY

Polity and Governance

Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Term:
Council abolished The J&K legislative council members remained in of-
fice for a period of six years. It comprised of 22 elect-
Context: ed by state assembly, 2 members elected from local
Jammu and Kashmir government issued formal or- authorities, 2 from panchayat constituency and J&K
ders for abolition of legislative council and opening governor would nominate 8 members from eminent
of new administrative secretariat in Ladakh under
persons from various fields
the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill.
The J&K legislative council was created in year 1957
Description: following adoption of a new constitution by state con-
Through this legislation the central government re- stituent assembly and passing of Legislative Councils
voked the special status granted to J&K and bifur- Act in Parliament.
cated the state into two Union territories of J&K and
Ladakh. National Health Profile 2019
The government issued orders under section 57 of Context:
J&K Reorganisation Bill stating that all the staff mem-
bers of the legislative council should report to the Life expectancy in India has increased from 49.7 years
general administration department. in 1970-75 to 68.7 years in 2012-16, as per the Na-
tional Health Profile 2019.
J&K legislative council, with a strength of 36 mem-
bers, was created in 1957 following adoption of a Description:
new constitution by the state constituent assembly
and passing of the Legislative Councils Act in Parlia- For comparison, in last year’s survey, the life expec-
ment. tancy had increased from 49.7 years in 1970-75 to
68.3 years in 2011-15. For the same period, the life
In addition to this the Jammu and Kashmir govern- expectancy for females is 70 years and 66.9 years for
ment also issued formal orders for opening of new males. So there has been an increase in life expectan-
administrative secretariat in Ladakh under the Jam- cy in general, and also for males.
mu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, (passed in Au-
gust 2019). The survey notes that out of 6.51 crore patients who

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attended NCD clinics, 4.75 per cent people are di- Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI):
agnosed with diabetes, 6.19 per cent are diagnosed
with hypertension, 0.30 per cent are diagnosed with Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI) was
cardiovascular diseases, 0.10 per cent are diagnosed established in 1961 under the Directorate General
with stroke and 0.26 per cent are diagnosed with of Health Services with the vision to have “A strong
common cancers. Health Management Information System (HMIS) in
entire country”. The first release of the annual publi-
According to the survey, the highest population den- cation was in 2005.
sity of 11,320 people per square kilometre was re-
ported by the NCT of Delhi whereas Arunachal It covers all the major information on Demography,
Pradesh has reported the lowest population density Socio-Economic Status, Disease Morbidity & Mortal-
of 17. ity, Healthcare Finance, Human Resources in Health
and Healthcare Infrastructure. NHP is an initiative
The survey notes that 27 per cent of the total esti- which is at par with international standards of data
mated population of 2016 were below the age of 14 publications.
years and majority (64.7 per cent) of the population
were in the age group of 15-59 years i.e. economi- 15-point reform on Parliament
cally active population and 8.5 per cent population
were in the age group of 60 to 85 plus years. Functioning: Vice President
There has been consistent decrease in the birth rate, Context:
death rate and natural growth rate in India since 1991 Expressing concern over the functioning of parlia-
to 2017. As on 2017, India has registered birth rate of mentary institutions in the country and erosion of
20.2 per 1,000 population and death rate of 6.3 per public trust in them, the Vice President, Shri M. Ven-
1,000 population while the natural growth rate was kaiah Naidu unveiled a 15 point reform charter as the
13.9 per 1,000 population in India. basis for a new political normal to enable effective
Important Statistics: functioning of the Parliament and State Legislatures.

The birth rate in rural areas was higher than in the Description:
urban. Similarly, the death rate and natural growth
The 15-point charter includes:
rate were also higher in rural areas as compared to
the urban.
1. Parties need to ensure attendance of at least 50%
The population, however, continues to grow, as the of their legislators all through the proceedings of
decline in the birth rate is not as rapid as the decline the Houses by adopting a roster system.
in the death rate.
2. Review of anti-defection law.
The infant mortality rate has declined considerably
(33 per 1,000 live births in 2016), however differen- 3. Review of the whip system which is “stifling
tials of rural (37) & urban (23) are still high. reasonable dissent even on non-consequential
matters”.
The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) for the country was 2.3
whereas in rural areas it has been 2.5 and it has been 4. Set up special courts for time-bound adjudication
1.8 in urban areas during 2016 as per the latest avail- of criminal complaints against legislators.
able information.
5. Pre and post legislative impact assessment.
On the health status indicators, the survey finds that
on communicable diseases, in 2018, maximum num- 6. Address problem of rising number of legislators
ber of cases and deaths due to malaria have been re- with criminal background.
ported in Chhattisgarh (77,140 cases and 26 deaths).
7. Governments should be responsive to opposition
and opposition to be responsible and construc-
tive while resorting to available parliamentary
instruments

8. Consensus on the proposal for simultaneous

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elections. SVEEP Program:
9. Steps should be taken for the effective function- Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Partic-
ing of the Parliamentary Committees. ipation program (SVEEP), is the flagship program
of the Election Commission of India for voter edu-
10. The representation of women in legislatures cation, spreading voter awareness and promoting
needs to be raised. voter literacy in India.

Representation of the People Act, 1951

Postal ballot for disabled & voters
aged above 80
Context:
The Election Commission of India has recently made
efforts to ensure that the electors who are unable to
come to polling booth/ absentee voters are facilitated
in every way to ensure their wider participation in
the electoral process.
The act provides for the actual conduct of elec-
tions in India and deals with the Conduct of Elec-
tions, Registration of Political parties, Qualification
and Disqualification of members of both the Hous-
es of Parliament and the State Legislatures, Ad-
ministrative machinery for conducting elections,
Corrupt practices & Electoral offences, & By-elec-
tions, Election Disputes.

Description: World’s largest Face Recognition

On the recommendation of Election Commission, the system in India to track criminals
Union Ministry of Law and Justice has amended Con-
duct of Election Rules, 1961, that will now allow Context:
senior citizens and person with disabilities (PwD) in
absentee voter list. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under the
Government of India has released a tender asking for
In the current system, only military, paramilitary per- bidders to help create Automated Facial Recognition
sonnel and government employees working abroad, System (AFRS).
as well as employees posted in election duty, are en-
titled to the postal ballot. The objective is to leverage the power of facial recog-
nition technology to make the security forces more
According to this year’s figures, the postal ballot vot- efficient
er turnout lists around 10 lakh military forces under
the Ministry of Defense, 7.82 lakh paramilitary forces What is AFRS:
under the Ministry of Home Affairs and 3539 voters
in the Foreign Ministry working in foreign missions. Automated Facial Recognition System (AFRS) to be
implemented that would help in automatic iden-
Background: tification and verification of persons from digital
images, photos, digital sketches, video frames and
Absentee voter means a person belonging to such video sources by comparison of selected facial fea-
class of persons as may be notified, under clause (c) of tures of the image from an already existing image
section 60 of the RP Act, 1951 and who is employed in database.
essential services as mentioned in the said notification,
and includes an elector belonging to the class of senior Security forces would be equipped with hand-held
citizens or persons with disabilities; mobile devices enabling them to capture a face in
the field and search it instantly against the national
Other Initiatives: database, through a dedicated app.

The criminals will be identified using CCTV footage

The Commission is also taking a number of steps
including personal contact under its SVEEP ini-
tiatives to make the electors aware of this new
facility so that such electors can exercise their
voting right in the manner they intend to do.
134
from the database, verified, and information will
be distributed to all law enforcement agencies in
real-time across the country. 
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BENEFITS: tinued to grow because nearly 50 per cent of the
people are in the age group of 15-49. This means that
• Enhanced ability to detect crime patterns and the absolute population will continue to rise even
modus operandi across the states and communi- though couples have less children.
cate to the State police departments for aiding in
crime prevention.
Description:
• Police personnel can check the suspect with list
of criminals. On October 21, 2019, the Assam Cabinet decided
• A robust system for identifying criminals, missing that no Government jobs will be provided to persons
children /persons, unidentified dead bodies and with more than 2 children after 1 January 2021.
unknown Traced children/persons all over the In September 2017, the Assam government had
country passed the “Population and Women Empowerment
• A repository of photographs o f criminals in the Policy of Assam”. Under the policy, job candidates
country with two children alone would be eligible for govern-
ment employment and the existing government staff
Constraints : were to strictly follow the two children family norms.

• Facial recognition software tested by the UK’s The regions where Assam’s minorities live are ex-
Metropolitan Police generated false positives in tremely populated, and these are the people who
more than %98 of match alerts.  need government jobs the most. Moreover, the state
of Assam has actually been able to create many gov-
• Considering the advanced state of state-spon- ernment jobs, which is why this new policy will act as
sored hackers, it will remain uncertain how gov- an incentive, and not a disincentive as some claim.
ernment agencies help protect facial images da-
tabases. Assam Population:
• The system should have a strong security wall to The population in Assam has grown exponentially
protect the data collected. There are possibilities higher as compared to other states. Population of As-
for misuse of the technology. sam is 3.09 crores and population Density of Assam
is 398 per sq km which is greater than that of China.
• Need of a strong regulatory framework for facial
The population growth in Assam is very clear that the
recognition as it is directly linked to people’s pri-
population in Assam has been growing by a million
vacy.
every year.
Mobile Devices Terminal :
Two-child policy in states:
The proposed facial recognition system will be made
Assam is not the first state in India to have such a
available on Android / Windows / ios platform etc.
policy in place. However, in most cases, the bar is on
on Mobile Data Terminals for catering to the needs
contesting local body elections.
arising in the field. NCRB has already proposed pro-
vision of mobile data terminals to each police station In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the 1994 Pancha-
with an estimated cost / lakh per device in the total yati Raj Act disqualifies a person with more than two
budget of 308 Cr in CCTNS Phase-II children from contesting election. Those who already
had more than three could, however, contest these
No Govt. jobs for people with more polls.
than 2 children: Assam In Maharashtra, people having more than two chil-
dren are barred from contesting gram panchayat and
Context: municipal elections.
According to the latest National Family Health Survey
(NFHS-4), at 2.2, India’s total fertility rate (TFR) is very
close to the desired replacement level of 2.1.

In spite of the fall in TFR, India’s population has con-

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Traditional medicine: AYUSH, De- under its ambit

fence ministry inks MoU This may also mean that they will likely be downgrad-
ed in the ‘Table of Precedence’ several notches down
Context: from 9A where the CEC, Comptroller and Auditor
The AYUSH  ministry has signed an MoU with General and Chairman, UPSC are placed, to position
the Defence ministry to provide traditional 23 occupied by the Secretary to the Government of
medicine services at the armed forces› hospitals and India.
dispensaries. 
The ‘Table of Precedence’ is a protocol list prepared
Description: by the Ministry of Home Affairs and is based on the
hierarchy and rank of government functionaries.
Under the MoU,  Ayurveda Units  will also be
established at the Palliative Care Centres at the Army
Research and Referral Hospital. J&K’s Chenani-Nashri Tunnel to be
Ayurveda and yoga will help to attain the best of phys-
renamed after SP Mukherjee
ical and mental health, and improve their endurance. Context:
Ayurvedic medicines and ‘panchkarma’ procedures
such as ‘snehana’ and ‘swedana’ are effective in treat- The 9.2-kilometer-long Chenani-Nashri tunnel to be
ing the work related musculoskeletal disorders. renamed after Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Dr Shy-
ama Prasad Mukherjee.
Indian soldiers work in challenging environmental
conditions right from glaciers of Siachin to desserts The renaming is homage by Central government to
of Thar, which takes a toll on their physical as well as Dr. Shyama Prasad whose battle for Kashmir, One Na-
mental health, thus Ayurveda and Yoga can help Indi- tion One Flag has immensely contributed in national
an army soldiers to attain best of physical and mental integration.
health and improve their endurance.
About the Tunnel:
New Draft Rules for CICs and ICs The ‘Chenani-Nashri Tunnel’ was built at the cost of
₹2,600 crore. There is also a parallel escape tunnel,
Context:
with ‘Cross Passages’ connecting to the main tunnel
The Right to Information Rules, 2019 notified by the at intervals of 300 metres.
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pen-
The tunnel bypasses snow-bound upper reaches and
sions set the tenure of information commissioners at
provides a safe, all- weather route to commuters
three years and gave the government the discretion
travelling from Jammu and Udhampur to Ramban,
to decide on “conditions of service” for which no ex-
Banihal and Srinagar.
press provisions are made in the rules.
This bi-directional tunnel reduces distances between
Description:
Jammu and Srinagar by 30 km and travel time by 2
The Chief Information Commissioner’s salary has hours.
been fixed at ₹2.5 lakh and an information commis-
It also has smart features such as an integrated traffic
sioner’s at ₹2.25 lakh.
control system; surveillance, ventilation and broad-
According to the new draft rules from DoPT (Depart- cast systems; fire fighting system; and SOS call-boxes
ment of Personnel and Training), the terms and perks at every 150 metres.
of the CICs and ICs are to be fixed as that of Cabinet
The estimated value of daily fuel savings was project-
Secretary and Secretary to the GoI level.
ed at Rs 27 lakh, according to the Prime Minister’s
Office then. The tunnel is equipped with world-class
SC’s ruling
security systems.
In February 2019, SC on its landmark verdict, in a
Since such a long tunnel could present the problem
PIL filed by RTI activist Anjali Bhardwaj rules that the
of a lack of oxygen, to ensure that there is no exces-
CICs should have same status as that of Chief election
sive carbon-dioxide build-up inside, there are several
Commissioner thwarting the Centre’s bid to bring it

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exhaust meters that will check the air all through the
length of the tunnel.
Who is Syama Prasad Mukherjee?
Syama Prasad Mukherjee (1901 – 1953) was an
Indian politician, barrister and academician, who
served as the Minister for Industry and Supply in
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet. He quit
Congress because of differences of opinion with
Nehru led government on the issue of Jammu &
Kashmir.
He founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the prede-
cessor to the Bharatiya Janata Party, in 1951.
About 66 years ago, Dr Mookerjee was arrested il-
legally from Lakhanpur, and was taken to Srinagar
through Chenani Nashari. Dr Mookerjee was a sit-
ting member of Lok Sabha at that time.
Mukherjee was strongly opposed to Article
370 seeing it as a threat to the unity of the country
and fought against it inside and outside the parlia-
ment.
World Skills India Training Centres:
Context:
Union Skill Development ministry unveiled plans to
set up 14 Authorized World Skills India Training Cen-
tres across 9 cities for media and entertainment sec-
tor.
Description:
The new institutes will be set up for advanced skill
training of candidates in media and entertainment
sector and to further develop skilling eco-system for Agencies:
training candidates for the international market.
About World skills:
The World Skills International Competition is a bi-
ennial event and the biggest showcase of skills ex-
cellence in the world. It is conducted by the World
Skills International.
The objective of the competition is to demonstrate
the advantages of learning a vocational skill and
encouraging ‘parity of esteem’ between vocational
and academic qualifications.
CSB IAS ACADEMY
Nine Cities are– Chandigarh, New Delhi, Chennai,
Trivandrum, Indore, Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and
Shillong.
The centres will offer certification courses of 9 months
to 36 months duration on graphic design technology,
3D digital game and print media technology.
About MESC:
It is a not for profit organisation registered under
the Societies Registration Act, 1860.  Media & En-
tertainment Skills Council (MESC) was founded in
2012.
The Council has been promoted by the Federation
of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FIC-
CI) with the financial support from National Skill
Development Corporation (NSDC)
Technology Summit, 2019
Context:
The 25th Technology Summit is a bilateral platform
that provides opportunities to industries, government
agencies and institutes from India and other countries
to interact with each other.
Description:
India has nurtured 40,000 start-ups in the last few
years and 31 of them have achieved the ‘unicorn’ sta-
tus. This is the 25th edition of the technology summit.
The aim of the exercise is to provide for a platform
for subject experts, senior government officials and
industry representatives to engage in a dialogue with
their counterparts in the partner country.
The summit was organised by the Department of
Science and Technology (DST) and Confederation of
Indian Industry (CII) in collaboration with the govern-
ment and industry of the Netherlands.
India and Netherlands:
The India-Netherlands Tech Summit will focus on
innovation related to water, agri/food and health.
‘Young entrepreneurship’ is a cross-cutting theme
of the Technology Summit, because of its key impor-
tance in developing these innovative technologies.
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India and the Netherlands are celebrating 10 years of
cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation
space, especially in areas such as Urban Water Man-
agement, Smart Energy Grids etc.
CSB IAS ACADEMY
between people of diverse cultures living in different
states and union territories in the country with the
objective of promoting greater mutual understand-
ing amongst them.

Between 2000 and 2017, the Netherlands invested As per the programme, each year, every state/UT
$24.31 billion in India, ranking amongst the top 5 in- would be paired with another state/UT in India for
vestors in the country. reciprocal interaction between the people.

Netherlands is India’s 28th largest trading partner

globally and 6th largest trading partner from the
European Union. The country has been the gateway
for over 20% of all of India’s exports to the European
Union.

Bilateral Investments:
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, there
are over 200 Indian companies operating in Nether-
lands. It is the third largest investor in India in 2017
– 18 with investments valued at 2.67 billion USD.

The top 5 sectors that are attracting FDI equity flows

from Netherlands include computer, hardware, soft-
ware, automobile industry, trading and fermentation
industries.

The programme is designed to celebrate existing STI

partnerships between India and the Netherlands,
with the participation of a delegation of about 200
Dutch companies, knowledge institutions, thought
leaders, innovators and start-ups, and stimulate new
opportunities by providing a platform for potential
partners from the two countries.
Objectives of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ 
“To promote the spirit of national integration
through a deep and structured engagement
between all Indian States and Union Territories
through a year-long planned engagement be-
tween States.”

“To celebrate the Unity in Diversity of our Nation

Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat pro-
gramme
Context:
Under the initiative of Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat,
the government plans to hold people-to-people ex-
change between states to enhance knowledge about
each other’s culture.
Description:
‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’ is a personal initiative
of Prime Minister that highlights India’s diversity
and furthers national unity. The programme was an-
nounced by the Prime Minister on the 140th birth
anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
and to maintain and strengthen the fabric of tra-
ditionally existing emotional bonds between the
people of our country.”
“To establish long-term engagements and to
create an environment that promotes learning
between the States by sharing best practices and
experiences.”
“To showcase the rich heritage and culture, cus-
toms and traditions of either State for enabling
people to understand and appreciate the diversity
that is India, thus fostering a sense of common
identity.”

The programme aims to actively enhance interaction

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2021 census through mobile appli-
cation The SECC – Socio Economic and Caste Census was
conducted in 2011. So far, the GoI has conducted
Context: SECC census four times in 1992, 1997, 2002 and 2011.
The nationwide exercise will be carried out in 16 In 2017, the GoI agreed to use SECC instead of below
languages at a cost of Rs 12,000 crore. The census
will have its reference date as March 1, 2021, but for poverty line as main instrument for identifying ben-
snow-bound Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh eficiaries
and Uttarakhand it will be October 1, 2020
The newly developed mobile application will be fed
Description: into the phone of school teachers who will double
up as enumerators in the census. Only a handful of
At the recently held conference of state coordinators
and directors of Census operations it was decided countries have done away with paper records for the
that the 2021 census will be conducted through mo- census. India, Vietnam and Swaziland are first to take
bile phone application. this leap.

Every 10 years the Registrar General and Census In both countries, census officials had trained grad-
Commissioner, India operating under the Ministry of uate students for about a year to double up as enu-
Home Affairs carry out the massive exercise to count merators. India will be using an estimated 27 lakh
different aspects of India’s billion plus population. enumerators for the Census.
To disseminate information on different aspects of
census, presentations were given to state coordina- The Census is conducted in two rounds. In the first,
tors and directors of census operations. Training of to be carried out next year, enumerators will have to
national trainers is to start from October 14, 2019 go house-to-house to record the amenities in each
and senior state officials have been informed about household. This is called the household schedule.
the schedule of the training. The headcount is carried out about six months later,
Census 2021 - the 16th in the series first conduct- in early 2021.
ed in the 1860s - will have about 60 questions, right
from the amenities available in a household, source mHariyali app launched
of drinking water and power, to the religion, occupa-
tion, and the languages spoken by the family. Context:
This is the first time Government is adopting a Digital
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs launched a mo-
method moving away from the traditional pen and
paper method. After the publish of NPR – National bile app, ‘mHariyali’, which is aimed to encourage
Population Register, the government is planning to public engagement in planting trees and other such
prepare NRIC – National Register of Indian Citizens. green drives.

Description:
The application provides automatic geo – tagging of
plants. It will hence enable the nodal officers to peri-
odically monitor the plantation. Awareness and Con-
struction of Roof top rain water harvesting. Cleaning
and Greening of open space through plantation and
Sensitization on Source Segregation of household
waste.

Hariyali Mahotsav:
As part of the drive, a mass plantation drive ‘Hary-
ali Mahotsav’ was launched in San Martin Park,
Delhi in which approx 500 plants were planted and
about 150 people, including students.

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State Power Ministers Conference rating.

Integrated Rating of State Distribution Utilities is an

Context:
annual exercise carried out since 2012 by the Minis-
To discuss new ideas in sustainable and renewable try of Power, Govt. of India. 
energy sector, as well as the current challenges faced
by the power sector.

Description: Draft Arms (Amendment) Bill

The conference is to be held near the Statue of Uni-
ty, the tallest structure in the world. The congrega- Context:
tion of the state energy departments is to be held The Union Home Ministry proposed an amendment
on the banks of River Narmada. This is to signify that to convict makers and users of illegal arms. According
Narmada was the first river to have a canal top solar to the amendment, the makers of “prohibited” arms
power plant in India. and those carrying such arms have to spend remain-
der of their life in prison if convicted.
Discussions on policies related to emerging technolo-
gies in sustainable and renewable energy sector, im- Description:
plementation of Prime Minister Kusum Yojana, Solar
It covers areas like illegal trafficking of arms, track-
Roof top, renewable energy development in the bor-
ing arms and their components from manufacturers
der areas, projects for Ultra Mega Renewable Energy
to end users, organized crime, organized crime syn-
Parks, ease of doing business in solar and wind ener-
dicates, and celebratory firing with varying punish-
gy space and the concerning issues related to regula-
ment for these offences.
tory matters, land and infrastructure.
Section 25 (6) is being proposed to be incorporated
Schemes to promote clean energy is to be the prime
in the amendment under which a minimum pun-
focus of the conference and discussions related to
ishment of 10 years in prison and a maximum pun-
emerging technologies in renewable and sustainable
ishment of life imprisonment till death will be pre-
energy sector
scribed for using “prohibited” arms or ammunition
To reduce power losses and to increase billing and by members of an organised crime syndicate
collection efficiency and a vision to switch over to
India has a total of 35 lakh gun licenses. Around 13
smart prepaid metering. 
lakh have licenses to carry weapons in UP alone. In
Providing solar run irrigation pumps to the farmers J&K around 3.7 lakh citizens hold active gun licenses.
and Solarization of 10 lakh existing grid connected These licenses were issued in the last two decades.
pumps. Renewable energy development in the bor- Punjab has around 3.6 lakh active gun licenses. All
der areas and recently GoI has also proposed con- these licenses were simultaneously issued when mil-
struction of wind and solar projects in the Indo – itancy has engulfed the state.
Pakistan border.
The act was legislated to consolidate and amend the
KUSUM scheme would solarize agriculture pumps laws related to arms and ammunition. It replaced the
in coming years and will not only reduce States’ sub- Arms Act 1878. The act has undergone many changes
sidy burden but also benefit farmers who will sell sur- since 1959. The most recent change in the act was
plus power to government. done in 2010 through an amendment for the arms
act.
It’ll also incentivize farmers to use groundwater judi-
ciously and save electricity as they’ll be able to earn The draft amendments categorise the illegal import
money by selling the spare electricity to government of guns and components and their sale and purchase
as “illicit trade” and has provisions to send an autho-
The inauguration of the Conference also saw the re- rised gun dealer to jail for up to seven years for tam-
lease of Seventh Annual Integrated Rating of State pering with the markings on the weapons.
Distribution Utilities by the Union Power Minister. 41
utilities from 22 States have been rated in this rank- The proposed amendment suggested that only
ing, out of which seven Utilities have been given A+ sportspersons can possess a third weapon -- 0.22 cal-

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CURRENT BULLETIN-2019 CSB IAS ACADEMY
ibre rifle only -- if they are “a dedicated sportsperson cance, and it will be interesting to see if the govern-
whose participation in shooting sports has been rec- ment would tap those areas to set up renewable en-
ognised in national or international events in the last ergy capacity.
two years by the central government”.
Other initiatives includes Smart Fencing, Solar Pow-
The draft says that once the amendment comes into ered BSF posts – The border areas were fitted with
force, those who own more than two firearms will solar power panels to help the jawans recharge
have to deposit the rest with the local administration their communication and safety gears. Earlier sol-
or authorised gun dealers within 90 days for de-li- diers guarding the border had to travel 4 to 5 kms
censing. to charge their gadgets. Also, other technologies
like underground monitoring sensors, laser barriers,
Arms Act 1878: night vision devices, surveillance radar help monitor
the border.
The act was seen as a major humiliation for the
newly emerging middle class. Surendranth Banner- India currently harnesses 23 percent of its total pow-
jee called the act as a badge for racial inferiority. er from renewable sources, including solar and wind.
The act was passed during the period when Lord
Lytton was the Viceroy of India. As part of its commitments to combat climate
change, the government has proposed that state-
The act stipulated that no Indians shall be allowed run companies build massive clean energy parks at a
to bear arms prior to proper permit. On the other cost of around 2$ billion each, with built-in incentives
hand, no such rules were imposed to the British to ensure states and operators are invested in the
living in India. success of the parks. The proposed renewable ener-
gy power parks are of 2,000MW each

Achievements:
Solar Wind Farms along Indo – Pa-
The country’s solar installed capacity reached 31.101
kistan border GW as of 30 September 2019. India has the lowest
capital cost per MW globally to install the solar power
Context: plants.  India has established nearly 42 solar parks to
A Target of 175 GW of clean energy by 2022 has make land available to the promoters of solar plants.
been set by India. In order to achieve the target, In- As of 31 March 2019 the total installed wind pow-
dia plans to set up solar and wind projects on fallow er capacity was 36.625 GW, the fourth largest in-
lands along the international border with Pakistan. stalled wind power capacity in the world and of all
the states Rajasthan leads in solar power producing
Description:
3,226 MW of solar power. It is followed by Punjab,
Currently India is generating 82,580 MW of solar
UP, Uttarkhand and Haryana
power which is 23% of its total power production.

India plans to build a string of renewable energy proj-

ects along its sun-baked, wind-whipped western bor-
der as New Delhi continues an ambitious programme WHO – India Country Cooperation
to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.
Strategy 2019 – 2023
Potential Areas:
Context:
Potential large-scale capacities of 30GW in total in
The Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) provides a
Gujarat and 25GW in Rajasthan have been identified.
strategic roadmap for WHO to work with the Gov-
Both Gujarat and Rajastan states have large concen- ernment of India towards achieving its health sector
trations of desert and wasteland land. Rajasthan al- goals, in improving the health of its population and
ready hosts several large-scale solar power projects bringing in transformative changes in the health sec-
in the border district of Pokhran. However, the marsh tor.
lands in Gujarat’s Kutch have environmental signifi-
Description:
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CURRENT BULLETIN-2019 CSB IAS ACADEMY
The India CCS fully aligns itself with WHO ‹triple WHO ‘Triple Billion’ Targets :
billion› targets, the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) and WHO South-East Asia Region’s eight It is a strategic plan for the next five years
Flagship Priorities. which aims for

The CCS for India is to achieve its health sector goals. • One billion more people to be protected from
It intends to bring about transformative change in health emergencies
the health sector by improving health of the peo- • One billion more people to be benefitted
ple in the country. The Union Minister launched the from Universal Health Coverage (UHC)
WHO – India CCS for the years 2019 to 2023.
• One billion more people to be covered for bet-
It urges to address  emerging health scenar- ter health and well-being.
io of the country non-communicable
like 
diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and air pollution,
etc.

The India CCS also connects with India’s Na- Cabinet approves new strategic
tional Health Policy 2017, and other initiatives disinvestment process
like Ayushman Bharat, National Viral Hepatitis
programme, Eat Right India movement, the Fit Context:
India movement and Poshan Abhiyaan that have
collectively engaged with the people and enhanced The Cabinet has approved a new process of strategic
the awareness about crucial health areas. disinvestment with a view to expediting privatisation
of select PSUs
For the past 5 years, India has been stressing the
need to adopt healthy lifestyle. This has been done Description:
through mass yoga programs, Fit India movement,
Cabinet approved new process of strategic disinvest-
Eat right India movement, Poshan Abhiyan, etc.
ment to privatize selected PSUs – Public Sector Units
National Health Policy, 2017 and was approved by PM Modi under which DIPAM
– Department of Investment and Public Asset Man-
It proposes free drugs, free diagnostics, and free agement operating under Ministry of Finance will be
emergency and essential healthcare services in the nodal agency to implement the process.
public hospitals.
Target:
It intends to gradually increase public health ex-
The Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman an-
penditure to 2.5% of the GDP.
nounced during the Budget that the divestment tar-
It proposes free drugs, free diagnostics, and free get from 90,000 crore rupees will be increased to
emergency and essential healthcare services in 1.05 lakh crore rupees.
public hospitals.
The money earned by the government through the
The policy advocates allocating two-thirds of re- disinvestment policy will be deposited in NIIF. It does
sources to primary care. not go into the Consolidated funds of India. It is man-
aged by UTI, SBI and LIC. The rule is that 75% of the
It aims to achieve universal access to good quality money should be used for government schemes and
health care services without anyone having to face 25% for reviving PSUs
financial hardship as a consequence.
Reasons:
As compared to the schemes in the past that focused
on providing sufficient food, recently the govern- This was done with a view to streamlining and speed-
ment is focusing on healthy food and diet. Various ing up the process, reducing the role of administra-
awareness campaigns are conducted to spread the tive ministries which often used to place hurdles in
importance of nutritious diet. Through Clean India the path of major stake sales.
Mission, the government intended to keep the dis-
ease causing germs away From now on, the DIPAM and the NITI Aayog will
jointly identify PSUs for strategic disinvestment. Cur-
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CURRENT BULLETIN-2019 CSB IAS ACADEMY
rently, the DIPAM executes strategic deals based on Arogya Manthan’ event being or-
the list of PSUs identified by the NITI Aayog.
ganised in New Delhi
Strategic sale may involve two-stage bidding begin-
ning with an expression of interest (EoI) or a prelimi- Context:
nary intent showing bid, and a final financial bid.
The purpose of the Arogya Manthan is to provide a
DIPAM secretary would now co-chair the inter-min- platform to meet for all the important stakeholders
ister group on disinvestment, along with the secre-
of PM-JAY to meet and discuss the challenges faced
tary of administrative ministries concerned
in the implementation of the scheme in the past year
Disinvestment and its Significance ? and to forge new understanding and pathways to-
wards improving implementation. 
The action of an organisation or government selling
or liquidating an asset or subsidiary. It improves the Description:
structure of incentives and accountability of PSUs in
India and can also finance the large-scale infrastruc-
The main intension was to undertake the path break-
ture development, defense, education and health-
ing interventions to holistically address health (cover-
care projects.
ing prevention, promotion and ambulatory care), at
The sectors are selected based on the incurring loss- primary, secondary and tertiary level.
es and it may be operationally difficult for the gov-
ernment to continue with the PSE. The Prime Minister launched a new mobile applica-
tion for the Ayushman Bharat and also launched the
In the case of Public Sector Undertakings (PSU), dis-
‘Ayushman Bharat Start-Up Grand Challenge’ and
investment means Government selling/ diluting its
released a commemorative stamp on the occasion.
stake (share) in PSUs in which it has a majority hold-
ing. It is a two-day national workshop which is being or-
ganised by National Health Authority (NHA) to mark
It can help in the revival of loss-making public sec-
the first year anniversary of Ayushman Bharat or PM-
tor enterprises (PSU) and will help in financing the
JAY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana). The PM-JAY
increasing fiscal deficit.
was launched on 23rd September 2018.
Disinvestment is carried out as a budgetary exercise
Ayushman Bharat:
under which the government announces yearly tar-
gets for disinvestment for selected PSUs.
It was launched as recommended by the National
The process of disinvestment is against the interest Health Policy 2017, to achieve the vision of Uni-
of socially disadvantageous people. versal Health Coverage (UHC) which Includes the
on-going centrally sponsored schemes – Senior Cit-
The Government’s dividend income will also decline
izen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS) and Rash-
as it will have less shares in the PSUs and after dis-
triya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY).
investment, the employees of Public Sector Units(P-
SUs) will lose their jobs. This initiative has been designed on the lines as
to meet SDG and its underlying commitment of
Government has set the disinvestment target of 1.05
“leave no one behind”.
lakh crore for the current financial year 2019-20.

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CURRENT BULLETIN-2019 CSB IAS ACADEMY

National Health Authority (NHA)

NHA have full accountability, authority and man-
date to implement PM-JAY through an efficient, ef-
fective and transparent decision-making process.

The National Health Authority is as an attached of-

fice to Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

On 2 January 2019 Centre government approved

the restructuring of existing National Health Agen-
cy as ‘National Health Authority’ for better imple-
mentation of PM-JAY.

Therefore with this approval the existing society

“National Health Agency” was dissolved and was
replaced by National Health Authority.

 PM-JAY:
The world’s largest health insurance/ assurance
scheme fully financed by the government. It pro-
vides cover of 5 lakhs per family per year, for sec-
ondary and tertiary care hospitalization across
public and private hospitals in India.

It helps to reduce the catastrophic expenditure for

hospitalizations, which pushes 6 crore people into
poverty each year.

Coverage of over 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable

entitled families (approximately 50 crore beneficia-
ries) are eligible for these benefits. Provides cash-
less access to health care services for the benefi-
ciary at the point of service.

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