2...5 | P a g e 9650294824 as a State party in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and...

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Table of Contents

1. POLITY ........................................................................................................................................................................... 3

1.1 Controversy over 3 language formula ........................................................................................................................ 3

1.2 Protem speaker ........................................................................................................................................................... 4

1.3 National Party status ................................................................................................................................................... 4

1.4 Triple talaq bill ............................................................................................................................................................ 5

1.5 Farm loan waiver ......................................................................................................................................................... 5

2. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY .............................................................................................................................................. 7

2.1 AES .............................................................................................................................................................................. 7

2.2 HSTDV .......................................................................................................................................................................... 8

2.3 Chandrayaan 2 ............................................................................................................................................................ 8

3. ENVIRONMENT............................................................................................................................................................ 10

3.1 Asiatic golden cat ...................................................................................................................................................... 10

3.2 Sariska Tiger Reserve ................................................................................................................................................ 10

3.3 GM Cotton ................................................................................................................................................................. 10

4. ECONOMY ................................................................................................................................................................... 12

4.1 Shanta kumar committee ......................................................................................................................................... 12

4.2 FATF ........................................................................................................................................................................... 13

4.3 RBI relaxes stressed asset norms .............................................................................................................................. 13

5. INDIA & WORLD .......................................................................................................................................................... 14

5.1 SCO ............................................................................................................................................................................ 14

6. MISCELLANEOUS ......................................................................................................................................................... 16

6.1 Traffic Index .............................................................................................................................................................. 16

6.2 End of childhood index ............................................................................................................................................. 16

6.3 El Salvador recognizes forests as living entities ........................................................................................................ 17

6.4 Mount sinabung ........................................................................................................................................................ 17

6.5 Coastal erosion .......................................................................................................................................................... 17

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1. POLITY

1.1 Controversy over 3 language formula Why in news

• K Kasturirangan committee in its Draft National Education Policy has pitched for implementation of three-language formula in schools across the country, recommending Hindi as one of the compulsory subjects for the students of non-Hindi speaking states, drawing huge protests from the southern states, particularly Tamil Nadu.

What’s the issue

• A Committee led by Dr K Kasturirangan and the Ministry of Human Resources Development had released a draft of the National Education Policy (NEP), which had mandated school students from non-Hindi speaking states to study Hindi and English in addition to their regional language.

• Similarly, students from Hindi speaking states would have to study Hindi, English and any modern Indian language.

• However, this implied that Hindi would be made compulsory across the country.

• Following the furore, , the Committee revised its draft version in which it said, “In keeping with the principle of flexibility, students who wish to change one or more of the three languages they are studying may do so in Grade 6 or Grade 7, so long as they are able to still demonstrate proficiency in three languages (one language at the literature level) in their modular Board Examinations some time during secondary school.”

History of 3 language formula

• National Policy on Education, 1968 said, “At the secondary stage, State governments should adopt and vigorously implement the three-language formula, which includes the study of a modern Indian language, preferably one of the southern languages, apart from Hindi and English in the Hindi-speaking States.”

• In the ‘non-Hindi speaking States’, Hindi should be studied along with the regional language and English.

• On promotion of Hindi, the NPE 1968 said every effort should be made to promote the language and that “in developing Hindi as the link language, due care should be taken to ensure that it will serve, as provided for in Article 351 of the Constitution, as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India.

• The establishment, in non-Hindi States, of colleges and other institutions of higher education which use Hindi, as the medium of education should be encouraged”.

• Incidentally, the NPE 1986 made no change in the 1968 policy on the three-language formula and the promotion of Hindi and repeated it verbatim.

Origin of Linguistic row

• The origin of the linguistic row, however, goes back to the debate on official language.

• In the Constituent Assembly, Hindi was voted as the official language by a single vote. However, it added that English would continue to be used as an associate official language for 15 years.

• The Official Languages Act came into effect on the expiry of this 15-year period in 1965. This was the background in which the anti-Hindi agitation took place.

• However, as early as in 1959, Jawaharlal Nehru had given an assurance in Parliament that English would continue to be in use as long as non-Hindi speaking people wanted it.

Tamil Nadu’s stand

• Leaders in Tamil Nadu emphasise that they do not oppose the voluntary learning of Hindi and cite the unhindered work of the Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha, established in Chennai by Mahatma Gandhi in 1918. The institution imparts Hindi teaching at various levels to anyone who enrols for its programme.

• Also, there is no bar on private schools, most of them affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education, offering Hindi.

• The State has been following the two-language formula for many decades, under which only English and one regional language are compulsory in schools.

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• In 2006, facing criticism that many manage to avoid learning Tamil by opting for Hindi or Sanskrit in private schools, the State government enacted The Tamil Nadu Tamil Learning Act under which Tamil has to be compulsorily learnt in schools operating in the State.

• The State is also opposed to the establishment of Navodaya schools by the Centre in any part of Tamil Nadu.

• An important aspect of the opposition to Hindi imposition is that many in Tamil Nadu see it as a fight to retain English.

• English is seen as a bulwark against Hindi as well as the language of empowerment and knowledge.

Way forward

• There are numerous attractive ways to promote a language to the desired extent.

• So, instead of prescribing a set of languages, Draft NEP 2019 should give the freedom to choose “any three languages of 8th Schedule of the Constitution or official languages of the Union of India” as offered in the scheme of studies by the Boards of Secondary Education. This is a win-win solution for all.

1.2 Protem speaker Context

• Virendra Kumar, seven-time MP from Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh, has been chosen as the pro tem speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha.

Meaning

• Pro-tem speaker is the temporary speaker who presides over the first meeting of lower House of Parliament after the general elections besides presiding over the sitting in which the Speaker and Deputy Speaker are elected if it is a newly constituted House.

• Pro-tem is a Latin phrase which translates to 'for the time being' in English and so the pro-tem speaker is a temporary speaker appointed for a limited period of time to conduct the works in Lok Sabha or in state legislatures.

• Pro-tem speaker is chosen for the conduct of the house when the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies have been elected and the vote for the speaker and deputy speaker has not taken place.

Election

• A pro-tem speaker is chosen with the agreement of the members of the Lok Sabha and legislative assembly.

• Usually, the senior-most member of the house is selected for the post, who then carries on the activities until the permanent speaker is chosen.

Duties

• The main duty of the pro-tem speaker is to administer the oath of office to new members of the house.

• He also enables the House to elect the new speaker.

• Once the new speaker is elected, the office of the pro-tem speaker ceases to exist.

• He also administers the floor test.

1.3 National Party status Context

• The ruling National People's Party (NPP), which is in an alliance with the BJP in Meghalaya, was granted recognition as a national party by the Election Commission.

Key-points

• The NPP becomes the first party from the North East to get the national party status.

• It is a recognised party in four states of the region. The NPP is recognised

All India Trinamool Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), BSP, CPI, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Indian National Congress (INC) and NCP are other National Parties.

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as a State party in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland.

• According to the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, a political party can be recognised as a national party if its candidates secure at least six per cent of votes polled in four or more states in Lok Sabha or assembly elections, and, in addition, it has at least four members in the Lok Sabha.

• It also has to have at least two per cent of the total Lok Sabha seats and its candidates come from not less than three states.

• Third, it is recognised as a state party in at least four states.

1.4 Triple talaq bill Context

• The Union Cabinet has approved a fresh bill banning the practice of instant triple talaq ahead of the start the new Parliament session, after the controversial original bill was held back by the opposition.

Key-points

• The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 replaces an ordinance issued in February after the previous bill lapsed.

• It was stuck in the Rajya Sabha over the opposition’s demand for closer scrutiny by a select committee.

• The bill, to be introduced in the parliamentary session beginning on 17 June, makes it illegal for a Muslim man to divorce his wife by uttering the word “talaq" three times and provides for a jail term of three years for violators.

• The bill to convert the earlier ordinance, issued in September 2018, was cleared by the Lok Sabha in December and was pending in the Rajya Sabha when parliament was dissolved ahead of general elections.

• In order to allay fears over any misuse of the law, the Union cabinet in August 2018 cleared certain amendments allowing an accused to seek bail even though the offence is “non-bailable".

1.5 Farm loan waiver Context

• The Karnataka State Government on Wednesday announced that money towards farm loan accounts, which qualify as beneficiary under the ambitious farm loan waiver scheme in commercial banks, will be released in one-go.

Key-points

• Loan waivers tend to draw attention away from need of long term institutional and and trade policy reforms.

• According to OECD-ICRIER report, lack of reforms and restrictive trade and agricultural policies inflicted an implicit tax on farmers to the tune of 14 per cent of their gross farm receipts over a period of 2000-01 to 2016-17.

• Loan waiver is only a temporary relief, that too tilted towards larger farmers.

• Institutional credit comprises about 64 per cent of total credit taken by all farmers, the remaining 36 per cent coming from non-institutional sources. So the pool of beneficiaries of waiver is limited.

• The marginal farmers with holdings of less than one hectare, who constitute 68.5 per cent of the peasantry, actually take more than half of their loans from non-institutional sources .

• The alternative to loan waiver is to think of a structured and stable income/investment support policy for farmers. An improvised version of Telangana’s Rythu Bandhu scheme could serve as a starting point.

• Farms can be geo-tagged to ensure that only those farmers get benefits who are cultivating land.

• Land records will have to be upgraded to include tenants.

• Striking the right balance between consumers and farmers is the need of the hour.

• Loan Waivers are classic example of good politics bad economics.

Previous Year Question - 2015

Q. Discuss the possible factors that inhibit India from enacting for its citizens a uniform civil code as provided for in the Directive Principles of State Policy. (MM 12.5)

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Rythu Bandhu Scheme

• First-of-its kind investment support scheme for farmers in Telangana.

• Farmers will get Rs 8,000 per acre every year as crop investment support.

• Farmers will directly get the financial support twice every year to maximise agricultural production and productivity.

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2. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2.1 AES

Context

• The death toll due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) has climbed to 108 in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur.

What is AES

• Acute encephalitis syndrome is a basket term used for referring to hospitals, children with clinical neurological manifestation that includes mental confusion, disorientation, convulsion, delirium, or coma.

• Meningitis caused by virus or bacteria, encephalitis (mostly Japanese encephalitis) caused by virus, encephalopathy, cerebral malaria, and scrub typhus caused by bacteria are collectively called acute encephalitis syndrome.

• While virus or bacteria cause all the other conditions, encephalopathy is biochemical in origin and hence very different from the rest.

• There are different types of encephalopathy. In the present case, the encephalopathy is associated with hypoglycaemia and hence called hypoglycaemic encephalopathy.

Link between AES and Lichi

• Researchers who conduced a study of 390 children who fell sick in 2014 in Muzaffarpur said that lichi contained hypoglycin A, an amino acid that can disrupt metabolism, lowering blood sugar levels. That can trigger hypoglycaemia, and in extreme cases, death.

• The study by India's National Centre for Disease Control and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, added that when the brain lacks glucose, it turns to other sources of energy, which are rapidly depleted, eventually pushing people into coma.

• "The synergistic combination of (lichi) consumption, a missed evening meal, and other potential factors such as poor nutritional status, eating a greater number of litchis, and as yet unidentified genetic differences might be needed to produce this illness," the researchers said in their study, which was published in the Lancet in 2017.

Difference between encephalitis & hypoglycaemic encephalopathy

• Fever on the very first day is one of the symptoms of encephalitis before the brain dysfunction begins. While fever is seen in children in the case of hypoglycaemic encephalopathy, fever is always after the onset of brain dysfunction (actually due to brain dysfunction). And not all children exhibit fever. Some children have no fever, while others may have mild or very high fever.

• The blood sugar level is usually normal in children with encephalitis but is low in the children with hypoglycaemic encephalopathy.

• The most important difference between the two is the presence of white blood cells in the cerebrospinal fluid.

• In encephalitis, there are more white blood cells per unit volume of cerebrospinal fluid, which is a reflection of inflammation in the brain. In contrast, no increase in white blood cells is seen in hypoglycaemic encephalopathy as there is no inflammation in the brain.

Cause of deaths in Muzaffarpur

• Hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar level) was reported in “high percentage” of children who died in Muzaffarpur.

• Unlike hypoglycaemic encephalopathy, encephalitis does not cause low blood sugar level so death in a high percentage of children couldn’t have been due to encephalitis.

Govt. of India, as part of the National Programme for Prevention & Control of JE/AES, follows a multi pronged strategy encompassing preventive (sanitation, safe drinking water, improvement in nutrition etc.), case management (capacity building of medical and para-medical staff, referral etc.) and rehabilitation (physical and social rehabilitation of disabled children), measures to address the problems relating to JE/AES.

Since the first report of the JE virus in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, in 1955, the study of AES and JE have paralleled each other. In fact, the first outbreak of JEV reported in Bankura, West Bengal in 1973 also saw sporadic cases of AES and outbreaks leading to deaths.

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Impact on undernourished children

• In well-nourished children, reserve glucose is stored as glycogen (glucose polysaccharide) in the liver.

• Whenever glucose level goes down, the glycogen is broken down into glucose and circulated in the blood for use.

• But undernourished children lack sufficient glycogen reserve that can be converted into glucose. Therefore, the natural mechanism in undernourished children is unable to correct the glucose level in blood, leading to hypoglycaemia.

• Hypoglycaemic encephalopathy can be easily prevented in malnourished children. Making sure that undernourished children do not eat plenty of litchi fruit and ensuring that they eat some food and not go to bed on empty stomach can easily keep hypoglycaemic encephalopathy at bay.

Treatment of hypoglycaemic encephalopathy

• Yes, hypoglycaemic encephalopathy can be easily treated.

• Full and complete recovery can be achieved if children with hypoglycaemic encephalopathy are infused with 10% dextrose within four hours after the onset of symptoms.

• Infusing 10% dextrose not only restores blood sugar to a safe level but also stops the production of amino acid that is toxic to brain cells by shutting down the body’s attempt to convert fatty acid into glucose.

2.2 HSTDV Key-Points

• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted the maiden test of an indigenously developed Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV).

• The HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for hypersonic speed flight.

• Former DRDO Chief had said in 2008, as the Chief Controller, R and D (Missiles and Strategic Systems), that through the HSTDV project the idea was to demonstrate the “performance of a scram-jet engine at an altitude of 15 km to 20 km, is on”.

• “Under this project, we are developing a hypersonic vehicle that will be powered by a scram-jet engine. This is dual-use technology, which when developed, will have multiple civilian applications. It can be used for launching satellites at low cost. It will also be available for long-range cruise missiles of the future,” he had stated.

• In scram-jet technology, combustion of fuel takes place in a chamber in the missile at supersonic speeds.

• This is different from a ram jet system where the system collects the air it needs from the atmosphere during the flight at subsonic speeds and the propellants burn in the combustion chamber.

2.3 Chandrayaan 2 Context

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has unveiled plans for its second unmanned mission to the moon, in what would be another milestone in the country’s space exploration programme.

• The lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-2 is scheduled for lift off at 0251 hours on 15 July from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

Key-Points

• Chandrayaan-2 will have three modules, Orbiter, Lander (Vikram), and Rover (Pragyan).

• These are designed to carry out various experiments, including mapping of the surface, minerals, chemical composition, detection sparse water molecules above the lunar surface and rock formations.

• The spacecraft, with an estimated weight of 3.8 tonnes, will attempt a

On October 2008, the space organisation had launched its orbiter mission Chandrayaan-1 on its PSLV booster. The spacecraft had 11 payloads. One of the U.S. payloads shares credit with Chandrayaan-1 for confirming the presence of water ice on the moon. Before that, the Moon Impacter Probe carrying the Indian tricolour image was made to hard-land on the lunar south pole.

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soft landing on the moon, adding to the complexity of the mission. If successful, India will join the US, the former Soviet Union, and China—the only three other nations to have achieved the feat so far.

• ISRO has chosen a landing area at the hitherto unexplored lunar south pole, making it the first agency to touch down at the south pole if it succeeds in its first landing attempt.

• Chandrayaan-2 will be India’s second outing to the moon.

• ISRO will send the mission on its heavy lift booster, the MkIII, from Sriharikota.

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3. ENVIRONMENT

3.1 Asiatic golden cat Key-points

• The Asian golden cat is a medium-sized wild cat native to the northeastern Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.

• It has been listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2008, and is threatened by hunting pressure and habitat loss, since Southeast Asian forests are undergoing the world's fastest regional deforestation.

• Scientists have discovered six different 'colour morphs' of the Asiatic golden cat in Arunachal Pradesh, that may be the world’s greatest number of different-colored wild cat species ever reported in one area.

• The findings indicate that the 'near-threatened' wild cat species which is native to north-eastern Indian subcontinent could become one of the most adaptable predator in Eastern Himalayas.

• Colour morphs are basically occurrence of two or more discrete colour forms of the animal within a population, due to a genetic mutation. For example- Black panther is a color morph of the common leopard.

• These color morphs are not classified as different sub-species as they may live in the same area and even inter-breed. However, if they do not interbreed then this could represent the beginning of the evolutionary process into separate subspecies.

3.2 Sariska Tiger Reserve Context

• A tiger has died at the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan's Alwar district. The male tiger, aged around seven-eight years, was shifted to Sariska from the Ranthambhore National Park only two months ago.

Key-points

• Ranthambore National Park lies at the edge of a plateau and is bounded to the north by the Banas River and to the south by the Chambal River. The Park terrain alternates between dry deciduous forests and open grassy meadow. Ranthambore is known for its large tiger population.

• Sariska Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve in Alwar district, Rajasthan, India. It stretches over an area of 866 km2 comprising scrub-thorn arid forests, dry deciduous forests, grasslands, and rocky hills. It is a part of the Aravalli Range and the Kathiawar-Gir dry deciduous forests' ecoregion. It is rich in mineral resources, such as copper.

• In 2003, 16 tigers lived in the reserve. In 2004, it was reported that no Bengal tigers were sighted in the reserve.

• In 2005, the Government of Rajasthan, in cooperation with the Government of India and Wildlife Institute of India (WII), planned the re-introduction of tigers to Sariska and also the relocation of villages. In July 2008, two tigers from Ranthambhore National Park were relocated to Sariska Tiger Reserve.

3.3 GM Cotton

Context

• A group of more than 1,000 farmers gathered in a village in Akola of Maharashtra to sow seeds of an unapproved, genetically modified variety of cotton, defying government regulations.

• The government is now investigating what was planted.

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Key-points

• Bt cotton remains the only GM crop allowed to be cultivated in the country. Developed by US giant Bayer-Monsanto, it involves insertion of two genes viz ‘Cry1Ab’ and ‘Cry2Bc’ from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis into cotton seeds.

• This modification codes the plant to produce protein toxic to Heliothis bollworm (pink bollworm) thus making it resistant to their attack. The commercial release of this hybrid was sanctioned by the government in 2002.

• The farmers in Akola planted a herbicide-tolerant variety of Bt cotton. This variety (HtBt) involves the addition of another gene, ‘Cp4-Epsps’ from another soil bacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens. It is not cleared by GEAC.

• The farmers claim that the HtBt variety can withstand the spray of glyphosate, a herbicide that is used to remove weeds, and thus it substantially saves them de-weeding costs.

• Genetic changes made in a plant can make it unsafe for consumption, have adverse impacts on human or animal health, or introduce problems in the soil or neighbouring crops. There is an elaborate process of tests and field trials to be followed.

• Legally, sale, storage, transportation and usage of unapproved GM seeds is a punishable offence under the Rules of Environmental Protection Act 1989. Also, sale of unapproved seeds can attract action under the Seed Act of 1966 and the Cotton Act of 1957.

In India, it is the responsibility of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) under the Environment Ministry to assess the safety of a genetically modified plant, and decide whether it is fit for cultivation. The GEAC comprises experts and government representatives, and a decision it takes has to be approved by the Environment Minister before any crop is allowed for cultivation.

Besides Bt cotton, the GEAC has cleared two other genetically modified crops — brinjal and mustard — but these have not received the consent of the Environment Minister.

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4. ECONOMY

4.1 Shanta kumar committee Context

• Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution lays down the future roadmap for Food Corporation of India (FCI).

• He stated that primacy will be given to ensuring that the functioning of FCI is streamlined and fast paced as per recommendations of the Shanta Kumar Committee.

Background

• Government of India (GoI) set up a High Level Committee (HLC) in August 2014 with Shri Shanta Kumar as the Chairman, six members and a special invitee to suggest restructuring or unbundling of FCI with a view to improve its operational efficiency and financial management.

• GoI also asked HLC to suggest measures for overall improvement in management of foodgrains by FCI; to suggest reorienting the role and functions of FCI in MSP operations, storage and distribution of foodgrains and food security systems of the country; and to suggest cost effective models for storage and movement of grains and integration of supply chain of foodgrains in the country.

• It submitted its report in 2015.

Recommendations

• FCI hand over all procurement operations of wheat, paddy and rice to states that have gained sufficient experience in this regard and have created reasonable infrastructure for procurement.

• Negotiable warehouse receipt system (NWRs) should be taken up on priority and scaled up quickly. Under this system, farmers can deposit their produce to the registered warehouses, and get say 80 percent advance from banks against their produce valued at MSP.

• Total end to end computerization of the entire food management system, starting from procurement from farmers, to stocking, movement and finally distribution through TPDS.

• Targeted beneficiaries under NFSA or TPDS should be given 6 months ration immediately after the procurement season ends.

• This will save the consumers from various hassles of monthly arrivals at FPS and also save on the storage costs of agencies.

• Consumers can be given well designed bins at highly subsidized rates to keep the rations safely in their homes.

• FCI at the Centre should enter into an agreement with states before every procurement season regarding costing norms and basic rules for procurement.

• Gradual introduction of cash transfers in PDS, starting with large cities with more than 1 million population; extending it to grain surplus states, and then giving option to deficit states to opt for cash or physical grain distribution.

• FCI should outsource its stocking operations to various agencies such as Central Warehousing Corporation, State Warehousing Corporation, Private Sector under Private Entrepreneur Guarantee (PEG) scheme.

FCI was set up in 1965 (under the Food Corporation Act, 1964) against the backdrop of major shortage of grains, especially wheat, in the country.

Imports of wheat under PL- 480 were as high as 6-7 MMT, when country's wheat production hovered around 10-12 MMT, and country did not have enough foreign exchange to buy that much quantity of wheat from global markets.

Self-sufficiency in grains was the most pressing objective, and keeping that in mind high yielding seeds of wheat were imported from Mexico.

Agricultural Prices Commission was created in 1965 to recommend remunerative prices to farmers, and FCI was mandated with three basic objectives: (1) to provide effective price support to farmers; (2) to procure and supply grains to PDS for distributing subsidized staples to economically vulnerable sections of society; and (3) keep a strategic reserve to stabilize markets for basic foodgrains.

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4.2 FATF Context

• The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will hold its Plenary and Working Group meeting in Orlando, Florida.

• The June 16-21 Plenary could take up a proposal to downgrade Pakistan to the blacklist on terrorist financing from its current “greylisted” status.

• The FATF, an inter-governmental body that is now in its 30th year, works 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”.

Pakistan & FATF

• Pakistan has been under the FATF’s scanner since last June, when it was put on the greylist for terror financing and money laundering risks, after an assessment of its financial system and law enforcement mechanisms.

• FATF and its partners such as the Asia Pacific Group (APG) review Pakistan’s processes, systems, and weaknesses on the basis of a standard matrix for anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) regime.

• Successful implementation of the action plan and its physical verification by the APG will lead the FATF to move Pakistan out of the greylist; failure by Pakistan will result in its blacklisting by September 2019.

• Pakistan faces an estimated annual loss of $10 billion if it stays in the greylist; if blacklisted, its already fragile economy will be dealt a powerful blow.

India & FATF

• India is a voting member of the FATF and APG, and co-chair of the Joint Group where it is represented by the Director General of India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

• Pakistan had asked for India’s removal from the group, citing bias and motivated action, but that demand has been rejected.

• India was not part of the group that moved the resolution to greylist Pakistan last year in Paris. The movers were the US, UK, France, and Germany; China did not oppose.

4.3 RBI relaxes stressed asset norms Key-points

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a new prudential framework for resolution of stressed assets, effectively replacing its controversial 12 February 2018 circular with a mixed bag of norms applying to a wider class of lenders.

• Three major changes mark the new circular: ➢ The central bank has made it voluntary for lenders to take defaulters to the bankruptcy court; ➢ the framework now applies to a larger universe of lenders, which includes small banks and non-banking

finance companies (NBFCs); and ➢ penal provisions have been introduced for lenders.

• The new norms leave it to the discretion of lenders and give them 30 days to start working on a resolution plan from the day of default.

• Earlier norms, struck down by the Supreme Court as too general in nature, stipulated that even a one-day default must be reported and acted upon.

The Financial Action Task Force (on Money Laundering) (FATF) is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering.

In 2001 its mandate expanded to include terrorism financing. It monitors progress in implementing the FATF Recommendations through "peer reviews" ("mutual evaluations") of member countries.

The FATF Secretariat is housed at the OECD headquarters in Paris.

The 36 member countries include mostly developed Western nations, but also China, Hong Kong (China), Malaysia, and Turkey.

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5. INDIA & WORLD

5.1 SCO Context

• A summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was held on 14 June in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek where they signed a declaration that included pledges to keep outer space free of an arms race.

Bishkek Declaration

• India and other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and called on the international community to promote cooperation in combatting the menace.

• According to the Bishkek Declaration of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's Heads of State Council, the member states stressed that acts of terrorism and extremism cannot be justified.

• The SCO countries also called on all parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and to join forces and see to their destruction. A split cannot be allowed in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the Bishkek Declaration states.

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• The leaders of the bloc, which include Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan – also reaffirmed their commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan, commonly known as the Iranian nuclear deal.

• The SCO’s leaders also called for the territorial integrity of Syria to be respected.

About SCO

• The SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation formed in 2001 in Shanghai, China.

• Currently, the SCO comprises 8 member states, namely India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan were inducted into SCO in 2017.

• The 4 observer countries are Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia.

• The 6 dialogue partners are Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey, and Sri Lanka.

• The Heads of State Council (HSC) is the supreme decision-making body in the SCO.

• It meets once a year and adopts decisions and guidelines on all important matters of the organisation.

Since India and Pakistan were included in the grouping in 2017, the China-led eight-member bloc has gained strategic importance.

The SCO is the only platform where Central and South Asian countries come together for a dialogue.

The summit has been a potential platform to discuss various issues ranging from terrorism, regional cooperation to the changing and unstable world order.

Experts view India’s entry as an opportunity for connecting with the Eurasian neighbourhood.

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6. MISCELLANEOUS

6.1 Traffic Index

Key-points

• A recent study has ranked Mumbai as the most traffic-congested city in the world for the second straight year, and Delhi at fourth place.

• The findings, published Tuesday, are part of the Traffic Index 2018 published by TomTom, an Amsterdam-based company that offers traffic solutions, uses location technology to collect traffic information, and has been publishing city rankings for eight years.

• The latest index ranks 403 cities across 56 countries, including 13 new cities.

• For this study, congestion has been defined in terms of the additional time taken to reach a destination as opposed to when the road would have been clear of traffic.

• Mumbai’s 2018 congestion level of of 65%, therefore, means that the extra travel time is 65% more than an average trip would take during uncongested conditions.

6.2 End of childhood index Key-points

• India ranks 113 of 176 countries on an index that evaluates countries on the wellbeing of children.

• The End of Childhood Index is part of the Global Childhood Report released by Save the Children, a nonprofit that works for child rights.

• The index evaluates countries on eight indicators to determine the wellbeing of children and teenagers (0-19 years): mortality among children under five years of age, malnutrition that stunts growth, lack of education, child labour, early marriage, adolescent births, displacement by conflict and child homicide.

• A final score out of 1,000 is derived, and countries are ranked accordingly.

• Between 2000 and 2019, India’s score rose from 632 to 769.

• India also improved its rank from 116 of 172 countries in 2018 to, as we said, 113 of 176 countries this year.

• In the year 2000, an estimated 970 million children around the world were deprived of their childhood because of these causes.

• By 2019, that number fell 29% to 690 million.

• An increase in public investments, and intervention through programmes targeted at marginalised children to ensure universal healthcare and education are needed to help improve the wellbeing of children, the report suggests.

• India has reduced its child mortality rate by 55% in the last two decades, from 88 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000 to 39 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2017, according to data from this 2018 report.

• It lags the Millennium Development Goal of 25 or fewer deaths per 1,000 live births.

• These deaths are mostly attributed to preventable infectious diseases, followed by injuries, meningitis, measles and malaria.

• Among neighbouring countries, India’s performance on under-five mortality was better only than that of Pakistan (74.9).

• Sri Lanka (8.8), China (9.3), Bhutan (30.8), Nepal (33.7) and Bangladesh (32.4) have all outperformed India.

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6.3 El Salvador recognizes forests as living entities Key-points

• El Salvador has, in a historic move, recognised forests as living entities.

• Its citizens, will now be required to preserve forests.

• El Salvador has lost about 85 per cent of its native forests since the 1960s, while Earth has lost about 80 per cent of its native forests.

• The pronouncement was made on World Environment Day, which is celebrated on June 5 every year, by the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador.

• It states that each person must commit to caring for, preserving, and respecting forests.

• People should also promote concrete actions that expand forests in the country, it added.

• In recent years, the central American country has made strong commitments to restoring its native landscapes.

6.4 Mount sinabung Key-points

• A column of thick ash was spewed seven km high to the sky from the crater of Mount Sinabung volcano in Sumatra Island of western Indonesia.

• Mt. Sinabung, 2,475 meters high, is located in Karo district of North Sumatra province.

• In its eruption in 2014, 16 people were killed and thousands displaced.

• Mt. Sinabung is among 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia.

6.5 Coastal erosion

Key-points

• Coastal erosion continues to wreak havoc in the coastal areas of the Alappuzha district. A number of houses have been taken away by the sea in Ambalappuzha.

• Coastal erosion (or shoreline retreat) is the loss of coastal lands due to the net removal of sediments or bedrock from the shoreline.

• Coastal erosion is typically driven by the action of waves and currents, but also by mass wasting processes on slopes, and subsidence (particularly on muddy coasts).

• Significant episodes of coastal erosion are often associated with extreme weather events (coastal storms, surge and flooding) but also from tsunami, both because the waves and currents tend to have greater intensity and because the associated storm surge or tsunami inundation can allow waves and currents to attack landforms which are normally out of their reach.

• Vegetation can be used to control shore erosion by planting appropriate grasses into the existing tidal and supratidal substrate.

• Marsh creation for shore erosion control can be accomplished by planting the appropriate species, typically grasses, sedges, or rushes, in the existing substrate and addressing the original cause(s) of marsh loss (e.g., altered hydrology, low water clarity, invasive species, erosion from boat wakes, or shading from overhanging tree branches on the bank).

• Dune creation can provide a system to create or maintain a beach because it adds sand that will nourish the area, with or without structural control. Dunes are established along the backshore

• Perhaps the most widely applied shoreline technique is to harden the shore or bluff with some type of fixed structure such as a bulkhead, seawall etc.

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