DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

Monthly DNA

01 Nov, 2019

29 Min Read

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Paper	Topics	Subject
GS-I	Cyclone Maha	Miscellaneous
GS-II	Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization
	Lymphatic filariasis
	UN meet unlikely this year
	Jadhav case: Pak violates its obligations	International Relations
	UNESCO Creative City
	Vice President reconstitutes eight House Committees
GS-III	Pegasus spyware
	Core Sector Output falls in Sept.	Economic Issues
	DNA bill 2019

Cyclone Maha

Syllabus subtopic: Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclones etc., geographical features and their location- changes in critical geographical features (including water bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.

News: Cyclone Maha likely to bring heavy rain to south Gujarat from Nov 6

Prelims focus: about cyclone Maha, regions affected by its impact

Mains focus: on cyclones, their formation and effects

About cyclones:

Cyclone refers to any spinning storm that rotates around a low-pressure center. The low-pressure centre is also referred to as the 'eye' of the storm, which is well known for being eerily calm compared with the areas under the spinning 'arms' of the storm.

You could say that the eye is watching what's going on down below, so it needs a clear path, but the arms are where all the action happens because this is where the storm is throwing out all of its rain and wind.

How are cyclones formed?

To form a cyclone, warm, moist air over the ocean rises upward from near the surface. As this air moves up and away from the ocean surface, it leaves is less air near the surface. So basically as the warm air rises, it causes an area of lower air pressure below.

Air from surrounding areas with higher air pressure pushes in to the low pressure area. Then this new “cool” air becomes warm and moist and rises, too. And the cycle continues.

As the warmed, moist air rises and cools the water in the air forms clouds. The whole system of clouds and wind spins and grows, fed by the ocean’s heat and water evaporating from the ocean surface.

As the storm system rotates faster and faster, an eye forms in the centre. It is very calm and clear in the eye, with very low air pressure. Higher pressure air from above flows down into the eye.

Tropical cyclones usually weaken when they hit land because they are no longer being “fed” by the energy from the warm ocean waters. However, they often move far inland, dumping many centimetres of rain and causing lots of wind damage before they die out completely.

Types of Cyclones:

Tropical cyclones are what most people are familiar with because these are cyclones that occur over tropical ocean regions. Hurricanes and typhoons are actually types of tropical cyclones, but they have different names so that it's clear where that storm is occurring. Hurricanes are found in the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific, and typhoons are found in the Northwest Pacific. If you hear 'tropical cyclone,' you should assume that it's occurring in the South Pacific or the Indian Ocean, but for this lesson, we'll use it to refer to all types of tropical ocean cyclones.

We can also further describe tropical cyclones based on their wind speeds. They are called categories 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, increasing with intensity and wind speed as the number increases. A category 1 cyclone is the weakest, with wind speeds of 74-95 mph. A category 5 cyclone, on the other hand, is extremely dangerous and has the potential for major damage. Category 5 cyclones have wind speeds of 155 mph and above!

Polar cyclones are cyclones that occur in polar regions like Greenland, Siberia and Antarctica. Unlike tropical cyclones, polar cyclones are usually stronger in winter months. As you can see, these storms really do prefer colder weather! They also occur in areas that aren't very populated, so any damage they do is usually pretty minimal.
A mesocyclone is when part of a thunderstorm cloud starts to spin, which may eventually lead to a tornado. 'Meso' means 'middle', so you can think of this as the mid-point between one type of storm and the other. Tornadoes all come from thunderstorm clouds, but not all thunderstorm clouds make tornadoes. In order for a tornado to occur, part of that cloud has to spin, and though you can't really see this happening, this is the intermediate, or 'meso' step from a regular cloud to a dangerous spinning cloud running along the ground.

Depending upon its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred by different names:

Typhoons in Western North Pacific

Willy-willies in Australia

Baguio in Philippine Islands

Hurricanes around North America

Taifu in Japan

Cyclone in the Indian Ocean

Source: The Hindu

Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization

GS-II :

Syllabus subtopic: Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.

News: Jammu and Kashmir is no more a state; it has been divided into two Union Territories. After the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 coming into effect from 31^st October 2019, India will have 28 States and 9 Union Territories.

Subsequent Changes in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh:

The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and the Ranbir Penal Code will cease to exist.
The Union Territory of J&K will have a legislature while the UT of Ladakh will have no legislature.
Both the Union Territories will have Lieutenant Governors as administrators who will be appointed by the President of India. Their tenure will be determined by the President.
Four sitting members of the Council of States representing the existing state of Jammu and Kashmir shall be deemed to have been elected to fill the seats allotted to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Legislative assembly of J&K:

The Delimitation of Parliamentary Constituencies Order, 1976 shall stand amended as directed in the Second Schedule of the Act.
The Election Commission may conduct the elections to the House of the People for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir as per the allocation of seats specified in the Delimitation of Parliamentary Constituencies Order, 1976 as amended by this Act.
The provisions which are applicable to “Union territory of Puducherry” shall also apply to the “Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir to be filled by persons chosen by direct election shall be 107.
Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
There shall be a Council of Ministers consisting of not more than ten per cent of the total number of members in the Legislative Assembly, with the Chief Minister at the head to aid and advise the Lieutenant Governor in the exercise of his functions in relation to matters with respect to which the Legislative Assembly has the power to make laws.

Abolition of legislative council:

On the abolition of the Legislative Council, every member thereof shall cease to be such members.
All Bills pending in the Legislative Council immediately before the appointed day shall lapse on the abolition of the Council.

Powers of Lieutenant Governor:

The Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh shall be assisted by advisor(s) to be appointed by the Central Government.
Lieutenant Governor of Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir may nominate two members to the Legislative Assembly to give representation to women, if in his opinion, women are not adequately represented in the Legislative Assembly.
The Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister.
The Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Lieutenant Governor and the Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly.
Before a Minister enters upon his office, the Lieutenant Governor shall administer to him the oaths of office and of secrecy according to the forms set out for the purpose in the Fourth Schedule.

High Court:

The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir shall be the common High Court for the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union territory of Ladakh.
The Judges of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir for the existing State of Jammu and Kashmir holding office immediately before the appointed day shall become on that day the Judges of the High Court.
The expenditure in respect of salaries and allowances of the Judges of the common High Court shall be allocated amongst the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union territory of Ladakh on the basis of population ratio.

All India Services officials:

The members of the cadres of Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service for the existing State of Jammu and Kashmir, on and from the appointed day, shall continue to function on the existing cadres.
The centre will be in direct control of the Jammu and Kashmir police and law and order matters.

About Ranbir Penal Code

Indian Penal code is not applicable to Jammu and Kashmir and in place of IPC, a similar criminal law Ranbir Penal Code applies in the state.

The code was introduced by Ranbir Singh during the Dogra Dynasty and it came in effect from 1932. The provision of code was prepared by Thomas Babington Macaulay.

Source: The Hindu

Lymphatic filariasis

GS-II :

Syllabus subtopic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, education, Human Resources

News: National Symposium on Lymphatic Filariasis was held in India on the theme ‘United to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis’.

Prelims and Mains focus: about lymphatic filarisis, symptoms and its effects, Triple drug therapy, global concern

About Lymphatic filariasis:

Also called as elephantiasis, it is caused by infection with parasitic worms living in the lymphatic system. The larval stages of the parasite (microfilaria) circulate in the blood and are transmitted from person to person by mosquitoes.

May Cause abnormal enlargement of body parts, and leading to severe disability and social stigmatization of those affected

The parasites are transmitted by four main types of mosquitoes: Culex, Mansonia, Anopheles and Aedes.

Triple drug therapy:

The World Health Organization (WHO) is recommending three drug treatment to accelerate the global elimination of lymphatic filariasis.

The treatment, known as IDA, involves a combination of ivermectin, diethylcarbamazine citrate and albendazole.
The plan is to administer these drugs for two consecutive years. The life of the adult worm is hardly four years, so it would die a natural death without causing any harm to the person.

Need for and significance of the therapy:

Lymphatic filariasis poses a grave threat to India.
Over 40% of worldwide cases are found in India.
Since 2004, two drug therapy for lymphatic filariasis has been in place but the addition of the third drug now will give a boost to the overall campaign.
India has missed earlier deadlines to eradicate the disease by 2015 and 2017.
The global deadline now is 2020 and the three drug approach may help the country get there.

Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis:

It is an alliance of partners from 72 LF endemic national country programmes, NGOs, private sectors, academic and research institutes and international development agencies that assists WHO’s Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis.

Source: The Hindu

UN meet unlikely this year

GS-II :

Syllabus subtopic: Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate

News: With Chile withdrawing its offer to host the 25^th edition of United Nations Conference of Parties (COP), it’s unlikely that there will be a meeting this year.

Prelims focus: about UNCOP, UNFCCC, India’s INDC

Mains focus: role of UNFCCC in combating climate change. achievements and Challenges

Background

The COP 25 was to be held in Santiago, Chile until Chilean President announced its withdrawal. This year’s COP was originally to be hosted by Brazil but it backed out before Chile stepped in.

About UNCOP

The COP is the pre-eminent climate meet, where world leaders decide on actions that must be taken to address global warming,

Since it was first held in 1995 it has never once been cancelled

A typical COP has participants in the tens of thousands and includes minister, bureaucrats, activists, and journalists from nearly 200 countries

Ease of accommodation and smooth transport to the venue and places of residence are critical factors in a country’s ability to organise the COP

Note: COP 24 was held in Katowice, Poland in 2018

About Paris Deal

The 21st Session of the COP (COP21), held in Paris, France, in December 2015, was historic in its outcome – the first international climate agreement.

The Paris Agreement mobilizes the Parties to the Convention in taking action to decrease greenhouse gas emissions with an agreed-upon goal of staying below a global average temperature increase of 2° Celsius (3.6° Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

This is a challenging goal; the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published in 2013/2014, stated that the global average temperature had already risen .85°C between 1880 and 2012, and that the past three decades had been successively warmer than any others since 1850.

This apparent warming trend, which is expected to continue, highlights the difficulty of staying below a 2° rise.

However, many argue that the 2° limit is not ambitious enough – that there will be dangerous global consequences of a temperature rise of even that much. The agreement encourages participating Parties to strive to stay below a 1.5° increase.

The Paris Agreement requires each Party to publish an action plan of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) reflecting the Party’s ambitions to comply with the UNFCCC’s objective to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Their progress will be reviewed and evaluated every five years.

The Paris Agreement Signature Ceremony on 22 April 2016 set a record for first-day signatures of support to an international agreement with 175 Parties signing. The Agreement entered into force on 4 November. At COP22 in Marrakesh, Morocco, from 7-18 November, Parties will begin preparations for its entry into force.

India's INDC

Sustainable Lifestyles - To put forward and further propagate a healthy and sustainable way of living based on traditions and values of conservation and moderation.

Cleaner Economic Development - To adopt a climate-friendly and a cleaner path than the one followed hitherto by others at the corresponding level of economic development.

Reducing Emission intensity of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - To reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 percent by 2030 from 2005 level.

Increasing the Share of Non-Fossil Fuel Based Electricity - To achieve about 40 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030 with the help of transfer of technology and low-cost international finance including from Green Climate Fund (GCF). India has a target to install 227 GW target of renewable energy by 2022.

Enhancing Carbon Sink (Forests) - To create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.

Adaptation - To better adapt to climate change by enhancing investments in development programmes in sectors vulnerable to climate change, particularly agriculture, water resources, Himalayan region, coastal regions, health, and disaster management.

Mobilizing Finance - To mobilize domestic and new & additional funds from developed countries to implement the above mitigation and adaptation actions in view of the resource required and the resource gap.

Technology Transfer and Capacity Building - To build capacities, create a domestic framework and international architecture for quick diffusion of cutting-edge climate technology in India and for joint collaborative R&D for such future technologies.

Source: The Hindu

Jadhav case: Pak violates its obligations

GS-II : International Relations Pakistan

Jadhav case: Pak violates its obligations

Syllabus subtopic: Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate.

News: Pakistan violated its obligations under the Vienna Convention in the arrest and detention of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, Justice Abduylqawi Jadhav, International Court of Justice (ICJ) President told the United Nations General Assembly.

Prelims focus: All about ICJ, its structure and mandate, Vienna Convention

Mains focus: Jadhav’s case and what India can now do in this case.

Kulbhushan Jadhav Case

Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested in March 2016 by Pakistani security forces in Balochistan province after he reportedly entered from Iran.

He was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on the charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017.

India has always maintained that Kulbhushan Jadhav is not a spy and that Pakistan should provide counsellor access to him as his case pertains to an abduction from the Iranian territory.

In May 9, 2018, ICJ has stayed his death sentence after India had moved a petition before the UN body to seek justice for him, alleging a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by Pakistan.

During the hearing in the case on February 2019, India said Pakistan's continued custody of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav without any consular access should be declared "unlawful" as it was an egregious violation of the Vienna Convention.

Harish Salve, who is representing India and Kulbhushan Jadhav in the ICJ, said Pakistan was using the issue of Kulbhushan Jadhav as a "propaganda tool" without even following the due proper procedure.

About ICJ:

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial body of the UN.

Established in 1946 to replace the Permanent Court of International Justice, the ICJ mainly operates under the statute of its predecessor, which is included in the UN Charter.

It has two primary functions: to settle legal disputes submitted by States in accordance with established international laws, and to act as an advisory board on issues submitted to it by authorized international organizations.

The court is seated in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, making it the only principal U.N. organ not located in New York City.

Election of the judges:

The International Court of Justice is composed of 15 judges elected to nine-year terms of office by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council.

In order to be elected, a candidate must receive an absolute majority of the votes in both bodies.

In order to ensure a measure of continuity, one third of the Court is elected every three years. Judges are eligible for re-election.

Who nominates the candidates?

Every state government, party to the Charter, designates a group who propose candidates for the office of ICJ judges. This group includes four members/jurists of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (machinery which enables arbitral tribunals to be set up as desired and facilitates their work) also picked by the State. Countries not part of the statute follow the same procedure where a group nominates the candidates.
Each group is limited to nominate four candidates, two of whom could be of their nationality. Within a fixed duration set by the Secretary-General, the names of the candidates have to be sent to him/her.

Qualifications of ICJ judges

A judge should have a high moral character.
A judge should fit to the qualifications of appointment of the highest judicial officers as prescribed by their respective states or.
A judge should be a jurisconsult of recognized competence in international law.

The 15 judges of the Court are distributed as per the regions:

Three from Africa.
Two from Latin America and Caribbean.
Three from Asia.
Five from Western Europe and other states.
Two from Eastern Europe.

Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963

The court observed that

Islamabad has violated Article 36 of the Vienna Convention of Consular Relations, 1963, by not informing India about Jadhav’s arrest immediately after Pakistan Army had taken him into custody.
India had been deprived of the ‘right to communicate with and have access to Jadhav, to visit him in detention and to arrange for his legal representation’.

The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations is an international treaty that defines consular relations between independent states.
A consul, (who is not a diplomat) is a representative of a foreign state in a host country, who works for the interests of his countrymen.
Article 36 of the Vienna Convention states that foreign nationals who are arrested or detained in the host country must be given notice without delay of their right to have their embassy or consulate notified of that arrest.
If the detained foreign national so requests, the police must fax that notice to the embassy or consulate, which can then verify the person.
The notice to the consulate can be as simple as fax, giving the person's name, the place of arrest, and, if possible, something about the reason for the arrest or detention.

Source: INDIAN EXPRESS

UNESCO Creative City

GS-II :

Syllabus subtopic: Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate.

News: Hyderabad figures in UNESCO List

For Prelims: about UNESCO Creative City Network

For Mains: the benefits of UNESCO list for the city

Benefits and Significance

Two Indian cities has now been officially designated as a UNESCO Creative City– Hyderabad in Gastronomy category, Mumbai in Film category.

It is among the 66 new cities named by the UNESCO in the list of new Creative Cities, which aims at pushing the Sustainable Development Goals through innovative thinking and action.

The designation of Hyderabad in the creative cities’ list would bring new opportunities and turn the focus on the city’s rich culinary heritage and tradition.

The industry employs 12% of the Hyderabad city’s population either directly or indirectly

UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN)

UCCN was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development.

The 180 cities which currently make up this network work together towards a common objective: placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level.

The UNESCO Creative Cities aims to achieve Sustainable Development Goals through innovative thinking and action.

Also, cities are championing sustainable development actions that directly benefit communities at the urban level.

Sustainable Development Goal 11 aims for Sustainable Cities and Communities.

The network covers seven creative fields: crafts and folk arts, media arts, film, design, gastronomy, literature and music.

World Cities Day 2019

The United Nations General Assembly has designated the 31^st of October as World Cities Day.
The theme for World Cities Day, 2019 is, “Changing the world: innovations and a better life for future generations”.

About UNESCO

UNESCO was formed on 16th November 1945, and it is a specialised agency of the United Nations.

The main purpose of UNESCO is to contribute to the peace and security in the world by promoting education, science, justice, human rights and culture.

There are about 195 countries who are member states of UNESCO, and 11 associate members.

UNESCO has cluster offices, national and regional offices. The cluster offices often cover more than 3 nations.

The Headquarters is located in Paris, France.

The five major programs include education, human science, natural science, communication and culture.

Source: The Hindu

Vice President reconstitutes eight House Committees

GS-II :

Syllabus subtopic: Parliament and State Legislatures- structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these

News: Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu reconstituted eight House committees on October 31, 2019.

Prelims and Mains focus: about Vice President and his powers

About the office of Vice President of India

Constitutional Articles ( 63-73)

ARTICLE 63: THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF INDIA

ARTICLE 64: THE VICE-PRESIDENT TO BE EX-OFFICIO CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL OF STATES

ARTICLE 65: THE VICE-PRESIDENT TO ACT AS PRESIDENT OR TO DISCHARGE HIS FUNCTIONS DURING CASUAL VACANCIES IN THE OFFICE, OR DURING THE ABSENCE, OF PRESIDENT

ARTICLE 66 : ELECTION OF VICE-PRESIDENT

ARTICLE 67 : TERM OF OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT

ARTICLE 68 : TIME OF HOLDING ELECTION TO FILL VACANCY IN THE OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT AND THE TERM OF OFFICE OF PERSON ELECTED TO FILL CASUAL VACANCY

ARTICLE 69 : OATH OR AFFIRMATION BY THE VICE-PRESIDENT

ARTICLE 70 : DISCHARGE OF PRESIDENT’S FUNCTIONS IN OTHER CONTINGENCIES

ARTICLE 71 : MATTERS RELATING TO, OR CONNECTED WITH, THE ELECTION OF A PRESIDENT OR VICE-PRESIDENT

ARTICLE 72 : POWER OF PRESIDENT TO GRANT PARDONS, ETC., AND TO SUSPEND, REMIT OR COMMUTE SENTENCES IN CERTAIN CASES

ARTICLE 73 : EXTENT OF EXECUTIVE POWER OF THE UNION

NOTE:

As per rules of the House, the chairman of the Rajya Sabha heads the Business Advisory Committee and the Committee on Rules.

By convention, the Deputy Chairman heads the Committee on Privileges.

Source: INDIAN EXPRESS

Pegasus spyware

GS-III :

Pegasus spyware

Syllabus subtopic: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

News: Govt. questions WhatsApp after spyware is used for snooping

Prelims focus: about Pegasus spyware

Mains focus: Cyber technology and threats related to it

Background

WhatsApp has been used to spy on journalists and human rights activists in India earlier this year. The surveillance was carried out using a spyware tool called Pegasus, which has been developed by an Israeli firm, the NSO Group.

The surveillance was carried out “between in and around April 2019 and May 2019” on users in 20 countries across four continents.
In response, WhatsApp has sued the NSO Group in a federal court, accusing it of using WhatsApp servers in the United States and elsewhere “to send malware to approximately 1,400 mobile phones and devices (‘Target Devices’) for the purpose of conducting surveillance of specific WhatsApp users (‘Target Users’)”.

Main Concern

Tools that enable surveillance into our private lives are being abused, and the proliferation of this technology into the hands of irresponsible companies and governments puts us all at risk.
WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, is the world’s most popular messaging app, with more than 1.5 billion users worldwide. About a quarter of those users — more than 400 million, or 40 crore — are in India, WhatsApp’s biggest market.

About Pegasus and its modus operandi

It is a spyware that works by sending an exploit link, and if the target user clicks on the link, the malware or the code that allows the surveillance is installed on the user’s phone.
Pegasus is installed without the user’s knowledge or permission.
Once Pegasus is installed, the attacker has complete access to the target user’s phone.
Pegasus delivers a chain of zero-day exploits to penetrate security features on the phone and installs Pegasus without the user’s knowledge or permission.
A “zero-day exploit” is a completely unknown vulnerability, about which even the software manufacturer is not aware, and there is, thus, no patch or fix available for it.

Way ahead

The government has pulled up WhatsApp for not disclosing to Indian authorities the details of the spyware attack launched on Indian citizens through the Israeli software Pegasus, despite at least a couple of high-level meetings between the two sides in the past few months.
However, WhatsApp appeared to counter the Indian government, saying it had in May “quickly resolved a security issue and notified Indian and international government authorities.”
However, the government points out that though the WhatsApp informed CERT-In, or the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, it failed to communicate the fact that Indian citizens had been affected by it.
WhatsApp was legally bound under Section 70(B) of the IT Act, 2000 to inform the government about the details of such attacks (on Indian citizens), which they failed to.

Source: The Hindu

Core Sector Output falls in Sept.

GS-III : Economic Issues Industry

Core Sector Output falls in Sept.

Syllabus subtopic: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.

News: Output of 8 core infrastructure industries contracted by 5.2% in September, indicating the severity of the economic slowdown.

Prelims focus: about 8 core industries, their weightage in the Index of Industrial Production

Mains focus: about the recent economic slowdown and its aftermath

About Index Of Industrial Production (IIP)

Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index which helps us understand the growth of various sectors in the Indian economy such as mining, electricity and manufacturing.

IIP is a short-term indicator of industrial growth till the results from the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) and National Accounts Statistics (Eg: GDP) are available.

The base year of the index is given a value of 100. The current base year for the IIP series in India is 2011-12. So, if the current IIP reads 180, it means that there has been 80% industrial growth compared to the base year, i.e. 2011-12.

Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation(MoSPI).

IIP is published monthly, six weeks after the reference month ends.

The eight Core Industries comprise nearly 37.9 % of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). The 8 core industries are their relative weight in IIP is as below:

Coal (weight: 4.38 %).
Crude Oil (weight: 5.22 %).
Natural Gas (weight: 1.71 %).
Refinery Products (weight: 5.94%).
Fertilizers (weight: 1.25%).
Steel (weight: 6.68%).
Cement (weight: 2.41%).
Electricity (weight: 10.32%)

Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) Vs Index of Industrial Production (IIP)

The Industrial Output data is captured and monitored, primarily, through two statistical activities – The annual Survey of Industries (ASI) and the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

ASI

ASI is calculated on an annual basis
The ASI is conducted under the Collection of Statistics Act, since 1959.
The objective is to obtain comprehensive and detailed statistics of industrial sector with the objective of estimating the contribution of registered manufacturing industries as a whole to the national income.
ASI data is based on the actual book of accounts and other documents maintained by registered factories.

IIP

IIP is calculated on a monthly basis.
Data for IIP are collected by various source agencies under different Acts/statutes.
The IIP is compiled on the basis of data sourced from 16 ministries/ administrative departments.

Industry v/s Manufacturing

Though often interchangeably used, the terms industry and manufacturing are different.

The term industry is comprehensive and may be considered a superset of manufacturing. Industry, in general, refers to economic activity that is concerned with the production of goods, extraction of minerals and sometimes even the provision of services. Thus we have the iron and steel industry (production of goods), coal mining industry (extraction of coal) and tourism industry (service provider).

So what exactly is manufacturing?

Manufacturing: The production of goods in large quantities after processing from raw materials to more valuable products is called manufacturing.

Industry = Manufacturing + Mining + Electricity + much more.

Share of Industrial Sector in the total GDP of India

The total Industrial sector has only around 27 per cent share in the total GDP of India. Over the last two decades, the share of the manufacturing sector has stagnated at 17 per cent of GDP – out of a total of 27 per cent for the industry which includes 10 per cent for mining, quarrying, electricity and gas.

The share of Manufacturing in the GDP of India – is 17%.
The share of Mining, quarrying, electricity and gas in the GDP of India – is 10%.
Total share of Industrial Sector = 27%

Source: The Hindu

DNA bill 2019

GS-III :

Syllabus subtopic: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

News: A parliamentary panel headed by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh began hearing the contentious DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bil, 2019 with members grilling offcials from the Department of Biotecchnology on scope for violations of privacy in the proposed DNA data bank.

For Prelims: DNA Bill- features, merits and demerits

For Mains: DNA profiling- uses, challenges, and concerns.

About DNA Bill 2019

The Bill seeks to create a national data bank, and regional data banks which will have DNA, samples of under trials, suspects, missing persons and unknown deceased persons.
It has proposed DNA sampling and profiling of citizens accused of crime or reported missing, and storing their missing and unique genetic information for administrative purposes.
Therefore, the new bill aims to expand the application of DNA-based forensic technologies to support and strengthen the justice delivery system of the country.

Key features of the Bill:

Data Banks: As per the Bill, national and regional DNA data banks will be set up for maintaining a national database for identification of victims, suspects in cases, under trials, missing persons and unidentified human remains.
Punishment: According to it, those leaking the DNA profile information to people or entities who are not entitled to have it, will be punished with a jail term of up to three years and a fine of up to Rs. 1 lakh. Similar, punishment has also been provided for those who seek the information on DNA profiles illegally.
Usage: As per the bill, all DNA data, including DNA profiles, DNA samples and records, will only be used for identification of the person and not for “any other purpose”.
The bill’s provisions will enable the cross-matching between persons who have been reported missing on the one hand and unidentified dead bodies found in various parts of the country on the other, and also for establishing the identity of victims in mass disasters.
Regulation: The Bill establishes a DNA Regulatory Board to accredit the DNA laboratories that analyse DNA samples to establish the identity of an individual.

Significance of the bill

DNA analysis is an extremely useful and accurate technology in ascertaining the identity of a person from his/her DNA sample, or establishing biological relationships between individuals.

A hair sample, or even bloodstains from clothes, from a scene of crime, for example, can be matched with that of a suspect, and it can, in most cases, be conclusively established whether the DNA in the sample belongs to the suspected individual. As a result, DNA technology is being increasingly relied upon in investigations of crime, identification of unidentified bodies, or in determining parentage.

It is expected that the expanded use of DNA technology would result not only in speedier justice delivery but also in increased conviction rates, which at present is only around 30% (NCRB Statistics for 2016).

Challenges:

Prone to misuse: Information from DNA samples can reveal not just how a person looks, or what their eye colour or skin colour is, but also more intrusive information like their allergies, or susceptibility to diseases. As a result, there is a greater risk of information from DNA analysis getting misused.

Safety issues: There’s also the question of whether the DNA labs accredited by the Regulatory Board are allowed to store copies of the samples they analyse. And if so, how the owners of those samples can ensure the data is safe or needs to be removed from their own indices.

Concern over storage: It’s not clear if DNA samples collected to resolve civil disputes will also be stored in the databank (regional or national), although there is no index specific for the same. If they will be stored, then the problem cascades because the Bill also does not provide for information, consent and appeals.

Source: The Hindu

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