Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for August 1, 2023. If you missed the July 31, 2023 UPSC CSE exam key from the Indian Express, read it here FRONT PAGE IMD: Aug-Sept rainfall to be normal, but on ‘negative side’ Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World. Mains Examination: General Studies I: Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- After the first half of India’s monsoon season ended with a satisfactory 5 per cent above normal rainfall, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday presented a slightly subdued outlook for the remaining half. The rainfall in August and September was still likely to be in the normal range, between 94 and 106 per cent of long period average, but “on the negative side of the normal”, the IMD said. • “After the first half of India’s monsoon season ended with a satisfactory 5 per cent above normal rainfall”-What do you understand by the normal rainfall in this context? • What is normal rainfall in India? • “On the negative side of the normal”-What have you understood by this statement? • For Your Information-The rainfall in the second half of the monsoon season is likely to be less than 100 per cent. July unexpectedly produced 13 per cent above normal rainfall, with many parts of the country receiving good rainfall. The east and north-eastern region was the only one with low rainfall during the month, receiving 32 per cent below normal rains. Importantly, southern peninsular region, which had a 45 per cent deficiency in June, got adequately compensated in July, and now has 5 per cent above normal rains for the season. July and August are the rainiest months for the country, followed by September and June. The months of August and September, together, produce about 422 mm of rainfall, of which about 260 mm is expected in August. • What is the arrival and departure of monsoon? • What is the all India monthly and seasonal rainfall? • What do we mean by long period average (LPA) of rainfall? • What is large excess, excess, normal, deficient, large deficient rainfall? • What is meant by the “onset of the monsoon”? • What are these conditions, which determine the onset of monsoon? • Do You Know-The development of El Nino conditions in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean is expected to begin having an impact on the Indian monsoon. In general, El Nino tends to suppress monsoon rainfall over India. “Currently, weak El Nino conditions are prevailing over the equatorial Pacific region. The latest climate models indicate that the El Nino conditions are likely to intensify further and continue up to early next year,” IMD said. The high quantity of rainfall recorded in July was also the result of very large number of extreme rainfall events. The IMD said the 205 incidents of extremely heavy rainfall was the highest in the last five years. Also, many more stations recorded such incidents than in previous years. • What is El Nino? • Why is called El Nino? • What is El Nino effect in India? • During El Niño, trade winds weaken or stronger than usual? • What is Indian Ocean Dipole? • India Meteorological Department (IMD)-About, Role and Objectives • Do You Know-El Nino and La Nina are climate patterns in the Pacific Ocean that can affect weather worldwide. Episodes of El Nino and La Nina typically last 9-12 months, but can sometimes last for years. El Nino and La Nina events occur every two to seven years, on average, but they don’t occur on a regular schedule, say experts. Generally, El Nino occurs more frequently than La Nina. According to the latest forecast by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a transition from La Niña to ENSO-neutral will occur mostly during the February-April 2023 season. Climate models are predicting a potential return to El Niño by May-July, which coincides with the summer monsoon that spans from June- September. The occurrence of three consecutive La Niña in the Northern Hemisphere is a relatively rare phenomenon and is known as the ‘triple dip’ La Niña. The latest triple dip La Nina occurred between 2021-23. • El Niño and La Niña events are not mirror images of each other. They differ in length and strength-How • How El Nino Impacts-Know Sector and region wise • What is Inter Tropical Convergence Zone? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍El Niño and the monsoon 📍Explained: What is the ‘Long Period Average’, IMD’s benchmark for monsoon prediction? EXPRESS NETWORK Centre allows relief to sugar cooperatives over excess cane payments made to farmers Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development Main Examination: General Studies III: Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story-The Finance Ministry has notified the rules enabling cooperative sugar mills to claim past cane price payments made to farmers, in excess of the government’s statutory minimum price (SMP), as “business expenditure”. The move is expected to provide mills a relief of almost Rs 10,000 crore, against pending tax demands and litigation in respect of payments made before 2015-16 financial year. • What is sugar cooperative society? • What is the function of cooperative sugar factory? • What is Statutory Minimum Price (SMP)? • Do You Know-The statutory minimum price (SMP) is announced by the central government based on the cost of cultivation estimated by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). This is the basic price which the sugar mills must pay sugarcane growers. However, citing differences in cost of production, productivity levels and also as a result of pressure from farmers groups, some states (Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand) used to declare state-specific sugarcane prices called State Advised Prices (SAP),usually higher than the SMP. These states also argued that SMP was merely the minimum price which could be enhanced to protect farmers interests. Even though the name suggest that SAPs are advisory prices, litigation in courts has established that the mills in these states mandatorily pay SAP to farmers in these states. Unlike the MSP for wheat or paddy announced by the Centre, where the government procures a commodity from farmers directly in case market prices go below the MSP, the government never procures sugarcane from farmers directly. It is only sugar mills or khandsari units that buy it from farmers at the prices which shouldn’t fall below that determined by the government (SMP or SAP). • Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) and minimum support price (MSP)-Compare and Contrast • Who fixes the statutory minimum price of sugarcane for each sugar season? • Map Work-Sugar Industry in India • Fair and Remunerative Price and sugar mills-connect the dots • What is difference between minimum support price (MSP) and Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP)? • Sugarcane Cultivation in India-Know the Geographical Conditions of Growth • Sugar production and Sugar Cane Policy in India-Know in detail • What is International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis? • Till 2017-18, India hardly exported any raw sugar-Why? • Raw sugar and finished sugar-compare and contrast • Apart from the time window and freight cost savings, there are two specific advantages of Indian raw sugar-What is that? • Do You Know-Out of India’s total 110 lt sugar exports in 2021-22, raws alone accounted for 56.29 lt. The biggest importers of Indian raw sugar were Indonesia (16.73 lt), Bangladesh (12.10 lt), Saudi Arabia (6.83 lt), Iraq (4.78 lt) and Malaysia (4.15 lt). The country also exported 53.71 lt of white/ refined sugar, the leading destinations for which included Afghanistan (7.54 lt), Somalia (5.17 lt), Djibouti (4.90 lt), Sri Lanka (4.27 lt), China (2.58 lt), and Sudan (1.08 lt). Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Sugar,and the spice THE WORLD Pak, China ink six agreements to expedite cooperation under CPEC Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance. Mains Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s Interests. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story-Pakistan and China on Monday signed six key documents to help undertake the second phase of the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects under a new model, further cementing the all-weather strategic relations between the “iron brothers.” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng witnessed the signing ceremony held here to mark 10 years of the CPEC, a collection of infrastructure and other projects under construction throughout Pakistan since 2013. • What is China-Pakistan Economic Corridor? • Map Work- China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) • China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)-How these two are related? • What is the current status of the CPEC in terms of projects completed or abandoned? • Gwadar was going to be the showpiece of CPEC. What is happening there with the port, expressways, the power project? • How many countries are part of BRI? • Why is it called Belt and Road? • Why India opposes BRI? • How China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is affecting India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity • For Your Information-CPEC refers to a clutch of major infrastructure works currently under way in Pakistan, intended to link Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang province to Gwadar deep sea port close to Pakistan’s border with Iran. Several other road, rail and power projects are associated with the corridor, and the project seeks to expand and upgrade infrastructure across the length and breadth of Pakistan, and to widen and deepen economic ties with its “all-weather friend”, China. The CPEC is part of China’s larger regional transnational ‘One Belt One Road’ (OBOR) initiative, whose two arms are the land-based New Silk Road and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road, using which Beijing aims to create a Silk Road Economic Belt sprawled over a large patch of Asia and eastern Europe, and crisscrossed by a web of transport, energy supply and telecommunications lines. Gwadar lies close to the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping lane. It could open up an energy and trade corridor from the Gulf across Pakistan to western China, that could also be used by the Chinese Navy. The CPEC will give China land access to the Indian Ocean, cutting the nearly 13,000 km sea voyage from Tianjin to the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Malacca and around India, to a mere 2,000 km road journey from Kashgar to Gwadar. The development of Kashgar as a trade terminus will reduce the isolation of the restive Xinjiang province, deepen its engagement with the rest of China, and raise its potential for tourism and investment. Central Asian republics are keen to plug their infrastructure networks to the CPEC — this will allow them access to the Indian Ocean, while contributing to the OBOR initiative. For Chinese companies, the massive scale of the CPEC provides investment opportunities for several years to come. As per the terms of the agreement, they will be able to operate the projects as profit-making entities, Reuters reported. The China Development Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd, one of China’s ‘Big Four’ state-owned commercial banks, will loan funds to the companies, who will invest in the projects as commercial ventures. Major Chinese companies investing in Pakistan’s energy sector will include China’s Three Gorges Corp., which built the world’s biggest hydro power scheme, and China Power International Development Ltd. Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: Pakistan’s road of high hopes 📍An Expert Explains | China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: The bumpy road travelled so far THE IDEAS PAGE Standing with the farmer Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development Main Examination: General Studies III: Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story-Bhupinder Singh Hooda writes: For the last few years, farmers have been agitating for a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their crop, calculated as per the Swaminathan Commission formula. The historic farmer’s movement had demanded a legal guarantee of MSP and the withdrawal of the three agricultural laws. MSP was introduced in the 1960s. However, farmers continue to struggle for it. A few aspects of MSP need to be reiterated. • What is the contribution of agriculture sector in GDP of India? • MSP (minimum support price) and effectiveness of MSP implementation • For Your Information-During each cropping season, the government announces minimum support prices for crops. Simply put, the MSP for a crop is the price at which the government is supposed to procure/buy that crop from farmers if the market price falls below it. As such, MSPs provide a floor for market prices, and ensure that farmers receive a certain “minimum” remuneration so that their costs of cultivation (and some profit) can be recovered. The MSPs serve one more policy purpose. Using them, the government incentivises the production of certain crops, thus ensuring that India does not run out of staple food grains. Typically, MSPs create the benchmark for farm prices not just in those commodities for which they are announced, but also in crops that are substitutes. • Which are the Crops Covered under MSP? • Who decides what the MSP would be and how? • Do You Know-The MSPs are announced by the Union government and as such, it is the government’s decision. But the government largely bases its decision on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). While recommending MSPs, the CACP looks at the factors like the demand and supply of a commodity; Its cost of production; the market price trends (both domestic and international); inter-crop price parity; the terms of trade between agriculture and non-agriculture (that is, the ratio of prices of farm inputs and farm outputs); a minimum of 50 per cent as the margin over the cost of production; and the likely implications of an MSP on consumers of that product. • Public distribution system (PDS) and MSP • How MSP is calculated (paid out costs, labour etc.) and Crops covered under the MSP • What are the demands by Farmers in the context of MSP in the recent scenario? • “Right to MSP”-is it possible to implement and if not, then what are the issues and Challenges? • Recommendation of Ashok Dalwai Committee and M. S. Swaminathan Committee on MSP-Key highlights • What do you understand by the term ‘comprehensive cost of production of a crop’? • Demand for legal guarantee for MSP-Pros and Cons Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Explained: What are MSPs, and how are they decided? EXPLAINED ISRO rocket debris in Australia: rules governing space junk Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance. Main Examination: General Studies III: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story-A large object found on the shores of western Australia a couple of weeks ago has been confirmed to be the debris of an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) rocket, the Australian Space Agency said Monday. ISRO has agreed with the assessment, saying the debris could be from one of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rockets. An ISRO official said the object was most likely an unburnt part of the PSLV rocket that launched a navigation satellite for the IRNSS constellation two months ago. “That satellite was launched in the southward direction. It is possible that one of the parts of the rocket did not burn completely while dropping back into the atmosphere, and fell into the ocean. It could later have been swept towards the Australian shore,” the official said. • Are such incidents normal? • What is Space Junk? • What space junk is a problem? • Isn’t it dangerous? • What happens if these objects cause damage? • What are the international regulations governing space debris? • What is the Liability Convention of space law? • Is India a signatory to space liability convention? • For Your Information-There are international regulations governing space debris, which include junk falling back on the earth. Most space-faring countries are signatories to the Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects. This convention is one of the several international agreements that complement the Outer Space Treaty, the overarching framework guiding the behaviour of countries in space. The Liability Convention deals mainly with damage caused by space objects to other space assets, but it also applies to damage caused by falling objects on earth. The Convention makes the launching country “absolutely liable” to pay compensation for any damage caused by its space object on the earth or to a flight in air. The country where the junk falls can stake a claim for compensation if it has been damaged by the falling object. In the current case, if the PSLV junk had caused any damage in Australia, India could have been liable to pay compensation, even if the object fell into the ocean and was then swept to the shores. The amount of compensation is to be decided “in accordance with international law and the principles of justice and equity”. This provision of the Convention has resulted in compensation payment only once so far — when Canada sought damages from the then Soviet Union, for a satellite with radioactive substance that fell into an uninhabited region in its northern territory in 1978. The Soviet Union is reported to have paid 3 million Canadian dollars. Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Mysterious object washed up on Australian beach could be part of ISRO rocket The employment pictures Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development Main Examination: • General Studies‐ III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment • General Studies III: Inclusive growth and issues arising from it Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story-Atmanirbhar Bharat, or a self-reliant India, is among the most prominent stated goals of the incumbent government. Of course, the idea is that the country will achieve self-reliance in a whole host of economic activities. An associated idea, pushed forward by the government, has been to convince people that they should not look towards the government for an official job. Five years later, data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy suggests that Indians are increasingly doing just that — engaging in self-employment. • Atmanirbhar Bharat or Self-Reliant India Campaign-Important Components • Five Pillars of a Self-reliant India • Significance of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan • Self-Reliant and Self Sufficient-Know the Difference • Self-Reliant India Campaign is inspired by Swadeshi Movement 1905-Do you agree? • Self-Reliant India Campaign-Issues and Challenges ahead • Self-Reliant India Campaign and Employment in India-what data says? • Where and how Indians work? • What Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy is saying? • For Your Information-According to CMIE, the total employment in India in January-April 2023 stood at 412.9 million. This is 8.6 million more than what it was before the pandemic (that is, during January-April 2019). • Unemployment in India-Types (Open Unemployment, Disguised Unemployment, Seasonal Unemployment, Cyclical Unemployment etc.) • Know the Basics-Demography, Demographic characteristics, Demographic potential, Demographic Transition, Demographic Dividend and India’s Demographic Dividend • India’s unemployment rate in Urban and Rural Areas-Present Status • Why unemployment is more in the urban areas as compared to the rural areas? • What do you understand by Labour Force and Labour Force participation rate (LFPR)? • Female Labour Force Participation Rate-Know about this in detail • Employment Rate (ER) and Unemployment Rate (UER)-Know in Detail • What do you understand by “Informal economy” and “Unorganised Sector”? • What Is the Unemployment Rate? How it is Calculated by CMIE? • Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)-Role and Under which Ministry/Organisation? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍State of (un)employment in India Who are the Paharis and Paddaris, proposed for ST status in J&K? Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc. Main Examination: • General Studies I: Social empowerment • General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- The government has brought a Bill to include four communities in the list of Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Jammu and Kashmir: “Gadda Brahmin”, “Koli”, “Paddari Tribe”, and “Pahari Ethnic Group”. The Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2023 is one of the four Bills relating to the Union Territory that were introduced in Lok Sabha on July 26. • Paddari Tribe”, and “Pahari Ethnic Group”-Know about them • Do You Know-The dominant ST communities in J&K are the Gujjars and Bakerwals, who mainly live in the districts of Rajouri, Poonch, Reasi, Kishtwar, Anantnag, Bandipora, Ganderbal, and Kupwara. Most of them, especially the Bakerwals, are nomadic — they migrate with their livestock to the higher reaches in the summer, and return before the onset of winter. With a population of almost 18 lakh, the Gujjar-Bakerwal are the third largest group after Kashmiris and Dogras in J&K. They were given ST status in 1991, along with the two smaller groups of Gaddis and Sippis. This entitled these four communities to 10% reservation in government jobs and admission to educational institutions; in 2019, they were empowered politically after the Centre announced a 10% quota for them in Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in J&K. The Paharis are Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs, and include people of Kashmiri origin who settled in the districts of Rajouri and Poonch over a period of time. There are upper caste Hindus among the Paharis; also people who were displaced from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. In 1989, the J&K government led by Farooq Abdullah recommended that Paharis should be included in the list of STs along with the Gujjars, Bakerwals, Gaddis, and Sippis. However, the recommendation was rejected by the Registrar General of India on the ground that there was no caste/ tribe of that name in its records. In response to popular demand from Paharis living in the border areas of Rajouri and Poonch districts — who argued that they lived in the same areas as the Gujjar-Bakerwals and faced similar social and educational backwardness — the Farooq government set up an Advisory Board for Development of Pahari Speaking People. The Board defined Paharis as all people living in Rajouri and Poonch except those who were STs. As the Paharis continued to clamour for ST status, the Centre sought repeated clarifications from the J&K government. In 2012-13, the J&K government commissioned a study by Prof Amin Peerzada of Kashmir University, which its report supported the Paharis’ demand. The PDP-BJP government led by Mehbooba Mufti sent the report to the Centre with its supporting recommendation; however, the case was rejected once again on the ground that Paharis were not an ethnic group. Earlier in 2014, the Omar Abdullah government had brought a Bill proposing a 5% quota for Paharis, but Governor N N Vohra refused his assent to the Bill. The Paharis finally got 4% reservation in jobs and educational institutions in 2019, when Satya Pal Malik was Governor. Also in 2019, the Justice (retd) G D Sharma Commission was appointed to identify groups that were socially, educationally, and economically backward. The Commission in its report recommended ST status for Gadda Brahmins, Kolis, Paddari Tribe, and Pahari Ethnic Group. The report was sent to the Tribal Affairs Ministry, and the Registrar General approved it in 2022. • What is the process for inclusion of tribes in the list of Scheduled Tribes? • What is the definition of scheduled tribes given in the Article 366 (25) of the Constitution? • What is Article 342 of the constitution? • Who declares a tribe as scheduled tribe? • Why tribes are called Scheduled Tribes? • What will be the benefits of the tribe’s inclusion in the scheduled tribe list? • Schemes launched by Ministry of Tribal Affairs for the welfare of Scheduled Tribes-Know them • Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme (SCA to TSS)-Key Objectives • Grants-in-aid under Article 275(1) of the Constitution-Key Points • Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)-Know in detail • What are the main objectives of integrated tribal development project (ITDP)? • National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST)-Know in brief • For Your Information- Paddari Tribe live in the remote Paddar area of the hilly Kishtwar district. Spread over two tehsils, the Paddari homeland borders Zanskar (Ladakh) in the north and the east, Pangi in Himachal Pradesh in the south, and the rest of J&K in the west. The 2011 census recorded the Paddari population at 21,548, comprising 83.6% Hindus, 9.5% Buddhists, and 6.8% Muslims. The people of the area, including those who have come from elsewhere to settle there, speak the Paddari language. Like in the case of the Paharis, the Gujjar-Bakerwal opposition to the proposed inclusion of the Paddari Tribe in the ST list is based on the argument that they do not constitute a single ethic group, but are a mix of individuals from different castes and religions who speak a particular language. Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍RS passes Bill to grant ST status to two communities in Tamil Nadu ECONOMY Fiscal deficit touches 25.3% of target at end-June Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc. Main Examination: General Studies III: Government Budgeting Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- The Centre’s fiscal deficit at the end of the first quarter touched 25.3 percent of the full-year target, government data showed on Monday. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit — the gap between expenditure and revenue — was Rs 4,51,370 crore as of end-June, according to the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA). The deficit stood at 21.2 percent of the Budget Estimates (BE) in the corresponding period of the financial year 2022-23. • What is fiscal deficit? • What are the three major components of Budget? • What do you understand by fiscal consolidation? • Why is fiscal consolidation important? • How much did the government proposed to spend or do its total expenditure in 2023-24? • Which sector get the highest allocations, in 2023-24? • What are the main tax proposals in the Union Budget? • What steps have been done toward fiscal consolidation in accordance with the Union Budget? • What would be the prudent fiscal policy? • How did the government managed to stick to its fiscal prudence mantra and did not breach its deficit target of 6.4 per cent of GDP for the current financial year? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Union Budget 2023-24 Analysis For any queries and feedback, contact priya.shukla@indianexpress.com The Indian Express UPSC Hub is now on Telegram. 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