15 july 2015 news bite

[Soc issues > Superstition]
Odisha, Keonjhar--family killed suspecting witchcraft
--level of trust of Munda tribals on witch doctors is frightening

[Economy > Employment]
Skill India--World Youth Skills Day 15 July
--National Skill Development Mission(for convergence and coordination of skilling activities across India)
--National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015(for skilling on a large scale at speed with high standards and to ensure sustainable livelihoods for all)
--Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana(PMKVY)--flagship skill training program to cover 24 lakh youth
--Skill Loan Scheme

[Economy > Energy]
Strategic reserves of India
--developed by ISPRL Indian strategic petroleum reserves limited--spv
--Vizag (1.3 mn tonnes) + Mangalore 1.5 MMT + Padur 2.5 MMT = total 5.3 MMT
(big tunnels dug, walls soaked in water at high pressure to prevent crude seepage--'hydraulic confinement')
--adv of underground facility--secure, dont need land, less evaporation, easy to fill
--India needs 3.8 bn bbls per day, of which 80% is imported
why we need
--safety from vulnerability to physical supply disruptions, sharp price fluctuations
--commercial angle: can be used by ISPRL later in international oil markets to influence crude prices
International Energy Agency IEA recommends, 90 day reserve
US has 37 day reserve at Gulf of Mexico(uses 18.5 mn bbl/d)

[Mains]
World Bank governance indicators/dimensions(6)
Voice and Accountability VA
Political stability and Absence of violence and terrorism PV
Government effectiveness GE
Regulatory Quality RQ
Rule of Law RL
Control of Corruption CC
http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/index.aspx#faq

[Sports]
SC panel bans CSK and RR from IPL for 2 years, tells G Meiyappan and R Kundra to stay away from cricket
--takes leaf out of BCCI rule books
--the core issue is that BCCI had not respected the sanctity of its own rules and as a result let down the dignity of the game
--need prudent administration in sports
Similar sort of justice came about in football, where many FIFA officials were arrested(long overdue) and Mr Sepp Blatter resigned(finally)

[IR > Iran]
US-Iran nuclear deal
Iran
--will cut current stockpile of LEU by 98% to 300kg for 15 years
--reduce enrichment capacity by two-thirds
--will allow UN inspectors to enter Iranian sites, but with permit from Iran
US
--will remove sanctions against Iran, allowing it to start selling oil again, use global finances
--will gradually lift arms embargo(stay in place for 5 years)
Benefits to India
Energy: will bring large amounts of Iranian oil in market, will make Farzad gas field available for development by OVL
Business: will unlock frozen assets and make Iran available for investment and engagement by Indian companies
Connectivity: Iran as India's gateway to Central Asia, is viable as bypass to reluctant Pakistan
Security: Iran's rise as a regional actor will open new options for Delhi in Afghanistan, and also to counter terrorism in the region
Concerns for India
--situation in West Asia may become volatile
--backlash from Saudi could lead to nuclear cooperation with Pakistan
--support for deal could cause trouble in relations with Israel
--benefits of trade may go to Russia, China, US, Europe

[IR > US]
Issues usually discussed in Indo-US relations
--civil nuclear cooperation
--green technologies and energy solutions
--IPR protection, pharma and drug issues
--global strategic, political, economic interests(UN SC reforms, human rights and security)
--people to people ties

[Economy/Enviro]
Go through:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Rivers_Inter-link

Crowd management failure at Maha Pushkaram festival at Rajahmundry--27 die in stampede
Need better planning and regulation of flows, need to keep VIP moving and not block crowds, plan for contingency(extra crowd)

12-14 July 2015 newsbite

Missed out on posting due to CAPF(AC) exam and the ensuing exam hangover...

[IR > US]
TPA trade promotion authority delegates US president completer power to negotiate trade agreements with other countries, approved by US Congress
--will pave the way for successful completion of negotiations on TPP

TPP trans Pacific partnership
--proposed trade agreements between several Pacific rim countries
--12 countries in negotiations: US, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile | Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand
--expected to be an agreement not only on trade issues such as tariff liberalization, but also related non-trade issues such as labour and environment regulations, IPR protection
Effect of TPP on India
--some trade diversion a(services trade of India will get diverted)
--as IPR regime abroad changes, TPP nations will become more attractive destinations for investment vs India given its history of retrospective taxation
--risk of spillover effect on Indo-US relations, as US will expect India to fit into the template set by TPP terms
--active role by US in region will to certain extent, neutralize China's power in the neighbourhood

[IR > US]
India-US relations, nuclear deal issues
--nuclear reactors take a decade to become operable
--plummeting oil and gas prices, skyrocketing reactor construction costs are making nuclear power economically unviable
--govt has to pay exorbitant prices for foreign origin reactors, then subsidize the power generated, while the reactors dont even mesh with the 3 phase nuclear program
--Bhopal disaster is a grim reminder of need for legal liability for designer(US based GE that designed Fukushima Daichi reactor cores evaded legal action after disaster)
--US also has not brought India into the 4 technology control cartels and is still promising a phased entry
--reality of the control regimes is that they are designed to harmonize export policies and not to promote technology trade among member states, so we need indigenous technology

[SnT > space]
GAGAN GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation
--4th nation to offer satellite based navigation services to aviation sector
--uses GSAT-8, GSAT-10, GSAT-15(to be launched)
--EU(EGNOS), Japan(MSAS), US(WAAS) are operational, now GAGAN is 4th SBAS satellite based augmentation system
--SNAS by China, SDCM by Russia, are under development
Advantages
--enhances capacity of airspace by reducing separation between aircraft
--augments GPS signals over Indian landmass, Bay of Bengal, SE Asia, Middles east, upto Africa
--streamlines airline operations, increases air safety and fuel efficiency
--GAGAN being used by KA govt to accurately map forestlands, gives clarity on boundaries and monitoring
--will help in precision landing of aircraft
--will help in ionospheric studies

[Soc issues > DBT]
Issues related to DBT
--problem of identification of beneficiaries and related exclusion/inclusion remaisn
--DBT not guarded against effects of local inflation and puts people at mercy of admin in revising benefits according to conditions at the time
--many still cant access the benefits due to poor banking outreach/financial illiteracy
Solutions
--adequate financial investment in welfare programs and their physical architecture
--trained technical personnel
--robust participatory grievance redressal mechanisms

[Economy > Budget]
Problems in fiscal management
--Union govt doesn't really have much control on its finances, at least in short term, as most of its expenditure is non-discretionary--interest payments, salaries, defence, subsidies. Also, more than a third of its revenues are corporate taxes, which by definition depend on corporate benefits, which are had to predict
--govt does cash accounting, so it can use services from a supplier and defer payment till next year to achieve current year's deficit target

[NE issues]
Manipur wants ILP system
--Inner Line Permit, issued to citizens to access a restricted area for a limited period
--fear of migrants outnumbering local residents(in Tripura, indigenous tribes have been reduced to a minority by migrant workers)
Problem: closed borders stunt growth and diversification of local economy
Solution: better connectivity and clear policy on resource sharing without compromising the rights and entitlements of the local population

[IR > Central Asia]
PM called for accelerated development of INSTC International nort south transportation corridor established way back in 2000 by India, Iran and Russia
10 other countries in Eurasia and Oman in Gulf have become members since
PM also sought India's admission to Ashgabat Agreement that involves Oman, Turkmenistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, facilitating easy movement across borders

Snapshot of new dynamic rapidly altering the regional context:
American withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russian and Chinese desire to stabilize Afghanistan and Pakistan, Moscow's eagerness to mobilize India into an inner Asian coalition, Beijing's interest in rebuilding sol road across Eurasia and prospects for nuclear accommodation between Washington and Tehran

[Soc issues > Health]
Health numbers
--India accounts for a third of world's poorest 1.2 bn people and 21% of world's disease burden
--India contends with triple health threat: infectious diseases, violence/injuries, NCDs
--India loses 6% of annual GDP to preventable illnesses and premature deaths
--NCDs are responsible for 60% of deaths in India
--public health expenditure is less than 1% of GDP--means individuals and their families have to bear the brunt of the cost, WHO says this pushes 2,2% Indians into poverty each year

Problem: Toll of NCDs is expected to rise further with increased urbanization, which is associated with lower levels of physical activity and increase consumption of commercially processed, energy-dense, nutrient deficit foods that fuel obesity. Further, the increased burden will be born by the young ones, so demographic dividend will suffer

Solution:
--Investment in primary prevention--reducing the four big "behavioral risk factors" of tobacco and alcohol consumption, poor diet, physical inactivity--could halve the rate of NCDs
--increase prices of and taxes on unhealthy products
--ban or restrictions on advertising, marketing and promotion of unhealthy products, clear labelling

6-July-2015 news bite

For ease of slotting the news in your framework, I have added a syntax [SectionName>PageName]

[Social Issues>Social security]
Difference between Aadhaar, NPR
--Aadhar is a proof of identity, NPR is meant to register usual residents(stayed for 6 months or intends to stay for 6 months) of India and NRIC a subset of NPR, is national register of Indian citizens
--NPR records 15 fields of demographic data apart from biometric data of residents, while Aadhar records biometrics with 5 fields of demographic data(which are included in the 15 of NPR)
--Aadhar is not compulsory, but it is compulsory to register for NRIC as per Sec14A Citizenship Act 1955
Know more on NPR: http://ditnpr.nic.in/faqs.aspx

[Social Issues>education]
MH govt derecognizes madrasas and insitutions imparting vedic education, unless they offer formal education including subjects like science, maths, social science
--good step towards modernizing education, will also counter sect-driven education system

[Social issues>caste] credit: Hindu editorial
SECC socio economic and caste census
--measures deprivation along 7 criteria--condition of house, who is head of family, number of disabled in family, SC/ST, landless or not, literacy etc
--problem: this is also recorded in decadal census, so the issue is not technical but political
That is the beneficiary households can be identified, but problem is over setting the identification criteria, which is a political problem because caste data might prove that some castes are well off
--WB 2010 analysis shows least targeted schemes are most effective at actually delivering to poor
General problem: Caste has never been proxy for class or deprivation in India, it constitutes a distinct kind of embedded discrimination that often transcends class. Dalits are less likely to get jobs, rented rooms, married out of caste(violent backlash)
Caste data from SECC will not reflect these realities

[SnT>Defence sector]
--Army gets new howitzer named Dhanush 155mm gun/45 calibre TGS towed gun system, is indigenously manufactured by OFB(Make in India success story)
--said to be better than Bofors howitzers 155mm/39 calibre in accuracy, reliability, range

[SnT>Space]
Space missions are not an easy job, Indian MOM is indeed commendable
--Dragon capsule(unmanned) on Falcon 9 rocket sent to supply ISS, by SpaceX failed, as its oxygen tank exploded
--Virgin Galactic, an aspiring space tourism company, suffered a fatal crash of a test flight

[IR>Middle East]
IS has reached Kuwait--27 killed in mosque attack
Worrying concerns:
--many young Saudi men are willing to travel to attack Shias in smaller Gulf Arab states
--Gulf Arabs enjoy Visa free travel between their countries, which makes it easy to attack

[IR>US] Credit: Hindu editorial
Obama's achievements(did pretty well)
--Affordable Care Act or Obamacare(but republicans are still blocking its implementation in every way possible)
--passage of TPP
--same-sex marriage legalized across nation
--US-Cuban relations thaw, finally

[GS4>good governance]
World Bank initially defined it as "the exercise of political power to manage a nation's affairs"
But this definition is silent on the legitimacy of that political power. By this approach, efficient management trumps politics, which makes it efficiency-democracy debate
Elements of good governance(4)
Accountability, Transparency, Empowerment, Citizen participation


[Sports>Sports admin]
Pinki Pramanik, CWG and Asiad medallist alleges discrimination by sports authorities owing to gender and complications due to rape charges on her, which were proven wrong in court
Gender issues are also being faced by Dutee Chand, who is awaiting CAS court of arbitration of sports verdict, as her natural testosterone levels were higher than limit(IAAF sets it at 10 nanomoles per liter)

Core problem: biological sex exists in a continuum while sports is divided in binary category(men/women), so like most laws, the dividing line is arbitrary

[Sports>racing]
Lewis Hamilton(Britain) wins British Grand Prix, beating Nico Rosberg(German), both are from Mercedes team
3rd place to Sebastian Vettel(German) of Ferrari team
Force India racers: Nico Hulkenberg(7th), Sergio Perez(9th)

The Sahara Force India Formula One Team is a Formula One racing team based in Silverstone, United Kingdom with an Indian licence. CEO Vijay Malya

[Sports>Football]
Chile won Copa America 2015 beating Argentina in penalty shootouts

Making sense out of news

On 4th July 2015, about 1200 candidates gained independence from the gruesome cycle of Civil Services Examination. The odds are stacked high against the lakhs of people who appear for it. 4.5 lakh appeared for Prelim exam(objective), about 17000 went on to write the Mains(written exam) of which ~3300 were interviewed and 1200 liberated.

The sad part is that the process takes 1 whole year. Besides, many among the successful candidates, are the ones already having a services and are aspiring to get into coveted IAS. This excessive demand for such a scarce resource has led to inflation of price people are ready to pay for acquiring this position. Naturally, a whole gamut of middle men has come up, who peddle in resources required to get to this destination. As there is no question of regulation of this market, any one can put up coaching classes and sell crap/ give funde. The Gaussian curve(random event) is bound to throw up a couple of successes, which then attracts some better talent pool and the business takes off. The core issue is that no one really knows, what works. So, for an aspirant, it is like buying travel insurance. You know you will reach the destination if all goes well. But just in case, things go south, you want the mental comfort of having tried the all-hailed classes. But, I feel that much like the actual cases, where insurance companies simply raise their hands, any coaching class would say that due to extraneous factors it is impossible to expect a guaranteed success. So, ultimately ownership of success or failure lies with the aspirant.

I did not qualify beyond Mains 2014, and it is already quite late, when I realized that the cycle has become shorter for me, compared to a new entrant(who has comfort of 9-10 months) before prelims, while I have only 6 months. On other hand, I might say, I have the 'experience'. But again, I would only be fooling myself. With 1.5 months to go for Prelims, I felt the need for cultivating writing habit. Also, I wanted to humanize the aspirants community. For us it is a binary identity. On gaining success, aspirants are put on a pedestal of greatness, while the failures are looked down upon. So, I hope to make all my ideas/views available before greatness is thrust upon me. 

With that background, I thought it is imperative that I make contribution to the vast community of fellow aspirants who don't have access to organized resources. I am not a master of any topic, but then I have cultivated some skill for extracting and contextualizing news, which would save others some time. Of course there are 'newspaper analysis classes' available in market, but they are limited in accessibility. Besides, they take up too much time and also lack the much required 'relevance' filter.

So, here's how to make sense out of news:

Reading news for civil services aspirants is much like crows snacking on trash cans. Its not that all news is trash, but then trash is by definition, something that is worthless to someone. In that spirit, one must scan looking for only valuable stuff and skip the rest.

It helps a lot, if one maintains topic wise news notes IT could be done on paper or using software/internet platforms like MS OneNote and Evernote. This lets a person collect all related news at a single place and track stories, make timelines or simply collate relevant points which can be directly imported in an answer.

Organization of news can be done in a notebook(hard or soft copy) with following sections and then putting pages in them:

Social issues: Health, education, employment, poverty, women, children, minorities, other weaker sections, Urban development, Rural development, LWE(left wing extremism), NE north east India, land issues, food issues

Economy : budget, RBI(measures it takes), tax related issues/reforms, Agriculture and food, Infrastructure, Industry, Energy sector, Manufacturing sector, PSU related, etc

IR (international relations): region wise sections can be made like Neighbourhood of India, SE Asia, Central Asia, Middle East, West Asia, Europe, N Am, S Am, Aust, Multilateral orgs

SnT (science and tech): Biotech, Medical, Defence sector, Nano/mfg/materials, Space, Nuclear sci, Computers and communication, etc

Polity: Judiciary issues, Federal issues, Legislations, Political news(not too deep)

Art Culture Sports: General overview, artists, sportspersons, Games, performance of India

Environment: pollution, Forests/wildlife, Disasters, Conventions, Ganga, Policy measures

Profile: your state, district, college/school, your job/sector related news

This is a general overview of various sections and the pages one can insert in them, later as required one can reorganize them, to make them MECE mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive.

Now, when you go thru news, try to place the news in one of these sections, always extract not more than 5 points from any news articles. You have 6 minutes per question in mains, so you wont be able to put more than 5 points/angles on paper, so no point noting down all 20 points in a policy.

I began with The Hindu, but I felt that The Indian Express is more aligned for what we need. The latter have revamped their paper with new sections, which is great.

Front page: pick up major national news, no need to dive into political news/crime reports

City: communal attacks or gender crimes are valuable case studies. One should see what is being done by administration to tackle such situations. It will help enrich answers and also keep it real.

Govt & Politics and Network news: only pick those articles that are about policy matters(for and against arguments), no point in reading mud slinging between parties

The Economist: no need to dig deep, but it gives a world view. Can be used in citing examples in answers on suggestive measures, or in essays to give a touch of current affairs, helps in a couple of prelims Qs on world geography too

Economy: valuable analysis and data on policies and realities. Useful in every way, But one should try to check relevance quotient. Also, if one doesn't understand some news, perhaps it is too technical and better left alone. Example, often SEBI takes measures to regulate markets which are very technical. We cant use it in most answers in mains, nor is it asked in pre, so no point breaking our head over it.

Explained: this used to be a small section, now its a whole page, which is simply awesome. It gives good background so that current happenings become clearer. Again, not all that is there here is relevant to our purpose.

Editorial: useful to pickup analysis, salient points(for/against arguments), again pickup not more than 5 points(most important ones), often there is much rhetoric, which should be skipped, unless alternative/suggestive measures are also given on a particular issue

Sports: good to know who's who, who won what, etc, issues for sports admin and sportspersons

Then, there is the question of reading more than one newspapers. I read both Express and Hindu. I feel that in news, and in general for this exam, more revision you get, the better you will be. So, it has complementary and supplementary effects. But, one should be quick in sifting through news or it costs more than 2 hours, which is counter productive.

Underlying problem is the anxiety of missing out on some points, which makes us go for multiple sources. As a result, we end up biting more than what we can chew. So, it is better to narrow down on the sources and ruminate.

For things that I might miss out on in newspapers, I make up with magazines. There are many available in market. But I feel, Competition Wizard puts in good effort in sorting out the news in sections properly. They also give background, so its quite helpful. This is not an endorsement, but simply a statement of my preference. One is free to follow any magazine one feels comfortable with.

Further, once in a while, we slip out of routine and end up with a stack of unread newspapers. I have tried many times to cover backlogs of such kind. I would say, it is better to dump it and move on.

1.You always have the magazine to touch on important news, 2.Most of important news keep reappearing in  news, so no point spending 1 week on catching up with news backlog(a cycle is created with backlog diminishing but never ending-- Zeno's paradox)

I hope this makes sense.