Daily Prelims Notes 12 April 2022

Daily Prelims Notes

12 April 2022

Table of Contents

1. State Energy & Climate Index: Niti
2. The Language That Nation Speaks
3. How ancient megalithic jars connect Assam with Laos and Indonesia
4. Seema Darshan Project
5. Microplastics detected in fish samples from Cauvery
6. 6th Mass Extinction:
7. Zero rate of interest 
8. RBI regulated Trading Market
9. National Food Security Act
10. UNSCR 1540

1. State Energy & Climate Index: Niti

Subject: Governance

Section: Reports & indices

Context- Gujarat has topped the list for larger States in the NITI Aayog’s State Energy and Climate Index–Round 1 that has ranked States and Union Territories (UTs) on certain parameters.

Concept-

Performance by the states:

• Gujarat, Kerala and Punjab have been ranked as the top three performers in the category of larger States, while Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were the bottom three States.
• Goa emerged as the top performer in the smaller States category followed by Tripura and Manipur.
• Among UTs, Chandigarh, Delhi and Daman & Diu/Dadra & Nagar Haveli are the top performers.
• Punjab was the best performer in discom performance, while Kerala topped in access, affordability and reliability category.
• Haryana was the best performer in clean energy initiative among larger States and Tamil Nadu in the energy efficiency category.

State Energy and Climate Index:

• The States have been categorized based on size and geographical differences as larger and smaller States and UTs.
• The index is based on 2019-20 data.
• It ranks the states’ performance on 6 parameters, namely
  • DISCOM’s Performance
  • Access, Affordability and Reliability of Energy
  • Clean Energy Initiatives
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Environmental Sustainability; and
  • New Initiatives
• The parameters are further divided into 27 indicators. Based on the composite SECI Round I score.
• The states and UTs are categorized into three groups:
  • Front Runners,
  • Achievers, and
  • Aspirants

India’s performance on other indices

At an international level, India’s ranking indices varied depending on assessment parameters.

1. World Energy Trilemma Index :In the World Energy Trilemma Index, which looked at energy security, energy equity, environmental sustainability and country context dimension (macroeconomics, governance and institutional conditions), India ranked 75th out of 127 countries.
2. World Economic Forum’s Energy Transition Index:India stood at 87th rank among 115 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Energy Transition Index, which focused on sector performance and energy transition.
3. Ernest and Young Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index:India was placed in the third position. It has also remained among the top 10 countries in the Climate Change Performance Index, which assesses climate protection performance.

However, India is among the most vulnerable countries to climate change, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

2. The Language That Nation Speaks

Subject: Polity

Context- Last week, Home Minister Amit Shah suggested that states should communicate with each other in Hindi rather than English, while stressing that Hindi should not be an alternative to local languages.

• This again sparked the debate of “Hindi imposition”.

Concept-

How widely is Hindi spoken in India?

• The 2011 linguistic census accounts for 121 mother tongues, including 22 languages listed in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.
• Hindi is the most widely spoken, with 52.8 crore individuals, or 43.6% of the population, declaring it as their mother tongue.
• The next highest is Bengali, mother tongue for 97 lakh (8%) — less than one-fifth of Hindi’s count
• In terms of the number of people who know Hindi, the count crosses more than half the country.
• Nearly 13.9 crore (over 11%) reported Hindi as their second language, which makes it either the mother tongue or second language for nearly 55% of the population.

Has it always been this widespread?

• Hindi has been India’s predominant mother tongue over the decades, its share in the population rising in every succeeding census.
• In 1971, 37% Indians had reported Hindi as their mother tongue, a share that has grown over the next four censuses to 38.7%, 39.2%, 41% and 43.6% at last count.
• A number of mother tongues other than Hindi have faced a decline in terms of share, although the dip has been marginal in many cases.
• For example, Bengali’s share in the population declined by just 0.14 percentage points from 1971 (8.17%) to 2011 (8.03%).
• In comparison, Malayalam (1.12 percentage points) and Urdu (1.03 points) had higher declines among the mother tongues with at least 1 crore speakers in 2011.
• Punjabi’s share, on the other hand, rose from 2.57% to 2.74%.
• At the other end of the scale (among the 22 languages listed in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution) were Malayalam, whose numbers rose by under 59% in four decades, and Assamese, rising just over 71%.

What explains Hindi’s high numbers?

• One obvious explanation is that Hindi is the predominant language in some of India’s most populous states, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
• Another reason is that a number of languages are bracketed under Hindi by census enumerators.
• In 2011, there were 1,383 mother tongues reported by people, and hundreds were knocked out. These mother tongues were then grouped into languages.
• Under Hindi, they have listed nearly 65 mother tongues. Among them is Bhojpuri, and 5 crore people have reported Bhojpuri as their mother tongue, but the census has decided that Bhojpuri is Hindi.
• If one were to knock out the other languages merged with Hindi, the total figure goes down to 38 crore.

And how widely is English spoken?

• Although English, alongside Hindi, is one of the two official languages of the central government, it is not among the 22 languages in the 8th Schedule; it is one of the 99 non-scheduled languages.
• In terms of mother tongue, India had just 2.6 lakh English speakers in 2011 — a tiny fraction of the 121 crore people counted in that census.
• It was the second language of 8.3 crore respondents in 2011, second only to Hindi’s 13.9 crore.
• If third language is added, then English was spoken — as mother tongue, second language or third language — by over 10% of the population in 2011, behind only Hindi’s 57%.
• It is still not a scheduled language in India, when it should be.

Where is English most prevalent?

• As mother tongue, Maharashtra accounted for over 1 lakh of the 2.6 lakh English speakers.
• As second language, English is preferred over Hindi in parts of the Northeast.
• Among the 17.6 lakh with Manipuri (an 8th Schedule language) as their mother tongue in 2011, 4.8 lakh declared their second language as English, compared to 1.8 lakh for Hindi.
• Among the non-scheduled languages spoken in the Northeast, Khasi, predominant in Meghalaya, was the mother tongue of 14.3 lakh, of whom 2.4 lakh declared their second language as English, and 54,000 as Hindi.
• The trends were similar for Mizo, and for various languages spoken in Nagaland, including Ao, Angami and Rengma.
• Beyond the Northeastern languages, among 68 lakh with Kashmiri as their mother tongue, 2.8 lakh declared their second language as English, compared to 2.2 lakh who declared Hindi.

Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution

• The Eighth Schedule lists the official languages of the Republic of India.
• At the time when the Constitution was enacted, inclusion in this list meant that the language was entitled to representation on the Official Languages Commission.
• In addition, a candidate appearing in an examination conducted for public service is entitled to use any of these languages as the medium in which he or she answers the paper.
• As per Articles 344(1) and 351 of the Indian Constitution, the eighth schedule includes the recognition of the 22 languages.
  • Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri.

‘Classical’ languages in India:

• Currently, six languages enjoy the ‘Classical’ status:
  • Tamil (declared in 2004),
  • Sanskrit (2005),
  • Kannada (2008),
  • Telugu (2008),
  • Malayalam (2013), and
  • Odia (2014).
• According to information provided by the Ministry of Culture in the Rajya Sabha in February 2014, the guidelines for declaring a language as ‘Classical’ are:
  • High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1500-2000 years;
  • A body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers;
  • The literary tradition be original and not borrowed from another speech community;
  • The classical language and literature being distinct from modern, there may also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms o

3. How ancient megalithic jars connect Assam with Laos and Indonesia

Subject : Art & Culture

Section: Ancient India

Context- The discovery of a number of megalithic stone jars in Assam’s Dima Hasao district has brought to focus possible links between India’s Northeast and Southeast Asia, dating back to the second millennium BC

Concept-

• According to a study in Asian Archaeology, the jars are a “unique archaeological phenomenon”.
• It calls for more research to understand the “likely cultural relationship” between Assam and Laos and Indonesia, the only two other sites where similar jars have been found.

About the Megalithic Jars:

• The jars of Assam were first sighted in 1929 by British civil servants James Philip Mills and John Henry Hutton.
• They recorded their presence in six sites in Dima Hasao: Derebore (now HojaiDobongling), Kobak, Kartong, Molongpa (now Melangpeuram), Ndunglo and Bolasan (now Nuchubunglo).
• Researchers documented three distinct jar shapes (bulbous top with conical end; biconcial; cylindrical) on spurs, hill slopes and ridge lines.

Significance of these Artefacts:

• While the jars are yet to be scientifically dated, the researchers said links could be drawn with the stone jars found in Laos and Indonesia.
• There are typological and morphological similarities between the jars found at all three sites.
• The other takeaway is the link to mortuary practices with human skeletal remains found inside and buried around the jars.

About Megalithic Burials in India:

• Megaliths were constructed either as burial sites or commemorative (non-sepulchral) memorials.
• Megaliths burial sites are sites with actual burial remains, such as
  • dolmenoid cists (box-shaped stone burial chambers),
  • cairn circles (stone circles with defined peripheries) and
  • capstones (distinctive mushroom-shaped burial chambers found mainly in Kerala).
• The urn or the sarcophagus containing the mortal remains was usually made of terracotta.
• The Commemorative megaliths include memorial sites such as menhirs.
• Taken together, these monuments lend these disparate peoples the common traits of what we know as megalithic culture, one which lasted from the Neolithic Stone Age to the early Historical Period (2500 BC to AD 200) across the world.
• In India, archaeologists trace the majority of the megaliths to the Iron Age (1500 BC to 500 BC), though some sites precede the Iron Age, extending up to 2000 BC.
• Megaliths are found in almost all parts of southern India

4. Seema Darshan Project

Subject :Geography

Section: Mapping

Context- As part of the Seema Darshan project, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (April 10) inaugurated an Indo-Pakistan border viewing point in Nadabet in Gujarat, around 188 km from Ahmedabad.

Concept-

• Located in the Rann of Kutch region, Nadabet, also known as the ‘Wagah of Gujarat’, is connected by a narrow bitumen road cutting across mudflats that get inundated during high-tide.
• On weekdays, there are around 4,000 visitors visiting Nadabet, while on the weekends, this number goes up to 10,000-20,000
• The border visit timings are from 9 am to 7 pm.
• There is a nominal entry fee of Rs 100 for adults and Rs 50 for children above the age of two.

What is the Seema Darshan project?

• The Seema Darshan project was first inaugurated by former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani in December 2016.
• The Seema Darshan project is a joint initiative of the tourism department of the state government and the BSF Gujarat Frontier, where the focus is to develop border-tourism in the region which has a sparse population and even sparser vegetation.
• The biggest attraction of the Seema Darshan project is the access provided to civilians to view the fenced international border with Pakistan at ‘Zero Point’.
• At Zero Point, a high watchtower has been erected that gives visitors a view into Pakistani territory.
• This is guarded round the clock by the Border Security Force (BSF) in Banaskantha district of Gujarat.
• Pakistan is around 150 metres from the border pillar 960 at Nadabet.

Role of Nadabet in 1971 Indo-Pak War

• Nadabet played a key role in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War.
• It was in this region that the BSF not only stalled the enemy trying to invade from the west, but also captured 15 enemy posts.
• At Nadabet, there are maps showing the movements of the BSF battalions capturing enemy positions during the war.
• During the war, the BSF had captured 1,038 square km of Pakistan territory in Nagarparkar and Diplo areas. The area was returned to Pakistan after the Shimla Agreement was signed.

5. Microplastics detected in fish samples from Cauvery

Subject: Environment

Section:Pollution

Context- A new study by researchers at the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has found microplastics in fish, causing growth defects, including skeletal deformities, in River Cauvery in south India.

Concept-

Microplastics:

• Microplastics are defined as synthetic solid particles sized ranging 1 micrometre (μm) to 5 millimetre (mm), which are insoluble in water. They are recognised as a major source of marine pollution.
• They come from a variety of sources, one of them is when larger pieces of plastic degrade into smaller pieces, which are difficult to detect.

Why is microplastic pollution harmful?

• The durability of plastic, which implies that plastic can take hundreds to thousands of years to decompose depending on the type of plastic and where it has been dumped.
• In the oceans, plastic pollution impacts marine life, ocean health, coastal tourism and even human health.
• Over the past few years, various news reports have shown that marine animals such as whales, seabirds and turtles unknowingly ingest plastic and often suffocate.
• For humans, too, marine plastic pollution is harmful if it reaches the food chain. For instance, microplastics have been found in tap water, beer and even salt.
• One of the first studies to estimate plastic pollution in human ingestion that was published in June 2019 said that an average person eats at least 50,000 particles of microplastic each year. Consumption of plastic by humans is harmful since several chemicals that are used to produce plastics can be

Measures taken by government:

• India has pledged to ban all single-use plastics by 2022.
• All offices of central and state governments and major PSUs have been told to prohibit single-use plastic products.
• India has banned imports of solid plastic waste.
• India has passed the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 and introduced the Extended Producer Responsibility.

About Cauvery River:

• It is known as ‘Ponni’ in Tamil, also known as Ganga of the south, and it is the fourth largest river of southern India.
• It is a sacred river of southern India.
• It rises on Brahmagiri Hill of the Western Ghats in southwestern Karnataka state, flows in a southeasterly direction through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and descends the Eastern Ghats in a series of great falls and drains into Bay of Bengal through Pondicherry.
• Some of its tributaries are Arkavathi, Hemavathi, Lakshmana Theertha, Shimsa, Kabini and Harangi.

6. 6^th Mass Extinction:

Subject: Environment

Section: Conservation

• The IUCN Global Species Programme, in conjunction with the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and partners, are driving the fight to save species for people and nature.TheIUCN Global Species Programme produces, maintains and manages The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species .It implements global species conservation initiatives, including Red List biodiversity assessment projects to assess the status of species for the IUCN Red List and on the ground conservation projects throughIUCN Save Our Species and the Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Programme (ITHCP).

Managed from IUCN’s international headquarters in Gland, Switzerland, it has  technical units based in:

• Cambridge, UK (Red List Unit and Freshwater Biodiversity Unit)
• near Washington DC, USA (Biodiversity Assessment Unit)

The Species Programme also supports the activities of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and its constituent Specialist Groups, and acts as Secretariat focal point for SSC. It is an integral part of the IUCN Secretariat.The Species Programme and SSC work together with a wide variety of partners, including the IUCN Red List Partnership and other IUCN members

• The IUCN Species Survival Commission is the world’s largest network of species conservation experts with over 9,000 members globally. It is mandated by the Members of IUCN (governments, NGOs, and indigenous peoples’ organisations) to conserve species. This unique body of biologists, ecologists, wildlife managers, health and social scientists, educators, community representatives, economists and government officials is passionate in its commitment to “A just world that values and conserves nature”. We devote our lives, generally on an entirely voluntary basis, to saving species. We echo the voices of countless concerned people from every corner of the planet.

7. Zero rate of interest

Subject :Economy

Section :Monetary Policy

Context:

If India has to move to 0 per cent real rate, that is inflation – interest rate = 0, we need 1 per cent increase in the rate of interest, says Uday Kotak, CEO and Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, on Sunday

Concept: 

Real rate of interest

A real interest rate is an interest rate that has been adjusted to remove the effects of inflation to reflect the real cost of funds to the borrower and the real yield to the lender or to an investor.

The calculation used to find the real interest rate is the nominal interest rate minus the actual or expected inflation rate.

Suppose a bank loans a person Rs 200,000 to purchase a house at a rate of 3%—the nominal interest rate not factoring in inflation. Assume the inflation rate is 2%. The real interest rate the borrower is paying is 1%. The real interest rate the bank is receiving is 1%. That means the purchasing power of the bank only increases by 1%.

Nominal interest rate

A nominal interest rate refers to the interest rate before taking inflation into account. Nominal can also refer to the advertised or stated interest rate on a loan, without taking into account any fees or compounding of interest.

The nominal interest rate is a simple concept to understand. If one borrows Rs100 at a 6% interest rate, they can expect to pay Rs 6 in interest without taking inflation into account.

8. RBI regulated Trading Market

Subject :Economy

Section :Monetary Policy

Context:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to restore the opening time for regulated financial markets to their pre-pandemic timing of 9 am with effect from April 18, 2022.

RBI regulated markets:

Major market segments under the regulatory ambit of the Reserve Bank are interest rate markets, including Government Securities market and money markets; foreign exchange markets; derivatives on interest rates/prices, repo, foreign exchange rates as well as credit derivatives.

• Call/notice/term money market-Banks and Primary Dealers borrow and lend overnight or for the short period to meet their short term mismatches in fund positions. This borrowing and lending is on unsecured basis
  • Call Money refers to the borrowing or lending of funds for 1 day.
  • Notice Money refers to the borrowing and lending of funds for 2-14 days.
  • Term money refers to borrowing and lending of funds for a period of more than 14 days. Notice Money is also known as Short Notice Money.
• Commercial Paper and Certificates of Deposit market-
  • Commercial paper (CP) is a popular instrument for financing working capital requirements of companies. The CP is an unsecured instrument issued in the form of a promissory note. This instrument was introduced in 1990 to enable the corporate borrowers to raise short-term funds. It can be issued for a period ranging from 15 days to one year. Commercial papers are transferable by endorsement and delivery. The highly reputed companies (Blue Chip companies) are the major players of the commercial paper market.
  • Certificate of Deposit-Certificate of Deposit (CDs) are short-term instruments issued by Commercial Banks and Special Financial Institutions (SFIs), which are freely transferable from one party to another. The maturity period of CDs ranges from 91 days to one year. These can be issued to individuals, co-operatives and companies.
• Repo in Corporate Bonds-– It is a money market instrument, which enables collateralized short term borrowing and lending through sale/purchase operations in debt instruments.Generally, the repo is conducted with the highest-rated papers of private firms and public sector undertakings. RBI regulation prescribes AA as the minimum rating for a repo.The rates offered in the market are at par or lower than the repo rate offered by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) through its liquidity adjustment facility (LAF).
• Government Securities (Central Government Securities, State Development Loans and Treasury Bills)-The Government securities market, which trades securities issued by Central and State Governments. Trading largely takes place on the Negotiated Dealing System-Order Matching (NDS-OM), an anonymous order-matching trading platform. All the secondary market transactions in Government Securities are settled through a central counterparty mechanism under Delivery Versus Payment mode. Multilateral netting is achieved with a single funds settlement obligation for each member for a particular settlement date. The settlement is achieved in the RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) Settlement/Current Account maintained by the member in the Reserve Bank.
• Foreign Currency/Indian Rupee Trades, including Forex Derivatives (other than those traded on recognised stock exchanges)-In the foreign exchange market, the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (Act 42 of 1999), better known as FEMA, 1999, provides the statutory framework for the regulation of Foreign Exchange derivatives contracts. Residents can hedge their foreign exchange exposures through various products, such as, forward contracts, options involving rupee and foreign currencies, currency swaps and cost reduction option structures in the OTC market. Foreign investors can also hedge their investments in equity and/or debt in India through forwards and options.

In addition, trading within specified position limits is permitted on exchange traded currency futures in four currency pairs and in USD for currency options. Residents are also permitted to hedge their commodity price risk, as per specific guidelines, in the overseas OTC markets and exchanges.

• Rupee Interest Rate Derivatives (other than those traded on recognised stock exchanges)-An IDR is a financial instrument with a value that is linked to the movements of an interest rate or rates. These may include futures, options, or swaps contracts. They are often used by institutional investors, banks, companies, and individuals to protect themselves against changes in market interest rates.
• Market repo in Government Securities -A repurchase agreement (repo) is a form of short-term borrowing for dealers in government securities. In the case of a repo, a dealer sells government securities to investors, usually on an overnight basis, and buys them back the following day at a slightly higher price. That small difference in price is the implicit overnight interest rate. Repos are typically used to raise short-term capital.
• Tri-party repo in Government Securities markets-Tri-party repo is a type of repo contract where a third entity (apart from the borrower and lender), called a Tri-Party Agent, acts as an intermediary between the two parties to the repo to facilitate services like collateral selection, payment and settlement, custody and management during the life of the transaction.

The RBI has notified the introduction of triparty repo in India in its April 11, 2017, Draft Directions. The aim to introduce Tri-party repo was that would contribute to better liquidity in the corporate bond repo market, thereby providing markets an alternate repo instrument to Government securities repo. Tri-Party repos are transacted through a Tri-Party agent in terms of Tri-Party Repo (Reserve Bank) Directions dated August 10, 2017.

9. National Food Security Act

Subject :Governance

Section :Schemes

Context:

In a bid to develop a uniform criteria for identification of beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), the food ministry is formulating new guidelines in consultation with state governments.

Details:

Currently, as per the section 10 of NFSA, respective state governments and Union Territories have the responsibility of identification and selection of beneficiaries. States currently follow inclusion criteria, which broadly covers residential vulnerability, age, disabilities, gender, caste, income and occupational vulnerability. The usage of different criteria by states is likely to leave an essential gap in the coverage under NFSA.

For instance,

• Destitution being recognised as inclusion criteria is only followed by 16 states and union territories.
• Vulnerable households criteria is followed by only 9 states/UTs while the gender based vulnerability is followed by 28 states/UTs.

Section 38 of NFSA states that the Centre can provide guidelines to states from time to time for ensuring effective implementation of food security legislation.

Section 39(1) of NFSA, the Central Government may, in consultation with the State Governments and by notification, make rules to carry out the provisions of the Act.

Section 40 of NFSA provides that the State Governments may, by notification and consistent with the Act and the rules made by the Central Government, make rules to carry out the provisions of this Act.

About National Food Security Act:

The enactment of the National Food Security Act, (NFSA) 2013 on July 5, 2013 marks a paradigm shift in the approach to food security from welfare to rights based approach

• It is legally entitled  to provide highly subsidized food grains to 75% of the rural and 50% of the rural population under Targeted Public Distribution System.
• Beneficiaries under NFSA, receive 5 kgs of foodgrains per person per month at subsidized prices of Rs 3/2/1 per Kg for rice/wheat/coarse grains.
• Foodgrains under NFSA were to be made available at subsidized prices of Rs. 3/2/1 per kg for rice, wheat and coarse grains respectively for an initial period of three years from the date of commencement of the Act (July 13, 2013). Thereafter, prices were to be fixed by the Central Government from time to time, but not exceeding MSP.
• Besides, the existingAntyodaya Anna Yojana households, referred as poorest of the poor, will continue to receive 35 Kgs of foodgrains per household per month.
• As a step towards women empowerment, the eldest woman of the household of age 18 years or above is mandated to be the head of the household for the purpose of issuing ration cards under the Act.
• The identification of beneficiaries by States/UTs is a continuous process, which involves exclusion of ineligible/fake/duplicate ration cards and also exclusion on account of death, migration etc. and inclusion on account of birth as also that of genuine left-out households.
• It follows   life-cycle approach wherein special provisions have been made for pregnant women and lactating mothers and children in the age group of 6 months to 14 years, by entitling them to receive nutritious meal free of cost through a widespread network of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) centres, called Anganwadi Centres under ICDS scheme and also through schools under Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme.
• Pregnant women and lactating mothers are further entitled to receive cash maternity benefits of not less than Rs. 6,000 to partly compensate for the wage loss during the period of pregnancy and also to supplement nutrition.
• In case of non-supply of the entitled quantities of foodgrains or meals to entitled persons under NFSA, such persons shall be entitled to receive such food security allowance from the concerned State Government to be paid to each person, within such time and manner as may be prescribed by the Central Government
• National Food Security Act (2013) provides for reforms in the TPDS including schemes such as Cash transfers for provisioning of food entitlements. In pursuance of enabling provisions under section 12 of NFSA for cash transfer, Govt. notified ‘Cash Transfer of Food Subsidy Rule, 2015’ in Aug 2015.
• NFSA defines the joint responsibility of the Centre and State/UT Government.
  • Centre is responsible for allocation of required foodgrains to States/UTs, transportation of foodgrains up to designated depots in each State/UT and providing central assistance to States/UTs for delivery of foodgrains from designated FCI godowns to the doorstep of the FPSs,
  • States/UTs are responsible for effective implementation of the Act, which inter-alia includes identification of eligible households, issuing ration cards to them, distribution of foodgrain entitlements to eligible households through fair price shops (FPS), issuance of licenses to Fair Price Shop dealers and their monitoring, setting up effective grievance redressal mechanism and necessary strengthening of Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
• The Scheme is optional for States/UTs and operates in “Identified areas” in a State or Union territory or any specified area within the State or Union territory for which there is a written consent of the State Government for implementation of the Scheme. Prevailing system of distribution of food grains through the Public Distribution System may continue in the remaining areas not covered under the Scheme.

10. UNSCR 1540

Subject :IR

Section :International Bodies

Context: Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022 was passed in the Lok Sabha.

Background:

• UNSCR 1540 undergoes periodic reviews to determine the success of its implementation and to identify gaps in enforcement. In one such review undertaken in 2016, it was concluded that the risk of proliferation to non-state actors is increasing due to rapid advances in science, technology, and international commerce.
• Amendment was necessary to address two specific gaps:
  • First, as the relevant organisations at the international level, such as the Financial Action Task Force have expanded the scope of targeted financial sanctions and demand tighter controls on the financing of WMD activities, India’s own legislation has been harmonised to align with international benchmarks.
  • Secondly, with advancements in technologies, new kinds of threats have emerged that were not sufficiently catered for in the existing legislation.

What is the UNSCR 1540?

• In April 2004 the UN Security Council adopted resolution 1540 to address the growing threat of non-state actors gaining access to WMD material, equipment or technology to undertake acts of terrorism.
• In order to address this challenge to international peace and security, UNSCR 1540 established binding obligations on all UN member states under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.
• Nations were mandated to take and enforce effective measures against proliferation of WMD, their means of delivery and related materials to non-state actors.
• UNSCR 1540 enforced three primary obligations upon nation states
  • To not provide any form of support to non-state actors seeking to acquire WMD, related materials, or their means of delivery
  • To adopt and enforce laws criminalising the possession and acquisition of such items by non-state actors
  • To adopt and enforce domestic controls over relevant materials, in order to prevent their proliferation.

Significance of the legislation for India

• Preventing acts of terrorism that involve WMD or their delivery systems requires building a network of national and international measures in which all nation states are equally invested. Such actions are necessary to strengthen global enforcement of standards relating to the export of sensitive items and to prohibit even the financing of such activities to ensure that non-state actors, including terrorist and black-market networks, do not gain access to such materials.
• Sharing of best practices on legislations and their implementation can enable harmonisation of global WMD controls.
• Having now updated its own legislation, India can demand the same of others, especially from those in its neighbourhood that have a history of proliferation and of supporting terrorist organisations.

Features of the bill:

https://optimizeias.com/bill-in-lok-sabha-to-ban-weapon-of-mass-destruction-funding/