Politics is competitive, and it’s easy to comply with the letter of the law rather than its spirit. And a stricter law will make no difference. Political parties and MLAs will find ways around them, like resigning from the legislatures en masse. A lasting solution to probity in Rajya Sabha elections can only come from within political parties.

Rajya Sabha elections are a dull affair. Usually, a party’s candidate wins unopposed. But the elections to be held today in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have been preceded by a lot of drama. In Gujarat, eight Congress MLAs resigned before the election. In Rajasthan, Congress Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has accused the BJP of trying to poach the MLAs supporting his government. In Madhya Pradesh, there is continuing political uncertainty following the resignation of 22 MLAs in March leading to the unseating of the Congress government.

The Constitution specifies that only the elected MLAs of a state assembly can vote in a Rajya Sabha election. During the making of the Constitution, Constituent Assembly members, Mahboob Ali Baig and Mahavir Tyagi suggested that voting in these elections should take place using a single transferable vote.

In this method, a voter, instead of voting for a single candidate, ranks all candidates according to his preference. Voting only takes place when there are more candidates than the vacant seats. They reasoned that this method would lead to the election of candidates opposed to the majority party in a state. Tyagi said, “whenever high State policy is under discussion we can have the advantage of the views of the other side only if they are allowed to come in by this method. The democracy of the Western type is based on the free play of the Opposition. Without good Opposition, democracy will become one-legged, it would limp and tumble down.”

But getting elected to the Rajya Sabha is no longer the cakewalk it used to be. The outcome in these elections depends on the dynamics within a party and external pressure exerted by competing parties. Also, Rajya Sabha seats are no longer the exclusive domain of career politicians. Increasingly, wealthy and ambitious individuals are vying for them too. Consequently, money and muscle power are playing a more significant role in these elections. The legislature has also not been idle — it has passed a law to secure the sanctity of elections to the upper house.

The rot in the Rajya Sabha elections started becoming evident in the late nineties. During this time, MLAs were regularly convinced to vote against their party’s candidate (cross-vote). To stem the rot, in 1999, a Rajya Sabha committee headed by S B Chavan mooted the idea of voting by open ballots in the elections to the upper house.

It thought that the move would prevent “big money and other considerations to play mischief with the electoral process”. As a result, Parliament passed a law in 2003 requiring MLAs to show their votes to their party before voting in a Rajya Sabha election. But neither did the law stop the MLAs from cross-voting, nor could it prevent the influence of big money.

In 2006, cross-voting received a shot in the arm with the Supreme Court deciding that the practice would not attract the penalty under the anti-defection law. And the blatant use of money became evident in the 2016 Rajya Sabha elections in Karnataka. An MLA in the state assembly, Mallikarjun Khuba, was purportedly caught on tape stating, “If you want my vote, it will not be one or two crore. Give election money, it is settled. My offer is above five crore. For the team, it is the same rate”. The Election Commission had to recommend the filing of a criminal case against him.

The open ballot, while noble, provides legal and technical grounds for invalidating votes. For example, in the 2017 Gujarat Rajya Sabha election (in which Ahmed Patel was a candidate), two Congress MLAs were suspected by their party of voting for the BJP candidate.

On the complaint of the Congress representative — that they had shown their votes to the BJP’s election agent — their votes were held invalid. And in Haryana, in 2016, it was the use of an unofficial violet pen for voting that rendered the votes of 12 Congress MLAs invalid. It led to the BJP-supported candidate, industrialist Subhash Chandra, winning the election.

These events make one thing clear. Politics is competitive, and it’s easy to comply with the letter of the law rather than its spirit. And a stricter law will make no difference. Political parties and MLAs will find ways around them, like resigning from the legislatures en masse. A lasting solution to probity in Rajya Sabha elections can only come from within political parties.

This article first appeared in the print edition on June 19 under the title “Higher in Upper House”. The writer is head of legislative and civic engagement at PRS Legislative Research

NITI Aayog and the International Transport Forum (ITF) of OECD jointly launched the ‘Decarbonizing Transport in Emerging Economies’ (DTEE) project in India on 24June.

The launch was held via a webinar and was inaugurated by ITF Secretary General Young Tae Kim and NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant in the presence ofMinistry of Housing and Urban Affairs(MoHUA) Secretary D.S. Mishra, as well as Ministry of Road Transport and HighwaysJoint Secretary Priyank Bharti.

The ambitious five-year project will help India develop a pathway towards a low-carbon transport system through the development of modelling tools and policy scenarios.

During his opening address, Young Tae Kim, Secretary General of ITF, thanked NITI Aayog and CEO Amitabh Kant for the support and collaboration on this project. ‘We are very pleased to launch this project with India, and excited that it is being so well received by our partner, NITI Aayog. This is a very important and promising undertaking that will provide practical support for the Indian government for making the right choices on the way to a low-CO2 transport system. Our collaboration on the “Decarbonizing Transport in India” project is also an opportunity to further strengthen the relationship between India and the ITF.’

In his keynote address, CEO, NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant said, ‘Decarbonization of the transport sector would create a cleaner, healthier and more affordable future for everyone. The DTEE project would help India translate its climate ambitions into actions. The modelling tool and assessment framework would provide a targeted analytical assistance to identify these climate actions and help us draw policies rooted in data analysis and advanced modelling.Given our diverse demographics across socio-economic factors such as population, age, income, etc., it would be important to first estimate the demand for transportation in India and then do a detailed modelling to compute the CO2emissions.

‘Building on this evidence-based assessment of mitigation impacts, bringing DTEE and NDC-TIA together under this collaboration would support our policymaking by identifying various scenarios to achieve Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) targets submitted by India under the Paris Agreement. This project could very well define our future urban policies and could help us in designing policies,which are firmly grounded in data and are likely to be highly efficient and impactful across the entire transport ecosystem in India.’

Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, D.S. Mishra said, ‘Our country is urbanizing very fast, which will throw up huge challenges in terms of provision of various kinds of infrastructure, especially mobility.Our strategies need to be in tune with our requirements when our population doubles.I would like to congratulate NITI Aayog and ITF for coming up this project, which is one of the commitments of the Paris Agreement and the GoI and we are working to achieve it.’

The transport sector of India is the third most greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting sector, where the major contribution comes from the road transport sector. Out of the total carbon dioxide emissions in India, 13% come from the transport sector. These emissions have more than tripled since 1990. The increasing motorization and demand for mobility in India have contributed to air pollution, congestion, as well as the increase of greenhouse gas emissions, in the urban area.

In India, CO2 emitted per inhabitant was just about a twentieth of that of an average OECD country, yet, India’s transport CO2 emissions are likely to increase by almost 6% annually to 2030. India is actively taking a number of measures to tackle its emissions, including newer fuel emission norms as well as the promotion of electric vehicles in the country. NITI Aayog has been at the helm for the promotion of electric vehicles and sustainable mobility through its‘National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage’.

However, given the vast size of India as well as the enormous and diverse transport sector within the country, strategic policy decisions will have to be driven predominantly by data. The Decarbonizing Transport in India project will design a tailor-made transport emissions assessment framework for India. It will provide the government with a detailed understanding of current and future transport activity and the related CO2 emissions as a basis for their decision-making.

The ITF project team will work in close cooperation and coordination with India’s government agencies, local decision-makers, researchers, experts, and civil society organisations. Stakeholder workshops, training sessions, briefings for policymakers and mitigation action plans will support the development of policies beyond the duration of the project.

The India project is carried out in the wider context of the International Transport Forum’s Decarbonizing Transport initiative. It is part of the Decarbonizing Transport in Emerging Economies family of projects, which supports transport decarbonization across different world regions. India, Argentina, Azerbaijan and Morocco are current participants. DTEE is a collaboration between the ITF and the Wuppertal Institute, supported by the International Climate Initiative of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

Rs 15000 crore Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund set-up Kushinagar Airport declared as an 'International Airport' – will boost tourism & provide impetus to economic development in the region

Additional investment for further development of Shwe oil & gas project in Myanmar approved – will assist strengthening of Energy Bridges with neighbours Posted On: 24 JUN 2020 4:00PM by PIB Delhi

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi met on 24th June, 2020 and took several landmark decisions, which will go a long way providing a much needed boost to infrastructure across sectors, which are crucial in the time of pandemic. Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund set-up

Background : In pursuance of recently announced Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan stimulus package, Cabinet today approved setting up of Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) amounting to Rs. 15000 crore.

Government had earlier approved the Dairy Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) worth Rs. 10,000 crores for incentivizing investment by cooperative sector for development of dairy infrastructure. However, the MSMEs and Private companies also need to be promoted and incentivized for their participation in processing and value addition infrastructure in the animal husbandry sector.

The AHIDF approved today would incentive infrastructure investments in dairy, meat processing and animal feed plants. The eligible beneficiaries under the Scheme would be Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), MSMEs, Section 8 Companies, Private Companies and individual entrepreneur with only 10% margin money contribution by them. The balance 90% would be the loan component to be made available to them by scheduled banks.

Government of India will provide 3% interest subvention to eligible beneficiaries. There will be 2 years moratorium period for repayment of loan with 6 years repayment period thereafter. Government of India would also set up a Credit Guarantee Fund of Rs. 750 crore to be managed by NABARD which would provide credit guarantee to the projects which are covered under the MSME defined ceilings. Guarantee Coverage would be upto 25% of the Credit facility of borrower.

Benefits : There is huge potential waiting to be unlocked through private sector investment in animal husbandry sector. The AHIDF with the interest subvention scheme for private investors will ensure availability of capital to meet upfront investment required for these projects and also help enhance overall returns/ pay back for investors. Such investments in processing and value addition infrastructure by eligible beneficiaries would also promote exports.

Since almost 50-60% of the final value of dairy output in India flows back to farmers, the growth in this sector can have significant direct impact on farmer’s income. Size of dairy market and farmers’ realization from milk sales is closely linked with development of organized off-take by cooperative and private dairies. Thus, investment of Rs. 15,000 crores through AHIDF would not only leverage several times more private investment but would also motivate farmers to invest more on inputs thereby driving higher productivity leading to increase in farmers income. The measures approved today through AHIDF would also help in direct and indirect livelihood creation for about 35 lakh persons.

Declaration of Kushinagar Airport in UP as International Airport Background : Kushinagar is an important Buddhist pilgrimage site, where Gautama Buddha attained Mahaparinirvana. It is regarded as a very sacred Buddhist pilgrimage centre where Buddhists pilgrims from all over the world come for pilgrimage. Kushinagar is dotted with several other Buddhist sites in the nearby surroundings like Sravasti (238 km), Kapilvastu (190 km) and Lumbini (195 km) that makes it an attraction for both followers and visitors alike. Kushinagar already serves as the presenting site for Buddhist circuit pilgrimage spanning across India and Nepal. Union Cabinet has approved the proposal to declare Kushinagar Airport in Uttar Pradesh as an International Airport.

Benefits : The Buddhist Circuit is a key pilgrimage destination for 530 million practicing Buddhists across the globe. Hence declaration of Kushinagar Airport as an 'International Airport' will offer improved connectivity, wider choice of services at competitive costs to the air-travellers resulting in boosting of domestic/international tourism and economic development of the region.

On any given day, around 200-300 devotees from Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Burma, etc are coming and offering their prayers at Kushinagar. However, this International tourist destination has no direct connectivity, which has been a long pending demand of the visitors.

Direct international connectivity to Kushinagar would substantially increase the number of foreigners and domestic tourists visiting Kushinagar, which will also provide impetus to economic development of the region. The international airport is expected to boost the already growing tourism and hospitality ecosystem in the country.

Additional investment by OVL towards further development of Shwe oil & gas project in Myanmar approved

Background : ONGC Videsh (OVL) has been associated with exploration and development of Shwe gas project in Myanmar since 2002, as part of a consortium of companies from South Korea, India and Myanmar. The Indian PSU, GAIL, is also a co-investor in this project. OVL has invested US$ 722 million (about Rs 3949 crores, as per corresponding average annual exchange rate) till 31st March 2019 in this project.

The first gas from Shwe Project was received in July 2013 and plateau production was reached in December 2014. The Project has been generating positive cash flows since FY 2014-15. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved additional investment of US$ 121.27 million (about Rs 909 crores; 1 US$ = Rs 75) by ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) towards further development of Shwe oil & gas project in Myanmar.

Benefits : The participation of Indian PSUs in oil & gas exploration and development projects in neighbouring countries is aligned with India’s Act East Policy, and also part of India’s strategy to develop Energy Bridges with its neighbours in addition to further strengthening India’s energy security needs.

Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today approved far reaching reforms in the Space sector aimed at boosting private sector participation in the entire range of space activities. The decision taken is in line with the long-term vision of the Prime Minister of transforming India and making the country self-reliant and technologically advanced.

India is among a handful of countries with advanced capabilities in the space sector. With these reforms, the sector will receive new energy and dynamism, to help the country leapfrog to the next stages of space activities.

This will not only result in an accelerated growth of this sector but will enable Indian Industry to be an important player in global space economy. With this, there is an opportunity for large-scale employment in the technology sector and India becoming a Global technology powerhouse.

Key Benefits: Space sector can play a major catalytic role in the technological advancement and expansion of our Industrial base. The proposed reforms will enhance the socio-economic use of space assets and activities, including through improved access to space assets, data and facilities.

The newly created Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) will provide a level playing field for private companies to use Indian space infrastructure. It will also hand-hold, promote and guide the private industries in space activities through encouraging policies and a friendly regulatory environment.

The Public Sector Enterprise ‘New Space India Limited (NSIL)’ will endeavour to re-orient space activities from a ‘supply driven’ model to a ‘demand driven’ model, thereby ensuring optimum utilization of our space assets.

These reforms will allow ISRO to focus more on research and development activities, new technologies, exploration missions and human spaceflight programme. Some of the planetary exploration missions will also be opened up to private sector through an ‘announcement of opportunity’ mechanism.

Why in News? Assam Chief Minister has ordered the arrest of a Kolkata-based political commentator, Garga Chatterjee, who had described Chaolung Sukapha as a “Chinese invader”.

About Sukapha: He was a 13th-century ruler who founded the Ahom kingdom that ruled Assam for six centuries. Contemporary scholars trace his roots to Burma. He is widely referred to as the architect of “Bor Asom” or “greater Assam”. Sukapha is said to have left a place called Maulung in AD 1215 with eight nobles and 9,000 men, women and children — mostly men.

It was in Charaideo that Sukapha established his first small principality, sowing the seeds of further expansion of the Ahom kingdom. The founders of the Ahom kingdom had their own language and followed their own religion. Over the centuries, the Ahoms accepted the Hindu religion and the Assamese language. To commemorate Sukapha and his rule, Assam celebrates “Asom Divas” on December 2 every year.

Context: Freedom fighter Variyamkunnath Kunjahammed Haji‘s life is set to be portrayed on the silver screen, in a project starring Malayalam actor Prithviraj Sukumaran.

Who was Variyamkunnath Kunjahammed Haji? Born in 1870s, he was a brave freedom fighter who stood up to the British in Kerala’s Malabar region in early 20th century and even established a short-lived regime of his own.

His father, Moideenkutty Haji, was deported and jailed in the Andaman Islands for his participation in a rebellion against the British. Such personal incidents, very early on in his life, played an important role in lighting the fire of vengeance inside Kunjahammed.

He used art as an instrument to rally the locals against the British. He promised support the Indian National Congress and Khilafat movement against the atrocities of the British and the landlords. Haji was aware of the strength of Hindu-Muslim unity and ensured people of other faiths were given adequate security.

Causes of the 1921 rebellion: When Haji got the news that his countryman and Khilafat leader Ali Musaliyar was arrested at Tirurangadi and the mosque has been looted and some police officers killed in the ensuing fight, Haji decided to take arms against the British and arranged a band of army with the help of some sepoys who enthusiastically rallied behind him.

He ensured that the movement had a secular character. But at the same time, he targeted all those who helped the British, be they Hindu or Muslim.

Outcomes: As the rebellion helmed by the Haji and others began to spread across the Ernad and Valluvanad taluks of erstwhile Malabar district, British officers and the local police loyal to them escaped, leaving vast tracts of territory firmly under the control of the local rebels. The territory was declared an ‘independent state’ in August 1921 with Haji its undisputed ruler.

For nearly six months, Haji ran a parallel Khilafat regime headquartered in Nilambur, with even its own separate passport, currency and system of taxation.

During the time, an extensive army with the participation of Hindu men was built with the express aim of thwarting any attempt by the British to overthrow the Khilafat rule. Tenants were granted the power over the lands they cultivated along with tax incentives.

How his rule came to an end? The rule did not last long. In January 1922, under the guise of a treaty, the British betrayed Haji through his close friend Unyan Musaliyar, arresting him from his hideout and producing him before a British judge. He was sentenced to death along with his compatriots.

Context: Russia, on June 24th, celebrated 75th Victory Day, with a military parade that was meant to be held on 9 May (Postponed because of COVID pandemic).

What is Victory Day? Victory Day marks the end of World War II and the victory of the Allied Forces in 1945.

Adolf Hitler had shot himself on April 30. On May 7, German troops surrendered, which was formally accepted the next day, and came into effect on May 9. In most European countries, it is celebrated on May 8, and is called the Victory in Europe Day.

Why does Russia not celebrate Victory Day on the same date? This is because the instrument of surrender signed on May 7 stipulated that all hostilities would cease at 23:01 Berlin Time on May 8 and, as time in Moscow was an hour ahead, this would push the ceasefire into May 9.

An initial document was signed in Reims, France on May 7. But, Russia argued that some German troops considered the Reims instrument a surrender to the Western allies only and that fighting continued in eastern Europe, especially in Prague.

Therefore, Soviet Union demanded another signing. A second surrender ceremony then took place in a manor on the outskirts of Berlin late on May 8, when it was already May 9 in Moscow. Both texts stipulated that forces under German control were to cease operations at 11:01pm Berlin Time.

Therefore, in the eyes of the Soviet Union, the head of Germany’s armed forces surrendered personally to Joseph Stalin’s representative on May 9 and the instrument of surrender was signed in the early hours of that day.

Is the June 24 date particularly significant? The celebrations this year were pushed to June because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nevertheless, June 24th is also significant for Russia. After winning the war and having its own Victory Day on May 9, Stalin wanted to commemorate the victory with a military parade On June 24, 1945 in commemoration of the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War. Hence the first Victory Day Parade took place on June 24 in Moscow. However, since then, the Victory Day Parades have taken place on May 9.

Context: India has the highest suicide rate in the South-East Asian region, according to the World Health Organization report released last year.

India’s suicide rate is at 5 suicides per 100,000 people. India also had the third-highest female suicide rate (14.7) in the world. Suicide was decriminalised in India in 2017, but Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code still stays.

Who can be booked under Section 309 IPC? What punishment does it carry? Anyone who survives an attempted suicide can be booked under Section 309 IPC, which deals with “Attempt to commit suicide”. The law, brought in by the British in the 19th century, reflected the thinking of the time, when killing or attempting to kill oneself was considered a crime against the state, as well as against religion.

Was it repealed? No. The section continues to remain in the IPC. What has happened though, is that The Mental Healthcare Act (MHCA), 2017, which came into force in July 2018, has significantly reduced the scope for the use of Section 309 IPC — and made the attempt to commit suicide punishable only as an exception.

Section 115(1) of The MHCA says: “Notwithstanding anything contained in section 309 of the Indian Penal Code any person who attempts to commit suicide shall be presumed, unless proved otherwise, to have severe stress and shall not be tried and punished under the said Code.”

Role and responsibility of the government: Section 115(2) says that “The appropriate Government shall have a duty to provide care, treatment and rehabilitation to a person, having severe stress and who attempted to commit suicide, to reduce the risk of recurrence of attempt to commit suicide.”

Concerns and issues associated with this section: Use of this Section can potentially deprive a victim of treatment in the golden hour, as hospitals wait for a go-ahead from police in what would be seen as a “medico-legal case”.

It is possible that unscrupulous hospital authorities may misuse this situation and charge extra to “hush up” the case by not informing the police; similar extortion is possible on the part of corrupt police personnel as well.

All of this is in addition to the trauma and harassment that an already severely distressed individual and people around him/her would likely be going through.

Arguments in favour of Section 309: why it should be retained? There are occasions when people show up at government offices and threaten to kill themselves if their demands are not met. It is in these cases, where police suspect that the person does not intend to commit suicide but is using the threat as a way to unfairly pressure or blackmail the system. And during such instances this section need to be used.

If 309 is repealed, there will be no provision to take action against those who intend to create trouble of this sort. Need of the hour: Section 309 IPC can be redefined in such a manner where it can still be leveraged in law and order situations, and not be used against those who are suffering from genuine mental health issues.

Observations made by the Supreme Court and Law Commissions: In ‘Gian Kaur vs State of Punjab’, 1996, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of Section 309.

In 1971, the Law Commission in its 42nd Report recommended the repeal of Section 309 IPC. The IPC (Amendment) Bill, 1978, was even passed by Rajya Sabha, but before it could be passed by Lok Sabha, Parliament was dissolved, and the Bill lapsed.

In 2008, the Law Commission in its 210th Report, said that an attempt to suicide needed medical and psychiatric care, and not punishment. In March 2011, the Supreme Court too recommended to Parliament that it should consider the feasibility of deleting the section.

Quote: Sociologist Emile Durkheim had famously hypothesised that ‘suicides are a result of not just psychological or emotional factors but social factors as well’.

Context: Yoga guru Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved Ltd has launched what they claimed was the first Ayurvedic medicine to cure Covid-19.

About the medicine: Ramdev has claimed that ‘Coronil tablet’, ‘Swasari Vati’ and ‘Anu Taila’ had shown “100 per cent favourable results” during clinical trials on Covid-19 patients.

What next? The AYUSH Ministry has sought details about the medicine and has directed Patanjali and Ramdev to stop advertising such claims.

The concerned Ayurvedic drug manufacturing company has been informed that such advertisements of drugs including Ayurvedic medicines are regulated under the provisions of Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and Rules thereunder and the directives issued by the Central Government in the wake of COVID outbreak.

Overview of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954: It prohibits advertisements of drugs and remedies that claim to have magical properties, and makes doing so a cognizable offence.

The penalty carries a maximum sentence of 6 months imprisonment with or without fine on first conviction. In case of any subsequent conviction, the term may be up to a year. If the convicted party is a company, all members of the company will be deemed guilty.

The law prohibits advertising of drugs and remedies for: inducing miscarriage or preventing conception in women improving or maintaining the capacity for sexual pleasure correction of menstrual disorders curing, diagnosing or preventing any disease or condition mentioned in an included schedule

Definition: The act defines “magic remedy” as any talisman, mantra, amulet or any other object which is claimed to have miraculous powers to cure, diagnose, prevent or mitigate a disease in humans or animal. It also includes such devices that are claimed to have power to influence structure or function of an organ in humans or animals.

Criticisms: The law is rarely enforced and several such products are freely available to the public. The law is considered severely outdated as 14 of the diseases in the list are now curable, and newer diseases like AIDS are not on the list.

Context: The World Bank has released new Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) for reference year 2017, under International Comparison Program (ICP), that adjust for differences in the cost of living across economies of the World.

Globally 176 economies participated in 2017 cycle of ICP.

What is ICP? International Comparison Program (ICP) is the largest worldwide data-collection initiative, under the guidance of UN Statistical Commission (UNSC). The goal is of producing Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) which are vital for converting measures of economic activities to be comparable across economies.

Along with the PPPs, the ICP also produces Price Level Indices (PLI) and other regionally comparable aggregates of GDP expenditure. The next ICP comparison will be conducted for reference year 2021.

India and the ICP: India has participated in almost all ICP rounds since its inception in 1970. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation is National Implementing Agency (NIA) for India, which has the responsibility of planning, coordinating and implementing national ICP activities. India has also been a co-Chair of the ICP Governing Board along with Statistics Austria for the ICP 2017 cycle.

Worldwide status: Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) of Indian Rupee per US$ at Gross Domestic Product (GDP) level is now 20.65 in 2017 from 15.55 in 2011. Exchange Rate of US Dollar to Indian Rupee is now 65.12 from 46.67 during same period.

Price Level Index (PLI)— the ratio of a PPP to its corresponding market exchange rate—is used to compare the price levels of economies, of India is 47.55 in 2017 from 42.99 in 2011.

India’s position: In 2017, India retained and consolidated its global position, as the third largest economy, accounted for 6.7 percent ($8,051 billion out of World total of $119,547 billion) of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in terms of PPPs.

China (16.4%) and United States (16.3%), respectively. India is also third largest economy in terms of its PPP-based share in global Actual Individual Consumption and Global Gross Capital Formation.

REGIONAL STATUS: ASIA-PACIFIC REGION: In 2017, India retained its regional position, as the second largest economy, accounted for 20.83 % of Regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in terms of PPPs.

China was at 50.76% (first) and Indonesia at 7.49% (third). India is also second largest economy in terms of its PPP-based share in regional Actual Individual Consumption and regional Gross Capital Formation.

Among 22 participating economies in Asia-Pacific region, the Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) of Indian Rupee per Hong Kong Dollar(HK$) at Gross Domestic Product (GDP) level is now at 3.43 in 2017 from 2.97 in 2011. The Exchange Rate of Hong Kong Dollar to Indian Rupee is now at 8.36 from 6.00 during same period.

What is PPP? The rate at which the currency of one country would have to be converted into that of another country to buy the same amount of goods and services in each country.

Context: Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has brought in certain changes to promote ‘Make in India’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.

These include: It is now mandatory for sellers to enter the Country of Origin while registering all new products on GeM. Sellers, who had already uploaded their products before the introduction of this new feature on GeM, have to regularly update the Country of Origin.

There shall be a provision for indication of the percentage of local content in products. ‘Make in India’ filter has now been enabled on the portal. Buyers can choose to buy only those products that meet the minimum 50% local content criteria.

About GeM: What is it? GeM is a state-of-the-art national public procurement platform of Ministry of Commerce and Industries, that has used technology to remove entry barriers for bonafide sellers and has created a vibrant e-marketplace with a wide range of goods and services.

Aim: GeM aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement.

GeM facilities: Listing of products for individual, prescribed categories of Goods/ Services of common use. Look, estimate, compare and buying facility on dynamic pricing basis. Market place buying of majority of common User Items.

Buying Goods and Services online, as and when required. Transparency and ease of buying.

Useful for low value buying and also for bulk buying at competitive price using Reverse Auction/ e-bidding. Continuous vendor rating system. Return policy.

Benefits of GeM: Enhances transparency. Increased efficiency. Secure and safe. Savings to the government.

It is an initiative to help systematically assimilate technologies having commercial potential and information related to incubated startups in our higher education institutions.

YUKTI stands for Young India combating COVID with Knowledge, Technology and Innovation.

Ministry of HRD prepared the portal in view of Coronavirus. Through this portal, the Ministry of Human Resource Development will endeavor to ensure that students, teachers and researchers in higher educational institutions are getting appropriate support to meet the requirements needed to advance their technologies and innovations.

Gaia hypothesis put forth by James Lovelock is an ecological theory proposing that living creatures and the physical world are in a complex interacting system that maintains equilibrium.

Blazars are among the brightest objects in the universe thanks to emissions powered by supersized black holes.

The most distant of the newly discovered blazars started to emit their light when the universe was just 1.4 billion years old.

Blazars are similar to all active galaxies, acquiring energy from matter falling toward a central supermassive black hole. A small part of this infalling material becomes redirected into a pair of particle jets, which blast outward in opposite directions at nearly the speed of light.