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Last Week Revision strategyTwo days for Essay:Prepare quotes, facts and intro and conclusion on below topics. You can also do mind mapping of below topics.Read here my essay strategy:What should be our strategy for the essay paper in the IAS (UPSC) exam?Very Important Topics1. $5 trillion in five years: Can we do it?2. Is Bretton Woods still relevant today?3. Politics without principle is a disaster.4. What India needs: Population control or population development?5. With Big Data comes Big responsibility6. Destiny of the nation is shaped by its citizens7. Is water crisis in India a manmade crisis?8. Means or Ends: what is more important?9. Is Gandhian philosophy relevant today10. Rapid Urbanization : Problems and prospects11. Can Zero Budget Natural farming ensure food security?12. Is privatization panacea for ailing Public Sector?13. Can UBI be a panacea for poverty?14. Rising inequality in India: An anomaly or an outcome of economic reforms?15. Industry 4.0: Is India ready?16. Without the rule of law there can be no democracy.17. Is India’s water Crisis a Man Crisis?18. Is Artificial intelligence boon or curse?19. Can State Funding ensure free and fair elections?20. India’s Population: Demographic dividend or demographic Disaster?21. Development and tribal welfare must be synchronous.22. Extreme is the new normal: Climate Change23. “Is development possible without making compromises on our environment?”24. Inequality is not just a moral issue—it is a macroeconomic issue.25. Is de globalization underway?Less Important Topics:26. The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs security of all.27. If you don’t vote you lose the right to complain.28. If voting made the difference they won’t us do it29. Politics, Business and Bureaucracy – a fatal triangle30. E-vehicle : Is it the right time to make a transition31. Malnutrition : A silent epidemic32. Suicide: A silent emergency33. Live simply so that others can simply liveGS Strategy:Answer writing Strategy:What should I do to improve if I only scored a total of 328 marks out 1000 in GS 1,2,3,4 and an overall score of 718 out of 1750 in the UPSC Civil Services 2018 Mains?Important Topics GS1:Culture:1. Mughal painting2. Indian school of philosophy with special focus on Vedanta (advaita, DaVita, Vishist Advaita) and Yoga.3. Ancient Indian Sruti literature4. Aryan invasion theory.5. Trace the evolution of Hindustani and Carnatic style of music in India6. Guptas as Golden Age in Ancient Indian History7. Mughal chroniclesModern India:1. Contribution of Jawaharlal Lal Nehru in pre and post-Independence India2. GoI Act 19193. Subhas Chandra Bose and his Azad Hind Fauj4. Jallianwala Bagh5. Ishwar Chandra Vidya Sagar6. contributions of Indians living abroad in India’s freedom struggle movement, especially during WW1World History:1. French revolution2. Treaty of Versailles of 1919 had sown the seeds for the Second World War3. Colonialization and decolonialisation : China and Hong Kong4. Cold war5. Communism6. Nationalism: Compare and contrast the policy of Bismarck with that of Count Cavour.Post-Independence:1. The language problem2. Unification of post partition India and the princely states under one administration.3. The 1969 bank nationalization4. Assam AccordSociety:1. Secularization of caste in India2. Social exclusion3. New social movement4. Sexual Harassment of women (prevention, prohibition ad redressal) Act and Crimes against Women5. Female labour force participation in India has fallen to 26%.6. Indian family – changing structure and norms7. Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic techniques Act and intentional sex selection- sex rati8. Discuss the linkage between the poor sanitation and Malnourishment9. POSCO and child sex abuse10. Optimum population and population explosion11. Anti-Trafficking Bill12. Tribal land alienation13. Drug menace in society14. Malnourishment problem15. HIV (Prevention and Control) Act 201716. Multi-dimensional poverty17. Disability and Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan18. Migrant workers and one nation one ration19. Sec 377 and transgender20. What are PVTGs? Discuss their geographical location along with characteristics and vulnerabilities. List few schemes for PVTGs.21. UNCCD’s land degradation neutrality (LDN) and land degradation in India22. Globalizations and tribal23. Globalizations and labour24. Rapid urbanization and environment degradation25. Counter urbanization26. Secularism and Communalism27. Does regionalism a threat to the unity and integrity of IndiaGeography1. Why earthquake and kinds of waves ?2. Tsunami2. Marine biodiversity and Depp ocean mining and deep sea fishing3. Biodiversity hot spots4. Indian monsoon and extreme climate events5. Polar vortex6. Forest fire in India?7. Hindu Kush Himalayan assessment report8. Gacial lakes outburst floods9. Heat wave10. Rare earth minerals significance and distribution around the world.11. Formation and distribution of coal deposits in India12. Two time zones in India.13. How tropical cyclones are formed and what phenomenon strengthens them? Explain how cyclone Tilti and Fani are different from the early ones?14. Identify the significance of jute industry? Explain the factors responsible for jute industry?15. Discuss the factors influencing the locations of automobile manufacturing Clusters in India.16. Port led development17. Bangalore as IT CITY locational factors18. Despite a ban, rat hole mining remains a prevalent practice for coal mining in India, why?19. Discuss the geographical factors responsible for the growth of Iron and steel industry in India?GS 2: Important Topics• Government of India Act, 1919• Due process of law• The 44th amendment• Fundamental duties enlargement and enforcement• Directive Principles• 102nd constitutional amendment Act and 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act. Does this violate the basic structure doctrine?• Assam Accord? Citizen Amendment Bill, 2016• 124A of IPC violate the freedom of expression given in article 19• Mob lynching and rule of law• Right to religious freedom• Section 499 of IPC• Article 32• Concurrent list• Madras High court has held that the elected government of Union Territory generally assumes supremacy over the lieutenant government.• Indian fiscal federalism suffers from vertical and horizontal imbalances- Role of NITI Ayog• Office of the governor and Article 356• 15th Finance commission• Finance of ULBs- municipal bonds• Cooperative federalism is an important tool in healing many evils like inter-state and intra-state inequalities• CBI credibility• Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act, 1996• Gram panchayat development plans• Inter-state River Water Dispute (Amendment) Bill, 2019 helps in overcoming the challenges.• Cooperative federalism and Zonal councils in this regard.• Demand for smaller states will lead to balkanization of Indian states. In your opinion, can more number of smaller sates bring in effective governance at state level? Discuss• judicial legislation in India• interstate council• Decline in performance of Indian Parliament• Parliamentary committees are like mini Parliament. Discuss how they increase the efficiency and expertise of the Parliament.• Department related standing committees necessary?• Cabinet Committees• Parliamentary privileges codification• office of profit• Compare and contrast the vote on account and interim budget• Rajya Sabha relevance• Anti-defection Law has achieved its desired purpose and role of speaker.• Opposition Party and leader• Need of Legislative Councils• 5th and 6th schedules tribal area administration• Legalizing lobbying• State funding of elections• Rapid criminalization of politics, SC judgment and Regulation of political parties?• Feminization of Indian politics• FPTP system to PR system• Delimitation.• MCC• electoral bonds• Increasing role of PMO vs cabinet secretariat?• Judicial reforms and vacancy• Pressure groups role and limitation• India had a piecemeal approach to transport planning with multiplicity of agencies .How far can a unified ministry.• Election Commission Appointments• Tor of 15th Finance commission• National Green Tribunal• Tribunalization of justice• Lokpal can be an effective anti-corruption body• National Human Rights Commission commemorates its 25th anniversary• centrally sponsored schemesNGOs vs state and National policy on voluntary sector, 2007• Self Help Group and Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana• Manual scavenging Act• Transgender being the third genders according to the landmark Supreme Court judgment in NALSA vs. Union of India• Forest Rights Act, 2006• Extensive amendments to Forest Act 1927• The consumer protection bill, 2019 is a major step forward in consumer empowerment. Discuss• RTI (Amendment) Bill is RTI elimination bill and Official Secrets Act• E-Gov• NCD Challenge in India• Ayushman Bharat scheme and how far it would address these limitations?• draft NEP• Bihar Primary health crisis.• What do you understand by family law/personal law? Do they come under laws mentioned in Article 13 of Indian Constitution Lateral entryImportant Topics GS 3:• Middle income trap? How can India avert this?• Employment elasticity? Examine the causes of decline in employment elasticity• domestic demand falling• Private investments• India's tax-GDP ratio is still abysmally low and widening tax base• Restrictive labor laws• MSMEs significance• India’s demographic transition• The nationalization of banks and bank merger , NPA• Under-employment• Share of manufacturing in India’s GDP is low.• Demographics especially age structure of the population and economic growth• Black economy• 1991 reform and inequality• Domestic demand driven economy to export driven economy• Green GDP• Is GDP a satisfactory• capital account convertibility and risk• Twin balance sheet problem• Double farmers’ income by 2022and Agriculture Export Policy, 2018. In this context, discuss the key recommendations of the agriculture export policy.• Farm loan waiver.• Agri distress and structural Imbalance in agriculture• Agriculture census shows trends of slide in farm size and rise in woman land owners• Ease of doing business• The vision of $5trillion economy• Missing middle• Farmer security and Farm security• Agriculture and Inclusive growth• Inclusive growth and increasing economic inequality.• Financial inclusion is a prerequisite to inclusive growth.• Economic Survey 2019 and Budget 2019 role of private investment is a key driver of the growth.• Is there a need to revisit the FRBM act FRBM Review Committee headed by NK Singh• Outcome based budgeting• Cropping pattern? Discuss the factors affecting the cropping pattern in India.• Crop diversification for doubling farmer’s income.• Agricultural marketing problems and APMC , ENAM• Precision agriculture• National Agro-forestry policy 2014• GM crops• Price deficiency payment• Challenges of Public Distribution System• Potential of FPOs• Technology missions in agriculture• Non-farm employment in the rural areas• Global warming and its impact on crop productivity.• Model Contract Farming Act, 2018.• E-technological intervention for farmers?• Discuss the scope and prospects of food processing in India. Also examine the challenges faced by the sector.• It has often been suggested that an essential element of “Make in India” has to be “Bake in India”, i.e. a renewed focus on value addition and on processed agricultural products. Comment• land reforms of India• How far LPG reforms introduced in 1991 succeeded in fulfilling the original goal of liberalization? Do you think the economic reforms are the main causes of increasing inequality in India? What are its impacts? How can this be corrected?• What is Industry 4.0? Do you think that India is prepared for this?• dedicated freight corridor-• Infrastructure deficit is the biggest hurdle in achieving $5 trillion economy. In this context, discuss the budget proposal to build a robust infrastructure.• What is strategic oil reserves• What do you understand by energy poverty• Only Solar farming• Private investments need to be encouraged in infrastructure through renewed public private partnership (PPP) mechanism on the lines suggested by the Kelkar Committee.• What is Artificial Intelligence? How artificial intelligence can transform the Indian economy and provide for inclusive growth? Discuss in the light of Niti Aayog's National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence.• Internet of Things IoT and Big Data• India’s policy on Data localization and its implications.• Net Neutrality.• Block chain• Gene editing? What is the role of Crisper-Cas9• DNA Technology (use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019 would augment the justice delivery system of the countr• What is Personalized Medicine? How Genome India Project• Food fortification• Antibiotic resistance, superbugs.• gravitational waves• ISRO space industry and Vikram Sarabhai contribution• Mission Shakti. Does• Why the world is in a second race to the moon? What is the importance of India launching Chandrayaan-2 mission to moon?• Electric vehicles• India’s new drone regulations• Generic medicine and pharma industry• Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001• India's rank in Global Innovation Index.• National Supercomputing Mission (NSM)• Water crisis• Biofuel Policy• The coastal regulation zone notification 2018• Rat hole mining• Illegal mining has ravaged the Aravallis• Space private players• E Wastes• Large hydropower reservoirs• Extreme climate events• Circular Economy?• zero draft EIA notification, 2019• solar geoengineering• Biofuel policy 2018.• climate change on Ocean• National Clean Air Programme and Green Mobility• water crisis• GM technology• . Modernization and indigenization for the armed forces.• Digital currency security• Money laundering• Coastal Security• Smart fencing on borders• India nuclear doctrine• Mission Shakti• Indian Army's "Cold Start" doctrine• How organized crime in India is reinforcing Terrorism• NIA (Amendment) bill and UAPA bILL• Police reforms• Central Armed forces• State and non-state actorsGS 4: Topics:• Altruism• Surrogacy ethics• Medical Ethics• Sports ethics• Political campaign Ethics• Climate justice• Citizen Charter• Work Culture• Citizen charter• Probity• Courage of conviction• Civil service activism• Neutrality• Intellectual Integrity• Organ donation• Prejudice and stereotype• Mob violence –psychology• Abortion ethical dilemma• Price gouging• Sacrifice• Honor killing• Social audit• CSR• Corporate governance• Trusteeship• Auditors ethics• Politics and principles• Consumerism• Challenges of corruption• Leadership ethics• Altruistic surrogacy:• What do you understand by altruism? Does true altruism• How is compassion related to altruism?• What is ethical egoism?• What are ethical and legal issues in surrogacy?• Altruistic surrogacy and Women agency?• What are medical ethics?• Women hysterectomies:Doctors sans ethics: How medical malpractice has made hysterectomies a big business in MarathwadaWhy many women in Maharashtra’s Beed district have no wombs• What do you understand by medical malpractice?• What are reproductive rights?Fire: A young man saved life in Ahmadabad fire incident.This man saved two girls from deadly Surat coaching centre fire. Internet calls him a hero• What do you understand by self-sacrifice and courage? Why courage is called mother of all virtues?Caste discriminationNegative attitude and prejudice.Defections: Politics without principle is a disaster. Politics Without Ethics | Youth Ki AwaazWhat are the ethical issues involved in gene editing?Ethics in voting: Explain the below quote and their relevance in present context.• If you don’t vote you lose the right to complain. Somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world.• The ballot is stronger than bulletAbortionDiscuss the moral, legal and religious issues regarding abortion.Prejudice and stereotypes• What are prejudices? Explain with examples.• How do we develop prejudices? How it leads to discriminatory behavior? How can we get rid of it?Ethics in disasters• Disasters are not administrative challenge they create moral problems also. Discuss• What is price gouging? What are the ethical issues involved in it?• Should businesses lower prices of their services during disaster?Sports ethics• What role ethics plays in sports?• Why ethics is important in sports?• What are the ethical issues involved in allowing use of performance enhancing drugs in sports?Social accountability: RTI, SOCIAL AUDIRSensitivityPrivate and Public Ethics• Is it sufficient to practice ethics in public life?Important Facts for mains 2019ResourcesWater:World’s 9th largest freshwater reservesTotal water resource: 1869 BCMReplenishable groundwater: 433 BCMAnnual per capita water availability 1951 20195177 1720 Cubic MeterWorld Bank Report: Ganga River Basin water shortage: 39%Asian Development forecast: By 2030, water deficit of 50%Niti Ayog Report: 600 mn will face water shortageStanding Committee on water resources: Waterbodies, wetlands are getting encroachedGroundwater: 85% used only for irrigation (221 BCM out of 243BCM).80% of rural people still don't have access to piped water supply.India has only 4% of the world’s renewable water resources but about 18% of the world’s population.NITI Ayog “Composite water management Index”- The report warns that twenty-one cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad will run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting 100 million people. If the present situation continues, there will be a 6 percent loss to the country’s GDP by 2050.Of 91 major reservoirs in the country, 11 have zero percent storage. Further, almost two-thirds of the country's reservoirs have below normal levels, a report by the Central Water Commission’s report.As per a 2018 study by NABARD and Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, shifting a major chunk of the rice production to India’s central and eastern states like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, while encouraging wheat cultivation through sustainable irrigation in the rice-growing regions of Punjab and Haryana, could help India prevent an impending water crisis by 2030.As per the Central Water Commission, 85.3 percent of the total water consumed in India was for agriculture in 2000, and the figure is likely to decrease to 83.3 percent by 2025.Rice and wheat, two of India’s most important food crops, are the most water-intensive. Producing a kilogram of rice requires an average of 2,800 liters of water, while a kilogram of wheat requires 1,654 liters of water, as per a recent report by WaterAid IndiaGroundwater makes up 40 percent of the country’s water supply. The erratic monsoon and successive droughts have led to excessive depletion of groundwater, which resulted in the decline of groundwater by 61 percent between 2007 and 2017. A 2018 report by Water Aid has already put India at the top of a list of countries with the worst access to clean water close to homesUtilization of water: Agriculture>Domestic>Industrial>Commercial consumptionAcc. to The Energy and Resources Institute states, quoting the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organization, that the average water supply in urban local bodies of the country is 69.25 litres per capita per day (LPCD) against the service level benchmark of 135 LPCD.On an average, 85 liters of water goes waste for every 100 liters utilized.According to information furnished by the Centre, while urban areas of the country generate 61,948 MLD of sewage on a daily basis, the installed capacity of sewage treatment plants (STPs) is just 23,277 MLD. This means that only 37.5% of sewage generated can be treated.As per the Agriculture Census 2010-11, there are 138.35 million farm-holdings in India, of which 92.8 million are marginal (<1 ha) and 24.8 million are small (1-2 ha). Even though small and marginal farmers account for more than 85% of total farm holdings, their share in operational area is only 41.2%. About 1.5-2 million new marginal and small farmers are added every year due to law of inheritance.The International Seabed Authority (ISA), an autonomous international organization established under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, allots the ‘area’ for deep-sea mining. India was the first country to receive the status of a ‘Pioneer Investor ‘ in 1987 and was given an area of about 1.5 lakh sq km in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) for nodule exploration. In 2002, India signed a contract with the ISA and after complete resource analysis of the seabed 50% was surrendered and the country retained an area of 75,000 sq km.According to a release from the Ministry of Earth Sciences, the estimated polymetallic nodule resource potential in this area is 380 million tonnes (MT), containing 4.7 MT of nickel, 4.29 MT of copper, 0.55 MT of cobalt and 92.59 MT of manganeseClose to 80% of the electricity generated is from coal and gas. Yet another 50,000MW of coal-fired power plants are being set up under the National Electricity Plan. More than 20% of all the electricity generated goes into “transmission and distribution losses"Due to inadequate and irregular last-mile supply, close to 15 million tonnes of diesel is used by local generators to produce 80 billion KWh of electricity. Close to $2 billion worth of battery storage capacity is imported every year. And most independent power plants operate at 12-15% below their declared capacity as they over-invoice plant costs.Official estimates indicate that around 3, 00,000 farmers have committed suicide over the past 30 years.The single largest factor about India’s water is that 90% of it is consumed in farming. 80 per cent of this irrigation is for water-guzzling crops — rice, wheat and sugarcaneFood Security:·Global Food Security Index (Economist Intelligence Unit) india’s rank - 76/113Resource Mobilisation:Tax collection for 2018-19 fell by,Direct Tax: 74,774crIndirect tax: 93,198Gross tax revenue- GDP 2018-19= 11.9% 2019-20=11.7Direct Tax:GDP will fall from 6.4 to 6.3Indirect Tax:GDP will fall from 5.5 to 5.3Disinvestment target :1 lac croreGovernment interest payment for past borrowings forms the largest component of revenue expenditureCapital expenditure is projected to grow at a rate slower than the projected rate of GDP growth.Investments of Rs 100 lakh crore would be needed cumulatively over the next 5 years to boost infrastructure.The digital payment market, with 800 million mobile users in the country of which more than 430 million have internet access, is estimated to grow to over $ 1 tn by 2025.Pre 1980’s era- GDP growth rate was about 3-3.5% and the population growth rate was 2%.World bank in its Global Economic Prospects, has projected weakening of global trade in 2019. It is projected to grow at 2.6% this year.Requirement will rise to 2.3-2.7 million digitally-skilled professionals during 2023: NasscomIIP dips to 3.1% in May owing to slow down.Index of Industrial Production (IIP) measures the quantum of changes in the industrial production in an economy and captures the general level of industrial activity in the country.Index of Industrial Production is compiled and published every month by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme ImplementationBlockchain technology is considered revolutionary for its ability to enable the secure movement of assets, without intermediaries, with its economic impact projected to exceed $3 trillion in the next decade. Blockchain is now the fastest-growing skill set demanded on job sites, with job growth rates at 2,000-6,000% and salaries for blockchain developers 50-100% higher than regular developer jobs.Blue Revolution:Blue Revolution 1.0: 1987-1997Blue revolution 2.0: 2016 onwardsIndia is second in the world in aquaculture production @ 4.7mn tnChina no.1 @ 60mn tnEEZ= 2MN km squareIndia exported fish worth 2017-18Energy:India is one of the world’s largest producers and consumers in 2 and 3 wheelers.Under National Biofuel Policy, 2018- 20% ethanol blending by 2030 10% ethanol blending by 2022One of the key requirements for a $ 5 tn economy is an investment of about Rs 5 lakh crore in the power transmission sector over the next few years, in order to cater to the 1.8 lakh crore units of electricity that India is likely to consume by 2025.·Share of green power increased from 6 %( 2014-15) to 10 %( 2018-19).Acc. to Oil Minister, India will continue to rely on petrol and diesel for running automobiles, and needs to expand its oil refining capacity by 80%.About ⅕ th of the world’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz.Even with the growth of renewable energy, coal has been projected to be the backbone of electricity sector until 2030 and beyond.India has created 80,000 MW of renewable energy and set a target of achieving 1,75,000 MW by 2022, reduced energy intensity by 21%.Global Innovation Index 2019 : Rank 52Boost demand for vehicles as 1 mnIndia and China will surpass the U.S. as the World’s Centers of Tech Innovation by 2035, according to Bloomberg New Economy Global Survey.India has just 4% of the world’s renewable energy but have 18% of the world's population.·The advantages of transporting water over water include the fact that one Horsepower of energy can move 150 kg on road, 500 kg on rail and 4,000 kg on water. Similarly, one liter of fuel can move 24 tonnes per km on road, 85 tones on rail and 105 tones on inland water transport.·China is way ahead of India in its expansion. Over the 2014-17 period, China’s addition to its renewable energy capacity (207.2 GW) was nearly six times India’s (33.3 GW). Over the same period, China increased its installed capacity in solar energy by 105.5 GW, while India increased its capacity by only 14.3 GW — a mere one-seventh of the former. Advanced economies like the U.S. and Japan installed almost twice the amount of solar capacity over this period compared to India.·India’s annual coal demand rose by 9.1% to nearly one billion tones during the year ending March 2019. Coal features among the top five imports of India, with total imports rising from 166.9 million tons in 2013-14 to 235.24 million tons in 2018-19.·A report published by the Centre for Financial Accountability in June 2018 showed that out of a total lending of ₹83,680 crore for 72 energy projects, 12 coal-fired power plants with a combined capacity of 17 GW obtained loans of ₹60,767 crore. The 60 renewable energy projects, with a combined capacity of 4.5 GW, were able to mobilize only ₹22,913 crore·According to BP Energy Outlook 2019, coal’s share in India’s primary energy consumption will decline from 56% in 2017 to 48% in 2040. But that is still nearly half of the total energy mix and way ahead of any other source of energy. Oil’s share, the second largest, will decline from 29% to 23%, and the contribution of renewables will rise fivefold to 16%. Even the NITI Aayog, which replaced the Planning Commission, in a 2017 report estimated the share of coal in the energy mix in 2040 to be at least 44%.Science and technology:Chandrayaan-1- Launched by PSLV -C11. Detected signs of water molecules.·Chandrayaan-2- Orbiter, Lander(Vikram) and a rover(Pragyan). GSLV Mk III. 3 stage(solid, liquid, cryogenic). 2 Vikas engine. Science and Technology.·The establishment of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 1969 heralded the Indian space programme. As the sixth-largest space agency celebrates its golden jubilee, India has slowly and steadily emerged as a pre-eminent space power with 102 spacecraft missions, the largest fleet of civilian satellites in the Asia-Pacific region, a successful inter-planetary Mars Orbiter Mission and a world record of launching 104 satellites from a single rocket.·The establishment of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in 1969 heralded the Indian space programme. As the sixth-largest space agency celebrates its golden jubilee, India has slowly and steadily emerged as a pre-eminent space power with 102 spacecraft missions, the largest fleet of civilian satellites in the Asia-Pacific region, a successful inter-planetary Mars Orbiter Mission and a world record of launching 104 satellites from a single rocketEducation:·Acc. to RTI query, scientists from SC and ST are grossly underrepresented in scientific institutions funded by Dept. of Biotechnology.·UGC has issued list of 23 fake universities and 14 of them also appear on the 2005-2006 list of fake universities by UGC·Water: India has 4% of the world's renewable water and 18% of the population.Health:Health: SDG AIM END AIDS BY 2030AIDS: consumed 20 mn lives22 mn under ART1.7mn new infections every year and 1mn deathsPreventing mother to child transmission of HIV by 2020By 2024- 80% less new HIV infection.The second edition of NITI Aayog’s Health Index was recently released in its report titled ‘Healthy States, Progressive India: Report on Rank of States and UTs’.What does the trend imply?Some States and Union Territories are doing better on health and well-being even with a lower economic output.In contrast, others are not improving upon high standards, and some are actually slipping in their performance.In the assessment during 2017-18, a few large States showed less encouraging progress.This reflects the low priority their governments have accorded to health and human development since the first edition of the ranking for 2015-16.The disparities are very evident in the rankings, with the populous and politically important Uttar Pradesh being in the bottom of the list.A World Health Assembly Resolution passed in May is hoping to catalyse domestic and external investments to help reach the global targets. These include ensuring at least 60% of all healthcare facilities have basic WASH services by 2022; at least 80% have the same by 2025; and 100% of all facilities provide basic WASH services by 2030.As a joint report published earlier this year by the World Health Organization and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) outlines, WASH services in many facilities across the world are missing or substandard. According to data from 2016, an estimated 896 million people globally had no water service at their healthcare facility. More than 1.5 billion had no sanitation service. One in every six healthcare facilities was estimated to have no hygiene service .Despite decades of effort, India still has less than one doctor for every 1,000 people, the World Health Organization’s minimum ratio for a country’s healthcare adequacy.On an average, a government doctor attends to 11,082 people, more than 10 times than what the WHO recommends. The shortage of government doctors does not augur well for India where 70 per cent of health care expenses are met by out-of-pocket expenditureIn Bihar, one government doctor serves 28,391 people. Uttar Pradesh is ranked second with 19,962 patients per doctor, which is followed by Jharkhand (18,518), Madhya Pradesh (16,996), Chhattisgarh (15,916) and Karnataka (13,556).Delhi is better in terms of doctor-population ratio (1:2203), but it is still twice the ratio recommended by WHO. The states and UTs that are closest to meeting the WHO standards are Arunachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Manipur and Sikkim.As of March 31, 2017, the country had a shortfall of 10,112 female health workers at primary health centres, 11,712 female health assistants, 15,592 male health assistants and more than 6,1000 female health workers and auxiliary nurse midwifes at sub-centres.In fact, primary health centres across the country are in want of at least 3,000 doctors with 1,974 such centres operating without a single doctor. In community health centres, there is a shortfall of close to 5,000 surgeonsThere are reportedly 462 medical colleges that churn out 56,748 doctors every year. Similarly, 3,123 institutions across the country prepare 125,764 nurses each year. However, with India’s population increasing by about 26 million each year, the increase in number of medical staff is too little.States, which are the worst performers in the entrance test for admission to MBBS courses, have the highest number of registered doctors. Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu had the lowest pass percentage in entrance test and yet they top the list of registered doctors—153,513 and 126,399, respectively. Rajasthan, the best-performing state in entrance test, has less than half the number of registered doctors.If the entire country wants to achieve 1:1,000 ratio, it will need 2.07 million more doctors by 2030, according to a study published in the Indian Journal of Public Health, in September last year. With the government sparing just 1.3 per cent of the GDP for public healthcare, as opposed to the global average of 6 per cent, shortage of government doctors means people will continue to incur heavy medical expenditure in private health care system.The study titled 'The Health Workforce in India', published in June 2016 by WHO, also revealed that in urban parts of India, only 58.4% of doctors have a medical qualification. The figure is really poor in rural areas with only 18.8% qualified doctorsAs per the WHO World Health Statistics 2015, India ranked 187 out of 194 countries for its public healthcare services with the public sector spending only 1.16% on health as a percentage of the GDP.Non Communicable Diseases- disease pattern in India in general and particularly in rural India has undergone a significant shift over the last 15 years. An early inkling of this change was evident in a 2001-2003 government of India report on the causes of death in the country. The report revealed that the deaths in rural India due to communicable diseases (41%) were almost matched by those due to NCDs (40%)A follow-up study on the causes of death in rural India for the years 2010-13 showed that NCDs accounted for 47% of all deaths while communicable, maternal, peri-natal and nutritional conditions together accounted for 30%High blood pressure, the biggest risk factor for death worldwide, now affects one in five adults in rural India, while diabetes affects about one in 20 adultsA recent report released by the India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative shows that three of the top five leading causes of DALYs lost in India were NCDs: coronary artery disease, chronic lung diseases and stroke.It is estimated that India is likely to lose $4.58 trillion before 2030 due to NCDs.NCDs in rural India are affecting a relatively younger population—about a decade younger—compared to that in the developed countries. This is likely to be due to malnutrition early in life, which paradoxically increases the risk of NCDs and an unhealthy lifestyle in early adulthood.The government-run healthcare system in rural India largely focuses on maternal and child health and infection. For instance, of the total health budget of Rs47,343 crore in 2017-18, only Rs955 crore was allotted to the NCD programme.India has a doctor-population ratio of 1:1,655; the World Health Organisation standard is 1:1,000. Moreover, there is a considerable skew in the distribution of doctors, with the urban to rural doctor density ratio being 3.8:1.Diabetes has increased in every Indian state between 1990 and 2016, even among the poor, rising from 26 million in 1990 to 65 million in 2016. This number is projected to double by 2030. A major contributor to this epidemic is the displacement of whole foods in our diets by energy dense and nutrient-poor, ultra-processed food products.Self-styled doctors without formal training provide up to 75 per cent of primary care visits. Moreover, at present, 57.3 per cent of personnel practicing allopathic medicine do not have a medical qualification.Population:·As the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16) notes, women in the lowest wealth quintile have an average of 1.6 more children than women in the highest wealth quintile, translating to a total fertility rate of 3.2 children versus 1.5 children moving from the wealthiest to the poorest.·Similarly, the number of children per woman declines with a woman’s level of schooling. Women with no schooling have an average 3.1 children, compared with 1.7 children for women with 12 or more years of schooling.·This reveals the depth of the connections between health, education and inequality, with those having little access to health and education being caught in a cycle of poverty, leading to more and more children, and the burden that state control on number of children could impose on the weakest.·As the latest Economic Survey points out, States with high population growth are also the ones with the lowest per capita availability of hospital beds.·Today, as many as 23 States and Union Territories, including all the States in the south region, already have fertility below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman·The Economic Survey 2018-19 notes that India is set to witness a “sharp slowdown in population growth in the next two decades”. The fact is that by the 2030s, some States will start transitioning to an ageing society as part of a well-studied process of “demographic transition”·A study by the UN Population Fund titled Demographic Dividend in India projects that by 2060, India’s population is expected to touch 166 crore. Most of this increase will translate into a larger working population of people aged between 15 and 59 years. Eighty percent of India’s total population growth during the period 2001-’31 will get translated into an increase in the working age population. By the mid-2040s, this sub-group will consist of more than a billion people·For the first time in Indian history, the population increase during 2001-2011 has been greater in urban areas than in rural areas. Nearly one-third of India’s population, 377 million people, lives in urban areas. The level of urbanization is higher in the south-western Indian states at an advanced demographic stage, accounting for 45% of the population of India’s urban population.Demographic Dividend:·For the first time since independence, India’s working age population — those aged between 15-64 years — will outnumber its dependents, that is, children aged 14 and below as well as people aged 65 and above·This demographic dividend is expected to last for the next 37 years, till 2055 — and is expected to spur India’s economic growth, as well as per capita income.·In Japan, for instance, which was among the first major economies to experience rapid growth because of changing population structure, the demographic dividend phase started in 1964 and ended in 2004. It was seen that in the first 10 years of this phase, it recorded a double digit GDP growth in five of those years, above 8% in two of those years and a little less than 6% in one year. Only two of these 10 years saw growth below 5%.·In Singapore, the dividend years started in 1979 and in the next 10 years, there were only two years when its economy grew at less than 7%. The island country saw double digit growth in four of these 10 years. South Korea entered this phase in 1987 and in the next 10 years, there were only two years when its growth rate fell below 7%.·The dividend years started in 1979 in Hong Kong and it witnessed less than 8% growth rate in only two of the next ten years.·According to the UNFPA — which cites the example of Latin American countries that, despite a demographic dividend, saw only a two-fold increase in their GDP in the late 20th century whereas the Asian countries in the same period saw a seven-fold increase.·Much of what India is able to achieve through its working population increase, says the UNFPA, will depend on whether India is able to provide good health, quality education and decent employment to its entire population.·India’s dependency ratio has declined from 68.4 %( 1950) to 49.8 %( 2018). Total Fertility rate declined from 5.9(1950) to 2.2(2018).India’s working-age population is now increasing because of rapidly declining birth and death rates.In their study, Atri Mukherjee, Priyanka Bajaj and Sarthak Gulati examine how changes in India’s population have influenced macroeconomic outcomes between 1975 and 2017. They find that while overall population growth is associated with lower economic growth, an increase in the working-age population is associated with higher growth.India’s age dependency ratio, the ratio of dependents (children and the elderly) to the working-age population (14- to 65-year-olds), is expected to only start rising in 2040, as per UN estimates.India’s labour force participation rate is declining, especially among rural youth (15- to 29-year-olds) and women.Agriculture:Acc. to FAO, insufficient investment in the agriculture sector in most developing countries over the past 30 years has resulted in low productivity and stagnant production.In India, with a steadily decreasing share of 14.4% in Gross Value Added since 2015-16, the sector’s contribution to a $ 5 tn economy would be around $1 tn- assuming a positive annual growth rate.An early experience of BRIC nations has shown that a 1% growth in agriculture is at least 2-3 .times more effective in reducing poverty than similar growth in non-agricultural sector.Public Investment in agricultural research and development in terms of percentage share in agriculture GVA stands at 0.37%, which is fairly low in comparison to between 3% and 5% in developed countries.·Acc. to Deputy Governor, RBI disinvestment in PSEs would alleviate crowding out effects of government borrowings in the country. Currently, the share of capital expenditure is meagre 14%.·Digital Payment- The number of transactions done through UPI has increased by 180 times since its inception in 2016. However, private players have cut into the government backed BHIM app’s share of the transactions, while card based transactions are still the most preferred online payment method.The Ashok Dalwai Committee clarified real incomes will need to be doubled over seven years (over a base income of 2015-16), which requires a growth rate of 10.4 percent per year in order to realise doubling of farmer’s income by 2022.India is the largest exporter of rice in the world, exporting about 12 to 13 MMT of the cereal per year. If the government raises the MSP of rice, by say 20 per cent, rice exports will drop and stocks with the government will rise to levels far beyond the buffer stock norms.Today, India spends roughly 0.7 per cent of agri-GDP on agri-R&D and extension together. This needs to double in the next five years.India, with a large and diverse agriculture, is among the world’s leading producer of cereals, milk, sugar, fruits and vegetables, spices, eggs and seafood products. Indian agriculture continues to be the backbone of our society and it provides livelihood to nearly 50 per cent of our population. India is supporting 17.84 per cent of world’s population, 15% of livestock population with merely 2.4 per cent of world’s land and 4 per cent water resources.Various studies on fresh fruits and vegetables, fisheries in India have indicated a loss percentage ranging from about 8% to 18% on account of poor post-harvest management, absence of cold chain and processing facilitiesIndia is currently ranked tenth amongst the major exporters globally as per WTO trade data for 2016. India’s share in global exports of agriculture products has increased from 1% a few years ago, to 2.2 % in 2016.Women in agriculture:The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that if women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20-30%. This could raise total agricultural output in developing countries by up to 4%, which could in turn reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12–17% - that's 100-150 million people.MobilityThe higher your educational qualifications, the longer your work commute. That, in essence, is the finding reported in a working paper on mobility in one of India’s most congested cities, Bengaluru, by researchers from the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC).Unlike people with higher education qualifications, those in the unorganised sector without degrees work within five km of home.The commute to work required 42.45 minutes for about 10.84 km. This is an increase from around 40 minutes in 2001. Peak hours add on average six minutes to the commute one-way. Over 95% working in government, or in trade and commerce, move in peak time, while in the industrial sector, 66% of workers have peak-hour travel. That figure falls to just 10% for IT and 6% for the informal sector.Also, 41.91% of commuters used public transport, and a quarter used two-wheelers. Over 10% of commuters walked to work, highlighting the need for better pedestrian infrastructure.·Farm Mechanization: Laser guided land leveler can flatten the land in less time than oxen powered scrapper. It increases farmers productivity by 15%.·Agriculture Census 2018: Uttar Pradesh is home to the largest number of people tilling land, followed by Bihar and Maharashtra, according to the 2015-16 Agriculture Census.·India has been allotted a site of 75,000 sq. km. in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) by the UN International SeaBed Authority for exploitation of polymetallic nodules (PMN). These are rocks scattered on the seabed containing iron, manganese, nickel and cobalt.·Being able to lay hands on even 10% of that reserve can meet the energy requirement for the next 100 years. It has been estimated that 380 million metric tonnes of polymetallic nodules are available at the bottom of the seas in the Central Indian Ocean.·India’s Exclusive Economic Zone spreads over 2.2 million sq. km. and in the deep sea, lies “unexplored and unutilised”·The Amazon basin, spread across millions of hectares in multiple countries, hosts massive sinks of sequestered carbon, and the forests are a key factor in regulating monsoon systems.·As the custodian of forests in about 5 million sq km of Amazon land. One estimate by the World Bank some years ago noted that 15 million hectares had been abandoned due to degradation. Globally, there is tremendous momentum to save the Amazon forests. Brazil must welcome initiatives such as the billion-dollar Amazon Fund backed by Norway and Germany which has been operating for over a decade, instead of trying to shut them down.·The rainforests harbour rich biodiversity and about 400 known indigenous groups whose presence has prevented commercial interests from overrunning the lands.Zero Based Natural Farming:·Acc. to NSSO 70% of agri household spend more than they earn·50% of farmers are in debt.·In AP and Telangana debtedness is 90%(Avg debt 1lac)·Acc to NITI Aayog , more than 1.6 lakh farmers are practicing the ZBNF in almost 1,000 villages.Banking:The opening of 36 crore bank accounts in Jan Dhan Yojana has linked the poor to our growing economy.Government is in talks with foreign lenders to provide $14.5 bn in credit to millions of small firmsIndia’s 63 million firms in micro, small and medium firm sector are responsible for more than a quarter of the country’s manufacturing and services output. Gross domestic product growth fell to a 5 year low of 5.8% in January-March quarter, well below the 8% plus rates that the government is targeting.Credit availability for SMEs, which also account for about 45% of the country’s exports, has worsened due to a liquidity crisis in the NBFCs sector.A study by RBI Panel said the overall deficit in credit for the MSME sector is estimated at about Rs 20-25 lakh crore.Employment:MGNREGA- Lack of adequate financial allocation, pending liabilities and low wages have dogged the programme over the past 8 years.About 20% of budget allocation in each of the last 5 years is pending wage liabilities from previous years. It was worst in 2016-17 when pending liabilities were 35% out of total allocation of Rs 38,500 crore.MGNREGA wages in many states are about 40% lower than the national minimum wage.Swaraj Abhiyan vs Union of India, 2015- Government should provide more work to the people of drought prone area and timely wages.Public employment in India is only one-tenth of that in Norway, only 15% of that in Brazil and much than a third of that in ChinaAuto Industry:8-10 lac job lossAutomatic Hubs: Gurugram - Manesar belt , Pune , Jamshedpur,PithampurEnvironment:The total surface area of our Earth is 52 billion hectares (Ha), and 31% of this has been forest cover.FAO defines forest as a land area of at least 0.5 hectare, covered by at least 10% tree cover without any agricultural activity or human settlementSwiss and French ecologists have found out that there is potential climate change mitigation through global tree restoration by adding 0.9 bn hectares. More than 50% of this restoration potential can be found in 6 countriesIndia has 21.54% tree cover and between 2015 and 2018, we have added 6,778 sq kmPhilippines Success story- Making mandatory for each elementary, high school and college student to plant 10 trees before graduatingSection 15 of the Environment Protection Act(for thermal power plants) provides for blanket penalty for contravention of any of the provisions of EPA: up to 5 years of imprisonment and up to Rs 1 lakh fine along with additional daily fines for continuing offences.·As per Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) norms for upgraded fuels, (IS: 2796 – petrol and IS: 1460 – diesel), sulphur content is reduced to 10 mg/kg max in BS-VI from 50 mg/kg under BS-IV. This key reduction in sulphur makes it possible to equip vehicles with better catalytic converters that capture pollutants.·As per June 2019 sales data released by SIAM, automobile companies sold 16.28% fewer passenger vehicles compared to June 2018. There was a 23.39% drop in the sale of commercial vehicles in the same period. Two-wheeler sales dipped by 11.70%.·India has been emerging as one of the world’s most polluted countries, with particulate matter PM 2.5 levels spiking more than 999 microgram per cubic metre in parts of Delhi last year.·The government also commissioned a study to gauge the economic value of tiger reserves. Based on an analysis of 10 of them, the government claimed that the cumulative benefits — from the carbon and timber conserved, livelihood to those who depend on forests and tourism — were anywhere from ₹4,200 crore to ₹16,000 crore annually.·Nearly 3,000 tigers now reside in India, that's more than 70% of the world's tiger population.·The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has asserted in its report, ‘Status of Tigers in India’ 2018, that 83% of the big cats censused were individually photographed using camera traps, 87% were confirmed through a camera trap based capture-recapture technique, and other estimation methods were used to establish the total number.·The less accessible Western Ghats has witnessed a steady increase in numbers from 2006, notably in Karnataka, and Central India has an abundance, but there is a marked drop in Chhattisgarh and Odisha; in Buxa, Dampa, Palamau, which are Tiger Reserves, no trace of animal was found.·Madhya Pradesh saw the highest number at 526, closely followed by Karnataka (524) and Uttarakhand (442).·Chhattisgarh and Mizoram saw a decline in tiger population and all other states saw a “positive” increase, according to a press statement.Studies show that India’s road transport emissions are small in global comparison but increasing exponentially.Global Carbon Project reports that India’s carbon emissions are rising more than 2 times as fast as the global rise in 2018.Globally, the transport sector accounts for a quarter of total emissions, out of which three quarters are from road transport.According to the recent National Family Health Survey(2015-16), nearly 30% of all men are overweight or obese in southwest Delhi. These data correlate with high reliance of car use in Delhi and low demand for walking.India Human Development Survey shows that 10% increase in cycling could lower chronic disease for 0.3 mn people.A recent UN Global Assessment Report estimated India’s economic losses would be 4% of GDP annually if we don’t invest in building natural ecosystems, while a 2018 World Bank Report said that 600 million Indians are moderately to severely affected by changes in temperature and rainfall.Greenpeace air pollution report for 2019 lists as many as seven Indian cities among the 10 worst in the worldAnother report said that 1.2 million deaths in 2017 could be directly attributable to all-round pollutionThe IPCC report warns that clean energy, clean transport and reduction emissions alone will not cut global emissions enough to avoid dangerous warming beyond 2 degrees Celsius. It points out that the global food system is responsible for 21 to 37 per cent of the world’s GHG emissionsAbout a quarter of the Earth’s ice-free land area is subjected to what the report describes as “human-induced degradation”. Rapid agricultural expansion has led to destruction of forests, wetlands and grasslands and other ecosystems. Soil erosion from agricultural fields, the report estimates, is 10 to 100 times higher than the soil formation rate.The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) estimates that the commercial production of shale gas would require multiple fracking activities in each well with water requirement of up to nine million liters per fracking activity. As of today, 56 sites across six States have been identified for fracking, and according to the World Resources Institute, all of them fall under ‘water stress’ zones, having limited supply of fresh water.The world is 1° C hotter than preindustrial 1850-1900 levels, with 2015-19 comprising the hottest years on record.As a result of global warming, sea levels could rise by 2.8 ft. by 2100, presenting an existential threat to India’s coastlines.Driving this temperature increase, carbon emissions rose by a record 2.65 parts per million (ppm) a year in 2015-19, reaching 412 ppm today. At this rate, the catastrophic threshold of 450 ppm for reaching the 2° C increase in warming will be breached in just 15 years. By 2050, temperatures in India are projected to increase 1.5-3° C relative to 1981-2010, if little action is taken.The average cost of these two renewable power sources is now in the range of the cost of fossil fuels. Even so, renewable energy still accounts for only 17% of India’s electricity needs, with 80% coming from polluting fossil fuelsAlso, energy-related CO2 is rising because of increased fossil fuel consumption, encouraged by government subsidies for this energy source. Worldwide, these subsidies increased by one-third in 2018, to $400 billion globally.Perversely, coal plant capacity is set to expanding South and Southeast Asia, which together account for half of the world’s planned coal power expansion, with India, Vietnam and Indonesia combined for over 30%. Bangladesh and Pakistan plan to increase coal-based capacity threefold, and the Philippines wants to double capacity.·Marine culture: Agriculture Minister further said that fish production in India is estimated at 11.4 million tones, out of which 68% is registered from inland fisheries sector and the remaining 32% from marine sector. It is expected that the indigenous fish requirement by 2020 would be 15 million tones as against the production of 11.4 million tonnes. This gap of 3.62 million tonnes is expected to be made up by Inland Aquaculture and also through Mari culture.E-Waste:According to the United Nations University’s Global E-waste Monitor, India’s e-waste generation amounted to 2 million tonnes in 2017. Computer and telecom equipment accounted for 82 per cent of the total e-waste generated in India, according to an ASSOCHAM-KPMG study.However, only 0 .036 million tonnes of waste was processed.E-waste generation in India is estimated to increase by 500 per cent by 2020. Approximately 95 per cent of e-waste generated ends up in the informal sector according to reports.As of now, government has 312 registered recycling facilities across 19 states with the capacity to recycle 0.78 million metric tonnes.Infrastructure:Road Transport- More people die in India due to road accident related incidents than anywhere else in the world. With over half a million accidents and over 1.5 lakh fatalities every year — and that’s the official figure; unofficially, fatalities could be 20 per cent higher and accidents 50 per cent higher than what’s captured in the crime records database.India overtook China in 2006 as the country with the world’s deadliest roads. A total of 146,133 people were killed on Indian roads in 2015, an increase of 4.6% from 2014, according to the latest data with the roads ministry. The number of road accidents in India increased 2.5% in 2015 to 501,423 while injuries from road accidents rose 1.4% to 500,279 in 2015.According to NITI Aayog “Transforming Mobility Report”, congestion in the 4 biggest metro causes annual economic losses of over $22 bnElectric Vehicles:In 2018 China accounted for 57% of EV sold globally.By 2023 100% electric 3 wheelersBikes by 2025Science and Technology:It is feared that these multidrug-resistant superbugs may kill as many as 10 million people worldwide by 2050.On Medical Devices- “The fact is after the GST regime, importers have to pay respective customs duty which is around 7.5%-10% in addition to 12% of GST. So in effect, importers are paying more taxes after the GST regime than before.It is true that the input tax credit is applicable against GST component on inputs, but the same is available for locally manufactured goods as well.In total, GST regime does not benefit importers in any way over domestic players. In fact, post-GST import duties on many implantable devices have gone up to 10% due to increase in custom duties.Micro RNAs- These are regulators of gene expression, acting like switches. They decide which protein should be made and how much in a given cell or tissue or an organism. They are tiny, having some 20-22 digits of RNA.·The establishment of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 1969 heralded the Indian space programme. As the sixth-largest space agency celebrates its golden jubilee, India has slowly and steadily emerged as a pre-eminent space power with 102 spacecraft missions, the largest fleet of civilian satellites in the Asia-Pacific region, a successful inter-planetary Mars Orbiter Mission and a world record of launching 104 satellites from a single rocketSecurity:“30,000 to 40,000” militants — trained in Afghanistan and Kashmir — are still operating in Pakistan, Mr. Khan(PM of Pakistan) has admitted.Western countries such as U.S, U.K, Canada, Australia, Germany advise their citizens against travelling to Kashmir valley. Against 13 lakh tourists who travelled to Kashmir in 2016, the first 6 months of 2019 recorded just 3.54 lakh.Migration:·Top out migration states: UP,Bihar , Rajasthan,MP,Karnataka·Top in migration states: Maharashtra, delhi, up , gujarat,Haryana.5.43 cr roughly population of Myanmar was the interstate migrant at the time of census 2011.More migrants in Maharashtra ( 91l) than Delhi ( 63l)and Rajasthan(26l). Gujrat( 39l), UP( 41L)21% of interstate migrant go to Maharashtra.22% of job seeker migrants prefer MaharashtraReasons for migration:23% for employment31% for marriage3% for education1% for business40% for familyGender perspective:o47 % Men migrate for employmento4% Women migrate for employmentoHalf of women interstate migrant state marriage as the mains reason.Innovation:·Global Innovation Index : India’s rank 52nd·Israel in top 10.·It invest 7% of GDP in education.·It invest 4% in R&D.Organized Crime:·In 2016, in its reply to a Lok Sabha question, the Union Health Ministry noted that there is a huge gap between the demand and supply of human organs for transplant even though the precise numbers of premature deaths due to heart, liver, lung and pancreas failures have not been compiled.·The Ministry noted that against the demand of 2 lakh kidneys, only 6,000 were available. Similarly, against the demand of 30,000 livers only 1,500 were available, and against the demand of 50,000 hearts merely 15 were available across the country.·According to the Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network Foundation (Mohan Foundation), a Chennai-based NGO working on organ donation, only about 3% of the demand is met.·“In India, [the] deceased organ donation programme is largely restricted to big institutions and the private sector which makes it less accessible for all. The deceased donation rate in 2013 was 0.26/million population and this went up to 0.36/million population in 2014.Innovation:·Global Innovation Index : India’s rank 52nd·Israel in top 10.·It invest 7% of GDP in education.·It invest 4% in R&DEconomyThe latest International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Economic Outlook update in July 2019 has confirmed a growing belief that global growth has decelerated and dark clouds seem to be looming in the near term. Specifically, the IMF has downgraded global growth multiple times since October 2018 and now projects it to be 3.2% compared to 3.6% in 2018.The government’s fiscal deficit touched ₹4.32 lakh crore for the June quarter, which is 61.4% of the Budget Estimate for 2019-20 fiscal.In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit, or the gap between expenditure and revenue, was ₹4.32 lakh crore at June-end, as per the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA).The government aims to restrict the fiscal deficit to 3.4% of the GDP (gross domestic product) in the current fiscal, the same as last financial year.India dropped two places in GDP rankings in 2018 compared to2017. With a slump in consumption, and new investments reducing to a trickle, the government’s aim of making India a $5 trillion economy 2024 seems far fetched.Drop in position : In 2017, the size of the Indian economy stood at $2.65 trillion, the fifth largest. In 2018, India’s economy in $ terms grew by 3.01% to $2.73 trillion. But in the same period, the U.K. and France grew by 6.8% and 7..3% respectively, pushing India to the seventh place in the World Bank’s GDP rankings in 2018.Investment Woes : Investments in new projects nosedived to a 15 year low in the quarter ending June 2019. The drop in value of new projects was driven by a dip in both private and government investments.Consumption drops : Three of the four major indicators of the consumer economy recorded negative growth rates in the first half of 2019.Downward revision : The IMF, Asian Development Bank and CRISIL brought down their projections for India for FY20. While both IMF and ADB have projected that India will grow at 7% or more, CRISIL has estimated that the GDP will grow by 6.9%India will now need to attract private capital amounting to 3%-4% of GDP for the ‘Great March’ that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has flagged off to $5 trillion GDPBanking: After nationalisation of banks in 1969, the share of institutional sources in the outstanding debt of rural households increased from just 16.9% (1962) to 64%(1992).The share of bank deposits to GDP rose from 13% in 1969 to 38% in 1991. The gross savings rate rose from 12.8% in 1969 to 21.7% in 1990. The share of advances to GDP rose from 10% in 1969 to 25% in 1991. The gross investment rate rose from 13.9% in 1969 to 24.1% in 1990.After economic reforms of 1991, more than 900 rural bank branches closed down across the country. The rate of growth of agricultural credit fell sharply from around 7% per annum in the 1980s to about 2% per annum in the 1990s.Between 1991 and 2002, the share of institutional sources in the total outstanding debt of rural households fell from 64% to 57.1%RBI new branch authorisation policy in 2005- the number of rural bank branches rose from 30,646 in 2005, to 33,967 in 2011 and 48,536 in 2015. The annual growth rate of real agricultural credit rose from about 2% in the 1990s to about 18% between 2001 and 2015.Between 2010 and 2016, the key responsibility of opening no-frills accounts for the unbanked poor fell upon public banks. Data show that more than 90% of the new no-frills accounts were opened in public banks·A revenue deficit of Central govt. Is relatively recent, having been virtually non existent till the 1980s. After that a rampant populism has taken over all political parties, reflected in revenue deficit accounting for over ⅔ rd of the fiscal deficit.·World Economy: IMF forecast for the world is 3.2%Disaster ManagementAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), 30-40 per cent of the victims of catastrophic natural disasters suffer from major mental distress and require counselling.CybersecurityInternet Shut down·During 2012-017, says Icrier, 16,315 hours of Internet shutdown cost India’s economy around $3 billion, the 12,600 hours of mobile Internet shutdown about $2.37 billion, and the 3,700 hours of mobile and fixed-line Internet shutdowns nearly $678.4 million.··India is the 5th largest producer of solar energy and 6 th largest producer of renewable energy.·China ranks 1st in terms of renewable energy production according to International Renewable Energy Agency·A study by the Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, shows that Indian coal-fired thermal power plants are considered the most inefficient and polluting in the world. More than 75% of these plants don’t comply with governmental regulations.IMPORTANT TOPICS FOR MAINS-2019:Employment:The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) released on Friday showed the unemployment rate in the country in FY18 was at 5.3% in rural India and 7.8% in urban India, resulting in overall unemployment rate of 6.1%.Middle income trap:The per-capita income at current prices during 2018-19 is estimated to have attained a level of ₹1,26,406 ( ₹10,533.83 monthly) as compared to the estimated for the year 2017-18 of₹1,14,958 ( ₹9,579.83 a month), showing a rise of 10%," according to the annual national income and GDP 2018-19 data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).Export policy:India’s revenue from exports of merchandise over the last four fiscal years was $310 billion, $262 billion, $275 billion and $302 billion, respectively. Thus over the four years from April 2014 till March 2018, the total growth was zero, or, rather, a tad negative. Even the ratio of exports to gross domestic product (GDP), at 11.6%, is at a 14-year low.In 2014, the trade policy announced by the Union commerce minister envisaged total exports worth $900 billion by 2020. That looks almost impossible, unless exports grow by 40% per annum from now onEmployment elasticity:The old link between growth and jobs is now much weaker than before. In the 1990s, the employment elasticity in India was nearly 0.4. This number measures how much a given rise in growth impacts jobs. At 0.4, a one per cent rise in GDP growth gives us a 0.4% rise in employment; 5% growth gives jobs a 2% boost.Now, this elasticity is down to 0.2 or lower. This means, for every percentage rise in growth, we get only a 0.2% impact on employment. Put another way, we need a minimum of 10% GDP growth to give us the kind of jobs kick we used to get in the 1990s.The gap between jobs created and jobs sought will be just over 1.5 million annually.Tax-GDP Ratio :The tax-GDP ratio is expected to cross 12% in FY19, a new high in over a decade, but lower than emerging market peers.Tax-to-GDP ratio for India has inched up slightly in recent years, but remains well below the world average. It is 10.6% , 11.6% , 12.1% in the years 2016, 2018, 2019 respectively.MSME :MSME has played a prominent role in the development of the country in terms of creating employment opportunities-MSME has employed more than 50 million people, scaling manufacturing capabilities, curtailing regional disparities, balancing the distribution of wealth, and contributing to the GDP-MSME sector forms 8% of GDP.MSME sector has cut jobs in the last seven yearsDemographic transition:India’s working-age population is now increasing because of rapidly declining birth and death ratesIndia’s age dependency ratio, the ratio of dependents (children and the elderly) to the working-age population (14- to 65-year-olds), is expected to only start rising in 2040, as per UN estimatesDemographic Dividend:For the first time since independence, India’s working age population — those aged between 15-64 years — will outnumber its dependents, that is, children aged 14 and below as well as people aged 65 and above.India’s dependency ratio has declined from 68.4 %( 1950) to 49.8 %( 2018). Total Fertility rate declined from 5.9(1950) to 2.2(2018).Black Money:Various studies and estimates have pegged black money circulation india anywhere between 7 per cent and 120 per cent of the country’s GDP in 2009-10 and 2010-11.Green GDP:Damage to the environment is put at Rs 34,0000 crores per year and it reduces the GDP by 9.5 percent annually.If water scarcity persists, it can lead to an alarming loss of six percent in the GDP by year 2050.Non Performing Asset:In recent years, the gross NPAs of banks have increased from 2.3% of total loans in 2008 to 4.3% in 2015 .Care Ratings says 17 banks have bad loan ratio above 10%. Gross NPAs of a set of 36 banks increased from ₹6.71 lakh crore in March 2017 to a peak of ₹9.66 lakh crore in March 2018 and subsequently moderated to ₹8.70 lakh crore in March 2019 before increasing to ₹8.97 lakh crore in June 2019.Agriculture export policy :India’s share in global exports of agriculture products has increased from 1% a few years ago, to 2.2 % in 2016.In 2018, India accrued a $14.6 billion trade surplus of agricultural, fishery, and forestry goods. Leadingexports consisted of Basmati rice, carabeef/meat of bovine animals, frozen shrimp and prawns, cotton, and refined sugar.Farm loan waiver:Agricultural NPAs were on a continuous decline between 2001 and 2008. Second, there is no evidence to argue that the 2008 waiver led to a rise in default rates among farmers.The rise of agricultural NPAs, from 2% to 5%, is no evidence for indiscipline in farmer repayment behaviour. One, NPAs in agriculture remained stable at around 4 to 5% between 2011 and 2015. This was despite the fact that agricultural growth averaged just 1.5% between 2011 and 2015.Agriculture census:Small and marginal farmers with less than two hectares of land account for 86.2% of all farmers in India, but own just 47.3% of the crop area, according to provisional numbers from the 10th agriculture census 2015-16.Inequality and Inclusive growth :About 50% of wealth in India in owned by just 100 people which is due to unequal distribution of wealth.Agriculture has a share of 17% in the GDP but employs about half the total labour force while the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) have a share of 32% in the gross value added (GVA) and have an important place in providing an “above the poverty line” lifestyle to the people (GoI 2018).Financial Inclusion:600 million deposit accounts were opened between fiscals 2013 and 2016, or twice the number between 2010 and 2013. Nearly a third of this was on account of Jan Dhan.for fiscal 2016 (the latest period for which data is available) show financial inclusion has improved significantly in India, with the all-India score rising to 58.0 in fiscal 2016, compared with 50.1 in fiscal 2013.Private investment:Investment in private sector projects fell similarly (83% compared to the previous quarter and 89% compared to last year).The stalling rate of private sector projects, which has hovered above 20% since the September 2017 quarter, reached an all-time high of 26.1% in the June 2019 quarter.Livestock Population:About 20.5 million people depend upon livestock for their livelihood. Livestock contributed 16% to the income of small farm households.The value of output from livestock was about 31.11% of the value of the output from total agriculture and allied sector.Food security in India :The country is home to 270 million hungry people, the highest in the world. India stands 97th in Oxfam’s Food Availability Index, and 103rd in the 2018 Global Hunger Index. In 2015-16, food grains accounted for 79 per cent of the imported agricultural produce; the figure was 76% the following year.Large-scale import of wheat in 2016 is often attributed to drought years. But there has been large-scale import of edible oil and pulses as well in the past two decades.Energy Poverty:India has just 4% of the world’s renewable energy but have 18% of the world's population.Agricultural technology:Farm Mechanization: Laser guided land leveler can flatten the land in less time than oxen powered scrapper. It increases farmers productivity by 15%.Food processing :According to the ministry of food processing industries annual report, the sector employs 12.8% of the workforce in the organised sector (factories registered under Factories Act, 1948), and 13.7% of the workforce in the unorganised sector. Despite being one of the largest producers of agricultural and food products in the world, India ranks fairly low in the global food processing value chains.Food processing is also important from the point of reducing food waste. In fact, the United Nations estimates that 40% of production is wasted. Similarly, the NITI Aayog cited a study that estimated annual post-harvest losses of close to Rs 90,000 crore.Renewable energy and energy security :Even with the growth of renewable energy, coal has been projected to be the backbone of electricity sector until 2030 and beyond.India has created 80,000 MW of renewable energy and set a target of achieving 1,75,000 MW by 2022, reduced energy intensity by 21%.India’s annual coal demand rose by 9.1% to nearly one billion tones during the year ending March 2019. Coal features among the top five imports of India, with total imports rising from 166.9 million tons in 2013-14 to 235.24 million tons in 2018-19.Best of luck to all mains candidates!God bless you all

Are living standards higher in Australia than the US?Depends upon what you see as a “standard” worth comparing, let alone how you define or measure “living”. Both countries have their pros and cons, of course, and no-one actually lives an “average” life in either case, let alone your “average” Aussie household of 2.6 people.[1] Your personal preferences, experience and judgement will vary, as will your chosen location (which city, town or region?) and overall demographics.And whilst “similar” in many ways, the experience will inevitably be different and very individual.It’s hard to be objective as we all grow up immersed in a local culture that’s hard to shake off. We may say we despise/dislike some aspects of our homeland but we often miss it when we travel, for example. And as a percentage of the population Australians travel abroad far more than US citizens[2].To be slightly more-or-less objective, here are some publicly available comparable measures of “living standards”.The list of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita[3]- 2016 IMF figures: Australia is 17th at $48,899 per capita and USA tops that with 11th at $57,436. The USA has an advantage here but it’s not that far apart and it’s an average (i.e lots of US billionaires to boost the numbers).Yet the list of countries by Gross median household income[4] shows Australia at 4th, just edging out the USA at 6th. This is different from a mean or average, rather it ‘picks the middle’. Essentially the middle class does slightly better in Australia, in gross terms.As a quick aside, both the mean and the median[5] will be equal in a ‘normal distribution’.[6] But life’s not ‘normal’, or even approximately random; it’s influenced and shaped by competing and interacting factors, and when the data is plotted it doesn’t always come out as a nice ‘Bell curve’[7]For example a Poisson distribution[8] may be more appropriately identified when predicting and matching required hourly staffing numbers with the probability distribution of customers calling for technical support. Statisticians are often best equipped to pick the ‘most appropriate’ distribution,[9] and the most informative way to analyse it (rather than politicians, the media or a random person in the street)For income analysis a ‘normal’ or bell-shaped curve usually doesn’t fit historical data either, and the mean (or ‘average’, if you like) will often significantly vary from a median (or ‘middle-of-the-sorted-series’[10]) value. That tells us something about the distribution - generally, that it’s skewedIf the mean and the median are different values, we should ask ‘why?’; basically they may tell different stories about your data and understanding that is important.An earlier median income comparison (from 2013) that more clearly favours Australia over the US in middle class wealth analysis was published by USNews.[11]According to the 2017 Social Progress Index,[12] Australia is 9th overall (down from 4th, by the way).The US is somewhat lower at 18th.According to Mercer’s 2017 list of cities by quality of life,[13]San Francisco is the first US city to appear at 29th, down from 28th.Sydney however remains steady at 10th; other Aussie cities have taken a tumble but still rank above most US cities.[14]In contrast, Melbourne actually tops the Economist Intelligence Unit Global Liveability Ranking[15] and has done so for 7 consecutive years. There are 4 Aussie cities in the top 11, but no US cities make the cut.Monocle magazine’s Quality of Life survey[16] ranks Melbourne (5th) ahead of Sydney (7th), too, with Brisbane 23rd.Again no US city makes the top 25.Australia outranks the US in the OECD Better Life Index,[17] mostly because of lesser inequality in Oz. It’s all of those US billionaires again, contrasted with the many more poor and poorly paid (about 17% of US citizens compared with 12% in Oz).The Credit Suisse Research Institute's Global Wealth Report 2017[18] states that “Switzerland (USD 537,600), Australia (USD 402,600) and the United States (USD 388,600) continue to occupy the first three positions in the ranking of wealth per adult”. Obviously all of those Swiss Bank accounts add up.Still, it’s another win to Australia over the US.That same survey looks at median wealth, too, and reports that “in first place Switzerland (USD 229,000) exceeds that of Australia (USD 195,400), but the difference is narrow”.And the US? “Median wealth of USD 55,900 relegates the United States to 21st place, alongside Austria and Greece.”[19] Again the US suffers statistically because of pronounced inequity (all of those billionaires, dragged down by the poor).Here’s another excellent factual comparison, at indexmundi,[20] There’s also a detailed and very fair analysis of an earlier Credit Suisse Research Institute report at the Guardian.[21]And another, even earlier and broader analysis and comparison (including education and life expectancy) over at News Limited that generally favours Australia.[22]Do we see a pattern emerging at all?Perhaps Australians pay a hefty price for their lifestyles?The data is a bit old (mostly 2011) but the trend is clear that the Australian fiscal debt as a percentage of GDP is about half of the US public debt. And the US debt trajectory is steeper.[23] Current Australian government policy is to increase some taxes (and cut corporate tax a little) and to slow or reverse the climbing debt; the US administration proposes the opposite: a cut to corporate tax coupled with a massive increase in spending.The same website compares the US and Oz cost of living.[24]It’s probably fair to say that the average Aussie has around $500 more in their pockets after tax (per month, 2014 figures[25]) but generally pays more for goods and services.If we look at taxation as a % of GDP, Australia is just below the OECD average at 34.3%, and the US is below that at either 26.4 or 33.4 (pick one!).[26]I suspect that the latter US number includes a higher number of taxes. In any case this is a measure of the relative size of government vs the private sector.If you just look at personal income tax as a % of GDP the gap narrows enormously. A win to the US, if you see some significance to GDP percentages.It’s worth noting that Denmark is way off the scale! Of course the social safety net, education and other social programs are a big driver of that. Remember also that the above is a % of GDP, so if GDP goes up whilst government stays stable, the % falls. (Australia has set a world record - 26 years straight - for consistently growing GDP.)The relative tax burden that falls on individual citizens narrows the gap once more. There’s almost no difference between Oz and the US, even though popular perception may be that the US is a “lower taxing nation”.Ah ha, you say, but what about the GST? Well yes, the US collects goods and services taxes on a lower share of GDP than Australia, but both countries are way below the OECD average (that’s the black column in the chart below).Taxation per capita (OECD figures) is lower in the US than Australia ($14.8K vs $17.1K), but it’s comparable with most developed nations. Given Australia’s larger social safety net, including universal health care, it’s arguably a bargain. (G20 comparison below.)Last but not least is the ‘tax wedge’, which effectively measures the impact of personal taxation on new hires, from the point of view of an employer. It asks the question, how encouraging (or discouraging) is the tax system?Perhaps surprisingly, Australia manages to edge out the US here. So despite a higher average wage and a bigger social safety net, Australia offers more encouragement to employers to hire new staff. So much for the rhetoric.To be fair, it’s not just the tax system that encourages or impedes investment in new workers. The US has less strict workplace regulation and hiring and firing is more “friction-less”, or just plain easier. OTOH Aussie workers have more protection from being fired on a whim, as it were.The main takeaway is that Australia and the US have much in common, however Australia offers arguably more “bang for the buck”.Why is this so?IMHO Australia has inherited more of the British political and bureaucratic inertia, coupled it with an anti-authoritarian streak and retained the common courtesies of patient queuing and easy-going acceptance, whilst also being tough-minded and hard-working. We just make it look like we are enjoying ourselves, irrespective. (Sometimes in a coarse and vulgar way, mind.)Being created a fair bit later in time than the US, and having not had to literally fight for our independence or flee from religious persecution (just other persecution), Australia profited from the very real late 19th Century debate about socialism vs capitalism,[27] before settling on our own Constitution.By sheer necessity the Crown had established from scratch almost all institutions of note and substance, and the socialists were in the ascendant.Marx and his economic philosophy were yet to accrue the negative attachments that came later. Australia could envision a system with a strong social safety net and the taxation to support it without perhaps the widespread popular rebuke we may expect.Together with New Zealand and the Nordic nations, with which much is shared, Australia paved the way with a series of social and democratic reforms, including democratic enfranchisement free of wealth or land ownership, and later free of gender discrimination, too[28](as early as 1895 in South Australia, and 1902 nationally[29]).Remembering that the earlier U.S. Declaration of Independence and its laudable assertion in 1776 that "all men are created equal" didn’t swiftly translate into effective freedom from slavery, or enfranchisement for women. That may have been at least in part the intent, and was it certainly debated as such, but in terms of scope and priority it wasn’t spelled out per se. For instance suffrage for women arrived nationally in the US from 1920[30]and in other respects, as is also the case in Australia, much work remains to be done.Even earlier, by the 1890s, it was recognised that Australia had shrugged off the oh-so-English class system. Too many convicts, too many persecuted Irish agitators, redcoats and free settlers alike who all saw their chance to live a better life than the one they left behind in Old Blighty.[31]By 1901 Frenchman Albert Metin could write in his book Le socialisme sans doctrines: la question agraire et la question ouvrière en Australie et Nouvelle-Zélande that "these countries in which the state has set limits to the right of property, has instituted the eight-hour day, the minimum wage, compulsory arbitration, with many other measures which have given the English antipodean colonies the surname Paradise of Workingmen",[32][33] and with good reason.World leading practices of conciliation and arbitration[34] grew out of the industrially turbulent 1890s, and the struggles of the labour movement itself gave rise both to widespread democratic enfranchisement and the Labor Party itself.[35]It’s a long read but I also recommend New Zealand-born William Pember Reeves’[36] 1902 work, State Experiments in Australia and New Zealand.[37] He paints a vivid picture of the time, the politics and the debates that led to Federation. Or read the Australian Federation Convention debates[38] themselves.In contrast the 13 British Colonies in America[39]prior to Independence (declared in 1776 but fought for until 1783)[40] endured a long period of debate and agitation over States rights issues, many of them concerned with unfair or inequitable tariffs and a widening gap between rich and poor that left an indelible mark on their nascent society.The agitators for liberty profited from British[41] and French pamphleteers and philosophers[42], from which they perhaps seized upon liberty more keenly than the later concept of égalité.But they suffered (and prospered) through endemic slavery far more than the late-arriving Antipodeans, who managed to hide any such thing more thoroughly, often by the deceit of “paid work”.[43]It remains a dark chapter in Australia’s history, but arguably didn’t become as widespread as it may have done. Although for those so exploited, this is cold comfort indeed. In short the British Colonies after 1807 couldn’t legally trade in slaves, so they were more creative in their use (or conscription) of cheap labour.The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act was passed in 1807, [44]and slavery itself was finally outlawed in 1833, applying throughout the the British Empire.[45]Not so in the US. Efforts toward emancipation finally sparked the War of Secession[46] and only with the end of that civil war did slavery formally end, in 1865.[47] By that time the wounds were deep.It many ways it was a matter of timing; the newly independent United States couldn’t avoid the well-entrenched slave trade nor build a social safety net even if they wanted to.Money and economics were at the heart of this inertia. The economics of the southern states had become dependent upon slavery, for example. And whilst earlier efforts were made, it wasn’t until the 16th Amendment[48] was passed, in 1913, that personal income tax was formally and permanently instituted nationally. Even so, in 1913 less than 1 percent of the population paid income taxes at the rate of only 1 percent of net income.[49] To build a comprehensive social support structure without the revenue base just wasn’t feasible.In the Australian case, the Federal government collected income tax from 1915, the colonies themselves kicking it off from 1884, starting with South Australia[50].Apart from all of that, Aussies don’t seem to wave the flag quite like the citizens of the US, and we do our best to mumble disrespectfully through our national anthem, too. This has changed a little in recent years, possibly because of nationalistic conservatives such as former PM John Howard.[51]Unless it’s an international sporting event, flag waving is largely reserved for people who seemingly need reminding where they live; and only on a few national ceremonial days. It’s not a national obsession.And we generally pay decent wages, so tipping is still optional and not excessive.If you like that sort of mix, great.It’s similar to US culture, but US culture has had more time and history with which to split and regionalise, to differentiate. They even have markedly different regional accents of their own. Imagine that.Footnotes[1] Population and households[2] https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economic-intelligence/2013/08/22/australias-middle-class-wealth-shows-how-far-america-has-fallen[3] List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita - Wikipedia[4] Median income - Wikipedia[5] Mean - Wikipedia[6] Normal distribution - Wikipedia[7] Gaussian function - Wikipedia[8] Poisson distribution - Wikipedia[9] List of probability distributions - Wikipedia[10] How to Find the Median Value[11] https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economic-intelligence/2013/08/22/australias-middle-class-wealth-shows-how-far-america-has-fallen[12] 2017 Social Progress Index[13] 2017 Quality of Living Survey[14] Mercer Quality of Living Survey - Wikipedia[15] Global Liveability Ranking - Wikipedia[16] 'Monocle' Magazine Reveals the World's Top 25 Most Liveable Cities for 2017[17] OECD Better Life Index[18] Credit Suisse Publications[19] http://publications.credit-suisse.com/tasks/render/file/index.cfm?fileid=A6E9E182-E39B-0353-6751EB076EF35159[20] United States vs. Australia[21] Australia is rich and on top of the world: is it time to pop the champers?[22] How would your life compare? Australia vs US[23] Australia vs United States: Economy Facts and Stats[24] Australia vs United States: Cost of living Facts and Stats[25] Countries Compared by Cost of living > Average monthly disposable salary > After tax. International Statistics at NationMaster.com[26] List of countries by tax revenue to GDP ratio - Wikipedia[27] Capitalism, Socialism and Communism[28] Women's suffrage - Wikipedia[29] Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House[30] Women's suffrage in the United States - Wikipedia[31] Blighty - Wikipedia[32] Albert Métin - Wikipedia[33] LE SOCIALISME SANS DOCTRINES.[34] Charles Kingston - Wikipedia[35] Inaugural Annual Hawke Lecture[36] William Pember Reeves - Wikipedia[37] Full text of "State experiments in Australia and New Zealand"[38] Records of the Australasian Federal Conventions of the 1890s[39] Thirteen Colonies - Wikipedia[40] History of the United States (1776–89) - Wikipedia[41] Common Sense (pamphlet) - Wikipedia[42] A people's history of the American revolution - Howard Zinn[43] Robert K. Russell's answer to Which parts of Australia are considered "redneck" areas that are similar to the Deep South of the USA?[44] Slave Trade Act 1807 - Wikipedia[45] Slavery Abolition Act 1833 - Wikipedia[46] American Civil War - Wikipedia[47] Slavery in the United States - Wikipedia[48] Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution - Wikipedia[49] 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Federal Income Tax (1913)[50] Taxation in Australia - Wikipedia[51] John Howard - Wikipedia

Since Modi government has came into power, n number of schemes have been launched:Financial inclusion schemes:PM Jan Dhan Yojna: aims to provide basic bank account to every family with no minimum balance required. Also, to bring poor financially excluded people into banking system and to decrease corruption in govt. subsidy schemes. It also provides accidental insurance up to 1 lakh and medical Insurance cover of 30,000Social security related schemes:Pradhan Mantri Jeevan jyoti yojna: its a life Insurance scheme worth ₹ 2 lakh at just ₹ 330 per annum.Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojna: its an accidental Insurance scheme worth ₹ 2 lakh at just ₹ 12 per annum for accidental death its ₹ 2 lakh and for partial disability- 1 lakh rupeesAtal pension yojna: it guarantees a minimum pension amount at the age of 60 to subscribers depending upon their contributions per month. Amount may range from 1000 to 5000 per month. Minimum contribution period should be 20 years.Urban Reform schemes:Smart cities scheme: Smart city will b equipped with basic infrastructure to give a decent quality of life, a clean and sustainable environment throughout application of some smart solutions. Its for rise of neo middle class who wants better civic amenities.2. AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation): In this 500 cities selected to develop civic infrastructure. Few capital cities, important cities loated in hilly areas and islands and tourist areas are selected.3. HRIDAY ( Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojna): to preserve and rejuvenate the rich cultural heritage of the country. 12 heritage cities had been identified. Aim is to bring urban planning, economic growth and heritage conservation for heritage cities.4. PRASAD (National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive) : Aims to create spiritual centres for tourism development within the nation. 12 cities have been identified.5. Swadesh Darshan: Aim is to develop theme based tourist circuit. It should be insured that none of them are in same town, village or city but are not separated by a long distance too.6. Rurban Mission: seeks to develop smart village on the line of smart cities and reduce the burden of migration to the cities through adopting cluster approach.Farmer centric schemes:Deen Dyal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna: To provide round the clock power supply in Rural areas.2. DD Kisan: India first television chanel dedicated to farmers have been launched to provide onputs new farming techniques water conservation and prganic farming .It will include quiz shows farmers , a bottoms up approach involving agriculturists .This will provide real time interaction with time and farm scientists.3. Soil health card scheme: it aims to help farmers to improve the productivity of farms by providing them basic information for use of nutrients or fertilizers .the card careies crop wise recommendations of fertilizer that are required for farm lands and it also help farmers identify health of soil and judiciously use soil nutrients4. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna: it is a proposed scheme by the government of India which envisages connecting the irrigation system’s three crucial components - the field application , water sources & distribution network for optimal usage. it also envisage interlinking of perennial rivers to avoid drought and flood situations.5. Pradhan mantri Fasal Bima yojna: it aims to reduce the premium rates to be paid by the farmers so as to enable more farmers avail insurance cover against crop loss on account of natural calamities.Education related shemes:DIKSHA portal: for providing digital platform to teachers to make their lifestyle more digital. This will provide online/offline training to teachers, students and teacher educatorsYUYA: it aims to connect with youth by upgrading their skill as per their competencies.JIGYASA: student-scientist connect programme. Under this programme CSIR (Council of Scientific and industrial Research ) has joined hands with Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan. The focus is on connecting schools students and scientists so as to extend student’s classroom learning with that of a very well planned research laboratory based learning. This programme will connect 1151 kendriya Vidyalayas with 38 national laboratories of CSIR and will target 10,000 students and teachers every year.SWAYAM: Its an indigenously designed massive open online course ( MOOC), it will host all the courses, taught in classrooms from 9th class till post graduation and can be accessed by anyone, anywhere at any time. It aims to bridge the digital divide for students in e-Education.SWAYAM PRABHA: it will provide high quality educational contents, developed by experts, through 32 DTH (direct to home) television channels with an aim to bring uniformity in standards of education. It will cover diverse topics of all levels of education in various languages.National Academic Depository: it will directly integrate with boards/ universities which issue certificates which will be verified, authenticated, accessed and retrieved in a digital depository for purpose of employment, higher education and loansNational Digital library: its a online library containing 6.5 million books in English and the Indian languages.Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojna: stands for Scholarship for promotion of aptitudes and research in stamps as a hobby. It is proposed to award 920 scholarships to students pursuing philately as a hobby. Amount of scholarship would be 6000 per annumEklavya schools will be established for schedule tribe students by 2022 on the lines of Navodhya schools. Though its an old scheme but the government has signalled in budget 2018 that it wants to expand the scope.RISE: Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education scheme. It aims to lend low cost funds to government higher educational institutions.PMRF (Prime ministe’s Research Fellows scheme): This scheme will help tapping talent pool of country for carrying out research indigenously in cutting edge science and technology domains. Under this scheme, 1000 best students who have completed or in final year of B.tech or integrated M.tech or M. Sc in science and technology streams from IISc/ IITs/ NITs/ IISERs/IITs will be offered direct admission in PhD programme in the IITs/IISc. In this, govt. will provide fellowship of Rs. 70,000 per month fornthe first two years, Rs. 75,000 per month for 3rd year and Rs. 80,000 per month in 4th and 5th year.Beti Bachao Beti Padhao yojna: it aims at promoting gender equality and educating girl child.E-basta: created a framework to make school books accessible in digital form as e-books. Books can be read on laptops, tablets and mobiles. It will bring various publishers and schools together on one platform.Padho pradesh yojna: Its a scheme of interest subsidy on educational loan for overseas studies. It assists the students belonging to poor and minority community to acquire loan for subsidised interest rates.Flagship missions:Make In India: to make India a manufacturing hub and to create 100 million jobs and skill enhancement in 25 sectors of economy. Enhancing service sector is also covered under this mission.2. Digital India Mission: to transform the country into a digitally empowered knowledge economy. To create participative, transparent and responsive government. Digital india mission has 9 pilliars:Broadband highwaysInformation for allUniversal mobile accessPublic internet access programmeElectronics manufacturing: target net zero importsEarly harvest programmesE- kranti: electronic delivery of servicesIT for jobsE- Governance: reforming government through technology3. Swachh Bharat mission: its a massive mass movement that seeks to create a clean india by 2019. It aims atElimination of open defecationConversion of insanitary toilets to pour flush toiletsEradication of manual scavenging100 % collection and scientific processing/ disposal/reuse/recycling of municipal solid wasteA behavioral change in people regarding healthy sanitation practicesSupporting urban local bodies in designing, executing and operating waste disposal systems4. Namami Gange Project or Namami Ganga Yojana: is an ambitious Union Government project which integrates the efforts to clean and protect the Ganga river in a comprehensive manner. This will cover 8 states, 47 towns and 12 rivers. Rivers covered are: Ganga, Yamuna, Gomti, Damodar, Mahananda, Ramganga, Beehar, Chambal, Khan, Shipra, Betwa and Mandakini.Innovation and entrepreneurship schemes:Start up india: Through the Startup India initiative, Government of India promotes entrepreneurship by mentoring, nurturing and facilitating startups throughout their life cycle. Since its launch in January 2016, the initiative has successfully given a head start to numerous aspiring entrepreneurs. With a 360 degree approach to enable startups, the initiative provides a comprehensive four-week free online learning program, has set up research parks, incubators and startup centres across the country by creating a strong network of academia and industry bodies. More importantly, a ‘Fund of Funds’ has been created to help startups gain access to funding.2. Atal Innovation Mission: It is a Government of India’s endeavour to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, and it serves as a platform for promotion of world-class Innovation Hubs, Grand Challenges, start-up businesses and other self-employment activities, particularly in technology driven areas. In order to foster curiosity, creativity and imagination right at the school, AIM recently launched Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) across India. ATLs are workspaces where students can work with tools and equipment to gain hands-on training in the concepts of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Atal Incubation Centres (AICs) are another programme of AIM created to build innovative start-up businesses as scalable and sustainable enterprises. AICs provide world class incubation facilities with appropriate physical infrastructure in terms of capital equipment and operating facilities. These incubation centres, with a presence across India, provide access to sectoral experts, business planning support, seed capital, industry partners and trainings to encourage innovative start-ups.3. Stand Up India: to support entrepreneurship among women and SC and ST4. MUDRA - Micro Units Development and Refinance Agnecy: Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) is a scheme launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on April 8, 2015 for providing loans upto 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small/micro enterprises. These loans are classified as MUDRA loans under PMMY. These loans are given by Commercial Banks, RRBs, Small Finance Banks, Cooperative Banks, MFIs and NBFCs. The borrower can approach any of the lending institutions mentioned above or can apply online through this portal. Under the aegis of PMMY, MUDRA has created three products namely 'Shishu', 'Kishore' and 'Tarun' to signify the stage of growth / development and funding needs of the beneficiary micro unit / entrepreneur and also provide a reference point for the next phase of graduation / growth.Schemes under Skill India Mission :Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojna: aims to give training to rural youths for jobs. Minimum age for entry is 15 years. Its complementing PM’s Make in India campaign.PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY): aims to provide skills training to youth across the country. It includes class 10th and 12th drop outs.Nai Manzil scheme: to enable students of madrasas to cope up with the contemporary education system and provide them skill training so that they could earn their living once they move out of madrasahUSTTAD ( Upgrading Skill and Training in Traditional Arts/crafts for development) to conserve traditional arts/crafts and build capacity of artisans and craftsmen belonging to minority communities.Nai - roshni scheme: a leadership training program for womenManas: for upgrading entrepreneurial skills of minority youthsSeekho aur Kamao (Learn and Earn): central sector scheme for skill Development of minorities.Schemes related to women:Beti Bachao Beti Bhadao: discussed aboveSukanya samridhi yojna: Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) is a small deposit scheme for the girl child launched as a part of the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign. It is currently 8.1 per cent and provides income-tax benefit.A Sukanya Samriddhi Account can be opened any time after the birth of a girl till she turns 10, with a minimum deposit of Rs 1,000. A maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh can be deposited during the ongoing financial year.The account can be opened in any post office or authorised branches of commercial banks.The account will remain operative for 21 years from the date of its opening or till the marriage of the girl after she turns 18.To meet the requirement of her higher education expenses, partial withdrawal of 50 per cent of the balance is allowed after she turns 18.3. One Stop Crisis Centre: Ministry of Women and Child Development has formulated a scheme for operationalization of minimum 100 pilot projects of One Stop Crisis Centres (OSCCs), a specialized facility for providing all necessary services for women victims/ survivors of violence, in urban areas having population of more than 5 lakh, identified by the States for implementation during the remaining years of the 12th Plan. These Centres will be attached to the District Hospitals of the State Governments.4. SWADHAR - A scheme for women in difficult circumstances: to provide primary need of shelter, food, clothing and care to the marginalised women/ girls living in difficult circumstances who are without any social and economic support. Also, to provide emotional support and counselling to such women.5. STEP - Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women:STEP was launched by the Government of India’s Ministry of Women and Child Development to train women with no access to formal skill training facilities, especially in rural India. The Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and NITI Aayog recently redrafted the Guidelines of the 30-year-old initiative to adapt to present-day needs. The initiative reaches out to all Indian women above 16 years of age. The programme imparts skills in several sectors such as agriculture, horticulture, food processing, handlooms, traditional crafts like embroidery, travel and tourism, hospitality, computer and IT services.6. UJJAWALA scheme: to prevent trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation. It works on 4 R appoach :RescueRehabilitationReintegrationRepatriationInfrastructure related schemes:Sagarmala project: Sagar Mala project is a strategic and customer-oriented ₹8 trillion (US$120 billion or €100 billion) investment initiative of the Government of India entailing setting up of 6+ mega ports, modernization of several dozen more ports, development of 14+ Coastal Economic Zones and at least 29 Coastal Economic Units, development of mines, industrial corridors, rail, road and airport linkages with these water ports, resulting in US$110 billion export revenue growth, generation of 150,000 direct jobs and several times more indirect jobs. It aims to modernize India's Ports so that port-led development can be augmented and coastlines can be developed to contribute in India's growth. It also aims for "transforming the existing Ports into modern world class Ports and integrate the development of the Ports, the Industrial clusters and hinterland and efficient evacuation systems through road, rail, inland and coastal waterways resulting in Ports becoming the drivers of economic activity in coastal areas."Bharatmala project: is a centrally-sponsored and funded road and highways project of the Government of India. The project will build highways from Gujarat and Rajasthan, move to Punjab and then cover the entire string of Himalayan states - Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand - and then portions of borders of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar alongside Terai, and move to West Bengal , Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and right up to the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur and Mizoram. Special emphasis will be given on providing connectivity to far-flung border and rural areas including the tribal and backward areas.Setu Bharatam Project: It aims to make all national highways free from railway level crossing by 2019 to ensure road safety.Green highways policy 2015 - to develop eco friendly National Highways with participation of the community, farmers, NGO’s, private sector, institutions, government agencies and the forest department.Gold schemes:Gold monetisation scheme: Gold monetisation scheme is like a gold savings account. You would generally keep your gold without any security at home or store it in bank lockers by paying a maintenance fee. But instead of that, you could keep your gold in any form in a Gold Monetisation Scheme account and earn interest as the price of the precious metal goes up. Also, You do not have to pay capital gains tax on the profits made through the gold monetisation scheme. The capital gains are also exempt from wealth tax and income tax.The Gold Monetisation Scheme is a great opportunity for big Indian households to make profits from the old jewellery lying in bank lockers and at the bottom of safe deposit boxes. Companies, trusts, jewelleries and individuals who have a hoard of gold can also use this scheme to monetise their precious metal. But do not forget that your jewellery will not come back to you in the same form as you put them in – you get the returns in the form of money or gold coins and bars that you can later encash.2. Sovereign Gold Bond : SGBs are government securities denominated in grams of gold. They are substitutes for holding physical gold. Investors have to pay the issue price in cash and the bonds will be redeemed in cash on maturity. The Bond is issued by Reserve Bank on behalf of Government of India.3. Indian gold coin: • The coin will be the 1st ever National gold coin minted in India and will have the National Emblem of Ashok Chakra engraved on one side and Mahatma Gandhi on the other side .• Initially the coins will be available in denominations of 5 and 10 grams; later a 20 gram bullion will also be available through MMTC outlets.Advantages• It would provide gold coins of maximum possible purity and check the supply of counterfeit or adulterated gold sold by jewelers.• While it may not address people looking forward to buy jewellery, but people who buy gold coins for investment purposes can buy these, if they are still reluctant about the Gold bond scheme.• Physical gold coins are more liquid resource compared to gold bonds, as perceived by many people in India.Labour reform schemes:5 labour reform schemes have been launched for the youth, workers and employers to improve ease of business for enterprises while expanding government support to impart skill training for workers.A. Shram suvidha portalB. Random Inspection SchemeC. Universal Account NumberD. Apprentice Protsahan YojnaE. Revamped Rashtriya Swasthya Bima YojnaSchemes for Banking Reforms:Indradhanush plan for Revamp of Public Sector Banks: The strategy, Indradhanush (rainbow), focuses on systemic changes in state-run lenders, including a fresh look at hiring, a comprehensive plan to de-stress bloated lenders, capital infusion, accountability incentives with higher rewards including Stock Options and cleaning up governance.The 7 Elements includes:a. Appointmentsb. Bank of Board Bureauc. Capitalizationd. De-Stressing Public Sector Bankse. Empowermentf. Framework of accountabilityg.Governance Reforms2. Gyan Sangam : Gyan Sangam is the meet of various banks, financial institutions and insurance companies in order to discuss for enhancing the digitisation of the banking system in India and ways to increase the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems and big data analytics in the banking & financial services industry in India.3. Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code: The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) is the bankruptcy law of India which seeks to consolidate the existing framework by creating a single law for insolvency and bankruptcy.The code could ensure quicker resolution of NPA (Non- performing Assets) problems, especially in PSU banks. In fact, the Financial Stability Report issued by RBI in 2015 indicates that corporate sector vulnerabilities and the impact of their weak balance sheets on the financial system needs closer monitoring. The time-bound insolvency resolution process would definitely help the financial services industry function better.Bankruptcy laws accept that business ventures can fail and allow entrepreneurs to make a new start. While facilitating failed firms to wind up painlessly, the code can pave the way to resurrection also.Schemes for sports:Revamped Khelo India: this marks a watershed moment in the history of Indian sports, as the programme aims at mainstreaming sport as a tool for individual development, community development and national development. Under this scheme, each selected athlete shall receive an annual scholarship worth ₹5 lakh for 8 consecutive years.National Sports Talent Search Portal: to unearth sporting talent from every nook and corner. The portal will be also available as smartphone application. Using this portal, a child or his parents, coaches or teachers can upload their biodata or video on the portal.Schemes for household:SAUBHAGYA: Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana: to ensure electrificationof all willing households in the country in rural as well as urban areas here today.National Nutrition Strategy: NITI AYOG has launched this scheme aiming at Kuposhan Mukt BharatNational Rural Drinking Water Program Continuation and Restructuring : aim is to provide every rural person with adequate safe water for drinking, cooking and other basic domestic needs on a sustainable basis, with a minimum water quality standard, which should be conveniently accessible at all times and in all situations. Though this was already under NRDWP Started in 2009, Union cabinet has accorded its approval for continuation and restructuring.KUSUM SCHEME: The scheme will work towards promoting solar power production a.k.a. solar farming up to 28,250 MW to help farmers.KEY FACTS ABOUT THE KUSUM SCHEMEKUSUM scheme will provide 1.75 million off-grid agricultural solar pumpsIt will build 10,000 MW solar plants on barren lands for solar farmingFarmers will be given a chance to earn extra income if they help produce additional power by setting up solar power project on their barren landThe energy produced by the farmers on their barren land will be bought by the state electricity distribution companies (DISCOMS)The scheme is likely to decrease the consumption of diesel in the agriculture sector (used in pumps)KUSUM scheme also includes the distribution of 17.5 lakh solar pumps for which 60 per cent subsidy will be given to the farmers.Scheme for Fisherman:Sagar Vani project: is an integrated information dissemination system that will serve the coastal community, especially the fisherman community with the advisories and alerts towards livelihood as well as their safety at seaHealth related schemes:Mission indradhanush and then Intensified Mission Indradhanush: “Let no child suffer from any vaccine-preventable disease". This was stated by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi as he launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) at Vadnagar in Gujarat, today. Through this programme, Government of India aims to reach each and every child under two years of age and all those pregnant women who have been left uncovered under the routine immunisation programme. The special drive will focus on improving immunization coverage in select districts and cities to ensure full immunization to more than 90% by December 2018. The achievement of full immunisation under Mission Indradhanush to at least 90% coverage was to be achieved by 2020 earlier. With the launch of IMI, achievement of the target has now been advancedAyushman Bharat project: The Government today announced two major initiatives in health sector , as part of Ayushman Bharat programme. The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitely while presenting the General Budget 2018-19 in Parliament here today said that this was aimed at making path breaking interventions to address health holistically, in primary, secondary and tertiary care systems, covering both prevention and health promotion.The initiatives are as follows:-(i) Health and Wellness Centre:- The National Health Policy, 2017 has envisioned Health and Wellness Centres as the foundation of India’s health system. Under this 1.5 lakh centres will bring health care system closer to the homes of people. These centres will provide comprehensive health care, including for non-communicable diseases and maternal and child health services. These centres will also provide free essential drugs and diagnostic services. The Budget has allocated Rs.1200 crore for this flagship programme. Contribution of private sector through CSR and philanthropic institutions in adopting these centres is also envisaged.(ii) National Health Protection Scheme:- The second flagship programme under Ayushman Bharat is National Health Protection Scheme, which will cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) providing coverage upto 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization. This will be the world’s largest government funded health care programme. Adequate funds will be provided for smooth implementation of this programme.Other schemes:Ajeevika Grameen Express Yojna: to provide an alternative source of livelihood to members of Self Help Group (SHGs). This scheme has been launched under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojna - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY - NRLM). This scheme will facilitate them to operate public transport services in background rural areas.PENCIL PORTAL - Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour: its an electronic platform that aims at involving Centre, State, District, Governments, civil society and general public in achieving the target of child labour free society.It encompasses various components- Child Tracking System, Complaint Corner, State Government, National Child Labour Project and Convergence. Each district will nominate District Nodal Officers (DNOs) who will receive the complaints. Within 48 hours of receiving complaints, DNOs will check genuineness of complaint and take rescue measures in coordination with police, if complaint is genuine. So far, 7 states have appointed DNOs.3. National Biopharma Mission: this is an Industry- Academia Mission to accelerate bio pharmaceutical development in India.4. VAJRA - Visiting Advanced Joint Research : this scheme enables NRIs and oversees scientific community to participate and contribute to research and development in India.5: Test and Treat Policy for HIV patients: Test-and-treat is an intervention strategy in which the population at risk is screened for HIV infection and diagnosed HIV infected individuals receive early treatment, aiming to eliminate HIV as it reduces the rate of spreading the virus to other people.6. DIGITAL POLICE PORTAL: will enable citizens to register FIRs online and the portal will initially offer seven public delivery services in all states and UTs like person and address verification e.g. of employees, tenants, nurses etc, permission for hosting Public Events, Lost and Found Articles and Vehicle theft etc.It will provide investigator the complete record history of any criminal from anywhere across the country.7. Nationwide campaign - Gaj yatra: A nationwide campaign to protect elephants on the occasion of World Elephant Day.8. SHE BOX portal: The Minister of Women & Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi launched an online complaint management system titled Sexual Harassment electronic–Box (SHe-Box) for registering complaints related to sexual harassment at workplace in New Delhi today. The complaint management system has been developed to ensure the effective implementation of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act (the SH Act), 2013.This portal is an initiative to provide a platform to women working or visiting any office of Central Government (Central Ministries, Departments, Public Sector Undertakings, Autonomous Bodies and Institutions etc.) to file complaints related to sexual harassment at workplace under the SH Act. Those who had already filed a written complaint with the concerned Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) constituted under the SH Act are also eligible to file their complaint through this portal. The SHe-Box portal can be accessed at the link given below:http://www.wcd-sh.nic.in9. Sankalp and strive schemes:STRIVE scheme: will incentivize ITIs to improve overall performance including apprenticeship by involving SMEs (Small Scale Enterprises), business association and industry clusters. It will develop robust mechanism for delivering quality skill development training by strengthening institutions- National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs), Sector Skill Councils, ITIs and National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) etc.It will support universalization of National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) including National Quality Assurance Framework (NQAF) across skill development schemes. It will provide required push to National Skill Development Mission 2015 and its various sub missions. It is also aligned to flagship Government programs such as Make in India and Swachhta Abhiyan.SANKALP scheme : envisages setting up of Trainers and Assessors academies with self-sustainable models. Over 50 such academies are to be set up in priority sectors. It will leverage institutions for trainingtrainers in both long and short term VET thereby bringing about convergence. Additional trainer academies will also be set up.It will focus on greater decentralization in skill planning by institutional strengthening at State level which includes setting up of SSDMs and allow states to come up with State and District level Skill Development Plans (SSDPDSDP).It also aims at enhancement of inclusion of underprivileged and marginalized communities including women, Scheduled Castes (SCs)/Schedule Tribes (STs) and Persons with Disabilities (PWD). It will also develop a skilling ecosystem that will support the country’s rise in Ease of Doing Business index.10. Anti Narcotics Scheme: aims to combat illicit trafficking in drugs and psychotropic substance. The purpose is to assist state governments and UTs which are contributing in controlling the inter-state and cross border drug trafficking.11. Atal Bhujal Yojna: to tackle ever-deepening crisis of depleting groundwater level12. Gobar-Dhan yojna: the solid waste and cattle dung will be composed into useful elements such as Bio-CNG and Bio-gas.13. National Bamboo Mission: The Mission would ensure holistic development of the bamboo sector by addressing complete value chain and establishing effective linkage of producers (farmers) with industry.Beneficiaries:The scheme will benefit directly and indirectly the farmers as well as local artisans and associated personnels engaged in bamboo sector including associated industries. Since it is proposed to bring about one lakh ha area under plantation, it is expected that about one lakh farmers would be directly benefitted in terms of plantation.States/ districts covered:The Mission will focus on development of bamboo in limited States where it has social, commercial and economical advantage, particularly in the North Eastern region and States including Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.The Mission is expected to establish about 4000 treatment/ product development units and bring more than 100000 ha area under plantation.Impact:Bamboo plantation will contribute to optimizing farm productivity and income thereby enhancing livelihood opportunities of small & marginal farmers including landless and women as well as provide quality material to industry. Thus, the Mission will not only serve as a potential instrument for enhancing income of farmers but also contributing towards climate resilience and environmental benefits. The Mission will also help in creating employment generation directly or indirectly in both skilled and unskilled segments.14. Secure Himalaya project:The Union Government had launched SECURE Himalaya, a six-year project to ensure conservation of locally and globally significant biodiversity, land and forest resources in high Himalayan ecosystem spread over four states viz. Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Sikkim.Key FactsThe SECURE project aims at securing livelihoods, conservation, sustainable use and restoration of high range Himalayan ecosystems. It is meant for specific landscapes including Changthang (Jammu and Kasmir), Lahaul – Pangi and Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh), Gangotri – Govind and Darma – Byans Valley in Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand) and Kanchenjunga – Upper Teesta Valley (Sikkim).The key focus areas of the project is protection of snow leopard and other endangered species and their habitats and also securing livelihoods of people in region and enhancing enforcement to reduce wildlife crime. Under it, enhanced enforcement efforts and monitoring will be undertaken to curb illegal trade in some medicinal and aromatic plants which are among most threatened species in these landscapes.15. Operation Greens: aims to promote farmer producers organisations, agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management. The operation aims to aid farmers and help control and limit the erratic fluctuations in the prices of onions, potatoes and tomatoes.