In the new year, it is expected do well.

1. STORY OF INDIA
Developments
1947-2022

2. The Polity:
INDIA, a Union of States
• INDIA, a Union of States, is a Sovereign Secular
Democratic Republic with a parliamentary
government.
system of
• The Republic is governed in terms of the
• Constitution, which was adopted by
• Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949 and came
into force on 26 January 1950.

3. BASIC NATIONALGOALS
The first and the most important task was to preserve,
consolidate and strengthen India's unity.
The process of the Indian national development was to be
pushed forward.
Indian unity, had to be strengthened by recognizing and
accepting India's immense regional, linguistic, ethnic and
religious diversity.
Indianness was to be further developed by acknowledging
and accommodating the Indians' multiple identities and by
giving different parts of the country and various sections
of the people an adequate space in the Indian union.
•
•
•
•

4. STRENGTHENING OF DEMOCRACY
From the beginning, India was committed to a democratic
and civil libertarian political order and a representative
system of government based on free and fair elections to
be conducted on the basis of universal adult franchise. The
state was to encroach as little as possible on rival civil
sources of power such as universities, the Press, trade
unions, peasant organizations and professional
associations. The many social, economic and
political challenges that the country was to face were to
dealt with in a democratic manner, under democratic
conditions.
be

5. States and Union T
erritories
India, for administrative purposes, is divided into the
National capital territory of Delhi, 29 States, and 6
centrally administered union territories.
States: Andhra, Arunachala Pradesh, Assam, Bengal,
Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka,
Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab,
Rajasthan, Sikkim, T
amil Nadu, T
elangana, Tripura,
Uttarakhand, Uttara Pradesh.
Union T
erritories: Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu,
Lakshadweep, Puducherry.
•
•
•

6. BRITISH, GANDHIAND JINNAH
Gandhi & Jinnah didn’t last long after the British departed from their
Crown Jewel of the Empire, one was bumped off by Godse and the
other was claimed by TB.
•
Later developments were not based on Gandhi’s ‘Hind Swaraj’ and
•
Jinnah’s Secular Muslim Majority Democratic state.
While India brought in ‘Unity in Diversity’ Pakistan oscillated
between Democracy and ‘Unity by Army guided Governance’.
Voice of the people: ‘The inalienable right of the Indian people, as
of any other people, is to have freedom and to enjoy the fruits of
their toil’
‘Independence Day came, January 26th, 1930; it revealed to us, as
in a flash, the earnest and enthusiastic mood of the country.’
Ah! Hitler’s air force and Gandhi’s truth-force finally convinced the
British to transfer power to India, granting Pakistan as a parting gift.
•
•
•
•

7. GANDHI IS KILLED
Gandhi had fought for a free and united India; and yet, at the end, he
could view its division with detachment and equanimity.
•
Others were less forgiving. On the evening of 30 January he was shot
dead.
•
The assassin, who surrendered afterwards, was named Nathuram
Godse. He was tried and later sentenced to death.
•
Godse claimed that his main provocation was
•
the Mahatma’s ‘constant and consistent pandering to the Muslims’,
‘culminating in his last pro-Muslim fast [which] at last goaded me to
•
the
conclusion that the existence of Gandhi should be brought to an end
immediately’.

8. Integration of Princely States into India
• By 15 August
of Accession.
most of the states had signed the Instrument
Congress Party cleverly used the threat of
popular protest to make the princes fall in line. They had
acceded; now they were being asked to integrate, that is to
dissolve their states as independent entities and merge with
the Union of India.
• They would be allowed to retain their titles and offered an
annual allowance. There was the threat of uncontrolled
agitation by subjects whose emotions had been released by
the advent of Independence.

9. Jammu and Kashmir-1
The state of Kashmir bordered on both India and Pakistan. Its
ruler Hari Singh was a Hindu, while nearly 75 per cent of the
population was Muslim. Hari Singh too did not accede either to
India or Pakistan.
•
Fearing democracy in India and communalism in Pakistan, he
hoped, to stay out of both and to continue to wield power as an
independent ruler. The popular political forces led by the National
Conference and its leader SheikhAbdullah, however, wanted to
•
join India with autonomous status.
Troy’ for India & Pakistan.
J & K has become a ‘Helen of

10. Jammu and Kashmir-2
• The most contentious issue and one that has been a
subject of international attention is the accession of
Jammu and Kashmir to India after Partition in 1947.
• India insisted that the accession was completely valid
accused Pakistan of forcefully occupying parts of the
state. India also maintained that since Jammu and
and
Kashmir is an integral and inalienable part of the country
there can be no question of negotiating on the question of
its accession.

11. Jammu and Kashmir-3
• The mainstream political parties of J & K, like the National
Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party advocate
autonomy and self-rule.
• The National Conference demanded the strengthening of
the Article 370 of the Constitution of India.
• The Peoples Democratic Party advocates a step-by-step
integration of Indian and Pakistan (occupied) Kashmir in
fields like trade, travel, institutions and legislature.
• The people in Jammu as well as Ladakh often complain
that both the Central and state governments are
neglecting their regions and give undue importance to the
Kashmir valley.

12. The Constitution of India formed, adopted
WITH 395 ARTICLES AND 12 schedules the constitution of India is long.
Coming into effect in January 1950, it was framed over a period of three
years.
•
During this time its drafts were discussed clause by clause in the
ConstituentAssembly of India. In between the sessions the work of
revising and refining the drafts was carried out by various committees
and sub-committees.
•
B. R. Ambedkar was law minister in the Union government; and also
chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution.
•
After its adoption, the constitution has been amended many times.
•

13. ‘Socialistic pattern’for India _ Nehru
(1947-1964 )
• Develop and industrialize rapidly through the agency of the
State, within a democratic framework.
• Even though foreign capital and technology may be essential,
these would be under the control of the State.
(Do not grant full freedom for FDI, they exploit us)
•
• Rationality of technocrats, economists and scientists would
bear on decision making. Mixed or khichdi economy.
• Thus India started Five Year Plans.

14. Indian economy consolidated,
but did not take off, why?
1. Import substituting inward looking ‘swaraj’ no global outlook
2. Massive, monopolistic, inefficient public sector investment with
no autonomy of working. (Trained and employed youth?)
3. Diminished competition in the market by over-regulation.
4. Less FDI, no benefit of world class competition.
5. Pampered organized labour, lower productivity.
6. Insufficient investment in education, specially, girl children.

15. Nehru’s ‘Tryst with destiny’
• Preserve, consolidate and strengthen India's unity, to build up
and protect the national state as an instrument of development
and social transformation.
• Indian unity was strengthened by recognizing and accepting
India's immense regional, linguistic, ethnic and religious
diversity.
• Indianness was to be further developed by acknowledging and
accommodating the Indians' multiple identities and by giving
different parts of the country and various sections of the people
an adequate space.

16. Colonial Legacy: Educational System, Based on English
The British evolved a general educational system, based
on English as the common language of higher education,
for the entire country.
This system in time produced an India-wide intelligentsia
which tended to have a similar approach to society.
It gave common ways of looking at it and which made
Indians, capable of developing a critique of colonialism
during the second half of the nineteenth century and after.
•
•
•

17. But English-based education had negative consequences.
One, it created a wide gulf between the educated and the
masses. Though this gulf was bridged to some extent by the
national movement which drew its leaders as well its cadres
from the intelligentsia, it still persisted to haunt independent
India.
Second, the emphasis on English prevented the fuller
development of Indian languages as also the spread of
education to the masses.

18. Linguistic States Reorganisation-1
• After an agitation, with death of P
.Sriramulu in December, 1952,Andhra
would come into being with T
elugu language.
• Once Nehru concededAndhra, he had to set up the States
Reorganization Commission-1956.
• Unexpectedly, Linguistic Reorganization did not disturb, but consolidated
the unity of India. Hindi is now official language along with English (which
is an interstate link and international language).
• Eventually, on 1 May 1960, the states of Gujarat (Gujarati) and
Maharashtra (Marati) came into being, with Bombay allotted to the latter.

19. Linguistic States Reorganisation-2
Other examples of States with their language:
• Assam (Assamese), Bengal(Bengali),
• Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh
(Hindi), T
elangana (T
elugu),T
amil Nadu (T
amil), Odisa
(Oriya), Karnataka (Kannada), Kerala (Malayalam) Punjab
(Punjabi) Goa (Konkani), etc. Sanskrit is an originating
language and Urdu is a recognised language.
• Officially (statutorily) recognised languages are 22.

20. Goa liberated from being a Portuguese colony
• In the third week of December 1961 a detachment of the
Indian army moved up to the borders of the Portuguese
colony of Goa.
• For a decade now New Delhi had sought, by persuasion
and non-violence, to convince Portugal to give up that
territory.
• With those measures failing, Nehru’s government decided
to ‘liberate’ Goa by force.

21. Indira Gandhi era: ModernizedAgriculture
The 1960s and 1970s showed India was still vulnerable to
the effects of failed monsoons, droughts and food shortages:
in 1965 – 1966 India was forced to turn to the United States
for grain imports and Indira Gandhi was obliged to devalue
the rupee. She initiated agriculture with high yielding wheat.
•
The Green Revolution brought some respite by increasing
domestic grain yields, but the benefits were unevenly
distributed regionally – the Punjab, Haryana and T
amil Nadu
were the states where the new varieties were most
successfully introduced.
•

22. Indira Gandhi era: Socialism, Bangla Desh
• Indira took over the Indian premiership two years after
Nehru's death in 1964. Domestically, Indira Gandhi picked
up where Nehru had left off, further tightening the
government's hold on industry—nationalizing banks and
forcing foreign companies to either go into partnership
with an Indian firm or quit the country.
• The war between India and Pakistan over East Pakistan
took place in 1971 and a new liberated nation called
Bangladesh resulted.

23. India and Pakistan, Estranged brothers?
• India and Pakistan will have great economic potential to exploit if they
bury their differences and join hands to promote bilateral trade.
• India and Pakistan continue to talk to each other, even though the
dialogue often appears to be heading nowhere.
• Pakistan claims that relations between the two countries can improve
only if the Kashmir dispute is settled.
• India and Pakistan have been the worst of neighbors, on four different
occasions descending into a shooting war.

24. India in Rajiv Gandhi & Narasimha Rao Y
ears
Rajiv Gandhi initiated long overdue moves to rid India of the burden of
•
bureaucratic controls that had been built up since the late 1940s, to
encourage new industries like telecommunications and computers,
and to open the country up to global markets after fifty years of near
isolation.
Momentum was sustained by Manmohan Singh as finance minster in
the coalition administration of P
. V. Narasimha Rao in the early 1990s.
•
Faced with a deepening economic crisis which saw India turn to the
International Monetary Fund for a US$1.4 billion loan, Manmohan
Singh committed the Government of India to range of radical reforms.
•

25. Dhirubhai Ambani was born Dhirajlal
Hirachand Ambani in December
1932, to a village school teacher and
his wife. His family migrated to Aden,
where Dhirubhai Ambani worked as
a gas station attendant and then as
a clerk at A Besse & Co. Dhirubhai
Ambani learnt commodity trading,
high seas purchase and sales,
marketing and distribution, currency
trading, and money management.
In 2016, Dhirubhai Ambani
was honored posthumously
with Padma Vibhushan,
India’s second-highest
civilian honor for his
exceptional service to trade
and industry.

26. India ’ s rapid economic growth since the early 1990s has
also been aided by the Indian diaspora.
•
The old swadeshi ideal has largely been supplanted by a
belief that India has most to gain by being a global player,
using its domestic resources and overseas connections to
build an economy closely tied to the outside world.
•
Special Economic Zones have been created as tax - free
havens in which firms can operate unconstrained by the
labour laws and environmental protection legislation that
prevail across the country as a whole.
•

27. Economic liberalization and participation in a globalized
economy have brought wealth and material benefits to many
Indians. They have helped increase not just the size but also
the confidence of the Indian middle classes, finally freed from
the austerity of Gandhian economics and Nehruvian state
socialism.
•
However, in the 1990s more than 260 million people, nearly
per cent of the total population, lived below the poverty line.
A huge slice of the population either remains excluded from
30
•
the
•
boom - time economy or has its cheap but arduous labour (as
in the garment industry) exploited to fuel India ’ s dynamic
export sector.

28. GOAL OF UNIVERSAL ELEMENTARY EDUCATION:
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) began with a modest budget of Rs. 150
crores7 which now stands at a staggering Rs. 20,000 crores.
SSA has undoubtedly helped the country take impressive strides in the
elementary education sector with opening of large number of schools;
large-scale hiring of teachers; provision of free school books for
students from the BPL families; mid-day meals program and so on.
As a result, while in 2001, 28.5 percent of the 205 million children in
the 6-14 age group were out of school, by 2006 this proportion had
dropped to 6.9 percent and further to 4.3 in 2010.
However, many schools have only one or two classrooms and most
lack running water and toilets. A large percentage of children drop-out
before completing primary schooling.
•
•
•
•

29. India’s Urban Economy
• India will add millions of people to the urban economy in
the years and decades ahead. India’s cities need to be
safe, efficient, pleasant to live in, supported by
infrastructure (water, sewerage, electricity, transport, etc.).
• Cities be able to create jobs which are globally competitive
and India needs a revolution in sustainable urban planning.
• Sustainable cities mean: walk able, mix used areas, public
transport, urban planning, public health and other services,
and climate resilient especially coastal cities.

30. On the national infrastructure front, India needs
•
•
•
inter-city rail upgrading,
sustainable and secure energy,
watershed management (river-linking to the extent that
sound and safe concept), dams policy,
fiber connectivity nationally,
ports and airports, etc.
this is a
•
•
• India will also need an integrated, life-cycle,
of human capital accumulation.
population scale vision
• This includes: Population stabilization and early childhood
development, especially to overcome the scars of under-nutrition,
which may be India’s greatest plague.

31. Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of
Economic Affairs.
Press release:
With a view to curbing financing of terrorism through the proceeds of
Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) and use of such funds for subversive
activities such as espionage, smuggling of arms, drugs and other
contrabands into India, and for eliminating Black Money which casts a
long shadow of parallel economy on our real economy, it has been
decided to cancel the legal tender character of the High Denomination
bank notes of Rs.500 and Rs.1000 denominations issued by RBI till now.
This will take effect from the expiry of the 8th November, 2016.

32. Demonetization and its impact
Event Update-8-11-2016
The move by the government to demonetize Rs.500
and Rs.1000 notes by replacing them with new
Rs.500 and Rs.2000 notes has taken the country
with surprise. The move by the government is to
tackle the menace of black money, corruption, terror
funding and fake currency.
From a market perspective, we think that this is a
very welcome move by the government and which
has taken the black money hoarders with surprise.

33. T
ax noncompliance is a range of activities that are unfavorable
to a state's tax system.
This includes tax avoidance, which is tax reduction by legal
means, and tax evasion which is the criminal non-payment of
tax liabilities.
The term 'noncompliance' is used differently by different
authors.
Its most general use describes non-compliant behaviors with
respect to different institutional rules. Non-compliance with fiscal
rules of taxation, gives rise to unreported income and a tax gap.

34. Successful education policy forms the bedrock of all fields of
national development— political, economic, technical,
scientific, social and environmental. Education is the
foundation for a vibrant democracy, growth of productivity
income and employment opportunities. Literacy is the
minimum right and requirement of every Indian citizen.
Increasing enrolment to cover the entire school-age
and
population needs to be combined with efforts to increase the
quality and relevance of school curriculum to equip students
with not only knowledge, but also values and life-knowledge.

35. Sarva ShikshaAbhiyan (Education forAll)
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) began with a budget of Rs.
▪
150 crores which now stands at Rs. 20,000 crores.
SSA has undoubtedly helped the country take impressive
strides in the elementary education sector:
It has been with opening of large number of schools;
large-scale hiring of teachers; provision of free school
books for students from the BPL families; mid-day meals
program and so on. As a result, while in 2001, 28.5
percent of the 205 million children in the 6-14 age group
were out of school, by 2006 this proportion had dropped
to 6.9 percent and further to 4.3 in 2010.
•However, many schools have only one or two classrooms
and most lack running water and toilets.
▪
▪
•

36. By the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution, adopted in
1976, Fundamental Duties of the citizens have also been
enumerated.
Article 51 ‘A’ contained in Part IV A of the Constitution
deals with Fundamental Duties.
•
•
These enjoin upon a citizen to abide by the Constitution,
•
to cherish and follow noble ideals which inspired India’s
struggle for freedom, to defend the country and render
national service when called upon to do so and to
promote harmony and spirit of common brotherhood
transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional
diversities.
FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES OF A CITIZEN

37. COVID-19 CASES IN INDIA-APRIL-2021

38. Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday [13-4-2021] said
that India has crossed the previous highest surge of Covid-19 cases and
the trend is going upward.
"We have 89.51 percent people who have been cured, 1.25 percent
deaths and 9.24 percent active cases. If
find that the previous highest surge has
trend is going upward. That is a cause
we look at new cases, we will
already been crossed and the
for worry," Bhushan said at a
press conference. The health secretary further noted that the daily
Covid-19 deaths recorded in the country are registering an increasing
trend but are yet to cross the toll witnessed during the first wave last
year. Presently 879 death have been recorded, he said. He also
expressed worry over the pace of rising cases in Maharashtra, Uttar
Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

39. The ugly reality of the second wave of the coronavirus
pandemic has hit home as India overtook Brazil to become
the second worst-hit nation in the world.
India has arrived at this grim milestone as states are
reporting a high caseload day after day.
While Maharashtra continues to be the most affected state
in India at the moment, other states have also shown a
disturbing rise in the cases.
In terms of metro cities, by Monday evening, Delhi had
recorded over 11,000 cases. This caseload is far worse
than Mumbai.

40. India's richest state Maharashtra will impose stringent curbs
on industry and e-commerce for 15 days to
on
slow rising
coronavirus infections, its chief minister said Tuesday, a
move that is set to cripple manufacturing and other
businesses in the region. Maharashtra has been the country's
worst-hit state due to the coronavirus, accounting for about a
quarter
60,212
barring
needed
of India's 13.5 million cases. Maharashtra reported
new COVID-19 infections. "All factories/industries"
and those making items
stop their operations", a
some export-oriented units
for essential services "must
government notification said.

41. India addressing climate change issue efficiently
Aiming towards making the industrial sector energy
efficient, India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency launched the
Perform, Achieve, and Trade scheme on July 4, 2012.
Industries achieving the set targets are given incentives in
the form of
to achieve
remains to
energy-saving certificates and the ones that fail
the targets are penalised calculated on what
be achieved. India’s annual renewable energy
capacity has been exceeding that of coal-based thermal
power since 2017.

42. In March 2019, the Ministry of Environment, Forests
Action
national
and
Plan
plan
Climate Change launched the India Cooling
(ICAP) making India the first country to launch a
on sustainable cooling..
India to have 220 Giga Watts of renewable energy capacity by
2020, from our current renewable energy capacity of 136
Giga Watts. The responsibility of successfully tackling climate
change does not entirely rely upon the government alone. A
climate crusader from Rajasthan has been building water
conservation and natural resource management systems in
the rural, drought-prone districts of the state since 1977.

43. Kashmir, [a 222236 sq.km region], surrounded by China in
the northeast, the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and
Punjab in the south, by Pakistan in the west, and by
Afghanistan in the northwest.
The region has been dubbed "disputed territory" between
India and Pakistan since the partition of India in 1947.
The southern and southeastern parts of the region make
up the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, while the
northern and western parts are controlled by Pakistan.

44. Voice of Kashmir has become muffled under a global Islamic
agenda. The grievances which allowed the above forces to
grab the attention of the Kashmiris was a result of the clear
dominance by the elite oligarchy. If India were to accept the
oligarchy’s demands for more autonomy, as the new State
Government is suggesting currently, they shall continue to
alienate the Kashmiri people. We believe Article 370 allowed
Kashmir to remain undeveloped and allowed the oligarchy
to not only retain power but to misuse it. By removing it, and
bringing the common Kashmiri man closer to the ideals and
values the rest of India has, Kashmir will find peace.

45. History of J & K: In September 1951 the first ever elections
were held for the Constituent Assembly in the state of
Jammu & Kashmir. The National Conference won all 75
seats unopposed. Article 370_24 of the Indian Constitution
was passed in 1952 and was the compromise between the
demands of Indian secularism and Muslim sub-nationalism.
Sheikh Abdullah was replaced by his friend and deputy,
Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, under whom the Constituent
Assembly ratified the State’s accession to India in February
1954. Under Bakshi the state had made great progress by
way of new schools, universities, hospitals and roads.

46. In 1972 , the Simla Agreement stated that India and Pakistan would resolve
their differences bilaterally, and not through the United Nations or other third
parties. The 1975 Kashmir Accord, signed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and
Chief Minister Sheikh Abdullah further strengthened India’s control over
legislation in Kashmir (however Article 370 remained). So while the Kashmiri
people retained their own distinct culture within the mosaic of India, they were
a part of India’s multi-cultural ways by the 1970s.
The Article 370 disallows such Indian legislation such as the Wealth tax, the
Urban Ceiling Act, the Gift T
ax and other beneficial laws from helping the poor
Kashmiri and leaves them impoverished. There has been a complete
dominance by this oligarchy, which make up a small minority of Kashmiri
Muslims. By cleverly playing India against Pakistan, and using the masses as
pawns in their game, they have kept a stranglehold on the running of the State

47. Reorganization of J & K in 2019: Under the leadership of Prime Minister
Shri Narendra Modi and supervision of Union Home Minister Shri Amit
Shah, the former state of Jammu & Kashmir has been reorganized as
the new Union T
erritory of Jammu and Kashmir and the new Union
T
erritory of Ladakh on 31stOctober 2019.
Jammu and Kashmir is now a region administered by India as a union
territory, and constituting the southern portion of the larger Kashmir
region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and
Pakistan since 1947, and between India and China since 1962.
The region of Jammu and Kashmir is separated by the Line of Control
from the Pakistani-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit -
Baltistan in the west and north respectively.

48. The government on August 5 announced withdrawal of the J & K state’s
special status underArticle 370 and bifurcating the state into union
territories. The State of Jammu and Kashmir will transition into two Union
T
erritories of J&K and Ladakh on October 31. Under the J&K
ReorganisationAct, 2019 passed by Parliament on August 6, the number
of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the Union T
erritory of J&K has
been increased from 107 to 114. Ladakh will not have anAssembly and
will be directly governed by the Union Home Ministry through the
Lieutenant-Governor.
After October 31, 106 Central laws will be applicable to J&K, along with
166 State Acts, including the Governor’sAct. The reorganisationAct says
153 State laws will be repealed. The UT
s of J&K and Ladakh will come
into existence as other newly carved out States have come up in the past.

49. With India's daily COVID-19 cases rising at alarming rates,
concerns have been raised over the cultural, political, and
religious events across the country. On Wednesday, India
recorded its highest ever single-day spike in tally with over
1.84 lakh new cases. Speaking on the rise, chairman of the
COVID-19 working group of the National T
echnical Advisory
Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) Dr NK Arora has
emphasised the need to impose lockdown as per the local
situation. Speaking to news agency ANI, Dr Arora, however,
said he did not favour a nationwide lockdown.

50. RAMAYAN BACK ON TV:
The show will be telecast once again on TV. Last year, amid the COVID-19
pandemic on a rise, viewers demanded our epics back on small screens. Looks
like it's yet again time to watch the great mythological show with family.

51. More than 100 former world leaders and Nobel Prize winners have
come together to urge US President Joe Biden to support a waiver of
intellectual property rules for coronavirus vaccines. Such a waiver on
patents will boost vaccine manufacturing and will also speed up the
response to this global pandemic, especially in poor countries, they
said. "President Biden has said that no one is safe until everyone is
safe, and now with the G7 ahead there is an unparalleled opportunity
provide the leadership that only the US can provide," former British
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said. Former leaders of France and the
UK, other 60 former heads of state and Nobel Prize winners have
drafted a joint letter to Biden about this issue.
to

52. They urged Biden to support the proposal drafted by India and South
Africa at the World Trade Organization to waive intellectual property
rules on a temporary basis to help support countries related to COVID-
19 vaccines. The letter calculates that the poorer countries will have to
wait till 2024 to receive vaccines, on the basis of the speed with which
the virus is mutating. "New mutations of the virus will continue to cost
lives and upend our interconnected global economy until everyone,
everywhere has access to a safe and effective vaccine," Nobel
Economics Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz said.
The letter has been signed by Francois Hollande, Mary Robinson,
Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Juan Manuel Santos and Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf - formerly presidents of France, Ireland, Brazil, Colombia and
Liberia - and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark

53. Dr Reddy's Laboratories will begin supplying Sputnik V
coronavirus vaccines, imported from Russia, in May. The
drug major is also going to tap domestically sourced jabs
as their production speeds up in India.
However, the vaccine's pricing, along
will be supplied at the outset, has not
Meanwhile, talks between the Centre
based drug major are on. Dr Reddy's
with how many doses
been determined yet.
and the Hyderabad-
is the sole licensing
partner for Sputnik V in India. "The supply will start from
May via the imported route, and ramp-up of made-in-India
products will happen over time," a source told the Mint.

54. BSNL's new broadband plans offer 300 Mbps
speed, 4 TB data and more
New Delhi: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has
launched several new broadband plans offering super-fast
speeds and tons of data to facilitate your work from home
schedules. Keeping in mind the stiff competition in the
sector, BSNL has introduced its cheapest plan at just Rs 449.
With the rising demand for affordable broadband
connections, BSNL had launched Bharat Fibre plans in
November 2020. While there were speculations that BSNL
might shut down these plans, the company has now re-
introduced these plans in the market.

55. The third phase of India's vaccination drive is underway. A
vaccine will protect you 70-80% and that too from a severe
infection so you must keep social distancing and mask up
properly. meanwhile, despite vaccinations why are
numbers going up that's because 70% of the population
needs to get vaccinated to reach herd immunity. The
second wave of the dreadful covid has been stronger than
ever and has been spreading like fire. Apart from wearing
our masks, we also need to make sure everything around
us is sanitised and germ-free.

56. India has asked its state-run oil and gas companies to set
up seven hydrogen pilot plants by the end of this financial
year, India's oil secretary T
arun Kapoor also said at the
Hydrogen Economy - New Delhi Dialogue event.
Governments and energy companies around the world
are betting on clean hydrogen playing a leading role in
efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions, though its
future uses and costs remain uncertain.
The government planned to scale up use of hydrogen
blended with compressed natural gas (H-CNG) as a
transportation fuel.

57. A report recently published in The Lancet has
stated that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes
COVID-19, is an airborne pathogen. The report
has gone against the predominant scientific view
which says that coronavirus spreads through
smaller aerosols that remain suspended in the air
or through fomites.
"SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted primarily by the
airborne route“

58. The world’s Covid death toll has crossed yet another grim
milestone — the 3 million-mark. With the virus having
upended the lives of people across the globe, countries
have been struggling to combat infections which keep re-
emerging thanks to mutations.

59. The world did not record one million deaths
until September 28, but had recorded two
million by February 21, less than five months
later. And the latest million was recorded in
under two months. The United States, Brazil
and Mexico lead the world when it comes to
Covid-19 deaths but India has been
recording daily highs over the last few weeks.

60. In the United States, more than 564,800 virus-
related deaths have been confirmed, about one in
567 people — the most of any other country.
America’s problems start right from the top. Former
President Donald Trump, for weeks, had refused to
address the pandemic. Later, he even admitted
that “he wanted to play it down as he did not wish
to create a panic”. Coupled with this were testing
and contact tracing inadequacies in the initial days,
states reopening ahead of his own administration’s
guidelines and statistics being cherry-picked to
make the US situation look better than it was.
Covid finally removed Trump from office!

61. There is alarming surge in COVID-19 cases
acute shortage of hospital beds and medical
List of some warning signs suggesting when
and there is an
oxygen.
a COVID-
infected patient needs hospitalisation: Falling oxygen
saturation, excessive fatigue are warning signs that indicate
COVID-19 patient in home isolation needs hospitalisation.
a
Saturation is decreasing to 93 or less, there are conditions like
fainting, chest pain, then contact the doctor immediately and
high-risk group people having comorbidities also need to
take special care.

62. Patient under home isolation will stand discharged and end isolation
after at least 10 days have passed from the onset of symptoms (or
from date of sampling for asymptomatic cases) and no fever for 3
days. There is no need for testing after the home isolation period is
over the Health Ministry had stated.
While Serum Institute is to supply 11 crore doses of Covishield, the
rest will be Covaxin manufactured by Bharat Biotech. Based on the
advance paid on April 28, the price works out to a little under Rs 160
per shot. The govt says that against an earlier order of 10 crore doses,
Serum had delivered 8.7 crore shots till Monday, whereas Bharat
Biotech had delivered 88 lakh against an order of 2 crore shots.

63. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that the
only way to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the
country is a nationwide lockdown. He also criticized the
government saying there was a complete lack of strategy.
"I just want to make it clear that a lockdown is now the only
option because of a complete lack of strategy by GOI. They
allowed, rather, they actively helped the virus reach this
stage where there’s no other way to stop it. A crime has
been committed against India."

64. Serum Institute of India is likely to start phase 3 trials of COVID-19
vaccine Covovax, which it is making in partnership with American
company Novavax, by mid-May. The Drugs Controller General of India
has provided its approval to go for the next phase trials.
Covovax is the second vaccine candidate after Covishield that SII is
manufacturing.
The Data Safety Monitoring Board has reviewed the initial safety data
of 200 participants of phase-2 clinical trial of Covovax and has given its
recommendation, an Indian Express report said on Tuesday (May 4).

65. Swami Vivekananda was a key
figure in the introduction of
Indian philosophies of Yoga and
Vedanta to the western world.
He was one of the great Indian
Hindu monks who was credited
for raising awareness about
Hinduism and a major force in
the contemporary Hindu reform
movements in India.
Vivekananda was born
as Narendranath Datta
in an aristocratic Bengali
Kayastha family in
Calcutta.

66. NEWS KASHMIR: J&K will be granted statehood soon, as promised in
the past by PM Modi and home minister Amit Shah, but there will be no
talks on restoring the region’s special status.
On August 5, 2019, the central government withdrew J&K’s special status
under the Article 370 and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union
Territories — J&K with a legislative assembly and Ladakh without one.
The historic move led to the imposition of restrictions on several political
leaders and activists in the Kashmir Valley. Gradually, authorities lifted the
curbs and released politicians under detention. The restoration of
statehood will be counted as the culmination of a monumental
achievement by the National Democratic Alliance government, which has
nullified all doomsday prognoses about the ramifications of its move to
fully integrate J&K in the union of India.

67. In the months since it decided to carve out Ladakh from and administer
J&K as a union territory, the government appears on track to securing all
of its strategic objectives.
The security situation in the Kashmir valley is under control; elections to
the district development councils went off peacefully last year; political
leaders from Kashmir, who were detained, are back to politicking; and a
ceasefire with Pakistan (announced in February) is holding well.
The June 24 meeting in this backdrop is significant. It is being viewed as
the beginning of direct talks between the Valley’s leadership and the
Centre at this scale. Representatives of regional powerhouses such as
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the National Conference (NC),
as well as those from the Centre’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
and the Congress, among others, have been invited for the talks in Delhi.

68. The 30th anniversary of the 1991 reforms:
The reforms dismantled a dysfunctional system of controls,
which tied down the private sector and closed the economy
to trade and investment.
The reforms were opposed by both the Left and the Right.
The Left feared they would hurt the poor and lead to
unnecessary imports, perpetuating balance of payments
(BoP) problems. The Right feared foreign investors would
take over the economy, in a replay of the East India
Company phenomenon.

69. Both fears were unwarranted. The results took time because
policy changes were gradual, delaying the benefits.
However, by the first decade of the 21st century, India began
to be seen as one of the fastest growing emerging markets.
Far from poverty increasing, for the first time, there was a
substantial reduction in it. This looks enviable at a time when
India is reeling from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic,
with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) having fallen by 7.3% in
2020-21, and an even sharper decline in per capita GDP
because the population has continued to grow. Not
surprisingly, unemployment and poverty have both
increased.

70. The 1991 strategy had two components — reducing the
fiscal deficit and implementing structural reforms. Both
are relevant today, but with differences. Reducing the
fiscal deficit was essential in 1991 because the crisis was
caused by excess domestic demand sucking in imports
and widening the current account deficit (CAD). A loss of
confidence triggered an outflow of funds and financing
CAD forced a sharp drawdown in reserves. Reducing the
fiscal deficit was an obvious way of containing demand.

71. There is a strong case for providing more funds for
vaccination, which is key to reviving growth, and also to cover
expanded demand for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Scheme, which is proving to be a
valuable safety net. The 1991 reforms succeeded because
they were structured around a core package of mutually
supportive reforms. The need for mutually supportive reforms
was not adequately recognised at the time even by the
private sector. Representatives of the private sector asked for
elimination of government controls over investment.

72. They did not recognise that this by itself would only mean that
investors would have to queue up in the commerce ministry to
get licences to import capital goods. Genuine liberalisation
required parallel delicensing of capital goods imports, but that
could only be done if we had some way of managing the BOP.
The obvious solution was to shift to a market-determined
exchange rate. All these steps were carefully coordinated and
implemented over a very short period.
Our banking system is heavily dominated by public sector
banks (PSBs). Mergers may help reduce branches, and
perhaps monetise excess real estate to boost capital, but it is
not a systemic reform.

73. Giving the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) the same regulatory
control over PSBs that it has over private sector banks would
qualify as a real reform. It is time to take the plunge on this.
Vesting the government’s equity in PSBs into a holding
corporation run by a board of independent professionals,
which then appoints the top management, would also be a
serious reform. It was recommended by the PJ Nayak
committee in 2015. Implementing it would send a strong
signal. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) is a key
reform, but its operation was temporarily put on hold because
of the pandemic.

74. While the process will hopefully resume, promoters may try to
interrupt it through action taken in the courts. The government
can play an important role in signalling to the courts that IBC
is a flagship reform that should not be undermined.
At present, the combined deficit of the Centre and the states
exceeds the net savings of the household sector. Combined
deficit is effectively financed by the net inflow of foreign
capital. Preempting net savings to this extent leaves no scope
for financing expansion in private investment, unless it is
expected to happen through a further increase in net capital
flows, which would increase the system’s vulnerability.

75. The need for buoyancy in tax revenues calls for a second
look at the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. GST is
a major reform and it was expected to generate greater
tax buoyancy. It has not done so. Its rate structure and
exclusions need to be reviewed. An important lesson from
1991 is that tax reforms are best evolved by an expert
group outside government. Such a group should be set
up and asked to review the experience so far, and make
proposals for reform which could be discussed in the GST
Council. This cannot be left to the revenue department.

76. The 1991, reforms helped the economy stave off a crisis and
then bloom.
It is right to outline a credible new reform agenda that will not
just bring GDP back to pre-crisis levels, but also ensure growth
rates higher than it had when it entered the pandemic. The
1991 reforms were opposed then by both the Left and the
Right. The Left feared they would hurt the poor and lead to
unnecessary imports, perpetuating balance of payments (B o P)
problems. The Right feared foreign investors would take over
the economy, in a replay of the East India Company
phenomenon. Both fears were unwarranted.

77. Driving the salt-to-software Tata group has to
be among the toughest jobs. For N.
Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons,
getting it ready for the next phase means
stepping up existing businesses, as well as
taking many hard decisions. The areas of
focus include the launch of the super app
TataNeu, integration of Air India within the
group, moving ahead on the steel business,
developing a robust EV model and making
the IT story stronger.

78. After having raised billions of dollars in
extremely difficult times from the likes of
Facebook and Google, Mukesh Ambani's Jio
Platforms is on a good wicket. The next stop
for him could be raising funds for the $10-
billion push in renewable energy.
The ambitious foray has many layers, starting
with large-scale manufacturing to financing
projects. Given how bullish large global
investors are about renewable energy, Ambani
could just end up convincing them of the
robustness of his ambition.

79. Assembly elections 2022 | UP to vote in 7 phases; Punjab,
Uttarakhand, Goa in single phase; counting on March 10
The Election Commission (EC) of India on January 8
announced the Legislative Assembly election schedule for
five states – Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and
Manipur. The voting for 690 assembly seats across these
five states will be held in seven phases between February
10 and March 7 amid an upsurge in COVID-19 cases. The
counting of votes for all the five assemblies will be held on
March 10, the poll panel announced.

80. New Delhi: The Indian economy is estimated to grow at 9.2 per cent in
the 2021-22 fiscal, surpassing pre-Covid level in actual terms mainly on
account of improved performance especially in farm, mining and
manufacturing sectors.
The improvement in the economy comes over a GDP contraction of 7.3
per cent during 2020-21 due to the pandemic and resultant lockdown
imposed to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
As per the first advanced estimates of the national income released by
the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Friday, a growth is witnessed
across sectors.
"Real GDP or GDP (gross domestic product) at Constant Prices (2011-
12) in the year 2021-22 is estimated at Rs 147.54 lakh crore, as against
the Provisional Estimate of GDP for the year 2020-21 of Rs 135.13 lakh
crore, released on May 31, 2021.

81. The growth in real GDP during 2021-22 is estimated at 9.2 per cent as
compared to the contraction of 7.3 per cent in 2020-21," as per the
NSO statement.
As per the estimates, GDP in actual terms in 2021-22 will surpass the
pre-Covid level of Rs. 145.69 lakh crore in 2019-20.
The pandemic hit the country in March 2020, resulting in a nationwide
lockdown from March 25, 2020, which severely dented the economic
growth in the 2020-21 fiscal.
The economy contracted by 7.3 per cent in 2020-21. The NSO
estimates are a tad lower than 9.5 per cent GDP growth projection of
the Reserve Bank of India.

82. According to the statement, real GVA (gross value added) at Basic
Prices is estimated at Rs. 135.22 lakh crore in 2021-22, as against
Rs. 124.53 lakh crore in 2020-21, showing a growth of 8.6 per cent.
In the current fiscal, the manufacturing sector is likely to see a growth
12.5 per cent against a contraction of 7.2 per cent a year ago.
The NSO estimates significant growth in 'mining and quarrying' (14.3
per cent), and 'trade, hotels, transport, communication and services
related to broadcasting' (11.9 per cent).
The agriculture sector is estimated to see a growth of 3.9 per cent in
FY2021-22, higher than 3.6 per cent growth recorded in the previous
financial year.