Daily PIB Analysis For UPSC/IAS | Free PDF Download-10th & 11th October 2018 -

Table of Contents

South Asia Diplomacy

Later this year: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Nepal (his third this year), Bhutan and the Maldives (his 1 st since he became PM)
India retains its pre-eminent position in its immediate neighbourhood..
South Asia is critical to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as it provides access to the Indian Ocean Region.
Last 5-odd years: Beijing adopted aggressive diplomacy to engage with South Asian neighbors.
At present: China wants & is now trying to make sure pro-China leaders are ruling its South Asian neighbors.
Remember….. Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) military exercise in Pune last month.
Bimstec Summit in end-August hosted by Nepal.
Same Nepal did not send a delegation to the maiden MILEX 2018
A stable neighbourhood is a hallmark of successful foreign policy.
It was in backdrop of this spirit that the mantra of ‘Neighbourhood First’ was adopted the day Modi was sworn in as PM, which was attended by leaders from the seven South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) countries, including Pakistan.
India’s ambitious plans to connect to regions both to its east and its west can, after all, be attained only if its immediate neighbourhood is stable.
4.5 years of Neighbourhood 1 st policy and Pakistan continues to be a difficult neighbour.
We tried our best by extending lines of credit at nominal interest rates, creating connectivity networks, and opening up market access to a common security space in the Bay of Bengal.
The effort was to give a sense of regionalism through the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal Initiative (BBIN) and Bimstec.
Mr. Modi visited South Asian countries and hosted their leaders.
Note: Sovereign nations choose its allies by taking national interest into consideration.
China’s economic prowess and unprecedented pace of development have attracted many countries, in and outside South Asia.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s decision in 2014 to invite Chinese submarines
Outgoing Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen’s love for China.
Nepal
The Dokalam stand-off was a test for Delhi’s neighbourhood policy, as China chose Bhutan — India’s allweather friend — to send a message to India.
Bhutan continues to resist Beijing’s advances, as does Bangladesh — which has handled China quite smartly by engaging with it commercially without getting into a debt trap.
All eyes are now on Dhaka as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina seeks reelection.
A pushback in Myanmar against China’s BRI is heartening, and Sri Lanka has brought a degree of balance back in its foreign policy.
While Afghanistan battles to keep extremists at bay, election results in the Maldives was the best possible outcome that India could have hoped for, after finding itself in a rather tricky position during Abdulla Yameen’s soon-to-expire five-year rule.
History and common roots are not enough for India to remain a preeminent power in South Asia. • India needs to constantly engage at the highest political levels, sweeten deals, and offer unique solutions and alternatives.
Success in South Asia is a key to great power status.
In Maldives, the ruling party led by President Abdullah Yameen today challenged the results of the September 23 election in Supreme Court.
Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) in a statement said that the party has been overwhelmed with numerous genuine concerns related to the elections, including serious allegations of vote rigging, fraud, malpractice and corruption.

Mega e-sales and Plastic pollution

Mega shopping festivals are on, on e-com platforms
Amazon, Flipkart, Paytm, Snapdeal and others
They delight consumers, but also ruin the environment, with careless overuse of packaging material and no thought to recycling.
e-Commerce companies pack goods in oversized boxes, swaddled in single use plastic blown up into different kinds of airfilled cushioning, all of which go straight into the waste bin and further on into landfills.
It aggravates an environmental crisis, and is resource inefficient, besides.
The e-commerce packaging industry was estimated to be worth $32 billion in 2015 and conservatively projected to grow to $73 billion by 2020.
There is no formal assessment of the share of plastic but given the use of multiple layers of plastic, thermocol, bubble wrap, air packets and masking tape used, the share of plastic is considerable.
Packaging is one of the main drivers of the growth of the plastics industry in India.
Minimizing damage to products in transit is a legitimate objective.
But wholly non-fragile goods made of, say, cloth also get as much cushioning as a piece of China.
Why should the same company deliver three different orders in three different packets, delivered by three different delivery vehicles?
Is it so hard to tweak their algorithms to consolidate packing and delivery? Why not offer to take back the cartons and packaging material, for recycling, if not reuse?
Given its commercial success, the e-commerce sector must now focus on sustainability.
This is also an opportunity for innovation.
Minimising plastic packaging will slash hydrocarbon use, and the import bill, as well as emissions. • If India is to fulfil its pledge of becoming single-use plastic-free by 2022, the e-commerce sector must play its part.

JnK

In Jammu and Kashmir, the polling for the second phase of Urban body Elections concluded peacefully this evening in 263 Municipal wards.
It includes 214 wards in Jammu region and 49 wards in Kashmir valley.
An estimated 76 per cent of over 1.28 lakh electorates today cast their votes in six districts of Jammu region.
There was no report of any untoward incident from any part of the region.
The first phase polling was held on Monday.
The third phase of the polling is scheduled for October 13 followed by fourth and final phase on October 16.
The counting of votes will be held on October 20.

SC

Supreme Court today refused to go into the price and other technical specifications of the Rafael deal.
It has also refused to issue notice to the Government in the matter.
The petition had sought a directive from the apex court asking the Centre to reveal details of the Rafael deal and the comparative prices during the UPA and NDA rule in a sealed cover to the apex court.
The Supreme Court while disposing off the Rafael PIL asked the Central government to provide details of the decision-making process only in a sealed cover.
The bench consisting of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph clarified that it did not want details of pricing and other such technicalities of the deal.
Attorney General K K Venugopal told the court that national security is involved and the court is being used on the eve of polls to gain politically.

CAG

President Ram Nath Kovind today called for introspection and deliberations to further promote accountability, transparency and good governance.
Inaugurating the 29th Accountants General conference in New Delhi today, he said Comptroller and Auditor General can partner with state audit societies to train them and build their capacities in the field of auditing.
The institution of CAG has come out with a data management policy and is increasingly using data analytics in its audit work.
Through the use of data analytic technique you can assist in not only giving insights for the present but also aid in providing credible forecast.
The theme of this year’s conference is Auditing and Accounting in a Digital Era.

Cabinet

Cabinet today approved Railway ministry’s proposal to give bonus to nearly 12 lakh non-gazetted railway employees.
Productivity bonus will be disbursed to 11.91 lakh employees and the financial implication is estimated to be 2044 crore rupees.
Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said each employee under this head will get Rs. 17951 for 78 days.
Cabinet has also decided to set up a National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET).
Mr. Prasad said the cabinet has approved the merger of the existing regulatory institutions in the skills space, the National Council for Vocational Training and the National Skill Devlopment Agency into NCVET.

I&B

Information and Broadcasting Minister Col Rajyavardhan Rathore has called for the introduction of good behavior on Internet and social media platforms and said there is a need for creating awareness.
In a Facebook Live interaction on the necessity of using social media responsibly, Mr Rathore said. “The media which is largely limited to a few people is normally in the hand of everyone, everyone literally has a broadcasting channel himself. This is an amazing tool and a lot of people are enjoying this tool. And that’s why people are in away addicted to it. It’s a person, a community’s voice that can world wide.”

Ministry of Earth Science

The Very Severe Cyclonic Storm ‘TITLI’ over north Coastal Andhra Pradesh & adjoining south Odisha moved Westnorth westwards with a speed of about 13kmph during past 06 hours and lay centred at 0830 hours IST of today, 11th October 2018 over south Odisha near Lat 19.0 °N and Long 84.1° E, about 90 km west southwest of Gopalpur and 60 km southsoutheast of Phulbani.
It is very likely to move northwestwards for next 12 hours and then recurve northeastwards towards Gangetic West Bengal across Odisha. It is very likely to weaken gradually becoming severe cyclonic storm around noon, cyclonic storm around evening and deep depression by midnight of today, the 11th October 2018.
The Very Severe Cyclonic Storm (LUBAN) over westcentral Arabian Sea moved westsouthwestwards with a speed of about 07 kmph during past 06 hours and lay centred at 0830 hrs IST of today, the 11th October 2018 over westcentral Arabian Sea, near Latitude 14.5°N and Longitude 58.0°E, about 500 km eastsoutheast of Salalah (Oman), 490 km eastnortheast of Socotra Islands (Yemen) and 670 km eastsoutheast of AlGhaidah (Yemen).
It is very likely to intensify further and move westnorthwestwards towards Yemen & South Oman Coasts during next 4 days.