EC asks political parties not to use armed forces images for campaigns

GS PAPER - 01 POLITY - Salient features of the Representation of People's Act.

Context :

     ★ The Election Commission of India on Saturday instructed political parties to keep the country’s defence personnel out of election campaigning and not to use their photographs in advertisements.

More about the news:

     ★ The order came following a Ministry of Defence complaint.

     ★ The commission cited a 2013 order that said photographs of defence personnel should not be used “in any manner in advertisement/propaganda/campaigning or in any another other manner in connections with elections by political parties and candidates.

     ★ The EC further says that, that the armed forces of a nation are the guardians of its frontiers, security and the political system

                                                                                                                                        Source :- The Hindu

Relaxation of rules to aid red-flagged Andamans tourism project

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context:

     ★ The Environment Ministry has amended laws that now allow a proposed tourism project in the Aves island, of the Andaman and Nicobar island (A&N) territory, to come up.

Issue :

     ★ The project was the only one of three high-profile proposed tourism projects that did not get a clearance from an expert committee on coastal clearance in February.

     ★ This was because the proposed Aves island project was located 20 m away from the High Tide line(HTL) and existing rules required such projects to be at least 50 m away.

     ★ The new rules did ease the way for the Aves island project, it was also done to broadly align the changes in coastal zone regulations in the country’s mainland States with the island regions.

     ★ There is no other industrial development in the A&N and tourism is a major thrust area that we have to consider. However, there continue to be stringent provisions on how infrastructure and development projects can be executed

Background :

     ★ In December, the government had issued a coastal regulation zone notification that largely allows tourism and development projects located near coasts in mainland States to come up closer to the sea.

     ★ It also issued an Island Zone Protection Notification in January 2019 to allow similar relaxations in the A&N Islands.

Experts committee :

     ★ In January, an expert committee of the Union Environment Ministry “deferred” clearance to a ₹100 crore proposal by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation Limited to develop an island resort, as well as put up “premium tents” and “tree houses,” on the grounds that it did not account for the biodiversity of the islands’ coast.

     ★ After site visits, the committee in February recommended two of them— at Lalaji Bay on Long Island and at Smith Island — for island protection zone clearance, with caveats.

     ★ However, the Aves Island project was still red-flagged primarily because of the 50 m clause. In light of the March 8th notification, the committee is likely to re-look the project.

                                                                                                                                                               Source :- The Hindu

Swanky terminal for Kartarpur pilgrims

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

Context :

     ★ The passenger terminal building (PTB) complex will have all the necessary passenger amenities to facilitate pilgrims intending to visit the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara, located across the border in Pakistan.

Passenger terminal building :

     ★ India will construct a “state-of-the-art” passenger terminal building for the Kartarpur corridor at a cost of Rs 190 crore

     ★ The passenger terminal building (PTB) complex will have all the necessary passenger amenities to facilitate pilgrims intending to visit the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara, located across the border in Pakistan.

     ★ Fifty acres of land has been identified for the purpose and will be developed in two phases.

     ★ The design and quality parameters have been prepared keeping in view the aspirations and religious sentiments of the followers of Guru Nanak Dev

     ★ The Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI), which is mandated to build and operate integrated check posts along the land borders of the country, has reportedly been entrusted with this work and has been directed to complete the work on a fast track basis, before the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in November 2019.

Background :

     ★ The approval came following the cabinet decision in November 2018 to develop the Kartarpur corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district in Punjab to the International Border.

                                                                                                                                                             Source :- The Hindu

Is GSP vital to India-U.S. trade ties?

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests

GPS:

     ★ The Generalized System of Preferences is the largest and oldest United States trade preference programme.

     ★ The U.S. intended it to promote economic development by eliminating duties on some products it imports from the 120 countries designated as beneficiaries.

When was it introduced ?

     ★ It was established by the Trade Act of 1974.

     ★ According to the website of the U.S. Trade Representative, the GSP helps spur sustainable development in beneficiary countries by helping them increase and diversify their trade with the U.S.

     ★ The U.S. also believes that moving GSP imports from the docks to U.S. consumers, farmers, and manufacturers supports tens of thousands of jobs in the U.S.

     ★ The other benefit is that “GSP boosts American competitiveness by reducing the costs of imported inputs used by U.S. companies to manufacture goods in the United States.”

     ★ The Trade Representative says the GSP is important to U.S. small businesses, many of which rely on the programmes’ duty savings to stay competitive.

Importance for India :

     ★ The Indian export industry may not feel the pinch of the GSP removal for India by the U.S.

     ★ The loss for the industry amounts to about $190 million on exports of $5.6 billion falling under the GSP category.

     ★ But specific sectors, such as gem and jewellery, leather and processed foods will lose the benefits of the programme.

     ★ A producer may be able to bear 2-3% of the loss from the change, but not more.

     ★ The loss, in export of some kinds of rice for example, may even exceed 10%.

     ★ The landed price of goods from India has to be the same as it was before the GSP was removed.

     ★ If not, consumers of those products in the U.S. would gravitate to producers that enjoy the GSP benefits and hence are able to offer lower prices. Obviously, it is difficult to get back a customer that a competitor takes away.

Risks to the U.S.-India Relationship :

     ★ The decision to revoke India’s GSP benefits was a culmination of a decision by the Office of the United States Trade Representative to initiate a review of India’s eligibility for the program in April 2018.

     ★ The key factors for the review were unfavorable market access for U.S. dairy and medical devices.

Benefits for Chinese Goods :

     ★ The decision to withdraw GSP benefits to India also creates opportunities for China, which maintains a trade surplus with both India and the United States, to expand its exports to the United States.

     ★ In response to the decision by USTR to initiate reviews of India’s eligibility under the GSP program, several members of India’s business communities warned that Chinese goods would benefit if GSP benefits for India are revoked.

     ★ The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry argued that “by removing the GSP benefits availed by India, the exports to the United States from India could potentially be replaced by China.”

     ★ Senior vice president at the American Apparel & Footwear Association argued that “Until GSP, China alone controlled 85 percent of all U.S. travel goods imports,” adding that “If GSP benefits are withdrawn for India, Indonesia, and Thailand, companies will have no choice but to return to sourcing from China.”

     ★ This argument underscores just how beneficial this decision to revoke GSP benefits for India is for Chinese goods, which only conflicts with Trump’s goal to reduce the trade deficit with China and make trade with it fairer.

What can the Indian government do?

     ★ It is possible to offer some breather to producers suffering losses from the GSP removal, even while being WTO-compliant.

     ★ The Centre could consider refund of taxes for goods not under GST.

     ★ Use of electricity or petrol in the manufacture of such goods but for which an input credit is not available could qualify here.

     ★ Helping such sectors would also protect jobs; especially when job creation is at a low.

Conclusion :

     ★ both countries have taken strides to strengthen their relationship in recent years, the revocation of GSP benefits for India could spill over and negatively impact the broader relationship.

     ★ And trade diversion away from India could worsen U.S. trade deficits with other nations, further fueling the Trump administration’s concerns about global trade flows.

     ★ The United States and India have also taken strides to advance their broader relationship. India signed the Communication, Compatibility, and Security Agreement (COMCASA) in September 2018, and the United States has outlined a central role for India as part of its new “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” strategy.

     ★ With steady, continued progress in the defense relationship, both countries will need to be careful that the trade dispute does not spill over into these other aspects of the relationship.

                                                                                                                                                       Source :- The Hindu

Mass of the Milky Way

GS paper - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Awareness in the fields of Space,

Context:

     ★ Astronomers have been able to come up with one of the most accurate measurements -  of our galaxy's mass, using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite.

     ★ According to NASA’s new measurements, the Milky Way weighs in at about 1.5 trillion stellar masses, meaning it has 1.5 trillion times the weight of the Earth’s Sun.

New Measurement :

     ★ The new measurements show that our home galaxy is bigger than many of its peers, but also that the overwhelming majority of that weight is invisible dark matter

     ★ The new mass estimate puts our galaxy on the beefier side, compared to other galaxies in the universe

     ★ The new measurements put the Milky Way at a pretty healthy size and mass for its class

     ★ But new calculations last year put Andromeda at around 800 billion solar masses. Which could mean that the Milky Way is actually number one - and has been all along.

Star weight :

       ★ The Milky Way weighs in at about 1.5 trillion stellar masses, meaning it has 1.5 trillion times the weight of the Earth’s Sun.

      ★ That's over twice as much as previous estimates - according to a 2016 study, the Milky Way was estimated at around 700 billion solar masses.

     ★ The Milky way only has about 200 billion stars — plus a black hole at its heart that weighs as much as about another four million stars — which accounts for only about 13 percent of its mass.

Dark matter : Most of the rest of the mass is locked up in dark matter, an invisible and mysterious substance that acts like scaffolding throughout the universe and keeps the stars in their galaxies

                                                                                                                                Source :- Indian Express

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