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Following concerns over the possible dilution of powers of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in the proposed telecom policy, the government is mulling the removal of provisions related to the regulator from the bill.
It is evaluating introducing a separate bill to strengthen the regulatory body at a later stage, according to an informed source.
The Department of Telecom (DoT) has had discussions with the TRAI and all the concerns were addressed. Everyone agreed that the intent was good. There are no differences between the DoT and the TRAI. All issues have been resolved.
The source added that one of the things that the government is now considering is removing almost all TRAI-related amendments proposed in the draft telecom policy and bringing in a separate Bill with the objective of strengthening the TRAI. However, the new Bill will come a couple of years down the line, after the telecom Bill is implemented.
The DoT is currently under the process of discussion with all stakeholders, including industry bodies, on the draft Bill. The government has also invited written comments from industry on the Bill, the deadline for which was extended till October 30. Post these discussions and receiving of the inputs, a final draft will be introduced.
Further, the source added that the government wants to strengthen the TRAI to bring it at par with bodies such as the U.S.’ regulator Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the U.K.’s Ofcom, with highly technical-oriented people and powers to impose penalties, among other things.
The government had released the draft of The Indian Telecommunication Act, 2022 in September this year, wherein it proposes significant changes, including provisions for waiving off dues for financially stressed operators, bringing over-the-top (OTT) platforms within the ambit of telecom services that require a licence to operate, and provisions for message interception in case of public emergency.
Among the other concerns, experts had pointed out that the Bill undermines the regulator, by proposing to “take away the TRAI’s statutory independence, and seeks to make it subservient to the government”.
For example, the Bill proposed to remove provisions for referencing and back-referencing recommendations between the DoT and the TRAI. The Bill also proposed to amend clauses which gave the regulator power to notify tariffs at which telecom services are to be offered.
States should have a uniform policy on law and order: Shah (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Indian Polity)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that States should have a uniform law and order policy as certain crimes such as cross-border terrorism and cybercrimes transcend regional and international boundaries.
Mr. Shah said that by 2024, to counter terror activities, each State would have a National Investigation Agency (NIA) office as the agency had been given “extra territorial jurisdiction” and additional powers to confiscate property in terror-related cases.
He called for centralisation of data on terror and other crimes and said that following the principle of “one data, one entry,” the NIA had been entrusted to maintain a national terror database, the Enforcement Directorate a dataset on financial crimes and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on narco crimes.
The Minister urged the States to utilise the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) that was operational now. The NATGRID brings datasets of 11 agencies on a common platform.
He said he had received thousands of suggestions on revamping the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and soon the amendments would be presented in Parliament.
The nature of crimes is changing, and they are becoming borderless, that is why all States will have to battle these by having a common strategy. To formulate and implement this under the spirit of ‘Cooperative Federalism,’ Cooperation, Coordination and Collaboration between the Centre and the States is required.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla said though law and order was a State subject, the Constitution provided that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) could intervene in matters concerning national security and the Ministry from time to time sent advisories to States.
Mr. Shah was addressing State Home Ministers, Home Secretaries and Directors-General of Police and Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) at the two-day ChintanShivir (brainstorming session) on various internal security issues in Haryana’s Faridabad on the outskirts of Delhi.
Among the Opposition-ruled States, the conference was attended by Kerala Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann.
West Bengal was the only State to be represented by an Additional Director General of Police rank officer while Bihar sent DGP S.K Singhal to attend the meet. Tamil Nadu’s Law Minister S. Reghupathy and Chhattisgarh’s Home Minister TamradhwajSahu were also present. Jharkhand was represented by its Finance Minister RameshwarOraon.
Mr. Shah said some non-governmental organisations were involved in anti-national activities, religious conversion, political opposition to development projects or propaganda against policies of the government.
He said the amendments to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) in 2020 successfully prevented the misuse of foreign funding and effective monitoring became possible. The FCRA was a mandatory requirement to receive foreign funds.
City
BJP claims ‘poisonous chemical’ used to hide toxic foam in Yamuna (Page no. 2)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Hours after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s visit to the Ghazipur landfill site, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs Manoj Tiwari and Parvesh Sahib Singh visited the KalindiKunjghat along the Yamuna river and alleged that a “poisonous chemical” was being used “to kill or hide” the toxic foam.
The ruling AamAadmi Party (AAP), in response, said the use of “anti-foaming agents was advised” by the Central government under the NamamiGange programme.
Mr. Tiwari and Mr. Singh had gone to the ghat “to monitor” preparations for Chhath Puja, a significant festival among the city’s Purvanchali population which will be observed on October 30 and 31. Mr. Tiwari said pollution “was not an issue” for the AAP government.
Hitting back at the two MPs after their visit, Mr. Kejriwal asked their party to share the record of its 15 years at the helm of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
Addressing a press conference after his visit, Mr. Tiwari said, “The moment we reached there [the ghat], the workers who were spraying that chemical in the water ran away, leaving the chemical behind,” adding, “They managed to erase the name of the chemical from the containers before fleeing. But we have seized about 50,000 litres of the poisonous chemical and a complaint has also been lodged with the police.”
After noticing the chemical, we called 112 and the police registered our complaint. The people who were spraying the chemical were either the workers of Delhi Jal Board or the flood control department [Irrigation and Flood Control Delhi] and they had come there on the orders of Mr. Kejriwal so that the media cannot see the froth.
Later, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) said in a statement it had started preparations to reduce foaming in the Yamuna over a month ago to let Chhath Puja devotees offer prayers to the Sun God.
AAP national spokesperson and MLA SaurabhBharadwaj, who is also the Vice-Chairman of DJB, said, "BJP leaders should learn some science and technology.
The DJB's anti-foaming technology [the so-called chemical] has also been recommended by the Central government agency National Mission for Clean Ganga [which oversees NamamiGange]."
Mr. Tiwari also said, “Since 2013, the Kejriwal government has been claiming that it will clean the Yamuna in five years and make everyone take a dip. But today, 2022 is about to end and in these eight years the Yamuna has only gone from bad to worse.”
States
Coinage with images of gods and goddesses dates back to Kushans (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 1, Ancient History)
India has a long tradition of coinage with images of gods and goddesses. According to historians, the Kushans, who hailed from the Central Asian region and ruled till 3rd century AD, were the first to use the image of Goddess Lakshmi on their coins, along with Ardochsho, the Iranic Goddess of wealth.
The Kushans also depicted Oesho (Shiva), moon deity Miro and Buddha in their coinage,” informs numismatist Amarbir Singh, who has a large collection of coins ranging from those minted by Mohammed bin Sam and Hyder Ali.
Closer home, the Vijayanagara kings used coinage with Hindu idols. Harihara –II (1377-1404) introduced coins that had Brahma-Saraswati, Vishnu-Lakshmi and Shiva-Parvati. Some of these coins can be seen in the museum set up in Hampi by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at Kamalapur.
The Vijayanagara coins continued in circulation even after the kingdom was snuffed out in 1565 and commanded a premium when French traveller Tavernier visited the region.
The British East India Co. at Madras Presidency minted coins labelled as the Three Swamy Pagoda, which depicts Lord Balaji flanked by Sridevi and Bhudevi on either side. The coin in my collection weighs 3.4 gm and these were issued between 1691 and 1740.
Not all the coins were freshly minted. Some were repurposed. Some were issued to show continuity. About the coins with Goddess Lakshmi issued by Mohammed bin Sam, known to us as Mohammed Ghori after defeating Prithviraj Chauhan in the battle of Terrain in 1192 AD.
A specimen is now in the British Museum repository for which the info-document says: “Aware that visual elements on coins were fundamental to their acceptance and success as currency, he (Mohammed bin Sam) issued coins which maintained a visual tradition begun in India 1,000 years previously, on the coinage of Kushan king Kanishka II.”
These coins circulated in numbers and have come down to us due to the tradition of hoarding wealth. They are frequently auctioned for just ₹15,000 to ₹20,000. They weigh 4.2 gm.
The tradition of minting coins to win the confidence of local people continued when the French and Dutch minted coins showing Vishnu between 1715 and 1774 and Goddess Kali in the late 17th century.
Bengaluru firm’s floating trash barrier wins PSA’s clean waterbody challenge (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
A floating trash barrier (FTB), developed by a Bengaluru firm and deployed in eight cities across India to trap trash in waterbodies, has won the Cleaning and Restoring India's Water Bodies Challenge conducted by the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA).
The challenge was conducted by the Waste to Wealth Mission — Swachh Bharat Unnat Bharat Mission under the Office of the PSA during November 27, 2020 and February 17, 2021.
On October 18, the Bengaluru firm, AlphaMERS Ltd., received a communication from the Waste to Wealth Mission announcing that the FTB was selected as one of the winners of the challenge.
The FTB performance was evaluated by a jury panel comprising of experts from academia, industry, and the government. “Based on the panel evaluation, AlphaMERS Ltd.'s floating trash barrier was selected as one of the winners of the challenge.
The panel observed that the floating trash barrier could address the serious environmental issue of floating solid waste pollution plaguing India's waterbodies.
The FTB uses the natural flow of water to bring the trash to the riverbank where it is deployed and from there the trash is manually or mechanically removed.
The FTB is deployed in eight cities — Bengaluru, Chennai, Puducherry, Hyderabad, Mysuru, Thanjavur, Tuticorin, and Coimbatore.
The FTB is said to be successful in cleaning up the Cooum in Chennai and also the Musi in Hyderabad. In Bengaluru, it has been deployed in some storm-water drains, and Nagawara and Dasarahalli lakes.
There were many participants in the challenge but their technologies were not visibly working whereas ours was working.
We took a mesh approach where the water flows past but the trash is stopped, whereas the other participants were using fabric booms which are basically used for oil spill.
Editorial
Limits of pleasure (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Indian Polity)
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has declared that he is withdrawing his pleasure as far as Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal is concerned. He expects constitutionally appropriate action by Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan.
In other words, Mr. Khan wants Mr. Balagopal dismissed for remarks that he sees as seditious, undermining national unity and stoking regionalism.
However, Mr. Vijayan has rejected the demand. It is difficult to agree with the Governor’s assessment that an observation that those who had seen only universities in Uttar Pradesh would not understand universities in Kerala is seditious or goes against national unity.
In normal circumstances, when the Governor conveys his displeasure with a Minister’s conduct, it will have considerable persuasive value.
However, in the backdrop of the unrelenting acrimony between Raj Bhavan and the Cabinet, it may have not evoked any serious response.
Needless to say, the polite phrase in the Constitution that applies the doctrine of pleasure to a Minister’s tenure is nothing more than a reference to the will of the Chief Minister on the continuance or dismissal of a member of his ministerial Council.
This constitutional position, however, does not mean that the underlying controversy over the appointment of Vice-Chancellors to universities in Kerala can be brushed aside.
After the Supreme Court set aside the appointment made in the A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technological University, Thiruvananthapuram, Mr. Khan directed nine other V-Cs to resign, flagging what he felt were similar legal infirmities in their appointment.
His point was that just as it was in the case before the apex court, these V-Cs too were either appointed by the submission of a single name by Search Committees (instead of a panel of three to five names, as required under University Grants Commission regulations), or were chosen by committees that included the State’s Chief Secretary.
The Governor/Chancellor was obviously wrong in fixing a short deadline for their resignation, and he subsequently converted the communication into show-cause notices to them, asking them to explain why their appointments should not be deemed illegal.
It is a separate legal question whether the judgment in the case of one V-C is automatically applicable to all others. However, given its potential for litigation, the sooner the university statutes in Kerala are brought in line with the UGC regulations, the better.
Going green (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Ensuring sustainable development requires more than good intentions and verbal commitments. And yet, commitment is that crucial first step.
Tamil Nadu has struck out clearly for a future that would be climate conscious, greener, with a series of announcements this year — in the form of government orders and via the Budget.
Apart from getting the Ramsar Site declaration for a record number of ecological zones as a well-planned and implemented initiative, it has also declared its intention to create green parks in 100 villages, that would cater to local requirements too.
Also proposed are an elephant reserve at Agasthiyarmalai in the south, a dugong conservation park in the Palk Bay, a new bird sanctuary at Tiruppur, and establishing India’s first-ever wildlife sanctuary for the slender loris in Dindigul and Karur district.
While these and similar incremental efforts made possible with political will, if implemented well, will lend themselves to a visibly greener landscape, the bolder initiatives have been conceptualised within the challenging field of climate change, where conviction is the driver.
The recently appointed governing council on Climate Change, which has experts including Montek Singh Ahluwalia, NandanNilekani and Erik Solheim, for instance, is an example of good intent followed by a solid tool to aid implementation.
It will provide policy directives to the Climate Change Mission, advise on climate adaptation and mitigation activities, provide guidance to the State Action Plan on Climate Change and provide strategies for implementation.
The setting up of a Green Climate Fund corpus is a further indication of commitment. Additionally, a special purpose vehicle, Tamil Nadu Green Climate Company, has been set up to advise on managing three important missions — Climate Change, Tamil Nadu Green and Wetlands.
But pursuing climate change has not been easy, not now, not ever. As per United Nations data, only 26 of 193 countries that agreed to enhance climate change action last year have followed up with concrete plans.
For, indeed, the challenges are daunting. Environmental evangelism will have to drive these projects, so that the passion, urgency and seriousness that the parent institution (Environment and Climate Change department), brings to the table are absorbed by other departments.
The old but relevant script of the Cuban Missile crisis (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 1, World History)
“Tell me how it ends,” is the common refrain of generals and leaders when in the middle of a war. The Ukraine war is no exception. Neither President VolodymyrZelensky or his western partners, nor his Russian adversary, President Vladimir Putin, can predict how the war will end.
Earlier assumptions have been upended — Russia’s short ‘special military operation’ to ‘de-Nazify and de-militarise’ Ukraine is already a nine-month-war, and likely to extend into 2023; trans-Atlantic North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) unity under U.S. leadership despite visible internal differences has not collapsed; Mr. Zelensky’s emergence as a wartime leader is surprising; and, poor Russian military planning and performance, a shock.
For the present, Russia is too strong to lose and Ukraine, despite NATO support, too weak to win; so, the war grinds on with no ceasefire in sight.
Yet, there is one outcome that must be prevented — a breakdown of nuclear deterrence. Nuclear weapons have not been used since 1945 and a global conscience has sustained the nuclear taboo for over 75 years. None of the three principals in Ukraine would want the taboo breached. However, escalation creates its own dynamic.
It is time to revisit the sobering lessons of the Cuban Missile crisis (October 1962) that brought the world to the edge of nuclear Armageddon, as the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation.
On October 16, 1962, U.S. President John F. Kennedy was informed that that the U.S.S.R. was preparing to deploy medium and intermediate range nuclear missiles in Cuba.
After deliberating with his core group of advisers, he rejected the idea of an invasion or a nuclear threat against Moscow, and on October 22, declared a naval ‘quarantine’ of Cuba.
Simultaneously, he authorised his brother Robert Kennedy to open a back-channel with Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin.
The crisis defused on October 28; based on assurances conveyed through the back-channel, Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev announced that Soviet nuclear missiles and aircraft would be withdrawn in view of U.S. assurances to respect Cuba’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
What was kept a secret by both leaders was the fact that reciprocally, the U.S. also agreed to withdraw the Jupiter nuclear missiles from Turkey.
Yet, there were plenty of unforeseen events. On October 27, a U.S. surveillance flight strayed over Cuban airspace and was targeted by Soviet air defence forces.
Major Rudolf Anderson was shot down, the only casualty. This happened despite Kennedy having counselled desisting from provocative surveillance and Khrushchev not having authorised the engagement. Both sides kept the news under wraps till the crisis defused when Major Anderson’s sacrifice was recognised and honoured.
A day earlier, a Soviet nuclear armed submarine B-59 found itself trapped by U.S. depth charges, off Cuban waters. The U.S. was unaware that the submarine was nuclear armed and Captain Valentin Savitsky did not know that a quarantine was in operation.
The dismal case of slashing schemes and cutting funds (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Over the past three years, over 50% of existing central government-sponsored schemes have been discontinued, subsumed, revamped or rationalised into other schemes.
The impact has been varied across Ministries. For example, for the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, there are just three schemes now out of 19 schemes, i.e., Mission Shakti, Mission Vatsalya, Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0. Mission Shakti itself replaced 14 schemes which included the ‘BetiBachao, BetiPadhao’ scheme.
In the case of the Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Dairy, just two schemes remain out of 12. Additionally, the Ministry has ended three schemes which include Dairying through Cooperatives, National Dairy Plan-II, etc. For the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, there are now three out of 20 (KrishonnatiYojana, Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Cooperatives and the RashtriyaKrishiVikasYojana), while there is little information on the National Project on Organic Farming or the National Agroforestry Policy.
There may be some who believe that a reduction in government schemes is a notable achievement.But does this lead to better governance, through less government? Are we reducing the state to the bare bones?
For schemes that exist, there are challenges such as funding cuts, disbursement and utilisation of funds. As of June 2022, ₹1.2 lakh crore of funds meant for central government-sponsored schemes are with banks which earn interest income for the Centre.
The Nirbhaya fund (2013) with its focus on funding projects to improve the public safety of women in public spaces and encourage their participation in economic and social activities is an interesting case; ₹1,000 crore was allocated to the fund annually (2013-16), and remained largely unspent.
As of FY21-22, approximately ₹6,214 crore was allocated to the fund since its launch, but only ₹4,138 crore was disbursed.
Of this, just ₹2,922 crore was utilised; ₹660 crore was disbursed to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, but only ₹181 crore was utilised as of July 2021.
Yet, a variety of women-focused development schemes across States are being turned down or ended. Meanwhile, women continue to face significant risks while in public spaces.
Farmers have not been spared either with fertilizer subsidies having been in decline over the last few years; actual government spending on fertilizers in FY20-21 reached ₹1,27,921 crore.
In the FY21-22 Budget, the allocation was ₹79,529 crore (later revised to ₹1,40,122 crore amidst the COVID-19 pandemic).
In the FY22-23 Budget, the allocation was ₹1,05,222 crore. Allocation for NPK fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) was 35% lower than revised estimates in FY21-22.
Opinion
Should governments sell liquor and run lotteries? (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 4, Ethics)
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan recently criticised the State government for relying heavily on liquor and lottery to generate revenue.
He said the State government was making poor people spend their earnings on lottery tickets and getting them addicted to alcohol.
I don’t believe the government should be in sin business or in any business. But there are specific reasons why the government should not be involved in the case of goods like alcohol.
First, the role of the state is to provide public goods. The consumption of sin goods is instead linked with ‘public bad’. The negative effects of these sin goods disproportionately impact the weaker sections of society.
Second, the role of the Indian state needs to be considered not just from the supply side, but from the demand side as well, because it’s the rising demand for alcohol that is a public health concern.
The Indian state, at least since Independence, has regulated all aspects of alcohol on the supply side. Despite that, there is a rapidly growing demand for alcohol. This needs to be brought into the picture when you want to assess the proper role of the state.
Finally, historically, the state’s involvement in sin goods has been motivated by the desire to raise revenue. So, we’ve got this problem where the revenue-maximising objective takes precedence over public interest.
Many States are heavily dependent on alcohol-based revenues. It’s not a healthy position for any state to be so dependent on a single commodity.
I have a slightly different view. The state can play a positive role in regulating the sale and consumption of sin goods. An important instrument is taxes.
Studies have shown that raising the tax rates on, and thereby the prices of, sin goods will discourage people from consuming them, at least in the long run.
At the same time, the taxes collected form a significant source of financial resources for the state, which can be used for development programmes. So, some argue that such sin taxes create a win-win situation.
It is true that the taxes on the sale of alcohol form a considerable part of the revenues in several States. But this situation must be viewed against the larger context of Centre-State financial resources and responsibilities.
In 2019-20, own tax revenues, collected by the States, accounted for only 43.5% of the total revenues of all States and Union Territories combined. State governments are heavily dependent on the financial devolutions from the Centre.
At the same time, they have a greater responsibility for expenditure on social sectors. With the introduction of GST, there are only a limited number of goods and services, mainly alcohol and petroleum products, on which the State governments can independently set tax rates.
Text & context
What is Turkey’s latest ‘disinformation’ law? (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
Turkey's competition authority has fined Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc. 346.72 million lira ($18.63 million) for breaking competition law.
The company held a dominant position in personal social networking services and online video advertising markets and obstructed competitors by merging data collected through its core services Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, the Turkish authority said in a statement.
Turkey's competition authority said Meta must act to reinstate competition in these markets and prepare annual reports about the steps it will take for the next five years.
In 2021, the competition authority launched an investigation into WhatsApp, and then Facebook Inc., after the messaging app asked users to agree to let Facebook collect user data such as phone numbers and locations, a change that was rolled out globally.
Social media companies have been a point of attention in Turkey, which adopted a law last week that would jail journalists and social media users for up to three years for spreading "disinformation."
Analysts have said social media companies are unlikely to abide in full by the law that requires them to remove "disinformation" content and share user data with authorities.
News
‘Governor has no role in a parliamentary democracy’ (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Indian Polity)
The Governor’s office is redundant and no longer has a place in a Parliamentary democracy, Communist Party of India general secretary D. Raja said at a press conference here in the backdrop of the ongoing tussle between Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan led Left Democratic Front government in the State.
Mr. Raja said that the issue was discussed at length at the 24th Congress of CPI held from 14 to 18th October at Vijayawada.
One should understand what is the mandate of a Governor? He functions according to the advice of the council of Ministers.
Going against his constitutional duties he intentionally seeking out conflict with an elected government,” Mr. Raja said. He implored President DroupadiMurmuto immediately act against Mr. Khan, reminding her that Governors serve at the pleasure of the President.
Fundamentally, in a constitutional parliamentary democracy, we do not need a Governor. They are anyways political appointees of the party in power in Delhi. In the last eight years we have seen Governors going out of their way to create a crisis where none exists.
The party Congress, Mr. Raja said, discussed the “grave threats to secularism, democracy and the very Constitution of the country” posed by the BJP/RSS government.
He also accused the Narendra Modi government of pursuing disastrous economic policies that have pushed the country to a brink.
The situation demands that the primary objective should be to defeat the BJP-RSS combine. For which we need to work on uniting Left forces,” he said.
He also said, that the party will be working to strengthen its own organisation and perform better at the electoral contests in State Assembly and in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In call with British PM Sunak, Modi discusses trade pact (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 27 held a telephone conversation with the new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The discussion between the two leaders took place in the backdrop of the arrival of the U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly who will participate in the special meeting of the U.N. Counter Terror Committee in Mumbai and Delhi.
Glad to speak to Rishi Sunak. Congratulated him on assuming charge as U.K. Prime Minister. We will work together to further strengthen our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. We also agreed on the importance of early conclusion of a comprehensive and balanced FTA.
Thanking Prime Minister Modi, Mr. Sunak said, "The U.K. and India share so much. I'm excited about what our two great democracies can achieve as we deepen our security, defence and economic partnership in the months and years ahead."
The Prime Minister said he was a visual representation of the historic links between the U.K. and India, and intended to build on this relationship to develop even closer ties between our two countries.
The two leaders agreed to work together to "strengthen the developing economies of the world," said the spokeswoman. Both the leaders are expected to meet at the G20 Summit in Bali next month.
GM mustard will be ready for cultivation in 3 crop seasons: IARI director (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Science & Technology)
Welcoming the decision of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) to provide environmental clearance for genetically-modified mustard, the Indian Agriculture Research Institute director Ashok Kumar Singh said it would lead to find a science-based solution for a major challenge, the edible oil import. Dr. Singh said the clearance would also allow the development of more high yielding hybrids in the sector.
The environmental release of GM mustard would provide an opportunity for mustard breeders to develop diverse and high-yielding hybrids of mustards.
There was no need to go for clearance by the Environment Ministry as the hybrid was environmentally released by the GEAC. “In BT Cotton too, a similar process was followed.
Now the responsibility is on the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) for testing the hybrid. Now, the hybrid can be commercially cultivated after producing large quantity of seeds of the hybrid. In this season, as there are not much seeds available, the available male line and female line of the hybrid have to be multiplied.
Then in the second season, we have to go for large quantity of hybrid seed production by crossing female with male. Then in the third season, it will be available for commercial cultivation.
The ICAR has an established system to coordinate research projects, known as the All India Coordinated Research Project, in which scientists test the hybrid and varieties developed by different institutions.
Now, the GEAC has given environmental clearance for Dhara Mustard Hybrid (DMH -11). Therefore, this hybrid can now be tested in the all India coordinated trial of AICRP for its yield advantage.
If it is found for higher yielding, then it will be released for commercial cultivation” Dr. Singh said explaining the next process.
The applicant, the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP), can also approach the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority (PPVFRA).
The developers of the technology can also register the hybrid with PPVFRA and can obtain plant breeders’ right and with that right they can go for commercialising the hybrid through companies or other institutions.
The most important aspect of the technology, Dr. Singh said, was that it had used barnase and bar genes system for creating diverse parent and the chances of yield enhancement was more.
The Environment Ministry had earlier sought studies on the impact of the genes on soil microbes. “This data was there in the application and the GEAC accepted the data.