Answers: Mains Marathon – UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions – January 29, 2018

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Q.1) What are the major features of Paris Agreement (21st Conference of the Parties) of the United Nations’ framework convention on climate change. (GS–3)

Introduction:

• The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the UNFCCC dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020.
• The Paris Accord is considered as a turning point for global climate policy.

Aims:

• The central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
• It further aims at pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
• The agreement aims to increase the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change.
• It also aims at making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.

Major features:

• • The Paris Agreement was adopted by 195 countries at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCC in Paris on 12th December 2015.
  • It came into force on 4th November 2016
  • As of June 2017, 195 countries have signed the agreement.
  • 148 countries have ratified it.

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs):

• NDCs are contributions that each country should make in order to achieve the worldwide goals.
• The level of NDC that each country sets determines the targets to be achieved by the particular country.
• These contributions should be reported every five years.
• The principle of ‘progression’ prevails which indicates that the next NDC should be more ’ambitious’ than the previous one.
• The Paris Agreement is not legally binding as a whole.
• It does not penalise the countries who fail to fulfil their commitments.
• However, it imposes obligations on countries to implement their plans.
• This includes a review process every five years, designed to pressure them into compliance and increase their efforts to fulfil their commitments.

Q.2) In your view what strategy should be adopted to double farmer’s income by 2022 as targeted by the Indian government. (GS–2)

Introduction:

• Farming is the most important enterprise in India and farmers are an integral part of our country.
• To address the agrarian crisis and farmer’s unrest across the country, the government needs to take steps to secure farmer’s income.

Steps to increase farmers’ income:

• There is need to set up mulit-disciplinary monsoon management centre in each drought-affected district, to provide timely information to rural families on the methods of mitigating the effects of drought
• Animal husbandry camps could be set up to make arrangements for saving cattle and other farm animals because usually animals tend to be neglected during such crises
• Farm loan waivers are posing a bigger burden on the government exchequer compared to what higher pay for farm produce will incur
• India’s ranking on the Global Hunger Index has become worse over the years and country missed out on the Millennium Development Goals of halving hunger
• Unless land titling recognizes female ownership of land for cultivation, half of India’s farmers cannot claim institutional credit
• Agriculture will have to grow at 12 or 14% to realize such rise in farmers earning but according to World Bank data India’s agriculture growth rate stood at 1.2%
• Crop insurance schemes is the welcome step in order to provide security to farmers
• Creating irrigation infrastructure across the nation
• Distributing soil health cards to farmers
• Streamlining farm credit facilities
• Making efforts for second green revolution in eastern India and giving special attention to allied activities.

Governments steps to increase farmers’ income:

• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced a slew of measures in the Union Budget 2017 to boost the agricultures sector.
• Higher agricultural credit, higher allocation for irrigation projects, a crop insurance scheme and increased allocations for MGNREGA to dig farm ponds were some of the measures.
• In case of rubber, a price stabilization fund was set up which helped farmers get better prices for their produce.
• India’s fertiliser subsidy which has increased by around five times in the last ten years from Rs 12, 595 crore in 2001-02 to Rs 67, 971 crore in 2012-14 at current prices
• In 2015-16, the government budgeted Rs 73,000 crore (about 0.5% of GDP) on fertiliser subsidy.
• The Economic Survey of 2015-16 pitched for reforms to increase domestic availability via less restrictive imports and to provide benefits directly to farmers using ‘JAM’ (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, mobile)
• The crop insurance scheme is rightly protect farmer from the vegaries of the weather, allocations for which have been increased in the Union Budget 2017.
• Recently, Niti Aayog urged the states to take steps, ranging from creating farmers specific agricultural markets to land ceiling reforms, needed for doubling farmers’ income by 2022.
• Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, Accelerated Irrigation Benefits, programme, Har Khet Ko Pani, and Per Drop, More Crop are some of the steps taken by government.

Recently, Niti Aayog came out with its “three point action agenda “.

Conclusion:

• Government need to take long-term steps to ensure the economic viability of farming.
• Raising productivity, reforming land policies and solving remunerative price mess will require massive amount of public investment and political will.

Q.3) What is the National Security Strategy? How will the National Security Strategy affect India’s security concerns in the neighborhood and beyond? (GS-3)

Context:

• United States of America recently introduced its national security strategy.
• It describes India as a leading global power the document promises support to India’s its emergence as a global leader.

How will the National Security Strategy the affect India’s security concerns in the neighbourhood and beyond?

Russia:

• As far as Russia is concerned India no quarrel.

India and China:

• As far as China is concerned, India is strong enough on her borders, nuclear weaponsand defenses along our Himalayan border.
• What we need the United States for, is the larger balance.
• It’s the Indian Ocean and South Asian balance where India needs to work cooperatively with the United States.
• At the same time India has to understand the importance of China.
• Chinese strategic community for instance may see India in a particular way but the Chinese business community and their state-owned enterprises see the potentialities of the Indian market.
• So therefore it is very important that relationship with China also mature.

Pakistan:

• The National Security Strategy document says that Pakistan will have to take action against the terror emanating from its soil.
• To some extent the United States is putting pressure on Pakistan for the past seven eight months of a kind.
• The challenge for India is how to use this U.S pressure to moderate Pakistani behavior.

Afghanistan:

• United States is going to continue to stay with Afghanistan is good for India.
• Because by walking away, the United States had created a major problem because no one knew who was going to look up
• India should do bit from the economic aid side.