1. A difficult campaign : In the run-up to the election, Pakistan s judiciary and military are showing their hand

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3 Ȧ R T I C L E S 1. A difficult campaign : In the run-up to the election, Pakistan s judiciary and military are showing their hand 2. High on rhetoric: Punjab s drug menace demands an all-out war that goes beyond empty gestures 3. Caught in a cleft stick: Nitish Kumar s move to rejoin the NDA could end up hurting him, as events in the past year show 4. A clean cooking strategy: In its drive towards sustainability and energy security, India must ensure an awareness of better cooking fuel choices 5. The problems with the HECI draft Bill: The Higher Education Commission of India is likely to overregulate and micromanage universities 6. Traffickers, peddlers, mules or users?: The law on drugs needs some amendments 7. Mercenary conservation: Allowing for private forests can lead to illegal activities and change the natural behaviour of wildlife

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6 . P R O F I L E PRASHANT MAVANI MSc. in Management, University of Surrey (UK) Senior Faculty: StudyIQ Download PDF notes of this lecture from my FB Page

7 A difficult campaign It was only in 2013 that a transfer of power from one democratically elected government to another was realised for the first time. This week, Awami National Party leader Haroon Bilour became the second member of his family to be assassinated, pointing to a systematic targeting of politicians who don t adhere to an Islamist line or kowtow to the military. The atmosphere is by no means conducive to the conduct of a free and fair election and has been further vitiated by terrorist groups being mainstreamed in the polity.

8 High on rhetoric Given the geography, the drugs, whether it is opium or heroin, make an easy and assisted entrance into Punjab from the Golden Crescent (Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan), and synthetic drugs are thought to come in via Himachal Pradesh. Punjab has 553-km border with Pak National problem Punjab to other parts of our country Links between drugs and terror

9 Department of Revenue in 2009: Given how the law in interpreted, it is hard to say whether the people imprisoned are traffickers, peddlers, mules or users. The way investigation is conducted right now, it is impossible to tell whether the person is a peddler or smuggler, or an addict feeding his habit. The state should consider decriminalising addiction and developing an effective treatment strategy by consulting experts, partner agencies and users, and allocating adequate resources.

10 A clean cooking strategy Energy use, a key indicator of living standards across the world, is also instrumental in raising it. Choice of cooking fuel in households has a huge impact on living conditions especially for women and children. India: spending on cooking fuel accounts for around 5-6% of its total expenditure Factors: SOCIO-ECONOMIC EASY ACCESS AVAILABILITY PRICE OF FUEL HOUSEHOLD INCOME CULTURE OR LIFESTYLE GOVERNMENT POLICIES

11 Among the various fuel options available (firewood, pellet, biogas, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas or LPG, piped natural gas or PNG) biogas accounts for the lowest effective greenhouse gas emission; PNG and then LPG are next. Biogas and PNG are the best cooking energy options Cooking fuels emit substantial amounts of toxic pollutants (respirable particles, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen and sulphur, benzene, formaldehyde and polyaromatic compounds) which contribute to indoor air pollution. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in May 2016: 8 crore families so far Consumption-based subsidy is not available for biogas and PNG

12 To promote biogas in rural and semi-urban areas, adopting the service-based enterprise model with suitable resource availability offers a sustainable approach. The model is being successfully implemented in Hoshiarpur, Punjab using a 100 cubic meter biogas plant. The plant supplies clean and piped cooking biogas to 44 households and a school every day. Generation of grass-root level Consumption-based subsidies need to be replaced with a functional subsidy that is provided on the basis of household income levels and local variables. Create an environment where our citizens are aware of the options and make their energy choices based on the nature of the fuel and not because of socio-economic constraints.

13 The problems with the HECI draft Bill HECI will focus solely on academic matters while grants will be issued by the Ministry. Prakash Javadekar gave merely 10 days to stakeholders to submit their feedback on the Bill. Mr. Javadekar argues: HECI will provide more autonomy to higher education institutes 1. Principles of minimum government and maximum governance. The nature of the structure of the commission and its advisory council shows that they are bound to have more government in decision-making processes rather than academics.

14 2. Non-compliance (of directions of the HECI) could result in fines or jail sentence. Universities will have to take the concurrence of the HECI before offering a course. 3. With its mandate of improving academic standards with a specific focus on learning outcomes, evaluation of academic performance by institutions, and training of teachers, the HECI is likely to overregulate and micromanage universities. 4. The proposal to empower the Centre to remove the HECI s chairperson and vice-chairperson for reasons including moral turpitude will again curtail the regulator s autonomy, which in turn will impact the autonomy of universities. 5. One-size-fits-all administrative models will go against the ethos of academic freedom 6. Centre s aim to restrict the role of the States in matters relating to education.

15 Mercenary conservation Karnataka recently drafted Private Conservancy Rules in a bid to increase forest area through private land. Under the rules, anyone who has a minimum of 100 acres of land bordering a national park can convert it to a Wildlife Private Conservancy. Of this land, 5% can be used to construct buildings for ecotourism; the rest has to be kept for flora and fauna. We are going down the Africa way Bids and trophies Though these wildlife spaces are massive, they are private and hence fenced. This constantly challenges and changes the natural behaviour of wildlife. Even though South African game reserves claim to respect wildlife, it is a business for them as their animals are bred and gunned down for money.

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17 Important News Govt. leaves decision on Section 377 to the court The question is protection under the fundamental right to life, says SC Adultery must remain a punishable offence: Centre

18 Iran softens stand, says it knows India s concerns India cuts Iranian oil imports in June ahead of U.S. sanctions India s monthly oil imports from Iran declined to 5,92,800 barrels per day (bpd) in June, down 16% from May, according to data from industry and shipping sources. Ministerial committee opposes cess on sugar Climate change threatens Nilgiri tahr The endangered wild goat could lose approximately 60% of its habitat, starting from the 2030s

19 Finance World I-T Dept Focuses on Reducing Litigation

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24 Answers- 1. Union Government recently banned which drug for domestic use from July 2018? A) Phenacetin B) Methaqualone C) Oxytocin D) Nialamide 2. As per US State Department s 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report, which country was named as worst human trafficking nation? A) Syria B) Pakistan C) Iraq D) North Korea

25 Questions- 1. Who was conferred with the National Kalidas Samman in visual arts by the Madhya Pradesh government? A) Shameer Das B) Anjolie Ela Menon C) A Ramachandran D) Rajveer Upadhaya 2. Where was the first meeting of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) held? A) Kochi B) Ooty C) New Delhi D) Chennai

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