India’s first UNESCO World Heritage city, Ahemdabad is a paradise for tourists; offering eclectic delights for an wholesome experience.
Find out more about the marvels of the city in our last way edition of India perspectives:

• Replete with heritage
The buildings at UNESCO protected Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park include mosques, temples, granaries, tombs, wells, walls and terraces.

• In praise of life
The traditional folk dance, Raas or Dandiya Raas of Gujarat is the iconic form of celebration during the various festivals of Navratri and Holi. It is performed with brightly-coloured batons.

• Gandhi Memorial Museum, Ahmedabad
Through the display of personal objects of Mahatma Gandhi, the museum gives a glimpse of his way of living.

• Adalaj Stepwell
Built in sandstone, the intricately carved five stories deep stepwell is located in the village of Adalaj.

Nobel Peace Prize, 2019

• The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.
• The prize is also meant to recognise all the stakeholders working for peace and reconciliation in Ethiopia and in the East and Northeast African regions.
• Ethiopia and Eritrea, longtime foes who fought a border war from 1998 to 2000, restored relations in July 2018 after years of hostility.
• Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali has been awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.

2019-10-14 10-47

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Post Independence
The topics under this section have been divided into various eras as given below.

Nehruvian Era

Aftermath of partition
Integration of the princely states
Issue of official language (this recurs in most eras)
Reorganisation of states
Tribal consolidation and issues
Foreign policy of Pandit Nehru
Shastri Era

Official language issue
Food shortage
Economic crisis
Indo-Pak war
Indira Gandhi Era

Official language
Split in congress (diminishing of Congress hegemony in regions)
Issue of inflation
Green revolution
Punjab crisis – Operation Blue Star
Land reforms
Bank nationalisation
Emergency
Naxal movement
1971 war with Pakistan
Janta movement
Rajiv Gandhi Era

Environment (focus on this topic for the first time by the government)
Anti-defection law
Women movements – Dowry Prohibition Act, Shah Bano case
Modernisation of army
Panchayati Raj

Monthly current affairs- Oct 2019

STUBBLE BURNING IS NOT THE ONLY CULPRIT
Sample question-
Any solution to Delhi’s air pollution problem must look at farmers’ economic conditions, science and policy change in Punjab. Explain.
The current case-
 Air pollution in Delhi has always been a topic of discussion during Deepavali.
 Almost everyone gets into action, the Supreme Court of India and top echelons of the
Government not excluded, while children are forced to breathe polluted air.
 Airwaves are filled with immediate “band-aid” type solutions and television experts finally come
around to just one issue — stubble burning by farmers in Punjab.
 Therefore, the solution also gets simplified; prosecute those who burn stubble (the stick) give them happy seeders by the thousands (the carrot).
An oversimplification-
 Ifthe problemwasthatsimple,itwouldhavebeensolvedlongago.
 The simplification of the narrative to stubble burning and the argument that all that smoke that
comes out of Punjab’s paddy fields lands in the National Capital Region (NCR), particularly in the capital city of Delhi, may not stand scientific scrutiny considering the fact that wind speeds, dispersal rates and settling down of particles are governed by laws of science.
 Reportedly,therehasbeenanincreaseof3%inaerosolloadingattributabletocropresidue burning during October and November every year.
 The “city centric” argument is that Punjab now produces 25% more rice than what it did 15 years ago, which is good for the country, but bad for Delhi.
 However, no data was presented on the impact of burning of biomass in urban Delhi, coal firedovens(tandoors)andcoal-basedindustries,coal-basedpowerplantsintheoutskirtsof Delhi, the exponential increase in sport utility vehicles, or SUVs, in the NCR and so forth.
The major solutions concerning the Punjab cultivation are-
 Reduce paddy area/production, allow farmers to plant/transplant paddy before June and distribute “happy seeders”.
 Punjab was never a traditional rice cultivator. It took up rice cultivation in response to the national policy of food self-sufficiency.
 They achieved the highest productivity in the country and contributed maximum among all States to the central pool of rice procurement.
 Punjab dug deeper to get groundwater and caused long-term damage to itself.
 Attempts at diversification did not take off because of the difference in net farm returns and
market risks.

INDIA’S FOOD BASKET MUST BE ENLARGED
Sample question- Agrobiodiversitycanhelpimprovethecountry’spoorrankingintheGlobalHungerIndex.Coment. The current case-
 Indiaisranked102intheGlobalHungerIndex(GHI)outof117 qualifiedcountries.
 Hunger is defined by caloric deprivation; protein hunger; hidden hunger by deficiency of
micronutrients.
 Nearly 47 million or four out of 10 children in India do not meet their potential because of
chronic undernutrition or stunting.
 This leads to diminished learning capacity, increased chronic diseases, low birth-weight infants
from malnourished parents. Nutrition garden-
 Recently, the Ministry of Human Resources Development brought out school ‘nutrition garden’ guidelines encouraging eco-club students to identify fruits and vegetables best suited to topography, soil and climate.
 These gardens can give students lifelong social, numerical and presentation skills, care for living organisms and team work, besides being used in the noon-meal scheme.
 Agrobiodiversity — relating to diversity of crops and varieties — is crucial in food security, nutrition, health and essential in agricultural landscapes.
 Out of 2,50,000 globally identified plant species, about 7,000 have historically been used in human diets.
 Genetic diversity of crops, livestock and their wild relatives, are fundamental to improve crop varieties and livestock breeds.
 Across the world, 37 sites are designated as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), of which three are Indian — Kashmir (saffron), Koraput (traditional agriculture) and Kuttanad (belowsea-levelfarming).
 OurpromisinggeneticresourcesincludericefromTamilNadu(Konamani),Assam(Agnibora) and Kerala (Pokkali), Bhalia Wheat and mushroom (Guchhi) from Himachal Pradesh and rich farm animal native breeds — cattle (42), buffaloes (15), goat (34), sheep (43) and chicken (19).
 For instance, moringa (drumstick) has micro nutrients and sweet potato is rich in Vitamin A. There are varieties of pearl millet and sorghum rich in iron and zinc.
Development goals-
 The UN Sustainable Development Goal 2 advocates for Zero Hunger and the Aichi Biodiversity Target focuses on countries conserving genetic diversity of plants, farm livestock and wild relatives.

Buildup-2020
 It emphasises that countries develop strategies and action plans to halt biodiversity loss and reduce direct pressure on biodiversity.
 TheCentreforBiodiversityPolicyandLaw(CEBPOL),apolicyadvocacyunitoftheNational Biodiversity Authority, came out with recommendations to increase India’s agrobiodiversity in 2019.
 These include a comprehensive policy on ‘ecological agriculture’ to enhance native pest and pollinator population providing ecosystem services for the agricultural landscape.
 It suggested promotion of the bio-village concept of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) for ecologically sensitive farming; conserving crop wild relatives of cereals, millets, oilseeds, fibres, forages, fruits and nuts, vegetables, spices etc. for crop genetic diversity healthier food; providing incentives for farmers cultivating native landrace varieties and those conserving indigenous breeds of livestock and poultry varieties.
 The recommendations also include encouraging community seed banks in each agro-climatic zone so that regional biotic properties are saved and used by new generation farmers; preparing an agrobiodiversity index, documenting traditional practices through People’s Biodiversity Registers, identifying Biodiversity Heritage Sites under provisions of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002; and strengthening Biodiversity Management Committees to conserve agrobiodiversity and traditional knowledge.
 To conserve indigenous crop, livestock and poultry breeds, it is recommended to mainstream biodiversity into agricultural policies, schemes, programmes and projects to achieve India’s food and nutrition security and minimise genetic erosion.
Source-

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op -ed/indias-food-basket-must-be- enlarged/article30109818.ece?homepage=true

WHY THREE RECENT REPORTS SUGGEST WE MAY BE LOSING THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
Sample question-
The growing intensity of wildfires and their spread to new corners of the globe raises fears that climate change is exacerbating the dangers. Explain how reports commemorate the fact.
The current case-
As the leaders of the world’s nations assemble in Madrid for the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25) beginning December 2, recent news on the global fight against climate change has been consistently disappointing.
Consider the following reports-
The Emissions Gap Report
 The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) flagship Emissions Gap Report, which went online on Tuesday (November 26), said in its executive summary: “The summary findings are bleak. Countries collectively failed to stop the growth in global GHG emissions, meaning that deeper and faster cuts are now required.”
 Despite scientific warnings and political commitments, GHG emissions continue to rise, including by China and the United States, the two biggest polluters.
 GHG emissions have risen at a rate of 1.5 per cent per year in the last decade, stabilizing only briefly between 2014 and 2016.
 Although the number of countries announcing net zero GHG emission targets for 2050 is increasing, only a few countries have so far formally submitted long-term strategies to the UNFCCC.
 In 2030, annual emissions need to be 15 GtCO2e lower than current unconditional NDCs [Nationally Determined Contributions; the heart of the 2015 Paris Agreement] imply for the 2°C goal, and 32 GtCO2e lower for the 1.5°C goal.
The World Meteorological Organization
 The WMO, a specialized agency of the United Nations mandated to cover weather, climate, and water resources, reported that the emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide — all major greenhouse gases — have increased in the atmosphere since the middle of the 18th century.
The Production Gap Report
 The Production Gap Report made public earlier this month said that “governments are planning to produce about 50% more fossil fuels by 2030 than would be consistent with limiting warming to 2°C and 120% more than would be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C”.

 This report — which follows in the footsteps of the UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report and other reports that review countries’ greenhouse gas emissions and compare them with the emission levels needed to meet global climate goals — is the “first assessment of countries’ plans and outlooks for fossil fuel production, and what is needed to align this production with climate objectives”.
 The production gap is the largest for coal, the report said — “by 2030, countries plan to produce 150% (5.2 billion tonnes) more coal than would be consi stent with a 2°C pathway, and280% (6.4billiontonnes)morethanwouldbeconsistentwitha1.5°Cpathway”.
Source-
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-why-3-recent-reports-suggest-we-may-be- losing-the-fight-against-climate-change-6140000/