Civilsdaily

Author: B2B

  • Understand Everything About a River Drainage & Drainage Patterns

    Subjects:

    The river system of an area is called drainage. The area drained by a single river system is called the drainage basin.

    The word watershed is sometimes used interchangeably with drainage basin or catchment. Ridges and hills that separate two watersheds are called the drainage divide.

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    Terminology for the study of rivers

    • Drainage basin – the area of land drained by a river.
    • Catchment area – the area within the drainage basin.
    • Watershed – the edge of highland surrounding a drainage basin. It marks the boundary between two drainage basins.
    • Source – The beginning or start of a river.
    • Confluence – the point at which two rivers or streams join.
    • Tributary – a stream or smaller river which joins a larger stream or river.
    • Mouth – the point where the river comes to the end, usually when entering a sea.

    Drainage Patterns:

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    Depending on the slope of land, underlying rock structure and climate of an area, the streams in a drainage basin form certain patterns. Different types of drainage pattern are as follows:

    #1. Dendritic Drainage Pattern:

    When the river channel follows the slope of the terrain, it develops dendritic pattern. The stream and its tributaries resemble the branches of a tree. Hence, it is called dendritic pattern.

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    #2. Trellis Drainage Pattern:

    When a river is joined by its tributaries at almost right angles, it develops a trellis pattern. Trellis pattern develops where hard and soft rocks exist parallel to each other.

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    #3. Rectangular Drainage Pattern:

    When rocks are strongly joined, rectangular pattern develops.

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    #4. Radial Drainage Pattern:

    • When the streams flow in different directions from a central peak or dome like structure, a radial pattern is developed.
    • It is important to note that a combination of different patterns may develop in the same drainage basin.

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    A Quick Recap

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  • 16 Nov 2016 | Back2Basics: Daily Static and CA Revision using News

    Everyday we read news, but do we do more than read it? The best way to learn from news is to find the issues and facts which we don’t know and research them. Starting today we will try to list some topics to help you do that.

    Let’s call this the new avatar of #Back2Basics

    Following topics are based on today’s news –

     

    1. What are – piezoelectric materials, nanogenerators, wearable electronics – PRELIMS

    2. What is the India BPO Promotion Scheme? It is under the Digital India Scheme, so make notes on Digital India also. – PRELIMS + MAINS

    3. There is news on CPI and WPI today. What are CPI and WPI? Revise your notes if you have them, or make notes on them. – PRELIMS + MAINS

    4. ADB is giving a $500 million loan. Research ADB. – PRELIMS + MAINS

    Also note that it is for India’s largest bridge. What is the largest bridge at the moment in India? Where is it located? – PRELIMS

    5. News on Russia-Pak-China forum. Research the Heart of Asia Conference mentioned in the news. Who are the members, what is its purpose etc. – PRELIMS + MAINS

    6. The SC has refused to stay the demonetization move. List the Part, Chapter and Articles related to the Supreme Court in the Indian Constitution. – PRELIMS + MAINS

    7. Centre has increased MSP for Rabi crops – what crops come under Rabi? What months does it correspond to? – PRELIMS

    8. Banks will be using special ink to prevent people from changing old notes repeatedly. This ink is also used in elections. What makes the ink so special? – PRELIMS

     

    Make sure to leave some of the answers and your views on this initiative in the comments.

  • The 5 Types of Natural Vegetation in India and Their Charactersitics

    Subjects:

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    What is natural vegetation?

    It refers to a plant community which has grown naturally without human aid and has been left undisturbed by humans for a long time (also called as virgin vegetation).

    • Cultivated crops and fruits, orchards form part of vegetation but not natural vegetation
    • The virgin vegetation, which are purely Indian are known as endemic or indigenous species but those which have come from outside India are termed as exotic plants.
    • The term flora is used to denote plants of a particular region or period. The species of animals are referred to as fauna.

    Types of Natural Vegetation in India

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    The following are the principal types of natural vegetation of India:

    (1) Tropical Evergreen Rain Forests,

    (2) Deciduous or Monsoon Type of Forests,

    (3) Dry Deciduous Forests and Scrubs,

    (4) Semi Desert and Desert Vegetation,

    (5) Tidal or Mangrove Forests and

    #1. Tropical Evergreen Forests

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    • The tropical evergreen forests usually occur in areas receiving more than 200 cm of rainfall and having a temperature of 15 to 30 degrees Celsius.
    • They occupy about seven per cent of the earth’s land surface and harbours more than half of the world’s plants and animals.
    • They are found mostly near the equator. Region is warm and wet throughout the year.
    • Trees reach great heights up to 60 metres or even above.
    • It has a luxuriant vegetation of all kinds – trees, shrubs, and creepers giving it a multilayered structure.

    In India, evergreen forests are found in the western slopes of the Western Ghats in States such as Kerala and Karnataka. They are also found in hills of Jaintia and Khasi. Some of the trees found in Indian Tropical Forests are rosewood, mahogany and ebony. Bamboos and reeds are also common.

    Common animals found in these forests are elephants, monkey, lemur and deer. The one horned rhinoceros are found in the jungles of Assam and West Bengal.

    #2. Tropical Deciduous Forests:

    • They are the most widespread forests of India.
    • Also called the monsoon forests and spread over the region receiving rainfall between 200 cm and 70 cm.
    • Trees of this forest ­type shed their leaves for about six to eight weeks in dry summer.
    • On the basis of the availability of water, these forests are further divided into moist and dry deciduous.

    Moist deciduous forests:

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    • It found in areas receiving rainfall between 200 and 100 cm.
    • Exist mostly in the eastern part of the country – northeastern states, along the foothills of the Himalayas, Jharkhand, West Orissa and Chhattisgarh, and on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats.
    • Teak is the most dominant species of this forest.
    • Bamboos, sal, shisham, sandalwood, khair , kusum, arjun, mulberry are other commercially important species.

    Dry Deciduous Forests:

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    • The dry deciduous forests are found in areas having rainfall between 100 cm and 70cm.
    • These forests are found in the rainier parts of the peninsular plateau and the plains of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
    • There are open stretches in which Teak, Sal, Peepal, and Neem grow.
    • A large part of this region has been cleared for cultivation and some parts are used for grazing.
    • Common animals found are lion, tiger , pig, deer and elephant. Variety of birds, lizards, snakes, and tortoises are also found here.

    Difference between Dry & Moist Deciduous Forests

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    Difference between Evergreen and Deciduous Forests

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    #3. The Thorn Forests and Scrubs:

    • In regions with less than 70 cm of rainfall, the natural vegetation consists of thorny trees and bushes.
    • Found in the north­western part of the country including semi­arid areas of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
    • Acacias, palms, euphorbias and cacti are the main plant species.
    • Trees are scattered and have long roots penetrating deep into the soil in order to get moisture.
    • The stems are succulent to conserve water.
    • Leaves are mostly thick and small to minimize evaporation

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    #4. Montane Forests:

    • In mountainous areas, the decrease in temperature with increasing altitude leads to the corresponding change in natural vegetation.
    • As such, there is a succession of natural vegetation belts in the same order as we see from the tropical to the tundra region.
    • The wet temperate type of forests are found between a height of1000 and 2000 metres.
    • Evergreen broad­leaf trees such as oaks and chestnuts predominate.
    • Between 1500 and 3000 metres, temperate forests containing coniferous trees like pine, deodar, silver fir, spruce and cedar, are found. and they cover mostly the southern slopes of the Himalayas, places having high altitude in southern and north­east India.
    • At higher elevations, temperate grasslands are common.
    • At high altitudes, generally more than 3,600 metres above sea­ level, temperate forests and grasslands give way to the Alpine vegetation.
    • Silver fir, junipers, pines and birches are the common trees of these forests.
    • They get progressively stunted as they approach the snow­line and are used extensively for grazing by nomadic tribes like the Gujjars and the Bakarwals.
    • At higher altitudes, mosses and lichens form part of tundra vegetation.
    • Common animals found in these forests are Kashmir stag, spotted dear , wild sheep, jack rabbit, Tibetan antelope, yak, snow leopard, squirrels, Shaggy horn wild ibex, bear and rare red panda, sheep and goats with thick hair.

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    #5. Mangrove Forests:

    • Found in the areas of coasts influenced by tides.
    • Mud and silt get accumulated on such coasts.
    • Dense mangroves are the common varieties with roots of the plants submerged under water.
    • The deltas of the Ganga, the Mahanadi, the Krishna, the Godavari and the Kaveri are covered by such vegetation.
    • In the Ganga Brahmaputra delta, sundari trees are found, which provide durable hard timber.
    • Palm, coconut, keora, agar, also grow in some parts of the delta.
    • Royal Bengal Tiger is the famous animal in these forests.
    • Turtles, crocodiles, gharials and snakes are also found in these forests.

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  • The 4 Types of Mountains and their Detailed Charactersitics

    Subjects:

    Landform is a natural feature of the earth’s surface. The surface of the earth varies from one place to another. The main landforms are; mountains, plateau and plains. There are two processes which lead to formation of different landforms. These processes are; internal process and external process.

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    Internal Process: The earth beneath your feet is continuously moving. The movement of earth’s surface results in internal process. The internal process results in a portion of the earth’s surface getting elevated or getting sunk.

    External Process: Continuous wearing down and rebuilding of the earth’s surface is the result of external process.

    Mountains:

    • A mountain is the natural elevation of the earth’s surface.
    • A mountain may be narrow at top and broad at the base.
    • The elevation of mountain is considerably more than that of surrounding area.
    • We know that temperature reduces with increase in altitude.
    • Due to this, very high mountains are usually covered with snow.

    Mountain Range: When mountains are arranged in a line, then it is called a mountain range. Some of the mountain systems contain ranges spread over hundreds of kilometers.

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    Types of Mountains:

    There are 4 types of mountains, viz. fold mountains, block mountains and volcanic mountains.

    #1. Fold Mountains:

    The formation of fold mountains

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    1. Where an area of sea separates two plates, sediments settle on the sea floor in depressions called geosynclines. These sediments gradually become compressed into sedimentary rock.
    2. When the two plates move towards each other again, the layers of sedimentary rock on the sea floor become crumpled and folded.
    3. Eventually the sedimentary rock appears above sea level as a range of fold mountains.

    Where the rocks are folded upwards, they are called anticlines. Where the rocks are folded downwards, they are called synclines. Severely folded and faulted rocks are called nappes.

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    Fold mountains are created through a process called orogeny. An orogenic event takes millions of years to create a fold mountain. When a tectonic plate gets pressure from two sides, it gets folded. Some of its portion becomes elevated and forms the mountains.

    The depressions form the valleys. The Himalayas, The Andes and the Alps are examples of Fold Mountain. They are the young mountains of the world and hence they have some of the highest peaks of the world.

    #2. Block Mountains:

    When large areas are broken and displaced vertically, Block Mountains are formed. In this case, the uplifted blocks are called horsts. On the other hand, the lowered blocks are called graben.

    Examples of Block Mountains are; the Rhine Valley and the Vosges mountain in Europe.

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    #3. Volcanic Mountains:

    A mountain formed due to volcanic activity is called Volcanic Mountain. Examples of Volcanic Mountains are; Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Fujiyama.

    Andaman and Nicobar islands in India are the tip of the volcanic mountains which rise from the ocean floor.

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    #4. Dome Mountains:

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    Dome mountains form when large globs of magma float up from beneath the crust and push up surface rocks, creating a rounded swelling in the crust. Once the magma cools, it creates a large dome of harder rock under the surface, which erosion sometimes reveals.

  • Classifications of Rocks: Sedimentary, Igneous and Metamorphic

    Subjects:

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    What are the 3 basic types of rocks?

    Just as any person can be put into one of two main categories of human being, all rocks can be put into one of three fundamentally different types of rocks. They are as follows:

    #1. Igneous Rocks

    • Igneous rocks are crystalline solids which form directly from the cooling of magma.
    • This is an exothermic process (it loses heat) and involves a phase change from the liquid to the solid state.
    • The earth is made of igneous rock – at least at the surface where our planet is exposed to the coldness of space.
    • Igneous rocks are given names based upon two things:
      • composition (what they are made of) and
      • texture (how big the crystals are)

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    The word igneous is derived from the Latin word Ignis which means fire. The rocks formed by the solidification on the cooling of molten magma, are called igneous rocks.

    Depending on where the molten magma cools, they are of the following types:

    • Intrusive Rocks
    • Extrusive Rocks

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    When the molten magma cools deep inside the earth’s crust, intrusive igneous rocks are formed. They:

    • Cool down slowly
    • Form large grains
    • Granite is intrusive igneous rock. Grinding stones used to prepare paste / powder of spices and grains are made of granite.

    Extrusive Igneous Rocks:

    • When the molten magma (lava) comes on the earth’s surface.
    • It rapidly cools down and becomes solid.
    • Rocks formed in such a manner on the crust are called extrusive igneous rocks.
    • They have a very fine grained structure.
    • Basalt is an example of extrusive igneous rocks. The Deccan Plateau is made up of basalt rocks.

    #2. Sedimentary Rocks

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    • These rocks get their name from the Latin word sedimentum which means settle down.
    • These rocks are formed by the settling down of sediments.
    • Sediments are the smaller particles / fragments that are formed by the breaking down of rocks when they roll down, crack and hit each other.
    • These sediments are transported by wind, water etc.
    • These sediments; when compressed and hardened; form sedimentary rocks.
    • Sandstone is an example of sedimentary rock. It is made up of grains of sand.
    • The sedimentary rocks may also contain fossils of plants, animals and other micro – organisms that once lived on them.

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    #3. Metamorphic Rocks:

    The Greek word ‘metamorphose’ which means change of form, is the root of the word metamorphic. In other words, these are the rocks that are formed when the igneous and sedimentary rocks change their form under the following two circumstances:

    • Great heat and
    • Great pressure

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    The following are the examples of metamorphic rocks:

    • Slate: Clay becomes slate after metamorphosis [Texture = Foliated]
    • Marble: Limestone becomes marble after metamorphosis [Texture = Non-Foliated]

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    #4. What is a Rock Cycle?

    The Rock Cycle is a group of changes. Igneous rock can change into sedimentary rock or into metamorphic rock. Sedimentary rock can change into metamorphic rock or into igneous rock. Metamorphic rock can change into igneous or sedimentary rock.

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    NOTE: This lesson forms a part of the series on Physical Geographic Lectures – Click to read the collection

  • The Changing Earth: Phenomena of Weathering and Erosion

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    The landscape is continuously being worn away by two processes:

    1. Weathering
    2. Erosion

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    Understanding Weathering

    • Weathering involves 2 processes that often work in concert to decompose rocks.
    • Both processes occur in place.
    • No movement is involved in weathering.

    Chemical weathering involves a chemical change in at least some of the minerals within a rock.

    Mechanical weathering involves physically breaking rocks into fragments without changing the chemical make-up of the minerals within it.

    It’s important to keep in mind that weathering is a surface or near-surface process. As you know, metamorphism also produces chemical changes in rocks, but metamorphic chemical changes occur at depth where either the temperature and/or pressure are significantly higher than conditions found on the Earth’s surface.

    As soon as a rock particle (loosened by one of the two weathering processes) moves, we call it erosion. Mass wasting is simply movement down slope due to gravity. Rock falls, slumps, and debris flows are all examples of mass wasting. We call it erosion if the rock particle is moved by some flowing agent such as air, water or ice.

    So, the mantra is:If a particle is loosened, chemically or mechanically, but stays put, call it weathering. Once the particle starts moving, call it erosion.

    Understanding Erosion and Its Agents

    Erosion: As mentioned earlier, it is the wearing away of landscape by different agents like wind, water and ice. The eroded material is carried away or transported by water, wind, etc. and eventually deposited. Different landforms are created on the earth’s surface because of erosion and deposition.

    A. Role of water in erosion/ deposition:

    #1. River: The running water of the river erodes the landscape.

    #2. Waterfall: 

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    • Waterfalls often form in the upper stages of a river where it flows over different bands of rock.
    • It erodes soft rock more quickly than hard rock and this may lead to the creation of a waterfall.
    • Formation of a waterfall: The soft rock erodes more quickly, undercutting the hard rock.

    #3. Ox Bow Lake:

    • An oxbow lake is a lake that forms when a meander in a river is cut off from the rest of the river.
    • It is shaped like a crescent, or the bow of an oxen yoke.
    • A river meanders because of obstacles and patterns of erosion and deposition of sediments.

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    • As the river enters the plain, it twists and turns forming large bends called meanders.
    • Due to continuous erosion and deposition along the sides of the meander, the ends of the meander loop come closer and closer.
    • When this happens, over a course of time, the meander loop cuts off from the river and forms a cut – off lake

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    #4. Floodplain:

    • Flood plains are made by a meander eroding sideways as it travels downstream.
    • When a river breaks its banks and floods, it leaves behind layers of alluvium (silt).
    • These gradually build up to create the floor of the flood plain.

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    #5. Leeves:

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    • In times of flood a river may overflow its banks and spread over the flood plain.
    • As it does so it loses energy and deposits its material across the flood plain.
    • As it takes more energy to carry larger particles, these are deposited first and therefore build up along the banks of the river to form a natural embankment which are called levees.
    • The levee will become higher every time the river floods.

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    #6. Delta:

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    • When the river approaches the sea, it becomes very slow in its flow and begins to break up into a number of streams called distributaries.
    • The speed of the river water is so less that it starts depositing its load.
    • Each distributary forms its own mouth.
    • A collection of sediments from all the mouths forms a delta

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    Why do rivers have deltas?

    The three main types of Deltas are:

    #7. Sea Waves:

    The erosion and deposition by water in the form of sea waves leads to the formation of coastal landforms. Some coastal landforms are as follows:

    • Sea Caves
    • Sea Arches
    • Stacks
    • Sea Cliff
    • Beaches

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    • Seawaves continuously strike at the rocks. This leads to cracks. The cracks become larger and wider overtime. Thus hollow like caves are formed on the rocks. They are called sea caves.
    • As these cavities become bigger and bigger, only the roof of the caves remains, hence forming sea arches.
    • The erosion further breaks the roof and only the walls remain. These wall­ like features are called stacks.
    • Sea cliff is the steep rocky coast rising almost vertically above sea water. The sea waves deposit sediments along the shores forming beaches.

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    B. Role of ice in erosion/ deposition:

    Glaciers are ‘rivers’ of ice that too erode the landscape by bulldozing soil and stones to expose the solid rock below. They create:

    #1. Deep hollows

    #2. Lakes in mountains: These are formed when the ice melts and the deep hollows get filled up with water

    #3. Glacial moraines: These are formed by the deposition of the material carried by the glacier such as rocks big and small, sand and silt.

    A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris (soil and rock) that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions on Earth (i.e. a past glacial maximum), through geomorphological processes.

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    Different types of moraine:

    • Terminal moraines are found at the terminus or the furthest (end) point reached by a glacier.
    • Lateral moraines are found deposited along the sides of the glacier.
    • Medial moraines are found at the junction between two glaciers.
    • Ground moraines are disorganised piles of rocks of various shapes, sizes and of differing rock types.

    B. Role of wind in erosion/ deposition:

    An active agent of erosion and deposition in the deserts is the wind. The landforms in the desert are:

    #1. Mushroom Rocks:

    • In deserts, we can see rocks in the shape of mushrooms called mushroom rocks.
    • The mushroom has a narrow base and a wider top.
    • These rocks also have such a shape because the winds erode the lower section of the rock more than the upper part.

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    #2. Sand Dunes:

    • When the wind blows, it lifts and transports sand from one place to another.
    • When it stops blowing the sand falls and gets deposited in low hill – like structures called sand dunes.

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    #3. Loess:

    • When the grains of sand are very fine and light, the wind can carry it over very long distances.
    • When such sand is deposited in large areas, it is called loess.
    • Large deposit of loess is found in China.

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    NOTE: This lesson forms a part of the series on Physical Geographic Lectures – Click to read the collection

  • The 8 Major Types of Farming Systems in India

    Subjects:
    Discuss geography concepts 1-on-1 with IAS mentors
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    Based primarily on nature of land, climatic characteristics and available irrigational facilities, the farmers in India practise different types of farming.

    1. Subsistence Farming:

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    • Majority of farmers in the country practise subsistence farming.
    • It is characterised by small and scattered land holdings and use of primitive tools.
    • As the farmers are poor, they do not use fertilisers and high yielding variety of seeds in their fields to the extent they should do.
    • Facilities like electricity and irrigation are generally not available to them.

    Features of Subsistence Farming:

    • The whole family works on the farm
    • Most of the work is done manually
    • The farms are small
    • Tradition methods of farming are followed
    • Yield is not very high
    • Most of the yield is consumed by the family with very little surplus for the family

    2. Shifting Agriculture:

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    • In this type of agriculture, first of all a piece of forest land is cleared by felling trees and burning of trunks and branches.
    • After the land is cleared, crops are grown for two to three years and then the land is abandoned as the fertility of the soil decreases.
    • The farmers then move to new areas and the process is repeated.
    • Dry paddy, maize, millets and vegetables are the crops commonly grown in this type of farming.

    This practice is known by different name in different regions of India like:

    1. Jhum in Assam,
    2. Ponam in Kerala,
    3. Podu in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and
    4. Bewar masha penda and Bera in various parts of Madhya Pradesh.
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    As far as possible governments have tried to discourage this practice of cultivation by tribals due to wasteful nature such as soil erosion caused by it, when soil erosion caused by it, when soils are not under cultivation.

    3. Plantation Agriculture:

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    • Plantation farming is bush or tree farming. It was introduced by the British in the 19th century.
    • It is a single crop farming of rubber, tea, coffee, cocoa, spices, coconut and fruit crops like apples, grapes, oranges, etc.
    • It is capital intensive and demands good managerial ability, technical know-how, sophisticated machinery, fertilisers, irrigation, and transport facilities.
    • Plantation agriculture is an export-oriented agriculture. Most of the crops grown in plantation agriculture have a life cycle of more than two years.
    • Natural rubber, coconuts, oil palm, tea, cocoa, and coffee are all tree crops and take years to mature, but afterwards they are productive for long periods.
    • Plantation agriculture is confined within tropical areas, i.e., both sides of the equator. Plantations exist on every continent possessing a tropical climate.

    Some of the plantations like tea, coffee and rubber have a processing factory within the farm itself or close to it.

    This type of agriculture has developed in hilly areas of north-eastern India, sub-Himalayan West Bengal and in Nilgiri, Anamalai and Cardamom hills in peninsular India.

    4. Intensive Farming:

    In areas where irrigation has been possible, the farmers use fertilisers and pesticides on large scale. They have also brought their land under high yielding variety of seeds. They have mechanised agriculture by introducing machines in various processes of farming.

    Also known as industrial agriculture, it is characterized by a low fallow ratio and higher use of inputs such as capital and labour per unit land area. This is in contrast to traditional agriculture in which the inputs per unit land are lower.

    Remember Intensive Agriculture Development program?

    Intensive Agriculture Development program (IADP) was the first major experiment of Indian government in the field of agriculture and it was also known as a “package programme” as it was based upon the package approach.

    The programme was launched in 1961 after the Community Development Programme lost sheen. The core philosophy was to provide loan for seeds and fertilizers to farmers. Intensive Agriculture Development program was started with the assistance of Ford Foundation.

    The IADP was expanded and later a new Intensive Agriculture Area programme (IAAP) was launched to develop special harvest in agriculture area.

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    The IADP was expanded and later a new Intensive Agriculture Area programme (IAAP) was launched to develop special harvest in agriculture area.

    5. Dry Agriculture:

    Dry farming or dry-land farming may be defined as a practice of growing crops without irrigation in areas which receive an annual rainfall of 750 mm – 500 mm or even less.

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    Key elements of effective combat with perils of Dryland agriculture

    • Capturing and Conservation of Moisture
    • Effective Use of Available Moisture
    • Soil Conservation
    • Control of Input Costs

    Dryland agriculture is subject to high variability in areas sown, yields and output. These variations are the results of aberrations in weather conditions, especially rainfall. Alternate crop strategies have been worked out for important regions of the country:

    6. Mixed and Multiple Agriculture:

    • Mixed farming is referred to cultivation of crops and raising of animals simultaneously.
    • The multiple farming is used to denote the practice of growing two or more crops together.
    • In such case a number of crops having varying maturing periods are sown at the same time.
    • This practice is followed is areas having good rainfall or facilities of irrigation.
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    7. Crop Rotation:

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    This refers to growing of number of Crops one after the other in a fixed rotation to maintain the fertility of the soil. The rotation of crops may be complete in a year in some of the areas while it may involve more than one year’s time is others.

    • Pulses or any leguminous crop is grown after the cereal crops.
    • Legumes have the ability of fixing nitrogen to the soil.
    • Highly fertilizer intensive crops like sugarcane or tobacco are rotated with cereal crops.
    • The selection of crops for rotation depends upon the local soil conditions and the experience and the understanding of the farmers.

    Good time to re-visit the nitrogen cycle again!

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    8. Terrace Cultivation:

    • The hill and mountain slopes are cut to form terraces and the land is used in the same way as in permanent agriculture.
    • Since the availability of flat land is limited terraces are made to provide small patch of level land.
    • Soil erosion is also checked due to terrace formation on hill slopes.
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    Questions from Previous Year’s Prelims

    1. Which of the following is the chief characteristic of ‘mixed farming’? [UPSC 2012]

    A. Cultivation of both cash crops and food crops
    B. Cultivation of two or more crops in the same field
    C. Rearing of animals and cultivation of crops together
    D. None of the above.

    Ans: C

    2. With reference to Indian agriculture, which one of the following statements is correct? [UPSC 2002]

    A. About 90 per cent of the area under pulses in India is rainfed.
    B. The share of pulses in the gross cropped area at the national level has double in the last two decades
    C. India accounts for about 15 per cent of the total area under rice in the world
    D. Rice occupies about 34 per cent of the gross cropped area of India

    Ans: A

    3. Which one of the following agricultural practices is eco-friendly ? [UPSC 1999]

    A. Organic farming
    B. Shifting cultivation
    C. Cultivation of high-yielding varieties
    D. Growing plants in glass-houses

    Ans: A

    4. What can be the impact of excessive/ inappropriate use of nitrogenous fertilizers in agriculture? [UPSC 2015]
    1. Proliferation of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms in soil can occur.
    2. increase in the acidity of soil can take place.
    3. Leaching of nitrate to the groundwater can occur.
    Select the correct answer using the code given below.

    A. 1 and 3 only
    B. 2 only
    C. 2 and 3 only
    D. 1, 2 and 3

    Ans: C

    5. In India, the problem of soil erosion is associated with which of the following? [UPSC 2015]
    1.Terrace cultivation
    2. Deforestation
    3. Tropical climate
    Select the correct answer using the code given below.

    A. I and 2 only
    B. 2 only
    C. 1 and 3 only
    D. 1, 2 and 3

    Ans: B

    Discuss geography concepts 1-on-1 with IAS mentors

     

  • Economics | Budget Deficits Explained

    Subjects:
    As the word suggests, it refers to the amount by which Spending exceeds Income.
    There are 3 types of Budget Deficits –
    1. Revenue Deficit(RD), 2. Fiscal Deficit (FD) and 3. Primary Deficit(PD).
    These cannot be understood without a basic knowledge of the Budget. In a separate note, we will see their relationship with other terms like Balance of Payment ( BoP ), Current Account Deficit (CAD), etc and understand the concept of twin deficits. However in this note, we restrict our conversation to Union Budget.

    I. Union Budget

    The Union Budget is divided into 2 Budgets
    1. Revenue Budget (RD)
    2. Capital Budget (CB)
    Why is it split this way?
    To understand this, let’s assume a hypothetical situation where
    A. Your monthly take-home salary is 50K. Your monthly consumption is 10K (includes basic necessities like groceries, water, electricity, etc.).
    B. At the same time, you decided to buy a house for 100K, sold shares worth 50K and took a loan of 10K.
    Now, lets examine the components of A –
    1. It has income that’s more or less fixed every month(your salary), you do not draw down on your assets to earn this money i.e. Household revenue receipt.
    2.  It contains expenditures that are recurring i.e. they happen every month and you have very little control over them (changes in your lifestyle will impact them). Moreover no assets/capital is created by these expenditures i.e. Household Revenue Expenditure.
    Together, they constitute your household revenue budget.
    Let’s examine components of B  now–
    1. This income from loan is a liability as you have to return it. It’s not something you have earned. It’s borrowing, it’s a debt. Moreover, its not fixed as you won’t be taking a loan every month. It’s a one time receipt. Since it creates debt, it is debt creating capital receipt.
    2. Shares you sold gave you 50K. You have lost your asset now. It’s also one time payment as you can’t sell same shares again( you have already sold your stocks). It does not create debt i.e. non debt creating capital receipt. Together, they constitute household capital receipt.
    3. B also has expenditure that leads to asset creation ( you can sell your house to recover money, you can give it on rent and earn regular income) i.e. Household capital expenditure.  Part B constitutes household Capital Budget
     ‘Analyzing your monthly finances in the above manner makes it very clear as to how much money you owe, what assets you bought and sold and what’s your regular expenditure. Any other classification would miss all these important components. Extrapolating this to the Budget –
    A represents Revenue Budget and B represents Capital Budget.
    Formally defining,
    RB consists of Revenue Receipts(RR) and Revenue Expenditure(RE) met from these RR. Where
    RR = Income that neither creates liability( borrowing) nor reduces asset( divestment, auction of natural resources),
It includes Tax + Non Tax Revenues( Service charges, dividends from PSUs, interest govt. receives, Grants in aid etc)
    RE = All expenditure that doesn’t lead to capital/asset creation.
    CB consists Capital Receipts(CR) and Capital Expenditure (CE). Further CR has 4 components(becomes important for prelims).
    CR = CRa + CRb + CRc + CRd where,
CRa = Proceeds from Disinvestments say of PSUs.
CRb = Recovery of past loans.
CRc = Sale of assets/capital by the Govt for eg. Coal Blocks, 2G,3G, etc.
CRd = Loans raised by Government (on which it has to pay interest)
    Similarly, CE consist of capital expenditure on acquisition of assets/capital like
    CE = CEa + CEb + CEc where,
CEa = Loans given to States and UTs
CEb = Repayment of Past Loans
CEc = Investment in infrastructure
    It would help you to keep in mind the components of the CR and CP.
    Now that the above terminology is clear, let’s move and define the Deficits.

    II. Deficits

    1. Revenue Deficit(RD) refers to the excess of revenue expenditure over revenue receipts
    RD = Revenue Expenditure(RE) – Revenue Receipts(RR)
    Pretty simple and straightforward. What does it signify?
    It signifies if the day to day expenditure of the govt can be met by its day to day income.
    This is a very important deficit. It talks about component A. What happens if my monthly take home salary is 50K and my consumption is 60K? You can see that I’ll have to take loans to meet my monthly expenditures. But how will I repay the loans???
    Same is for the economy. A healthy economy shouldn’t be taking loans to meet its day to day expenses or it might end up falling in the debt trap.
    This deficit was so important that the FRBM Act. 2003 laid down rules to bring this deficit to absolute 0 by 2008-09.
    1. Fiscal Deficit(FD) is the difference between the total expenditure and [revenue receipts plus non-debt capital receipts]
     FD = Total Expenditure(TE) – (RR + CRa+CRb+CRc)
    Sounds complicated! Well not exactly. Lets go back to our example.
    Total Expenditure ( TE ) for that month is-
    10k (monthly consumption i.e. RE)+100k(purchase of a house i.e. CE) = 110k.
    Total Receipt (TR ) is-
    50k (salary i.e. RR) + 50k ( share sale i.e. non debt capital receipt) + 10k ( loan i.e. Debt creating Capital receipt).
    Put everything in formula-
    FD= TE – ( RR + Non debt CR )
    FD= 110k- ( 50k + 50k )
    FD= 10k
    If you look carefully this figure represents the loan you took to buy your home!
    Similarly, at the Budget level, it indicates the amount the Govt has to borrow to meet its annual targets.
    1. Primary Deficit(PD) is measured by fiscal deficit less interest payments.
    Primary Deficit (PD) = FD – Payment of Interests from previous loans
    PD has special significance.
    1. It shows what the Fiscal Deficit would’ve been for this particular year if no interests were to be paid. It ignores the loans taken by the previous Govts. in previous financial years.
    2. It talks about the health of our economy. Lets understand how
    Lets consider few cases.
    1. PD = 0.
    It implies FD = Payment of Interests from previous loans.
    This implies that the present government has recognized the need to tighten its belt, is now balancing its budget and FD is due to mess created by previous governments who borrowed irresponsibly.
    2. PD = FD
    It implies that Payment of Interests from previous loans are 0. Meaning we are taking loans to meet other targets and not payment of past loans. This implies previous governments acted very responsibly and balanced their budgets.
    There is another kind of Deficit – Effective Revenue Deficit(ERD)
    This was introduced in 2012 – 2013. This deficit tries to take into account the asset creation that happens at the state level.
    ERD = RD – (grants for creation of capital assets)
    We included all loans given to the states as one single category, revenue expenditure, without classifying which ones are being used for asset creation i.e. Capital Expenditure and which ones to meet other expenses i.e. Revenue Expenditure.
    Those which are used for asset creation at the state level are subtracted from the revenue deficit to arrive at Effective Revenue Deficit.
    Sources-
    http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2015-16/keybud/keybud2015.pdf

     

  • [Spiritual Tourism #3] PRASAD Cities- Kanchipuram, Mathura, Puri

    In the last blog of this new series on Spiritual Tourism we left off at Kamakhya. Lets continue the tour alphabetically and traverse way down South to Kanchipuram. Keep the following map handy

    source

    #7: Kanchipuram

    • Kanchipuram is situated on the banks of Vegavathy river
    • One of 4 dhams of Hinduism (other three being Puri, Dwarka and Badrinath) + Seven most ancient religious cities (like Dwarka too)
    • Ruled by the Pallavas, the Medieval Cholas, the Later Cholas, the Later Pandyas, the Vijayanagar Empire, the Carnatic kingdom, and the British.
      • The legendary Pallavas ruled from Kanchi
      • Dravidian style evolved when rulers such as Mahendravarman and Narsimhavarman-1 commissioned Rock-cut temples (UNESCO herigtage status) known as “Rathas” on banks of Mamallapuram (close to Kanchipuram) Eg- Dharmaraja Ratha
      • Finally culminated in structural temples (also UNESCO heritage status) at Kanchipuram / Mahabalipuram such as Kailasanatha and Vaikuntha Perumal temple
    • Being THE temple city, it is known as ‘city of thousand temples’
      • Home to Ekambareswarar temple (having one of the tallest temple towers aka Vimana in India),
    • Centre for advanced education for Jainism and Buddhism between the 1st and 5th centuries
    • Headquarters of the Kanchi Matha, founded by the Hindu saint Adi Shankaracharya <recently a debate shot up regarding having this Astik Philosopher represent India as its National Philosopher; which exact sub-school does he belong to?>
    • Also called Silk City (Mulberry Silk)
      • Thriving handloom industry
      • Main profession of the people is weaving silk sarees
    • From North to south order of Important TN cities: Chennai -> Kanchipuram -> Puducherry (UT) -> Thanjavur -> Madurai -> Dindigul (Jalikattu Belt)

    #8: Kedarnath

    source
    • One of the twelve ‘Jyotirlingas‘ of Kedar or Lord Shiva.
    • Situated 3500 metres above sea level in Kumaon-Garhwal Himalaya
    • River Mandakini <Tributary of which river?> originates from a Chorabari glacier near Kedarnath
    • Fellow member of famed Panch Kedar 
      1. Rudranath
      2. Madmaheshwar
      3. Kalpeshwar.
      4. Tunganath
      5. Kedarnath
    • Built in 8th century AD by (same) Adi Shankaracharya (enlisted the Char Dhams)
    • Kedarnath was the holy temple ravaged by floods in 2013

     

    #9: Mathura 

    • Situated on banks of Yamuna river and birth place of Lord Krishna
    • Ruled by Mauryas, Sungas, Kushanas, Lodhis, Mughals, Jats, Marathas, Britishers
    • Centre of three cultures: Indian, Indo-scythian and Hellenstic
    • Centre of Religions: Buddhists, Jains and Brahmanical faith alike (Around 36 annual fairs are held); Round the year festivities
    • Visited by the famous Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang (during reign of Harshavardhana) and also received a mention from Ptolemy, the great Egyptian writer
      • Tsang came through Tashkent and Swat valley <Alexander did too!>
      • His book “Si-yu-ki” or the records of western world

     

    Mathura School of Art: 

    source

    Materials– Clay figurines (Terracotta), Red sandstone

    • Landmark Experimentation in style of sculpting- as it replaced symbols by Anthropomorphic forms
    • Secular in character
    • Foreign elements blended with indigenous motifs

    Traditional folk arts:

    • Rasiya (the tradition of folk-songs that describe the love of the divine couple Radha and Krishna),
    • Charkula (a traditional folk dance of the Braj, where a woman balances a column of deepikas on her head)
    • Sanjhee (the colourful art of decorating the ground with flowers),

     

    #10: Puri

    source

    • Abode of Hindu diety “Lord Jagannath” (a coastal city, not along banks of any river)
    • Enshrined in a grand Kalingan Temple of the 12th century
    • One of the Five sacred “khetras” of odisha
    • One of the 4 Dhams of Hinduism
    • Following saints sanctified the place through their preachings and left their imprints in the monasteries and ashramas
      • Ramanuja (12th century AD), Madhavatirtha (13th century AD), Naraharitirtha, Sankaradeva, Nanak, Kabir, Chaitanya
    • Famed Car festival (Rath Yatra) takes place annually here:
      • Three chariots carry Lord Jagannath and his sister, Subhadra, and brother Balabhadra
    • Community Institutions of Puri – the Jaga Gharas and Akhadas are present in each Sahi (nuclear settlements), where martial art, physical exercises and gymnastics are practised
    Published with inputs from Amar

  • [Spiritual Tourism #2] PRASAD Cities- Amritsar, Gaya, Dwarka and Kamakhya

    In the last blog of this new series on Spiritual Tourism we left off at Amaravati. Lets continue the tour alphabetically and head straight to Amritsar. Keep the following map handy

    source

    #3: Amritsar

    source
    • Literally a “Pool of Nectar”
    • Centre of Sikhism and the site of the Sikhs’ principal place of worship.
    • Name from Amrit Sarovar, the holy tank that surrounds the fabulous Harimandir Sahib aka Golden Temple
    • City was founded by Guru Ram Das Ji, the 4th Sikh Guru, in the year 1577
      • Early name of the city was Chak Guru
    • Places of Interest: Wagah Border, Jallianwala Bagh
    • Historic Importance:
      • A city of historic walls and impressive gateways
      • Importance under the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh
      • City lies on the Grand Trunk Road, Asia’s one of the oldest built by King Sher Shah Suri in the year 1539.
    • Arts and Craft
      • Woollens, carpets and blankets
      • Cut-glass work, bangles and embroidered stuff <like Phulkari embroidery which has GI tag>
      • Also home to various Takias (A sufi convent) & Khankahs (A retreat designed specifically for gatherings of a Sufi brotherhood to meet, reside, study, and assemble and pray together as a group in the presence of a Sufi master)

    #4: Dwarka

    source
    • One of 4 sacred Hindu pilgrimage sites (Chaar-dham) as per Shankaracharya
    • One of 7 most ancient religious cities in the country
    • Known for being the centre of Dwarka Kingdom, the ancient kingdom of Lord Krishna
      • Underwater Study on the coastal water of Dwarka conducted by the ASI revealed the existence of a city dated to the 2nd millennium BC
    • Famous for Dwarkadheesh Temple (dedicated to Lord Krishna), which was built around 200 BC
    • Mention in Indian epic literature in Mahabharata and Skanda Purana

    #5: Gaya- a religious confluence

    source

    Gaya is situated on the Banks of Phalgu river <Phalgu river is a tributary of which famous river?>

    • Center of Buddhism:
      • Close proximity to famous Buddhist pilgrimage centre of Bodhgaya
      • Lord Buddha attained enlightenment in Bodhgaya
        • The UNESCO famed Mahabodhi temple is also at Bodhgaya <Ashoka laid the foundation stone>
      • Projected to the world by Bimbisara the Fifth of the Shishunaga dynasty
      • Note: Gaya also finds a mention in the great epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata; like Dwarka
    • Center of Hinduism:
      • Famous as a site of Hindu tourism for ‘pind-daan’
      • Large influx of visitors for the month long ‘Pitra Paksh‘ mela annually
    • Center for Islam
      • Largest mosque in Bihar, the Jama Masjid. is also located in Gaya
        • There are numerous Jama masjids in India- the most famous being in Delhi made by Shah Jahan in Red Sandstone

     

    #6: Kamakhya Temple

    source
    • Center of Tantric and shakti cults of Hinduism
    • Sitting atop Nilachal Hills, overlooking river Brahmaputra in Assam
    • Inscription of Allahabad pillar of Samudragupta mentions Kamakya Temple
    • Amongst the 51 Shakti Peethas related to the cult of Sati (name comes from the myth that there are 51 pieces of Sati’s body scattered across the Indian subcontinent, and Kamakhya is one of them), and Shakta temple
    • Kamakya devi is also known as The menstruating goddess.
    • Famous Ambabuchi Mela is celebrated as the annual mela of Kamakhya Temple
    Published with inputs from Amar

  • Everything that you should know about the World Trade Organization (WTO)

    Subjects: ,

    World Trade Organization (WTO) as the name suggests, is the organization dealing with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible.

    But why do nations trade? Whatever happened to Swadeshi and self sufficiency? 

    • Different factor endowments – simplest and obvious logic is every country does not possess everything. As we do not have sufficient oil reserves, we can’t do anything but import oil. But we also import things we can produce from simplest of things such as toys to complex things such as mobile phones.
    • Choice -from consumers perspective, it gives them more choices <you can buy iphones or Samsung galaxy, micromax or freedom 251>.
    • Market– Similarly it gives bigger market to industries (economies of scale, a concept that cost decreases as the size of an industry increases) <from sale in India to sale to the whole world>
    • Specialization – If countries didn’t trade, or traded only those things which they did not have (essentially raw materiel), they will have to produce everything. It will hamper specialization. Every country will become jack of all trade, master of none. Trade allows countries to specialize in things they do the best based on their comparative and competitive advantage.<If India is good at producing apples and China at oranges, India should only produce apples and exchange them for oranges>
    • Competition and efficiency – Also domestic industries will not face any competition from outside world, less competition, less incentive to become efficient or to innovate , consumers suffer. Thus trade forces industries to become more efficient.
    • Reduction in hostility – Apart from these economic reasons, as countries trade, they become interdependent on each other and thus chances of hostilities or major wars decrease. New ideas also flow along with trade.

    Discussion so far suggests that in an ideal world we should all promote free trade as it increases efficiency and benefits consumers. But the world is not ideal. There are some problems with free trade and hence need for protecionism–

     

    • In developing economies, industries may not even get a chance to grow because they face competition from more established foreign firms <thus the argument for protecting nascent industries by higher tariffs>
    • Trade can lead to over-specialisation <workers at risk of losing their jobs should world demand fall> <suppose India produced only apples and suddenly some virus infest the crop, there wouldn’t be anything else to sell to the world or someone produces better variety of apple somewhere else, Indian apples would lose market> <recall situation of Cuba when sugar prices fell>
    • What if other country started cheating, subsidizing exports to capture the market abroad and when all domestic industries are killed, increasing the prices <every country must play by the same rules>

    It’s clear that trade can not be totally free in a not so ideal world. Countries need some policy levers to allow domestic industries to grow and diversify their economies. Also there’s need for a watchdog/referee who can adjudicate when other countries start cheating.

    Let’s now discuss barriers to trade

     

    In spite of all the benefits of trade, we all know countries regularly resort to measures which discourage trade (especially imports) to protect domestic industries <hence called protectionist measure> even though they might hurt consumers <problem of silent majority v/s vociferous minority discussed in chapter 2 of economic survey>

    Tariff barriers- custom duties which make imported goods costlier than domestically manufactured goods <it’s imposed to earn revenues for the govt, protect interest of domestic industry>

    Non tariff barrier– Here countries do not impose custom duties but retard flow of trade in other ways.

    Quantitative restrictions- Crude way of doing it is imposing quantitative restrictions on goods imported <quotas, say only up to 100 m tonne of sugar can be imported> or making licenses compulsory to export goods to home country or that only certain licenses can import goods or embargo <banning trade of certain goods with certain countries>

    Standards setting and administrative delays– But countries now employ sophisticated ways to retard flow of trade. Customs official can simply delay clearance of cargo <hence trade facilitation agreement> or can set standards <product using child labor/ environmentally degrading techniques will not be allowed, the problem with TPP> or simply cheat by providing export subsidies or domestic subsidies.

    Two kinds of trade barriers that are allowed for protection of health, safety, environmental protection but are often misused

    1. Technical barriers to trade-technical regulations, standards, and conformity assessment procedures can be set for the protection of human health and safety, or protection of the environment.
    2. Sanitary and Phyto Sanitary Measures – It allows countries to set their own standards for food safety and animals and plant health standards.

    But both the measures specify that standards must not be arbitrary i.e they must be scientific. Also they should not be discriminatory.

    WTO’s role is to reduce these barriers to trade, set rules of the game and adjudicate when one member country accuses other of cheating.

    Let’s learn about WTO in detail

    When? 1995

    Headquarter: Geneva, Switzerland <where are the HQs of IMF and World Bank? Answer in comments> 

    Members: 164 <Afghanistan the most recent member> < latest member of IMF?>

    Origin:

    • US, UK and a few other countries set up, an interim organisation about trade named GATT (General Agreement on Tariff and Trade) in 1947
    • GATT was biased in favour of the developed countries and was called informally as the Rich men’s club.
    • So, the developing countries insisted on setting up of the International Trade Organisation (ITO)
    • That’s the reason, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was set up in 1964 as an alternative, on recommendation of UN committee
    • Next development comes in Uruguay Round of GATT, it sought to expand the scope of the organisation by including, services, investment and intellectual property rights (IPR)
    • Agreements were ratified by the legislatures of 85 member-countries by year-end 1994.
    • On such rectification, the WTO started functioning from Jan 1, 1995 < Marrakesh Agreement>

    Why GATT failed to perform? Any Limitations?

    • Institutional structure – Only the set of rules and multilateral agreements, it lacked institutional structure
    • Limited scope – It didn’t cover trade in services, Intellectual Property Rights(IPR) etc.
    • Dispute Resolution Mechanism and Non-tariff barriers – No
    • Representation for developing and new states – No (Western monopoly)

    Objectives of the WTO

    • Raising standards of living and incomes, ensuring full employment, expanding production and trade, optimal use of world’s resources, at the same time extending the objectives to services and making them more precise
    • Introduces the idea of sustainable development in relation to the optimal use of world’s resources, and the need to protect and preserve the environment in a manner consistent with the various levels of national economic development
    • Recognises the need for positive efforts designed to ensure that developing countries, especially the least developed ones, secure a better share of growth in international trade
    • WTO continues the decision-making practice followed under the GATT Decisions will be taken by a majority of votes cast on the basis of one country, one vote . In fact rarely is voting undertaken. Decisions are mostly based on consensus. <What is the basis of voting in IMF? Answer in comments>

    Principles of the trading system

    A) Non-discrimination –

    1) Most favoured nation (MFN) rule

    • The MFN rule requires that a WTO member must apply the same conditions on all trade with other WTO members
    • i.e. a WTO member has to grant the most favorable conditions under which it allows trade in a certain product type to all other WTO members.
    • Grant someone a special favour and you have to do the same for all other WTO members
    • Then how do Free Trdae Agreements (FTAs) work? Well as eveywhere, devil is always in detail, FTAs are exempt from this rule.
    • Did you know that Pakistan has not yet granted India MFN status though we have grated them that status <for long time, there’s talk of Pakistan granting us non discriminating market access (NDMA) as Pakistanis feel, if they grant us MFN status, they would be favouring us the most, hahaha>

    2) The National Treatment Policy

    National treatment means that imported goods should be treated no less favorably than domestically produced goods  <after the foreign goods have entered the market> and was introduced to tackle non-tariff barriers to trade (e.g. technical standards, security standards, discriminating against imported goods)

    B) Reciprocity

    • Granting of mutual concessions in tariff rates, quotas, or other commercial restrictions
    • It implies that these concessions are neither intended nor expected to be generalized to other countries <contrast MFN and reciprocity.>

    C) Binding and enforceable commitments –

    • The tariff commitments made by WTO members in a multilateral trade negotiation and on accession are enumerated in a schedule (list) of concessions
    • These schedules establish “Ceiling bindings”: a country can change its bindings, but only after negotiating with its trading partners, which could mean compensating them for loss of trade <i.e can’t increase tariff beyond these levels>
    • If satisfaction is not obtained, the complaining country may invoke the WTO dispute settlement procedures

    D) Transparency –

    • The WTO members are required to publish their trade regulations, to maintain institutions allowing for the review of administrative decisions affecting trade, to respond to requests for information by other members, and to notify changes in trade policies to the WTO
    • These internal transparency requirements are supplemented and facilitated by periodic country-specific reports (trade policy reviews) through the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM)
    • WTO system tries also to improve predictability and stability, discouraging the use of quotas and other measures used to set limits on quantities of imports

    E) Safety valves –

    • In specific circumstances, govts are able to restrict trade
    • WTO’s agreements permit members to take measures to protect not only the environment but also public health, animal health and plant health <sanitary and phytosanitary measure, TBT>

    Let’s come to main part of WTO -AGREEMENTS

    <There were many agreements agreed and ratified, but we found only some which are important for us, so let’s analyse them in brief>

     

    1) Agreement on subsidies and countervailing measures (SCM)

    It deals with the provision of subsidies, and the use of countervailing measures to offset injury caused by subsidized imports

    Definition of subsidy has 3 basic elements:

    1. Financial contribution
    2. By a Government or any public body within the territory of a Member
    3. Which confers a benefit.

    All three of these elements must be satisfied in order for a subsidy to exist SCM applies to non-agricultural products.

    It follows the traffic lights approach and classifies subsidies in 3 categories: <scroll up and look at barriers to trade infograph gain>

    Red:

    Subsidies with high trade-distorting effects, such as export subsidies, and those that favour the use of domestic over imported goods are prohibited. [If suppose, Brazil gives subsidy to its product Exported to India, Then India can ban such items from country]

    Green:

    Subsidies that are not specific to an enterprise or industry or a group of enterprises or industries are non-actionable.
    [No action at all – actionless]

    Amber:

    • Subsidies that are neither red nor green belong to the amber category.
    • They are actionable by the trading partners if their interests are adversely hit.
    • The affected country can seek remedy through the dispute-settlement procedures or go for countervailing duties.
      [Here, India can go either for countervailing duties or dispute-settlement procedure]

    2) General Agreement on Trade in Services – GATS

    The creation of the GATS was one of the landmark achievements of the Uruguay Round, whose results entered into force in January 1995.

    Objectives: same as broad objectives of WTO

    What services are covered under GATS?

    • GATS applies in principle to all service sectors, with 2 exceptions.
    • GATS excludes services supplied in the exercise of governmental authority i.e. services that are supplied neither on a commercial basis nor in competition with other suppliers. Eg.- social security schemes and any other public service, such as health or education, that is provided at non-market conditions.
    • Air traffic rights and services directly related to the exercise of such rights are also exempt

    Four modes under GATS <refer to the infograph above>

    Mode 1: Cross-border supply – There’s no movement of natural persons, no legal presence Eg-  an architect can send his architectural plan through electronic means

    Mode 2: Consumption abroad – movement of natural perosns to avail services elsewhere, eg.- a tourist using hotel or restaurant services abroad

    Mode 3: Commercial presence – legal presence in another country, eg.FDI, joint ventures

    Mode 4: Presence or movement of natural persons – here movement of natural person to provide services , eg. India techies going to USA

    It’s clear India wants liberalization in mode 1 and mode 4 <our BPO industry plus software industry, techies going to US> while developed world want liberalization in mode 3 <100% automatic FDI>

    Let’s understand all 4 modes with an example

    • Suppose Apple <USA company> establishes a subsidiary in India. This is supply of services through Mode 3 i.e. Commercial Presence
    • An architect of the Apple sends blueprints over the Internet to another firm in India- this is Mode 1 i.e. Cross Border Supply
    • An Engineer from the said Apple is deputed to work in the subsidiary in India for a limited period for managerial operations – this is Mode 4 i.e. Movement of Natural Persons
    • Certain trainees from the subsidiary in India visit USA and consume both education and tourism services  – this is Mode 2 i.e. Consumption Abroad for USA

    3) TRIPS

    The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, sets down minimum standards for many forms of intellectual property (IP) regulation as applied to nationals of other WTO Members.

    Areas of intellectual property that it covers are –

    • Copyright and related rights, Trademarks including service marks
    • Geographical indications (GI) including appellations of origin <Did you remember, Pakistan also claim GI for their Basmati Rice, but recently India got GI tag for Indo-Gangetic plains basmati rice for 6 states>
    • Industrial designs, patents including the protection of new varieties of plants
    • Layout-designs of integrated circuits; and undisclosed information including trade secrets and test data

    3 Main features of Agreement includes –

    Standards –

    • Agreement sets out the minimum standards of protection to be provided by each Member
    • Each of the main elements of protection is defined, namely the subject-matter to be protected, the rights to be conferred and permissible exceptions to those rights, and the minimum duration of protection

    Enforcement – 

    Set of provisions deals with domestic procedures and remedies for the enforcement of intellectual property rights

    Dispute settlement – 

    The Agreement makes disputes between WTO Members about the respect of the TRIPS obligations subject to the WTO’s dispute settlement procedures

    Read story with Explainer on IPRs here, story on WTO and TRIPS here 

    4) Agreement on Agriculture (AoA)

    Objective:

    • To reform trade in the sector and to make policies more market-oriented.
    • This would improve predictability and security for importing and exporting countries alike

    The new rules and commitments apply to:

    1)Market access : various trade restrictions confronting imports

    2)Domestic support:  subsidies and other programmes, including those that raise or guarantee farmgate prices and farmers’ incomes

    Under this, Subsidies are categorized into 3 boxes –

    Green Box –

    • In order to qualify for the Green Box, a subsidy must not distort trade, or at most cause minimal distortion
    • These subsidies have to be govt-funded (not by charging consumers higher prices) and must not involve price support
    • They tend to be programmes that are not directed at particular products, and include direct income supports for farmers that are not related to <decoupled> current production levels or prices.

    <Like in India farmer is supported for specific products and separate support prices are there for rice, wheat etc. An example of Amber box subisdy. On the other hand income support is uniformly available to farmers and crop doesn’t matter, Green box>

    • Green box subsidies are therefore allowed without limits, provided they comply with relevant criteria
    • They also include environmental protection and regional development programmes, research and development subsidies etc
    • Developed countries have shifted most of their subsidies to green box, hence even though they provide more subsidies than us, they still get away with it

    Blue Box –

    • Only Production limiting Subsidies under this are allowed. They cover payments based on acreage, yield, or number of livestock in a base year <such as subisdies for leaving the land fallow>
    • Targets price are allowed to be fixed by govt and if market prices are lower, so farmer will be compensated with difference between target prices and market prices in cash. This cash shall not be invested by farmer in expansion of production
    • Loophole here is that there no limit on target prices that can be set and those are often set far above market prices deliberately.
    • USA currently isn’t using this method, instead here EU is active.

    Amber Box –

    • All domestic support measures for agriculture, considered to distort production and trade (with some exceptions) fall into the Amber Box and this is Aggregate measure of support (AMS) i.e AMS is trade distorting subsidy in monetary terms
    • It required member countries to report their total AMS for the period between 1986 and 1988, bind it, and reduce it according to an agreed upon schedule <de minimis level>

    What is De-Minimis provision?

    • Under this provision developed countries are allowed to maintain trade distorting subsidies or ‘Amber box’ subsidies to level of 5% of total value of agricultural output. For developing countries this figure was 10%
    • So far India’s subsidies are below this limit, but it is growing consistently
    • This is because MSP are always revised upward whereas Market Prices have fluctuating trends
    • In recent times when crash in international market prices of many crops is seen, government doesn’t have much option to reduce MSP drastically
    • By this analogy India’s amber box subsidies are likely to cross 10% level allowed by de Minimis provision and hence the Bali deal for public stock holding and MSP <India is seeking permanent solution to this problem>

     

    3) Export subsidies:

    • These can be in form of subsidy on inputs of agriculture, making export cheaper or can be other incentives for exports such as import duty remission etc.
    • These can result in dumping of highly subsidized (and cheap) products in other country. This can damage domestic agriculture sector of other country
    • These subsidies are also aligned to 1986-1990 levels, when export subsidies by developed countries was substantially higher and Developing countries almost had no export subsidies that time

    Special safeguard mechanism (SSM)

    • A tool that will allow developing countries to raise tariffs temporarily to deal with import surges or price fall
    • is meant to protect the interests of resource-poor and subsistence farmers in the developing nations
    • Critics claim that SSM could be repeatedly and excessively invoked, distorting trade
    • In turn, the G33, a major SSM proponent, has argued that breaches of bound tariffs should not be ruled out if the SSM is to be an effective remedy
    • SSM is quite important in a scenario in which west has significant powers to subsidize their production and in turn, exports

    Special Products

    • At the 2005 WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, members agreed to allow developing countries to designate an appropriate number of tariff lines as Special Products (SPs) based on food security, livelihood security and rural development
    • They would be given extra flexibility in market access for these products
    • For instance if wheat is important for food security and livelihoods, India many not fully open up this sector but obviously USA wouldn’t agree on that

    Special and Differential Treatment (S&D)

    Special treatment under WTO to Developing and least developed countries. Special safeguard mechanism (SSM) is a demand under this.

    • longer time periods for implementing Agreements and commitments
    • measures to increase trading opportunities for developing countries
    • provisions requiring all WTO members to safeguard the trade interests of developing countries
    • support to help developing countries build the capacity to carry out WTO work, handle disputes, and implement technical standards, and
    • provisions related to least-developed country (LDC) Members

    A few more points before concluding the topic

    Plurilateral agreements – For the most part, all WTO members subscribe to all WTO agreements. After the Uruguay Round, however, there remained four agreements, originally negotiated in the Tokyo Round, which had a narrower group of signatories and are known as plurilateral agreements <contrast with multilateral agreements>

    1. Trade in civilian aircraft
    2. Govt Procurement
    3. Dairy products <terminated in 1997>
    4. Bovine Meat <terminated in 1997>

    Single Undertaking Principle – Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. Negotiations proceed simultaneously, not sequentially, and all Members must accept all the results

    Dispute Settlement Process

    1. You don’t like what other country is doing, raise a complaint with WTO
    2. 1st step is mediation, talk with the other country, see if problem can be resolved
    3. No resolution, a dispute settlement panel is formed, hears both parties, gives it’s verdicts
    4. Not satisfied with it’s orders, appeal with the appellate body, decision is final
    5. What if country doesn’t comply with the orders? well there’s very little that WTO can do. Other country is free to take retaliatory measures

     

    WTO timeline

    Further Readings –

  • [Spiritual Tourism #1] PRASAD Cities- Ajmer and Amaravati

    Although the definition and purposes of Tourism is no longer restricted to Heritage and Pilgrimage cities- its definitely India’s USP due to its Civilizational legacy, and being the birthplace of many religions.

    In this series on Themes in Tourism Industry, we’ll start by taking a trip through History and Culture of Cities of Spiritual / Religious Importance. For its promotion Government of India has launched two schemes PRASAD and Swadesh Darshan for Development of Theme-Based Tourist Circuits. 

    About the PRASAD Scheme

    • PRASAD means Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spirituality Augmentation Drive
    • A 100% Centrally Sponsored Scheme under Tourism Ministry
      • Note that funds for any CSS is given to states in installments (20% at approval stage, 60% when 20% work done and rest 20% when 60% work is finished)
    • Provisions under the scheme include
      • Tourism Promotion and Tourist Ecosystem
      • Vocational Training for Tourists and Hospitality Business
        • Hunar se Rozgar tak (HSRT) and earn while you learn programs
      • Improving Tourist Infrastructure

    Provisions regarding Tourist Infrastructure in PRASAD

    • ATM, foreign currency exchange counters
    • Rail, road water transport
    • Green energy streetlights
    • Water adventure sports
    • First-aid centres, Wi-Fi hotspots, Parking facilities
    • Green landscaping, water fountains, walkways, furniture etc.
    • Removing encroachments

    PRASAD versus HRIDAY?

    • HRIDAY means Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana
    • While PRASAD is under Tourism ministry <note that Culture ministry is separate from Tourism ministry> while HRIDAY is under Urban Development Ministry
    • PRASAD cities are handpicked because their tourism is centered around faith, spirituality and religion. On the other hand, a HRIDAY city is chosen for its heritage status that goes beyond faith to include aspects of culture such as Architecture (Eg- Cave temples of Badami, Kakatiya Temples of Warangal)
    • HRIDAY is exclusively focused on Infrastructure that preserve the Heritage Character (Museums, Fairs, Festivals etc) , while PRASAD goes beyond that to include Vocational Training programmes and other things that make up Tourism Ecosystem
    • Common outcomes of both are:
      • Increase in Employment, Tourist Footfalls, Cleanliness of Heritage/Pilgrimage cities
      • Decrease in Pollution, Crime rates etc
    • There are 12 cities selected for both schemes, but there’s a considerable overlap in the sense that 10 cities are common to both. Only cities separate are:
      • Kamakhya in Assam and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand (PRASAD)
      • Badami in Karnataka and Warangal in Telangana
    • Lets take a tour of those common 10 cities and the other 2 specific to PRASAD.

    Map of PRASAD Cities

    source

    #1: Ajmer

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    • Surrounded by the Aravalli Mountains (meaning the “Invincible Hill”)
    • Founded by Ajaipal Chauhan (who established The Chauhan Dynasty – 7th century.
    • Ruled by the legendary Prithviraj Chauhan, the last Hindu king of Delhi.
    • Dargah of the Great Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (aka Madina of India)
      • Devotees of all sects and faiths congregate
      • Annual festival of Urs (Death anniversary of a Sufi saint in South Asia, usually held at the saint’s dargah such as Chisti’s; it is celebrated rather than mourned)
      • Picture of harmony and universal brotherhood.
    • Variety of styles of Architecture including lndo-Islamic, Royal Rajasthani, lndo-Saracenic and Jain styles of architecture.
      • Soniji Ki Nasiyan is a famous Digambara Jain temple from Ajmer
    • Ajmer is also the base for visiting Pushkar (11 km), the abode of Lord Brahma and a sacred town of Hindus <Pushkar is far from Mahadeo Hills of MP, remember 2015 prelims question?>
    • Artists of this area
      • Carving on wood and ivory,
      • Blue pottery

    #2: Amaravati

    • What’s in a name?
      • Translates to “The town lives forever”
      • Also referred as Amareswaram
      • Formerly known as Andhra nagari
      • Name derived from famous “Amareswara temple” dedicated to Lord Shiva
    • Ancient Rulers of Amaravati
      • Capital of Satavahanas who ruled from 2nd century BCE to 3rd century CE <most important period for Amaravati>
      • Andhra Ikshvakus
      • Pallava kings
      • Eastern Chalukyas
      • Telugu Cholas
      • Kakatiyas in 11th century CE
    • Medieval Rulers of Amaravati
      • Delhi Sultanate
      • Bahmani Sultanate
      • Vijayanagara Empire,
      • Munsuri Nayaks
      • Sultanate of Golconda
    • Mentions of Amaravati found in:
      • Skanda Purana gives a picture of the place
      • Puranic literature such as Aitreya Brahamana mentions about “Andhra-jati” ruling area we now know as Amaravati
    • The Amaravati Stupa
      • Buddhist stupa (Dhyana) was built during the Reign of Ashoka in 200 BCE
        • Carved with panels that tells the story of Buddha
      • During the period of the Decline of Buddhism, this stupa was also neglected and it was buried
      • Stupa is related to the “Vajrayana” (Tibetan) teachings of Kalchakra (a festival held in 2006, Dalai Lama inaugurated)
      • NOTE: Hiuen Tsang (Xuanzang) also visited Amaravati Stupa in 640 CE

    source
    • Ancient Art (Sculpture) from Amaravati
      • Amaravati art as one of the three major styles or schools of ancient Indian Sculpture
        • Other two being the Gandhara style and the Mathura style.
      • Use of White marble (to Potrays a Greco-Roman influence)
      • Physical beauty with elegance
      • Narrative rather than individualistic (not deities but Humans)
      • Depiction of Kings and Princes
      • Direct result of the close trade and diplomatic contacts between south india and the ancient roma
      • Amaravati has itself yielded a few Roman coins
      • World’s finest examples of Narrative sculpture.

    source
    Published with inputs from Amar

  • Repatriation of Artifacts & Antiquities under Colonial Possession

    In previous blog of this series we learnt that our heritage under Colonial possession qualifies as an “illegal acquisition” as per international conventions. 

    So technically, countries like UK are indeed liable to return antiquities and heritage properties under their private or public possession. But politics aside, there are some other reasons due to which there has been little progress on restitution of Peacock Throne, or everyone’s favourite- the Koh-i-Noor diamond.

    International Conventions on returning colonial possessions

    1. UNESCO’s Convention on the Means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property (1970)
      • Newly independent states after World wars, were trying to recover important cultural objects that are mostly found in the museums of their former colonizing state.
      • Three main pillars: Protection against theft (Preventive Measure), Restitution Measures through Diplomatic channels, and International cooperation.
      • But the issue with this convention is that its mandate is not retroactive and most of the illegal acquisitions were made before 1970 before the fall of Colonialism.
      • Contemporary relevance: Monuments are being destroyed locally (IS in Syria or the Taliban in Afghanistan) can be taken out and protected for the sake of the whole world by a capable country under this convention. It can later be returned to the “source” countries when the conflict ends.
    2. UN General Assembly resolutions
      • UNGA has made successive resolutions on this matter
      • Deplored “the wholesale removal of Cultural Heritage, virtually without payment” as a result of colonial or Foreign Occupation
      • Unlike UNESCO’s convention- their mandates has been retroactive
      • Covered cultural property lost either as a consequence of
        1. Foreign or colonial occupation, or
        2. Through illicit traffic “prior” to the adoption of the 1970 Convention
      • Then why no success?
        • Covers cultural properties that are currently in safe places and open to the public, like museums, archives and libraries. Thus, it does not cover the equally important Private Sphere
        • CAG’s findings that Indian artifacts have reached foreign auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s
        • Eg- Bonhams, the london private auctioneer, recently auctioned Tipu Sultan’s property against all efforts by India to claim its ownership over it.
        • Most of the personal wealth and possessions of the 18th century Mysore ruler including that of Tipu Sultan, is in the illegal private possession of families, descendants of British and Scottish soldiers <which particular soldier/general could we be referring to?>
      • Why no repatriation from Public Museums?
        • Cultural institutions like Public Museums have yet to acknowledge the full negative legacy of the colonial rulers.
        • While many of these museums are autonomous, when such demands are made on an International level, local governments do intervene and matter turns diplomatic and political.

    Why Repatriation of possessions is a just demand?

    1. Repatriation is already happening: Restitution of Jewish Artifacts by Nazis
      • Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) adopted a series of protocols to ensure that any work of art proven to be taken forcibly from a Jewish family during the Nazi regime should be returned to the rightful heirs
      • Between 1998 and 2006, 26 works in American museums were identified as being looted by the Nazis and were, in each case, restituted to the heirs
    2. Non-governmental actors succeeding on many levels— students resident in the U.K. — getting into the discussion around national cultural patrimony
      • Nigerian students demanding the return of the Benin bronzes looted from Nigeria at the time of the British imperial siege of the country in the late 19th century
      • Pressure generated so far has led for Cambridge University to remove the articles from Public display. It goes a long way into acknowledging the mistakes, if not outrightly returning the possessions.
      • Furthermore, few descendants of British Soldiers have shown the way by returning Nigerian Artifacts to their rightful owners, that was otherwise looted by their grandfathers in 19th century.

    Why are ex-Colonialists against repatriation?      

    1. They say that Encyclopedic museums of Europe and the U.S. are repositories of world art under one roof.
      • That they take care (by acting as protectors) of our global heritage, as art knows no boundaries
      • In this way they claim to be promoting international understanding of art.
      • Counter: This argument reeks of old European big-brother attitude that claims to be a superior civilization taking upon itself the task of correcting other civilizations.
    2. Objects were taken from countries such as Egypt, China, or India because none of these countries had the resources or the inclination to protect their own treasures
      • It was British officials who discovered, excavated or restored great sites such as Sanchi or Ajanta while there was no indigenous interest in preserving them at the time.
      • Counter: By this logic, they should return these artifacts to us, because now capable and resourceful enough to preserve the

    What are the “real” consequences of Repatriation on ex-Colonial countries?

    • Former colonizers would have to acknowledge various wrongs perpetrated by them on the colonies they ruled. This would result in a domino effect and not just restricted to repatriation of heritage objects, and could cause an International debacle and domestic shame.
    • Many of the biggest museums, especially the Louvre, the British Museum, and even some major American museums would get hollowed out of their collections

    So how do we resolve this issue?

    1. Museums of the Euro-American world could create a Long-term Loan programme
      • National Museum in New Delhi were to receive a long-term loan of Egyptian objects or 19th century American landscape paintings so that the National Museum too could begin to resemble an encyclopaedic museum of the West
    2. Seriously think about returning the ownership of objects back to the source countries
      • This could only happen if Western museums actually acknowledged the colonial past.
      • And simply recognising their role as “protectors” of, and not “owners” of global heritage.
    Published with inputs from Amar

  • Theft of Artifacts & Antiquities, Domestic Laws and International Conventions

    Every year INTERPOL issues alert on most-wanted art objects stolen and illicitly traded across the world and invariably Indian artifacts find a mention.

    Theft Of Artifacts: Why Is It Important Issue?

    • Global Financial Integrity (GFI) Report says that Illegal trade of artifacts and antiquities is one of the world’s most Profitable Criminal Enterprises ($6 Billion dollar)
      • GFI is a Washington based non-profit, research, advisory, and advocacy organization, which produces analyses of illicit financial flows. It was founded by Raymond baker.
    • UNESCO recently confirmed that ISIS is trafficking in art and antiquities to finance its operations, and earning approximately $1 million of revenue a day.
    • In 2015, Operation Hidden Idol was launched by USA’s Homeland Securities Investigation Department which to recover and repatriate looted around 2600 Artifacts and Antiquities by Subhash Kapoor worth an estimated 650 Crores ($100 million)
      • A Chola era sculpture of Shiva and Parvati (“Festival Bronze statute”) stolen from Tamil Nadu and smuggled into the US was eventually returned to India.
    • International Art market is a $50 billion market that is almost entirely unregulated

    source

    What does a country stand to lose when its Antiquities are stolen?

    • Double Jeopardy due to illicit removal of cultural objects
    • Irreplaceable: Stolen antiquities are irreplaceabe by themselves
    • Loss of Heritage: Crucial historical information and legacy about the artifact and its period is lost

    What are the Legal Provisions available with India to address such theft?

    • Antiquities And Art Treasures Act 1972
    • Indian Treasure Trove Act 1949
    • National Mission On Monuments And Antiquities– it creates a National Register On Artifacts that are unprotected
    • National Manuscript Mission for Documenting Heritage
    • Bilateral agreements to recover smuggled artifacts
      • For instance- Australia will return Nataraja Idol (Bronze) under its own Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act
      • It was originally from Sapthakanni Temple in Sripuranthan (under Chola times)
      • Australia is also a signatory to a UNESCO convention on the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property

    source

    International Treaties and Conventions that protect Artifacts and Antiquities:

    source

    #1. Protection under Hague Convention (1954)

    • It provides for protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict
    • Rules to protect cultural goods during armed conflicts such as monuments, art, archaeological sites, scientific collections, manuscripts, books and other objects of artistic, historical or archaeological interest to ensure the cultural legacy doesn’t get affected during war.
    • The Hague Convention was adopted in the wake of the severe cultural destruction that occurred during the Second World War
    • Convention defines a Protective Sign (“Blue Shield”) to facilitate the Identification of protected cultural property during an armed conflict

    #2. Protection under Geneva Convention on War

    • Establishes the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of war.
    • Under Article 53 of Protection Of Cultural Objects And Of Places Of Worship in the Event of Armed Conflict– it provides for protection of UNESCO world heritage sites

    #3. Under UNESCO Convention (1970) on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property

    • Circulation of artifacts are prohibited under this UNESCO treaty
    • India is a signatory to this treaty

    Why have Legal Provisions in India been ineffective?

    1. Indian Treasure Trove Act (1949)
      • This act is too obsolete, was last amended in 1949
      • Because any object worth more than (mere) 10 Rs found hidden in soil is regarded as “Treasure”!
      • Barriers to Good Samaritans: Person who dutifully reports the find is often made to go through Cumbersome procedure
    2. Antiquities And Art Treasures Act
      • Under this act- antiquities in private possession must be registered and person trading in them must get a license.
      • But improper enforcement of law, and lack of punitive action on traders without licences has made a mockery of this law
    3. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has been criticized by a 2013 CAG report for failing to even recognize few artifacts set to return for repatriation by USA and Australian authorities
      • That ASI has no policy for management of antiquities. Storage conditions of these antiquities in monuments like Safdarjung’s Tomb and Purana Qila are pathetic.
    4. Our laws inhibit Community Participation
      • Local community is usually the first respondant to path-breaking discoveries
      • Many a cases such as recent Rakhigarhi Excavation (which went on to become largest IVC site) was first reported on Farming land by local workers and farmers
      • In absence of incentives to identify and report such Treasure Troves to authorities, they suffer irreparable damage as people treat them as derelicts

    Solutions: Lessons From Other Countries

    (i) Community Participation

    • Best practices in England and Wales have shown remarkable success in reducing theft of artefacts
    • Portable Antiquities Scheme: Encourages local communities to voluntarily report and registr discovery of artefacts with help of experts
    • Resulting database is placed in the public domain
    • India can learn from such laws and adapt features to suit Indian Conditions

    (ii) Enhanced And Dedicated Policing

    • Dedicated Art Police in Italy (country with highest UNESCO Natural and Cultural Heritage sites)
    • In 2009 itself, they recovered 60,000 pieces of looted antiquities and helped reduce art theft by 15%

    (iii) India should learn from USA’s Operation Hidden Idol

    • India should work on a mission mode to recover theft of its own artifacts by launching a policy for management of Antiquities and make ASI accountable for it.
    • It includes checking catalogues at international auction houses, posting news of such theft on websites, posting information about theft in the International Art Loss Registry, sending photographs of stolen objects electronically to dealers and auction houses and scholars in the field.

    What about Colonial Possessions of artifacts?

    • Yes, some argue that our heritage such as Koh-i-noor diamond and others in Western Museums is nothing but illegal acquisition.
    • Hence, that too comes under the mandate of Convention On The Means Of Prohibiting And Preventing The Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property of which India and UK both are signatories

    We shall address topic of Colonial Repatriation in detail in the next blog of this series. Keep checking this collection

     

    Published with inputs from Amar

  • Museums of India and Associated Issues

    Recently National Museum of Natural History caught fire due to adequate safeguards. It brought to our attention- the appalling state of our century old museums, and our utter disregard towards it.

    In today’s blog we will discuss at length as to what are the reasons behind it. What could be done to restore their legacy?

    As usual, we’ll start by learning about some notable institutions and harvest some important tid-bits for prelims along the way.

    Notable Museums of India

    1. National Museum, New Delhi (Subordinate Office under Ministry of Culture)

    source

    2. National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru

    source

    3. Victoria Memorial Hall (VMH)

    source
    • Launched by Lord Curzon in 1906

    4. Asiatic Society, Kolkata

    source
    • Founder: British Indologist William Jones
    • Patronized by Warren Hastings (1st Governor of Bengal)
      • Notable: Charles Wilkins under his patronage published first English translation of Bhagvat Gita
    • Most important of the society’s achievements was the decipherment of the Brahmi script by James Prinsep in 1837
    • Successful decipherment inaugurated the study of Indian palaeography
    • First Museum in India was established by the Asiatic Society in 1814 called “Indian Museum” at Kolkata

    5. National Museum of Natural History (NMNH)

    source
    • Initiated in 1972 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of India’s Independence
      • Although publically launched on 1978, coinciding with World Environment Day
    • Functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change <and not Ministry of Culture>
    • NMNH has extended its geographical range by establishing Regional Museums of Natural History (Bhopal, Mysuru etc)

    Aims and Objectives of NMNH:

    • Museum of Natural History to depict its flora, fauna and mineral wealth
    • Environmental awareness among the masses (including conservation)
    • Educational programmes, guided tours and Teacher Orientation Workshops

    What are the issues with Indian Museums?

    1. Lack of a comprehensive Museum Policy

    • Salary and Personnel issues
      • Since the government does not assess or rate museums, there is no incentive for anyone to work.
      • Government does not pay professional salaries to personnel involved in restoration and conservation. Neither does it engage productively with Private and Civil Society
    • Revenue and Financial Issues
      • Currently there is no revenue model for museums, and the only source of money for them is from Ticket Sales that are meagre (Rates as low as 5 Rs for ASI renovated Museums)
      • Some revenue does come from increase in merchandise sales but any money a government museum makes- goes into a common kitty and is not spent on well performing museums.
      • Mumbai’s chhatrapati shivaji maharaj vastu sangrahalaya (MCSMVS) runs without government support By a handful of influential Mumbaites under a Board of Trustees
    • Lack of Privatisation
      • Government museums make up 90 per cent of the roughly 1,000 museums in India
      • They are banned from Partnerships with private individuals or organisations, and have to depend on Central funding even for day-to-day operations
    • Multiple ministries holding charges of various Museums <remember that not all museums come under Ministry of Culture, for eg- the recently fire hit NMNH>
    • Lack of autonomy

    2. Appalling state of Museum Management

    • 2011, UNESCO published a scathing report on the appalling conditions at India’s top 8 museums
      • Sub-standard maintenance, Lighting and signage, Archaic policies, no skilled manpower
    • Recently ASI lamented on the damages caused to 2nd BC Yakshi statue and a 3rd BC Mauryan lion, at the oldest museum of India in Kolkata due to careless handling by inadequately trained museum workers
    • Fire Safety Issues in Museums: That many of our museums would fail Fire Safety Audit requirements by NBC (National Building Code)
    • Failure in Mandate of Museums: That they act as mere closed-door guardians of treasures instead of disseminating them

    3. Security Issues

    • CISF is in charge of providing security to National Museum, New Delhi and Indian Museum in Kolkata.
    • But government has not been able to provide barrack accommodation in their campus as per CISF requirements.

     

    So how do we improve status of our Museums?

    1. Aforementioned UNESCO report and a 14-point museum reforms agenda put together by the Ministry of Culture in 2010-11 served as a wake-up call
    2. Instead of spending money in acquiring new collections, government should focus on launching Museum awareness drives. Relaunch old Museums with renewed vigor by highlighting their contemporary relevance to people.
    3. Increase people’s engagement to History by providing guided tours free of cost
      • For it is people that transform a museum from what is essentially just an archive.
    4. Administration should balance autonomy and accountability. Here we can take a cue from British Museums that are run by a government-appointed Board of Trustees.
    5. Digitization of information can cause the traditional model of museums (i.e. as static bricks-and-mortar) to expand to include virtual exhibits and high-resolution images of their collections that patrons can peruse.
    6. Train museum professionals by International Tie-ups. Organize exchange of Museum professionals as part of Biateral treaties between diplomatic exchanges.
    7. Improve Disaster Management of Museums
      • GIS and national library for ease of tracking and prioritizing evacuation of valuable artifacts
      • Follow NBC guidelines for strengthening museum structures
      • Cases of galleries must be shatter proof and bullet proof
      • In flood prone areas, valuable artifacts must not be stored in basements
    8. Involving Civil Society organizations by incentivising donation of precious artifacts for public viewing and conservation by NGOs like INTACH
    9. Training staff of museums to respond to disasters such as Fire, Earthquakes etc

    And how to reduce Fires in Museums?

    • Use of “plywood” for keeping the exhibits should be minimised
    • Ensure ventilation system in place
    • Ensure Fire Audit for the building has been conducted
    • Sprinkler system and water hydrants in the building, but should be functional- i.e. connected to a water source
    • Post Damage issues:
      • Structural damage due to fire may not keep building safe for long
      • Hence adequate reinforcements may be necessary, because complete collapse can’t be ruled out

    Annex: International Museum Day (IMD)

    • Theme of 2016 IMD: “Museums and Cultural Landscapes“
    • Coordinated by the International council of museums (ICOM)
      • ICOM is a NGO maintaining formal relations with UNESCO <but not part of it>
      • ICOM also partners with entities such as the World Intellectual Property Organization, INTERPOL and the World Customs Organization,
    • International public service missions on fighting illicitly traded Artifacts and Ethical standards for Museums
    Published with inputs from Amar

  • [Arts & Heritage Institutions #4] ICCR and ICHR

    GS Papers: ,

     

    So far in Art & Heritage Institution series, we’ve learnt about institutions that preserve our heritage and promote our diverse arts- at the national level. But one of India’s key asset globally is its “soft-power” or Cultural diplomacy which involves the use of cultural influence.

    In this post, we will learn about those Institutions that enable India to exert such influence.

    1. INDIAN COUNCIL FOR CULTURAL RELATIONS (ICCR)

    source

    • ICCR is analogous to the British Council, France’s Alliance Francaise, Germany’s Goethe-Institut and China’s Confucius Institute
    • Founded in 1950 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, independent India’s first Education Minister
      • Maulana also helped establish other institutions that we’ve covered previously in this series such as Sahitya Akademi, and Sangeet Natak Akademi. He also founded Lalit Kala Akademi <promotes Visual Arts- Folk and Contemporary>
    • Soft power vision, ‘to promote a communion of cultures and a creative dialogue among nations.’
    • Its broad mandate is to develop relations with:
      • Other countries and peoples (Cultural agreements with 72 countries)
      • National and inter-national organisations in the field of culture

    General assembly

    • Consists of representatives each of the Lalit Kala Akademi, Sahitya Akademi and Sangeet Natak Akademi
    • Eminent artistes from the fields of performing, fine and plastic arts
    • Representatives of universities or of institutions
    • President shall be appointed by the President of India and shall hold office for three years

    Initiatives:

    1. Exhibitions

    • Organizing various Foreign film festivals
    • Sponsors individual performers in dance, music, photography, theatre, and the visual arts. Here it collaborates with Sangeet Natak Akademi, Lalit Kala Akademi and other such institutions.

    2. Academic

    • Council sends visiting professors to collaborate in the teaching and research programmes of foreign universities relating to Indian studies and Indian languages

    3. Scholarships

    • 6252 foreign students are studying in Indian Universities and other Institutions on scholarship provided by ICCR
    • ICCR has 20 Regional Offices (ROs) to look after the welfare of foreign students.
    • India-Africa Relationship: ICCR offered 900 scholarships around 54 countries of Africa in the past decade.

    4. Promotion of Indology

    • ICCR has helped fund programmes on Indology in Russia at the University of Moscow. It is one of the key element of Indo-Russian diplomatic goodwill.
    • Indology is the study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, especially Ancient India (Vedic studies et al)

    5. Promoting Hindi <which Article in our Constitution mandates this?>

    • ICCR, carries out various activities to popularize and promote Hindi language in other countries
    • Chairs of hindi language in universities
    • Translating works of World Literature into Hindi and other Indian languages
    • Translation of Sanskrit and Hindi classics into foreign languages
    • Celebration of the ‘‘World Hindi day” on 10th of January every year (across the world along with Ministry of External Affairs)
      • Trap Info: A different occasion- National Hindi Divas is celebrated in India on September 14 every year to mark the day on which the Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi as the “Official” Language of the Union.
    • Bi-monthly Hindi journal – “Gagananchal“

    6. Notable Publications

    • Indian Horizons in English
    • Africa Quarterly in English

    Comparison between China’s Confucius Institute (CI) and ICCR:

    • In ICCR’s 64 years of existence it has only 37 overseas centres, while today there are over 480 CIs having started in 2004 only.
    • CIs function inside established universities, colleges and schools world over <ICCR can also follow this strategy to increase penetration>
    • Unlike CI, ICCR is autonomous body
    • India can learn from CI and help promote Yoga through ICCR’s extensive network in over 90 countries.

    2. INDIAN COUNCIL OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH (ICHR)

    source
    • Established by an Executive Order
    • Disburses “funds” for carrying out research to indian and foreign scholars
    • Aid received from the Department of Higher Education in the MoHRD <NOT Ministry of Culture>

    Objective: National direction to an objective and Scientific writing of history

    Composition:

    • Eminent historian nominated by the Government
    • Representative of the UGC
    • Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India <Logo- Sanchi Stupa + Emblem>
    • Director General of the National Archives of India

    Journals:

    1. Indian Historical Review (bi-annually)
    2. Itihas (in Hindi)

     

    Published with inputs from Amar

  • [Arts & Heritage Institutions #3] Sahitya Akademi and Sangeet Natak Akademi

    Continuing the series on Cultural Institutions, today we’ll exclusively focus on Art Institutions. While earlier we learnt about Institutions that preserve Tangible Heritage such as Architecture (ASI and INTACH), following Institutions are noteworthy because they promote Intangible Heritage of our culture; notably- Literature, Music and Dance.

    These are especially important considering recent furore of Sahitya Akademi awardees returning their awards in what was referred to as “Award Wapasi”. We’ll also learn about another Institution and various awards & means through which they promote arts in India. So, let’s get started!

    1. Sahitya Akademi (1954)

    source
    • Its an Autonomous organization fully financed by the Government
    • Also referred to as India’s National Academy of Letters
    • Entrusted with promotion of Literature (“Sahitya” means Literature in Hindi) through following mechanisms:
    1. Literary dialogue, publication and promotion
    2. Undertakes literary activities in Twenty-four Indian languages
      • Trap Info: Note that it goes beyond 22 languages of the 8th Schedule to include English + Rajasthani
    3. Development of Indian literature

    Awards and Fellowships

    1. Sahitya akademi award (Plaque and Cash of 1 lac)
      • Poetry, Novel, Essay, Autobiography, Literary Criticism in 24 languages
    2. Bhasha samman
      • Awards to writers for significant contribution to Indian languages other than the above 24 major ones
      • Contribution to classical & medieval literature
      • Given to writers, scholars, editors, collectors, performers or translators
    3. Premchand fellowships (started in 2005)
      • Given to persons of eminence in the Field of Culture from SAARC countries <thus its scope extends to beyond (i) India and (ii) Literature>
    4. Coomarswamy fellowships
      • Given to scholars from Asian countries <not just SAARC> to spend 3 to 12 months in India to pursue a literary project
    5. Sahitya Akademi fellowship
      • Given to the “immortals of literature“
      • Limited to 21 people at a time
      • First recipient was 2nd president of India Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
      • Other notable ones: Khushwant Singh, VS Naipaul

    Issues faced by Sahitya Akademi

    • Although Sahitya Akademi awards are notable for its merit based selections it is not untouched by controversies.
    • A jury comprising of Literary Stalwarts selects awardees (as opposed to Prime Minister for Civilian Awards such as Bharat Ranta, Padma Shree etc)
      • This is a good reason why the Sahitya Akademi awardees shouldn’t be returning their awards, as they’ve been conferred on their artistic merit. Returning the award would be demeaning the jury’s decision and the historic institution.
    • Transparency issues regarding nomination of litterateurs for the coveted Sahitya Akademi Award
      • Interference of Bureaucrats in nomination procedure, who aren’t qualified to make any kind of literary selections (they narrow down the pool of nominees for Jury to make final selection from)
    • Due to this reason, past awardees such as Khushwant Singh had criticized the process for ignoring eminent writers and awarding below-par writers and sub-standard literary works.

    2. Sangeet Natak Akademi  (1953)

    source

    Mandate/Objectives:

    • Another Autonomous Institution under Ministry of Culture
    • Promotion of performing arts– Indian music, dance and drama
    • Maintains a Gallery of Musical Instruments
    • Maintenance of standards of training in the performing arts
    • Teaching institutions
      • Kathak Kendra, Delhi (Classical Dance from Uttar Pradesh)
      • Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Akademi in Imphal
      • Sattriya Centre (Classical Dance from Assam)
      • Centre for Kutiyattam (Age-old Sanskrit theatre of Kerala; Also an Indian Intangible Cultural Heritage as per UNESCO)
      • Chhau Centre (Tribal martial dance in Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal)

    Awards:

    1. Sangeet Natak Akademi Award:
      • Highest national recognition conferred on eminent artistes.
    2. Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, Ratna Sadsya
      • To distinguished individuals for their contribution to the field of arts, music, dance and theatre.
    3. Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puruskar:
      • Given to young artists for their talent in the fields of music, dance and drama
      • Notable info about Ustad Bismillah Khan:
        • Known for popularizing the shehnai, a subcontinental wind instrument of the oboe class
        • Awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 2001, becoming the Third classical musician after M. S. Subbulakshmi and Ravi Shankar to be accorded this distinction

     

    Published with inputs from Amar

  • [Arts & Heritage Institutions #2] INTACH

    GS Papers: ,

    Of late, UPSC has shown a liking for asking questions on Institutions beyond that of Government. Few examples include International NGOs such as Amnesty International in 2015 and Domestic charities such as Bombay Natural History Society in 2014.

    Keeping prelims in mind, within the context of ongoing series of Heritage Institutions, let us understand about INTACH. It is also important from Mains GS-2 perspective (Role of NGOs) because some call it a Civil Society alternative to Archaeological Survey of India <we’ve already covered that in detail in the 1st part of this series, do read up on it>

    source

    Background

    • INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) was founded in 1984, is an autonomous NGO for preservation of Indian Art and Cultural Heritage
    • Its motto is “Dedicated to Conservation“

    Tasks undertaken by INTACH

    • Restoration of monuments that fall outside the coverage of Archaeological Survey of India and other government agencies <Remember that ASI hasn’t shown much interest towards working with INTACH>
    • Advocacy for heritage property conservation
    • Public awareness through heritage walks and buses <Just like Bombay Natural History Society does, its a common feature of these type of NGOs>
    • Establishment of heritage clubs in schools
    • Holding of awareness workshop for teachers of schools and colleges

    Some notable works done by INTACH

    1. It had developed Raghurajpur, Orissa, a place famous for its ‘Pattachitra’ artists and ‘Gotipua’ dance troupes as a heritage village, which has now become a major rural tourist destination
      • Pattachitra is a cloth-based scroll painting of Odisha. Patta = Cloth and Chitra = Picture. Most of these paintings depict stories of Hindu deities of Jagannath and Vaishnava Sect. It has also been given a GI tag. To know more about GI tags, click here to read.
      • Gotipua is a traditional dance form of Odisha, and the precursor of Odissi. Its name comes from Gopi (Single boys), who dress as women to praise Jagannath and Krishna. The dance is executed by a group of boys who perform acrobatic figures inspired by the life of Radha and Krishna.
    2. It later used the same pattern to develop Padmanabhpur village, Ganjam district, Orissa, famous for its weavers and folk dancers, into another heritage destination

    What can we learn from INTACH’s mission?

    • Sensitizing the public about the pluralistic cultural legacy of India
    • Instill a sense of social responsibility towards preserving India’s common heritage <Similar to our Fundamental Duty as per Article 51A>
    • Undertake emergency response measures during natural or man-made disasters and support the local administration whenever heritage is threatened

    In the next article, we will learn about few notable Autonomous Institutions promoting Arts under Ministry of Culture. This will include Sahitya Akademi and others.

     

    Published with inputs from Amar | Pic: Hindu, Tvsarts

  • [Arts & Heritage Institutions #1] Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)

     

    SOURCE

    Background

    • Founded by Alexander Cunningham, who is also revered as the “Father of Indian Archaeology”
      • He was the protege of James Prinsep <who was he, post in comments>
      • It was Lord Canning who helped pass a statute for ASI’s establishment in 1861
    • Post Independence, it’s a Statutory body that now works under Ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains act (AMASR Act), 1958
    • It works as an attached Office of the Ministry of Culture
    • ASI has 3678 protected monuments and Archaeology sites of National Importance + 20 cultural under the World Heritage List by UNESCO

    Initiatives by ASI

    1. Museums

    ASI’s museums are customarily located right next to the sites that their inventories are associated with “so that they may be studied amid their natural surroundings and not lose focus by being transported”.

    A dedicated Museums Branch maintains a total of 44 museums spread across the country.

    2. Publications by ASI

    • Epigraphia Indica
    • Ancient India
    • Indian Archaeology: A Review (Annually)

    3. Library

    • Central Archaeological Library in the National Archives building in Janpath, New Delhi

    ASI Issues and Challenges

    1. To Restore or Not

    • Guidelines by John Marshall, founding DG of ASI <why was he important?> followed modern conservation ideology- “Restoration ends where conjecture begins”
    • Issue is that technically speaking- ruins are seldom “restored” in original state. This is because in absence of documentation- archaeologists are left to conjecture what buildings may have looked like when they were originally built.
    • Hence, many a conservationists are raising questions on ASI’s process of restoration. 

    2. Personnel Management Issues

    • Higher Authorities of ASI are traditionally from IAS Cadre
    • Solution: In-house specialist must be promoted for better coordination b/w technical and managerial aspects of restoration
    • Impacts: Would go a long way into incentivizing professionals
    • Other issues: Low level of partnership with public, or Civil Society Organizations such as NGOs. Recently INTACH- an NGO approached it for sharing work on restoration, but ASI denied.

    3. Issues explored in CAG Report

    • 92 monuments are untraceable with no database on artifacts
    • Poor Documentation of Protected Monuments/Artifacts
    • Implemented in the 10 museums of Ministry of Culture/ASI in the first phase
    • Paucity of funds (Eg- Red fort gardens lie unkempt)


    4. What can be done for better management of Artifacts?

    • Digitization of Museums and records (also to save them from calamities such as recent fire in Indira Gandhi Museum and Floods such as in Jammu and Kashmir)
    • Do not store them in bunkers in basement, follow scientific methods of preservation.
    • Partner with NGOs and private institutions such as INTACH <to be covered in next post of this series>
    • Finally, overhaul of Museum Management in India is the only long term solution

    Annexure: National Monument Authority (NMA)

    It has members hailing from the fields of archaeology, country and town planning, architecture, heritage, conservation architecture or law. It comes under ASI’s supervision.

    Objectives:

    1. Responsible for the protection and preservation of monuments and sites
    2. Through management of the prohibited and regulated area around the centrally protected monuments
    3. Streamlining of approval procedure for construction related activities in regulated/restricted areas in the vicinity of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI’s) Protected Monuments in various cities

    NMA in News:

    • NOC Online Application Portal and Processing System (NOAPS): An e-Gov Project wherein NMA partnered with ISRO  to calculate accurate measurements of Geo Co-ordinates of various monuments around Centrally Protected Monuments for speedy approvals.
    Published with inputs from Amar

  • 26 Ramsar sites in India: A comprehensive survey

    Subjects: ,

    First of all, look at the details below. What comes first to mind is- So much of factual data! Why should I read so many facts?

    Let’s explore why?

    #1. Increasing thrust on area of ecology due to combined Prelims of Civil Services and Forest Services

    #2. Factual question trend has increased in Prelims (seen in 2015)

    Proof for utility of this data?

    A direct one…

    [Prelims 2015] Which of the following National Parks is unique in being a swamp with floating vegetation that supports a rich biodiversity?
    (a) Bhitarkanika National Park
    (b) Keibul Lamjao National Park
    (c) Keoladeo Ghana National Park
    (d) Sultanpur National Park
    Answer: See description for Loktak Lake (13th entry in details below)

    Indirect…

    [Prelims 2015] Which one of the following is the national aquatic animal of India?
    (a) Saltwater crocodile
    (b) Olive ridley turtle
    (c) Gangetic dolphin
    (d) Gharial

    [Prelims 2015] With reference to ‘dugong’, a mammal found in India, which of the following statements is/are correct?
    1. It is a herbivorous marine animal.
    2. It is found along the entire coast of India.
    3. It is given legal protection under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
    Select the correct answer using the code given below.
    (a) 1 and 2
    (b) 2 only
    (c) 1 and 3
    (d) 3 only

    Ramsar sites through map:

    source

    Sites in detail:

    #1. Ashtamudi Wetland

    • State: Kerala
    • Designated on: 19 August 2002
    • Area: 614 sq. Km
    • (Note: same format followed in all wetlands below, i.e. State, Designated on, Area)

    Details:

    • A natural backwater in Kollam district
    • River Kallada and Pallichal drain into it
    • It forms an estuary with Sea at Neendakara which is a famous fishing harbour in Kerala
    • National Waterway 3 passes through it
    • Most tastiest backwater fish in Kerala, the Karimeen of kanjiracode Kayal is from Ashtamudi Lake

    #2. Bhitarkanika Mangroves

    • Orissa
    • 19 August 2002
    • 650 sq. Km

    Details:

    • In 1975, an area of 672 km2 was declared the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary
    • The core area of the sanctuary, with an area of 145 km2, was declared Bhitarkanika National Park in September 1998
    • Gahirmatha Marine Wildlife Sanctuary, which bounds the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary to the east, was created in September 1997, and encompasses Gahirmatha Beach and an adjacent portion of the Bay of Bengal
    • Bhitarkanika Mangroves were designated a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in 2002
    • It is also famous for its salt water crocodiles and Olive ridley sea turtle

    #3. Bhoj Wetland

    • Madhya Pradesh
    • 19 August 2002
    • 32 sq. Km

    Details:

    • The Bhoj Wetland consists of two lakes located in the city of Bhopal
    • The two lakes are the Bhojtal and the Lower Lake, which lie to the west of the city center
    • It is a manmade reservoir
    • A total of more than 20,000 birds are observed annually
    • The Upper Lake acts as the lifeline of the city supplying 40% of its potable water
    • White storks, black-necked storks, bar-headed geese, spoonbills, etc., that have been rare sightings in the past, have started appearing
    • A recent phenomenon is the gathering of 100-120 sarus cranes in the lake
    • The largest bird of India, the sarus crane (Grus antigone) is known for its size, majestic flight and lifetime pairing

    #4. Chandra Taal

    • Himachal Pradesh
    • 8 November 2005
    • 0.49

    #5. Chilika Lake

    • Orissa
    • 1 October 1981
    • 1165

    Details:

    source
    • Chilka Lake (Chilika Lake) is a brackish water lagoon, spread over the Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts of Odisha, at the mouth of the Daya River, flowing into the Bay of Bengal, covering an area of over 1,100 km2.
    • It is the largest coastal lagoon in India and the second largest lagoon in the world
    • The lagoon hosts over 160 species of birds in the peak migratory season
    • Birds from as far as the Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, Aral Sea and other remote parts of Russia, Kirghiz steppes of Mongolia, Central and southeast Asia, Ladakh and Himalayas come here
    • These birds travel great distances; migratory birds probably follow much longer routes than the straight lines, possibly up to 12,000 km, to reach Chilika Lake
    • In 1981, Chilika Lake was designated the first Indian wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention
    • In November 2002, the Ramsar Wetland Conservation Award was presented to the Chilika Development Authority for outstanding achievements in the field of restoration and wise use of wetlands and effective participation of local communities in these activities
    • White bellied sea eagles, greylag geese, purple moorhen, jacana, flamingos, egrets, gray and purple herons, Indian roller, storks, white ibis, spoonbills, brahminy ducks, shovellers, pintails, and more
    • Nalbana Island is the core area of the Ramsar designated wetlands of Chilika Lake
    • Nalbana was notified in 1987 and declared a bird sanctuary in 1973 under the Wildlife Protection Act
    • The Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) is the flagship species of Chilika lake
    • Chilka is home to the only known population of Irrawaddy dolphins in India and one of only two lagoons in the world that are home to this species
    • It is classified as critically endangered, in five of the six other places it is known to live

    #6. Deepor Beel

    • Assam
    • 19 August 2002
    • 40

    #7. East Calcutta Wetlands

    • West Bengal
    • 19 August 2002
    • 125

    Details:

    • World-renowned as a model of a multiple use wetland
    • The site’s resource recovery systems, developed by local people through the ages, have saved the city of Calcutta from the costs of constructing and maintaining waste water treatment plants
    • The wetland forms an urban facility for treating the city’s waste water and utilizing the treated water for pisciculture and agriculture, through the recovery of nutrients in an efficient manner- the water flows through fish ponds covering about 4,000 ha, and the ponds act as solar reactors and complete most of their bio-chemical reactions with the help of solar energy
    • Thus the system is described as one of the rare examples of environmental protection and development management where a complex ecological process has been adopted by the local farmers for mastering the resource recovery activities
    • The wetland provides about 150 tons of fresh vegetables daily, as well as some 10,500 tons of table fish per year, the latter providing livelihoods for about 50,000 people directly and as many again indirectly
    • The fish ponds are mostly operated by worker cooperatives, in some cases in legal associations and in others in cooperative groups whose tenurial rights are under legal challenge
    • A potential threat is seen in recent unauthorized use of the waste water outfall channels by industries which add metals to the canal sludge and threaten the edible quality of the fish and vegetables

    #8. Harike Wetland

    • Punjab
    • 23 March 1990
    • 41

    Details:

    • A shallow water reservoir with thirteen islands, at the confluence of two rivers
    • Dense floating vegetation covers 70% of the lake
    • An important site for breeding, wintering and staging birds, supporting over 200,000 Anatidae (ducks, geese, swans, etc.) during migration
    • The entire lake is leased on an annual basis to commercial fishery organizations

    #9. Hokera Wetland

    • Jammu and Kashmir
    • 8 November 2005
    • 13.75

    Details:

    • Located in the northwest Himalayan biogeographic province of Kashmir, back of the snow-draped Pir Panchal, Hokera wetland is only 10 km from scenic paradise of Srinagar
    • A natural perennial wetland contiguous to the Jhelum basin, it is the only site with remaining reedbeds of Kashmir and pathway of 68 waterfowl species like Large Egret, Great Crested Grebe, Little Cormorant, Common Shelduck, Tufted Duck and endangered White-eyed Pochard, coming from Siberia, China, Central Asia, and Northern Europe
    • It is an important source of food, spawning ground and nursery for fishes, besides offering feeding and breeding ground to a variety of water birds
    • Typical marshy vegetation complexes inhabit like Typha, Phragmites, Eleocharis, Trapa, and Nymphoides species ranging from shallow water to open water aquatic flora
    • Sustainable exploitation of fish, fodder and fuel is significant, despite water withdrawals since 1999
    • Potential threats include recent housing facilities, littered garbage, and demand for increasing tourist facilities

    #10. Kanjli Wetland

    • Punjab
    • 22 January 2002
    • 1.83

    Details:

    • A permanent stream, the Kali Bein, converted by construction of a small barrage in 1870 into a water storage area for irrigation purposes
    • The site fulfils Criteria 3 because of its importance in supporting a considerable diversity of aquatic, mesophytic, and terrestrial flora and fauna in the biogeographical region
    • Acts also as a key regulator of groundwater discharge and recharge with the seasons
    • By this means and by direct abstraction of water for irrigation by the local population, the site plays a crucial role in the agriculture which predominates on the surrounding fertile plain, with fewer pressures upon water supplies than elsewhere in the Punjab
    • The invasive water hyacinth is present and must be removed from time to time; increasing pollution levels, deforestation in the catchment area, and excessive grazing are seen as potential threats
    • The stream is considered to be the most significant in the state from the religious point of view, as it is associated with the first guru of the Sikhs, Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
    • The stream itself and surrounding marsh is under provincial ownership and surrounding areas privately owned.
    • The site is a center for environmental tourism and picnicking

    #11. Keoladeo National Park

    • Rajasthan
    • 1 October 1981
    • 28.73

    Details:

    • A complex of ten artificial, seasonal lagoons, varying in size, situated in a densely populated region
    • Vegetation is a mosaic of scrub and open grassland that provides habitat for breeding, wintering and staging migratory birds
    • Also supported are five species of ungulates, four species of cats, and two species of primates, as well as diverse plants, fish and reptiles
    • The canal provides water for agriculture and domestic consumption
    • Cattle and water buffalo graze on the site
    • A field research station exists
    • Placed on the Montreux Record in 1990 due to ‘water shortage and an unbalanced grazing regime’
    • Additionally, the invasive growth of the grass Paspalum distichum has changed the ecological character of large areas of the site, reducing its suitability for certain waterbird species, notably the Siberian crane

    #12. Kolleru Lake

    • Andhra Pradesh
    • 19 August 2002
    • 901
    • It is a bird sanctuary

    #13. Loktak Lake

    • Manipur
    • 23 March 1990
    • 266

    source

    Details:

    • Loktak Lake is the largest freshwater lake in the north-eastern region of the country
    • It is famous for the phumdis (heterogeneous mass of vegetation, soil, and organic matters at various stages of decomposition) floating over it
    • Keibul Lamjao, the only floating national park in the world floats over it
    • It is located near Moirang, Bishnupur district in Manipur
    • The etymology of Loktak is Lok = stream and tak = the end
    • The Keibugl Lamjao National Park, which is the last natural refuge of the endangered ‘Sangai’ or Manipur brow-antlered deer (‘Cervus eldi eldi’), one of three subspecies of Eld’s deer, covering an area of 40 km2 (15 sq mi), is situated in the southeastern shores of this lake and is the largest of all the phumdis in the lake
    • This place is a global tourist destination
    • ‘Sendra tourist hub’ (a small hillock) is located at Moirang, around 58 km from the heart of the city

    #14. Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary

    • Gujarat
    • 24 September 2012
    • 123

    Details:

    • A natural freshwater lake (a relict sea) that is the largest natural wetland in the Thar Desert Biogeographic Province
    • Represents a dynamic environment with salinity and depth varying depending on rainfall
    • The area is home to 210 species of birds, with an average 174,128 individuals recorded there during the winter and 50,000 in the summer
    • It is an important stopover site within the Central Asia Flyway, with globally threatened species such as the critically endangered Sociable Lapwing (Vanellus gregarius) and the vulnerable Marbled Teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris) stopping over at the site during migration, while the vulnerable Sarus Crane (Grus antigone) takes refuge there during summer when other water bodies are dry
    • The wetland is also a lifeline for a satellite population of the endangered Indian Wild Ass (Equus hemionus khur) which uses this area in the dry season
    • Local communities heavily rely on the lake as it provides them with a source of drinking water and water for irrigation, as well as an important source of income from fishing for Catla fish (Catla Catla) and Rohu (Labeo rohita)
    • An average of 75,000 tourists visit the wetland annually

    #15. Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary

    • Tamil Nadu
    • 19 August 2002
    • 385

    Details:

    • One of the last remnants of Dry Evergreen Forests
    • Habitat: Dry Evergreen Forests, Mangrove & Wetlands
    • Winter Migrants : Spoon Billed Sandpiper, Greater Flamingos
    • Threats: Agricultural & Shrimp farm runoff =>High concentration of DDT & HCH in their tissue

    #16. Pong Dam Lake

    • Himachal Pradesh
    • 19 August 2002
    • 156.62

    Details:

    • A water storage reservoir created in 1975 on the Beas River in the low foothills of the Himalaya on the northern edge of the Indo-Gangetic plain
    • The RIS notes that at a time when wetlands in northern India are getting reduced due to extensive drainage and reclamation, the avian habitats formed by the creation of the Pong Dam assume a great significance
    • Given the site’s location on the trans-Himalayan flyway, more than 220 bird species have been identified, with 54 species of waterfowl
    • Hydrological values include monsoon-season flood prevention, both in the surroundings and downstream due to water regulation, groundwater recharge, silt trapping and prevention of soil erosion; electricity is generated for this and neighboring states, and irrigation water is being channeled to fertile areas of the Punjab and Rajasthan deserts.
    • Low-yield subsistence fishing existed prior to impoundment, but since, a lucrative fishery has grown up, with 27 fish species and a yield increasing markedly each year- some 1800 fishermen now have direct employment and 1000 families benefit indirectly
    • A nature conservation education centre is found on the island of Ransar or Ramsar
    • Recent management strategies have shifted away from law enforcement and use restrictions towards more participatory approaches and community awareness, and the site is well suited to ‘community-based ecotourism’

    #17. Renuka Lake

    • Himachal Pradesh
    • 8 November 2005
    • 0.2

    Details:

    • A natural wetland with freshwater springs and inland subterranean karst formations, fed by a small stream flowing from the lower Himalayan out to the Giri river
    • The lake is home to at least 443 species of fauna and 19 species of ichthyofauna representative of lacustrine ecosystems like Puntius, Labeo, Rasbora, Channa
    • Prominent vegetation ranges from dry deciduous like Shorea Robusta, Terminalia tomentosa, Dalbergia sissoo to hydrophytes
    • There are 103 species of birds of which 66 are residents, e.g. Crimson-breasted barbet, Mayna, Bulbul, Pheasants, Egrets, Herons, Mallards and Lapwing
    • Among ungulates Sambhar, Barking deer and Ghorals are also abundant in the area
    • The lake has high religious significance and is named after the mother of Hindu sage Parshuram, and is thus visited by thousands of pilgrims and tourists
    • Conservation measures so far include community awareness, and prevention of silt influx from eroded slopes and 50 ha. of massive plantation in the catchment
    • The site is managed by the Shimla Forest Department, Himachal Pradesh

    #18. Ropar Wetland

    • Punjab
    • 22 January 2002
    • 13.65

    Details:

    • A manmade wetland of lake and river formed by the 1952 construction of a barrage for diversion of water from the Sutlej River for drinking and irrigation supplies
    • The site is an important breeding place for the nationally protected Smooth Indian Otter, Hog Deer, Sambar, and several reptiles, and the endangered Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) is thought to be present
    • Some 35 species of fish play an important role in the food chain, and about 150 species of local and migratory birds are supported
    • Local fisheries are economically significant, and wheat, rice, sugar cane, and sorghum are cultivated in the surrounding area
    • Deforested local hills leading to siltation, and increasing industrialization causing an inflow of pollutants, are potential threats, and invasive weeds are a further cause for concern
    • Nature lovers, birdwatchers, swimmers and boaters visit the site in considerable numbers

    #19. Rudrasagar Lake

    • Tripura
    • 8 November 2005
    • 2.4

    #20. Sambhar Lake

    • Rajasthan
    • 23 March 1990
    • 240

    Details:

    • The Sambhar Salt Lake, India’s largest inland salt lake
    • Sambhar has been designated as a Ramsar site (recognized wetland of international importance) because the wetland is a key wintering area for tens of thousands of flamingos and other birds that migrate from northern Asia
    • The specialized algae and bacteria growing in the lake provide striking water colours and support the lake ecology that, in turn, sustains the migrating waterfowl
    • There is other wildlife in the nearby forests, where Nilgai move freely along with deer and foxes

    #21. Sasthamkotta Lake

    • Kerala
    • 19 August 2002
    • 3.73

    Details:

    • It is the largest freshwater lake in Kerala, situated in Kollam district
    • River Kallada had a unique replenishing system through a bar of paddy field which has now disappeared due to indiscriminate sand and clay mining
    • The lake is now depleting due to destruction of replenishing mechanism

    #22. Surinsar-Mansar Lakes

    • Jammu and Kashmir
    • 8 November 2005
    • 3.5

    #23. Tsomoriri

    • Jammu and Kashmir
    • 19 August 2002
    • 120

    Details:

    • A freshwater to brackish lake lying at 4,595m above sea level, with wet meadows and borax-laden wetlands along the shores
    • The site is said to represent the only breeding ground outside of China for one of the most endangered cranes, the Black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis), and the only breeding ground for Bar-headed geese in India
    • The Great Tibetan Sheep or Argali (Ovis ammon hodgsoni) and Tibetan Wild Ass (Equus kiang) are endemic to the Tibetan plateau, of which the Changthang is the westernmost part
    • The barley fields at Korzok have been described as the highest cultivated land in the world
    • With no outflow, evaporation in the arid steppe conditions causes varying levels of salinity
    • Ancient trade routes and now major trekking routes pass the site
    • The 400-year-old Korzok monastery attracts many tourists, and the wetland is considered sacred by local Buddhist communities and the water is not used by them
    • The local community dedicated Tsomoriri as a WWF Sacred Gift for the Living Planet in recognition of WWF-India’s project work there
    • The rapidly growing attraction of the recently opened area to western tourists (currently 2500 per summer) as an ‘unspoilt destination’ with pristine high desert landscapes and lively cultural traditions brings great promise but also potential threats to the ecosystem

    #24. Upper Ganga River (Brijghat to Narora Stretch)

    • Uttar Pradesh
    • 8 November 2005
    • 265.9

    Details:

    • A shallow river stretch of the great Ganges with intermittent small stretches of deep-water pools and reservoirs upstream from barrages
    • The river provides habitat for IUCN Red listed Ganges River Dolphin, Gharial, Crocodile, 6 species of turtles, otters, 82 species of fish and more than hundred species of birds
    • Major plant species, some of which have high medicinal values, include Dalbergia sissoo, Saraca indica, Eucalyptus globulus, Ficus bengalensis, Dendrocalamus strictus, Tectona grandis, Azadirachta indica and aquatic Eichhorina
    • This river stretch has high Hindu religious importance for thousands of pilgrims and is used for cremation and holy baths for spiritual purification
    • Major threats are sewage discharge, agricultural runoff, and intensive fishing
    • Conservation activities carried out are plantation to prevent bank erosion, training on organic farming, and lobbying to ban commercial fishing

    #25. Vembanad-Kol Wetland

    • Kerala
    • 19 August 2002
    • 1512.5

    Details:

    • Largest lake of Kerala, spanning across Alappuzha, Kottayam, and Ernakulam districts
    • Famous tourist locations like Alappuzha and Kumarakom, known for house boats falls here
    • River mouths of Pamba-Achenkovil rivers in Vembanad forms one of the unique wetland topography of Kerala, the Kuttanad
    • It is below sea level and is famous for exotic fish varieties and Paddy fields that are below sea level

    #26. Wular Lake

    • Jammu and Kashmir
    • 23 March 1990
    • 189

    Details:

    • The largest freshwater lake in India with extensive marshes of emergent and floating vegetation, particularly water chestnut, that provide an important source of revenue for the State Government and fodder for domestic livestock
    • The lake supports an important fishing industry and is a valuable source of water for irrigation and domestic use
    • The area is important for wintering, staging and breeding birds
    • Human activities include rice cultivation and tree farming

    Tasks for you:

    1. Find out the details about wetlands which have no description and put them in comments

    2. Discuss the importance & threats faced by major wetlands in India and measures needed to deal with these threats

    Published with inputs from Swapnil