1. In-vitro Fertilization (IVF)

• IVF is the process of fertilization of an egg and sperm outside the mother’s body. The baby thus produced is known as Test Tube Baby.
• In this process, a child is conceived outside the women’s body in vitro (i.e. lab). Eggs removed from the mother’s ovary are incubated with the sperm from the father. Now, they are allowed to divide until the Blastula stage (64-128 cell structure), which usually takes 3-4 days, which is then transferred to the mother’s or a surrogate’s uterus to develop normally.  

• This technique was discovered by Dr Edwards and Dr Steptoe in the UK. They successfully carried out the birth of the world’s first test-tube baby “Louis Joy Brown” whose mother had a blockage in the Fallopian tube. The second successful test-tube baby occurred in India, named Durga after 67 days of Louis’s birth, 
• IVF is used in the following cases:-
  1. Defect in Fallopian Tube of women.
  2. A low number of sperms in men. 
  3. Infrequent or absent ovulation.
  4. Endometriosis
  5. Age-related infertility.
• Hence, it helps infertile couples to have a baby of their own (with their eggs and sperm). Without using a donor egg or donor sperm, the DNA of the zygote will be of the intended parents only.

Issues with IVF / Test Tube Babies

• Multiple Births: During the process, drugs are induced to the patient’s ovaries to grow several mature eggs rather than a single one that develops each month. If more than one egg is fertilized and transferred to a uterus, chances of success increase. But this also increases the chance of twin births.
• Ovaries Hyper Stimulation Syndrome: Stimulations done to produce more than one egg cell can cause side effects like swollen and painful ovaries.
• Birth Defects: Test Tube Bodies have relatively higher risks of birth defects than naturally conceived babies.
• There is a danger of a mix-up of the baby in the laboratory processes leading to future legal suits.

2. Embryo Transfer

• In this technique, the fertilized egg or young embryo is transferred from donor mother to recipient mother or from test tube to the recipient mother. The best transfer stage is the 2 – 4 cell stage.

3. Artificial Wombs

• This technique is used in the final stages of multiple pregnancies as the foetus becomes cramped by transferring the foetus to the artificial womb. The artificial womb is a tank filled with amniotic fluid and a machine that pumps nutrients and oxygen into the baby’s blood.

4. Artificial Insemination

• It is the introduction of semen into a female’s reproductive tract. 
• Semen collected from a male with desirable hereditary features can be frozen & transported long distances to fertilize females. 
• It is used for those females who wish to conceive when normal conception is not possible. 

5. Gamete Intra Fallopian Transfer (GIFT )

• In GIFT, egg and sperms are mixed and injected into Fallopian tubes, where the Fertilization takes place as it does naturally. 
• In contrast to in-vitro, this is an in-vivo technique. 

Application of Reproductive Technologies 

• It helps in achieving enhanced fertility. 
• It helps maintain future fertility (Eg: before undergoing chemo or radiotherapy).
• It can be used to restore fertility by the involvement of the couple. 
• It helps restore fertility by the involvement of a third party in premature loss of ovarian function. 
• Minimize severe maternal and foetal risks. 

The act to regulate ART or Assisted Reproductive Technologies was introduced in the Parliament in 2020 to standardise protocols of the growing fertility industry and provide for the regulation of ART services in the country. 

Key provisions in the Act

1. Definition of ART: The Bill defines ART as all the techniques to obtain pregnancy using sperm and oocyte outside the human body and transferring the resulting embryo into a woman’s reproductive system.  

2. Regulation of ART clinics and banks: Every ART clinic and bank must be registered under the National Registry of Banks and Clinics of India.  

3. Rights of a child born through ART: Child born using ART will be considered biological child of commissioning parents and donor will have no rights over the child. 

4. Written Consent: Clinic will have to take written consent from all the parties involved.

5. Offences and penalties: Offences mentioned under ART are 

1. Abandoning and exploitation children.
2. Selling or buying gametes. 
3. Exploiting commissioning parents or donors. 
4. Transferring human embryos into animals.

Issues

• The act discriminates against the LGBTQ, same-sex couples and single parents. The act is entirely against Supreme Court’s Navtej Johal judgement. 
• ART Act and Surrogacy Act doesn’t work in tandem with each other. Both the acts have set up multiple registration bodies while left some of the lacunae unaddressed.

The intentional or unintentional release of oil into ocean /coastal waters is known as an oil spill.

• Damage to fish, turtles, and crabs, among other marine animals. 
  • Decrease insulating capacity of the plumage of birds  
  • Ingestion by seabirds leads to kidney failure, dehydration, metabolic disorders etc.
  • Exposure to toxic petroleum products often results in lower reproductive rates.

• Loss of fisherman’s livelihood as venturing out into the sea is not safe. 
• Consumers show reluctance to buy seafood, adding to the woes of fishermen.
• Local tourism is impacted negatively as tourists avoid such places.
• Heavy metals released along with oil starts to bioaccumulate in fishes and impact the whole food chain, including humans.
• A variety of health effects may develop when an oil spill occurs close to where people live or work and may come in contact through breathing gaseous oil compounds.

• The National Oil Spill-Disaster Contingency Plan (NOS-DCP) adopted in 1996 has routinely been updated and revised.  
• India has ratified the Bunker Convention 2001 regarding the civil liability for bunker oil pollution in 2015.
• The government provides a subsidy to the pollution response equipment to the tune of 50%.

Bioremediation or Biodegradation is the use of natural or genetically modified microbes to degrade pollutants (pesticides or hydrocarbons) in the presence of oxygen.

The only problem with bio-remediation is that it can’t be used to break down heavy metals such as mercury, lead etc. But bioremediation is the most crucial technique to clear oil spills.

Bioremediation Techniques

1. Oil Zapper

• It is essentially a cocktail of five different bacterial strains that feed on crude oil and change it to carbon dioxide and water. 
• It is developed by the TERI.

2. Oilivorous – S

• Oilivorous-S has an additional bacterial strain that is effective in destroying Sulphur. Hence, it can be used to contain oil spills in case crude oil has high sulphur content.
• It is developed by Indian Oil’s research and development wing.

Both Oil zapper and Oilivorous can be used in situ, thus eliminating the need to transfer the pollutant to a centralized plant.

1. Mauritius Oil Spill (2020)

• Japanese ship struck a coral reef resulting in an oil spill of over 1,000 tons.

2. Ennore/Kamarajar Port Oil spill (2017)

• Oil Tankers collided, resulting in the Oil Spill wasn’t quickly contained, destroying marine life especially Olive Ridley Turtles and Migratory birds.

3. Sundarbans Oil Spill (2015)

• An Oil Tanker passing through the Sela River in the Sundarbans met with an accident resulting in an oil spill. It did irreparable damage to the fragile economy of Sundarbans.

4. British Petroleum / Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (2010)

• British Petroleum’s oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, causing huge oil spills in 2010.
• It is the biggest oil spill ever happened in the history of mankind, in which 4 million barrels of oil spilt into the Gulf of Mexico. 
• British Petroleum had to pay $18.7 billion as a fine to the coastal states of the USA. 

Water pollution occurs when there is a change in the chemical, physical or biological quality of water that has a harmful effect(s) on living organisms that consume it or live in it.

When is water said to be polluted?

• When it is impaired by contaminants 
• Doesn’t support human use like drinking
• Undergoes a marked shift in the ability to support its constituent biotic communities like fish (For example, almost all the fishes in Ulsoor Lake (Bangalore) died due to water pollution)

There are two main types of sources: point sources and non-point sources 

1. Point sources

• Contaminants that enter a waterway from a single and identifiable source.
• Examples: from a sewage plant, a factory etc. 

2. Non-Point Sources

• Non-Point Sources are the sources of water pollution that cannot be traced to a single source.
• For Example, Acid rain, chemical runoff, and leaching out of nitrogen compounds from fertilized agricultural lands.

Apart from that, Groundwater aquifers are susceptible to contamination from sources that may not directly affect surface water bodies. E.g., chemical spill into the soil may not pollute any surface water body but pollute the underground water aquifer.

1. Agricultural

• Agricultural wastes include fertilizer and pesticide runoff from agricultural fields, food processing waste, tree and sawdust from logging operations and sewage from livestock operations.

2. Industrial Sector

• Industrial discharge (effluents) may contain various compounds such as heavy metals (cadmium, chromium, lead) and organic and inorganic chemicals. These discharges can affect the temperatures of the water bodies and dissolved oxygen levels.

3. Domestic/Municipal Sector

• The majority of domestic waste generation makes sewage which is dumped into water bodies without treatment. 

4. Thermal Pollution

• When water at elevated levels of temperature used to run turbines in Power plants is discharged into rivers, streams or oceans, it increases the temperature of the water body. Also, it decreases dissolved oxygen in the water, which adversely affects aquatic life.

1. Physical Testing

Standard physical tests of water include 

1. Temperature
2. Solid concentrations (e.g. Total Suspended Solids (TSS))
3. Turbidity

2. Chemical Testing

Water samples may be examined using the principles of analytical chemistry. Frequently used methods include 

• pH
• Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD): It measures oxygen used by micro-organisms in the oxidation of organic matter. 
• Chemical Oxygen Demand(COD): It measures oxygen equivalent to the oxidation of total organic matter present in water.
• Metals (like cadmium and lead), oil & grease and pesticides.

3. Biological Testing

• Involves the use of the plant, animal, and microbial indicators to monitor the health of an aquatic ecosystem. 
• Example: Copepods 

Water pollution strongly impacts humans, animals, vegetation, and the entire ecosystem. These effects can be classified into

On Ecosystem

1. When sewage water and agriculture runoff containing organic material is discharged into freshwater, it increases the growth of algae, causing eutrophication and death of the whole aquatic ecosystem.
2. If warm water is disposed of in coastal areas containing corals, it leads to the destruction of the whole ecosystem.
3. A steep increase in Biological Oxygen Demand turns the lake or sea into a dead zone, killing all the organisms in the ecosystem.

On Animal Health

1. Fishes and aquatic animals are poisoned by the dumping of industrial wastes in water bodies. 
2. Oil spills kill a number of animals in the affected area.
3. It leads to bioaccumulation and biomagnification across various trophic levels.

On Human Health

1. Humans suffer from diseases like hepatitis by eating seafood contaminated due to water pollution.
2. Heavy metal poisoning of the fishes due to water pollution can cause diseases in humans. E.g., Minamata disease due to mercury poisoning impacted humans as well.
3. Consumption of polluted water results in cholera and typhoid.
4. Nitrate contamination of water can prove to be disastrous for infants as it can restrict the oxygen to reach the brain causing the ‘blue baby syndrome.

Control of Domestic Sewage

• It can be treated in urban areas by centralized sewage treatment plants.

Control of Industrial wastewater

• Industrial waste can be treated with the help of Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETP) in industrial areas.

Control of agriculture wastewater

• Farmers may utilize erosion controls to reduce runoff flows and retain soil on their fields. ‘
• Farmers should use nutrient management plans to prevent the application of excess nutrients. 

3R Approach to manage wastewater

Government, organizations and individuals can adopt the ‘3R Approach’ to reduce wastewater which includes  

1. Reduce (water wastage)
2. Reuse (after treatment)  
3. Recycle

World Examples

• In Singapore and  San Diego, residents already drink recycled water. 
• Japan’s sewage operators use bio-solids as a carbon-neutral form of energy.

• Roads are used to transport over 65% of the total goods and 85% of the passenger traffic.  
• With about 52 lakh km of the road network, India has the second-largest road network in the world. 
• The cost to transport with roadways is ₹ 26/ton/km.
• Presently, India is the fastest highway developer globally, with 27 km of highways built each day.
• Roads supplement the other modes of transport through last-mile connectivity to the country’s far-flung regions.

Ministry of Road Transport & Highway

• Ministry of Road Transport and Highway is responsible for road development.
• Issue: Why separate ministries for Road, Railway, Aviation etc. It leads to a silos approach.

National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)

• It develops and maintains National Highways.
• NHAI runs two main programs 
  1. National Highway Development Project (NHDP)
  2. Bharat Mala 

Border Roads Organization (BRO)

• BRO is mainly concerned with building border roads in accordance with military requirements.
• Apart from that, it has been entrusted with the construction of roads in Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Myanmar.
• It successfully completed 215 km Delaram-Zaranj road in Afghanistan despite the prevailing insurgency.

National Highways

• The responsibility to construct and maintain national highways is that of the Union Government.
• Three agencies are involved in this, i.e. NHAI, BRO(under defence ministry) and State Public Works Department (PWD)  
• National Highways connect state capitals. It consists of 1,15,455 km as of 2017 (~2%), but it serves 40% of traffic. Hence, these are highly saturated.

Expressways

• Expressways are constructed using Special Purpose Vehicles (usually made through Public-Private Partnership).
• Expressways are 6 to 8 lane highways that are used to serve high-speed traffic using bridges and underpasses. 
• Examples include Ahmedabad – Vadodara Highway made by SPV consisting of NHAI and IRB Infra Developers. 

State Highways

• The responsibility to construct and maintain state highways is that of the State Government.
• State Highways are used to connect the state capital and district headquarters.

District Roads

• The responsibility to construct and maintain district roads is that of Zila Parishad.
• District Roads are used to connect district headquarters with tehsil and block.

Village Roads

• The responsibility to construct and maintain village roads is that of Gram Panchayats.
• Village Roads are used to connect villages with neighbouring towns.
• Village Roads constitutes 61% of all roads.

Note: India’s road density at 1.66 km/sq.km of area is the highest among BRICS countries (but the quality of roads is the main issue)

• It was launched on 25th December 2000.
• It works under Rural Ministry. 

Under PMGSY, all-weather road connectivity is to be given to 

• New in PMGSY: Emphasis is on the use of local and green technologies, e.g. waste plastic, geo-textile, iron slag, fly ash etc.
• It is Core Scheme with Centre to State Sharing = 60:40 for ordinary states and 90:10 for the Special Category States.

• Target: constructing 35,000 km of National Highways in the next five years. 
• It is an umbrella program that includes the development of 
  • Coastal Roads and Port Connectivity
  • Border Roads and International Connectivity
  • Feeder Routes 
  • Greenfield Expressways 
  • Roads for improving National Corridor Efficiency
  • Roads to balance NHDP works 
• The scheme is funded via debt, private investment, central road fund and toll collection.  

Side Topic: Parvatmala / National Ropeways Development Program

• Parvatmala Scheme was announced in Budget 2022. 
• The Indian government has decided to develop a network of ropeways, instead of roadways, to improve connectivity in the hilly regions. 
• It is preferred over roadways because it is an ecologically sustainable alternative in difficult hilly areas. 

• The Bharatmala project has been started to make all national highways free from railway level crossings by 2019. 
• Under the project, 208 new railway over & under bridges will be built. 
• Also, 1500 old bridges will be reconstructed.

Special Accelerated Road Development Program in North East (SARDP-NE)

• It envisages road connectivity to state capitals, district HQ and remote places in the North East region.

Road Requirement Plan (RRP) for improvement of road connectivity in Left Wing Extremism (LWE)

• The government approved the plan in March 2015 to develop road networks in the LWE affected areas of 34 Districts in 8 States in India.

• The system uses RFID technology to pay the toll.

In the recent past, many projects (road, tunnels and bridges) have been made in North East.

Some of the main projects include

1. Bogi-Beel Bridge

• Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge connects Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
• The bridge is on the Brahmaputra.

2. Sela Pass Tunnel

• Sela Pass is situated in Arunachal Pradesh and connects Twang (on Border) and West Kameng district.   

3. Dhola Sadiya

• Dhola Sadiya is India’s longest bridge measuring 9.15 km.  
• It is situated on the Lohit River (Tributary of Brahmaputra). 
• It connects Assam & Arunachal Pradesh.

4. Diffo Bridge

Diffo bridge is built over Diffo River in Arunachal Pradesh.

In the past 4-5 years, a large number of projects (road, tunnels etc.) have been made in J&K.  Some of the most critical projects are

Chenani Nashri Tunnel (Connects Jammu & Kashmir)

• It is Asia’s Longest Tunnel- 9.2 Km in length
• It has reduced the travel between Jammu and Kashmir valley by 41 km.

Zozila Tunnel (Connects Kashmir and Ladakh)

• Length: 14.15 Km (will be largest in Asia when completed beating Chenani Nashri Tunnel (9.2km)
• It will connect Kashmir valley with Ladakh.

Chenab Bridge

• Chenab is the world’s highest Railway Bridge, situated on the Chenab river in Jammu & Kashmir. 

Rohtang Tunnel

• Rohtang Tunnel is 9 km tunnel cutting through the Pir Panjal range.
• The tunnel has reduced the distance between Leh and Manali by 46 km and made the area accessible around the year.

India Myanmar Thailand (IMT)  Highway

• IMT Highway starts from the Indian city of Moreh (Manipur) up to Mae Sot in Thailand. 

Delaram-Zaranj Highway

• BRO has completed 215 km Delaram-Zaranj road in Afghanistan despite various threats.

Project Dantak

• India constructs the roads in Bhutan under Project Dantak.

• The government has adopted the ‘Hybrid annuity model‘ for highway projects.
• Infrastructure Investment Fund (InvIT): NHAI has been given the mandate to set up an InvIT to monetize its completed stretches of public-funded national highways to mobilize additional resources through capital markets.
• PMO has started the PRAGATI program. 
• The government has allowed 100% FDI in the road sector through automatic routes.
• Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is planning to set up Land Acquisition cells across the country to resolve issues related to land acquisition and ensure speedy compensation disbursal.
• NHAI has signed MoU with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) under ISRO to use spatial technology to monitor and manage National Highways. 

Until 2010: Old System was used as listed in the National Highways Act of 1956. 

After 2010: The government decided to rationalize numbers as old numbering wasn’t scientific and did not indicate its location and direction. In the new system,

• east-west highways —> odd numbers —> number increases from north to south
• north-south highways —> even numbers —> number increases from east to west 

Important National Highways in India

Note: Presently, NH 44 is the longest Highway.

Why new bill?

• 1988: Motor Vehicle Act came to force. 
• But it has outlived its utility as 
  1. A large number of people die in road accidents because they don’t get medical help at the time.
  2. Urban areas have too many vehicles and congested roads.
  3. Lack of effective vehicle standards leads to pollution and accidents.
  4. Juvenile road rashes.
  5. No protection to good Samaritans.
  6. Entry of digital aggregators and no law to regulate them.
  7. Penalties are too small to act as a deterrent.

Provisions of the Act

1. Agency for Road Safety

• National Road Safety Board (NRSB) has been constituted (as recommended by Sundar committee).  

2. Offences and penalties

• Penalties have been increased. E.g., Fine for Drunk & Drive has been increased to ₹10,000  (earlier ₹2,000)

3. Juvenile

• The act has recognized the offences committed by juveniles. 
• The Guardian and owner of the motor vehicle are also made liable.

4. License and Registration

The act has brought the harmony of registration and licensing process by creating 

• National Register for Vehicle registration 
• National Register for Driving Licence

5. Protection of good Samaritans

• Samaritans are not liable for any civil or criminal action for any injury or death of an accident victim. 

6. Care for road accident victims

• Under the provisions of the act, the road accident victims will be provided with cashless treatment during golden hour (hour following a traumatic injury).

7. Aggregator services

• The act requires aggregators (like Uber, Ola etc.) to obtain licenses. 

8. Transportation schemes

The act requires state governments to make transportation schemes that provide for  

• last-mile connectivity 
• reducing traffic congestion 

Issues with the Act

• Anti-federal in Character (according to state parties): Although Road is in the Concurrent List and it is within the legislative jurisdiction of Union, States are raising concern over Sections 66A and 88A, which will empower the Centre to form a National Transportation Policy through a process of consultation, and not concurrence. Hence, the Centre can also make Policy on Rural Mobility, Private Bus Sector in State and Last Mile connectivity in States. But all local leaders have private bus companies, and auto drivers are big vote banks plaguing the whole system. Hence, they don’t want these subjects under Union Government. 
• Just increasing the fine is not enough. According to IIT Delhi’s research, the deterrent impact depends upon the swiftness and probability of getting caught and penalized.  

• Line item budget clusters proposed expenses of each department. It represents the allocation of funds to each item in a single line. It includes detailed ceilings on the amount of salaries, travelling allowances, office expenses, etc. The focus is on ensuring that the agencies or units do not exceed the ceilings prescribed.

Advantages 

• This type of budget is easily understandable and implementable.
• It facilitates centralized control and fixing of authority and responsibility of the spending units.
• This aggregation method can easily illustrate which department and cost centre absorbs the bulk of the entity’s funds.

Disadvantages 

• It leads to incrementalism.
• It does not provide enough information to the top levels about the activities and achievements of individual units. 

Weaknesses of the line item budgeting were sought to be remedied by introducing certain reforms. Performance budgeting was the first such reform. 

• It was introduced in India in the financial year 2005-2006.
• It is an Indian version of Performance Budget.
• Budgeting scheme that gives program / project-wise outlays for all central ministries, departments and organisations listed against corresponding outcomes (measurable physical targets) to be achieved during the year.

• The government is continuously increasing the number of departments whose Budget is made on this basis. It started with the Department of Space.
• 2017: Delhi Government introduced Outcome Based Budgeting in 2017 Budget.

Features / Nature

• Under Outcome Budget, Organisation’s Budget is made in such a way that it has monitorable and measurable targets. 
• Cost-benefit analysis of every unit is carried out to yield maximum benefit at minimum cost. 
• Benchmarking of services and goods is provided.
• The feedback mechanism is strengthened to get feedback from customers / citizens
• Management Information System (MIS) is operationalised to digitalise expenditure and outcomes for rapid evaluation.

Impact of Outcome Budget

More than one decade has passed since India has adopted the Outcome Budget. The number of Departments under this has increased.

• In Winter Session (in September), every Department where Outcome Budget is operational presents their Report Card.
• Accountability of the Executive: Linking funds to the results is a powerful tool to increase the accountability of the executive.
• It helps in better utilisation of money.

Problems in Outcome Based Budgeting

• Difficulty to define targets.
• A large number of ministries are involved in achieving the target. E.g. to achieve an IMR of say 20, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Woman and Child Welfare need to work in synergy. 
• Not only the Union but help of States and Local Governments is also needed to achieve targets.  

What more needs to be done?

• Apart from implementing Outcome Budget in all Central Departments, it should also be implemented in all the states. 
• Many programmes are run jointly by states and union. These programs always face the issue of ‘Match Funding’. This need to be brought under the Outcome Budget.
• Like Performance Budget, Outcome Budget also requires decentralisation of accounts to make it a success. 

• It was invented by Peter Pyhrr in 1969 and implemented in Texas Instrument (company) for the first time. 
• It was implemented in 1972 in the Georgia state of USA by Jimmy Carter as Governor, and in 1978-79, it was implemented in the Federal Budget of USA. 
• In India, we tried to implement it in 1974. But it proved to be a failure.

What is Zero Based Budgeting (ZBB)

The budgeting process in which the rationale of every expense needs to be justified for a new period is known as Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB).

Process of formation of ZBB 

• In this Budget, all the running programs and projects are zeroed at the end of each financial year, i.e. old facts and figures aren’t taken.
• Budget maker plans for next financial year keeping in mind which programs and projects are needed for the present situation.  

Reasons for failure of ZBB in India 

• The digitalisation of records of finances is required. But in India, all the departments are not digitalised even today.
• Managerial autonomy is required. But in India, the enormous influence of politics can be seen on administration.
• Citizens in India don’t like frequent changes in government programs. But in ZBB, there are chances of changing programs. 
• For operationalisation of ZBB, Specialist Bureaucracy is required (India has Generalist Bureaucracy).

In Political Attitudes, the attitude object is a political party, political person or political ideology. It defines your likes or dislikes for a political person, party or ideology.

Types of Political Ideologies

1. Reactionary

• They want to go to previous systems and can be ranked one step behind conservatives (who just want the status quo). 
• Eg: Taliban and ISIS.

2. Conservative

• They demand Status-quo.
• Reason: Their interests are tied to the system.

3. Liberal / Moderate

• Liberals are proponents of liberty, equality and democracy. 
• Unlike Conservatives, they do want reforms in the system but not using violent methods but gradually through legal means.

4. Radicals / Extremists

• They want immediate reforms and can even adopt violent means.
• Eg: Communists who want to confiscate private property and are even ready to use violent means for that.

1 . Agreeable-ness

• A person with a high level of agreeableness is friendly and tactful. They have an optimistic view of human nature  
• A person who scores low on agreeableness put their interests above others. They are distant, unfriendly & uncooperative. 
• Eg: When Modi Govt requested well offs to give off their LPG Subsidy arguing that they will use the same money to provide LPG to the poor, those who were agreeable left it but certain people who scored low on agreeableness questioned the intention and asked first MPs should give up their canteen subsidy and then ask for this.

2. Openness to experience

• Those who are open to experience  enjoy trying new things 
  • Modi promised Acche Din  
  • AAP: Many people in Delhi gave chance to them because they were open to experience 
• Those who are not ready for experience are Conservative & enjoy having a routine. In the UK, supporters of the Conservative Party.

3. Emotional Stability

• Emotional Stability is a measure of how well a person can control his/her emotions 
• Those who rank high are calm, resilient & poised.
  1. They don’t get swayed by incidents like riots or intolerance. 
  2. They cant be easily moulded by media.

4. Emotional Stability

• Extrovert: People who speak a lot, are easily sociable & get energised by social interaction. 
• Introvert: People who are reserved, tentative and drained by social interaction.

Those who score high in extroversion are the life of the party.

5. Religion

• Religion impacts political attitudes as  
  1. Devout Christians in the USA vote in favour of Republicans because they are against Homosexual Marriages.  
  2. Devout Hindus vote in favour of the BJP because they talk about protecting the Hindu religion.
• “Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is” – Gandhi

6. Age

• Young people generally vote in favour of parties that favour change as they will reap the benefits of those changes.
• On the other hand, old age people generally vote in favour of parties calling for a Status Quo.

7. Economic Status

• Poor vote in favour of Socialist and Communist parties calling for wealth redistribution.
• Rich vote in favour of right-wing parties which talk about lower tax rates and protection of property right.

8. Residence

• If a person is unemployed, he will align with parties like MNS who promise Son of the Soil Policies.

9. Family

• The political ideology of parents is generally copied by Children.

10. Gender

• Females favour Liberal ideology and those who talk about the emancipation of women.

11. Education

• School curriculum and lessons taught in school plays important role in the formation of political attitudes.
• The Soviet Union and Maoist China’s education used to glorify the teachings of Marx.  

12. Conception about human nature

Nature of human beings in general perceived by the person has an important role to play in the formation of Political Attitude

• Hobbes Philosophy: It is of the opinion that” Person is fundamentally evil“. Advocates of such philosophy will have a political attitude favouring a strong state which can keep the evils of humans in check 
• Locke’s Philosophy: ” Man is a good rational person. “Advocates of such philosophy will have a political attitude favouring weak state with more rights and freedom guaranteed to its citizens.

13. Social media

Media and social media can be used to mould political attitudes. Eg : 2014 & 2019 elections.

Positive Side

• Greater Outreach: Social media allows politicians and political parties to connect directly with people at a reduced cost.  
• It allows ‘two-way communication’ and leaders can take real-time feedback from common people.
• Campaign management as political parties come to know about the demographics, economic and social status of the followers and manage the image of candidate with tailored messages for a particular segment.
• Election Commission uses social media campaigns to encourage citizens to cast a vote. 
• It is used by NGOs like ADR to increase transparency. 

Negative Side

• It leads to the polarisation of votes.
• Playing with Psychology as was done by Cambridge Analytica.  
• Dissemination of misinformation at lightening speed leading to events such as the mass exodus of north-easterners from Bengaluru. 

Overall political attitude will be formed not by just one component but by the combination of all these factors.

• Cambridge  Analytica created a psychological profile of Facebook users using their likes and dislikes on Facebook.
• Advertisements were targeted according to psychological profiles.  For example, someone who was judged to be an extrovert would see a different version of an advertisement than someone who was judged to be an introvert. 

• Attitude is the enduring predisposition to behave, either favourably or unfavourably, towards something. But not all attitudes are concerned with the question of morality. Moral Attitudes are those attitudes where the question of morality (i.e. Judgement of being right or wrong) is involved.
• For example, A person may have a favourable attitude towards transacting in cash rather than electronically. There is nothing moral or immoral about it. However, if his motive to transact in cash arises from his desire to hide his income from the government, then it has a moral connotation.

How are moral attitudes shaped?

Moral Attitudes are made up of the same three elements i.e.

• Cognitive: It is the knowledge of ethical rules and judgments of what is good and what is bad.
• Affective: It involves the person’s feelings and conduct in reaction to situations that need moral and ethical decisions.
• Behavioural: It is the person’s actual behaviour, his response to situations involving ethical considerations.

Important points about Moral Attitudes

• Moral Attitudes are made up of amoral attitudes that are strongly influenced by society and culture. Religious beliefs, traditions, folklore, myths, legends – all have an implicit messaging in them- about what is good and what is bad. As such, they shape the moral attitudes of people. 
• Moral attitudes vary over time and space. For example, people had a positive moral attitude wrt Sati during Medieval times. Similarly, they can also vary with gender. Men, for instance, may have a less negative attitude towards bribery than women.  
• Moral attitudes can be both facilitative and prohibitive. They facilitate actions such as helping someone in need (altruism), social service, etc. Also, actions that are considered immoral are discouraged such as adultery, stalking, cheating, etc.

According to Britannica , Honour Killing is the murder of a woman or girl by male family members. The killers justify their actions by claiming that the victim has brought dishonour upon the family name . 

Problem of Honour killing is quite complex & reasons vary in different areas.

• Feudal Mindset  :  woman marrying outside her community brings dishonour to the family and it is better to kill them and set example for others .
• Strike against Dalit Assertion  especially when women is from OBC caste & boy from Dalit caste .
• Inter religious marriages : Politicisation of matter  especially in  UP  and ‘Love Jihad’ campaign by Hindutva ultra right wing.
• Same Gotra Issue in Haryana : In Haryana, marriages between couples belonging to the same gotra  are not recognised leading to incidents of honour killing.
• Law Commission of India observed that one of the reasons of honour killing is change in economic status of women and taking a stand against the male-dominated culture.

1 . Shakti Vahini Case (2018)

• NGO Shakti Vahini filed PIL in Supreme Court.
• Supreme Court gave various guidelines to end honour killings like
  1. State Government should identify districts where honour killing happened in last 5 years .
  2. Khaps  should not act as they are conscience-keepers .
  3. Police should help couples . 
  4. Safe Houses for couples (1 month to 1 year) .
  1. Fast Track Courts should be made to decide case within 6 months .

Earlier Judgements regarding Honour Killings

2. Supreme Court Judgement on Khap Panchayats (2011)

In 2011, Supreme Court termed

• Khaps were termed as “kangaroo courts” .
• They were declared them illegal .
• Court wanted them to be stamped out ruthlessly. 

3. Lata Singh v. State of U.P.

• Inter-caste marriages are in fact in the national interest as they will result in destroying the caste system.

4. Bhagwan Das v. Delhi  (2011)

• Supreme Court deemed honour killings in the “rarest of rare” category of crimes that deserve the death penalty.

It is a forward agreement between farmers & buyers  in which 

But the problem is, this is prevalent in only a few states where APMC laws allow contract farming.   

Punjab

1. PepsiCo is doing contract farming with Potato farmers of the Hoshiarpur district.
2. ITC is doing contract farming for Soyabean.
3. Mahindra Shubhlabh is doing contract farming for Basmati rice 

Karnataka

• Himalaya is doing contract farming with Ashwagandha producers.

Madhya Pradesh

• Hindustan Unilever is doing contract farming with wheat farmers.

• Stockholdings limits on the contracted produce under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 act as a hindrance in contract farming.
• Not benefiting Small Farmers: Buyers have no incentive for contract farming with a large number of small and marginal farmers due to high transactions and marketing costs, creating socio-economic distortions and preference for large farmers.  
• It is a capital-intensive and less sustainable cultivation pattern as it promotes increased use of fertilizers and pesticides, which have detrimental impacts on natural resources, the environment, humans and animals. 
• Encourages Monoculture Farming: It impacts soil health negatively and poses a risk to food security. 
• Monopsony: Product is generally a particular crop and is the only buyer for that company. Hence, the farmer can be price takers only because the company is the sole buyer. 
• Predetermined prices deny farmers the benefits of higher prices prevailing in the market.

• Mainly to address the breach of contract by the company (because the company can breach the contract if they are getting goods at a low price and then afford a lawyer to fight the case).
• It sets up Contract Farming Authority and Recording Committees to register the contracts and implement them effectively.
• It provides to keep contract farming outside the ambit of the APMC act.
• The produce will be insured under the existing agriculture insurance schemes.
• It makes provisions for making Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs). 

1 . Evaporation

• Evaporation is a process by which water is transformed from liquid to gaseous state.
• It can occur in three conditions
  • High temperature
  • Low Pressure conditions
  • Fast moving wind

2. Condensation

• Condensation is process of conversion of water vapours present in air into water droplets .
• Condensation is caused by the loss of heat. When moist air is cooled, it may reach a level when its capacity to hold water vapour ceases. Then, the excess water vapour condenses into liquid form.
• Condensation takes place:
  • When the temperature of the air is reduced to dew point  or When moisture is added to the air  
  • Surface : Which may be natural like grass etc (making dew) or Hygroscopic Surface/ Nuclei

3. Sublimation

• If water vapour directly condenses into solid form, it is known as sublimation.

After condensation, the water vapour or the moisture in the atmosphere takes one of the following forms — dew, frost, fog and clouds.

1 . Dew

2. Frost

3. Fog

4. Smog

5. Mist

6. Cloud

• Clouds are tiny water droplets suspended in the air formed due to the condensation.

• To understand the nomenclature of Clouds, one must be aware of the meaning of some Latin words.

Classification of Clouds

The clouds can be classified based on their form, height and appearance as follows:

1 . High Clouds

2. Middle Clouds

3. Low Clouds

4. Clouds with vertical extend

Precipitation is the process by which all forms of water particles fall from the atmosphere and reach the ground.

Conditions necessary for precipitation

Forms of precipitation

1 . Rainfall

• Most common type of precipitation in temperate & tropical regions.
• When water droplets of more than 0.5 mm diameter falls from the atmosphere to the ground it is called as ‘Rainfall’.
• If the diameter is less than 0.5mm, it is called as ‘Drizzle’.

2. Hail

• When condensed moisture in form of raindrops is carried to great heights by strong convection currents & they get frozen due to low temp at greater heights=> when they come down they gather more water around them & size of pellets become large.
• Ice pellets has size of 5 to 50 mm or some times more. 

3. Snowfall

• Precipitation occurs at below freezing point and falls as thin ice flakes or powdery ice, called  ‘Snow’.

4. Sleet

• Precipitation in the form of mixture of raindrops  & ice pellets less than 5 mm in diameter.

Since rainfall is the major type of precipitation, we will look of type of rainfalls. It can be of various types depending upon process of rising up of air

1 . Convectional Rainfall

• As a result of heating of the surface air, the warm moist air expands and is forced to rise to a great height. As the air rises, it cools, reaches dew point and condenses to form clouds.
•  Cumulonimbus clouds are formed in this .
• This type of rainfall occurs
  1. Throughout the year near the equator in the afternoon. It is called as 4 ‘O’ clock rainfall region.
  2. In middle latitudes, convectional rainfall occurs in early summer in the continental interiors

2. Orographic Rainfall

• Air is forced to move up by landform features like   mountain, plateau , escarpment etc and air thus rising may cool below dew point causing rain.
• Windward side gets heavy rain whereas leeward side is rain shadow area.
• Most of rain occurring in India and world is orographic . In India, Western coast & North East India gets rainfall by this process.

3. Cyclonic Rainfall

• This type of precipitation is associated with a cyclonic activity (Tropical and Temperate cyclones)
• Cyclonic rainfall is associated with Cumulo-Nimbus  clouds. The rainfall is very heavy and accompanied with lightning and thunder and high speed winds which has the potential to cause damage.

4. Frontal Rainfall

• ‘Frontal rainfall’ is associated with fronts which form due to collision of different air masses.
• It can be of two types
  1. Warm Air Front Rainfall : In this , warm air invades cold air leading to formation of Nimbostratus clouds and gentle rainfall.
  1. Cold Air Front Rainfall : In this, cold air invades warm air leading to formation of Cumulonimbus cloud and violent rainfall with lightening.