UPSC Key | 21st December, 2024: India-Sri Lanka, NYAY, and Climate Crisis

Mains Examination: General Studies II: India and its neighborhood- relations.

What’s the ongoing story: The visit of Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to India this week — his first trip overseas since becoming leader of his country — saw some classic diplomatic deal-making, with give and take on both sides.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What is the status of the India-Sri Lanka relationship?

— Why is Sri Lanka important for India?

— What are the recent challenges in the India-Sri Lanka relationship?

— What is the 13th amendment with respect to Sri Lanka?

— What is the issue of Tamil minorities in the context of India and Sri Lanka?

— Read about – the historical evolution of the India-Sri Lanka relationship, trade cooperation, challenges, and new areas of cooperation.

Key Takeaways:

— AKD, as he is popularly known, committed to not allowing the use of Sri Lankan territory for any anti-Indian activities.

— The joint statement said “President Disanayake reiterated Sri Lanka’s stated position of not permitting its territory to be used in any manner inimical to the security of India as well as towards regional stability.”

— This was a signal to China — whose “research vessels” frequently visit Sri Lanka, and are seen with suspicion in New Delhi. The fact that the President, who is seen as being pro-China, has clearly articulated this position is a relief to India.

— On the issue of Tamil minorities, however, AKD did not yield to the formulation preferred by New Delhi. There was no explicit mention of the implementation of the 13th amendment in the Sri Lankan Constitution, which gives powers to the Tamil minority  — a long-standing demand of the Indian government.

— AKD does not support the implementation of the amendment, and has opposed any investigation into alleged war crimes during the last phase of the civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan military.

— On bilateral development cooperation, the joint statement said the two leaders acknowledged the “positive and impactful role of India’s development assistance to Sri Lanka that has significantly contributed to its socioeconomic growth”.

— The countries agreed to work together for the timely completion of ongoing projects such as Phase III & IV of Indian Housing Project, the three islands’ Hybrid Renewable Energy Project, and High Impact Community Development Projects across Sri Lanka.

— The elements of cooperation range from digital connectivity — the Aadhaar project and UPI — to energy cooperation. The countries are discussing the supply of LNG to Sri Lanka, the development of Trincomalee as a regional energy and industrial hub, high-capacity power grid interconnection, and the development of offshore wind power in the Palk Strait.

— PM Modi flagged the importance of maritime security, cyber security and counter-terrorism among the issues to be discussed through the Colombo Security Conclave mechanism.

— All of this suggests that even though India is now no longer dealing with the traditional set of interlocutors who have dominated Sri Lankan governments, priorities and interests have not fundamentally changed for either New Delhi or Colombo.

— AKD is looking at a consequential five years in power, while India, which has deep strategic stakes in Sri Lanka’s success and stability, is keen on a “mutually beneficial” partnership.

Do You Know:

— India and Sri Lanka share a multifaceted relationship characterized by deep historical ties, economic cooperation, and strategic collaboration. The both nation continues to build upon their historical connections, focusing on economic development, defense cooperation, and cultural exchanges to foster a robust and mutually beneficial partnership.

— In September 2024, Anura Kumara Dissanayake was elected as Sri Lanka’s President. Despite his party’s historical scepticism towards India, Dissanayake has acknowledged India’s crucial role in Sri Lanka’s security and economic development. He has not indicated a preference for prioritizing relations with China over India, suggesting a balanced foreign policy approach.

— In July 2024, India and Sri Lanka unveiled a vision for deeper economic ties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized the importance of fulfilling the aspirations of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka. The two countries agreed to conduct feasibility studies on a petroleum
pipeline and land bridge connectivity, aiming to enhance trade and energy cooperation.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Sri Lanka presidential elections

📍Sri Lankan President Dissanayake reaches Delhi, his first foreign trip after coming to power, pacts readied

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

📍India is an age-old friend of Sri Lanka.’ Discuss India’s role in the recent crisis in Sri Lanka in the light of the preceding statement. (UPSC CSE, GS2, 2022)

How Climate crises are connected

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies-III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

What’s the ongoing story: A new major scientific report has highlighted the strong interlinkages between some of the biggest challenges facing humankind such as climate change, biodiversity loss and hunger, and emphasised on the need for adopting an integrated approach in addressing these issues.

Key Points to Ponder:

— How are climate change, biodiversity loss, food insecurity, water scarcity, and health risks interlinked?

— What is the role of IPCC?

— What are the international platfoms that deal with issues related with climate change?

— What is the impact of loss of biodiversity on the economy of a nation?

— Read about: UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Convention on Combating Desertification (CCD), the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

Key Takeaways:

— The report, the first of its kind looking at the interconnections between these multiple crises, has been produced by Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a global group of scientific experts.

— The group examined five major challenges — climate change, biodiversity loss, food insecurity, water scarcity, and health risks — and found that they were strongly interconnected.

— It said the manner in which economic activities were currently being carried out had big negative impacts on biodiversity, climate change, food production, water and health. The unaccounted-for costs of these adverse effects are estimated to be at least $10-25 trillion a year.

— IPBES is to biodiversity and natural ecosystems what the more famous Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is to climate change. It periodically examines all the existing scientific knowledge on biodiversity and nature to make an assessment of their current state.

— IPBES produced its first report in 2019 in which it assessed the threat to global biodiversity. That report found that as many as one million different species of plants and animals, out of an estimated eight million in total, were facing extinction threats, more than at any previous time, mainly due to the changes in natural ecosystems caused by human activities.

— It had said nearly 75 per cent of the Earth’s land surface and 66 per cent of marine environments had been “significantly altered”, and over 85 per cent of wetlands had been “lost”.

— The information in this report became the basis for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, an international agreement that was finalised in 2022.

— The latest assessment of IPBES is called the Nexus Report, which has highlighted the strong interlinkages between the five identified global challenges.

— Its key takeaway is that responses to all these challenges need to be harmonised so that positive actions taken on any one of these does not result in negative impacts on others, something that is quite possible, as exemplified in several current approaches.

— The report, therefore, argues that it was important to adopt synergistic approaches that deliver benefits across the spectrum.

— Such synergistic approaches were available, the report said, and identified over 70 response options that produced positive outcomes across the five elements.

— There were other response options that deliver benefits on two or three elements but not all. These were important but needed to be implemented carefully, the report said.

— The report emphasised that nature and biodiversity were important not just for ecological and aesthetic reasons but also for purely economic reasons. It pointed out that more than half of the global GDP — about 58 trillion dollars worth of annual economic activity — was moderately to highly dependent on nature.

— As it is, the world has been witnessing biodiversity decline at the rate of about 2-6 per cent on an average every decade over the last half a century, the report said. It also highlighted that existing economic systems still offered trillions of dollars in incentives every year for actions that have direct negative impacts on biodiversity and natural ecosystems.

— In another report released simultaneously, IPBES called for fundamental and transformative shifts in the way people view and interact with the natural world in pursuit of its well-being.

— This report, being called the Transformative Change Report, said current, and previous, approaches to deal with ecological decline had failed, and a new and different approach was needed to halt the slide further.

— It said the world needed to act immediately on such new approaches because the cost of delaying action would significantly increase the costs, almost doubling in just about a decade.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Biodiversity COP16: What is it, what is on agenda this year

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(1) With reference to ‘Global Climate Change Alliance’, which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. It is an initiative of the European Union.

2. It provides technical and financial support to targeted developing countries to integrate climate change into their development policies and budgets.

3. It is coordinated by World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 3 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

Discuss global warming and mention its effects on the global climate. Explain the control measures to bring down the level of greenhouse gases which cause global warming, in light of the Kyoto Protocol, 1997. (UPSC CSE 2022)

 

EXPRESS NETWORK

Role of locals essential in protecting environment

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies-III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

What’s the ongoing story: Veteran ecologist Madhav Gadgil, who received the UN’s highest environmental honour — the ‘Champions of the Earth’ award — for 2024 last week, emphasised the role of local communities in protecting the environment while speaking to The Indian Express.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What is the role of local communities in protecting the environment?

— What steps can be taken at the individual level to protect the environment?

— What are community reserves?

— how Kerala’s Kudumbashree can be used as role model for community participation?

— What was the purpose of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP)?

— What were the major recommendations of the Gadgil committee?

— What were the reasons for Wayanad landslide?

Key Takeaways:

— He said that Gram Sabhas and locals should be part of the decision-making process regarding carrying out activities such as rock quarrying in ecologically sensitive areas in Western Ghats.

– Gadgil was the chairman of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), which submitted a report in 2011 — later came to be known as the Gadgil report — and recommended demarcating the Western Ghats into different levels of ecologically sensitive area.

— He said, “The approach for making decisions has to be bottom-up, and not vice versa. In low-sensitivity areas, rock quarrying can be allowed with suggestions from well-organised community groups such as Kerala’s Kudumbashree. These groups should be given the contract for rock quarries and asked to manage them.”

— Gadgil also accused “tea estate owners and their friends” of building resorts and lakes in the area which are further increasing the pressure on the land and making it more vulnerable to landslides.

— He highlighted the fact that when disasters like the Wayanad landslides take place it is the poor and marginalised communities that suffer.

— The ecologist also pointed out that India needs to revise its outlook on economic growth. He said that the country needs to focus on the development of four main components — natural capital, human capital, social capital, and man-made capital.

Do You Know:

— The Western Ghats have been classified as an ecologically fragile region. Recent research by experts at the Indian Institute of Science divided the 1.6 lakh sq km of Western Ghats into four ecologically sensitive regions (ESR). Promoting sustainable land-management practices such as reforestation, controlled deforestation, and sustainable agriculture is crucial to maintaining hillside stability and reducing soil erosion, thereby mitigating the effects of heavy rains.

— The Central government on Friday issued the sixth iteration of a draft notification, declaring 56,825.7 sq km of the Western Ghats an ecologically sensitive area (ESA) in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

— The ESAs proposed across these states are spread over 449 sq km in Gujarat, Maharashtra (17,340 sq km), Goa (1,461 sq km), Karnataka (20,668 sq km), Tamil Nadu (6,914 sq km), and Kerala (9,993.7 sq km). The Centre has provided a window of 60 days to submit objections and suggestions on the draft.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Before the landslide: Wayanad tragedy is a warning – don’t ignore ecology

📍Govt reissues draft notification to declare over 56,000 sq km of Western Ghats as eco-sensitive

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(2). ‘Gadgil Committee Report’ and ‘Kasturirangan Committee Report’, sometimes seen in the news, are related to (UPSC CSE 2016)

(a) constitutional reforms

(b) Ganga Action Plan

(c) linking of rivers

(d) protection of Western Ghats

 

EDITORIAL

NYAY gone wrong

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc

Mains Examination: General Studies-I: Role of women and women’s organisation, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanisation, their problems and their remedies.

General Studies-II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

What’s the ongoing story: Praveen Chakravarty writes: Page 21 of the Congress party’s 2019 Lok Sabha election manifesto said “To eliminate abject poverty by 2030, Congress will introduce a Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) to provide Rs 72,000 a year to the poorest one-fifth of all families. The money will be transferred to the bank account of the woman head of the family”. The Congress party lost the 2019 election badly. But this idea of an unconditional cash transfer to women in poor families has won huge.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What is the Nyay Scheme?

— What is the Universal Basic Income (UBI)?

— What are the arguments in favour and against the UBI?

— How freebies are a double-edged sword?

— How cash transfers to women have become a political tool rather than addressing the real problems?

Key Takeaways:

— Five years after NYAY was first proposed, 15 states governed by eight different political parties have implemented some version of NYAY, after promising it in their state election manifestoes. Sixty per cent of India’s women live in these 15 states.

— So, a majority of poor women in India now are beneficiaries of an unconditional cash transfer from the government. Going by the trend, it is only a matter of time before other large states follow suit. This is an astonishingly rapid paradigm shift in India’s welfare model.

— Feminists and social scientists support unconditional cash transfers for its power to liberate and empower women, especially in underdeveloped countries. Economists believe it can boost consumption demand and help stimulate the larger economy.

— Efficiency hunters find cash transfers appealing for their simplicity and efficiency of governance. Libertarians like it because of the freedom it provides to the individual family unit in making spending decisions.

— The truth is that it is still too early to assess the real impact of $25 billion a year “NYAY” type programmes on social development and women’s empowerment.

— But it is obvious that the idea has gained enormous political currency, with nearly every political party promising it in their election manifestos. However, there is no empirical or scientific evidence that cash transfers to women, either as a scheme by a ruling party or as a promise by an opposition party, have material impact on influencing voter behaviour.

— Noisy rhetoric aside, cash transfers to women is clearly not the electoral magic bullet that it is made out to be. Yet nearly all political parties in India have pounced on this idea.

— These schemes come at a substantial cost, politically and financially. Cash transfers subvert the very essence of politics in terms of representing people, understanding their real issues and solving them with specific policies and programmes.

— Most importantly, the financial burden of such cash transfer schemes is large, real and current. Nearly $25 billion is being spent by all state governments combined on cash transfers to women every year, roughly 10 per cent of what each state government earns annually.

— Ironically, the rising debt of state governments due to NYAY-type programmes comes back to harm the same poor women beneficiaries through increased prices (inflation) and costlier access to money (interest rates). This is why the 2019 Congress manifesto that proposed NYAY also committed that “it will be funded only through new revenues and rationalisation of current expenditure with a commitment to keeping the fiscal deficit to less than 3 per cent of GDP”. All political parties seem to have borrowed the NYAY idea unconditionally.

— It is likely that the social benefits of NYAY-type programmes in terms of women empowerment are enormous in the long run. But in the short run, the tangible costs far outweigh the intangible benefits. It is thus prudent to calibrate spending on cash transfers slowly every year rather than expand rapidly in one go.

Do You Know:

— The term ‘freebie’ in the dictionary refers to an item or service that is offered or delivered without any cost. In a bulletin published in June 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a definition for the term ‘freebies’ as a form of public welfare programme that is offered without any cost.

— The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asserts that freebies can be differentiated from public or merit goods, such as education and healthcare, as well as other state expenditures that yield broader and enduring advantages. Nevertheless, discerning between welfare goods, often referred to as ‘merit’ goods, and freebies or ‘non-merit’ products poses a significant challenge. — Scholars have underscored the significance of merit goods, such as free or subsidised food, education, shelter, and healthcare, in expediting human development and subsequently fostering national economic progress.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍The 360° UPSC Debate | Are Freebies a Gateway to Financial Disaster?

📍What elite critics of freebies don’t understand

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

What are the continued challenges for women in India against time and space? (2019)

THE IDEAS PAGE

Two steps forward, one step back

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story: Jabin T Jacob writes: While Indian statements on the bilateral relationship with China are exercises in brevity, Chinese statements are more expansive by comparison. Taken together, however, they provide a picture of how the relationship is evaluated by each side. With the 23rd meeting of the Special Representatives (SRs) on the India-China boundary question concluding in Beijing earlier this week, bilateral exchanges at the highest levels might have gotten closer to regular service but the meeting also highlights continuing differences.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What are the recent areas of conflict between India and China?

— What are the land border disputes between India and China?

— What was the recent agreement between both the nations on the disengagement along the LAC?

— What are the border disputed areas? Map them.

— What is the border dispute settlement mechanism between India and China?

— What are the internal security challenges along the LAC?

Key Takeaways:

— Comparing the six statements on SR meetings that have come out (three from each country) since the first “informal summit” between Indian Prime Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, it is evident that the Indian side has increasingly weak expectations of the relationship.

— While the latest Indian statement stressed the need “to use, coordinate and guide the relevant diplomatic and military mechanisms” to “maintain peace and tranquillity on the border and advance effective border management”, there was no talk any longer about specifically “promot(ing) exchanges and communication between the border personnel”, reflecting perhaps, the desire to reduce direct contacts between the actual troops on the ground as well as the reality of no-patrolling buffer zones in some areas along the LAC.

— As in 2021, so also in their latest statement, the Chinese described a six-point consensus that the Indians did not acknowledge as such. While past Indian statements have described talks as “constructive and forward-looking” the latest talked instead about “resolv(ing) to inject more vitality into this process”.

— Oddly, however, the Indian SR statement talks about “seeking a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable framework for the settlement of the boundary question” even though such a framework already exists in the form of bilateral treaties.

— India, by contrast, has displayed a reluctance to refer directly to extant legal agreements and has — like the Chinese — preferred to reference instead the “guidance”, “directions” or “decision” of meetings between Modi and Xi.

— The danger now exists — as was the case post-Doklam in 2017 — that the Indian government could once again take its foot off the gas pedal of sustained political, diplomatic, military and economic pressure on China in order to achieve short-term interests.

— Given that India’s lack of proactive, like-for-like responses to China’s 2020 violations of bilateral agreements on the LAC is now clear, Beijing can perhaps breathe a little easier that the front with India is not likely to pose a major threat if China were to concentrate on its other fronts with active territorial disputes.

— This reality might draw even more pressure from the Americans under Donald Trump – now stronger and more determined to follow through with his threats to adversaries and friends alike – for New Delhi to get with the larger American approach to China instead.

Do You Know:

— At the meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs, the two sides also prepared for the next meeting of the Special Representatives on the boundary question – National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are the two SRs.

—At the WMCC meeting Thursday, the two sides agreed to revive several dialogue mechanisms including the Special Representatives dialogue on the boundary question.

— This was the first meeting between top officials of the two countries after the disengagement of troops and restoration of patrolling rights at the friction points of Depsang Plains and Demchok.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: China-India state of play

📍India-China border dispute: Beyond the hype, the reality of the LAC

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(3) Siachen Glacier is situated to the (UPSC CSE 2020)

(a) East of Aksai Chin

(b) East of Leh

(c) North of Gilgit

(d) North of Nubra Valley

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is viewed as a cardinal subset of China’s larger ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative. Give a brief description of CPEC and enumerate the reasons why India has distanced itself from the same. (UPSC CSE 2018)

A smoker check

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

What’s the ongoing story: Jeffrey Drope and Mukesh Kejriwal write:  The Group of Ministers (GoM), set up by the GST Council has recommended a major revision of taxes, aligning them more closely with the critical and essential priorities of the common person.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What is the GoM? What are their functions?

— What is the GST Council?

— How tobaccos are cultivated?

— What are the initiatives taken by the government against tobacco smoking?

— How tobacco taxation policies are one of the hurdles in curbing tobacco consumption?

— What steps need to be taken by the government to stop consumption of tobacco?

Key Takeaways:

— Essential items like bottled water, bicycles, and exercise books will see reduced levies. Simultaneously, there is momentum to reduce the GST on health and life insurance premiums, making these essential services more affordable. High-value luxury goods, including tobacco products, will face higher GST rates.

— Using tobacco products like cigarettes, bidis and gutka kills about half of the people who use them and takes 11 years off a life on average. In India, tobacco kills nearly 1.3 million people each year and makes millions more sick. These numbers are not just statistics; they represent families torn apart and enormous societal costs in terms of lost productivity and healthcare burdens.

— However, there is a proven way to reduce this needless death and disease — taxation. Raising taxes on tobacco products to increase their prices is the single most effective policy to reduce consumption. Higher prices discourage people from starting, encourage current users to quit, and prevent relapse among former users.

— This is particularly true for young people, who are highly price-sensitive. Many smokers would quit, many young people would never start, and hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved even in the short term.

— To add another big win, because consumption declines disproportionately less compared to the tax increase, these tax increases will lead to substantially higher tax revenues, which can be used to support health, education, and other policies that promote societal well-being.

— In this context, the proposal to place tobacco products in a higher slab of the GST at 35 per cent is an excellent policy for both public and fiscal health. It will also help to correct a somewhat rocky recent path for tobacco tax policies in India that began well when the GST was introduced.

— The Economics for Health programme at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health evaluates countries’ tobacco tax policies biennially on a scale of 0 to 5, with 5 being the top score. It evaluates the overall price, the tax share of price, the change in affordability, and the tax structure.

— India’s overall score in the latest edition was 1.5 out of 5, which was below the global average of 1.99. India’s tax share of prices of all the major tobacco products falls significantly short of the WHO’s recommended minimum of 75 per cent.

— India continues to struggle on both tax structure and change in affordability. Like many of its South Asian neighbours, India maintains a tiered structure wherein excise taxes are lower on some brands. This means that when taxes and prices increase, there remain cheaper, similar products to which users can switch.

— Furthermore, bidis have much lower or even no tax and are therefore very inexpensive. Because of both the problematic tax structure and the lack of regular, significant tax increases, from 2016 to 2022, tobacco products like cigarettes, bidis and chewing tobacco products have become more affordable on average.

— A higher GST slab for tobacco products will not only save lives but also align with India’s broader goals of creating a healthier, more productive population. The revenue generated can be reinvested in public goods, reinforcing the nation’s commitment to universal health and social equity.

Do You Know:

— Lung cancer is the second most diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer deaths globally, claiming around 1.8 million lives annually. Tobacco smoking is the primary culprit, responsible for over 67% of lung cancer deaths in 2019.

— In India, a report from the Indian Journal of Medical Research (2022) reveals that one in nine people are likely to face a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime, with lung cancer ranking highest among men, according to the National Cancer Registry Programme.

— A Lancet report cited lung cancer as the second most diagnosed cancer worldwide in 2020. In Southeast Asia, though it ranked third in new cases (185,636), it led in cancer deaths, causing 166,260 fatalities. In India, lung cancer accounts for 72,510 new cases and 66,279 deaths annually. Beyond tobacco, long-term exposure to air pollution, particularly particulate matter, is an increasingly recognised risk factor.

— The study raises a red flag, suggesting that banning the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to people born between 2006 and 2010 could prevent 40% of all lung cancer deaths in 185 countries by 2095.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍New Lancet study: How banning sale of tobacco products can prevent 40% of lung cancer deaths

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(4) Which one of the following groups of plants was domesticated in the ‘New World’ and introduced into the ‘Old World’? (UPSC CSE 2019)

(a) Tobacco, cocoa and rubber

(b) Tobacco, cotton and rubber

(c) Cotton, coffee and sugarcane

(d) Rubber, coffee and wheat

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PRELIMS ANSWER KEY

1. (a)  2. (d)   3. (d)   4. (a)

 

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