Explanation:

India’s ranking in the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ index has improved spectacularly. However, the World Bank recently halted its publication and announced decision to review and assess data changes for last five years.

Background
Citing irregularities of data for a few countries, the World Bank halted its annual publication ‘Doing Business’ report.
It will conduct a systematic review and assessment of data changes that occurred subsequent to the institutional data review process for the last five Doing Business reports.
Why India should be concerned
Through improved ranking India sought to attract investments to achieve the targets set for ‘Make in India’.
India’s success in boosting its ease of doing business ranking is spectacular, to 63rd rank in 2019, up from the 142nd position in 2014.
Policymakers celebrated it to signal India’s commitment to “minimum government and maximum governance”.
The World Bank decision to audit the ‘Doing Business’ report for the last five years may soon cause discomfort by shining a spotlight on the sharp rise in India’s ranking.
Study at the Center for Global Development found that the improvement in India’s ranking was almost entirely due to methodological changes.
During the same period, however, Chile’s global rank went down sharply, from 34th position in 2014 to 67th in 2017.
The contrasting experience of Chile and India casts doubts on not just the country-level data but also the changes in underlying methodologies.
Does ease of doing business have predictive power?
While India’s rank drastically improved, it has meant nothing on the ground.
The share of the manufacturing sector has stagnated at around 16-17% of GDP, and 3.5 million jobs were lost between 2011-12 and 2017-18.
Annual GDP growth rate in manufacturing fell from 13.1% in 2015-16 to zero in 2019-20, as per the National Accounts Statistics.
India’s import dependence on China has shot up.
In case of Russia, ease of doing business rank jumped from 120 in 2012 to 20, but without becoming a magnet for investment inflows.
China, on the contrary, attracted one of the highest capital inflows but its ease of doing business ranking was low and hovered between 78 and 96 for the years between 2006 and 2017.
Other flaws in the Index
The Indicators used for the index are de jure (as per the statute), not de facto (in reality).
The data for computing the index are obtained from larger enterprises in two cities, Mumbai and Delhi, by lawyers, accountants and brokers — not from entrepreneurs.
The World Bank’s own internal watchdog, the Independent Evaluation Group, in its 2013 report, has widely questioned the reliability and objectivity of the index.
The World Bank conducts a global enterprise survey collecting information from companies.
There is no correlation between the rankings obtained from ease of doing business and the enterprise surveys.
Lack of theoretical basis: Major flaw

There is little in any major strand of economic thought which suggests that minimally regulated markets for labour and capital produce superior outcomes in terms of output and employment.
Economic history shows rich variations in performance across countries and policy regimes, defying simplistic generalisations.
Such simplistic basis is used under a seemingly scientific garb of the quantitative index to the disadvantage of workers.
To meet the ease of doing business targets, safety standards of factories are compromised.
For instance, in 2016, the Maharashtra government abolished the annual mandatory inspection of steam boilers under the Boilers Act of 1923 and the Indian Boilers Regulation 1950.
However, no factory has complied with self-certification or submitted the third party certification.

Explanation:

New Rules for J&K
The new rules have been defined under Section 55 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019.
What are they?

(1)Executive functions of the L-G

According to the rules the “police, public order, All India Services and anti-corruption” will fall under the executive functions of the L-G.
Chief Minister or the Council of Ministers will have no say in their functioning.
(2)Minority Community interests

The proposals or matters which affect or are likely to affect peace and tranquillity or the interest of any minority community, the SCs, the STs and the Backward Classes shall essentially be submitted to the LG through the Chief Secretary, under intimation to the CM, before issuing any orders.
(3)Service Matters

The Council of Ministers, led by the CM, will decide service matters of non-All India Services officers, proposal to impose a new tax, land revenue, sale grant or lease of government property, reconstituting departments or offices and draft legislation.
(4)Difference of Opinion

In case of difference of opinion between the L-G and a Minister when no agreement could be reached even after a month, the “decision of the Lieutenant Governor shall be deemed to have been accepted by the Council of Ministers”.
(5)Relation with the Centre

According to the rules, “any matter which is likely to bring the Government of the UT into controversy with the Central Government or with any State Government” shall be brought to the notice of the L-G and the CM by the Secretary concerned through the Chief Secretary.
All communications received from the Centre, including those from the PM and other Ministers, shall be submitted by the Secretary to the Chief Secretary, the Minister in charge, the CM and the L-G for information after their receipt.
(6)Various departments

Under the rules, there will be 39 departments in the UT, such as school education, agriculture, higher education, horticulture, election, general administration, home, mining, power, Public Works Department, tribal affairs and transport.

Explanation:

Channapatna Toys
Channapatna toys are a particular form of wooden toys (and dolls) that are manufactured in the town of Channapatna in the Ramanagara district of Karnataka.
This traditional craft is protected as a geographical indication (GI) under the World Trade Organization, administered by the state govt.
As a result of the popularity of these toys, Channapatna is known as Gombegala Ooru (toy-town) of Karnataka.
Traditionally, the work involved lacquering the wood of the Wrightia tinctoria tree, colloquially called Aale mara (ivory-wood).
Their manufacture goes back at least 200 years according to most accounts and it has been traced to the era of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan in the 18th century.
The toys are laced with vegetable dyes and colours devoid of chemicals and hence they are safe for children.

Explanation:

Electoral Rolls in India
In many states, the voters’ list for the panchayat and municipality elections is different from the one used for Parliament and Assembly elections.
The distinction stems from the fact that the supervision and conduct of elections in our country are entrusted with two constitutional authorities — the Election Commission (EC) of India and the State ECs.
Set up in 1950, the EC is charged with the responsibility of conducting polls to the offices of the President and Vice-President of India, and to Parliament, the state assemblies and the legislative councils.
The SECs, on the other hand, supervise municipal and panchayat elections. They are free to prepare their own electoral rolls for local body elections, and this exercise does not have to be coordinated with the EC.
So do all states have a separate voters list for their local body elections?
Each SEC is governed by a separate state Act. Some state laws allow the SEC to borrow and use the EC’s voter’s rolls in toto for the local body elections.
In others, the state commission uses the EC’s voters list as the basis for the preparation and revision of rolls for municipality and panchayat elections.
Currently, all states, except UP, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Assam, MP, Kerala, Odisha, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, adopt EC’s rolls for local body polls.
Why need a common electoral roll?
First, the common electoral roll is among the promises made by the govt. in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections last year.
It ties in with the party’s commitment to hold elections simultaneously to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies, which is also mentioned in the manifesto.
The incumbent government has pitched a common electoral roll and simultaneous elections as a way to save an enormous amount of effort and expenditure.
It has argued that the preparation of a separate voters list causes duplication of essentially the same task between two different agencies, thereby duplicating the effort and the expenditure.
The pitch for a single voters list is not new. The Law Commission recommended it in its 255th report in 2015. The EC too adopted a similar stance in 1999 and 2004.
How it can be implemented?
In the meeting called by the PMO, two options were discussed.
First, a constitutional amendment to Articles 243K and 243ZA that gives the power of superintendence, direction and control of preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of local body elections to the SECs.
The amendment would make it mandatory to have a single electoral roll for all elections in the country.
Second, to persuade the state governments to tweak their respective laws and adopt the Election Commission’s (EC) voters list for municipal and panchayat polls.

Explanation: Bioremediation is a technique in which microorganisms are used to treat pollutants in a site in which the same process of biodegradation that occurs naturally is simply enhanced. Statements 1 and 3 are correct. Statement 2 is incorrect because heavy metals like cadmium and lead are not easily absorbed by microorganisms.