definition - gs3 Flashcards
(141 cards)
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Gig Economy
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It is an economic model wherein firms hire workers on a part-time flexible basis rather than as full-time employees. Workers work as freelancers and generally have flexible and adaptable working hours based on individual preferences.
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Informal Economy
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It represents enterprises that are not registered, where employers do not provide social security to employees.
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E-Agriculture
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It refers to designing, developing, and applying innovative ways to ICT with a focus on agriculture and food including fisheries, forestry, and livestock.
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Monetization of Deficit
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It refers to monetary support by RBI extending to the center as part of the government’s borrowing program, i.e., central bank directly purchasing government bonds in the primary market, providing the government with money to fund the deficit.
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Social Mobility
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It refers to the transition of people, including families and other social units, between the socio-economic strata within their lifetime.
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Public Finance
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Public finance is the management of a country’s revenue, expenditures, and debt through various government, quasi-government institutions, policies, and tools.
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GM Crops
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Plants in which DNA is modified using genetic engineering methods. Currently, Bt cotton is the only GM crop legally permissible to be grown in India.
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Bilateral Netting
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Bilateral netting is the process of consolidating all swap agreements between two parties into one single, or master, agreement.
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Social Stock Exchange
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It is a platform that helps organizations working for social welfare to raise capital via debt, equity, and mutual funds. The idea of SSE was mooted in the Union Budget 2019-20.
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Contract Farming
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Agreement between farmers and processing/marketing firms for production and supply of agricultural products under forward agreements, frequently at predetermined prices.
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Priority Sector Lending (PSL)
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Priority Sector refers to those sectors considered important for the development of basic needs of the country and they may not get timely and adequate credit; priority lending to those sectors is called PSL.
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Global Value Chain
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It is the international production sharing, where production is broken into functional activities carried out in different countries.
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Financial Inclusion
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It means that individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs – transactions, payments, savings, credit, and insurance – delivered in a responsible and sustainable way.
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Inclusive Growth
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As per OECD, inclusive growth is economic growth that is distributed fairly across society and creates opportunities for all. It includes providing equality of opportunity, empowering people through education and skill development.
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Irrigation
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It is the artificial process of applying controlled amounts of water to land to assist in the production of crops.
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Agriculture Subsidies
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It is an incentive paid to agribusinesses and farms to supplement their income and influence the cost and supply of such commodities.
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Public Distribution System
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PDS evolved as a system of management of scarcity through distribution of foodgrains at affordable prices. It is the public rationing system of India administered by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution.
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Agricultural Marketing
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It comprises all operations involved in the movement of farm produce from the producer to the ultimate consumer. It includes operations such as collecting, grading, processing, preserving, transportation, and financing.
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Food Processing
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It is mainly defined as a process of value addition to the agricultural or horticultural produce by various methods such as grading, sorting, and packaging.
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Organic Farming
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It is a system of farm design and management to create an ecosystem of agriculture production without the use of synthetic external inputs such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides, synthetic hormones, or genetically modified organisms.
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Minimum Support Price
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It is the rate at which the government purchases crops from farmers, and is based on a calculation of at least one-and-a-half times the cost of production incurred by the farmers.
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Buffer Stock
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Buffer stocks refer to a pool of certain commodities like rice, wheat, etc., which are maintained to provide food security and tackle unforeseen emergencies like drought, famine, wars, etc.
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Gender Budgeting
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It means preparing budgets from a gender perspective. It aims at dealing with budgetary gender issues including gender hierarchies and gender pay gap.
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Disinvestment
The process of dilution of a government’s stake in a Public Sector Undertaking is disinvestment. It allows the transferring of the government’s enormous public debt of PSU to the private sector.
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Universal Basic Income
UBI is a sum of money provided by the State to all citizens to take care of the bare necessities of life. This provides a “safety net preventing any citizen” from sinking below a basic minimum standard of living.
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Corporate Social Responsibility
It is referred to as a corporate initiative to assess and take responsibility for the company's effects on the environment and impact on social welfare and to promote positive social and environmental change.
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Demographic Dividend
Demographic dividend means the economic growth potential that can result from shifts in a population’s age structure. India has one of the youngest populations (62.5% of its population in the age group 15-59) in an aging world.
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Digital Divide
It is the gap that exists between individuals who have access to modern ICT and those who lack access. It also means the discrepancy between those who have the skills, knowledge, and abilities to use the technologies and those who do not.
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Globalisation
Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology.
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Zero Based Budgeting
It refers to planning and preparing the Budget right from the basic (zero base). The process involves a review of the expenditures incurred by every department each year. It considers current expectations. On this basis, expenditures are allocated and revenues are estimated for the next period.
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Capitalism
A system of generalized commodity production in which wealth is owned privately and economic life is organized according to market principles.
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Free Trade
Free trade occurs when goods and services can be bought and sold between countries or sub-national regions without tariffs, quotas, or other restrictions being applied.
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Deflation
A reduction in the general level of prices, linked to a reduction in the level of economic activity in the economy. Deflation slows down economic growth. It normally takes place during times of economic uncertainty when the demand for goods and services is lower, along with higher levels of unemployment.
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Devaluation
A reduction in the value of a currency relative to other currencies.
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Information Society
A society in which the crucial resource is knowledge/information, its primary dynamic force being the process of technological development and diffusion.
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Resource Curse/Paradox of Plenty
It is the phenomenon of countries with an abundance of natural resources having less economic growth, less democracy, or worse development outcomes than countries with fewer natural resources.
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Microfinance
It is a form of financial service that provides small loans and other financial services to poor and low-income households. In India, all loans that are below Rs. 1 lakh can be considered microloans.
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Protectionism
The use of tariffs, quotas, and other measures to restrict imports, supposedly to protect domestic industries.
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Balance of Payments
It is a systematic record of economic transactions made by residents of a country with other countries in a specific time frame. Its objective is to assess the international economic position of a country to help the government make decisions on monetary and fiscal policies on one hand, and trade policies on the other.
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Non-tariff Barriers
Rules, regulations, or practices that hinder imports through, for instance, the procurement policies of governments, systematic border delays, or complex health and national standards.
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Most Favoured Nation (MFN)
It is a treatment accorded to a trade partner to ensure non-discriminatory trade between two countries vis-à-vis other trade partners. Under WTO rules, if a country grants someone a special favor such as a lower customs duty rate for one of their products, it must do the same for all other WTO members.
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Trickle Down
The theory that the introduction of free-market policies will, in time, benefit the poor and not only the rich through an increase in economic growth and a general rise in living standards.
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Import Substitution
It is a strategy under trade policy that abolishes the import of foreign products and encourages production in the domestic market. Its purpose is to change the economic structure of the country by replacing foreign goods with domestic goods.
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Debt Crisis
A situation in which a country is unable to service its debts because economic surpluses are insufficient to meet interest repayments.
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Fair Trade
Trade that satisfies moral, and not merely economic, criteria, related to alleviating poverty and respecting the interests of sellers and producers in poorer areas.
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Corruption
A failure to carry out ‘proper’ or public responsibilities because of the pursuit of private gain, usually involving bribery or misappropriation.
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Free Trade Agreement
It is an agreement between two or more countries to lower import and export tariffs. It allows products and services to be bought and sold across international borders with little or no restrictions from the government in the form of taxes, subsidies, quotas, or prohibitions.
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Customs Union
An arrangement whereby a number of states establish a common external tariff against the rest of the world, usually whilst abolishing internal tariffs.
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Common Market
An area, comprising a number of states, within which there is a free movement of
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Spillover
A process through which the creation and deepening of integration in one economic area creates pressure for further economic integration, and, potentially, for political integration.
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NPA (Non-Performing Asset)
NPA means interest or principal is not repaid by the borrower during a specified time period (‘overdue’ for a period of 90 days).
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Restructured Loans
Assets which got an extended repayment period, reduced interest rate, converting a part of the loan into equity, providing additional financing, or some combination of these measures.
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Non-Personal Data
Any set of data which does not contain personally identifiable information, meaning that no individual or living person can be identified by looking at such data.
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Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT)
These are reciprocal agreements between two countries to promote and protect foreign private investments in each other's territories. They encourage foreign investors to invest in a State and thereby contribute towards overall developments and advancements of the economy.
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Soft Power
The ability to influence other actors by persuading them to follow or agree to norms and aspirations that produce the desired behaviour.
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Diplomacy
A process of negotiation and communication between states that seeks to resolve conflict without recourse to war; an instrument of foreign policy.
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Gene Editing
It is a type of genetic engineering in which DNA is inserted, deleted, modified, or replaced in the genome of a living organism. CRISPR is widely considered the most precise, cost-effective, and quickest way to edit genes.
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Biopiracy
Biopiracy happens when researchers or research organizations take biological resources without official sanction, largely from less affluent countries or marginalized people.
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Genome Sequencing
The process of determining the genetic information that is carried in a particular DNA segment.
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Bioremediation
It is the use of microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) to degrade environmental contaminants into less toxic forms.
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Gene Therapy
Gene therapy is a technique that uses a gene(s) to treat, prevent, or cure a disease or medical disorder.
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Stem Cell Therapy
A medical process which utilizes stem cells for preventing or treating a disease.
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Traditional Medicine
The WHO describes traditional medicine as the total sum of the “knowledge, skills, and practices indigenous and different cultures have used over time to maintain health and prevent, diagnose, and treat physical and mental illness”.
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Biofortification
The technique of improving nutritional content of crops using modern biotechnology or conventional agronomic practices.
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Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)
A technology to address infertility and assist the couple to conceive using techniques like in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET), gamete intra-fallopian transfer (GIFT), etc.
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Internet of Things (IoT)
IoT is the interlinking of digital devices, people, machines, appliances, and other objects with one another through wireless networks. It allows machines and people to be connected to each other and communicate.
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Transfats
Trans fatty acids (TFAs) are unsaturated types of fats that have adverse effects on our body. These fats are largely produced artificially but a small amount also occurs naturally.
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Antimicrobial Resistance
It occurs when a microorganism changes over time and no longer responds to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, and death.
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Genetically Modified Crops
The crop plants in which genetic material (DNA) has been altered using modern biotechnology to insert non-naturally occurring traits in plants like disease resistance, stress tolerance, insect resistance, etc.
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Nanotechnology
A technology that involves the manipulation of matter on atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scales. This includes particles of a scale of 1 to 100 nanometers.
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Edge Computing
A technique where data is processed by the device itself or by a local server rather than being transmitted to a centralized data processing warehouse.
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Deep Web
Part of the internet that is unidentified or that cannot be readily accessed through conventional search engines.
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Big Data
Big data is a term for data sets that are so large or complex that traditional data processing application software is inadequate to deal with them. It refers to the use of predictive analytics, user behavior analytics, or certain other advanced data analytics methods that extract value from data.
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Quantum Supremacy
It describes the point where quantum computers can do things that classical computers cannot. Superposition and entanglement are what give quantum computers the ability to process so much more information so much faster.
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Intellectual Property Rights
IPR is the right given to persons over the creations of their minds: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, and images used in commerce. They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creation for a certain period of time.
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Cyber-Physical System (CPS)
An interdisciplinary system that deals with the use of computer-based systems that do things in the physical world. Examples: Smart Grid, Robotic Systems, Medical Monitoring, Industrial Control Systems, etc.
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Hypersonic Technology
Technology used in aircraft, missiles, rockets, and spacecrafts that aids them to reach a very high speed (nearly 4000 miles per hour). Examples: Computational Fluid Dynamics, Using high-temperature structures and materials.
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Dark Web
The concealed portion of the deep web that is often linked to criminal or illegal content. Example: trading sites where users can purchase illicit or banned goods and services.
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Patent Pool
Two or more patent holders transfer their intellectual property into a joint venture known as a patent pool for the purpose of cross-licensing.
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Biotechnology
Biotechnology is technology that utilizes biological systems, living organisms, or parts of this to develop or create different products.
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Herd Immunity
Resistance to the spread of an infectious disease within a population that is based on pre-existing immunity of a high proportion of individuals as a result of previous infection or vaccination.
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Rare Diseases
Rare diseases, also called “Orphan” diseases, are broadly defined as diseases that infrequently occur in a population. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a rare disease as having a frequency of less than 6.5-10 per 10,000 people.
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Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI refers to the ability of machines to perform cognitive tasks like thinking, perceiving, learning, problem solving, and decision making. It includes technologies like machine learning, pattern recognition, big data, neural networks, self-algorithms, etc.
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Blockchain Technology
Blockchain technology is a decentralized, distributed ledger that stores the record of ownership of digital assets. Any data stored on blockchain is unable to be modified, making the technology a legitimate disruptor for industries like payments, cybersecurity, and healthcare.
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Climate Change
‘Climate change’ represents a change in the long-term weather patterns. The World Economic Forum ranked climate change as the biggest risk to the economy and society.
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Global Warming
Global Warming is a gradual heating of the earth’s surface, oceans, and atmosphere. The increase in temperature is often a result of the Greenhouse Effect caused by increased levels of gases like Carbon Dioxide, CFCs, and other pollutants.
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Cryosphere
Frozen waters (snow and ice cover over land and sea, glaciers and ice caps, permafrost, and seasonally frozen ground and solid water precipitation) are together termed as the cryosphere.
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Energy Security
The International Energy Agency defines energy security as the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price.
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Environmental Migration
Environmental migrants are people who are forced to migrate from their home/region/country due to sudden environmental disasters like earthquakes, floods, droughts, etc.
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Carbon Price
It is a cost applied to carbon pollution to encourage polluters to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases they emit into the atmosphere.
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Carbon Finance
Carbon financing is an innovative funding tool that places a financial value on carbon emissions and allows companies wishing to offset their own emissions to buy carbon credits earned from sustainable projects.
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Climate Finance
Climate finance refers to local, national, or transnational financing—drawn from public, private, and alternative sources of financing—that seeks to support mitigation and adaptation actions that will address climate change.
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Air Pollution
It refers to contamination of air by harmful gases, dust, and smoke which affects the environment and ecosystem in a negative way.
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Marine Plastic Pollution
It is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles in the marine environment that adversely affects aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem.
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Water Pollution
It is the contamination of water bodies by pollutants that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings.
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Groundwater Pollution
Groundwater Pollution occurs when man-made products such as gasoline, oil, road salts, and chemicals get into the groundwater and cause it to become unsafe and unfit for human use.
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E-waste Pollution
Electronic pollution is the form of pollution caused by discarded electrical or electronic devices.
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Plastic Pollution
Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles in the Earth's environment that adversely affects wildlife, wildlife habitat, and humans.
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Decarbonization
Decarbonisation is the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions through the use of low carbon power sources, achieving a lower output of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
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Biodiversity Hotspots
Biodiversity hotspots are defined as regions “where exceptional concentrations of endemic species are undergoing an exceptional loss of habitat”. These are regions with high species richness and a high degree of endemism.
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Invasive Species
Invasive species are species that are not local or native to a specific area but spread quickly in an aggressive manner in the new habitat they arrive in. They are harmful and can cause huge economic and environmental harm to the new area.
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Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)
It is the assessment of the environmental and social outcomes of a plan or program prior to the decision to start implementation and development of the project. Its objective is to promote environmentally sound and sustainable development through identification of appropriate alternatives and mitigation measures.
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Sustainable Development
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
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Desertification
Desertification is a form of land degradation by which fertile land becomes desert. It leads to the advancement of sand from the desert to the adjoining regions.
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Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS)
It is a process that captures carbon dioxide emissions from sources like coal-fired power plants and either reuses or stores it so it will not enter the atmosphere.
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Virtual Water Trade
It is the hidden flow of water if food or other commodities are traded from one place to another.
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Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR)
Extended Producer Responsibility or EPR is the commitment made by a producer to facilitate a reverse collection mechanism and recycling of end-of-life, post-consumer waste. The objective is to circle it back into the system to recover resources embedded in the waste.
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Carrying Capacity
The carrying capacity of an environment is the maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained by that specific environment, given the food, habitat, water, and other resources available.
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Acid Rain
Rain that is contaminated by sulphur, nitric, and other acids that are released into the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels.
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Ozone Depletion
A decline in the total amount of ozone in the Earth’s stratosphere, particularly the development of a so-called ‘ozone hole’ over the Antarctic.
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Green Taxes
Taxes that penalize individuals or businesses for, for instance, the waste they generate, the pollution they cause, the emissions they generate, or the finite resources they consume.
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Ecological Footprint
A measure of ecological capacity based on the hectares of biologically productive land that are needed to supply a given person’s consumption of natural resources and absorb their waste.
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Biocentric Equality
The principle that all organisms and entities in the ecosphere are of equal moral worth, each being part of an interrelated whole.
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Emissions Trading
A mechanism that allows parties to the Kyoto Protocol to buy or sell emissions from or to other parties, while keeping within overall emissions targets.
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Mitigation
Moderating or reducing the impact of something; in particular, reducing greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit climate change.
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Adaptation
Changing in the light of new circumstances; in particular, learning to live with climate change.
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Indoor Air Pollution
Refers to the degradation in physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of air in the indoor environment within a home, building, or an institution or commercial facility.
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Fly Ash
Fly ash is a fine grey powder consisting mostly of spherical, glassy particles that are produced as a by-product in coal-fired power stations. It is a by-product from burning pulverized coal in electric power generating plants.
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Land Degradation Neutrality
A state whereby the amount and quality of land resources, necessary to support ecosystem functions and services and enhance food security, remains stable or increases within specified temporal and spatial scales and ecosystems.
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Eco Sensitive Zones
ESZs are ecologically important areas notified under the Environment Protection Act to be protected from industrial pollution and unregulated development.
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Epidemic
It is the rapid spread of a disease within a community over a given area.
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Pandemic
An epidemic disease that has spread over multiple countries and continents.
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Contagious Disease
A disease that is transmitted from person to person either through physical contact or through exchange of bodily secretions.
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Hazard
It is a threat (natural or human) that has the potential to cause loss of life, injury, property damage, socio-economic disruption, or environmental degradation.
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**Cyber security**
Cyber security is the practice of defending computers, servers, mobile devices, electronic systems, networks, and data from malicious attacks. It is also known as information technology security or electronic information security.
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**Money laundering**
Money laundering is concealing or disguising the identity of illegally obtained proceeds so that they appear to have originated from legitimate sources (INTERPOL).
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**Left Wing Extremism**
Left Wing Extremism is the official name for the insurrection in Indian states. It is also popularly called Naxalism or Maoism. Former PM Manmohan Singh described the problem as the single biggest internal security challenge of the country.
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**Over Ground Workers**
Over ground workers are people who help militants or terrorists with logistical support, cash, shelter, and other infrastructure with which armed groups and insurgency movements can operate.
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**Organized Crime**
Organized crime is a continuing criminal enterprise that rationally works to profit from illicit activities that are often in great public demand.
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**Hybrid Warfare**
Hybrid warfare is an emerging, but ill-defined notion in conflict studies. It refers to the use of unconventional methods as part of a multi-domain warfighting approach.
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**Bioterrorism**
Biological weapons are microorganisms like viruses, bacteria, fungi, or other toxins that are produced and released deliberately to cause disease and death in humans, animals, or plants (WHO).
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**Integrated Theatre command**
It is a unified command under which all the resources of the Army, Navy, and Air Force are pooled, depending on the threat perception.
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**Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)**
A condition in which a nuclear attack by either state would only ensure its own destruction, as both possess an invulnerable second-strike capacity.
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**Ethnic cleansing**
A euphemism that refers to the forcible expulsion of an ethnic group or groups in the cause of racial purity, often involving genocidal violence.
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**Peace dividend**
The opportunity afforded by the end of superpower rivalry to reduce military spending and increase economic and social expenditure, often described as turning ‘guns’ into ‘butter’.
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**Terrorism**
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, refers to attempts to further political ends by using violence to create a climate of fear, apprehension, and uncertainty.
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**National interest**
Foreign policy goals, objectives, or policy preferences that supposedly benefit a society as a whole (the foreign policy equivalent of the ‘public interest’).
