Prelims in Focus, an IAS Abhiyan Initiative to quickly navigate through the important facts, current affairs, static portion to enrich aspirant’s knowledge base along with conceptual clarity. Our Prelims in Focus initiative will surely be an added advantage for UPSC Prelims Examinations. This initiative will help the aspirants to focus to the main points of a topic quickly at the same time. In this initiative, we will cover 10-15 important facts on a daily basis. Click here to Join our Telegram Channel to read these articles.  We will continue our Monthly Pre-Bits Flash Liner along with this initiative. 

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Prelims in Focus-Part-24

1. Special and Differential Treatment

   ➖The principles of Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT)
   enshrined in GATT and adopted into the WTO system, was based on the premise that developing countries
   and LDCs, faced with developmental challenges, require certain buffer to
   cope with external competition.

2. The Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE)
   __________
   ➖Seeks to put sustainability at the heart of economic policymaking.

   ➖Supports nations and regions in reframing economic policies and practices around sustainability to foster economic growth, create income and jobs, reduce poverty and inequality, and strengthen the ecological foundations of their economies.

   ➖Direct response to the Rio+20 Declaration.

3. Red Data Book
   ______
   ➖The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) publishes statistics on payments and financial market infrastructures (FMIs) in member jurisdictions of the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI).

   ➖Widely known as the Red Book statistics, they complement the descriptions of payment and settlement systems in CPMI jurisdictions.

4. The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI)
   ______
   ➖An international standard setter that promotes, monitors and makes recommendations about the safety and efficiency of payment, clearing, settlement and related arrangements, thereby supporting financial stability and the wider economy.

   ➖Serves as a forum for central bank cooperation in related oversight, policy and operational matters, including the provision of central bank services.

5. ➖National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation for Retail Payment Systems (RPSs) in the country, has emerged as a System Wide Important Payment System (SWIPS) because of the significant volume of transactions processed in the payment systems operated by it.

   ➖Reserve Bank of India (RBI) undertakes onsite and/or offsite supervision of RPSs like PPI issuers, ATM networks, TReDS platforms, MTSS operators, card networks, etc.

   ➖Financial Market Infrastructures (FMI) are regulated by Reserve Bank of India

6. Wetlands have been described as Kidneys and Biological Supermarkets
   ______
   ➖The kidney function analogy is: wetlands filter impurities from water as it passes through. They especially remove nitrogen and phosphorous and several organic and inorganic pollutants. They also reduce sediment and suspended solids from the water column.

   ➖Role as a Biological Supermarket is as a support bases for food chains and for the large assortment of plants and animals that are drawn to them as permanent or season habitat.

7. According to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), a total of 40.59 per cent of the crimes related to environment in the country were committed in Rajasthan during 2014-16
8. Precautionary Principle
   _________
   ➖Requires that, if there is a strong suspicion that a certain activity may have environmentally harmful consequences

   ➖“threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.”

   ➖1st endorsement of the principle was in 1982 when the World Charter for Nature was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly

   ➖1st international implementation was in 1987 through the Montreal Protocol

   ➖Integrated with many other international treaties and guidelines such as the Rio Declaration and Kyoto Protocol

9. The Prevention Principle
   ____________
   ➖Fundamental notion behind laws regulating the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste and laws regulating the use of pesticides.

   ➖Foundation of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (1989), which sought to minimize the production of hazardous waste and to combat illegal dumping.

10. The Polluter Pays Principle
    ____________
    ➖Known as extended producer responsibility (EPR)

    ➖1st introduced in 1972 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

    ➖In furtherance of the aim of sustainable development Rio Declaration Principle 16 of the Rio Declaration enshrined the Polluter Pays principle stating that the polluter should bear the cost of pollution.