Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Skybot F-850: Robot sent by Russia to dock with the International Space Station.
Mains level: Paper 3-Vyommitra, India's human spaceflight in 2022.
Context
The first gaganaut-Vyomamitra- to head for space in an Indian craft will not be human, but humanoid.
What Vyomamitra would do on spaceflight?
- Test the technological environment: Vyomamitra unveiled by ISRO will fly two missions to test the technological environment which human gaganauts will inhabit on India’s first demonstration of human spaceflight in 2022.
- She will test the systems and instruments that they would use.
- Vyomamitra cannot test the cabin ecosystem, as she would not be able to breathe the air.
- Other functions: Vyomamitra is perfectly capable of issuing commands, activating switches and, obviously, communicating with earth.
- Give company to human travellers: Her prototype has already chatted with people at the Isro event where she was introduced to the public, and future iterations will be able to give company to human travellers at the loneliest frontier.
A shift from sending animals to humanoids
- Performing roles previously performed by animals: Vyomamitra will be executing the pioneering role which has traditionally been given to animals – testing systems for survivability.
- Fruit flies and monkeys were the first beings to lift off, riding V2 rockets with devices monitoring their vital signs.
- Why using humanoid is more useful: Using a humanoid robot is more useful because it can be used to replicate the behavioural and operational responses of a human.
- Indeed, robots need not remain pioneers testing survivability, or assistants to the human crew, but are expected to crew missions that are too prolonged or too dangerous for a human pilot.
Opportunities and the future of AI-powered humanoid
- Russian robot in space: As India prepared for human flight, in August 2019, the Russian space agency Roscosmos sent up the anthropomorphic robot Skybot F-850 to dock with the International Space Station.
- The mission has been halted because of technical issues.
- Goals beyond survivability testing: If the nation which pioneered human spaceflight with Yuri Gagarin’s mission in 1961 is sending humanoid robots into space, survivability testing is not the only legitimate goal of missions powered by artificial intelligence and robotics.
- Opportunity to develop new technologies: Humanoid in space also provide opportunities to test and develop these technologies under circumstances that do not prevail on earth.
- The inputs, goals and skills learned are different and while AI on earth specifically focuses on creating systems which do not think like humans,
- Human-like AI system need of industry: The space industry would value systems that are human-like, to stand in for crew.
Conclusion
Vyomamitra represents the very first iteration of AI in space, and later generations could prove to be as essential for spaceflight as cryogenic engines.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 2- BRICS- challenges and areas of cooperation.
Context
India has invited the Brazilian President to be a guest of honour for Republic Day 2020. It is also a good opportunity for focusing on intra-BRICS partnership and trade.
Future of the BRICS
- To move towards multi-polarity: This was set up as a move towards greater multi-polarity; hence the spread across three continents and both hemispheres.
- Infirmities in the group: The BRICS combination accounts for about one-third of global output, but a glance at the GDP t and growth rates will show the infirmities of the group.
- Differences in GDP: In terms of GDP, China occupies the second position; India the fifth; Brazil the ninth; Russia the 11th; and South Africa the 35th.
- Differences in growth rate: In terms of growth rates, China grew at 6%; India at 4.5%, Russia 1.7%, Brazil 1.2% and South Africa 0.1%.
- Both politically and economically, Brazil and South Africa have been the laggards in recent years. But there are certain similarities as well.
- Similarities in the group: Each country has different economic and political leverage and its own burden of domestic and external issues.
- Decision-making structure: They all share the benefits of autonomous decision making.
- Non-affiliation: The members of the group have non-affiliation with any binding alliances.
- Informal structure: The group’s informal structure is an advantage for coordination among the most influential non-Western countries.
- Challenges to the survival of the group: The BRICS group can survive only if its members maximise their congruencies to the extent possible. Following are the challenges to the existence of the group-
- The growing intensity of Sino-Russian ties.
- The pro-American leanings in Brazil.
- The socio-economic difficulties of South Africa after nine years under the controversial Jacob Zuma.
- India’s many difficulties with China, including its abstention from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Achievement of the grouping
- New Development Bank: The main achievement of BRICS is the New Development Bank, with each country contributing equally to its equity.
- The bank has so far financed over 40 projects at a cost of $12 billion.
- The BRICS countries are also developing a joint payments mechanism to reduce foreign trade settlements in U.S. dollars.
- BASICS: An offshoot of the group, dealing with climate change, is BASIC (BRICS without Russia).
- BASICS met at the Spain conference last month and reiterated its support to the Paris Agreement.
- India’s lead role: India is taking the lead role in-
- Digital health, Digital forensics
- Film technology.
- Traditional medicine.
- Sustainable water management,
- Internships and fellowships.
Brazil-India relation
- Visa waiver for Indians: Brazil declared the decision to waive visa requirements for Indian citizens.
- Potential for investments: There is potential for Brazilian investments in the sectors of space and defence, agricultural equipment, animal husbandry, post-harvest technologies, and bio-fuels.
- Low two-way trade: The total two-way trade is at a paltry $8 billion, and the prospect of closer economic ties, however desirable, would require considerable optimism.
Conclusion
Both India and Brazil need to further deepen the ties and increase cooperation in various areas of cooperation. BRICS, despite the various challenges, need to focus on congruencies between them and work towards greater cooperation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Suggestions for revival of the Indian economy, unemployment in rural and urban areas and ways to increase it by investing in various sectors.
Context
With the unemployment rate at 6.1 (2017-18), not just the future of the economy, the future of the country’s youth depends on the Budget.
Unemployment and other indicators of the economy
- Unemployment in urban youth: The unemployment rate for urban youth in the 15-29 years category is alarmingly high at 22.5%.
- These figures, however, are just one of the many problems, as pointed out by the Periodic Labour Force Survey.
- The decline in labour force participation: The Labour Force Participation Rate has come down to 46.5% for the ‘15 years and above’ age category.
- It is down to 37.7% for the urban youth. Even among those employed, a large fraction gets low wages and are stuck with ‘employment poverty’.
- The decline in investment: The aggregate investment stands at less than 30% of the GDP, a rate much lower than the 15-year average of 35%.
- The decline in capacity utilisation: The capacity utilisation in the private sector is down to 70%-75%.
Where the Budget should focus to reduce rural employment?
- Revive demand: The Budget should also focus on reviving demand to promote growth and employment.
- PM-KISAN and MGNREGA: Schemes like PM-KISAN and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) are good instruments to boost rural demand.
- Unutilised fund: a significant proportion of the budgetary allocation for PM-KISAN will go unutilised.
- Why income transfers through such schemes matter?
- Spend most of their income: Farmers and landless labourers spend most of their income. This means that income transfers to such groups will immediately increase demand.
- Consumes a wide range of goods: Further, rural India consumes a wide range of goods and services; so, if allocation and disbursement are raised significantly, most sectors of the economy will benefit.
- Immediate result: And such transfer will have the immediate payoff.
- Allocate to irrigation and infrastructure projects
- How allocation could matter: Rural unemployment can be reduced by raising budgetary allocation for irrigation projects and rural infrastructures like roads, cold storage and logistical chains.
- These facilities, along with a comprehensive crop insurance scheme, can drastically increase agricultural productivity and farmers’ income.
- The decrease in wastage and reduction in inflation shocks: Moreover, by integrating farms with mandis, such investments will reduce wastage of fruits and vegetables, thereby leading to a decrease in the frequency of inflationary shocks and their impact.
Where the Budget should focus to reduce urban unemployment?
- Focus on construction and related activities: In urban areas, construction and related activities are a source of employment for more than five crore people.
- Second only to agriculture: Across the country, the sector’s employment figures are second only to those of the agriculture sector.
- Construction as the backbone of other sectors: These projects, along with infrastructure, support 200-odd sectors, including core sectors like cement and steel.
- Problems with the construction sector:
- Construction sector at a halt due to legal disputes: Due to the crisis in the real estate and infrastructure sectors, construction activities have come to a grinding halt.
- At present, many real-estate projects are caught up in legal disputes-between home-buyers and developers; between lenders and developers; and between developers and law enforcement agencies like the Enforcement Directorate.
- Unsold inventories: The sector has an unsold inventory of homes, worth several lakh crores.
- Multiple authority as regulator and problem in liquidation: Multiple authorities -the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA); the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT); and the many consumer courts -have jurisdiction over disputes.
- Consequently, restructuring and liquidation of bad projects are very difficult, and in turn, is the main source of the problem of NPA faced by the NBFCs.
- What should be done to increase the demand in the construction sector?
- Raise the tax exemption limit: To revive demand for housing, the Budget can raise the limit for availing tax exemption on home loans.
- Use the bailout fund: The ₹25,000-crore fund set up by the centre to bailout 1,600 housing projects should be put to use immediately.
- The funds should be used to salvage all projects that are 80% complete and not under the liquidation process under the NCLT.
- Single adjudication authority: Several additional measures can also help. For example, there should be a single adjudication authority.
- NIP and its significance: The ₹102-lakh-crore National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) programme is a welcome step. If implemented successfully, it will boost the infrastructure investment over the next five years by 2%-2.5% of the GDP annually.
Problems with National Infrastructure Pipeline
- Problems of 60% investment: The problem is that more than 60% of the planned investment is expected from the private sector and the States.
- Regulatory certainty a must for the private sector: The government does not seem to realise that for private investment, regulatory certainty is as important as the cost of capital.
- Regulatory hurdles: Many infrastructure projects are languishing due to regulatory hurdles and contractual disputes between construction companies and government departments.
- The reason behind the non-availability of private capital: As a result of the regulatory hurdles infrastructure investment has come to be perceived as very risky.
- This is the major reason behind the non-availability of private capital for infrastructure.
- Role to be played by the Centre: This is a scenario, where the private sector has very little appetite for risky investments and State finances are shaky due to low GST collection.
- Responsibility of the Centre: The onus is on the Centre to ensure that the programme does not come a cropper. The budgetary support to infrastructure will have to be much more than the NIP projection at 11% of the GDP.
Way forward to revive the economy
- Focus on completing the incomplete projects:
- Bidding a lengthy process: Bidding and contracting for new roads, highways, railway tracks and urban development projects is a lengthy process.
- This is also the reason why several infrastructure-linked Ministries like those for civil aviation and roads have not been able to spend money allocated to them in the current fiscal year.
- Completing the projects a priority: Therefore, rather than earmarking budgetary support for new projects, the focus should be on projects that are currently under implementation so as to complete them as soon as possible.
- Funding should be front-loaded: That is, funding should be front-loaded. In addition to creating employment, timely completion of infrastructure projects will help increase the competitiveness of the economy.
- Address the distress in SMEs: The distress among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is another area of concern.
- GST anomaly and stuck money: For many products produced by these enterprises, the GST rates are higher for inputs than the final goods. Due to this anomaly, around ₹20,000 crore gets stuck with the government annually in the form of input tax credits.
- This has increased cost of doing business for SMEs, which employ over 11 crore people.
- Fill the vacancies in the Government jobs: According to some estimates, there are more than 22 lakh vacancies in various government departments.
- Focus on vocational training program: The government needs to provide affordable and good quality vocational training programmes.
- To stop the demographic dividend from becoming a national burden, there is a need to invest heavily in skilling of the youth.
- Besides, the Budget should give tax incentives to companies and industrial units to encourage them to provide internships and on-site vocational training opportunities.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Kashmiri Pandits and the hurdles in their rehabiliation
It is 30 years since the “exodus” from the Valley of its minority Hindu Kashmiri Pandit community.
The run-up: 1980s to 1990
- Sheikh Abdullah had died in 1982, and the leadership of the National Conference passed on to his son Farooq Abdullah, who won the 1983 election.
- But within two years, the Centre broke up the NC, and installed dissident Ghulam Mohammed Shah as Chief Minister. This led to huge disaffection and political instability.
- The Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) stepped up its activities, and the hanging of the militant leader Maqbool Bhat in 1984 added to the sense of foreboding.
- In 1986, after the Rajiv Gandhi government opened the Babri Masjid locks to enable Hindus to offer prayers there, ripples were felt in Kashmir too.
- In Anantnag, the constituency of then Congress leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, there was a series of attacks on Hindu temples, and shops and properties of Kashmiri Pandits, blamed on separatist and secessionists.
- Pandits had begun to be targeted. Eminent persons of the community were being shot dead.
The night of January 19, 1990
- Matters came to a head on January 19. By then, the Farooq Abdullah government had been dismissed and Governor’s Rule imposed.
- According to accounts published by many eminent Kashmiri Pandits, there were threatening slogans over loudspeakers from mosques, and on the streets.
- Speeches were made extolling Pakistan and the supremacy of Islam, and against Hinduism. Finally, the Kashmiri Pandit community decided to leave.
The Gawkadal Massacre
- On January 20, the first stream began leaving the Valley with hastily packed belongings in whatever transport they could find. A second, larger wave left in March and April, after more Pandits were killed.
- On January 21, the CRPF gunned down 160 Kashmiri Muslim protesters at the Gawkadal Bridge, which has come to be known as the worst massacre in the long history of the conflict in Kashmir.
- The two events — the flight of the Pandits and the Gawkadal massacre — took place within 48 hours.
How many Pandits left?
- According to some estimates, notably by the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS), of 75,343 Kashmiri Pandit families in January 1990, more than 70,000 fled between 1990 and 1992 and continued until 2000.
- The KPSS has placed the number of Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants from 1990 to 2011 at 399, the majority during 1989-90.
- Some 800 families have remained in the Valley through these three decades.
Role of the administration
- The other contentious question about the exodus is the role played by the administration, and more specifically that of the J&K Governor, Jagmohan.
- Newly appointed, he had arrived in Srinagar on January 19.
- The Kashmiri Muslim view of the exodus is that he encouraged the Pandits to leave the Valley and thus gave a communal colour to what was until then a non-religious Kashmiri cause.
- The Kashmiri Hindu view is that this is a disingenuous interpretation.
- They believe that Kashmiri Muslims, with whom they had lived amicably for centuries, drove them out with a vengeance in a frenzy of Islamism that they could not have imagined even months earlier.
- The truth, many commentators have concluded, may have been somewhere in the middle.
The question of return
- Those who had means rebuilt their lives elsewhere in the country — Delhi, Pune, Mumbai and Ahmedabad have Pandit populations, also Jaipur and Lucknow — or went abroad.
- The fleeing Pandits did not think they would never return to the Valley. But as the situation in Kashmir spiraled into a full-blown militancy, return began to look remote if not impossible.
- The longing to return to the Valley did not diminish over the years, though it may have become more an idea than a real ambition.
- Successive governments have promised that they will help this process, but the situation on the ground in Kashmir has meant this remains only an intention.
- There is an acute realization in the community that the Valley is no longer the same that they left behind in 1990.
- In many cases, their properties were either immediately vandalised or sold quickly by the owners to Kashmiri Muslims. Many fell into disrepair.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Corruption Perception Index 2019
Mains level: Menace of corruption in India
The Corruption Perception report for 2019 has been released. It has revealed that a majority of countries are showing little to no improvement in tackling corruption.
About CPI
- The CPI is annually released by Transparency International.
- It draws on 13 surveys and expert assessments to measure public sector corruption in 180 countries and territories, giving each a score from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
India’s performance
- India’s ranking in the CPI-2019 has slipped from 78 to 80 compared to the previous year.
- Its score of 41 out of 100 remains the same.
- CPI highlighted that unfair and opaque political financing, undue influence in decision-making and lobbying by powerful corporate interest groups, has resulted in stagnation or decline in the control of corruption.
Global corruption
- In the Asia Pacific region, the average score is 45, after many consecutive years of an average score of 44, which “illustrates general stagnation” across the region.
- China has improved its position from 87 to 80 with a score of 41 out of 100, a two-point jump.
- Despite the presence of high performers like New Zealand (87), Singapore (85), Australia (77), Hong Kong (76) and Japan (73), the Asia Pacific region hasn’t witnessed substantial progress in anti-corruption.
- In addition, low performers like Afghanistan (16), North Korea (17) and Cambodia (20) continue to highlight serious challenges in the region.
- The top ranked countries are New Zealand and Denmark, with scores of 87 each, followed by Finland (86), Singapore (85), Sweden (85) and Switzerland (85).
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ICJ
Mains level: Rhohingya settlement issue
- The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Myanmar must take effective measures to protect its Rohingya Muslims, including protecting evidence relating to allegations of genocide.
- It is important to note that these directions are “provisional measures” until the ICJ can finally decide if Myanmar has been committing genocide against the Rohingya. The final verdict could take years.
What is the case against Myanmar?
- Last year, the Republic of the Gambia moved the ICJ against Myanmar over alleged violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
- The Gambia urged the ICJ to direct Myanmar to stop the genocide, ensure that persons committing genocide are punished, and allow the “safe and dignified return of forcibly displaced Rohingya”.
- The Gambia and Myanmar are parties to the Genocide Convention that allows a party to move the ICJ for violations.
- Disputes between the Contracting Parties are settled according to Article 9 of the Genocide Convention.
How did Myanmar respond?
- Myanmar asked the ICJ to remove the case from its list, citing lack of jurisdiction of the court.
- Myanmar alleged that the proceedings before the court were instituted by the Gambia, not on its own behalf, but rather as a “proxy” and “on behalf of” the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
- Gambia is a member of the OIC, which includes 53 Muslim-majority nations.
- Myanmar cited the Gambia’s reliance on OIC documents to allege genocide and said the Gambia did not point to specific violations of the Genocide Convention.
- The court refused to accept Myanmar’s argument and said the fact that the Gambia “may have sought and obtained the support of other States or international organizations in its endeavour” does not take away from its right to bring a case against Myanmar.
Does the ICJ ruling indict Myanmar?
- Although a ruling against Myanmar dents its image internationally, the order of provisional measures does not translate into a finding against Myanmar.
- While granting provisional measures, the court is not required to ascertain whether Myanmar violated the Genocide Convention.
- The court found that it is sufficient at this stage “to establish prima facie the existence of a dispute between the Parties relating to the interpretation, application or fulfillment of the Genocide Convention”.
- Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s personal appearance before the ICJ to lead the defence of the military, however, shows the great stakes her country had in the case.
Effects of non-compliance for Myanmar
- For its part, Myanmar has denied that its military or paramilitary has participated in genocide of Rohingya and it is unlikely to alter its position.
- Provisional measures are essentially a restraining order against a state when a case is pending and can be seen as, at most, a censure.
- Provisional orders cannot be challenged and are binding upon the state.
- However, limitations in enforcing decisions of the ICJ are widely acknowledged by law experts.
What are these limitations?
- As per Article 94 of the Charter of the United Nations, all member states are required to comply with decisions of the ICJ.
- However, any action by a state can be secured only through consent of the state in international law.
- When a state fails to comply, the Security Council has the power to impose sanctions against it and ensure compliance when international security and peace are at stake.
- So far, the Security Council has never taken a coercive measure against any country to get an ICJ ruling implemented.
- Even with the stepping in of the Security Council, there are several hurdles in enforcement of ICJ decisions.
- Any one of the five permanent members of the Security Council with veto powers can block the enforcement of an ICJ decision against itself or its ally.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Abuse of women on social media and its implications
The Amnesty International India has released a report titled “Troll Patrol India: Exposing Online Abuse Faced by Women Politicians in India”. The report analysed more than 114,000 tweets sent to 95 women politicians in the three months during and after last year’s general elections in India.
Highlights of the report
- The research found that women are targeted with abuse online not just for their opinions – but also for various identities, such as gender, religion, caste, and marital status.
- Indian women politicians face substantially higher abuse on Twitter than their counterparts in the U.S. and the U.K.
- Around 13.8% of the tweets in the study were either “problematic” or “abusive”.
- Problematic content was defined as tweets that contain hurtful or hostile content, especially if repeated to an individual on multiple occasions, but do not necessarily meet the threshold of abuse.
- While all women are targeted, Muslim women politicians faced 55% more abuse than others.
- Women from marginalized castes, unmarried women, and those from non-ruling parties faced a disproportionate share of abuse.
A matter of concern
- Abusive tweets had content that promote violence against or threaten people based on their race, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, religious affiliation, age, disability or other categories.
- They include death threats and rape threats.
- Problematic tweets contained hurtful or hostile content, often repeated, which could reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes, although they did not meet the threshold of abuse.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Enemy Property in India
Mains level: Disposal of such Enemy Property
- A Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Union Home Minister will monitor the disposal of over 9,400 enemy properties, which the government estimates is worth about Rs 1 lakh crore.
- Two committees headed by senior officials will be set up for the disposal of immovable enemy properties vested in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India under The Enemy Property Act.
What is “Enemy Property”?
- In the wake of the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971, there was migration of people from India to Pakistan.
- Under the Defence of India Rules framed under The Defence of India Act, 1962, the Government of India took over the properties and companies of those who took Pakistani nationality.
- These “enemy properties” were vested by the central government in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India.
- The same was done for property left behind by those who went to China after the 1962 Sino-Indian war.
- The Tashkent Declaration of January 10, 1966 included a clause that said India and Pakistan would discuss the return of the property and assets taken over by either side in connection with the conflict.
- However, the Government of Pakistan disposed of all such properties in their country in the year 1971 itself.
How did India deal with enemy property?
- The Enemy Property Act, enacted in 1968, provided for the continuous vesting of enemy property in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India.
- The central government, through the Custodian, is in possession of enemy properties spread across many states in the country.
- Some movable properties too, are categorised as enemy properties.
- In 2017, Parliament passed The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, which amended The Enemy Property Act, 1968, and The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971.
Who is an Enemy?
- The amended Act expanded the definition of the term “enemy subject”, and “enemy firm” to include the legal heir and successor of an enemy, whether a citizen of India or a citizen of a country which is not an enemy; and the succeeding firm of an enemy firm, irrespective of the nationality of its members or partners.
- The amended law provided that enemy property shall continue to vest in the Custodian even if the enemy or enemy subject or enemy firm ceases to be an enemy due to death, extinction, winding up of business or change of nationality, or that the legal heir or successor is a citizen of India or a citizen of a country which is not an enemy.
- The Custodian, with prior approval of the central government, may dispose of enemy properties vested in him in accordance with the provisions of the Act, and the government may issue directions to the Custodian for this purpose.
Why were these amendments brought?
- The thrust of the amendments was to guard against claims of succession or transfer of properties left by people who migrated to Pakistan and China after the wars.
- The amendments denied legal heirs any right over enemy property. The main aim was to negate the effect of a court judgment in this regard.
What did these court orders say?
- One major judgment was passed in the case of the estate of the erstwhile Raja of Mahmudabad, who owned several large properties in Hazratganj, Sitapur and Nainital.
- Following Partition, the Raja left for Iraq and stayed there for some years before settling in London.
- After The Enemy Property Act was enacted in the year 1968, the Raja’s estate was declared enemy property. When the Raja died, his son who stayed in India staked claim to the properties.
- After a legal battle that lasted over 30 years, an apex court Bench on October 21, 2005, ruled in favour of the son.
- The verdict opened the floodgates for further pleas in courts across the country in which genuine or purported relatives of persons who had migrated to Pakistan produced deeds of gift claiming they were the rightful owners of enemy properties.
- On July 2, 2010, the then UPA government promulgated an Ordinance that restrained courts from ordering the government to divest enemy properties from the Custodian.
- The 2005 SC order was thus rendered ineffective, and the Custodian again took over the Raja’s properties.
Enactment of the Amended Law
- A Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on July 22, 2010, and subsequently, a revised Bill was tabled on November 15, 2010. This Bill was thereafter referred to the Standing Committee.
- However, the said Bill could not be passed during the term of the 15th Lok Sabha, and it lapsed.
- On January 7, 2016, the President of India promulgated The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance, 2016, which was replaced by the Bill that became law in 2017.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Specialized Supervisory and Regulatory Cadre (SSRC)
Mains level: Governance of RBI
The RBI has decided to recruit 35% of the specialised supervisory and regulatory cadre from the market while the remaining 65% will be recruited via internal promotions.
Specialized Supervisory and Regulatory Cadre (SSRC)
- The SSRC will comprise officers in Grade B to Executive Director level.
- In Nov. last year RBI decided to reorganize its regulation and supervision departments.
- It merged the three regulatory departments (department of banking, non-banking and cooperative bank) into one and did likewise for the three supervisory departments.
- As a result, there is only one supervisory department which looks after supervision of banks, NBFCs and cooperative banks and only one regulatory department for these three.
- The move is aimed at dealing more effectively with potential systemic risk that could come about due to possible supervisory arbitrage and information asymmetry.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP)
Mains level: Data Analytics and its applications in governance
NITI Aayog has released its vision for the National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP).
National Data and Analytics Platform
- The platform aims to democratize access to publicly available government data.
- NDAP will host the latest datasets from various government websites, present them coherently, and provide tools for analytics and visualization.
- It will spearhead the standardization of formats in which data is presented across sectors and will cater to a wide audience of policymakers, researchers, innovators, data scientists, journalists and citizens.
- It will follow a user-centric approach and will enable data access in a simple and intuitive portal tailored to the needs of a variety of stakeholders.
- The development of NDAP will take place over a period of one year. The first version of the platform is expected to be launched in 2021.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 3-Introduction of Bt cotton, and various cropping patterns
Context
This year, India is expected to be the world’s largest cotton producer, surpassing China in output. However, India’s productivity (yield per unit area), is much lower than other major cotton-producing countries.
India’s experience with cotton
- India is the only country growing hybrids: India is the only country that grows cotton as hybrids and the first to develop hybrid cotton back in 1970.
- What are hybrids: Hybrids are made by crossing two parent strains having different genetic characters.
- Greater yields: These plants have more biomass than both parents, and capacity for greater yields.
- Require more inputs: They also require more inputs, including fertilizer and water.
- Expensive seed production: Though hybrid cottonseed production is expensive, requiring manual crossing, India’s low cost of manual labour makes it economically viable.
- Rest of the countries: All other cotton-producing countries grow cotton, not as hybrids but varieties for which seeds are produced by self-fertilization.
- Key issues with the use of hybrids
- Hybrid seed cannot be propagated over generations: A key difference between hybrids and varieties is that varieties can be propagated over successive generations by collecting seeds from one planting and using them for the next planting.
- Purchasing the seeds is must: Hybrid seeds have to be remade for each planting by crossing the parents. So for hybrids, farmers must purchase seed for each planting, but not for varieties.
- Pricing control to the companies: Using hybrids gives pricing control to the seed company and also ensures a continuous market.
- Increased yield used as justification for high prices: Increased yield from a hybrid is supposed to justify the high cost of hybrid seeds.
- However, for cotton, a different strategy using high-density planting (HDP) of compact varieties has been found to outperform hybrids at the field level.
Cotton planting strategies
- What other countries do?
- Compact and short-duration varieties: For over three decades, most countries have been growing cotton varieties that are compact and short duration.
- 5kg seeds/acre: These varieties are planted at high density (5 kg seeds/acre).
- These varieties have 5-10 bolls per plant.
- What is done in India?
- Low density and long duration: Hybrids in India are bushy, long duration and planted at a ten-fold lower density.
- 0.5 kg seeds/acre: Hybrids are planted at a lower density of 0.5kg/acre.
- Which strategy is more beneficial?
- The lower boll production by compact varieties (5-10 bolls per plant) compared to hybrids (20-100 bolls/plant) is more than compensated by the ten-fold greater planting density.
- Experience of Brazil: The steep increase in productivity for Brazil, from 400 to 1,000 kg/hectare lint between 1994 and 2000 coincides with the large-scale shift to a non-GM compact variety.
Why should India opt for short duration variety?
- Cotton being a dryland crop: Cotton is a dryland crop and 65% of the area under cotton in India is rain-fed.
- Advantage of short duration variety in the rain-fed area: Farmers with insufficient access to groundwater in these areas are entirely dependent on rain. Here, the shorter duration variety has a major advantage as it reduces dependence on irrigation and risk.
- Particularly late in the growing season when soil moisture drops following the monsoon’s withdrawal.
- This period is when bolls develop and water requirement is the highest.
- Productivity and input costs of the varieties: It has more than twice the productivity.
- Half the fertilizer (200 kg/ha for hybrids versus 100 kg/ha for varieties).
- Reduced water requirement.
- And less vulnerability to damage from insect pests due to a shorter field duration.
Impact of Policy
- Why India persisted with hybrids during 1980-2002
- Two phases of policy have contributed to this situation.
- The first phase- Before GM cotton: The answers lie with the agricultural research establishment.
- The second phase: The phase where the question of hybrids versus compact varieties could have been considered, was at the stage of GM regulation when Bt cotton was being evaluated for introduction into India.
- International experience not taken into account: It would not have been out of place to have evaluated the international experience, including the context of the introduction of this new technology.
- Agro-economic conditions were not taken into account: Importantly, agro-economic conditions where it would be used should have been a guiding factor.
- The narrow scope of evaluation: The scope of evaluation by the GM regulatory process in India was narrow, and did not take this into account.
- Consequently, commercial Bt hybrids have completely taken over the market, accompanied by the withdrawal of public sector cottonseed production.
Key takeaways
-
- Frist–Outcome of technology depends upon the context: Outcome of using a technology such as Bt is determined by the context in which it is deployed, and not just by the technology itself.
- Negative fallout: If the context is suboptimal and does not prioritise the needs of the principal stakeholders (farmers), it can have significant negative fallouts, especially in India with a high proportion being marginal and subsistence farmers.
- Second–Better consultation in policy: There is a need for better consultation in policy, be it agriculture as a whole or crop-wise.
- Socioeconomic consideration in GMO risk assessment: India is a signatory to international treaties on GMO regulation (the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety), which specifically provide for the inclusion of socio-economic considerations in GMO risk assessment.
- However, socioeconomic and need-based considerations have not been a part of the GMO regulatory process in India.
Conclusion
Given the distress, the cotton-growing farmers are facing this is the right time to review the grounds on which Bt cotton was introduced in India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 3-Climate change and India's SAPCCs. India acting at state level.
Context
The recent global climate summit, the annual Conference of the Parties (COP25), held in Madrid was a failure and that the multilateral process to address the climate crisis is broken. The growing global stalemate gives India the chance to focus on the State and sub-State levels.
COP 25 at Madrid and what future prospects
- Wealthy countries disowning responsibility: At several discussions on finance, ambition, transparency of support and pre-2020 action, wealthy countries were recalcitrant.
- Disavowing obligations: Although responsible for using the bulk of the carbon space in the atmosphere, they now disavow their obligations. With some even denying anthropogenic climate change.
- Complete severance of science from negotiations: At this stage, there is a complete severance of climate science from the negotiations and agreements at the global level.
- The question is, what can we do now?
- What can happen at the next COP?
- Hope of little change: The next COP will be held at Glasgow, U.K. (in late 2020) and there may be little change in the outcomes.
- The global political order may not alter much. The fact that we live in an unequal and unjust world is not going to change either.
- What else can happen on the global level?
- Right leader: The right political leaders could nudge action in a new direction.
- Green New Deal could pass: Younger members could be elected to the U.S. Congress and the Green New Deal could pass sometime in 2021.
- Growing activism: In the meantime, climate activism is increasing awareness and having some success in removing insurance and financial support for fossil fuel companies. But these kinds of changes will occur slowly.
- Participation of other stakeholders at next COP: At least one expert has called for a parallel action COP at future summits where sub-state actors, civil society groups, non-governmental organisations and academics can share ideas and nudge action.
The chance for India to develop climate change action at State and Sub-state level
- Chance to develop climate change action: The stalemate at the global level offers India the opportunity to focus earnestly on developing its climate change action at State and sub-State levels.
- Peripheral status of climate change: In the states, the environment and climate continue to be relegated to peripheral status.
- Damage to the environment: This neglect has led to the destruction of ecosystems, forests, water-bodies and biodiversity.
- Vulnerability and economic costs of the neglect: Numerous studies have shown the high economic and ecological costs and loss of lives due to extreme events.
- We do not need more data to stimulate action. As is also well recognised, India is extremely vulnerable to the effects of warming.
Progress made by the states so far
- The first round of SAPCCs: With support from bilateral agencies, States initially took different approaches in the first round of State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCCs).
- Some of them set up separate climate change cells while some collaborated with academic institutions.
- A few produced detailed action plans while others developed strategy documents.
- Still, others integrated improvements in energy efficiency (contributing to reducing emissions), while almost all focused on adaptation.
- The synergy between climate change and development:
- Attention to climate change offers co-benefits to India for development. For instance-
- Efficiency reduces pollution: Improving energy efficiency in industry reduces costs and local pollution.
- Transport and congestion: Improving public transport reduces congestion, pollution and improves access.
- Natural farming and fertilisers: Using natural farming methods reduces fossil fuel-based fertilizers, improves soil health and biodiversity.
- These examples show that there are synergies in the steps to be taken for good development and climate change.
- Next round of SAPCCs and strategies
- The next round of the SAPCCs is being drawn up, under recommendations from the Centre.
- Where should be the focus? The focus ought to be on integrating the response to climate change with the development plan in different departments.
- States together to contribute NDCs: Since the States together are to deliver the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) that India has promised, it means that they require guidance from the Centre.
- Unfortunately, most State government departments are handling climate change as a fringe issue and do not seem to recognise its urgency.
Integration of various sectors for climate action
- Identification of sectors: Line departments for government schemes and programmes in key development sectors, such as agriculture, transport and water, should be identified for carefully integrating actions that respond to climate change.
- Integration at district level: This integration should also take place at district and sub-district levels. But only a demonstration of its success in some departments would show how this can be done.
- The realisation of climate as an important issue: But first and foremost, States need to get the signal that climate is an urgent issue.
- Funds for implementing SAPCCs
- How funds for implementing SAPCCs will be obtained is not clear.
- There will not be enough from the Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund and bilateral agencies to support all States unless new sources are found.
- Use of coal cess: The coal cess in India is a good initiative, and as others have pointed out, could be used for environment and climate-related expenses.
- Alternative sources: Alternative sources from high emissions’ industries and practices would be an option, but still probably insufficient.
Way forward
- Performance analysis of first SAPCCs: There is also needs to be a clear analysis of how the first round of action plans fared.
- Challenges and performance: What were the challenges and how did they perform?
- Reasons for success and failures: Which approaches and projects were successful and ought to be scaled up and what lessons do the failures offer?
- Finally, what institutional structure works best?
- Need for the greenhouse gas inventory: The country needs reliable greenhouse gas inventories.
- Individual research groups and the civil society initiative, GHG Platform India, have been producing such inventories.
- Such inventories would be useful in synchronising and co-ordinating State and Central mitigation programmes.
- Programmes with longer timelines: States must also develop their programmes with longer timelines.
- With mid-course correction based on lessons and successes that can be integrated into the next stage of the plan.
- If the second round of SAPCCs were treated as an entry point to long-term development strategy, the States and the country would be better prepared for climate change.
- Ultimately, climate should be part and parcel of all thinking on development.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 3- Role of informal sector in Indian economy, How expansionary fiscal policy can help more than represented in the official data.
Context
That India is in the midst of a serious economic slowdown is no longer in question. The debates are now mostly about what to do about it.
Where is the GDP growth coming from?
Fall in consumption expenditure in absolute terms: The leaked National Sample Survey (NSS) consumer expenditure data -shows that real monthly per capita expenditure has in fact fallen in absolute terms between 2011-12 and 2017-18.
- 8 % decline in a rural area: In rural areas, consumption expenditure decreased by 8.8 per cent.
- 2% decline in an urban area: While in urban areas it increased by 2 per cent, leading to an all India decline of 3.7 per cent.
- Where is the growth coming from: If average consumer expenditure is down, then where is the GDP growth coming from?
- Consumer expenditure contribution: After all, according to National Accounts Statistics (NAS) consumer expenditure is around 60 per cent of the GDP.
- And given the other contributors to GDP-investment and government spending- are not growing spectacularly, consumer expenditure should be growing rather than decreasing.
- So, to get an overall 5 per cent growth rate, consumer expenditure should be growing at higher than 5 per cent.
- NSS vs. NAS- a genuine puzzle: How can consumption expenditure be going down in absolute terms according to the NSS estimates and be growing at more than 5 per cent according to the NAS?
- Variation in data a norm: That these two types of estimates of consumption expenditure do not match is well-known, and that is the case in other countries as well.
- The discrepancy at alarming proportions: In the 1970s, consumer expenditure according to NSS estimates was around 90 per cent of consumer expenditure according to NAS, but in 2017-18 it was only 32.3 per cent.
- Data from two different countries: It is as if we are looking at data from two different countries.
- One where the consumption expenditure growth is positive and propping up the GDP growth rate and the other where it is actually falling.
A few inferences that pertain to the state of the economy and the policy options.
- Reasons for the discrepancy between NSS data and NAS data.
- First- Presence of large informal sector:
- 50% contribution to GDP: Informal sector accounts for nearly half of the GDP and employs 85 per cent of the labour force.
- Guesswork on performance: In national income accounts, growth in the informal sector is estimated by extrapolating from the performance of the formal sector. Which is largely guesswork.
- Second- Making effects of the expansionary policy less pronounced:
- Expansionary fiscal policy more effective than appear to be: Because of the presence of the informal sector, expansionary fiscal policy will be more effective than what would appear from official statistics, as a big part of its impact will be felt in the informal sector.
- Why is it so? The reason is that a big segment of the population is located in the informal sector; they are poorer and tend to spend a much higher fraction of their income on consumption.
- This group has been seriously affected by the economic slowdown.
- Third-Results of expansionary policy would be apparent after a delay
- Apparent effects of policy much worse than what it would be: The effect of an expansionary policy on the budget deficit will look much worse than what it would be since the estimates of its effect on income expansion and tax collection will be largely based on the formal sector.
- Informal sector boosting the formal sector: Some of the income generated in the informal sector will boost demand in the formal sector through consumer demand for mass-consumption items (for instance, biscuits, as opposed to automobiles).
- Good medium-term pictures: Therefore, in the medium term, once the engine of the economy starts moving, the income expansion and deficit numbers will look better.
- Final-Tax cuts will achieve little
- Only 3-5% population affected: The tax cut will affect barely 3-5 per cent of the adult population.
- Contribution of taxes in GDP: Income tax revenues amount to around 5 per cent of the GDP and corporate income taxes around 3.3 per cent.
- Rich tends to save more: Most of the tax is paid by the richest among these groups (the top 5 per cent taxpayers contribute 60 per cent of individual income tax revenue), and the rich tend to spend a smaller fraction of their income (and save more).
- Little impact on GDP: Irrespective of the number of people affected, and even if they spend the entire increase in their income as a result of the tax cut, the overall economic impact will be small relative to the GDP.
- The futility of tax cut: Therefore, a tax cut for the rich would be less effective in raising spending compared to an equivalent amount being given to poorer groups who spend a much higher fraction of their incomes.
Conclusion
The government should not underestimate the role of the informal sector in the economy. To get the engine of the economy revving, an expansionary fiscal policy that harnesses the energy of the informal sector to boost aggregate demand is the order of the day.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Democracy Index 2019
Mains level: Fallouts on democracy in India
The latest edition of the Democracy Index spells gloom for India. The world’s biggest democracy slipped 10 places in the 2019 global ranking to 51st place.
Democracy Index
- The report is published by The Economist Intelligence Unit — the research and analysis division of The Economist Group, which is the sister company to The Economist newspaper.
- It records how global democracy fared, analysing 165 independent states and two territories.
- The 2019 survey attributes the primary cause of “the democratic regression” to “an erosion of civil liberties in the country”.
India’s performance
- India’s overall score fell from 7.23 to 6.9, on a scale of 0-10, within a year (2018-2019) — the country’s lowest since 2006.
- India was graded in electoral process and pluralism (8.67), government functioning (6.79), political participation (6.67), political culture (5.63) and civil liberties (6.76).
- In the Asia and Australasia region, India ranks eighth, behind Taiwan and Timor-Leste.
- The report talks about the repeal of both Article 370 and Article 35A and various restrictions such as house arrests, internet shutdowns and excessive use of forces.
India: A flawed democracy?
The Index also categorizes India under “flawed democracies”, i.e. countries that hold free and fair elections and where basic civil liberties are respected, but have significant weaknesses in aspects of democracy, such as problems in governance, an underdeveloped political culture and low levels of political participation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2020
Mains level: Unemployment in India
The report World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2020 (WESO) was recently released.
About the Report
- The WESO report is an initiative of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
- ILO forecasts that unemployment will rise by about 2.5 million this year.
- The ILO is a UN agency whose mandate is to advance social justice and promote decent work by setting international labour standards.
- The report analyses key labour market issues, including unemployment, labour underutilization, working poverty, income inequality, labour income share and factors that exclude people from decent work.
Highlights of the report
- Global unemployment is projected to increase by around 2.5 million in 2020.
- The number of people unemployed around the world stands at some 188 million.
- In addition, 165 million people do not have enough paid work, and 120 million have either given up actively searching for work or otherwise lack access to the labour market.
- In total, more than 470 million people worldwide are affected, the report said.
- Almost half a billion people are working fewer paid hours than they would like or lack adequate access to paid work.
- Not enough new jobs are being generated to absorb new entrants to the labour market.
Data on working poverty
- Currently working poverty (defined as earning less than USD 3.20 per day in purchasing power parity terms) affects more than 630 million workers, or one in five of the global working population.
- Inequalities related to gender, age and geographical location continue to plague the job market, with the report showing that these factors limit both individual opportunity and economic growth.
- Some 267 million young people aged 15-24 are not in employment, education or training, and many more endure substandard working condition.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Global Risks Report 2020
Mains level: Read the attached story
The top five risks to humanity are recently published in the Global Risks Report of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Top five risks
- An important finding of the report is that today’s younger generation, consisting of “Millenials” born after 1980 have ranked environmental risks higher than other older respondents in the short- and long-terms.
- According to the report, the top five risks by likelihood over the next decade are:
- Extreme weather events like floods and storms
- Failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation
- Major natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and geomagnetic storms
- Major biodiversity losses and ecosystem collapse
- Human-made environmental damage and disasters
Top 5 risks by severity of impact over the next 10 years
- Failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation
- Weapons of mass destruction
- Major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse
- Extreme weather events (e.g. floods, storms, etc.)
- Water crises
Top most strongly connected global risks
- Extreme weather events + failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation
- Large-scale cyber-attacks + breakdown of critical information infrastructure and networks
- High structural unemployment or underemployment + adverse consequences of technological advances
- Major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse + failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation
- Food crises + extreme weather events
Other risks
- The report also warned about the increasing economic and societal costs due to non-communicable diseases and the lack of research on vaccines and drug resistance to address the threat of pandemics in the recent future.
- “Economic confrontations” and “domestic political polarization” are significant short-term risks in 2020, the report said.
- This is a warning for the global South including India and Africa where social unrest has seen a rise. For example, unrest has grown among India’s youth.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: 'Time to Care' Report
Mains level: Income inequality in India
The report ‘Time to Care’ was recently released ahead of the 50th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
‘Time to Care’ Report
- It is published by Oxfam International.
- Its calculations are based on the latest data sources available, including from the Credit Suisse Research Institute’s Global Wealth Databook 2019 and Forbes’ 2019 Billionaires List.
Findings of the report
- Although global inequality has declined over the past three decades, domestic income inequality has risen in many countries, particularly in advanced economies and reached historic highs.
- The report said that the world’s 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than the 4.6 billion people who make up 60 per cent of the planet’s population.
- The report flagged that global inequality is shockingly entrenched and vast and the number of billionaires has doubled in the last decade, despite their combined wealth having declined in the last year.
- The Oxfam report further said “sexist” economies are fuelling the inequality crisis by enabling a wealthy elite to accumulate vast fortunes at the expense of ordinary people and particularly poor women and girls.
Income inequality in India
- India’s richest 1 per cent hold more than four-times the wealth held by 953 million people who make up for the bottom 70 per cent of the country’s population.
- The total wealth of all Indian billionaires is more than its full-year budget.
- Regarding India, Oxfam said the combined total wealth of 63 Indian billionaires is higher than the total Union Budget of India for the fiscal year 2018-19 which was at Rs 24,42,200 crore.
- It further said women and girls put in 3.26 billion hours of unpaid care work each and every day — a contribution to the Indian economy of at least Rs 19 lakh crore a year, which is 20 times the entire education budget of India in 2019 (Rs 93,000 crore).
- He said women and girls are among those who benefit the least from today’s economic system.
- They spend billions of hours cooking, cleaning and caring for children and the elderly. Unpaid care work is the ‘hidden engine’ that keeps the wheels of our economies, businesses and societies moving.
Data on earnings
- Oxfam said governments are massively under-taxing the wealthiest individuals and corporations and failing to collect revenues that could help lift the responsibility of care and tackle poverty and inequality.
- As per the report, it would take a female domestic worker 22,277 years to earn what a top CEO of a technology company makes in one year.
- With earnings pegged at Rs 106 per second, a tech CEO would make more in 10 minutes than what a domestic worker would make in one year.
- Besides, direct public investments in the care economy of 2 per cent of GDP would potentially create 11 million new jobs and make up for the 11 million jobs lost in 2018, the report said.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Carbon Disclosure Project
Mains level: India's various moves for curbing carbon emissions
The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) 2019 report was recently published.
Carbon Disclosure Project
- CDP is published by the Global Reporting Initiative.
- It is aimed at measuring the carbon reduction activities undertaken by different companies and firms operating in various countries across the globe.
- The report surveys corporate commitments to science-based targets (SBT) and evaluates the climate change risk that they are exposed to.
India’s performance
- India secured the 5th spot on the project report.
- The CDP Report 2019 said that a total of 58 companies shared details about the environment-related activities undertaken by them in this year.
- The report also claims that over 98 percent of top Indian companies have formed some type or committee or group within its organization to drive and address climate-related issues.
- The report also showcased the changing mind-set of India Inc with nearly all major companies setting up some form of oversight to evaluate climate risk.
Global scenario
- The US topped the annual CDP report with 135 companies disclosing their climate-related activities, followed by Japan in the second position with 83 companies and the UK in the third position with 78 countries.
- While France was placed fourth with 51 companies disclosing their details, India was placed fifth with 38 companies committing to the science-based targets.
- In 2018, India had only 25 companies committing to the SBTs.
- India is followed by Germany and Sweden with 30 and 27 companies respectively, while Switzerland and Spain had 23 and 22 companies respectively.
- Netherlands was listed 10th on the list with 18 companies committing to SBT initiatives.
Importance
- India was ranked 5th, ahead of Germany and Sweden.
- India is the first developing economy with a maximum number of companies committing to the science-based targets.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Vyoma Mitra
Mains level: Various functions of Vyoma Mitra in ISRO's unmanned missions
ISRO unveiled its first ‘woman’ astronaut during the event ‘Human Spaceflight and Exploration’.
Vyom Mitra
- The AI-based robotic system is being developed at a robotics lab at the VSSC in Thiruvananthapuram.
- Vyom Mitra will be used for an unmanned flight of ISRO’s GSLV III rocket in December 2020, which, along with a second unmanned flight in July 2021.
- This will serve as the test of ISRO’s preparedness for its maiden manned space mission, Gaganyaan, being targeted for 2022 to mark 75 years of India’s independence.
Functions of the humanoid
- Vyommitra, equipped with a head, two arms and a torso, is built to mimic crew activity inside the crew module of Gaganyaan.
- Attaining launch and orbital postures, responding to the environment, generating warnings, replacing carbon dioxide canisters, operating switches, monitoring of the crew module, receiving voice commands, responding via speech (bilingual) are among its functions listed.
- It will have a human-like face, with lips synchronised for movement to mimic speech.
- Once it is fully developed, Vyommitra will be able to use equipment on board the spacecraft’s crew module, like safety mechanisms and switches, as well as receive and act on commands sent from ground stations.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ‘Blue Corner’ notice
Mains level: Cooperation measures for International policing
Interpol has issued a Blue Corner notice to help locate an infamous fugitive self-styled godman weeks after the Gujarat Police sought the agency’s intervention for this.
‘Blue Corner’ notice
- According to the Interpol website, “Notices are international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in member countries to share critical crime-related information.”
- There are seven types of notices — Red Notice, Yellow Notice, Blue Notice, Black Notice, Green Notice, Orange Notice, and Purple Notice.
- The Blue Notice is issued to “collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a crime.”
Blue notices a/c to CBI
- The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) website refers to Blue Notices as ‘B Series (Blue) Notices’.
- It says, “The ‘B’ series notices are also called ‘enquiry notices’ and may be issued in order to have someone’s identity verified; to obtain particulars of a person’s criminal record; to locate someone who is missing or is an identified or unidentified international criminal or is wanted for a violation of ordinary criminal law and whose extradition may be requested.”
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