Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: WHO and its funding
Mains level: Fall of major global institutions amid COVID-19 outbreak
The US has announced to halt the funding it gives to the WHO accusing it of mismanagement of the COVID-19 spread.
WHO is facing the biggest pandemic in human history. For all the responsibility vested in the WHO, it has little power. Whatever the causes of this disaster are, it is clear that the WHO has failed in its duty to raise the alarm in time. This shortfall of WHO is failure indicative of a deeper malaise: the global institutional framework is a pawn in the hands of the great powers, cash-strapped.
About WHO
- The WHO is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health.
- It is part of the U.N. Sustainable Development Group.
- The WHO Constitution, which establishes the agency’s governing structure and principles, states its main objective as ensuring “the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health.”
- It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with six semi-autonomous regional offices and 150 field offices worldwide.
Where does WHO get its funding from?
- It is funded by a large number of countries, philanthropic organisations, UN organisations etc.
- Voluntary donations from member states (such as the US) contribute 35.41%, assessed contributions are 15.66%, philanthropic organisations account for 9.33%, UN organisations contribute about 8.1%; the rest comes from myriad sources.
- India contributes 1% of member states’ donations.
- Countries decide how much they pay and may also choose not to.
Its expenditure
- The WHO is involved in various programmes. For example, in 2018-19, 19.36% (about $1 bn) was spent on polio eradication, 8.77% on increasing access to essential health and nutrition services, 7% on vaccine preventable diseases and about 4.36% on prevention and control of outbreaks.
- The Africa countries received $1.6 bn for WHO projects; and South East Asia (including India) received $375 mn.
How does WHO prioritise its spending?
- The annual programme of work is passed by the WHO’s decision-making body, the World Health Assembly.
- It is attended by delegates from all member states and focuses on a specific health agenda prepared by the Executive Board.
- The main functions of the Assembly, held annually in Geneva, are to determine WHO policies, appoint the Director-General, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed programme budget.
- The decision on which country gets how much depends on the situation in the countries.
WHO and India
- India became a party to the WHO Constitution on January 12, 1948.
- The first session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia was held on October 4-5, 1948 in the office of India’s Health Minister, and inaugurated by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
- The WHO India Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) 2019-2023 has been developed jointly by the Health Ministry and the WHO India country office.
- The CCS aims to address complex challenges such as the prevention of NCDs, the control of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the reduction of air pollution, and the prevention and treatment of mental illnesses.
- On the ground, the WHO has been a key partner in the immunisation programme, tackling TB and neglected diseases such as leprosy and kala azar, and nutrition programmes across states.
Immediate reason for US withdrawal
- The US contributes almost 15% of the WHO’s total funding and almost 31% of the member states’ donations, the largest chunk in both cases.
- It receives $62.2 mn for WHO projects.
- That is where most of the WHO funding comes from and the least of it goes.
Impact
- For the WHO, the loss of about 15% of its total funding is bound to have an impact on the world over.
- However, unless other countries do the same as the US, the move may not severely hamstring WHO operations.
Also read:
[Burning Issue] World Health Organization (WHO) And Coronavirus Handling
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: TRAI
Mains level: TRAI and its regulations of telecom services
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended that all set-top boxes (STBs) in the country must be interoperable, meaning that consumers should be able to use the same STB across different DTH or cable TV providers.
The TRAI and Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal are quite often seen in the news. Most recent was the dispute risen due to AGR dues.
TRAI has a wide range of jurisdiction over Telecoms. Keep a track on all such news.
Why such a recommendation?
- TRAI noted that while the STBs deployed in the cable TV networks are non-interoperable, those by DTH players complied with licence conditions to support common interface module based interoperability.
- However, in practice, even in the DTH segment the STBs are not readily interoperable.
- The lack of interoperability of set-top boxes between different service providers deprives the customer of the freedom to change her/his service provider.
- It also creates a hindrance to technological innovation, improvement in service quality, and the overall sector growth.
About TRAI
- The TRAI is a statutory body set up under section 3 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997.
- It is the regulator of the telecommunications and its tariffs in India.
- The TRAI Act was amended by an ordinance, effective from 24 January 2000, establishing a Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to take over the adjudicatory and disputes functions from TRAI.
- TRAI regularly issues orders and directions on various subjects such as tariffs, interconnections, quality of service, DTH services and mobile number portability.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in India
Mains level: EIA and its stages
To address unprecedented situation arising from the global outbreak of COVID-19 and to ramp up availability or production of various drugs, the MoEFCC has made an amendment to EIA Notification 2006.
EIA is a process of evaluating the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development, taking into account inter-related socio-economic, cultural and human-health impacts, both beneficial and adverse. Its a hot topic for mains.
What is the amendment about?
- All projects or activities in respect of bulk drugs and intermediates, manufactured for addressing various ailments, have been re-categorized from the existing Category ‘A’ to ‘B2’ category.
- Projects falling under Category B2 are exempted from the requirement of collection of Baseline data, EIA Studies and public consultation.
- The re-categorization of such proposals has been done to facilitate decentralization of appraisal to State Level so as to fast track the process.
Projects Categorization and Clearance under EIA
- Environmental clearance is required in respect of all new projects or activities listed in the Schedule to the 2006 notification and their expansion and modernization, including any change in product –mix.
- Since EIA 2006 the various developmental projects have been re-categorised into category ‘A’ and category ‘B’ depending on their threshold capacity and likely pollution potential.
- They require prior EC respectively from MOEFCC or the concerned State Environmental Impact Assessment Authorities (SEIAAs).
- Where state-level authorities have not been constituted, the clearance would be provided by the MOEFCC.
Back2Basics: Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in India
- EIA is a management tool to minimize adverse impacts of developmental projects on the environment and to achieve sustainable development through timely, adequate, corrective and protective mitigation measures.
- The MoEFCC uses EIA Notification 2006 as a major tool for minimizing the adverse impact of rapid industrialization on the environment and for reversing those trends which may lead to climate change in the long run.
- EIA has now been made mandatory under the Environmental (Protection Act, 1986 for 29 categories of developmental activities involving investments of Rs. 50 crores and above.
EIA stages
- Screening: This stage decides which projects a full or partial assessment need study.
- Scoping: This stage decides which impacts are necessary to be assessed. This is done based on legal requirements, international conventions, expert knowledge and public engagement. This stage also finds out alternate solutions that avoid or at least reduce the adverse impacts of the project.
- Assessment & evaluation of impacts and development of alternatives: This stage predicts and identifies the environmental impacts of the proposed project and also elaborates on the alternatives.
- EIA Report: In this reporting stage, an environmental management plan (EMP) and also a non-technical summary of the project’s impact is prepared for the general public. This report is also called the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
- Decision making: The decision on whether the project is to be given approval or not and if it is to be given, under what conditions.
- Monitoring, compliance, enforcement and environmental auditing: This stage monitors whether the predicted impacts and the mitigation efforts happen as per the EMP.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Read the attached story
Mains level: India-US arms trade
The US has approved a military sale to India of 16 MK 54 all round up lightweight torpedoes and ten AGM-84L Harpoon Block II air-launched missiles. India plans to use the equipment requested in both the deals on the Indian Navy’s Boeing P-8I maritime aircraft.
What is “Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)” , sometimes seen in the news? (CSP 2018) .
MK 54 lightweight torpedo
- The MK 54 lightweight torpedo is known as the Lightweight Hybrid Torpedo (LHT).
- It weighs around 608 pounds, while its warhead weighs around 96.8 pounds and is highly explosive.
- The primary use of this equipment is for offensive purposes when deployed by anti-submarine warfare aircraft and helicopters, and for defensive purposes when deployed by ships and against fast, deep-diving nuclear submarines and slow-moving, quiet, diesel-electric submarines.
AGM-84L Harpoon Block II air-launched missiles
- The Harpoon missile system will be integrated into the P-8I aircraft to conduct anti-surface warfare missions in defence of critical sea lanes.
- It uses GPS-aided inertial navigation to hit the designated target.
- Its warhead weighs over 500 pounds and is capable of delivering lethal firepower against targets, including land-based targets, coastal defence sites, surface-to-air missile sites, exposed aircraft and industrial or port facilities.
About P-8I aircraft
- Boeing’s P-8s are designed for long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
- The P-8s India version is called the P-8I, and helps the Indian Navy carry out important maritime operations.
- According to Boeing, the aircraft can surpass 25,000 flight hours, and gives the Navy a significant edge in the strategically important Indian Ocean.
- India currently has eight of these aircraft and is scheduled to receive four more by 2022.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 3- How the Covid-19 brought into focus the faults of economic liberalisation.
The article describes the problems economic liberalisation has created. Covid-19 has exposed these problems even as developed countries faced shortages of masks and ventilators. The focus is on China’s dominance as a manufacturing hub and its implication for the world and India.
Background of the end of the ‘Licence Raj’ in India
- Manmohan Singh’s 1991-92 Budget speech marked the beginning of the end of the ‘Licence Raj’ in India.
- The Budget also announced the reduction of import duties and paved the way for foreign-manufactured goods to flow into India.
- Following this, most of the manufacturing sector was opened up to foreign direct investment.
- India’s industrial policy was virtually junked, and policymakers and the political leadership became contemptuous of the idea of self-reliance.
Shifting of the base in developing countries
- In the late 1980s, transnational corporations started shifting the production base to smaller companies in developing countries, especially Asia.
- The reason for this shift was cheap labour and raw materials.
- Developed countries supported the move because shifting the polluting and labour-intensive industries suited them as long as ownership remained with their companies.
- Development of global supply chains: The world witnessed the development of global supply chains in many products starting with garments.
The dominance of China in the global supply chain is at the root of trade war between the US and China. The outbreak of Covid-19 has added it a new dimension and has forced many countries to reframe their trade policies. And India is no different. This makes it an important topic for UPSC. A question can be framed from an impact angle or the US-China trade war angle.
The emergence of China as a global manufacturing hub
- Though many developing countries participated in the global production/value/supply
- The substantial value addition in developing countries happened in a few production hubs, of which China emerged to be a major one.
- Decentralised to localised production: Manufacturing shifted from a decentralised production system spread across different counties to just a few locations.
- The countries like China defied the logic of supply/value chains ensuring substantial value addition for themselves.
- They even carried out backward integration and thus emerged as global manufacturing hubs for certain products.
- In the case of health products, China became the global supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), personal protective equipment (PPE), and medical devices diagnostics.
What were the implications of China’s dominance in a fight against Covid-19?
- China’s dominance has major implications for the COVID-19 outbreak.
- The resultant loss of manufacturing base has affected the ability of many governments, including of developed countries, to put up an effective response to the crisis.
- The U.K. Prime Minister asked the country’s manufacturers to produce ventilators in order to provide care for critical COVID-19 patients.
- Similarly, the U.S. President invoked the Defense Production Act of 1950 to ramp up N95 mask production.
- Under this legislation, the U.S. President can direct U.S. manufacturers to produce goods according to the directions of the government.
- Similarly, the French Health Minister stated that the country may nationalise vaccine companies if necessary.
- Spain nationalised all its private hospitals.
- Israel and Chile issued compulsory licences to ensure that medicines are affordable.
- Lack of preparedness and dependence: This exposes the poor state of preparedness and dependence on imports for essential goods required to meet the challenge of any major disease outbreak.
- This shows that what is good for the company may not be good the country in all circumstances.
- So, the overwhelming objective of private sector-led economic growth has proved to be disastrous.
Pay attention to the impact on India. The following two points are very important.
How economic liberalisation affected India’s ability?
- In India, economic liberalisation has damaged the government’s capacity in two ways.
- 1. It incapacitated the government to respond to emergencies based on credible information.
- The dismantling of the ‘Licence Raj’ resulted in the elimination of channels of information for the government, which is crucial to make informed policy choices.
- For example, it took the government several meetings to determine the production capacity of various pharmaceutical companies.
- Similarly, there were difficulties in finding out India’s production capacity of PPE, medical devices and diagnostics.
- 2. The logic and policies of economic liberalisation seriously undermined the manufacturing capabilities of health products in India.
- The short-sighted policy measures, with the objective of enhancing profitability of the private sector, allowed the import of raw materials from the cheapest sources and resulted in the debasing of the API industry, especially in essential medicine.
- According to a report of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), nearly 70% of India’s API import is from China.
- The CII report lists nearly 58 API where the dependence is 90% to 100%.
- The disruption in the supply of API due to the COVID-19 outbreak has impacted the production of not only medicines required for COVID-19 patients, but also of other essential medicines in India.
- As a cost-effective producer of medicines, the world is looking to India for supply, but it cannot deliver due to its dependence on China.
- This dependence has also forced India to impose export restrictions on select medicines.
- Similar dependence exists with regard to PPE, medical devices and diagnostic kits.
- The 100% dependence on Reagents, an important chemical component for testing, is limiting the capacity of the government from expanding testing because the cost of each test is ₹4,500.
- Dangers of dependence: In the name of economic efficiency, India allowed unconditional imports of these products and never took note of the dangers of dependency.
Loss of jobs and poor working conditions
- Destruction of manufacturing base: Global supply/production chains destroyed the manufacturing base in developed and developing countries.
- That also resulted in the loss of jobs and poor working conditions in these sectors.
- Developing countries were asked to ease their labour protection laws to facilitate global production and supply chains popularly known as global value chains.
- As a result, people were forced to work in precarious working conditions without any social security net.
- This created an unorganised army of labourers and is preventing many developing country governments from effectively offering relief.
Conclusion
A virus has made us rethink our obsession with the economic efficiency theory. It implores us to put in place an industrial policy to maintain core capacity in health products so that we can face the next crisis more decisively.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 3- Need for the stimulus and relief package to in the wake of Covid-19 and issues involved in its size.
D. Subbarao in this article discusses how the government is facing the hard choice of choosing between saving lives and saving the economy. On the government’s response on economic front he argues that the government, unlike the rich countries should keep an upper limit on its spending because of the dangers involved in unrestricted spending.
Why the dilemma is sharpest for India?
- This dilemma is arguably the sharpest for India.
- Because of our high population density and poor medical infrastructure, any laxity in prevention can result in a huge health disaster.
- On the other hand, an extended lockdown will force millions into the margins of subsistence, push small and large firms alike into bankruptcy, seriously impair financial stability and land us in a humanitarian and economic disaster.
Why is the relief package criticised as too little?
- After the lockdown, the government announced a relief package amounting to 0.8 per cent of GDP, that’s been criticised as being too little.
- From a study of a sample of countries, the latest issue of The Economist reports that India’s lockdown has been the most stringent while its fiscal relief package is the smallest in proportion to GDP.
What could be the reasons for a cautious approach in the relief package?
- A possible explanation for the government’s timid fiscal response may be the fear of spooking the market.
- For years, every economist and analyst has been warning the government of the dire consequences of fiscal irresponsibility.
- And that warning message must have been so hardwired into the government’s collective mind that it was unable to get over the mental overhang.
We should be aware of the reasons from the macroeconomic point of view that force the government to limit its fiscal deficit. In this case, India government is exercising the caution owing to the same constraints.
Uncertainties in the crisis
- Uncertainty is a defining feature of every crisis.
- During the global financial crisis, a big uncertainty around the world was about how much risk there was in the system, where it lay and who was bearing it.
- The uncertainty of the corona crisis is much deeper.
- There are far too many known unknowns not to speak of unknown unknowns.
- Uncertainties in corona crisis: We just don’t know enough about the effectiveness of the lockdowns, the age and gender profile of susceptibility to the virus.
- We also don’t know about the process of recovery, the tipping point if any for mass immunity, whether the virus will attack in waves.
- And most importantly, when we might have a vaccine and a cure.
- Governments are, for the large part, having to fly blind.
Issues over relief and stimulus package
- There are many issues to be decided and planned on the way forward.
- A big issue will be an expenditure plan for relief during the crisis and stimulus after some normalcy is restored.
- Borrow more spend more: Even the most ardent fiscal hawks are now agreed that the government needs to abandon its fiscal reticence, and borrow more and spend more.
- Even the most extreme monetary purists are agreed that the RBI should fund the government borrowing by printing money.
- Even the staunchest advocates of financial stability are agreed that more regulatory forbearance is necessary.
- And virtually everyone is agreed on where additional spending should be directed.
Debate on how much additionally the government should borrow
- There is disagreement on how much additionally the government should borrow.
- There are two opposing views in this regard, which are discussed below.
- 1. Fiscal risk without preset fiscal deficit: One view is that the government should err on the side of taking a fiscal risk without any preset fiscal deficit number.
- It should simply determine what needs to be done and borrow to that extent, acting as if there were no fiscal constraint at all.
- In other words, act as per the diktat of the now famous three words — “whatever it takes”.
- 2. Set a limit: An opposing view is “whatever it takes” is not an option for India.
- Many analysts have estimated that just the loss of revenue due to the economic shutdown will take the combined fiscal deficit of the Centre and states beyond 10 per cent of GDP.
- The borrow and spend programme will be in addition to the above loss.
- Unlike rich countries, we can’t afford to ignore the risks of fiscal excess of that magnitude, no matter the compelling circumstances.
- What are the risks involved? There will be a heavy price to pay down the road by way of inflation and exchange rate volatility.
From the UPSC point of view you must pay attention to the both the arguments made here, question can be asked in UPSC based on the suggestions and their pros and cons. Both the arguments cited above have their merits and demerits.
Way forward
- It’s important to keep in mind that we have resources and capability in the near future should there be another wave of the virus later in the year.
- It will be advisable for the government to fix an upper bound for fiscal deficit and operate within that. For now, the borrow and spend programme should be restricted to 2 per cent of GDP.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Aarogya Setu App.
Mains level: Paper 3- Using technology for tackling the Covid-19.
The article argues for the greater adoption of technology in tracing the Covid-19. Taking a cue from the success of JAM and UPI, recently launched app Aarogya Setu could also be the next game-changer in the fight against the pandemic. However, there are several challenges that are also discussed here.
Success story of domestic digital platforms
- The success of two domestic digital payment platforms offers us an opportunity to show how the tracing of COVID-19 cases can be done at scale and with greater speed.
- The JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) trinity for DBTs (Direct Benefit Transfers) and UPI (Unified Payments Interface) have made India a technology leader in money transfers.
- The JAM has lent efficiency to the transfer of funds to the needy.
- It was drafted into action recently to channel payments to the more vulnerable who need help in dealing with the adverse economic consequences of the lockdown.
- The UPI is emerging as a transaction vehicle of choice for all retail payments.
- In March, 148 banks were on the UPI platform, helping process over 120 crore transactions worth over Rs 2 lakh crore.
The success story of the UPI and JAM is important from the UPSC point of view. Riding on the success of these two, the Aarogya Setu could also become the third and help in the fight against the epidemic. So, we should be aware of the basics of its working and problems the app could face.
How the Aarogya Setu works?
- Widespread adoption is required: The success of India’s Aarogya Setu mobile application will depend on its widespread adoption.
- Based on bluetooth technology: The app relies on bluetooth technology to map and deconstruct the contact history of individuals who may have come in contact with potential carriers of the coronavirus.
- Exchange of information between apps: If two individuals are at the same place at the same time, their apps can exchange information-up to a maximum distance of about 15 feet.
- Exchange of the above information is without the server knowing anything about it.
- The app notifies users and authorities of individuals who are at risk.
- Privacy safeguards: Some privacy safeguards have been put in place to ensure that individuals do not share personally identifiable information with each other but only with authorities — that too, in select cases.
- A confidence-building measure would be to release the code for public scrutiny with the aim of further bolstering privacy standards.
What are the possible challenges in the success of Aarogya Setu?
- The distribution of the detection framework necessitates a rethink, beyond an app.
- Issues with app download in India: Nandan Nilekani has underlined that app downloads in India are perhaps the most expensive compared to any other developed or fast-developing nation.
- Despite the falling cost of data, Indian users consider several factors before downloading an app such as required storage space, the potential impact on battery and data usage.
- Given India’s open internet, several publishers from across industries and geographies are vying for smartphone real estate.
- Challenge involved: In such a situation, drawing attention to particular use-cases i.e. Aarogya Setu-howsoever urgent-is challenging.
Following are the suggestions to overcome the shortcoming of the Aarogya Setu. Though they are for Aarogya Setu, we can apply these in other situations in which mobile technology bases app is used by the government in the larger public interest such as rescue operation or warnings in case of disaster.
So, what could be the alternate strategy?
- The alternative strategy involves using the reach of the other famous apps (for ex. Paytm) to do what we want to do i.e. tracing by delinking.
- Delinking involves separating the technology we want to use for tracing (the backend) from the channels (the front end).
- A fine-tuned backend can be pushed to, and used by, publishers (other apps) who already have the reach.
- Similarity with UPI: This is akin to the UPI being used by several banks and technology firms for payment.
- The government did build its frontend in the form of the BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) app but mostly for signalling purposes.
- In the current context, the government can consider using its own app for tracing and for additional use-cases such as passes and approvals for movement when the lockdown is gradually eased out.
- It could even host other health-related features.
- Expanding its ambit and making it a conduit like JAM will likely increase the incentive for people to embrace it.
Limitations of using GPS and Bluetooth for tracing in India
- Another area where improvisations are called for is the tooling for tracking.
- While reports have indicated that the developers are using bluetooth for tracing and are also capturing GPS coordinates, both users and device manufacturers limit their usage of these technologies in favour of other optimisations.
- Users are concerned with both data and battery usage while device manufacturers kill background jobs even if the publishers have sought and secured permissions from users.
- These tendencies are pronounced on Android, the dominant mobile operating system in India.
- What are the other options? In such a scenario, developers ought to think about using other techniques.
- For instance, using cell tower data and WiFi identifiers to bolster tracing efforts.
- This is especially important in a context where only a third of our population has smartphones and even fewer people have devices with bluetooth capability.
- Even the recently announced Google-Apple partnership may not have meaningful results in this setting.
Conclusion
With the potential ramifications of COVID-19’s spread in India and across the globe, the nation’s recent history of technological successes and a government committed to agile governance, the pandemic presents an opportunity for the country to show its people and the world how technology is a force of good.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Poona Pact, Communal Award
Mains level: Read the attached story
Yesterday was the birth anniversary of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, the chief architect of our constitution. On that occasion, author of the news (originally published in TH) highlights the significance of Poona Pact in the formation of our Constitution.
The Poona Pact of 1932 is a landmark event in India’s struggle for independence. It marked the start of social justice movement in the country under the leadership of Dr. Ambedkar.
What is Poona Pact?
- In late September 1932, B.R. Ambedkar negotiated the Poona Pact with Mahatma Gandhi.
- The background to the Poona Pact was the Communal Award of August 1932, which, among other things, reserved 71 seats in the central legislature for the depressed classes.
- The Award was made by then British PM Ramsay MacDonald on 16 August 1932 to extended separate electorate.
- It aimed to grant separate electorates in British India for the Forward Caste, Lower Caste, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, Europeans and then Untouchables.
- Gandhi, who was opposed to the Communal Award, saw it as a British attempt to split Hindus, and began a fast unto death to have it repealed.
How Poona Pact defeated the Communal Award?
- Reserved seats: In a settlement negotiated with Gandhi, Ambedkar agreed for depressed class candidates to be elected by a joint electorate.
- More representation: On his insistence, slightly over twice as many seats (147) were reserved for the depressed classes in the legislature than what had been allotted under the Communal Award.
- Doors opened for Public Services: In addition, the Poona Pact assured a fair representation of the depressed classes in the public services while earmarking a portion of the educational grant for their uplift.
- Social acceptance: The Poona Pact was an emphatic acceptance by upper-class Hindus that the depressed classes constituted the most discriminated sections of Hindu society.
- Increased political say: It was also conceded that something concrete had to be done to give them a political voice as well as a leg-up to lift them from backwardness they could not otherwise overcome.
Significance of the pact
- The concessions agreed to in the Poona Pact were precursors to the world’s largest affirmative programme launched much later in independent India.
- It would also not have been lost on him that Muhammad Ali Jinnah, with the separatist tendencies strongly backing him, was watching and waiting to take advantage of the evolving situation.
- A slew of measures was initiated later to uplift Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Major outcomes
- The Poona Pact emphatically sealed Ambedkar’s leadership of the depressed classes across India.
- He made the entire country, and not just the Congress Party, morally responsible for the uplift of the depressed classes.
- Most of all he succeeded in making the depressed classes a formidable political force for the first time in history.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pooled testing
Mains level: Intensive measures required for the containment the ongoing pandemic
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has issued an advisory for using pooled samples for testing of COVID-19 in order to increase the number of tests conducted by laboratories across the country.
COVID-19 containment measures are pacing up across the country. However, it is argued that we are lagging in the number of tests to be carried out. With certain limitations, pooled testing promises an edge over individual testings of suspected patients.
What is pooled testing?
- In a pooled testing algorithm, samples of multiple individuals are put together in a tube and screened through the PCR test.
- In case the pooled test turns out to be positive, individual samples are tested, which is referred to as pool de-convolution.
- If there’s no positive result, all individual samples in the pool are regarded as negative, resulting in substantial cost savings.
What the ICMR has recommended?
- ICMR has advised that while more than two samples can be pooled together, the number should not exceed five samples to avoid sample dilution, which can lead to false negatives.
- This method can be used in areas where the prevalence of COVID-19 is low, which means a positivity rate of less than two per cent.
- In areas with a positivity rate between two to five per cent, sample pooling of PCR screening may be considered in a community survey of surveillance among asymptomatic individuals.
- Samples of individuals with known contact with confirmed cases or healthcare workers should not be included in the pooled samples.
- Also, ICMR has said pooling of sample is not recommended in areas or population with positivity rates of over five per cent.
Benefits of pooled testing
- Using this method, substantial costs and testing kits are saved.
- For instance, if a pooled sample consists of the samples of five individuals and it tests negative, the cost of four testing kits is saved and more number of people are covered with fewer resources.
- Significantly, pooled screening can also help in tracking down the asymptomatic cases of the disease, thereby tracking community transmission.
- But in case the sample tests positive, all individuals need to be tested separately.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CollabCAD tool and its utility
Mains level: Not Much
Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog and National Informatics Centre (NIC) jointly launched CollabCAD.
CollabCAD
- It is a computer-enabled software system which provides a total engineering solution from 2D drafting & detailing to 3D product design.
- It helps the user to build models in virtual 3d space and create and engineering drawings for the shop floor which makes it a complete package for smart manufacturing.
- The aim of this initiative is to provide a great platform to students of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) across the country to create and modify 3d designs with free flow of creativity and imagination.
- This software would also enable students to create data across the network and concurrently access the same design data for storage and visualization.
Back2Basics: Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)
- The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is a flagship initiative set up by the NITI Aayog to promote innovation and entrepreneurship across the length and breadth of the country.
- AlM’s objectives are to create and promote an ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship across the country at school, university, research institutions, MSME and industry levels.
- At the school level, AIM establishes Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) in all districts across India. ATLs provide tinkering spaces to children to hone their innovative ideas and creativity.
- At the university, NGO, SME and Corporate industry levels, AIM is setting up world-class Atal Incubators (AICs) that would trigger and enable successful growth of sustainable startups in every sector.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: "DekhoApnaDesh" Webinar
Mains level: Various initiaitves tourism promotion
The Ministry of Tourism has launched its “DekhoApnaDesh” webinar series to provide information on the many destinations and the sheer depth and expanse of the culture and heritage of India.
Tourism and tourist sites carry a high incidence of possible prelims questions. Take time to quickly revise the Swadesh Darshan , PRASHAD Schemes. Click here for the repository of all such initiaitives.
About DekhoApnaDesh
- Under this, a series of webinars will showcase the diverse and remarkable history and culture of India through a documentary series on various cities.
- It will be including various monuments, cuisine, arts, dance forms, natural landscapes, festivals and many other aspects of the rich Indian civilization.
- The core of the webinar is based on tourism awareness and social history.
- The webinar will be available in the public domain through the Ministry’s social media handles- “Incredible India” on Instagram and Facebook.
- The first webinar, which was part of a series that shall unfold, touched upon the long history of Delhi as it has unfolded as 8 cities.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SWAYAM prabha initiaitive
Mains level: DIgital learning initiaitives and their outreach in India
The HRD Ministry has taken several prompt, new and unique initiatives to ensure that the education of learners should not get affected by the challenging situation arising out of COVID 19. One of them is Swayamprabha TV channels.
There are various web/portals/apps with peculiar names such as YUKTI, DISHA, SWAYAM etc. Their core purpose is similar with slight differences. Pen them down on a separate sheet under the title various digital HRD initiatives.
SWAYAM Prabha
- The SWAYAM Prabha is a group of 32 DTH channels devoted to telecasting of high-quality educational programmes on a 24X7 basis using the GSAT-15 satellite.
- The channels are uplinked from BISAG, Gandhinagar. The contents are provided by NPTEL, IITs, UGC, CEC, IGNOU, NCERT and NIOS.
- The INFLIBNET Centre maintains the web portal.
- Every day, there will be new content for at least 4 hours which would be repeated 5 more times in a day, allowing the students to choose the time of their convenience.
The DTH Channels shall cover the following:
Higher Education: Curriculum-based course contents at post-graduate and under-graduate level covering diverse disciplines such as arts, science, commerce, performing arts, social sciences and humanities, engineering, technology, law, medicine, agriculture, etc.
School education (9-12 levels): Modules for teacher’s training as well as teaching and learning aids for children of India to help them understand the subjects better and also help them in preparing for competitive examinations for admissions to professional degree programmes.
Curriculum-based courses: These channels can meet the needs of life-long learners of Indian citizens in India and abroad.
Back2Basics: SWAYAM Portal
- SWAYAM is a Hindi acronym that stands for “Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds” is an Indian Massive open online course (MOOC) platform.
- It is an initiative launched by the Ministry of HRD, under Digital India to give a coordinated stage and free entry to web courses, covering all advanced education, High School and skill sector courses.
- It was launched on 9th July 2017 by Honorable President of India.
- The platform offers free access to everyone and hosts courses from class 9 till post-graduation.
- It enables professors and faculty of centrally funded institutes like IITs, IIMs, IISERs, etc. to teach students.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Appointment, removal, change in the conditions of service of the SEC.
Mains level: Paper 2- Power of the state governments to change the tenure of the SEC can affect the independence of the body in conducting free and fair elections.
The removal of the SEC by the ordinance route raises the question over the legality of the move. And if it passes the judicial scrutiny it would harm the independence of the body.
The legality of the removal and its implication for free and fair elections
- The fact that it was the culmination of an open conflict between the Election Commissioner and Chief Minister makes it a glaring instance of misuse of power.
- The State government got the Governor to issue an ordinance to cut the SEC’s tenure from five to three years.
- The ordinance also amended the criterion for holding that office from being an officer of the rank of Principal Secretary and above to one who had served as a High Court judge.
- This automatically rendered the SEC’s continuance invalid.
- Last month, just days before the local body polls were to be held, the SEC postponed the elections, citing the COVID-19 outbreak.
- The State government approached the Supreme Court, but the court declined to interfere.
- Having exhausted its legal remedy, the government should have waited for the ongoing fight against the disease to be over.
- The Chief Minister has no legal right to terminate the SEC’s tenure.
- The Constitution makes the holder of that post removable only in the same manner as a High Court judge.
- If courts uphold this means of dislodging the head of an independent election body, it would mark the end of free and fair elections.
Past judgements on the issue
- The State government seems to have gone by legal opinion that citedAparmita Prasad Singh vs. State of U.P. (2007).
- Cessation of term vs. removal: In that judgement the Allahabad High Court ruled that cessation of tenure does not amount to removal, and upheld the State Election Commissioner’s term being cut short.
- The Supreme Court, while dismissing an appeal against the order, kept open the legal questions arising from the case.
UPSC can frame the question based on the judgement in case by the SC and its implication for the independence of the body in conducting the fair, free and impartial election.
Issues arising out of the past judgements
- The judgment seems erroneous, as it gives freedom to the State government to remove an inconvenient election authority by merely changing the tenure or retirement age.
- This was surely not what was envisioned by Parliament, which wrote into the Constitution provisions to safeguard the independence of the State Election Commission.
- It is a well-settled principle in law that what cannot be done directly cannot be done indirectly.
- Therefore, the removal of an incumbent SEC through the subterfuge of changing the eligibility norms for an appointment may not survive judicial scrutiny.
- Prohibition on the variation of condition of service: Further, the Constitution, under Article 243K, prohibits the variation of any condition of service to the detriment of any incumbent.
- Even if the State government argues that a change of tenure does not amount to varying the conditions of service, the new norm can only apply to the successor SEC, and not the one holding the office now.
Conclusion
In order to ensure the independence of the SEC and free and fair elections, legality of the move should not pass the legal scrutiny. Even if it passes the legal scrutiny the government should amend this provision avoid such instances in the future.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 1- Closing the the gap between urban and rural in India using knowledge-eratechnology.
This article puts forward the idea of using knowledge-era technology to minimise the difference between rural and urban areas. In the first part, it elaborates the reasons and circumstances that led to the neglect of rural areas and development in urban areas. In the next part, the idea of using knowledge-era technologies to close the gaps between rural and urban areas is explored.
Why Urbanisation is spreading and how it led to the neglect of rural areas?
- Better opportunities: The tendency to migrate to urban areas has been a natural consequence of better opportunities that got created there — in contrast to life in rural areas becoming increasingly unsustainable.
- Centralisation: The industrial-era dynamics that led to centralisation in support of mass production or massive scale-up was clearly a major one.
- This, in turn, also led to the concentration of higher education/capacity building processes to urban centres where there was job growth, quite to the detriment of the much larger rural area.
- Problems in education and training: The education and training environment became myopic, essentially meeting the manning requirements to run systems created by others.
- Our education with its inherent problems led to little confidence in creating one’s own systems to address needs independent of others.
- Demographic dividend: India’s importance grew primarily because of her demographic dividend and the large market that her people constituted and not because of the systems and technologies.
- Neglect of rural India: Rural India suffered severe neglect in the process, probably as a result of poor job opportunities there and education having lost its role as an enabler of local development.
- However, the country is learning to create systems and technologies to address her needs. The exercise is, by and large, urban-centric.
UPSC asked about the quality of urban life in 2014, and the trends of labour migration in 2015. This article touched upon both of these themes.
Using the knowledge-era technology to close the urban-rural gap
- We are now in the knowledge era.
- And knowledge-era technologies, in contrast to industrial-era technologies, promote democratisation (social media, for example) and facilitate decentralisation (work from home).
- It should thus be possible for an adequately educated and trained youth residing in a rural domain to support a significant part of the manufacturing and service needs of urban areas.
- Just as an urban youth can support a significant part of the knowledge and application needs in rural areas.
- With technologies like additive manufacture, internet of things, and artificial intelligence, well-trained people can address needs in both urban and rural areas from wherever they are.
- Thus, the knowledge era should, in principle, become a significant income leveller between the urban and rural domains, with a large rise in the overall national income.
- As we focus on capacity building of rural youth, the opportunities in rural areas should, in principle, become higher than those in urban areas since the rural segment can now benefit from all three sectors of the economy- agriculture, manufacturing and services.
The idea of “cillage”
- In the knowledge era, with emphasis on capability and capacity building of rural youth in terms of holistic education, appropriate technology and enhanced livelihood, there is a possibility for a more balanced distribution of income as well as population.
- This would, however, need knowledge bridges to be built between cities and villages, and the creation of an ecosystem which has been conceptualised as a “cillage” — a synergistic combination of city and village.
- Bridging the knowledge gap between a city and a village would also bridge the income gap between the two.
- This will also lead to a faster bridging of the gap between the average individual income in India and that in industrially advanced countries.
- Democratisation promoted by knowledge technologies, if properly leveraged, can in principle reduce disparities, which, unfortunately, are on the rise today.
How to realise the idea of cillage?
- Integrated and holistic approach: Developing a “cillage” ecosystem would need a rooted and integrated approach to holistic education and research, technology development and management, as well as technology-enabled rural livelihood enhancement.
- It would take a while for the rural youth to become empowered enough to convert the challenges into opportunities in rural areas.
- The emergence of a new-age society is an inevitability.
- How soon the rural domain can embrace it and how concurrently, comprehensively that can happen, is the real challenge.
- That will decide whether India will gain in the knowledge era or lag as it did in the industrial era.
Look at one more question from 2015-“Smart cities in India cannot sustain without smart villages. Discuss this statement in the backdrop of rural-urban integration”. The ideas discussed here in this article help us to deal with such questions.
Can Covid-19 speed up the realisation of cillage?
- The process could also be seen as the migration of a set of experiences and skills to villages.
- We can look at this as a potential two-way bridge for a new relationship between cities and villages.
- It will be the bridge in which not all need to return to cities, but can rather meet the needs of cities as well as villages by remaining in villages.
- Several initiatives will be needed to realise such a possibility.
- Facilitating a number of new skills, technologies and support systems that can further leverage current capabilities of these people for starting a new enterprise would be important.
- Immediate arrangements to facilitate their livelihood, and leveraging their present capabilities could help retain at least some of these people in villages.
- It could trigger a faster movement towards an inevitable long-term equilibrium.
- Going forward, we should take knowledge activities to a higher level so that the products and services created by these people become more competitive.
- Looking at disruptive technologies for exploiting local opportunities should follow.
Conclusion
Given that the new normal after Covid-19 would, in any case, be quite different, the right course would be to channelise the stimulus caused by this crisis towards accelerating the shift to a new normal. This will not only help a more dispersed population, but will also reduce disparities and lead to faster growth of the economy.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: OPEC+
Mains level: Global crude oil pricing dynamics and its impact on India
India has made a case for affordable oil prices in the backdrop of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries-plus (OPEC+) combine slashing production amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Global crude oil pricing dynamics greatly impact India and its import bill. Kindly refer to the article titled “Oil Prices and OPEC+” pinned below this newscard. Various aspects related to the issue are covered in the Burning Issue section . It seeks to answer all your doubts such as ; Impact on Fuel prices, India’s forex reserves, Strategic petroleum reserves, etc.
Why a cause of worry?
- OPEC accounts for around 40% of global production.
- The OPEC accounts for 80% of India’s crude oil imports.
- Any production cut by the OPEC plus arrangement impacts India’s energy security efforts in the short run.
Impact on India
- India, which is one of the major OPEC consumers, has always stood for a global consensus on responsible pricing.
- Indian refiners have cut production as the lockdown has led to a sharp decline in demand for transportation fuels.
- Demand for domestic cooking gas has, however, increased as more people stay indoors during the lockdown aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus.
About OPEC+
- The non-OPEC countries which export crude oil along with the 14 OPECs are termed as OPEC plus countries.
- OPEC plus countries include Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, South Sudan and Sudan.
- Saudi and Russia, both have been at the heart of a three-year alliance of oil producers known as OPEC Plus — which now includes 11 OPEC members and 10 non-OPEC nations — that aims to shore up oil prices with production cuts.
Back2Basics: OPEC
- OPEC is a permanent, intergovernmental organization, created at the Baghdad Conference in 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.
- It aims to manage the supply of oil in an effort to set the price of oil in the world market, in order to avoid fluctuations that might affect the economies of both producing and purchasing countries.
- It is headquartered in Vienna, Austria.
- OPEC membership is open to any country that is a substantial exporter of oil and which shares the ideals of the organization.
- Today OPEC is a cartel that includes 14 nations, predominantly from the middle east whose sole responsibility is to control prices and moderate supply.
Also read:
[Burning Issue] Oil Prices and OPEC+
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ConFarm Model
Mains level: Alternative Market Channels for Farmers, Limitations of e-NAM
A unique initiative titled Consumer-Farmer Compact in Telangana is ensuring food availability and access in COVID-19 times.
Such innovative models of agricultural marketing are very crucial while highlighting the limitations of APMCs and eNAM. Make personal notes of such initiatives.
Consumer-Farmer Compact
- The initiative is kicked off by some NGOs in June 2018 and has been endeavoring to bring farmers and consumers on the same platform for their benefit.
- The consumers support farmers with their agricultural needs; in return, farmers ensure consumers are able to access food in a hassle-free manner.
What does the initiative do?
- The initiative requires consumers to support farmers at the beginning of a farming season.
- Each consumer supports a group of farmers with about Rs 12,500 per acre for their farming needs.
- In return, at the time of harvest, consumers are given products according to the value they invested, leaving the middlemen out.
- They are provided with millets, pulses, oil, jaggery and other necessary items produced organically — either in bulk or on a monthly basis.
- The initiative also aims to give millets a push in the urban market, enabling consumers to move beyond the commonly consumed grains such as rice and wheat.
Significance
- This model of sharing economy in the village has helped alleviate hunger and ensured their nutritional needs are met.
- The farmers who are part of the initiative practice traditional ecological farming with an emphasis on biodiverse cultivation.
- It helps them have dietary diversity in their food choices and control over their land and food production that is not dictated by the vagaries of the market.
- The practice has brought them closer to a group of consumers who have been keen on trying an alternative route.
Conclusion
- At this juncture in crisis — when the free-market system and global trade are staring at an uncertain future — local solutions such as ‘Confarm’ hold greater prominence.
- Such supply chains such are the need of the hour. Farmers and consumers must come together to face crisis moments in the future as well.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various provisions allowing lockdowns
Mains level: Coronovirus outbreak and its mitigation
The central government has extended the 21-day nationwide lockdown by two more weeks. Before this, some states had already ordered to extend the lockdown till the end of this month.
How do the two lockdowns differ?
Newspapers are flooded up with news on lockdowns. The two lockdowns are fundamentally different from each other. Such difference sparks a thought in the mind of question framers.
1) State lockdowns
- As per the Constitution, subjects of law and order and public health lie with state governments.
- Additionally, the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897, which many states have invoked to order a lockdown, empowers them to prescribe temporary regulations to prevent the outbreak and spread of disease.
2) Centre’s lockdown
- The lockdown ordered by the centre is implemented under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
- The Union home ministry, in compliance with the NDMAs order can issue orders for the lockdown under Section 10(2)(l) of the DMA.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Nihang cult
Mains level: Not Much
The Patiala incident in which a group of Nihangs attacked a Punjab police officer has put the spotlight on the Nihangs.
This newscard focuses on Nihang cult of Sikhism. Though in news for a different purpose, it is significant for prelims.
Who is a Nihang?
- Nihang is an order of Sikh warriors, characterized by blue robes, antiquated arms such as swords and spears, and decorated turbans surmounted by steel quoits.
- Etymologically the word Nihang stems more from the Sanskrit word nihshank which means without fear, unblemished, pure, carefree and indifferent to worldly gains and comfort.
- The word Nihang also occurs in a hymn in the Guru Granth Sahib, where it alludes to a fearless and unrestrained person.
When was the order formed?
- Formation of Nihang order can be traced back to the creation of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699.
How were Nihangs different from other Sikhs, and other Sikh warriors?
- As per an account by the East India Company’s Colonel James Skinner (1778-1841), Khalsa Sikhs were divided into two groups.
- Those who put on blue attire which Guru Gobind Singh used to wear at the time of battle and those who do not follow any restrictions on the colour of their dress.
- Both of them follow the profession of soldiery and are brave without peer in the art of musketry and chakarbazi, and the use of quoits.
- Nihangs observe the Khalsa code of conduct in its strictest sense.
- They do not profess any allegiance to an earthly master. Instead of saffron they hoist a blue Nishan Sahib (flag) atop their shrines.
What is their role in history?
- Nihangs had a major role in defending the Sikh panth after the fall of the first Sikh rule (1710-15) when Mughal governors were killing Sikhs, and during the onslaught of Afghan invader Ahmed Shah Durrani (1748-65).
- Nihangs also took control of the religious affairs of the Sikhs at Akal Takht in Amritsar.
- They did not consider themselves subordinate to any Sikh chief and thus maintained their independent existence.
- At Akal Takht, they held the grand council (Sarbat Khalsa) of Sikhs and pronounced the resolution (Gurmata) passed.
- During Operation Bluestar in June 1984, some Nihangs, namely Ajit Singh Poohla, collaborated with the Punjab police to eliminate militants.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Meru Jatra
Mains level: NA
Odisha’s Ganjam district administration has banned the Meru Jatra festival and congregations related to it at temples on the occasion of Mahavishub Sankranti.
Festive fairs in India are known for their age-old traditions and some historic background. Meru Jatra is one of such fairs. We can expect a match the pairs question on such fairs.
Meru Jatra
- In Southern Odisha, the Meru Yatra festival is celebrated as the end of the month-long Danda nata dance festival.
- Thousands of devotees gather at the Shakti Pitha shrine in the Taratarini Temple because it is one of the auspicious days during the Chaitra Yatra.
- People from all over the state eat festive chhatua and drink Bel Pana to mark the occasion.
What is Danda nata?
- Danda as the name implies, is self-inflicted pain, which the danduas (people who participate in the festival) undergo to pay their obeisance to the lord Kali.
- It is also a form of worshipping the lord Shiva and his consort Parvati.
- The origin of the festival is generally traced to 8th and 9th AD after the decadence of Buddhism in Orissa.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 3- With the presence of sleeper cell in India and ability of IS to co-opt a local affiliate makes the IS a major security challenge for India.
IS has shown its ability to strike by regrouping and co-opting local affiliates be it the case of Ester Sunday attack in Sri Lanka or a recent attack on a Gurudwara in Afghanistan. For India, the presence of sleeper cells and their links with the Islamic jihad group has internal security implications. We have covered an op-ed dealing with the Gurudwara attack and discussed the futility of the US-Taliban peace deal.
Security threat of IS to India and South Asia
- In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, there was speculation about the degree to which al-Qaeda had been able to make inroads in India.
- In recent years, the focus has shifted to the IS.
- The creation of an IS-Khorasan (IS-K) in early 2015 with a visible presence in Afghanistan-Pakistan, seemed to suggest that the group is now targeting South Asia.
- The recent terror attack on a gurdwara in Kabul (March 25) was also claimed by the IS. The IS released a photograph of one of a resident of Kasargod in Kerala
- According to India’s leading terrorism think-tank SATP (South Asia Terrorism Portal), 99 persons from India were confirmed to have joined the IS in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
Question about the ” Over-ground worker” of the terrorist organisation was asked by the UPSC in 2019.
Close intelligence cooperation within and beyond South Asia
- Last October, the NIA disclosed that it had arrested 127 IS sympathisers from across India since 2014, and the highest number of 33 were from Tamil Nadu.
- The arrests by NIA were made throughout the country and not from a specific region.
- This degree of spread is testimony to the close watch the Indian security agencies are maintaining concerning the IS.
- One may conjecture that close intelligence cooperation has been established within and beyond South Asia.
- The pattern that now obtains is that countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have their own internal surveillance in place to monitor the activities of the IS-K.
Ability of IS to regroup and ally with a domestic affiliate
- The IS has demonstrated a proclivity to re-group by co-opting or merging with credible domestic affiliates, even if they are little-known.
- In Afghanistan, the IS-K has sought to position itself favourably in the factional tussle, and the Kabul gurdwara attack is seen as part of this murderous strategy.
- Pakistan connection: Islamic terror groups in the Af-Pak region are deemed to be as credible as the support that they receive from the deep-state in Pakistan.
- It is pertinent that the main accused in the Kabul gurdwara attack is Aslam Faroqi, a Pakistani national.
Conclusion
The ability of IS to co-opt a local affiliate makes it a credible threat for India where there is a significant presence of the sleeper cells. In the light of that threat India and the other affected nations will have to strive individually and collectively to foil such nefarious designs.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now