Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: G-7 Members, their combined gdp in the world
Mains level: Paper 2- Expansion of G-7 membership
Recently, there was a call for expansion of the membership of the G-7 by the U.S. President. But the expanded group should not be seen as an anti-China gang-up. Disciplining and not isolating China is what most of the members of the group would want. And to do so, this new group needs to have new agenda. This article discusses the items that must form the part of the new agenda.
Evolution of the G-7
- When it started in 1975—with six members, Canada joining a year later—it represented about 70% of the world economy.
- And it was a cosy club for tackling issues such as the response to oil shocks.
- Now it accounts for about 40% of global gdp.
- Since the global financial crisis of 2007-09 it has sometimes been overshadowed by the broader g20.
- The G-7 became the G-8 in 1997 when Russia was invited to join.
- In 2014, Russia was debarred after it took over Crimea.
Call for expansion of the membership
- It was the French who first flew the kite of membership expansion.
- France had invited heads of government of several “emerging economies” for a meeting of the group at Évian-les-Bains, France, in June 2003.
- After 2003, G-8 host countries began organising a meeting on the sidelines of their summits with a select group of five or six developing countries.
- India and China were invited to all those summits.
- Now, President Trump has, however, gone a step further.
- Rather than invite “guests” to a G-7 summit, he has suggested expanding the G-7 to a G-10 or G-11.
- Trump has come up with an interesting list of new members — Australia, India, South Korea and, possibly, Russia.
- Inclusion of Russia: Trump’s pragmatism in including Russia should be welcomed.
- The advantage of getting Russia in is that the group would not be viewed merely as an anti-China gang-up but, in fact, as a club of “free market democracies”.
- The group could easily be made the G-12 with the inclusion of Indonesia — one of the few democratic nations in the Islamic world.
Discipline China, not isolate it
- Trump’s motivation in expanding the G-7 to include India and Russia while keeping China out is transparent.
- If keeping China out was not the intention, the G-7 could easily have dissolved themselves and revitalised the presently inert G-20.
- There are, of course, good reasons why Xi Jinping’s China requires to be put on notice for its various acts of omission and commission and disrespect for international law.
- However, disciplining China is one thing, isolating it quite another.
- If the new group is viewed as yet another arrow in the China containment quiver it would place India and most other members of the group in a spot.
- Everyone wants China disciplined, few would like to be seen seeking its isolation.
- Asia needs a law-abiding China, not a sullen China.
- Japan and Australia, have serious concerns about China’s behaviour.
- But they may not like the new group to be viewed purely as an anti-China gang-up.
- That may well be the case with South Korea too.
- Indeed, even India should tread cautiously.
- India has more issues with China than most others in the group, spanning across economic and national security issues and yet it should seek a disciplined China, not an isolated one.
So, what should be on the agenda of the new group?
- The proposed new group should define its agenda in terms that would encourage China to return to the pre-Xi era of global good behaviour.
- The G-7 came into being in the mid-1970s against the background of shocks to the global financial and energy markets.
- The G-12 would come into being against the background of a global economic crisis and the disruption to global trade caused both by protectionism and a pandemic.
- The two items on the next summit agenda would have to be the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the rising tide of protectionism and mercantilism and the global economic slowdown.
- The summit will have to come forward with some international dos and don’ts to deal with the challenge posed by these disruptions.
New rules should apply to both the US and China
- These new rules of international conduct would have to apply to both China and the US.
- The G-12— have a shared interest in ensuring that both China and the US respect international law and desist from unilateralism in dealing with neighbours and global challenges.
Widening the agenda
- To be able to alter China’s behaviour without isolating it, the G-12 will have to widen their agenda.
- Widening involves going beyond the purely economic issues that the G-7 originally focused on, and include climate change, health care and human rights.
What should the “free market democracies” mean
- In identifying themselves as “free market democracies” the G-12 must issue a new charter of respect for human rights, adherence to international law and multilateralism in trade and security.
- This is easier said than done.
- President Trump will have to re-assure the group’s members that he has their combined interests at heart in proposing a new group.
- And he also has to show that he has an imagination beyond just an “America First” policy.
- Even as the world is increasingly wary of an assertive China and of Xi Jinping’s China Dream and his version of a “China First” policy, it is also wary of Trump’s unilateralism on many fronts.
What should the invitee nations consider before joining the group?
- Many countries share Trump’s displeasure with China for its manipulation of the World Health Organisation.
- But many of them are equally unhappy with the manner in which the Trump administration has treated the World Trade Organisation.
- A G-12 cannot ignore such partisan behaviour by either the US or China.
- If Trump does issue an invitation to the three or four new members to join the new group, they should seek clarity on the terms of membership.
- Russia’s experience, of being invited and then disinvited and now being considered for being re-invited should be a salutary message to all others invitees.
Consider the question- “The expanded new G-12 with India as its member, should also needs new agenda with its focus beyond China. Comment.”
Conclusion
As the world’s largest free market democracy India deserves to be a member of not just a G-12 but of even a new G-7. India’s political and economic credentials are certainly stronger than those of Canada, Britain and Italy.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA)
Mains level: VFA and its significance for the US
Security issue in the disputed South China Sea has helped convince the Philippines to delay quitting a key U.S. military pact called the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
Practice question for mains:
Q. What’s behind diplomatic tensions in the South China Sea? How it is set to become another flashpoint between the US and China?
The Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA)
- A VFA is a version of a status of forces agreement that only applies to troops temporarily in a country.
- The US military operates around the world thanks to Status of Forces Agreements (SOFA) in 100 or so countries.
- Similarly, the VFA spells out the rules, guidelines and legal status of the US military when operating in the Philippines.
- The VFA also affirms the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty as well as the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement — agreements that enable the U.S. military to conduct joint exercises and operations in the Philippines.
- It came into force on May 27, 1999, upon ratification by the Senate of the Philippines.
- It also exempts U.S. military personnel from visa and passport regulations in the Philippines.
Significance of VFA
- Both the US and Philippines remain wary of Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea (SCS). The VFA, therefore, act as an insurance policy against Chinese threats.
- Terminating the VFA would leave the U.S. military without any legal or operational standing in the Philippines — and that’s a problem for the alliance.
- Without a VFA, the U.S. military would not be able to support either of these defence agreements.
Philippines-China spat on SCS
- The Philippines has had diplomatic spats with China over the Scarborough Shoal and Spratlys in particular.
- It says China’s “nine-dash line”, which China uses to demarcate its territorial claims, is unlawful under the UNCLOS convention.
- The SCS is also a major shipping route and home to fishing grounds that supply the livelihoods of people across the region.
Back2Basics: South China Sea Row
- It is a dispute over territory and sovereignty over ocean areas, and the Paracels and the Spratlys – two island chains claimed in whole or in part by a number of countries.
- China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei all have competing claims.
- Alongside the fully-fledged islands, there are dozens of rocky outcrops, atolls, sandbanks and reefs, such as the Scarborough Shoal.
- China claims by far the largest portion of territory – an area defined by the “nine-dash line” which stretches hundreds of miles south and east from its most southerly province of Hainan.
- Beijing says its right to the area goes back centuries to when the Paracel and Spratly island chains were regarded as integral parts of the Chinese nation, and in 1947 it issued a map detailing its claims.
- It showed the two island groups falling entirely within its territory. Those claims are mirrored by Taiwan.
Spat over Chinese claims
- China has backed its expansive claims with island-building and naval patrols.
- The US says it does not take sides in territorial disputes but has sent military ships and planes near disputed islands, calling them “freedom of navigation” operations to ensure access to key shipping and air routes.
- Both sides have accused each other of “militarizing” the South China Sea.
- There are fears that the area is becoming a flashpoint, with potentially serious global consequences.
With inputs from Washington Post
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Lunar and Solar Eclipse
Mains level: Not Much
A penumbral lunar eclipse will be observed today midnight. The Earth will imperfectly align itself between the Sun and the moon, casting a shadow on the latter, marking the second lunar eclipse of the year.
Solar and Lunar eclipse has been quite frequent this year. Mark the major differences between them.
Lunar Eclipse
- A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth’s shadow.
- This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are exactly or very closely aligned with Earth between the other two.
- A lunar eclipse can occur only on the night of a full moon. The type and length of a lunar eclipse depend on the Moon’s proximity to either node of its orbit.
- Any object that obstructs light will produce two shadows: one which will be dark and dense, is called the umbra; and the other which is light and diffused is called the penumbra.
- The only light reflected from the lunar surface has been refracted by Earth’s atmosphere.
- This light appears reddish for the same reason that a sunset or sunrise does: the Rayleigh scattering of bluer light. Due to this reddish colour, a totally eclipsed Moon is sometimes called a blood moon.
Types
- In a total eclipse of the moon, the inner part of Earth’s shadow, called the umbra, falls on the moon’s face. At mid-eclipse, the entire moon is in shadow, which may appear blood red.
- In a partial lunar eclipse, the umbra takes a bite out of only a fraction of the moon. The dark bite grows larger and then recedes, never reaching the total phase.
- In a penumbral lunar eclipse, only the more diffuse outer shadow of Earth – the penumbra – falls on the moon’s face. This third kind of lunar eclipse is much more subtle and much more difficult to observe than either a total or partial eclipse of the moon.
How it is different from Solar Eclipse?
- A solar eclipse happens when the moon passes in between the earth and the sun. A lunar eclipse happens when the earth passes in between the moon and the sun.
- During a solar eclipse, the moon partially or fully hides the sun’s rays for a few minutes.
- Unlike a solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth.
- Also unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to view without any eye protection or special precautions, as they are dimmer than the full Moon.
What’s special this time?
- This eclipse is also called a strawberry moon eclipse — the term, interestingly, originates from an American concept and has little to do with the Euro-Asia region.
- June’s full moon usually coincides with the harvesting season of wild strawberries in America and the phenomenon was often addressed in reference to that.
- India had already witnessed an eclipse earlier this year, in January.
- The strawberry moon eclipse is going to be its second and probably the last visible lunar one in 2020.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Malabar Naval Exercise
Mains level: India-Australia bilateral relations
India is prepared to expand the Malabar trilateral naval exercise involving India, the U.S. and Japan, to permanently include Australia.
Go through the list for once. UPSC may ask a match the pair type question asking exercise name and countries involved.
[Prelims Spotlight] Defence Exercises
About Ex. Malabar
- Exercise Malabar is a trilateral naval exercise involving the United States, Japan and India as permanent partners.
- Originally begun in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between India and the United States, Japan became a permanent partner in 2015.
- Past non-permanent participants are Australia and Singapore.
- The annual Malabar series began in 1992 and includes diverse activities, ranging from fighter combat operations from aircraft carriers through Maritime Interdiction Operations Exercises.
Significance of Australia’s inclusion
- Earlier, India had concerns that it would give the appearance of a “quadrilateral military alliance” aimed at China.
- Now both look forward to the cooperation in the ‘Indo-Pacific’ and the strengthening of defence ties.
- This has led to a convergence of mutual interest in many areas for a better understanding of regional and global issues.
- Both are expected to conclude the long-pending Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) as part of measures to elevate the strategic partnership.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ambarnaya River
Mains level: NA
Russia has declared a state of emergency after a power plant fuel leak in its Arctic region caused 20,000 tonnes of diesel oil to escape into a local river, turning its surface crimson red.
Locate major rivers in Russia in the given map from east-west and west-east directions.
Details of the spillage
- The Ambarnaya River, into which the oil has been discharged, is part of a network that flows into the environmentally sensitive Arctic Ocean.
- The state-owned TASS news agency reported that the emergency measures were announced within Russia’s Krasnoyarsk Region, located in the vast and sparsely populated Siberian peninsula.
How did the leak happen?
- The thermoelectric power plant at Norilsk is built on permafrost, which has weakened over the years owing to climate change.
- The power plant is located near the Region’s Norilsk city, around 3000 km northeast of Moscow.
- This caused the pillars that supported the plant’s fuel tank to sink.
- Around 20,000 tonnes of diesel oil was released into the Ambarnaya river, which has since drifted 12 km on its surface.
What has Russia done so far?
- Boom obstacles were placed in the river, but they were unable to contain the oil because of shallow waters.
- The state of emergency declared would bring in extra forces and federal resources for the clean-up efforts.
What is the extent of the damage?
- Environmentalists have said the river would be difficult to clean, given its shallow waters and remote location, as well as the magnitude of the spill.
- This is the second-largest known oil leak in modern Russia’s history in terms of volume.
- The clean-up effort could take between 5-10 years.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: TULIP
Mains level: Various employment measures
The govt. has launched the TULIP program for providing internship opportunities to fresh Graduates in all ULBs & Smart Cities.
Possible prelims question:
Q. The TULIP program recently seen in news is related to: HRD/Floriculture/Urban Livelihood etc.
TULIP
- TULIP is a portal jointly developed by the Ministry of HRD, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
- It will help reap the benefits of India’s demographic dividend as it is poised to have the largest working-age population in the world in the coming years.
- It would help enhance the value-to-market of India’s graduates and help create a potential talent pool in diverse fields like urban planning, transport engineering, environment, municipal finance etc.
- It will further the Government’s endeavours to boost community partnership and government- academia-industry-civil society linkages.
- This launch is also an important stepping stone for the fulfillment of MHRD and AICTE’s goal of 1 crore successful internships by the year 2025.
Why need such a program?
- India has a substantial pool of technical graduates for whom exposure to real-world project implementation and planning is essential for professional development.
- General education may not reflect the depth of productive knowledge present in society.
- Instead of approaching education as ‘doing by learning,’ our societies need to reimagine education as ‘learning by doing.’
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Five Power Defence Arrangement
Mains level: Paper 2- India-Australia relations, IORA
Let’s play a game. India and this country are both members of Commonwealth of nations. Cricket, English language and Nuclear relations is something common to both of us. In fact, India was this nation’s eighth-largest trading partner and fifth-largest export market in 2018-19. The Indian diaspora in this country is now third largest and fastest growing diaspora. Any guesses?
What is a middle power?
In international relations, a middle power is a sovereign state that is not a great power nor a superpower, but still has large or moderate influence and international recognition. The concept of the “middle power” dates back to the origins of the European state system.
Plugging the big gap in India’s diplomatic tradition
- India remains preoccupied with the perennial challenges in its neighbourhood, resulting in missing out on the opportunities for productive partnerships with the middle powers.
- Thursday’s virtual summit between Prime Minister of India and the Australian premier, Scott Morrison, is an important part of Delhi’s current diplomatic effort to plug that big gap in India’s diplomatic tradition.
Let’s see what opportunities Australia holds for India
- Economic weight: With a GDP of more than US$1.4 trillion, Australia is the 13th largest economy in the world, following closely behind Russia which stands at $1.6 trillion.
- Australia is rich in natural resources that India’s growing economy needs.
- It also has huge reservoirs of strength in higher education, scientific and technological research.
- Its armed forces, hardened by international combat, are widely respected.
- Canberra’s intelligence establishment is valued in many parts of the world.
- Australia has deep economic, political and security connections with the ASEAN and a strategic partnership with one of the leading non-aligned nations, Indonesia.
- Canberra has a little “sphere of influence” of its own — in the South Pacific (now under threat from Chinese penetration).
- All these Australian strengths should be of interest and value to India.
- Jawaharlal Nehru, believed Australia is a natural part of Asia and invited it to participate in the Asian Relations Conference in Delhi in 1947, a few months before independence.
India’s nuclear test and it’s repercussions
- A political dust-up between Delhi and Canberra in the wake of India’s nuclear tests in 1998 complicated the possibilities that the end of the Cold War opened up.
- But since 2000, Canberra has taken consistent political initiative to advance ties with India by resolving the nuclear difference and expanding the template of engagement.
Comparing India and China’s approach to Middle powers
- A gap of nearly three decades between Rajiv Gandhi’s visit to Australia in 1986 and Modi’s trip in 2014 only underlines how short-sighted India’s neglect of Australia has been.
- It was exactly in these years that China transformed its relationship with Australia.
- Delhi’s temptation to judge nations on the basis of their alignments with other powers stands in contrast to Beijing.
- Beijing puts interests above ideology, promotes interdependence with a targeted middle power, turns it into political influence and tries to weaken its alignment with the rival powers.
Growing India-Australia relations
- The Indian diaspora — now estimated at nearly 7,00,000— is the fastest growing in Australia and has become an unexpected positive factor in bilateral relations.
- Common membership of many groupings like the G-20, East Asia Summit, IORA, and the Quad has increased the possibilities for diplomatic cooperation on regional and global issues.
- Other host of emerging issues — from reforming the World Health Organisation to 5G technology and from strengthening the international solar alliance to building resilience against climate change and disasters — can lend to intensive bilateral political and institutional engagement.
Geopolitics and Security cooperation
- The geopolitical churn in the Indo-Pacific, growing Chinese assertiveness and the uncertain US political trajectory open space for security cooperation.
- Over the last few years, defence engagement between the two countries has grown.
- Defence engagement is likely to be capped by a military logistics support agreement to be unveiled at the summit.
- For future, there is a need from both security establishments to develop strategic coordination in the various sub-regions of the Indo-Pacific littoral.
Eastern Indian Ocean: top priority
- The eastern Indian Ocean that lies between the shores of peninsular India and the west coast of Australia ought to be the top priority.
- This is where Delhi and Canberra can initiate a full range of joint activities.
- Joint activities should include maritime domain awareness, development of strategically located islands and marine scientific research.
Seeking trilateral cooperation with Indonesia
- The sea lines of communication between the Indian and Pacific oceans run through the Indonesian archipelago.
- Given the shared political commitment to the Indo-Pacific idea between Delhi, Jakarta and Canberra and the growing pressures on them to secure their shared waters, Modi and Morrison must seek trilateral maritime and naval cooperation with Indonesia.
Three other natural partners to expand cooperation
- Besides Indonesia, three other powers present themselves as natural partners for India and Australia — Japan, France and Britain.
- Tokyo has close ties with both Delhi and Canberra.
- Their current trilateral dialogue can be expanded from the diplomatic level to practical maritime cooperation on the ground.
- France is a resident power with territories in the Western Indian Ocean and the South Pacific.
- Paris and Canberra are eager to develop a trilateral arrangement with Delhi that will supplement the bilateral cooperation among the three nations.
Engagement between India & EPDA
- There is the less discussed role of Britain, which wants to return to the oriental seas.
- In the east, Britain continues to lead the so-called Five Power Defence Arrangement set up back in 1971, after Britain pulled back most of its forces from the East of Suez.
- The FPDA brings together the armed forces of the UK, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.
- Modi and Morrison must explore the possibilities for engagement between India and the FPDA.
Try a question:
India and Australia nuclear deal was a major breakthrough in the bilateral relation. But this bilateral partnership has so much more potential in other areas. Critically examine.
Conclusion
It is only by building a series of overlapping bilateral and minilateral platforms for regional security cooperation that Delhi and Canberra can limit the dangers of the growing geopolitical imbalance in the Indo-Pacific.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: India-China trade
Mains level: Paper 2- India-China border issue
Though the rest of the world is preoccupied with Covid pandemic, China is busy in raising tension over border issues with its neighbour-India. What explains such actions by China? And timing selected by China has also puzzled many. India, on its part, faces a dilemma. This article dissects the various issues related to the standoff and explains the options available with India to deal with the Chinese intimidation.
Why the latest transgression by PLA is unprecedented?
- There are around 400 transgressions/faceoffs each year on an average along the LAC.
- But the recent spate of territorial transgressions by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is unprecedented in its scope and manner.
- Even as independent accounts point out that Chinese troops are yet to withdraw from the transgressed territories and restore status quo ante.
- Those territories are traditionally considered by both sides to be on the Indian side of the LAC.
- Chinese officials have gone ahead and stated that the “Situation in China-India border is overall stable & controllable”.
What this move by China signals?
- The Indian government is left with two basic choices: 1) accept territorial loss as a fait accompli or 2) force or negotiate a reversal to status quo ante, unless of course the PLA unilaterally withdraws.
- Either way, China’s growing territorial aggression on the LAC signals the end of Beijing’s peaceful rise and its traditional desire to maintain regional status quo with India.
- China under its President, Xi Jinping, unequivocally seeks to demonstrate that it is the preponderant power in the region.
Let’s analyse the aggression
- While the timing could be explained by the global political distraction caused by COVID-19.
- And also the international pressure on China (including by India) to come clean on the origins of the novel coronavirus could have played the role.
- But the proximate causes could be several. Consider the following-
1. Statement by India on Aksai Chin
- For one, New Delhi’s terse statements about Aksai Chin following the Jammu and Kashmir reorganisation in August last year had not gone down well with Beijing.
- While not many in India believe that New Delhi was serious about getting back Aksai Chin from Chinese control, Beijing may have viewed it as India upping the ante.
- More pertinently, in a clear departure from the past, New Delhi has been carrying out the construction of infrastructural projects along the LAC — a long overdue activity — which is something that seems to have made China uneasy.
2. Broader context of long-term geopolitical world view
- The Chinese angle to the J&K conundrum deserves more attention here.
- The aggression must also be viewed in the broader context of a long-term geopolitical world view China has for the region. Consider the following in this regard-
- 1) China’s China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) connectivity to Pakistan through the Karakoram and New Delhi’s criticism of it.
- 2) The reported presence of PLA troops in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
- 3) India’s new-found activism on Aksai Chin.
- 4) The PLA’s incursions into areas in eastern Ladakh.
3. Strategic goals
- It is equally important to appreciate the larger Chinese strategic calculations behind its recent spate of aggressions.
- Having given up its traditional slogan of ‘peaceful rise’, China, under Mr. Xi, is beginning to assert itself as the next superpower.
- Over the years, Beijing has perhaps realised that India is not keen on toeing the Chinese line in the region.
- So this is Beijing sending a message to New Delhi to fall in line.
- A message that will not go unnoticed in the smaller capitals around China — from Colombo to Kathmandu to Hanoi.
4. Political message
- Given that China is currently engaged in what many analysts are describing as a new cold war with the United States, in the middle of a crackdown in Hong Kong along with fighting COVID-19 at home, one would not have expected the Chinese leadership to open another front.
- And yet, by opening a limited military front with India on the LAC, China is signalling the U.S. that it can handle pressure.
- And telling India that it has the political and military wherewithal to put pressure on New Delhi notwithstanding its other preoccupations.
Why limited scope confrontation is cost-effective and preferred option by China?
- China’s limited scope military expeditions on the long-contested border is cost effective for the PLA.
- This is because the ever-growing conventional military superiority that it enjoys with India.
- Moreover, because limited fights or smaller land grabs may not provoke an all-out confrontation or nuclear use.
- The side with conventional superiority and more border infrastructure would likely carry the day.
India’s China dilemma
- Picking a direct fight with India which might lead to an undesirable military escalation with India does not suit Beijing’s interests.
- But carrying out minor military expeditions with the objective of inflicting small-scale military defeats on India is precisely what would suit the Chinese political and military leadership.
- They are cost effective, less escalatory, and the message gets conveyed.
- More so, India’s military response would depend a great deal on how far the regime in New Delhi is willing to acknowledge such territorial losses due to domestic political constraints.
- If New Delhi acknowledges loss of territory, it would have to regain it, but doing so vis-à-vis a conventionally superior power would not be easy.
- Put differently, growing conventional imbalance and domestic political calculations could prompt New Delhi to overlook minor territorial losses on the LAC.
- But let us be clear: the more New Delhi overlooks them, the more Beijing would be tempted to repeat them.
- These considerations lie at the heart of India’s China dilemma.
How India could respond?
- Yet, there are limits to China’s LAC adventurism.
- 1) There are several places along the several thousand kilometre long LAC where the PLA is militarily weak, the Indian Army has the upper hand.
- And, therefore, a tit-for-tat military campaign could be undertaken by New Delhi.
- 2) While China enjoys continental superiority over India, maritime domain is China’s weak spot, in particular Beijing’s commercial and energy interest to which the maritime space is crucial.
- 3) Finally, and most importantly, would Beijing want to seriously damage the close to $100 billion trade with India with its military adventurism on the LAC?
Way forward
- In any case, for India, the age of pussyfooting around Chinese intimidation strategies is over.
- The time has come to checkmate Beijing’s military aggression even as we maintain a robust economic relationship with our eastern neighbour.
- It is also a reminder for us to get more serious about finalising a border agreement with China.
- The bigger the power differential between India and China, the more concessions Beijing would demand from New Delhi to settle the dispute.
Consider the question-“There have been growing instances of PLA aggression on India-China border. Examine the multiple objectives China’s actions seek to achieve. What are the options available with India to deal with situation?
Conclusion
There is little doubt that China is our neighbour and that we have to live next to the larger and more powerful China. However, India should not accept Beijing’s attempts at land grabs, or military intimidation. That China is a rising superpower located next door to us is a reality, but how we deal with that reality is a choice we must make as a nation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ATC losses.
Mains level: Paper 3- Subsidy on electricity and problem with it
tSometimes solutions that are meant to solve one problem results in the creation of another problem. Nowhere is this more evident than in the subsidies given on urea and electricity to the farmers. This article deals with the perils of the subsidy on electricity bills of farmers. However, there is an equally substantive argument in favour of the subsidies as well. So, what is the way out? Read to know…
Replacing free power supply scheme with DBT
- The Centre has prescribed that the free power supply scheme should be replaced with the direct benefits transfer (DBT) as a condition to allow States to increase their borrowing limit.
- It is not the first time that the Union government has recommended DBT with regard to electricity.
- But what is new is setting the time frame for implementing it.
- By December this year, the DBT should be introduced at least in one district of a State and from the next financial year, a full roll-out should be made.
Resistance from the states
- Tamil Nadu, which was the first State to introduce free power in September 1984, is strongly resisting the Centre’s stipulation.
- Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has taken a categorical stand against the proposal.
- Though Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Punjab, where free power scheme is in vogue, are yet to express their views.
- But it is not difficult to predict their response.
- After all, Punjab Chief Minister who had abolished the scheme during his first innings is now a strong votary of the scheme.
Let’s get the overview of the power subsidy bill
- In the last 15 years, Maharashtra has been the only State that scrapped the scheme within a year of introducing it.
- Karnataka, which has been implementing it since 2008, may become the first southern State to have DBT in power supply if the hint dropped by Chief Minister in early March is any indication.
- The power subsidy bills in the four southern States and Punjab are at least ₹33,000 crore, an amount the State governments will struggle to meet due to resource crunch in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But, why the Central government want to scrap the scheme?
It is because of the following issues-
1. Wastage of water and electricity
- The financial stress apart, the universal application of the scheme has had deleterious consequences.
- Primarily, the scheme has led to widespread wastage of water and electricity.
- It is inherently against incentivising even a conscientious farmer to conserve the two precious resources.
- It may be pertinent to point out that India is the largest user of groundwater at 251 billion cubic meters, exceeding the combined withdrawal by China and the U.S., as pointed out by Bharat Ramaswami of the Indian Statistical Institute last year.
2. Worrying rate of the groundwater table depletion
- Be it parts of the Cauvery delta in Tamil Nadu or Sangrur district of Punjab, the story about the groundwater table is the same — a worrying rate of depletion.
- There is one more attendant problem.
- To sustain their activity, farmers need to go for submersible or high-capacity pumpsets. [Consider the fact that to draw same quantity of water you have to use more power if your water table is low]
3. It encourages the installation of more pump sets
- Third, the extension of the scheme to different States over the years has only encouraged the installation of more pumpsets. Karnataka is a classic example, The number of irrigation pumpsets, which was around 17 lakh 12 years ago, is now around 30 lakh.
4. Misuse of scheme
- There is misuse of the scheme for which not just a section of farmers but also field officials have to be blamed.
5. AT & C losses clubbed as consumption by farmers
- In the absence of meters for these connections or segregation of feeders or metering of distribution transformers, accurate measurement of consumption becomes tricky.
- Those in charge of power distribution companies find it convenient to reduce their aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses by clubbing a portion of the losses with energy consumption by the farm sector.
What is the argument of the supporter of the scheme?
- Proponents of the free power scheme have a couple of valid points in their support.
- Apart from ensuring food security, free power provides livelihood opportunities to landless workers.
- When farmers dependent on supplies through canals get water almost free of cost, it is but fair that those not covered by canal irrigation should be given free electricity.
- Though there is substance in the argument, it is not difficult to arrive at a fair pricing mechanism.
- Small and marginal farmers and those who are outside the canal supply deserve free power, albeit with restrictions.
- But there is no justification for continuing with the scheme perpetually to other farmers.
- However, those enjoying free power need to be told about the need for judicious use of groundwater and how to conserve it.
Consider the question-“Subsidies given to farmers on electricity has become an albatross around the States neck. However, such subsidies could also be termed as a necessary evil. Critically examine.”
Conclusion
Making use of the situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centre is trying to make lasting changes in areas where such measures are long overdue. At least in the area of power sector, its attempt can yield meaningful results only if there is a change in the mindset of agriculturists and political parties towards the concept of free power.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various articles mentioned in the newsward
Mains level: Part I of the Indian Constitution
The Supreme Court has ordered that a plea to change India’s name exclusively to ‘Bharat’ be converted into a representation and forwarded to the Union government for an appropriate decision.
Note:
Whenever such articles are in news, make sure to revise entire Part. Like in this case Part I – Articles 1, 2, 3 and 4. See the B2b section.
What is the issue?
- The petition seeks an amendment to Article 1 of the Constitution, which says “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States…”
- It wants ‘India’ to be struck off from the Article.
Article 1 of the Constitution
- Article 1 in the Constitution states that India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.
- The territory of India shall consist of: The territories of the states, The Union territories and Any territory that may be acquired in future.
The names of the States and the Unions have been described in the First Schedule. This schedule also holds that there are four Categories of State and territories – Part A, Part B, Part C and Part D.
- Part A – includes the nine provinces which were under British India
- Part B – princely states consisted of this category
- Part C – centrally administered five states
- Part D – Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Abolishing of these schedules
- In the seventh amendment of the Constitution in 1956, the distinction between Part A and Part B states was abolished.
- Subsequently, states were reorganized on a linguistic basis.
- As a result, several new states were formed, eg. Haryana, Goa, Nagaland, Mizoram etc. At present, there are 28 States and 8 UTs (corrected).
Debate over name change
- Bharat and India are both names given in the Constitution. India is already called ‘Bharat’ in the Constitution”.
- The petition says that India is a name of foreign origin. The name can be traced back to the Greek term ‘Indica’.
- The word ‘Bharat’ is closely associated with our Freedom Struggle as the cry was ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’.
- Chauvinists argue that the name change will ensure citizens to get over the colonial past and instil a sense of pride in our nationality.
What 2016 ruling has to say?
- The apex court had dismissed a similar petition in 2016.
- Then CJI T.S. Thakur orally remarked that every Indian had the right to choose between calling his country ‘Bharat’ or ‘India’.
- CJI said that the Supreme Court had no business to either dictate or decide for a citizen what he should call his country.
Back2Basics
Article 2
- Article 2 states that the parliament may, by law, admit new states into the Union of India or establish new states on terms and conditions it deems fit.
- For e.g. the addition of the State of Sikkim by the 35th (1974) and 36th (1975) constitutional amendments.
Article 3
- Article 3 empowers the parliament to form a new state by separation of a part of the territory of an established state or to unite two or more states or parts of states or by uniting any territory to a part of any state.
- This article provides that area of any state can reduced or increased and alter the boundaries or change the name of a state.
- Even though the state boundaries are subject to change, their area cannot be acquired by a foreign state.
- There is also a saving clause in the article to protect the rights of the state.
- The first condition is that no bill for the purpose can be introduced in either house except on the recommendation of the President of India.
- Second, whether the proposal contains the alternation of the area, boundaries or name of the state mentioned, it has to refer by President to the Legislatures of concerned states, for expressing opinions.
- Such opinion has to be expressed within a period specified by the President. In any case, the views expressed do not bind the decisions of either the President or the Parliament
Article 4
- This article specifies that the laws provided in article 2 and 3, admission/establishment of new states and alteration of names, areas and boundaries etc. of established states, are not to be considered amendments of the Constitution under article 368.
- It means these can be passed without resorting to any special procedure and by a simple majority.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ILP, NRC, CAA
Mains level: Debate over CAA
The Supreme Court has declined to stay the operation of a Presidential order which petitioners claimed deprived Assam of the powers to implement the Inner Line system in its districts and limit the applicability of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Try this:
Q. The NRC fails to resolve the illegal immigration issue in Assam. Critically Analyse.
In light of the ongoing pandemic, the fumes of protests over NRC/CAA have somewhat vanished. However, one must not forget the fundamental linkages between the NPR/NRC/CAA/ILP etc.
The Inner Line
- A concept drawn by colonial rulers, the Inner Line separated the tribal-populated hill areas in the Northeast from the plains.
- To enter and stay for any period in these areas, Indian citizens from other areas need an Inner Line Permit (ILP).
- Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram are protected by the Inner Line, and lately, Manipur was added.
- The concept originates from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act (BEFR), 1873.
Its inception
- The policy of exclusion first came about as a response to the reckless expansion of British entrepreneurs into new lands which threatened British political relations with the hill tribes.
- The BEFR prohibits an outsider’s — “British subject or foreign citizen” — entry into the are beyond the Inner Line without a pass and his purchase of land there.
- On the other hand, the Inner Line also protects the commercial interests of the British from the tribal communities.
- After Independence, the Indian government replaced “British subjects” with “Citizen of India”.
- Today, the main aim of the ILP system is to prevent settlement of other Indian nationals in the States where the ILP regime is prevalent, in order to protect the indigenous/tribal population.
How is it connected to the Citizenship Amendment Act?
- The CAA, which relaxes eligibility criteria for certain categories of migrants from three countries seeking Indian citizenship, exempts certain categories of areas, including those protected by the Inner Line system.
- Amid protests against the Act, the Adaptation of Laws (Amendment) Order, 2019, issued by the President, amended the BEFR, 1873, extending it to Manipur and parts of Nagaland that were not earlier protected by ILP.
What is the petition now?
- The petition was against the Presidential order. It said the order took away the Assam government’s permissive power to implement the ILP.
- This could have made the CAA inapplicable in these areas, the petition said.
- The CAA has given fresh legs to the demand.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Arsenicum album 30
Mains level: Clinical trials and ethical issues involved in treating covid
A homoeopathic drug, Arsenicum album 30, has become a subject of debate after several states and AYUSH Ministry recommended it for prophylactic (preventive) use against Covid-19.
Practice question:
Q. The furore over the usage of several medicines has created an chaos in treating COVID. Critically comment.
Arsenicum album 30
- Arsenicum album is made by heating arsenic with distilled water, a process repeated several times over three days. The drug has less than 1% arsenic.
- A small bottle with one course costs Rs 20-30.
- Arsenicum album is considered to correct inflammation in the body. It takes care of diarrhoea, cough and cold.
- It is used commonly by homoeopaths to treat anxiety, restlessness, cold, ulcerations, burning pains. It is taken in powder form or as a tablet.
- The health hazards of arsenic contamination in water are well known: long-term exposure to the metal can cause skin cancer, pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases.
- It has been recommended against COVID by the state governments in Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
The Covid-19 context
- Arsenicum album 30 could be taken as prophylactic medicine against Coronavirus infections.
- It is only “possible prevention” against flu.
- The AYUSH Ministry recommended taking the medicine for three days on an empty stomach and repeating the dose after a month if an outbreak continues locally.
Issues with such medicines
- The WHO neither has any guidelines nor any effective evidence on using Arsenicum album as a Covid-19 treatment.
- The debate stems from the fact that there is no scientific evidence that the drug works against Covid-19, a fact stressed not only by medical scientists but also by some homoeopathic practitioners themselves.
- There have been reports about people flocking to homoeopathic clinics to buy Arsenicum album, sometimes at triple the cost.
- Even local chemists have started stocking this medicine.
- Self-medication can prove harmful as prevention or cure for COVID-19.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Superconductivity
Mains level: Not Much
On a larger scale, electric grids, such as high power lines, lose over 5 per cent of their energy in the process of transmission.
In India, we often get to hear about the transmission losses in DISCOMS. Such losses can be zeroed with the application of superconducting cables (which is practically impossible unless we find a normal working one). The phenomena, superconductivity, however is not new to us, UPSC may end up asking some tricky statements in the prelims regarding it.
Heat losses
Waste heat is all around you. On a small scale, if your phone or laptop feels warm, that’s because some of the energy powering the device is being transformed into unwanted heat.
Where does this wasted heat come from?
- These elementary particles of an atom move around and interact with other electrons and atoms.
- Because they have an electric charge, as they move through a material — like metals, which can easily conduct electricity — they scatter off other atoms and generate heat.
Understanding Superconductivity
- A superconductor is a material, such as a pure metal like aluminium or lead, that when cooled to ultra-low temperatures allows electricity to move through it with absolutely zero resistance.
- Kamerlingh Onnes was the first scientist who figured out exactly how superconductor works in 1911.
- Simply put, superconductivity occurs when two electrons bind together at low temperatures.
- They form the building block of superconductors, the Cooper pair.
- This holds true even for a potential superconductor like lead when it is above a certain temperature.
What are Superconductors?
- Superconductors are materials that address this problem by allowing energy to flow efficiently through them without generating unwanted heat.
- They have great potential and many cost-effective applications.
- They operate magnetically levitated trains, generate magnetic fields for MRI machines and recently have been used to build quantum computers, though a fully operating one does not yet exist.
Issues with superconductors
- They have an essential problem when it comes to other practical applications: They operate at ultra-low temperatures.
- There are no room-temperature superconductors. That “room-temperature” part is what scientists have been working on for more than a century.
- The amount of energy needed to cool a material down to its superconducting state is too expensive for daily applications.
Future scope
- In a dramatic turn of events, a new kind of superconductor material was discovered in 1987 at IBM in Zurich, Switzerland.
- The material was a kind of ceramic. These new ceramic superconductors were made of copper and oxygen mixed with other elements such as lanthanum, barium and bismuth.
- They contradicted everything physicists thought they knew about making superconductors.
- Since then, curiosity regarding the superconductors has been ever increasing.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Extreme weather events in India and their mitigation
Nineteen extreme weather events in 2019 claimed 1,357 lives, with heavy rain and flood accounting for 63 per cent of these deaths, revealed Down To Earth’s State of India’s Environment 2020 report.
Extreme weather events:
- Extreme weather events are out of the ordinary, unexpected, unusual climatic events which wreak havoc and disrupt everyday life.
- Over the years, the frequency of extreme weather events has increased due to global warming and climate change.
- Extreme weather events include hailstorm, heatwaves, dust storm, cloud bursts etc.
Try this question:
Q. Extreme weather events have been the biggest catastrophe in India this year. Discuss.
Data from this newscard can be used to substantiate your mains answer with relevant data.
Loss of lives
- The most lives were lost in Bihar, with people dying from floods and heavy rain (306), thunderstorms (71) and heatwave (292) between May and October.
- In Maharashtra, 136 people died from floods and heavy rain, 51 died from lightning and 44 died from the heatwave between June and September.
- There was a 69 per cent increase in the number of heatwave days between 2013 and 2019 as well, the report said.
- Over 5,300 people died from heatwaves in the past seven years.
- Cold waves increased by 69 per cent within a year, between 2017 and 2018, with the latter year reported having an extremely cold winter, with the most casualties (279) in the past seven years.
Risks of Extreme weather events in India
- Climate change related risks will increasingly affect the Indian subcontinent, including via sea level rise, cyclonic activity and changes in temperature and precipitation patterns.
- Rising sea levels would submerge low-lying islands and coastal lands and contaminate coastal freshwater reserves.Climate change will increase the risks of death, injury and ill-health and disrupt livelihoods in low-lying coastal zones due to cyclones and coastal and inland flooding, storm surges and sea-level rise.
- Melting Himalayan glaciers would reduce downstream water supply in many of India’s important rivers in the dry season, impacting millions
- A warmer atmosphere will spread tropical diseases and pests to new areas.
- Increased river, coastal and urban floods could cause considerable loss of life and widespread damage to property, infrastructure and settlements.
- Erratic rainfall in parts of India could lower rice yields and lead to higher food prices and living costs, while increased drought related water and food shortages linked to rising and extreme temperatures may increase malnutrition and worsen rural poverty. Over 55% of Indian rural households depend on agriculture for a living and, with fisheries and forestry,
Systems in place to tackle extreme weather events are as follows:
1.Meteorological predictions
2.Contingency fund
3.Early warning to citizens
4.NDMA has issued an action plan for Prevention and Management of Heat Waves.
5.Remote sensing satellites.
Problems with accurate meteorological predictions are as follows:
1.Meteorological predictions are considered for broad geographical areas and timeframes. It is not yet possible to predict a thunderstorm or lightning at a village or a part of a city.
2.The exact times these events will hit, too, cannot be predicted.
3.Alerts and warnings are in the nature of a general advisory, telling the people to expect these events, and to take precautions
Steps taken by the State government are as follows:
1.Rajasthan:
- storm has been included in the category of natural disasters for the first time in the State and funds to the tune of ₹2.55 crore have been sanctioned to the affected districts.
- The next of kin of each deceased in Rajasthan will get financial assistance of ₹4 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
- Power discoms have launched action on a war-footing to restore electricity supply in the affected areas, while the administration has ordered a survey of damaged properties.
- In Dholpur district, relief camps have been opened for the villagers whose houses were destroyed.
2.Uttar Pradesh:
- The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister has announced a compensation of up to Rs 400,000 to the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for each of the injured in the heavy rainfall and storm across the state.
- contingency funds have been released to the respective district administration.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SWADES
Mains level: Various employment measures
The Union Govt. has launched a new initiative SWADES (Skilled Workers Arrival Database for Employment Support) to conduct a skill mapping exercise of the returning citizens under the Vande Bharat Mission.
In the first go, one may get reminded of the SWADESH Darshan Scheme… Please beware! This SWADES initiative has nothing to do with the tourism sector!
SWADES Initiative
- SWADES is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of External Affairs.
- MSDE’s implementation arm National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is supporting the implementation of the project.
- It aims to create a database of qualified citizens based on their skillsets and experience to tap into and fulfil the demand of Indian and foreign companies.
- The collected information will be shared with the companies for suitable placement opportunities in the country.
- The returning citizens are required to fill up an online SWADES Skills Card.
- The card will facilitate a strategic framework to provide the returning citizens with suitable employment opportunities through discussions with key stakeholders including.
Data on the returnees
- Amongst the data gathered so far, the top countries from where the citizens are returning are UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
- As per the skill mapping, these citizens had been primarily employed in sectors such as oil & gas, construction, tourism & hospitality, Automotive and Aviation.
- The data also suggests that the States which have shown highest returning labour are Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GER
Mains level: Not Much
The World Bank has released its Global Economic Prospects (GEP) 2020 report.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2019
Q.) The Global Competitiveness Report is published by the-
(a) International Monetary Fund
(b) United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(c) World Economic Forum
(d) World Bank
Global Economic Prospects (GEP)
- GEP is a World Bank Group flagship report that examines global economic developments and prospects, with a special focus on emerging market and developing economies.
- It is issued twice a year, in January and June.
- The January edition includes in-depth analyses of topical policy challenges while the June edition contains shorter analytical pieces.
Summary of the report
In a nutshell, the outlook for the global economy for 2020 has darkened, amid slowing activity and heightened downside risks.
1) On poverty
- The scope and speed with which the COVID-19 pandemic and economic shutdowns have devastated the poor around the world are unprecedented in modern times.
- Current estimates show that 60 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty in 2020.
2) Policy choices
- Policy choices made today — include greater debt transparency to invite new investment, foster advances in digital connectivity, and a major expansion of cash safety nets for the poor.
- The financing and building of productive infrastructure are among the hardest-to-solve development challenges in the post-pandemic recovery.
3) Emerging Market and Developing Economies (EMDEs)
- EMDEs face health crises, restrictions and external shocks like falling trade, tourism and commodity prices, as well as capital outflows.
- These countries are expected to have a 3-8% output loss in the short term, based on studies of previous pandemics, as per the analysis.
- Growth is likely to slow more in commodity-exporting EMDEs than in commodity-importing ones.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Fiscal deficit. Monetisation of debt
Mains level: Paper 3- Quality of fiscal deficit
This article analyses the various aspects of the stimulus package announced by the government. It gives a broad idea about the borrowing and fiscal deficit of the government. Where the fiscal deficit should be spent? Which area the announced reforms should focus on? You’ll be able to answer these questions after reading the article.
Contraction of the Indian economy
- Many analysts have recently predicted a contraction for the Indian economy.
- Goldman Sachs/ICRA and Nomura, in their recent assessments, have forecasted India’s growth to contract by (-)5.0 per cent and (-)5.2 per cent, respectively.
- Even the RBI assesses that growth in the current year may be in the negative zone although it has not given a specific number.
- The World Bank has predicted growth in the range of 1.5 to 2.8 per cent.
- In order to relate budgetary magnitudes to GDP, we also need an idea of the magnitude of nominal GDP growth.
- In the current year, this is expected to be at least 4 per cent points less than the rate of growth at 10 per cent as assumed in the 2020-21 budget.
Let’s clear the misunderstanding about the stimulus
- One misunderstanding about the “stimulus” must also be cleared.
- Any increase in government expenditure over and above the base level acts as stimulus.
- This is the traditional Keynesian approach.
- It made no distinction between different types of expenditures.
- It is only later studies that made a distinction based on the size of fiscal multipliers.
How much will be the gross borrowing and fiscal deficit?
- The Centre has already announced an increase in gross borrowing for 2020-21 from INR 7.8 lakh crore to Rs. 12 lakh crore.
- This may lead to a fiscal deficit of about 5.7 to 5.8 per cent of GDP.
- This may only be enough to provide for the considerable shortfall in the budgeted tax and non-tax revenues and non-debt capital receipts, which is also being estimated by a number of analysts to be in the range of Rs 18 lakh crore, implying a shortfall of Rs 4.45 lakh crore.
- This shortfall is 2.08 per cent of GDP.
- The Centre’s fiscal deficit will have to be further increased to accommodate the additional burden on the 2020-21 budget arising on account of the stimulus package.
Let’s divide stimulus package into budgetary and non-budgetary part
- The series of measures announced by the FM are a mix of i) already budgeted expenditure,ii) additional expenditure, iii) extension of credit facility with government guarantee for certain select sectors and a host of reform measures.
- Analytically, the overall stimulus package of Rs 20.97 lakh crore can be divided into a budgetary and a non-budgetary part.
1) Non-budgetary part
- The non-budgetary part, accounting for nearly 85 per cent of the overall package.
- Non-budgetary part consists mainly of liquidity enhancing measures for banks and NBFCs which may facilitate the financial sector in playing a key role to kickstart the economy.
- The credit guarantee provided by the government under the various schemes announced recently is of central importance in this context.
- In fact, for certain schemes, the government has come forward to provide 100 per cent guarantee, which should quicken the pace of credit sanction and delivery by banks.
- Production of goods and services is inter-related in an economic system.
- Once production starts, different sectors will be mutually supporting since different industries and service providers are locked in an input-output system.
2) Budgetary part and fiscal deficits
- The budgetary part amounts only to about 15 per cent of the overall package.
- This can be further divided into government expenditure which was already budgeted in the 2020-21 budget and expenditures constituting genuine additionality.
- The genuine additionality component is only 10 per cent of the package equivalent to 1 per cent of GDP.
- Adding this to the enhanced level of 5.7 per cent of GDP, the Centre’s fiscal deficit may be close to 6.7-7 per cent of GDP.
- This will maintain the level of budgeted expenditure while providing for the additional cost of the announced fiscal stimulus.
- In fact, the fiscal deficit will be even higher if the current year’s GDP is lower than that of the previous year.
Composition of government expenditure matters
- With this high fiscal deficit, the composition of government expenditure becomes critical.
- Some of the establishment expenditures and subsidies, especially those linked to petroleum prices like fertiliser and petroleum subsidies, may be reduced.
- While expenditure on health-related items may be increased.
- The central government has announced freezing of increments of DA and dearness relief components in the case of salaries and pensions respectively.
- In fact, the government should be doing much more to relieve the plight of migrant workers.
What is budgetary contribution for infrastructure?
- According to the National Infrastructure Pipeline, the Centre’s budgetary contribution to infrastructure is estimated at 1.25 per cent of GDP on an annual basis.
- This is less than 18 per cent of the estimated fiscal deficit of the Centre in 2020-21, indicating a very poor quality of fiscal deficit.
- One dimension of expenditure restructuring should be to frontload infrastructure spending, including that on health infrastructure
- Which will be helpful in taking advantage of the higher multiplier effects associated with capital expenditures.
- Investment augmentation is also demand supporting and employment and income generating.
Support to demand
- Support to demand will come not only from the Centre but also from the states and the public sector undertakings.
- States have been allowed to borrow an additional 2 per cent of their respective GSDPs subject to certain conditions.
- In fact, at the present juncture, these conditions are not required since the enhancement of the borrowing limit is for one time while the reforms linked to conditions are permanent in nature.
- In any case, states should be encouraged to support demand by going up to the full extent of the enhanced limit.
Why the monetisation of debt is unavoidable?
- The combined fiscal deficit of the Centre and states alone may amount to close to 12 per cent of GDP in 2020-21.
- Besides, the total public sector borrowing also includes the borrowing by central and state public sector undertakings.
- Thus, the total Public Sector Borrowing Requirement may well exceed available sources of financing consisting of i) the financial savings of the household sector, ii) savings of the public sector iii) net capital inflows.
- In this context, monetising debt has become unavoidable.
- The Centre must be forthcoming on these issues while recognising that extraordinary situations call for extraordinary solutions.
Reforms should be sector-specific
- In the case of reforms, we have reached a new stage.
- General reforms cutting across industries and sectors have been critical in the early stages.
- The earlier regime of controls and permits had to be brought to a close.
- But now reforms have to focus on specific sectors.
- Applying the general principles of liberalisation to sectors such as agriculture and, more particularly, agricultural marketing, power sector, and telecom have assumed importance.
- Labour market reforms are needed across all the states.
- But labour reforms are introduced better when the economy is in the upswing.
- Consensus building is critical before introducing labour reforms.
- Land markets need to be freed up consistent with the concerns of small and marginal farmers.
Consider the question “The fiscal stimulus and the promise of reforms announced by the government would be instrumental in bringing the Indian economy devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic back on track. Comment.”
Conclusion
Fiscal deficit should be used to create infrastructure ensuring that the quality of fiscal deficit is not poor. At the same time, reforms announced should be sector-specific and consensus-based in case of labour laws.
Back2Basics: AT&C losses
- Distribution loss consists of two parts: a. Technical loss and b. Commercial loss.
- It is also called AT&C loss.
- AT&C loss is nothing but the sum total of technical and commercial losses and shortage due to non-realization of billed amount.
- AT&C Loss = (Energy input – Energy billed) * 100 / Energy input.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: G7 countries
Mains level: Paper 2- Challenges the current form of multilateralism faces and opportunity for India to shape the new multilateralism.
The world is going through turmoil. The new world that will emerge will be different from what we have known. This provides India with some unique opportunities. This article explains the changes that are taking place and gives the outline of the changing order. So, how can India set and shape the global response? And what should be the principles on which the new multilateralism should be based? Read to know…
Opportunity for India to set the global response
- As chair of the Executive Board of the World Health Assembly – India can set the global response in terms of multilateralism, not just medical issues.
- How can India set a global response in terms of multilateralism? Consider the following- a rare alignment of stars for agenda-setting.
- 1) In September, the United Nations General Assembly will discuss the theme, “The Future We Want”.
- 2) In 2021, India joins the UN Security Council (non-permanent seat).
- 3) And chairs the BRICS Summit in 2021.
- 4) Also hosts the G-20 in 2022.
- New principles for international system: At the online summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, in May, Prime Minister Modi called for new principles for the international system.
- His new globalisation model based on humanity, fairness and equality has wide support in a more equal world as, for the first time since 1950, everyone is experiencing the same (virus) threat.
Changing global context
- China is losing influence and the dynamics in its relations with the United States.
- And Asia again is emerging as the centre of global prosperity.
- The global governance, economy, scientific research and society are all in need of being re-invented.
- India should use this opportunity to recover our global thought leadership.
The US-China powerplay and its consequences for multilateralism
- The clash between China and the U.S. at the just concluded World Health Assembly in May marks the end of the multilateralism of the past 70 years.
- The donor-recipient relationship between developed and developing countries has ended with China’s pledge of $2-billion.
- The agenda-setting role of the G7 over UN institutions and global rules has also been effectively challenged by WHO ignoring the reform diktat of the U.S. leading to its withdrawal, and characterisation of the G7 as “outdated”.
- The U.S. has also implicitly rejected the G20 and UN Security Council, for an expanded G7 “to discuss the future of China”.
- Important shift in the UN: After World War II, the newly independent states were not consulted when the U.S. imposed global institutions fostering trade, capital and technology dependence.
- This was done ignoring the socio-economic development of these countries.
- But social and economic rights have emerged to be as important as political and procedural rights.
- Against this backdrop, China’s President Xi Jinping deftly endorsed the UN Resolution on equitable access to any new vaccine.
Emergence of Asia and China: Challenges for the US and the West
- The U.S. faces an uphill task in seeking to lead a new multidimensional institution in the face of China’s re-emergence.
- The re-emergence of China is based on technology, innovation and trade balancing U.S. military superiority.
- At the same time, there is a clear trend of declining global trust in free-market liberalism, central to western civilisation.
- With the West experiencing a shock comparable to the one experienced by Asia, 200 years ago, the superiority of western civilisation is also under question.
- The novel coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the shift of global wealth to Asia suggesting an inclusive global order based on principles drawn from ancient Asian civilisations.
- Colonised Asia played no role in shaping the Industrial Revolution.
- But, the Digital Revolution will be shaped by different values.
- It is really this clash that multilateralism has now to resolve.
World is questioning both U.S. and China’s exceptionalism
- China has come out with alternative governance mechanisms to the U.S.-dominated International Monetary Fund, World Bank and World Trade Organization with its all-encompassing Belt and Road Initiative.
- The U.S., European Union and Japan are re-evaluating globalisation as it pertains to China and the U.S. is unabashedly “America First”.
- The world is questioning both U.S. and China’s exceptionalism.
- For India, the strategic issue is neither adjustment to China’s power nor deference to U.S. leadership.
Opportune moment for India to propose new multilateralism
- The global vacuum, shift in relative power and its own potential, provides India the capacity to articulate a benign multilateralism.
- It should include in its fold NAM-Plus that resonates with large parts of the world and brings both BRICS and the G7 into the tent.
- This new multilateralism should rely on outcomes, not rules, ‘security’ downplayed for ‘comparable levels of wellbeing’ and a new P-5 that is not based on the G7.
India in a important role
- China, through an opinion piece by its Ambassador in India, has suggested writing “together a new chapter” with “a shared future for mankind”.
- The U.S. wants a security partnership to contain China.
- And the Association of Southeast Asian Nations trade bloc — with the U.S. walking out of the negotiations — is keen India joins to balance China.
- With a new template. India does not have to choose.
Three principles the new system should be based on-
1. Peaceful coexistence
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- First, the Asian Century should be defined in terms of peaceful co-existence, freezing post-colonial sovereignty.
- Non-interference in the internal affairs of others is a key lesson from the decline of the U.S. and the rise of China.
- National security now relies on technological superiority in artificial intelligence (AI), cyber and space, and not expensive capital equipment, as India’s military has acknowledged.
- Instead of massive arms imports, we should use the savings to enhance endogenous capacity.
- And mould the global digital economy between state-centric (China), firm-centric (the U.S.) and public-centric (India) systems.
2. New principles of trade
- A global community at comparable levels of well-being requires new principles for trade, for example, rejecting the 25-year-old trade rule creating intellectual property monopolies.
- Global public goods should include public health, crop research, renewable energy and batteries, even AI as its value comes from shared data.
- We have the scientific capacity to support these platforms as part of foreign policy.
3. Civilisational values
- Ancient civilisational values provide the conceptual underpinning, restructuring both the economic order and societal behaviour for equitable sustainable development.
- Which is what a climate change impacted world, especially Africa, is seeking.
Consider the question-“The global order is going through serious churn, and it provides India with an opportunity to shape the new multilateralism based on humanity, fairness and equality. Comment.”
Conclusion
In the new cold war, defined by technology and trade not territory, non-alignment is an uncertain option; India should craft a global triumvirate.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: WHA
Mains level: Paper 2- Policy that India should follow at WHA executive board
India has been tasked with helming the WHO executive board at the turbulent times. The world is facing the health crisis. It is against this backdrop, India has to lead the executive board. This article suggests 5 elements that should form the part of India’s policy approach.
Challenges for India as it heads WHO executive board
- Minister of Health and Family Welfare is elected as the Chair of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) executive board.
- The 34-member body is tasked with implementing the decisions of the recently concluded World Health Assembly (WHA).
- The elevation affords India an important platform to steer the global public health response to COVID-19.
- It also comes at a time when the WHO is being rocked politically as never before.
WHO: caught between the US-China crossfire
- Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote a letter to the WHO Director-General.
- In the letter, he threatened to make permanent his temporary funding freeze as well as reconsider the U.S’s membership in the organisation if the latter did not commit to major substantive reforms within 30 days.
- By contrast, at the WHA plenary, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged $2 billion to fight the virus.
- He also promised to pair up 30 African hospitals with domestic counterparts, accelerate the building of the Africa Centers for Disease Control headquarters, and ensure that vaccine development in China, when available, would be made a global public good.
So, as WHO executive body chair, India will have to navigate this treacherous power landscape with candour and tact. Following 5 elements should inform its policy approach.
1. Set epidemic prevention and control as a priority
- India must insist that epidemic prevention and control remain the international community’s foremost priority.
- As the virus’ chain of transmission is broken, the focus should shift to identifying the animal-to-human transmission origins of SARS-CoV-2.
- China shares an important interest in facilitating international access to investigate COVID-19’s zoonotic origins.
- Why China shares interest? Because Wuhan and other previously infected zones could yet be susceptible to the risk of viral reintroduction.
2. Review the early response of China and WHO to outbreak
- India should lean on the WHO secretariat to fast-track the “impartial, independent, and comprehensive review” of the WHO’s – and China’s – early response to the outbreak.
- The review’s findings should illuminate best practice and highlight areas for improvement, both in the WHO’s leadership and capacity as well as member states’ implementation of the International Health Regulations.
- For those in New Delhi inclined to relish the prospect of Beijing’s comeuppance, the review’s findings may yet sorely disappoint.
- The WHO-China Joint Mission featuring renowned global epidemiologists had termed China’s early COVID-19 response as the “most ambitious, agile and aggressive disease containment effort in history”.
3. Ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all
- For ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines for all countries, India must promote the establishment of an appropriate multilateral governance mechanism.
- The envisaged voluntary pooling mechanism to collect patent rights and regulatory test data should be suitably tailored to the needs of crisis.
- And the World Trade Organization’s intellectual property rights provisions should be overridden as is allowed during a public health emergency to assure affordable vaccine availability.
4. Taiwan issue at WHA: India should stay aloof
- India must stay aloof from the West’s campaign to re-seat Taiwan as an observer at the WHA.
- When Taipei last attended in 2016, it did so under the explicit aegis of UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, whereby the UN considers Taiwan to be an integral part of the People’s Republic of China.
- That the independence-minded Tsai government is unwilling to concede this basis for attendance has more to do with domestic political manoeuvring than Chinese or international ostracism.
5.Global ban on consumption of wild animals
- India must lead the call for a permanent global ban on the consumption and trade of wild animals.
- This ban should be with limited exceptions built-in for scientific research, species protection and traditional livelihood interests.
- With two-thirds of emerging infections and diseases now arising from wildlife, the destruction of natural habitats and biodiversity loss must be taken much more seriously.
Consider the question “The WHO has been facing the credibility crisis for its response to the Covid-19. In such a difficult time for the agency, India has to lead the executive board of WHA. In light of this, suggest the policy approach that India should adopt at WHA.”
Conclusion
India has its work cut out. The government should seize the moment to steer the global response in addressing the shortcomings in various areas exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sixth Mass Extinction
Mains level: Mass Extinction
Click here for high resolution of the image: National Geographic
The ongoing sixth mass extinction may be one of the most serious environmental threats to the persistence of civilization, according to new research published in an American journal.
Try this question from CSP 2018:
The term “sixth mass extinction/sixth extinction” is often mentioned in the news in the context of the discussion of
(a) Widespread monoculture Practices agriculture and large-scale commercial farming with indiscriminate use of chemicals in many parts of the world that may result in the loss of good native ecosystems.
(b) Fears of a possible collision of a meteorite with the Earth in the near future in the manner it happened 65million years ago that caused the mass extinction of many species including those of dinosaurs.
(c) Large scale cultivation of genetically modified crops in many parts of the world and promoting their cultivationin other Parts of the world which may cause the disappearance of good native crop plants and the loss offood biodiversity.
(d) Mankind’s over-exploitation/misuse of natural resources, fragmentation/loss, natural habitats, destructionof ecosystems, pollution and global climate change.
Highlights of the research
- The study analysed 29,400 species of terrestrial vertebrates and determined which of these are on the brink of extinction because they have fewer than 1,000 individuals.
- The disappearance of their component populations has been occurring since the 1800s.
- Most of these 515 species are from South America (30 per cent), followed by Oceania (21 per cent), Asia (21 per cent) and Africa (16 per cent) among others.
The Anthropocene Extinction
- Mass extinction refers to a substantial increase in the degree of extinction or when the Earth loses more than three-quarters of its species in a geologically short period of time.
- So far, during the entire history of the Earth, there have been five mass extinctions.
- The sixth, which is ongoing, is referred to as the Anthropocene extinction.
- The five mass extinctions that took place in the last 450 million years have led to the destruction of 70-95 per cent of the species of plants, animals and microorganisms that existed earlier.
- These extinctions were caused by “catastrophic alterations” to the environment, such as massive volcanic eruptions, depletion of oceanic oxygen or collision with an asteroid.
- After each of these extinctions, it took millions of years to regain species comparable to those that existed before the event.
So what is the sixth mass extinction then?
- Researchers have described it as the “most serious environmental problem” since the loss of species will be permanent.
- Even though only an estimated 2% of all of the species that ever lived are alive today, the absolute number of species is greater now than ever before.
- The research claims that this extinction is human-caused and is more immediate than climate destruction.
Major drivers of mass extinction
- Significantly, the study calls for a complete ban on wildlife trade as many of the species currently endangered or on the brink of extinction are being decimated by legal and illegal wildlife trade.
- The current COVID-19 pandemic, while not fully understood, is also linked to the wildlife trade.
- There is no doubt that there will be more pandemics if man continues destroying habitats and trading wildlife for own consumption as food and traditional medicines.
What happens when species go extinct?
- When species go extinct, the impact can be tangible such as in the form of a loss in crop pollination and water purification.
- Further, if a species has a specific function in an ecosystem, the loss can lead to consequences for other species by impacting the food chain.
- The effects of extinction will worsen in the coming decades as the resulting genetic and cultural variability will change entire ecosystems.
- If the number of individuals in a population or species drops, their contributions to ecosystem services become unimportant.
- Their genetic variability and resilience is reduced, and its contribution to human welfare may be lost.” the study says.
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