Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- India-China relations
The article analyses the India’s efforts to establish strategic equilibrium with assertive China and how that idea clashes with China’s desire to form an Asian order with itself at the top.
Strategic equilibrium
- External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar articulated that India is seeking strategic equilibrium with an increasingly aggressive China.
- It is hoped that with China’s growing differences with the U.S. China would pay attention to India’s sensitivities.
- In achieving equilibrium with China, India has bravely been confronting a face-off in the Himalayas for the past several months.
- India has been building issue-based alliances with the US and Asian majors like Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia, and Australia.
- It has taken initiatives in the direction of economic de-coupling with China in the name of “atmanirbharata”.
Hierarchical Asian order with China at top
- China is not interested in equilibrium with any of its Asian neighbours, least of all with India.
- China’s efforts are clearly to build a hierarchical Asian order, with itself at the top.
- It is acutely conscious of India’s economic strength, military modernisation and overall capabilities.
- It knows that India is also far behind on these counts.
- China is ruthlessly resisting India’s access to global governance bodies, such as the UNSC and NSG.
- To keep India tied at that level, China is objecting to India’s growing strategic proximity to the US. I
- It is encircling India strategically and economically through its strategic and economic corridors — BCIM (Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar), CPEC and the Trans-Himalayan Connectivity Network.
- It is raising issues like Kashmir at the UN and establishing footprints in the Indian Ocean.
What should India do
1. Adjust with China, at least tactically.
- Such an adjustment could be based on mutual give and take.
- For India, our first priority could be the resolution of the border dispute.
- Secondly, since China has offered to mediate between India and Pakistan, it should be asked to prevail over Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue.
- In return for these “takes” India could offer access to Chinese commercial cargos to sea, through the Nathula pass.
- India could also join China’s BRI on mutually acceptable terms.
- India may also show its willingness, at least tactically, to join CPEC as both Pakistan and China have asked for, provided, India is allowed to undertake projects in PoK and Balochistan.
2.India should revisit its Tibet policy, which is a core irritant for China.
Consider the question “China seeking to establish an Asian order with itself at the top comes in the way of India establishing strategic equilibrium with China. Comment.”
Conclusion
It is possible that this “give” and “take” may not be acceptable to China. Even if it does not work out as planned, India would have made a bold diplomatic initiative and a huge tactical move towards thinking through out-of-the-box solutions and displaying that it can undertake risks to pursue its long-term national interests.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Evolution of the idea of strategic autonomy
The article analyses the evolution of India’s approach to strategic autonomy from the unipolar world dominated by the U.S. to now when the Chinese threat has been looming large.
Context
- Addressing a Southeast Asian forum last week, external affairs minister outlined India’s new quest for “strategic autonomy” in its global economic engagement.
Connection with Atmanirbhar Bharat
- This new quest for “strategic autonomy” is the natural external complement to new economic strategy, described as “Atmanirbharata” or “self-reliance”.
- The concept carries so much ideological baggage, its revival by Government inevitably raised many questions
- Senior ministers and officials of the NDA government sought to reassure India’s partners that Delhi was not marching backwards.
- When applied to the foreign policy framework, “self-reliance” becomes “strategic autonomy”.
Evolution of the idea of strategic autonomy
- America towered over the world after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
- India’s past emphasis on strategic autonomy was in the context of the “unipolar moment” [dominated by the U.S.] that emerged after the Cold War.
- On the one hand, India needed Western capital as well as technology and better access to its markets.
- On the other hand, Delhi had to protect some of its core national interests from the threats of US intervention.
India-U.S. Relations: Evolution after the Cold war
- In the early 1990s, the Clinton Administration strong desire to resolve the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan.
- The Clinton Administration saw the nuclear and Kashmir disputes as one and the same thing.
- Indian diplomacy for the next two decades tried to change the US policy on both Kashmir and nuclear issues.
- Under President George W Bush, the US discarded the long-standing temptation to insert itself in the Kashmir dispute.
- The US also went out of the way to resolve the nuclear dispute with India by changing its domestic laws and international norms on nuclear proliferation.
- The Obama and Trump Administrations have stayed the course since then.
China challenge for India
- On the atomic front, as the US sought to lift the prolonged atomic blockade against India, China sought to block the process.
- China turned an obstacle to India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
- China takes up the Kashmir issue regularly in the United Nations Security Council.
- Today, India’s strategic autonomy is about coping with China’s challenge to India’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
- China today is viewed in Delhi as a major threat to India’s economic development.
- The bilateral trade deficit reached nearly $55billion in 2019.
- India pulled out of an Asia-wide free-trade arrangement called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership late last year, sensing the threat posed by China-led economic order.
- Ladakh aggression forced India to go from a passive commercial withdrawal to an active economic decoupling from China.
Way forward
- The logic of strategic autonomy from China nudges India to look for strong security partnerships with the US, Europe, Japan and Australia.
- On the economic front, India is exploring various forms of collaboration with a broad group of nations that have a shared interest in developing trustworthy global supply chains.
Consider the question “Delineate the evolution of India’s approach towards the idea of strategic autonomy. How it differs from the past?”
Conclusion
Threats to either territorial integrity or economic prosperity are powerful enough on their own to compel drastic changes in any nation’s policies. Coming together, they promise to make strategic autonomy from an assertive China an enduring theme of India’s economic and foreign policies in the years ahead.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MEIS, RODTEP Scheme
Mains level: Export promotion measures
The outlay for the RoDTEP scheme is expected to be “much higher” than the NITI Aayog’s much-curtailed estimate of Rs 10,000 crore a year.
Overt allocation
- The central government had envisaged an annual allocation of about Rs 50,000 crore under the RoDTEP scheme to make exports zero-rated.
Try this PYQ:
Q. Among the following, which one is the largest exporter of rice in the world in the last five years? (CSP 2019)
(a) China
(b) India
(c) Myanmar
(d) Vietnam
RoDTEP Scheme
- RoDTEP is a scheme for the Exporters to make Indian products cost-competitive and create a level playing field for them in the Global Market.
- It has replaced the current Merchandise Exports from India Scheme, which is not in compliance with WTO norms and rules.
- The new RoDTEP Scheme is fully WTO compliant scheme.
- It will reimburse all the taxes/duties/levies being charged at the Central/State/Local level which are not currently refunded under any of the existing schemes but are incurred at the manufacturing and distribution process.
Back2Basics: Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS)
- MEIS was launched with an objective to enhance the export of notified goods manufactured in a country.
- This scheme came into effect on 1 April 2015 through the Foreign Trade Policy and will be in existence till 2020.
- MEIS intends to incentivise exports of goods manufactured in India or produced in India.
- The incentives are for goods widely exported from India, industries producing or manufacturing such goods with a view to making Indian exports competitive.
- The MEIS covers almost 5000 goods notified for the purpose of the scheme.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PVTGs
Mains level: Not Much
The COVID-19 pandemic has reached the Bondas, a PVTGs community residing in the hill ranges of Malkangiri district in Odisha.
Try this PYQ:
Consider the following statements about Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in India:
- PVTGs reside in 18 States and one Union Territory.
- A stagnant or declining population is one of the criteria for determining PVTG status.
- There are 95 PVTGs officially notified in the country so far.
- Irular and Konda Reddi tribes are included in the list of PVTGs.
Which of the statements given above are correct?(CSP 2019)
(a) 1, 2 and 3
(b) 2, 3 and 4
(c) 1, 2 and 4
(d) 1, 3 and 4
Who are the Bondas?
- The Bondas are Munda ethnic group who live in the isolated hill regions of the Malkangiri district of southwestern Odisha near the junction of the three states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh.
- They are a scheduled tribe of India and are also known as the Remo (meaning “people” in the Bonda language).
- The tribe is one of the oldest and most primitive in mainland India; their culture has changed little for more than a thousand years.
- Their isolation and known aggressiveness continue to preserve their culture despite the pressures of an expanding Indian population.
Back2Basics: Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)
- There are certain tribal communities who have declining or stagnant population, low level of literacy, pre-agricultural level of technology and are economically backward.
- They generally inhabit remote localities having poor infrastructure and administrative support.
- These groups are among the most vulnerable section of our society as they are few in numbers, have not attained any significant level of social and economic development.
- 75 such groups have been identified and categorized as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NFS Act
Mains level: Assurance of Food Security
The Department of Food &Public Distribution has issued directions to States/UTs to include all eligible disabled persons under the National Food Security (NFS) Act 2013.
Try this question:
Q.In the ongoing crisis, maintaining the level of food security has become one of the most essential needs. In light of the above statement, critically examine the priority areas for maintaining food security in the country. Suggest measures to make accessibility and availability of food easier for all.
National Food Security (NFS) Act
- The NFS Act, 2013 aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two-thirds of India’s 1.2 billion people.
- It was signed into law on 12 September 2013, retroactive to 5 July 2013.
- It converts into legal entitlements for existing food security programmes of the GoI.
- It includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme and the Public Distribution System (PDS).
- Further, the NFSA 2013 recognizes maternity entitlements.
- The Midday Meal Scheme and the ICDS are universal in nature whereas the PDS will reach about two-thirds of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas).
- Under the provisions of the bill, beneficiaries of the PDS are entitled to 5 kilograms per person per month of cereals at the following prices:
- Rice at ₹3 per kg
- Wheat at ₹2 per kg
- Coarse grains (millet) at ₹1 per kg.
- Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily free cereals.
Implementation
- Section 38 of the Act mandates that the Central Government may from time to time give directions to the State Governments for effective implementation of the provisions of the Act.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Brahmaputra Ropeway
Mains level: Not Much
India’s ‘longest’ river ropeway across the Brahmaputra River was unveiled in Guwahati.
Navigate to this page for more readings on Brahmaputra River systems:
Brahmaputra Ropeway
- The 1.82 km bi-cable jig-back ropeway connects the southern bank of the Brahmaputra and a hillock behind the Doul Govinda temple in North Guwahati on the other.
- It passes over the mid-river Peacock Island that houses Umananda, a medieval Shiva temple.
- It thus cuts travel time between the two banks to 8 minutes.
- The current travel options between the two banks are by ferry (30 minutes or more, depending on current and season) or by road through a bridge that usually takes over an hour in the traffic.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Treaty of Sagauli
Mains level: Paper 2- India-Nepal relations
Unilateral actions by Nepal
- Minor dispute involving territory around the Kalapani springs, was expanded to claim a large wedge of Indian territory towards the east, measuring nearly 400 square kilometres.
- The expanded claim was incorporated into Nepal through a constitutional amendment and a revised official map.
Future course of action
- India should be willing to engage in talks with Nepal on all aspects of India-Nepal relations.
- But any talks on the Kalapani issue should be limited to the area which was the original subject for negotiations and Susta.
- Borders which have been accepted by both sides for more than 100 years and which have also been reflected on their official maps cannot be unilaterally altered by one side coming up with archival material which has surfaced in the meantime.
- This would make national boundaries unstable and shifting, and create avoidable controversies between countries as is the case now between India and Nepal.
Some historical background
- The Treaty of Sugauli of 1816 sets the Kali river as the boundary between the two countries.
- There was no map attached to the treaty.
- Nepal is now claiming that the main tributary of the Kalapani river rises east of the Lipu Lekh pass from the Limpiyadhura ridgeline and hence should serve as the border.
- Even if the lengthiest tributary may be one principle for a riverine boundary, it is not the only one.
- There are many boundaries which do not follow any geographical principle at all but are the result of historical circumstances, mutual agreement and legal recognition.
- British surveys of the region consistently showed the India-Nepal border heading due north of Kalapani springs.
- This alignment never changed in subsequent years and was also reflected in Nepali official maps.
- It has been argued by Nepal that it was the East India Company and successor governments “cartographic chicanery” to shift the source of the Kali river towards the east.
- But Nepali government never contested such actions.
- In 1969, the then Prime Minister of Nepal demanded that India military personnel manning 17 villages along the Nepal-Tibet border since the early 1950s be withdrawn.
- If Lipu Lekh and Kalapani were on Nepali territory then why were they omitted from the list?
- The Chinese, at least since 1954, have accepted Lipu Lekh Pass as being in Indian territory.
- In the Nepal-China boundary agreement of 1960, the starting point of the boundary is clearly designated at a point just west of the Tinker Pass.
Consider the question “Nepal’s newfound aspiration has led to the introduction of friction in India-Nepal ties, what is needed is recognition of each others’ concerns. Comment.”
Conclusion
For India, more than the exemplary inter-state relationship, it is the unique people-to-people relations between India and Nepal; and, fortunately, inter-state relations have been unable to undermine the dense affinities that bind our peoples together. While India should reject the Nepali state’s ill-conceived territorial claims, it should do everything to nurture the invaluable asset it has in the goodwill of the people of Nepal.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MSMEs
Mains level: Paper 3- MSMEs issues and opportunities
MSMEs in India has huge untapped potential. This article suggest the ways to tap it and make the MSMEs major contributor to India’s growth.
What is an issue with MSMEs
- Despite MSME contributing 20% of the GDP and employing about 110 million workers, we have failed to make bold policy-moves to make it more productive and competitive.
- MSMEs are not becoming ‘larger’ and more dynamic, with 99% of the estimated 60 million being micro-enterprises with limited aspirations.
- At the core of this lack of competitiveness is a structural issue.
Addressing the structural challenges
Size
- Consider India’s largest textile cluster vs Bangladesh’s largest.
- More than 70% of the units in Tirupur are micro-enterprises with less than 10 employees while only 20% of the units in Narayanganj in Bangladesh have less than 10 employees.
- This factor makes the cluster in Bangladesh more competitive and helping Bangladesh’s exports grow faster than India’s.
- Though Bangladesh has other advantages also, but this structural difference is critical.
Relation between size and productivity
- Productivity data from manufacturing MSMEs in OECD show that the productivity of medium firms (50-250 people) could be as much as 80-100% higher than that of micro firms (<9 employees).
- Growth in scale allows them to invest in people to improve skills, in better technology & processes, and in innovation.
- The most-competitive of them grow from their small beginnings to become world-beaters.
- This push to grow and improve capabilities and productivity is central to dynamism of any country’s industrial structure.
- This dynamism of micro-enterprises has been one of the less-reported policy levers behind China’s rise as an industrial powerhouse.
What stops MSMEs in India from growing?
- Our policy-legacy of highly restrictive asset-based definition which has only recently been relaxed, coupled with a mindset, and, policies, to support the ‘small is beautiful’ narrative.
- Overly complex regulatory regime doesn’t differentiate enterprises on their scale, other than the really tiny ones, in terms of compliance needs.
- For example, if a unit has more than six employees, the trade union law becomes applicable, If a unit has more than 10 employees, the Factories Act is applicable.
- Small enterprises thus face the same multitude of regulatory requirements as larger ones, and end up having compliance costs account for a higher percentage of revenue.
- For the tiny/micro units, there is simply no incentive to grow and enter the formal economy.
Policy intervention needed
1) Getting MSMEs into formal credit system
- To do this, we need to adopt an approaches that can help banks and NBFCs move away from asset-backed lending, towards some form of cash-flow-based lending.
- Small retailers are outside the formal credit system, unable to invest, modernise and grow, given they lack fixed ‘assets’.
- But, all of them are linked to, and sell, brands of well-known, large companies.
- If banks and NBFCs work with these companies and use anonymised data on sales and credit-performance to develop credit-scores for lending to them?
- Similar innovative ways could help cover other micro-unit segments.
2) Simplified tax and regulatory regime
- The second policy intervention needed is to de-average and implement a simplified tax and regulatory regime for MSMEs.
- This would also reduce the cost of compliance.
3) Development of digital platform
- The third intervention, appropriate for digital era, is to develop a comprehensive ‘digital platform’ for the sector.
- This will call for a mandatory, unique identifier for all.
- The platform will have to be linked to different relevant databases.
Consider the question “MSMEs in India continues to play an important role in India’s development yet it suffers from structural challenges which hinders it from fueling India’s growth. In light of this, examine the challenges MSMEs faces and suggest the policy interventions.”
Conclusion
As India launches the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan to reignite growth of the economy for a post-COVID world, building such a globally-competitive MSME has to become one of the initiative’s core pillars. Only then can our industry improve and sustain its global competitiveness.
Source-
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/the-missing-large-in-msmes-a-globally-competitive-indian-mittelstand-is-the-need-of-the-hour/2063155/
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GST
Mains level: Paper 3- GST and its benefits to various stakeholders
The article analyses the instrumental role played by the GST in transforming nation into a single market dismantling the barriers across the states.
Reduced tax burden on consumers
- In the pre-GST era, the total of VAT, excise, CST and their cascading effect led to 31 per cent as tax payable, on an average, for a consumer.
- In its first two years, as the collections improved, the GST Council kept reducing the tax burden on consumers.
- Most items have been brought in the 18 per cent, 12 per cent or even 5 per cent category.
- Most items of daily common use are in the zero to 5 per cent slab.
- An analysis by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) observes that since the roll out of GST, the rate changes have brought down the GST incidence from 14 per cent to 11.6 per cent.
- This explains the revenue loss stated above. The consumer pays less tax now under the GST.
Flexibility and increased compliance
- Taxation threshold for goods was increased to Rs 40 lakh.
- The composition limit was increased from Rs 75 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore.
- For manufacturers, composition tax rate was lowered from 2 per cent to 1 per cent.
- The composition scheme was extended to services as well.
- Special lower rates without Input Tax Credit (ITC) were prescribed for construction and restaurants.
- As per an RBI calculation, the weighted GST rate at present is 11.6 per cent.
- The revenue-neutral rate determined at the time of GST introduction by its own committee was 15.3 per cent.
Widened tax base
- Today, there are 1.2 crore GST assessees compared to 65 lakh at the time of introduction of the tax regime.
- The average revenue collected per month for the nine months (July-March) in 2017-18 was Rs 89,700 crore in 2018-19 it rose by 10 per cent to Rs 97,100 crore.
- In FY 2019-20, the revenue per month was Rs 1,02,000 crore.
- This steady increase was despite the various concessions and rate reductions mentioned above.
Simplification
- GST is an IT-enabled platform.
- Accounting and billing software is provided free to the small taxpayers.
- Those with nil return to file can do so with an SMS.
- Since the registration is completely online, the refund process is also fully automated.
- The Centre is the only refund disbursal authority and no physical interface is required.
Agriculture sector under GST
- Concessions are extended to the agriculture sector under GST, agricultural inputs such as fertilisers, machinery have seen a considerable reduction in rates.
- Other inputs such as cattle/poultry/aquatic feeds are kept at the nil rate.
- Agricultural produce such as vegetables, fruits, flowers and foodgrains are exempt from GST.
- Dairy products — milk, curd, lassi, buttermilk and minor forest produce such as lac, shellac and sisal leaves are also exempt.
- Silk cocoon, raw silk, wool, jute fibre are nil rated.
- In the pre-GST era, many of these were in the 5 per cent slab.
- Service inputs to agriculture are similarly treated.
- Before the introduction of GST, many such items were taxed at a standard rate of 15 per cent.
MSME under GST
- Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have consistently received sensitive treatment under the GST regime.
- Items that have large employment creating activities, rough diamond/precious stone sorting and polishing for example, have seen a GST reduction from 3 per cent to 0.25 per cent.
- Services rendered by MSMEs have also received such sensitive treatment.
Concerns
- Tax reduction in some cases has led to an inversion of duty structure.
- Manufactured goods in lower slabs have suffered due to inversion in the duty structure.
- With lockdowns and consequential deferrals in tax payments, compensation payments to the states is a concern that the Council has taken cognisance of.
Consider the question “Elaborate on how the GST has been benefiting the various stakeholders and helped in transforming India into a single market?”
Conclusion
The states have shown maturity and understanding. The spirit of collective responsibility and statesman-like thinking have kept mutual trust and confidence high. The much talked about cooperative federalism is actually in action in the GST Council.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: AGI: Role, powers and function
Mains level: Not Much
Attorney General of India has refused consent to a plea to initiate criminal contempt action against an actor for “scandalizing” the Supreme Court.
Note important power, functions and limitations of AGI. A bluff can be created with the dicey statements in the prelims.
What is the case for prior approval in Contempt Cases?
- The prior consent in writing of the Attorney General is required for the Supreme Court to initiate criminal contempt action in a case a/c to the Contempt of Court Act, 1971.
- AGI consent in a form of check on the much-debated suo-motu power of criminal contempt.
Attorney General of India (AGI)
- The AGI is the Indian government’s chief legal advisor and is a primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of India.
- They can be said to be the advocate from the government’s side.
- They are appointed by the President of India on the advice of Union Cabinet under Article 76(1) of the Constitution and holds office during the pleasure of the President.
- They must be a person qualified to be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court ( i.e. a judge of some high court for five years or an advocate of some high court for ten years or an eminent jurist, in the opinion of the President and must be a citizen of India.).
Functions and duties
- The AGI is necessary for advising the Government of India on legal matters referred to them.
- They also perform other legal duties assigned to them by the President.
- The AGI has the right of audience in all Courts in India as well as the right to participate in the proceedings of the Parliament, though not to vote.
- The AGI appears on behalf of Government of India in all cases (including suits, appeals and other proceedings) in the Supreme Court in which GoI is concerned.
- They also represent the Government of India in any reference made by the President to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution.
- The AG is assisted by a Solicitor General and four Additional Solicitors General.
Powers
- The AG can accept briefs but cannot appear against the Government.
- They cannot defend an accused in the criminal proceedings and accept the directorship of a company without the permission of the Government.
- The AG is to be consulted only in legal matters of real importance and only after the Ministry of Law has been consulted.
- All references to the AG are made by the Law Ministry.
Limitations
The AG:
- should not advise or hold a brief against the Government of India
- should not defend accused persons in criminal cases without the permission of the government of India
- should not accept appointment as a director in any company without the permission of the government
Global precedence
- Unlike the Attorney General of the United States, the AGI does not have any executive authority.
- Those functions are performed by the Law Minister of India.
- Also, the AG is not a government servant and is not debarred from private legal practice.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: BIS
Mains level: Water supply standards in India
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has prepared a draft standard for the supply system of piped drinking water.
Try this question for mains:
Q.Climate change, scarcity, population growth, demographic changes and urbanization pose challenges for water supply systems in India. Analyse.
About the Draft
- Labelled ‘Drinking water supply quality management system — requirements for piped drinking water supply service’, the draft has been prepared by the BIS’ Public Drinking Water Supply Services Sectional Committee.
- It outlines the process of water supply, from raw water sources to household taps.
- It has been developed keeping in view the Centre’s Jal Jeevan Mission for providing safe and adequate drinking water to all rural households by 2024 through tap connections.
- It is expected to make the process of piped water supply more uniform, especially in rural and underdeveloped areas of the country where the system runs on various government orders and circulars.
- At present, the standard is expected not to be made mandatory.
Highlights of the draft
- The draft outlines the requirements for a water supplier or a water utility on how they should establish, operate, maintain and improve their piped drinking water supply service.
- The process begins with the identification of a water source, which can either be groundwater or surface water sources such as rivers, streams or reservoirs.
- It doesn’t mention how water utilities should treat the water, but states that the process should be planned in such a manner that after treatment it should conform to the Indian Standard (IS) 10500 developed by the BIS.
- The IS 10500 outlines the acceptable limits of heavy metals such as arsenic, and other parameters like the pH value of water, its turbidity, the total dissolved solids in it, and the colour and odour.
What is the water supply process?
- The supply system as outlined in the draft should begin with the identification of a raw water source.
- Water should then be pumped into the treatment plant and treated to achieve acceptable drinking standards.
- After the water is released from the plant, there should be reservoirs in the distribution system for storage of this water, and disinfection facilities to get rid of contamination at any stage of distribution.
- Pumping stations or boosters, if necessary, should be provided to maintain adequate pressure throughout the distribution system.
District Metering Area (DMA) concept
- The document also states that the concept of district metering area (DMA) should be adopted where possible.
- DMA is a concept for controlling leakages in the water network, which is essentially divided into a number of sectors, called the DMAs, and where flow meters are installed to detect leaks.
- The water supplier/utility may provide bulk water meters in the water distribution system to ensure water audit, however, the provisions should be made for domestic meters also.
What’s there in the draft in addition to the water supply process?
- There are guidelines on water audit, which is a calculation of the amount of water put into distribution against the amount that is consumed.
- The draft states that a water audit should be conducted on a quarterly basis.
- Effort should be made by the water agency to bring down the water loss up to 15% of the total water supplied in the system.
- The water utilities are also required to conduct surveys among consumers and obtain feedback on their service as per the draft.
- Guidelines on internal audit, management review, documenting performance indicators for improvement, and timely action against non-conformity issues also find mention.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Council for Transgender Persons
Mains level: Trans-persons rights protection
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has constituted the National Council for Transgender Persons.
Try this question for mains:
Q.Discuss the salient features of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019. What are its various shortcomings?
National Council for Transgender Persons
- It has been a requirement under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.
- The Social Justice Minister would be the chairperson of the Council.
- The members would include officials of the Ministries of Health, MHA, MoHUA, Minority Affairs, HRD etc. among others.
- The council also includes five nominated members from the transgender community.
Its mandate
- The council would work with States to ensure that transgender welfare boards are set up in all States and essential needs of the community, like housing, food, healthcare and education are met.
Also read:
Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Nuakhai Juhar
Mains level: NA
The PM has greeted the people on the auspicious occasion of Nuakhai Juhar.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Consider the following pairs:
|
Tradition |
|
State |
| 1. |
Chapchar Kut festival |
: |
Mizoram |
| 2. |
Khongjom Parba ballad |
: |
Manipur |
| 3. |
Thang-Ta dance |
: |
Sikkim |
Which of the pairs given above is/are correct? (CSP 2018)
a) 1 only
b) 1 and 2
c) 3 only
d) 2 and 3
Nuakhai Juhar
- Nuakhai or Nuakhai is an agricultural festival mainly observed by people of Western Odisha and Southern Chhattisgarh.
- It is celebrated at the time when the newly grown Kharif crop (autumn crop) of rice started ripening.
- According to the calendar it is observed on Panchami tithi (the fifth day) of the lunar fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada or Bhadraba (August–September), the day after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
- This is the most important social festival of Western Odisha and adjoining areas of Simdega in Jharkhand, where Odia culture is much predominant.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Impact of covid pandemic
Though pandemic has been called as the great leveller, closer look at the impact of Covid on the marginalised section indicate otherwise. This article examines the impact of pandemic with respect to responsible factors.
The marginalised at risk
- Preliminary data and early indirect evidence from several parts of the world indicate that the incidence of the disease is not class-neutral.
- Poorer and economically vulnerable populations are more likely to contract the virus as well as to die from it.
- Economic consequences of the current pandemic are likely to be most concentrated among the low wage earners.
- Disaggregated data on COVID-19 incidence and mortality are not available for India.
- Thus, we cannot comment on whether certain caste groups are more vulnerable to the virus than others.
Cast factor: Let’s look into CMIE survey
- India’s lockdown was among the most stringent.
- The first month of the severe lockdown, April 2020, witnessed a sharp rise in unemployment.
- Let’s examine shifts in employment and unemployment rates using data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)’s Consumer Pyramids Household Survey (CPHS) database.
- That the proportion of employed upper castes dropped from 39% to 32% between December 2019 and April 2020, a fall of seven percentage points.
- The corresponding fall for Scheduled Castes (SCs) was from 44% to 24%, i.e. a fall of 20 percentage points.
- Other Backward Classes and Scheduled Tribes (STs) the fall was from 42% to 34%, 40% to 26% and 48% to 33%.
- Thus, the fall in employment for SCs and STs was far greater in magnitude than that for upper castes.
Education factor
- The global evidence suggests that job losses associated with COVID-19 are much more concentrated among individuals with low levels of education.
- Those with more than 12 years of education, were much less likely to be unemployed in April 2020 than those with less than 12 years of education.
- Data from the India Human Development Survey for 2011-12 (IHDS-II) show that 51% of SC households have adult women who have zero years of education, i.e. are illiterate, and 27% have an illiterate adult male member.
- Thus, in the face of current school closures, parents of SC children would be much less equipped to assist their children with any form of home learning.
Access to technology and other factors
- The proportion of households with access to the Internet is 20% and 10% for UC and SC households, respectively.
- Only 49% of SCs have bank savings, as compared to 62% of Upper Caste households.
- Differential access to information technology, as well as disparities in the ability to invest in technology, will be critical in shaping access to online education.
Consider the question “Examine the impact of Covid on the vulnerable section of society. Suggest the measures to mitigate the impact.”
Conclusion
Early impacts of the pandemic-induced lockdown indicate that the resultant economic distress is exacerbating pre-existing structures of disadvantage based on social identity, and investments in education and health.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Mains level: Paper 2-Increasing the age of marriage for girls and implications
The article examines the issue of the age of marriage of girls and its relation with their education level and economic status.
Trends in early marriage
- The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) data 2015-16 points to certain trends in early marriages:
- That rural women are likely to marry earlier than their urban counterparts.
- The higher up a woman is on the wealth quintile, the later she marries.
- Most importantly, it establishes a direct causal link between education levels and delayed age of marriage.
- Women with 12 years or more of schooling are most likely to marry later.
- Only 8 per cent rural girls who drop out in the age group 6 to 17 years cite marriage as the reason.
Impact on STs and SCs
- According to the wealth quintile data, the poorest households are concentrated in rural India.
- The lowest quintile, which is most likely to marry off their girls early out of socio-economic necessities, have 45 per cent of the Scheduled Tribe (ST) and 25.9 per cent Scheduled castes.
- The NFHS-4 data on women aged 15-49 by number of years of schooling completed shows that 42 per cent ST women and 33 per cent SC women have received no schooling.
Issues
- Marriages in India are governed by various personal laws which set varying minimum ages for girls as also the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006, where it is 18 years for girls and 21 for boys.
- This is compounded by The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, that increased the age of consent, from 16 years to 18 years.
- Several studies have shown how this has criminalised self-arranged adolescent marriages as parents often misuse it to punish couples marrying without their approval, especially in cases of inter-caste marriages.
Way forward
- The National Human Rights Commission showed how higher education levels lead to a lower likelihood of women being married early and recommended that the Right to Education Act, 2009, be amended to make it applicable up to the age of 18 years.
- Noting the law’s patriarchal underpinnings, the 18th Law Commission report (2008) asked for uniformity in the age of marriage at 18 years for both men and women and lowering the age of consent to 16 years. Government could act on such a recommendation.
Consider the question “What are the advantages of increasing the minimum age of marriage for girls. Also, examine the issues with the move.
Conclusion
The median age at first marriage for both men and women in India has registered a significant decadal improvement with more people now marrying later than ever before. Any attempt to leapfrog through quick-fix and ill-conceived punitive measures will only considerably reverse these gains.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Naga peace process
The article analyses the issue of Naga peace process and the problem of identifying the stakeholders in the process.
Naga Polity and aspirations
- The Nagas family comprises over 25 tribes.
- Each of these is a proud owner and inheritor of a distinct culture, language, tradition and geography, supporting a distinct world view.
- However, many Nagas aspire to Naga unity, and they view those tribal loyalties as residues of a premodern past and an obstacle to Naga solidarity.
- Naga nationalism is connected with the idea Naga homeland that includes contiguous areas in a number of Northeastern states, and even parts of Myanmar.
“Unique history” formulation
- The source of the phrase can be traced back to a joint communiqué that NSCN-IM General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and former Home Secretary K Padmanabhaiah signed in Amsterdam on July 11, 2002.
- Meaning of the phrase “unique history” is not self-explanatory.
- Despite the lack of clarity, it is adopted by officials and political leaders intended to accept two things-
- (a) the characterisations long favoured by security bureaucrats of the Naga political struggle as a separatist insurgency or a terrorist movement that makes false claims to Naga unity, are inaccurate and
- (b) rejecting those labels [ such as separatist insurgency or terrorist movement] is a necessary condition for negotiations based on mutual respect.
- Those are significant achievements that should not be allowed to wither away.
Negotiating with NSCN-IM and issues with it
- NSCN-IM had declared the Shillong Accord of 1975 a sellout, and a betrayal of the Naga cause.
- But it emerged as a serious political force precisely because it stood for Naga unity.
- However, it is argued that NSCN-IM’s appeal is limited to the Tangkhul tribes of Manipur only.
Consider the question “The issues of identifying the stakeholders in the Naga peace process is at the root of the solution to the peace problem. Also, examine the other factors which make the resolution elusive. Suggest the measures to resolve the issue.”
Conclusion
That a more nuanced negotiating strategy is now emerging is a positive development. But the fundamental question about who all the stakeholders in the Naga conflict are, still needs a satisfactory answer, one that is based on an in-depth mapping of the conflict. Only then can we expect peaceful dialogue and patient negotiations to end the conflict and bring about a durable peace.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: OIC
The rift between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia over Jammu and Kashmir is out in the open after a delegation led by Pak Army Chief was denied a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).
Try this question:
Q. Discuss the new geopolitical realignment in the Arab world and India’s role in it.
Take a look after how the ties emerged and deteriorated:
Saudi-Pakistan ties: A Recap
- The relationship between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan was most prominent during the 1971 war between India and Pakistan.
- Saudi Arabia is also reported to have transferred arms and equipment including the loan of some 75 aircraft to Pakistan.
- After the war, Saudi Arabia consistently supported the call for the return of Pakistan’s prisoners of war and for dropping the Dacca (Dhaka) Trial against 195 of them.
- After the war, Saudi Arabia gave loans to Pakistan enabling it to buy arms worth about $1 million by 1977, including F-16s and Harpoon missiles from the US.
- Saudi oil and dollars have kept Pakistan’s economy on its feet after sanctions following the nuclear tests.
- Over the last two decades, Saudi Arabia has provided oil on deferred payments to Pakistan whenever it ran into economic difficulty.
- Saudi funding of madrasas has also led to their mushrooming, later giving rise to religious extremism.
- In 1990, Pakistan sent its ground forces to defend Saudi Arabia against Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.
Alignment over Kashmir
- The alignment over Kashmir at the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) crystallized since 1990 when the insurgency in J&K began.
- While the OIC has issued statements over the last three decades, it became a ritual of little significance to India.
- Last year, after India revoked Article 370 in Kashmir, Pakistan lobbied with the OIC for its condemnation of India’s move.
- To Pakistan’s surprise, Saudi Arabia and the UAE issued statements that were nuanced rather than harshly critical of New Delhi.
- Over the last year, Pakistan has tried to rouse the sentiments among the Islamic countries, but only a handful of them — Turkey and Malaysia — publicly criticised India.
The Saudi perspective
- Saudi Arabia’s change in position has been a gradual process under Crown Prince MBS.
- As it seeks to diversify from its heavily oil-dependent economy, it sees India as a valuable partner in the region.
- New Delhi, for its part, has wooed the Arab world over the last six years.
- From Saudi Arabia to the UAE, it worked the diplomatic levers through high-level visits and dangled opportunities for investment and business
- MBS, who is looking to invest in India, has taken a realistic view, along with UAE’s crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed.
Energy connection to India
- Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth-largest trade partner (after China, US and Japan) and a major source of energy: India imports around 18% of its crude oil requirement from the Kingdom.
- Saudi Arabia is also a major source of LPG for India.
- And, with India stopping oil imports from Iran due to the threat of US sanctions, Saudi Arabia is key in this respect as well.
Saudi-Pakistan tension
The tension between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan has been brewing for some time.
- In 2015, Pakistan’s Parliament decided not to support the Saudi military effort to restore an internationally recognised government in Yemen.
- Later, Pakistan’s then army chief General Raheel Sharif led the Saudi-led Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism, comprising 41 Muslim countries.
- In February 2019, after the Pulwama terror attack, it was Saudi Arabia and the UAE that pulled their weight to get Wing Commander Abhinandan released, apart from the US.
- The Saudi Crown Prince visited Pakistan and India at that time and made it clear that he valued economic opportunities. He did not wade into the Kashmir issue in India or the terrorism issue in Pakistan.
Frustration over Kashmir
A year after Article 370 was revoked, Qureshi belled the cat.
- Pak accuses that Saudi Arabia has failed to deliver on the Kashmir and OIC had not played a leadership role in backing Pakistan against India.
- This angered Saudi Arabia, which in November 2018 had announced a $6.2 billion loan package for Pakistan.
- The package included $3 billion in loans and an oil credit facility amounting to $3.2 billion.
- Riyadh demanded the return of the $3 billion loans and refused to sell oil to Islamabad on deferred payment. Pakistan immediately returned $1 billion, displaying the rift.
- But, in the current economic situation, Pakistan is unable to pay the next tranche.
- What has also angered Saudi Arabia is that Pakistan has been trying to pander to Turkey and Malaysia.
The China factor
- Pakistan and China have called themselves “all-weather allies” and “iron brothers” (during FMs meet).
- Over the last year, Beijing has supported Pakistan on Kashmir, raising the issue at the UN Security Council thrice.
- China has also emerged as Pakistan’s biggest benefactor through its funding of the CPEC.
- Saudi Arabia too has invested in CPEC projects, to the tune of $10 billion, but Pakistan now looks towards Beijing for both diplomatic and economic support.
Implications for India
- Saudi’s silence on J&K as well as CAA-NRC has emboldened the Indian government.
- At a time when India and China are locked in a border standoff, India has to be wary of Pakistan and China teaming up.
- But with Saudi Arabia in its corner, for now, it may have leverage over Pakistan — Riyadh would not want a conflict and regional instability.
- What is key to India’s calculus is that the Pakistan-China and the Pakistan-Saudi axes are not fused together at the moment: It is not a Saudi-Pakistan-China triangle.
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In the criticism against the Supreme Court’s ruling that held advocate Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court, his counsel has invoked the ‘Mulgaonkar Principles’, urging the court to show restraint.
Try this MCQ:
Q. The Mulgaonkar principles recently seen in news are related to:
Diplomacy/ Economy/ Judiciary/ Environment
The Mulgaonkar principles
- S Mulgaonkar v Unknown (1978) is a case that led to a landmark ruling on the subject of contempt.
- By a 2:1 majority, the court held Mulgaonkar not guilty of contempt although the same Bench had initiated the proceedings.
- Justices P Kailasam and Krishna Iyer formed the majority going against then CJI M H Beg.
- Justice Iyer’s counsel of caution in exercising the contempt jurisdiction came to be called the Mulgaonkar principles.
What was the case about?
- An article by A G Noorani in the newspaper about certain judicial decisions during the Emergency period, especially the Habeas Corpus case, had displeased then CJI Beg.
- The Habeas Corpus case, often referred to as the “Supreme Court’s darkest hour” upheld the detention law, citing that even the right to life can be suspended during an emergency.
- Justices A N Ray, Beg, Y V Chandrachud and P N Bhagwati formed the majority while Justice H R Khanna was the sole dissenter.
What did the ruling say?
- The first rule in the branch of power is a “wise economy of use by the Court of this branch of its jurisdiction”.
- The Court will act with seriousness and severity where justice is jeopardized by a gross and/or unfounded attack on the judges, where the attack is calculated to obstruct or destroy the judicial process.
- The court is willing to ignore, by a majestic liberalism, trifling and venial offenses-the dogs may bark, the caravan will pass.
- The court will not be prompted to act as a result of an easy irritability.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indian Bison, Gorumara NP
Mains level: NA
A bison (Indian Gaur) was allegedly poached in Gorumara National Park.
Try this PYQ:
Which one of the following National Parks lies completely in the temperate alpine zone?(CSP 2019)
(a) Manas National Park
(b) Namdapha National Park
(c) Neora Valley National Park
(d) Valley of Flowers National Park
Gorumara NP
- It is located in the Eastern Himalayas’ submontane Terai belt.
- This region has rolling forests and riverine grasslands, and is known as the Dooars in West Bengal.
- The park is located on the flood plains of the Murti River and Raidak River. The major river of the park is the Jaldhaka river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra river system.
- In this regard, Gorumara is a significant watershed area between the Ganges and Brahmaputra river systems.
- The park is rich in large herbivores including Indian rhinoceros, gaur, Asian elephant, sloth bear, chital, and sambar deer. Small herbivores include barking deer, hog deer and wild boar.
About Gaur
- The Gaur called the Indian bison, is native to South and Southeast Asia and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986.
- It is the largest species among the wild cattle.
- The domesticated form of the gaur is called gayal (Bos frontalis) or mithun.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Dam, river and its reservoir
Mains level: NA
The major fire accident at the Srisailam hydroelectric power station has resulted in heavy loss of lives.
Try this PYQ:
What is common to the places known as Aliyar, Isapur and Kangsabati? (CSP 2019)
(a) Recently discovered uranium deposits
(b) Tropical rain forests
(c) Underground cave systems
(d) Water reservoirs
About Srisailam Dam
- The Srisailam Dam is constructed across the Krishna River in Kurnool district, AP near Srisailam temple town.
- It is the 2nd largest capacity working hydroelectric station in the country.
- The dam was constructed in a deep gorge in the Nallamala Hills in between Kurnool and Mahabubnagar districts, 300 m (980 ft) above sea level.
- It has a reservoir of 616 square kilometres.
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