Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Constitutional provisions related to the Governor
Mains level: Paper 2- Misuse of discretionary power by the Governor
The article deals with the role of Governor in the state and issue of misuse of discretionary power vested in him.
Constitutional provision related to Governor
- Various Raj Bhavans have become embroiled in controversies over the decade.
- This is partly because the Constitution of India does allow a certain discretion to the Governor.
- And a discretion invariably does get abused.
- The framers of the Constitution had rejected an elected Governor because they were unambiguously clear that political power would only be vested with elected executives.
- Yet, they were not inclined to put in a formal Instrument of Instructions for the Governors and were content to believe that political decencies and correctness would be observed both by the Governor and the Chief Minister.
As the distinguished constitutional expert, Nani A. Palkhivala explained it “the Constitution intended that the Governor should be the instrument to maintain the fundamental equilibrium of the people of the State and to ensure that the mandates of the Constitution are respected in the State”.
Misuse of ‘discretion’ by Governors
- As an appointee of the Union Government, the Governors have been prone to act on the instructions by ruling party at the Centre.
- Inevitably the “discretion” in choosing a Chief Minister, or requiring a Chief Minister to prove his/her majority, or dismissing a Chief Minister, dissolving the legislature, recommending President’s Rule — came to be tainted with partisan political considerations.
- More often than not, the governor’s discretion was abused, sometimes absurdly, even whimsically.
- In the S.R. Bommai case, the Supreme Court did try through its judgment to prevent the misuse of power.
Conclusion
The guidelines given in the S.R. Bommai case should be adhered to by the Governor and should avoid conflict with the elected governments in the States.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Police reforms
The police have been in the news for incidents involving violence and killings. These instances points to the urgent need for the implementation of the Supreme Court directives given in the Prakash Singh case. The article deals with the issues of delay in the implementation.
Need for immediate remedial measures
- Police has been in the news for incidents involving police brutalities like thrashing of a Dalit Ahirwar couple by the police Madhya Pradesh, torture and killing of father-son duo in Tamil Nadu and killing of gangster in UP.
- These incidents and several others show that we need immediate remedial measures.
Past attempts for police reforms
- The first serious attempt was when the National Police Commission (NPC) was set up in 1977.
- The NPC submitted eight reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs between 1979 and 1981.
- Seven of these reports were circulated to the States in 1983.
Prakash Sing Case
- No action was taken on the reports of the reports until 1996.
- In 1996 Prakash Singh, a retired IPS officer, filed a PIL in the apex court in 1996 demanding the implementation of the NPC’s recommendations.
- In 2006, the Supreme Court issued a slew of directives on police reform.
Status of implementation of directives by Staes
- The one directive that would hurt the most is the setting up of a State Security Commission (SSC) in each State.
- State Security Commission would divest the political leaders of the unbridled power that they wield at present.
- Of the States that constituted an SSC, only Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have made SSC recommendations binding on the State government.
- Only six States provided a minimum tenure of two years to the Director General of Police (DGP).
- Many States have not implemented a single directive of the Supreme Court.
Way forward
- Expecting political will to implement police reforms is difficult to come by, it is for the judiciary to step in and enforce the directives it had passed.
- Fourteen years is too long a period for any further relaxation.
- The Court has to ensure that its directives are not dismissed lightly.
Consider the question “What are the issues facing police administration? What are the reasons for lack of full implementation of the directives given by the Supreme Court in the Prakash Singh case?
Conclusion
A bold step towards bringing down crimes is possible only when the politicians-criminals-police nexus is strangled.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Buldana pattern
Mains level: Water coservation models
Maharashtra’s ‘Buldana Pattern’ of water conservation’ has won national recognition and the NITI Aayog is in the process of formulating National Policy on water conversation based on it.
Refer this link to read more about traditional water conservations systems in India:
https://geographyandyou.com/ten-traditional-water-conservation-methods/
What is ‘Buldhana Pattern’?
- It is based on the synchronization of national highway construction and water conservation.
- It was achieved for the first time in Buldana district of drought-prone Vidarbha region, by using soil from the water bodies, nallas and rivers.
- This consequently leads to the increase in capacity of water storage across the water-bodies in Buldana district and it came to be known as ‘Buldana Pattern’.
- Creation of State Water Grid and adopting water Conservations works under this pattern will increase the agriculture production and bring prosperity in farmer’s economic life in Vidarbha.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SLINEX
Mains level: Not Much
The Eighth Edition of annual Indian Navy (IN) – Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) bilateral maritime exercise SLINEX-20 is scheduled off Trincomalee.
About SLINEX-20
- SLINEX-20 aims to enhance inter-operability, improve mutual understanding and exchange best practices and procedures for multi-faceted maritime operations between both navies.
- In addition, the exercise will also showcase the capabilities of our indigenously constructed naval ships and aircraft.
- SLINEX series of exercise exemplifies the deep engagement between India and Sri Lanka which has strengthened mutual cooperation in the maritime domain.
- Interaction between the SLN and IN has also grown significantly in recent years, in consonance with India’s policy of ‘Neighbourhood First’ and the vision of ‘Security and Growth for all in the Region (SAGAR)’.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Himalayan orogeny
Mains level: Not Much
A recent survey has found that a tectonic fault line that runs through Ladakh, all along the Indus river, is not inactive as was previously thought and is, in fact, moving northward.
Tap here to read more about Himalayan orogeny:
Indus Suture Zone (ISZ)
- A suture zone is a linear belt of intense deformation, where distinct terranes, or tectonic units with different plate tectonic, metamorphic, and paleogeographic histories, join together.
- The ISZ represents a belt of tectonic compression caused by the underthrusting of the Indian shield/ plate against the Tibetan mass.
- It marks the boundary between the Indian and Eurasian plates.
- The suture zone stretches from the North-Western Himalayan syntaxis bordering the Nanga Parbat to the East as far as the Namche Barwa Mountain.
Its tectonic activity
- The Karakoram Range and the Ladakh plateau lie to the north of ISZ and originally formed a part of the European plate.
- The zone has been neo-tectonically active for the past 78,000-58,000 years.
- While the frontal and central parts of the Himalayas — the Shivaliks, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Sikkim — are still known to be active and moving.
- The fault line runs all along the Indus river, from China through India and Pakistan.
- The study was conducted in Ladakh from the north of Ladakh’s capital, Leh, to the Tso Moriri lake, a distance of 213 kilometres.
Why the Ladakh region is more vulnerable?
- Fault lines weaken the rock formation in the region through which it runs, making the area vulnerable to excessive erosion and landslides.
- What makes the Ladakh region vulnerable is that unlike other areas in the Himalayas and the rest of the country, there is very little vegetation here and very few trees that can root the soil down.
- So, in the case of a flash flood or a cloud burst, this can have a widespread impact.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Seaplanes
Mains level: Seaplane connectivity in India
The first of the five seaplane services in Gujarat, connecting Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad to the Statue of Unity in Kevadia in Narmada district, will be inaugurated on October 31
India’s first seaplane
- A seaplane is a fixed-winged aeroplane designed for taking off and landing on water. It offers the public the speed of an aeroplane with the utility of a boat.
- The first seaplane project of the country is part of a directive of the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation.
- As per the directive, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) requested state governments of Gujarat, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and the administration of Andaman & Nicobar to propose potential locations for setting up water aerodromes to boost the tourism sector.
Where will the seaplane connect?
- In Kevadia, the proposed Terminal will be spread over 0.51 acres in the premises of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd., located in the Panchmuli lake (Dyke 3) of the Sardar Sarovar Dam at Limdi village.
- It is approximately 90 km from Vadodara, 150 km from Surat and 200 km from Ahmedabad — with an aerial distance of 74.6km from Vadodara airport.
What impact will it have on the environment?
- The water aerodrome is not a listed project/activity in the Schedule to the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006 and its amendments.
- However, the activities proposed under the water aerodrome project may have a similar type of impact as that of an airport.
- There has to be a bathymetric and hydrographic survey by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI).
- During seaplane operations, there will be turbulence created in the water while takeoff and landing of seaplanes. This will lead to more operation process i.e. mixing of oxygen in the water.
- This will have a positive impact on the aquatic ecosystem near seaplane operations increasing oxygen content and decreasing carbon content in this system.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GI tags in news
Mains level: Not Much
The makers of the Thanjavur Art Plate, with its roots in a craft that dates back to the Marathas of the 1800s, are banding together for its cultural and commercial rejuvenation.
Must read:
All time GI tags in news
Thanjavur Art Plates
- The Thanjavur Art Plate is an artefact which is exclusively made in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India.
- It is a circular plate made as a gift item. It is a handicraft consisting of metals such as silver, bronze, and copper embossed with figures of gods and goddesses at its centre.
- Patronised by Maratha ruler Serfoji II (1777-1832), Thanjavur Kalai craftsmen were kept busy with orders for royal gifts, mostly decorative salvers, jewel boxes and vessels like water pots and ewers.
- In its contemporary version, the craft has been commercially reinterpreted as ‘Thanjavur kalai thattu’ or Thanjavur Art Plate, a ceremonial platter made with silver, copper and brass layers in three stages.
- The base is plated with alternate copper and silver panels, a bigger embossed silver motif on the central section, and the setting of globular jigna or sequins in the secondary relief.
- It was given a Geographical Indications (GI) tag in 2007, as a proof of its long heritage.
Back2Basics: Geographical Indications in India
- A Geographical Indication is used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
- Such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness which is essentially attributable to its origin in that defined geographical locality.
- This tag is valid for a period of 10 years following which it can be renewed.
- Recently the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry has launched the logo and tagline for the Geographical Indications (GI) of India.
- The first product to get a GI tag in India was the Darjeeling tea in 2004.
- The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 (GI Act) is a sui generis Act for the protection of GI in India.
- India, as a member of the WTO, enacted the Act to comply with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
- Geographical Indications protection is granted through the TRIPS Agreement.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mullaperiyar Dam
Mains level: Not Much
The Mullaperiyar dam has recently turned 125.
Try this PYQ:
Q. What is common to the places known as Aliyar, Isapur and Kangsabati?
(a) Recently discovered uranium deposits
(b) Tropical rain forests
(c) Underground cave systems
(d) Water reservoirs
Mullaperiyar Dam
- It is a masonry gravity dam on the Periyar River in the Indian state of Kerala.
- It is located 881 m above mean sea level, on the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats in Thekkady, Idukki District of Kerala.
- It was constructed between 1887 and 1895 by John Pennycuick and also reached in an agreement to divert water eastwards to the Madras Presidency area (present-day Tamil Nadu).
- Pennycuick is widely worshipped as a hero by farmers in the four districts of southern Tamil Nadu, where water from the dam meets the drinking water needs and irrigates thousands of hectares.
Why is the dam special?
- The dam was constructed surmounting many odds, with malaria and thick jungles taking a toll on workers. It was a huge challenge before him to construct the dam and divert the river course.
- Pennycuick sowed the seeds of river interlinking to bring barren and rain-starved areas under cultivation.
- To fund dam construction, gold ornaments were donated by Chettiar families and farmers in Cumbom valley also gave their meagre savings to Pennycuick.
- Pennycuick even sold his ancestral property in Britain and spent the amount for completing the works of the dam when the expenses exceeded the allotted funds.
- The British government endowed him with the ‘Companion of Star of India’, a high civilian honour. He died on March 9, 1911, at Frimley in Britain.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hybrid funds
Mains level: Not Much
This newscard is an excerpt from an originally FAQ published in TH.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which of the following is issued by registered foreign portfolio investors to overseas investors who want to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly?
(a) Certificate of Deposit
(b) Commercial Paper
(c) Promissory Note
(d) Participatory Note
Hybrid Fund
- A hybrid fund is one that invests in both equity and bonds. So, such funds ought to help investors with their asset allocation decision.
- This refers to how you allocate your annual savings between equity and bond investments.
- Suppose you are unsure of the proportion of equity and bond investments to have in your portfolio.
- By investing in a hybrid fund, you could outsource your asset allocation decision to the manager of the fund, so the argument goes.
- The issue is that each goal you pursue requires different asset allocation. For instance, the asset allocation for your child’s education portfolio must be different from your retirement portfolio.
- Hybrid funds cannot consider your individual goal requirement as it is a collective investment vehicle.
Tax efficiency of the fund
- Based on current tax laws, a hybrid fund that holds 65% or more in equity is considered as an equity fund.
- So, if you redeem your units in such hybrid funds after a holding period of more than 12 months, you have to pay long-term capital gains tax of 10%.
- If a hybrid fund holds less than 65% in equity, you have to pay 20% capital gains tax with indexation if you sell your units after a holding period of more than 36 months.
Back2Basics: Stocks vs. Bonds vs. Equity
- A stock represents a collection of shares in a company which is entitled to receive a fixed amount of dividend at the end of the relevant financial year which are mostly called Equity of the company.
- Bonds term is associated with debt raised by the company from outsiders which carry a fixed ratio of return each year and can be earned as they are generally for a fixed period of time.
- Bonds are actually loans that are secured by a specific physical asset.
- It highlights the amount of debt taken with a promise to pay the principal amount in the future and periodically offering them the yields at a pre-decided percentage.
- Equity is ownership of assets that may have debts or other liabilities attached to them. Equity is measured for accounting purposes by subtracting liabilities from the value of an asset.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Skinks
Mains level: NA
Celebrating skinks, Zoological Survey of India has listed 62 species.
Try this PYQ:
Q.With reference to India’s Biodiversity, Ceylon frogmouth, Coppersmith barbet, Gray-chinned minivet and White-throated redstart are-
(a) Birds
(b) Primates
(c) Reptiles
(d) Amphibians
What are Skinks?
- Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha.
- With long bodies, relatively small or no legs, no pronounced neck and glossy scales, skinks are common reptiles around homes.
- Although they are common reptiles and have a prominent role in maintaining ecosystems, not much is known about their breeding habits, and ecology because identification of the species can be confusing.
Certain notions about them
- Skinks are highly alert, agile and fast-moving and actively forage for a variety of insects and small invertebrates.
- The reduced limbs of certain skink species or the complete lack of them make their slithering movements resemble those of snakes, leading people to have the incorrect notion that they are venomous.
- This results in several of these harmless creatures being killed.
ZSI study on Skinks
- A recent publication by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) reveals that India is home to 62 species of skinks and says about 57% of all the skinks found in India (33 species) are endemic.
- Sepsophis (with one species)and Barkudia (with two species) are limbless skinks found in the hills and coastal plains of the eastern coast.
- Barkudia insularisis believed to be found only in the Barkud Island in Chilka lake in Odisha. Barkudia melanosticta is endemic to Visakhapatnam.
- Sepsophis punctatus is endemic to the northern part of Eastern Ghats.
- Five species of Kaestlea (blue-tailed ground skinks) are endemic to the Western Ghats and four species of Ristella (Cat skinks) also endemic to the southern part of Western Ghats.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: APMC Act
Mains level: Paper 3- Need for agri reforms
The recently passed agri bills seek to expand the choices and opportunities available with the farmers and will help in increasing their income.
Diversified product segment
- The Minimum Support Price (MSP) evolved as a mechanism to guard farmers against supply and demand shocks in the cereals segment.
- Now, however, farmers and agricultural producers have diversified their product segments, cereals no longer dominate production.
- In the last decade itself, India has witnessed tremendous change in the GVA composition of the agri-sector.
- The share of crops has decreased from 65.4% in 2011-12 to 55.3% in 2018-19, projected to further fall to 45.6% in 2024-25.
- In the same period, value add of livestock and fishing & aquaculture is steadily increasing, as are the total value outputs of sub-segments like horticulture, milk and meat.
- With differentiated production strategies that are less reliant on cereals and more on other segments, farmers are accruing better incomes.
- By diversifying their produce, they are moving away from one-crop risks.
Government schemes and policies
- Keeping farmers dependent on subsidies and restricted by APMCs, and acts like the Essential Commodities Act wasn’t in the nation’s long-term interests.
- Recognising this, the government has been making sequential changes in the system.
- It started with the introduction of the National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) to facilitate online trading of agri-produce.
- Then PM-KISAN was introduced to provide minimum income support to nine crore marginal farmers, at Rs 6,000 annually.
- The KISAN credit card with an allotment of a total of Rs 2 lakh crore credit to maintain larger workforces and implements during harvest season is helping farmers plan and organise their harvests better.
- The Rs 1 lakh crore Agri Infrastructure Fund as part of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan will help by the creation of agri-infrastructure.
Need for structural changes
- The government recently passed three agri-bills, these are:-
- 1) The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce Bill.
- 2) Farmers Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill.
- 3) Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill.
- They enable farmers the freedom to diversify their crops and produce, which reduces mono-crop dependence and increases income avenues.
- They can also now sell their produce anywhere, to the highest bidder across the country.
- The farmers are no longer are they required to go to the mandis where they are subject to middlemen and layers of bureaucracy.
- Contract farming enable farmers them to boost the value-add of their products via contracts and assured procurement by the food processing industries.
- Retaining the MSP system means the government is underwriting the whole network for certain crops to ensure farmers receive assured income for those crops.
Focusing on the export market
- The passage of agri bills gives India the long-awaited opportunity to orient its agriculture sector towards export markets.
- By catering to just the Indian economy, the exposure is hardly $3 trillion ; instead, export-orientation caters to an $82 trillion global economy —a 27x expansion.
- India’s agri exports in 2018 were at $38.5 billion.
- India can comfortably triple this by providing infrastructure for grading, sorting, and supply chain distribution.
Conclusion
The farm Bills are liberating farmers at a pivotal juncture, the nation and farmers have a generational opportunity here to break out of a 70-year sectoral stagnation and aim bigger.
Source:-
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/agri-reforms-farm-bills-latest-step-in-sequential-freeing-up-of-farm-sector/2107611/
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The article analyses some trends in India’s population growth as found in the Sample Registration System Statistical Report (2018).
Context
- There have been some encouraging trends in India’s population in the Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report (2018) and global population projections made by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), US.
Declining TFR
- SRS report estimated the Total Fertility Rate (TFR), the number of children a mother would have at the current pattern of fertility during her lifetime, as 2.2 in the year 2018.
- It is estimated that replacement TFR of 2.1 would soon be, if not already, reached for India as a whole.
- As fertility declines, so does the population growth rate.
- This report estimated the natural annual population growth rate to be 1.38 per cent in 2018.
- A comparison of 2011 and 2018 SRS statistical reports shows that TFR declined from 2.4 to 2.2 during this period.
- Fertility declined in all major states.
- In 2011, 10 states had a fertility rate below the replacement rate. This increased to 14 states.
- The annual natural population growth rate also declined from 1.47 to 1.38 per cent during this period.
So, when will India’s population stabilise
- Duet to population momentum effect, a result of more people entering the reproductive age group of 15-49 years due to the past high-level of fertility, population stabilisation will take some time.
- The UN Population Division has estimated that India’s population would possibly peak at 161 crore around 2061.
- Recently, IHME estimated that it will peak at 160 crore in 2048.
- Some of this momentum effect can be mitigated if young people delay childbearing and space their children.
Factors affecting fertility rates
- Fertility largely depends upon social setting and programme strength.
- Programme strength is indicated by the unmet need for contraception, which has several components.
- The National Family Health Survey (2015-16) provides us estimates for the unmet need at 12.9 per cent and contraceptive prevalence of 53.5 per cent for India.
- Female education is a key indicator for social setting, higher the female education level, lower the fertility.
- As the literacy of women in the reproductive age group is improving rapidly, we can be sanguine about continued fertility reduction.
Declining sex ratio at birth: Cause for concerrn
- The SRS reports show that sex ratio at birth in India, measured as the number of females per 1,000 males, declined marginally from 906 in 2011 to 899 in 2018.
- Biologically normal sex ratio at birth is 950 females to 1,000 males.
- The UNFPA State of World Population 2020 estimated the sex ratio at birth in India as 910, lower than all the countries in the world except China.
- This is a cause for concern for following 2 reasons:
- 1) This adverse ratio results in a gross imbalance in the number of men and women.
- 2) Impact on marriage systems as well as other harms to women.
- Increasing female education and economic prosperity help to improve the ratio.
- It is hoped that a balanced sex ratio at birth could be realised over time, although this does not seem to be happening during the period 2011-18.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there is an urgent need to reach young people both for reproductive health education and services as well as to cultivate gender equity norms. This could reduce the effect of population momentum and accelerate progress towards reaching a more normal sex-ratio at birth. India’s population future depends on it.
Back2Basics: Total Fertility Rate and Replacement rate
- Total fertility rate (TFR) in simple terms refers to total number of children born or likely to be born to a woman in her life time if she were subject to the prevailing rate of age-specific fertility in the population.
- TFR of about 2.1 children per woman is called Replacement-level fertility (UN, Population Division).
- This value represents the average number of children a woman would need to have to reproduce herself by bearing a daughter who survives to childbearing age.
- If replacement level fertility is sustained over a sufficiently long period, each generation will exactly replace itself without any need for the country to balance the population by international migration.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various UN bodies
Mains level: Paper 2- Opportunity for India to push for institutional changes at the UN
The article analyses the changing geopolitical context against the background of the pandemic. China has been facing some challenges at the UN of late. Multilateralism faces an unprecedented crisis. This context provides an opportunity for India to push for reforms in international institutions.
China facing difficulty in elections to UN bodies
- Recently, India besting China in the elections for a seat on the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
- Soon after the CSW vote, it lost another election, this time to tiny Samoa for a seat on the UN Statistical Commission.
- And a couple of days ago, it just about managed to get elected to the UN High Rights Council, coming fourth out of five contestants for four vacancies.
- Earlier, China’s candidate had lost to a Singaporean in the race for DG World Intellectual Property Organization.
China’s strengths
- Taking advantage of its position as a member of the P-5 and as a huge aid giver, China made itself invincible in UN elections.
- It won among others, the top positions at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Historical background on China’s rise at the UN
- World War II saw strong U.S.-China collaboration against the Japanese, including U.S. operations conducted from India.
- Their bilateral ties saw the U.S. include the Chinese in a group of the most important countries for ensuring world peace post- World War II, along with the U.S., the USSR and the U.K.
- This enlarged into the P-5, with France being added by the UK at the San Francisco conference held in 1945 where the UN charter was finalised.
- The pure multilateralism of the League of Nations was thus infused with a multipolarity, with the U.S. as the sheet anchor.
Challenges to multilateralism and the need for reform in the international institutions
- Multilateralism is under stress due to COVID-19 pandemic and a certain disenchantment with globalisation.
- At the root is the rise of China and its challenge to U.S. global hegemony.
- But in the current scenario multilateralism backed by strong multipolarity in the need of the hour.
- This demands institutional reform in the UN Security Council (UNSC) and at the Bretton Woods Institutions.
- In this context, it is good that recently India, Germany, Japan and Brazil (G-4) have sought to refocus the UN on UNSC reform.
- As proponents of reform, they must remain focused and determined even if these changes do not happen easily or come soon.
- This is also the way forward for India which is not yet in the front row.
Way forward
- Earlier in the year, India was elected as a non-permanent member of the UNSC for a two-year term.
- India will also host the BRICS Summit next year and G-20 Summit in 2022.
- These are openings for India in collaborating the world in critical areas that require global cooperation especially climate change, pandemics and counter-terrorism.
- India also needs to invest in the UN with increased financial contributions in line with its share of the world economy and by placing its people in key multilateral positions.
Consider the question “The UN, which came into existence in different time fails to take into account the realities of the changing world. In light of this, examine the basis of India’s claim to a permanent seat at the UN. What are the challenges to India’s claim.”
Conclusion
Against the backdrop of pandemic and subsequent pushback against China at the UN, it is also an opportune moment for India and a Reformed Multilateralism.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GHI
Mains level: Various facets of hunger and malnutrition in India
India has the highest prevalence of wasted children under five years in the world, which reflects acute undernutrition, according to the Global Hunger Index 2020.
Note the parameters over which the GHI is based and their weightage composition.
Global Hunger Index (GHI)
- The GHI has been brought out almost every year by Welthungerhilfe lately in partnerships with Concern Worldwide since 2000; this year’s report is the 14th one.
- The reason for mapping hunger is to ensure that the world achieves “Zero Hunger by 2030” — one of the SDGs laid out by the UN.
- A low score gets a country a higher ranking and implies better performance.
- It is for this reason that GHI scores are not calculated for certain high-income countries.
- Each country’s data are standardised on a 100-point scale and a final score is calculated after giving 33.33% weight each to components 1 and 4, and giving 16.66% weight each to components 2 and 3.
For each country in the list, the GHI looks at four indicators:
- Undernourishment (which reflects inadequate food availability): calculated by the share of the population that is undernourished (that is, whose caloric intake is insufficient)
- Child Wasting (which reflects acute undernutrition): calculated by the share of children under the age of five who are wasted (that is, those who have low weight for their height)
- Child Stunting (which reflects chronic undernutrition): calculated by the share of children under the age of five who are stunted (that is, those who have low height for their age)
- Child Mortality (which reflects both inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environment): calculated by the mortality rate of children under the age of five.
India’s performance this year
- In the 2020 Global Hunger Index, India ranks 94th out of the 107 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2020 GHI scores.
- With a score of 27.2, India has a level of hunger that is serious.
- The situation has worsened in the 2015-19 period, when the prevalence of child wasting was 17.3%, in comparison to 2010-14, when it was 15.1%.
- India fares worst in child wasting (low weight for height, reflecting acute undernutrition) and child stunting (low height for age, reflecting chronic undernutrition), which together make up a third of the total score.
Useful comparative data
- Overall, India ranks 94 out of 107 countries in the Index, lower than neighbours such as Bangladesh (75) and Pakistan (88).
- In the region of the south, east and south-eastern Asia, the only countries which fare worse than India are Timor-Leste, Afghanistan and North Korea.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: OST, INF Treaty, New START policy
Mains level: US-Russia power tussle
Russian President Mr Putin has proposed a one-year extension without conditions of the last major nuclear arms reduction accord, the New START Treaty between Russia and the U.S.
The New START, INF and the Open Skies …. Be clear about the differences of these treaties. For example- to check if their inception was during cold war era etc.
New START Treaty
- The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) pact limits the number of deployed nuclear warheads, missiles and bombers and is due to expire in 2021 unless renewed.
- The treaty limits the US and Russia to a maximum of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers, well below Cold War caps.
- It was signed in 2010 by former US President Barack Obama and then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
- It is one of the key controls on superpower deployment of nuclear weapons.
- If it falls, it will be the second nuclear weapons treaty to collapse under the leadership of US President Donald Trump.
- In February, US withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), accusing Moscow of violating the agreement.
Also read:
https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/us-confirms-pull-out-from-inf-treaty/
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO)
Mains level: Not Much
Russian Navy along with CSTO members has begun military exercises in the central waters of the Caspian Sea north of the Azerbaijani capital Baku.
Try this MCQ:
Q.The Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) sometimes seen in news is an alliance led by:
(a) Russia (b) USA (c) India (d) European Union
Collective Security Treaty Organization
- CSTO is an intergovernmental military alliance that was signed on 15 May 1992.
- In 1992, six post-Soviet states belonging to the Commonwealth of Independent States—Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan—signed the Collective Security Treaty
- This is also referred to as the “Tashkent Pact” or “Tashkent Treaty”.
- Three other post-Soviet states—Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Georgia—signed the next year and the treaty took effect in 1994.
- Five years later, six of the nine—all but Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Uzbekistan—agreed to renew the treaty for five more years, and in 2002 those six agreed to create the CSTO as a military alliance.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ‘Five Eyes’ group of nations, End-to-end encryptions
Mains level: Not Much
India joins the UK in drive known as ‘Five Eyes’ group of nations, as a seventh member against encrypted social media messages.
Map the countries in ‘Five Eyes’ group of nations.
‘Five Eyes’ group of nations
- The Five Eyes (FVEY) is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
- The origins of the Five Eyes alliance can be traced back to the Atlantic Charter, which was issued in August 1941 to lay out the Allied goals for the post-war world.
- These countries are parties to the multilateral UK-USA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperation in signals intelligence.
- India is among seven countries to back a UK-led campaign against end-to-end encryption of messages by social media giants such as Facebook, which they say hinder law enforcement by blocking all access to them.
A formal expansion
- The UK and India joined this group to ensure they do not blind themselves to illegal activity on their platforms, including child abuse images.
- This marks an expansion of the so-called “Five Eyes” group of nations, a global alliance on intelligence issues, to include India and Japan.
For a common cause
- All members claim that end-to-end encryption policies such as those employed by the social media giant erode the public’s safety online.
- They have made it clear that when end-to-end encryption is applied with no access to content, it severely undermines the ability of companies to take action against illegal activity on their own platforms.
- It also prevents law enforcement investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes being committed on these services such as online child sexual abuse, grooming and terrorist content.
Back2Basics: End-to-end encryption
- End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is a system of communication where only communicating users can read the messages.
- It is regarded as the most secure way to communicate privately and securely online.
- By encrypting messages at both ends of a conversation, end-to-end encryption prevents anyone in the middle from reading private communications.
- In principle, it prevents potential eavesdroppers – including telecom providers, Internet providers, and even the provider of the communication service – from being able to access the cryptographic keys needed to decrypt the conversation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Chapter Proceedings
Mains level: Law and order maintenance
The Mumbai police last week began “chapter proceedings” against the Editor-in-Chief of a news channel.
Can you relate the philosophy behind chapter proceedings and preventive detention?
What exactly are “chapter proceedings”?
- Chapter proceedings are preventive actions taken by the police if they fear that a particular person is likely to create trouble and disrupt the peace in society.
- These proceedings are unlike punitive action taken in case of an FIR with an intention to punish.
- Here, the police can issue notices under sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure to ensure that the person is aware that creating nuisance could result in action against him.
What are the sections using which these notices are served?
- Generally, a notice is issued to a person under section 111 of the CrPC whereby he is asked to present himself before the Executive Magistrate – an ACP-rank officer in a Commissionerate of a Dy. the collector in rural areas – who has issued the notice.
- The person has to explain why he should not be made to sign a bond of good behaviour.
- If the Executive Magistrate is not satisfied with the answer, the person is asked to sign a bond of good behaviour and produce sureties vouching for his/her good behaviour.
- A fine amount is also decided – in accordance with the crime and the person’s financial capability – which the person would have to pay if he violates the conditions set in the bond.
Legal immunities against such proceedings
- On receiving the notice under section 111, a person can appeal the notice before the courts.
- In fact, in the past, courts have come down strongly against chapter proceedings in some cases.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Authority of Ship Recycling (NASR)
Mains level: Not Much
The Central government has notified the Director-General of Shipping as the national authority for recycling of ships under the Recycling of Ships Act, 2019.
The ‘Hong Kong Convention’ is the odd man out here. Read more about the convention at:
[pib] Hong Kong International Convention for Safe Recycling of Ships 2009
About NASR
- The national authority of ship recycling will be set up in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
- The location of the office will benefit the ship recycling yard owners situated in Alang, Gujarat which is home to the largest ship recycling industry in the world.
- DG Shipping is authorized to administer, supervise and monitor all activities relating to ship recycling in the country.
- DG Shipping will oversee the sustainable development of the ship recycling industry, monitoring the compliance to environment-friendly norms and safety and health measures for the stakeholders.
- DG Shipping will be the final authority for the various approvals required by the ship-recycling yard owners and state governments.
Recycling of Ships Act, 2019
- Under the Ship Recycling Act, 2019, India has acceded to the ‘Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships’.
- This was adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
- DG Shipping is a representative of India in the IMO and all the conventions of IMO are being enforced by DG Shipping.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Criteria for MSMEs
Mains level: Paper 3- Formalisation of MSMEs
The lack of formalisation has several implications for MSMEs. Registering them could help them in various ways. The article deals with the issue of formalisation.
Please read the link shared below for issues related to MSME
The missing large in MSMEs
Steps taken by Government to Formalize MSME
- UAM: In 2015, the government notified the Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum (UAM), an online filing system for MSMEs.
- As of January, 86 lakh MSMEs had registered on the UAM portal.
- In 2016, the government notified rules under which MSMEs had to furnish information relating to their enterprises, online, in an MSME databank.
- As of January, only 1.6 lakh units registered on it.
- A new process of classification and registration for small businesses took off on July 1 called as “Udyam”.
- As of October 1, the MSME ministry has confirmed that only 7 lakh registrations have taken place using the new system.Nudge by the government
- In an attempt to nudge more enterprises to become lifetime Udyam, the government has integrated the system with the Trade Receivables Electronic Discounting System (TReDS) and the Government e-Marketplace (GeM).
- In its updated Priority Sector Lending (PSL) guidelines, the RBI has established that for the purposes of PSL, MSMEs will be identified as per the gazette notification laying down the new process of classification and registration.
Addressing the concerns
- While the Udyam initiative holds more promise, it is important to assess if this will be detrimental to accessing formal finance.
- To this end, the government and RBI should consider whether the registration requirement can be exempted for units with investment and turnover that falls in the lower end of the criteria.
- In 2018, the International Finance Corporation estimated that the overall supply of finance from formal sources met only one-third of the credit demand of the MSME sector.
- Enabling strategies such as PSL could provide a fillip to priority sectors including MSMEs which require increased formal financing.
Conclusion
The costs of formalisation and compliance are high and onerous in many states in India. In such an ecosystem, there are perverse incentives to remaining small and informal. Governments’ efforts towards formalisation should be directed towards addressing these issues.
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