Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CERC
Mains level: Paper 3- India's power sector and issues
Reforms in power sector in the UK were extensive and offers some important lessons for India. This article elaborates on the issue of reforms the challenges in introducing such reforms in India.
Background of the power sector reforms in UK
- After living with vertically integrated utilities till 1989, they unbundled.
- Unbundling created markets both at generation and retail end.
- Today, they are back to a situation where 70% of the power generated is sold outside the wholesale market.
- The Electricity Act, 1989, which paved the way for the appointment of a regulator and thereafter, leading to unbundling, both vertical and horizontal.
- Twelve distribution utilities were set up (called RECs) along with three-generation companies and also a national wires company (called NGC).
- All of them were privatised barring Nuclear Electricity.
- Retail competition was introduced in 1990 and was extended to all consumers in 1998.
- A wholesale market was set up for generators.
- The next major step was to fragment the generators because the regulator felt that they were colluding.
- NETA in 2001 was primarily a tie-up between gencos and their consumers with long-term power purchase agreements.
- The Energy Act, 2012, was enacted, which envisaged further changes.
Issues with Power sector reform in India
- The Electricity Act, 2003 is a very cautious and timid exercise compared to what has been done in the UK.
- Through the Act, we have merely unbundled and ring-fenced our utilities so that there is transparency in the accounts; this itself took us several years.
- There has been no attempt to create a wholesale market or a full-fledged retail market where the consumer chooses the supplier.
- Large consumers, having loads in excess of 1 MW, however, have the option of open-access where they can opt to receive supply from some other entity, instead of his incumbent utility.
- The road to open access though has been bumpy, and discoms have opposed it tooth and nail.
- Besides what was possible in the UK may not be possible in India.
- The UK did not have a regime of cross-subsidies where the commercial and industrial sectors subsidise agriculture and low-end domestic consumers and also did not have high commercial loss levels.
- Moreover, in the UK, all consumers were metered, unlike India.
- There is yet another factor: ‘Power’ falls in the Concurrent List.
- The Centre and states rarely see eye-to-eye on several issues concerning the sector, especially on matters relating to distribution.
- Consequently, any major change does not get accepted.
Issues in introducing reform in India
- The CERC floated a discussion paper in December 2018 about the creation of a wholesale market in India.
- This amounts to retrofitting, and retrofitting in an existing architecture has its limitations.
- But the issue is whether India should attempt creating a wholesale market or for that matter a full-fledged retail market in India, especially after the experience of the UK.
- The UK is almost back to the era of vertically integrated utilities, and consumers barely switch their retailer.
Way forward
- We need to privatise our distribution sector by creating joint ventures with the government.
- the government will have to undertake initial hand-holding till such time commercial losses are wiped out.
- This is the model which was followed in the case of Delhi and has proven successful.
- Commercial losses have come down from 50% to single-digit figures within a span of 10 to 12 years.
- Once we reach that stage, we can think of creating a full-fledged retail market where a consumer can choose her supplier.
Consider the question “Despite several reforms in the power sector, India still lacks full-fledged retail. What are the challenges in the creation of such a market. Suggest the ways to deal with the challenges.”
Conclusion
The Indian consumer is only interested in good quality power supply at a reasonable price. We only need to take policy measures so that the incumbent utilities can provide this, since, this will be the least costly path.
Source:-
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/power-reforms-uk-lessons-for-india/2127560/
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Freedom of speech and expression
Mains level: Paper 2- Regulation of digital media and issues with it
The article deals with the recent decision of the government to regulate digital media through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and issues with it.
Regulating the press
- Recently, government put the online news and current affairs portals along with “films and audio-visual programmes made available by online content providers” under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
- Through the move, government is clubbing the only sector of the media which has pre-censorship, namely films with the news media which has so far, at least officially, not been subject to pre-censorship.
- The move hijacks matters before the Supreme Court of India relating to freedom of the press and freedom of expression to arm the executive with control over the free press, thereby essentially making it unfree.
- It also hijacks another public interest litigation in the Supreme Court relating to content on “Over The Top” (OTT) platforms not being subject to regulation or official oversight to bring that sector too under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
- The move creates an artificial distinction between the new-age digital media which is the media of the future, the media of the millennial generation — and the older print and TV news media.
Reasons given by the government and issues with it
- The explanation given is that the print media have the oversight of the Press Council of India and the TV media of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA).
- Therefore the digital media needed a regulatory framework — no less than that of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
- However, there is no comparison between the Press Council of India and the NBA as professional bodies on the one hand and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on the other.
- The fate of the digital media under the control of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting leaves little scope for hope.
Consider the question “Regulation of digital media while solving some chronic issues gives rise to concerns over the freedom of press and expression. In light of this, examine the need for regulation of digital media by government and issues in it.”
Conclusion
The government regulations would be counterproductive for both the media practitioner and the media entrepreneur and for the startups that have been the new vibrant face of contemporary journalism.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Increasing the income and productivity of labour force
Slowdown in demand
- The bigger medium-term problem facing Indian economy is the slowdown of aggregate demand — private final consumption expenditure (PFCE), investment and exports.
- The largest component of GDP, PFCE, has declined as a share of GDP 68 per cent in 1990 to 56 per cent of GDP in 2019 .
- The consumption of the top socio-economic deciles (top 10%) has stagnated.
- Also the consumption demand of the rest of the demography ( 90%) — mostly in agriculture, small-scale manufacturing and self-employed — is not increasing due to low income growth.
How to increase income and productivity
- Atmanirbhar Bharat depends on improving the income and productivity of a majority of the labour force.
- First, incentivise the farming community to shift from grain-based farming to cash crops, horticulture and livestock products.
- Second, shift the labour force from agriculture to manufacturing.
- India can only become self-reliant if it uses its 900 million people in the working-age population with an average age of 27 and appropriates its demographic dividend as China did.
- That is possible if labour-intensive manufacturing takes place in a big way, creating employment opportunities for labour force with low or little skills, generating income and demand.
- India is in a unique position at a time when all other manufacturing giants are ageing sequentially — Japan, EU, the US, and even South Korea and China.
- Most of these countries have moved out of low-end labour-intensive manufacturing, and that space is being taken by countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, Mexico, etc.
- India offers the best opportunity in terms of a huge domestic market and factor endowments.
Way forward
- We need Indian firms to be part of the global value chain by attracting multinational enterprises and foreign investors in labour-intensive manufacturing, which will facilitate R&D, branding, exports, etc.
- There is a need to aggressively reduce both tariffs and non-tariff barriers on imports of inputs and intermediate products.
- Removing these barriers create a competitive manufacturing sector for Make in India, and “Assembly in India”.
- Apart from trade reforms, further factor market reforms are required, such as rationalising punitive land acquisition clauses and rationalising labour laws, both at the Centre and state level.
- We also have to go for large-scale vocational training from the secondary-school level, like China and other east and south-east Asian countries.
Consider the question “Key to faster economic progress of India lies in income growth and productivity of its labour force. Suggest the ways to achieve these.”
Conclusion
The COVID-triggered economic crisis should lead us to create a development model that leads to opportunities for the people at the bottom of the pyramid. A competitive and open economy can ensure Atmanirbhar Bharat.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan
Mains level: Self-reliance measures
Finance Minister has announced a fresh set of relief and stimulus measures for the economy worth ₹1.19 lakh crore, including a scheme to boost re-employment chances of formal sector employees who lost their jobs amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Assist this newscard with:
[Burning Issues] Atmanirbhar Abhiyan Package
Atmanirbhar Bharat
- Atmanirbhar Bharat, which translates to ‘self-reliant India’ or ‘self-sufficient India’, is the vision of our PM of making India a bigger and more important part of the global economy.
- It doesn’t mean “self-containment”, “isolating away from the world” or being “protectionist”.
- It calls for pursuing policies that are efficient, competitive and resilient, and being self-sustaining and self-generating.
- The five pillars of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ are stated as economy, infrastructure, technology-driven systems, vibrant demography and demand.
Highlights of the Package 3.0
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Terminologies such as Slowdown, Recession, Depression
Mains level: Hurdles to India's economic growth
Latest RBI bulletin projects contraction for a second consecutive quarter, which means the economy, is in a ‘technical recession’.
Nowcasts by RBI
- In its latest monthly bulletin, the Reserve Bank of India has dedicated a chapter on the “State of the economy”.
- The idea is to provide a monthly snapshot of some of the key indicators of India’s economic health.
- As part of the exercise, the RBI has started “nowcasting” or “the prediction of the present or the very near future of the state of the economy”.
- And the very first “nowcast” predicts that India’s economy will contract by 8.6% in the second quarter (July, August, September) of the current financial year.
- It implies India that has entered a “technical recession” in the first half of 2020-21— for the first time in its history.
What is a Recessionary Phase?
- At its simplest, in any economy, a recessionary phase is the counterpart of an expansionary phase.
- In simpler terms, when the overall output of goods and services — typically measured by the GDP — increases from one quarter (or month) to another, the economy is said to be in an expansionary phase.
- And when the GDP contracts from one quarter to another, the economy is said to be in a recessionary phase.
- Together, these two phases create what is called a “business cycle” in any economy. A full business cycle could last anywhere between one year and a decade.
Now try this PYQ:
Q.Consider the following actions by the Government:
- Cutting the tax rates
- Increasing government spending
- Abolishing the subsidies
In the context of economic recession, which of the above actions can be considered a part of the “Fiscal stimulus” package?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
How is the Recession different?
- When a recessionary phase sustains for long enough, it is called a recession. That is, when the GDP contracts for a long enough period, the economy is said to be in a recession.
- There is, however, no universally accepted definition of a recession — as in, for how long should the GDP contract before an economy is said to be in a recession.
- But most economists agree with the US definition that during a recession, a significant decline in economic activity spreads across the economy and can last from a few months to more than a year.
Then, what is a Technical Recession?
- While the basic idea behind the term “recession” — significant contraction in economic activity — is clear, from the perspective of empirical data analysis, there are too many unanswered queries.
- For instance, would quarterly GDP be enough to determine economic activity? Or should one look at unemployment or personal consumption as well?
- It is entirely possible that GDP starts growing after a while but unemployment levels do not fall adequately.
- To get around these empirical technicalities, commentators often consider a recession to be in progress when real GDP has declined for at least two consecutive quarters.
- That is how real quarterly GDP has come to be accepted as a measure of economic activity and a “benchmark” for ascertaining a “technical recession”.
How long do recessions last?
- Typically, recessions last for a few quarters. If they continue for years, they are referred to as “depressions”.
- But depression is quite rare; the last one was during the 1930s in the US.
- In the current scenario, the key determinant for any economy to come out of recession is to control the spread of Covid-19.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Contempt of Court and its types, AGI
Mains level: Free speech vs. Contempt of court
Attorney-General gave his consent for the initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against the stand-up comedian for his tweets following a Supreme Court’s decision to grant interim bail to a news anchor.
Note important power, functions and limitations of AGI. A bluff can be created with the dicey statements in the prelims.
Also read:
[Burning Issue] Free Speech Vs. Contempt of Court
What is Contempt of Court?
- According to the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, contempt of court can either be civil contempt or criminal contempt.
- Civil contempt means wilful disobedience of any judgment, decree, direction, order, writ or another process of a court, or wilful breach of an undertaking given to a court.
- Criminal contempt, on the other hand, is attracted by the publication (whether by words, spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representations, or otherwise) of any matter or the doing of any other act whatsoever which:
(i) Scandalizes or tends to scandalise, or lowers or tends to lower the authority of, any court; or
(ii) Prejudices, or interferes or tends to interfere with, the due course of any judicial proceeding; or
(iii) Interferes or tends to interfere with, or obstructs or tends to obstruct, the administration of justice in any other manner
- In 2006, the government brought in an amendment, which now provides “truth” as defence provided it is bona fide and in the public interest.
Why is the A-G’s consent needed to initiate contempt proceedings?
- In cognizance of criminal contempt, The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 has a provision under Subsection 1 of Section 15.
- It reads that- in the case of criminal contempt, (other than contempt in the face of the Supreme Court or a High Court), the related court may take action on its own motion or on a motion made by (a) the Advocate-General, or (b) any other person, with the consent in writing of the Advocate-General.
Back2Basics: 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.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Arsenal of Indian Navy
Mains level: Modernisation of Indian Navy
The fifth Scorpene submarine of Project-75 named ‘Vagir’ has been launched at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai.
In a rare case we would see a question based on various classes of Indian Submarines in the CSP. However, we can expect a question based on Project-75 in the CSP and CAPF exam very well.
About Vagir
- Vagir, ex-Russia, named after the Sand Fish, a deadly deep-sea predator of the Indian Ocean, was commissioned into the Indian Navy on December 3, 1973, and was decommissioned on June 7, 2001.
- In true nautical tradition, it is refurbished under the same name – Vagir.
- It is rebuilt with superior stealth features (such as advanced acoustic absorption techniques, low radiated noise levels, hydro-dynamically optimized shape etc.) and precision-guided weapons.
- The attack can be launched with both torpedoes and tube-launched anti-ship missiles, whilst underwater or on the surface.
What is Project-75?
- The Project 75I-class submarine is a follow-on of the Project 75 Kalvari-class submarine for the Indian Navy.
- In the late 1990s, around the time of Kargil war, a three-decade plan took shape for indigenous construction of submarines.
- It was known to have two separate series of submarine building lines – codenamed Project 75 and Project 75I — in collaboration with foreign entities.
- Under this project, the Indian Navy intends to acquire six diesel-electric submarines, which will also feature advanced air-independent propulsion systems.
- This is for enabling them to stay submerged for longer duration and substantially increase their operational range.
Submarines commissioned till date
- The submarines in the current Kalvari-class take their names from erstwhile decommissioned classes of submarines named Kalvari.
- It included Kalvari, Khanderi, Karanj and Vela class — which included Vela, Vagir, Vagsheer.
- Two submarines of the ongoing project, Kalvari and Khanderi, have been commissioned into the Indian Navy.
- The third submarine, Karanj, is in the last phase of rigorous sea trials.
- The fourth Scorpene, Vela, has commenced her sea trials, whilst the sixth and last submarine, Vagsheer, is being readied for boot together.
Strategic importance of these submarines
- India currently operates one submarine each in nuclear-powered Classes of Chakra and Arihant and in addition to 14 submarines belonging to three classes of Diesel Electric category — Kalvari, Shishumar and Sindhughosh, some of which are ageing.
- The nuclear powered and diesel-electric submarines have their designated roles in the Carrier Battle Groups, which are formations of ships and submarines with Aircraft Carriers at the lead role.
- As per the basic principles of submarine deployment and the minimum requirement for India to create a strategic deterrence, there is a specific number of submarines of both types that India needs to have in active service.
- Currently, India has less number of submarines than what is required with some more of those from both types being at various stages of construction.
Back2Basics: Classes of Submarines in India
- In maritime terms, a class of ships is a group of vessels which have the same make, purpose and displacement.
- In the Navy and Coast Guard in India, the ships belonging to a particular class are named in a specific manner.
- Many times the names have the same first letters, prefixes, similar meanings or the names belong to a particular type of words for example names of cities, persons, mythological concepts, animals, rivers, mountains, weapons, etc.
- The class is generally named after the first vessel in the category. In some cases, a particular class of vessels takes their names from an earlier class of vessels which are now decommissioned.
- Like Kalvari – which means Tiger Shark, Vagir has been named after a Sand Fish, a predatory marine species.
- Khanderi has been named after an Island Fort built by Chhatrapati Shivaji, which played a key role in his Navy. Karanj has also been named after an Island located South of Mumbai.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Genus Rohanixalus
Mains level: Eastern Himalayas and its biodiversity
Indian researchers have discovered a genus of tree frog found in the Andaman Islands and the northeast.
A stand-alone species being mentioned in the news for the first time find their way into the prelims. Make special note here. Usually, note the species and its habitat location (IUCN status if available), in the purview of a generic prelims question.
Genus Rohanixalus
- Named after Sri Lankan taxonomist Rohan Pethiyagoda, the frogs of the new genus Rohanixalus are characterised by a rather small and slender body (size about 2 to 3 cm long).
- It has a pair of contrastingly coloured lateral lines on either side of the body, minute brown speckles scattered throughout the upper body surfaces, and light green coloured eggs laid in arboreal bubble-nests.
- Based on DNA studies, the new genus is also revealed to be a distinct evolutionary lineage from all previously known tree frog genera.
- It is the 20th recognised genus of the family Rhacophoridae that comprises 422 known Old World tree frog species found in Asia and Africa.
Sub-species of this frog
- There are eight frog species in this genus Rohanixalus.
- They are known to inhabit forested as well as human-dominated landscapes right from the northeast to Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, up to southern China.
Unique features of this genus
- The genus has several unique behavioural traits including maternal egg attendance where the female (mother) attends the egg clutches until hatching and assists in the release of the tadpoles into the water.
- During the first three days after egg-laying, the female sits over the eggs and produces a gelatinous secretion with which she glazes the egg mass through the clock-wise movement of her legs.
- This behaviour provides necessary moisture to the eggs laid on exposed leaf surfaces and protects them from insect predation.
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