Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Art. 21 and 25
Mains level: Freedom of Religion
The UP Cabinet has cleared a draft ordinance against forceful inter-faith conversions for marriage, amid similar steps by other states.
Try this question:
Q. In a world where religiosity is rising, the contemporary liberal ideas seem outdated and incapable of handling dangerous issues of religious bigotry. Critically comment.
What is the proposed UP law on ‘love jihad’?
- The proposed law defines punishment and fine for three different cases.
- Conversion done though “misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means” would face jail term of one to 5 years, and a minimum fine of Rs 15,000.
- Conversion of a minor, a woman from the SC or ST would have to face a jail term from three to 10 years, with a minimum fine of Rs 25,000.
- If such conversion is found at the mass level, then those guilty would face jail term from three to 10 years, with a minimum fine of Rs 50,000.
- It proposes among other things that a marriage will be declared “shunya” (null and void) if the “sole intention” of the same is to “change a girl’s religion”.
Who can convert and how can they do it under the proposed law?
- Under the new proposed law, anyone wanting to convert into another religion would have to give it in writing to the District Magistrate at least two months in advance.
- The government is supposed to prepare a format for the application and the individual has to fill the application for conversion in that format.
- However, under the new law, it would be the responsibility of the one going for the religious conversion to prove that it is not taking place forcefully or with any fraudulent means.
- In case, any violation is found under this provision, then one faces a jail term from 6 months to 3 years and fine of minimum Rs 10,000.
Need for such law
- The state of UP is witnessing rising incidents of forced religious conversions or conversions through fraudulent ways.
- The extreme right wing politicians in the state were quiet vocal against alleged religious conversions.
- There are cases of being allegedly lured and honey-trapped by men and those girls now seeking their help to free themselves.
Interfaith marriages and the Constitution
- The right to marry a person of one’s choice is a guarantee under Article 21.
- At the same time, freedom of conscience, the practice and propagation of a religion of one’s choice, including not following any religion, are guaranteed under Article 25.
- One set of rights cannot invalidate the other.
What do critics say?
- Such law to regulate matrimonial relationships between two consenting adults is simply against the constitutional guarantees.
- The right to marry a person of one’s choice flows from the freedom of individuality, naturally available to any individual.
- Hence, interfaith marriages and religious conversions should not be the matter of concern for social watchdogs.
- Hence, the mere statement of two consenting adults about the existence of their matrimonial relation is sufficient.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: IMAC, NMDAC
Mains level: India's maritime security
The Navy’s Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC), the nodal agency for maritime data fusion will soon become a National Maritime Domain Awareness (NMDA) centre.
Try this question:
Q“To be secure on Land, we must be Supreme at Sea”. In this context, discuss why India is primarily a Maritime Nation?
What is IMAC?
- The IMAC monitors movement of more than 120,000 ships a year passing through the Indian Ocean.
- The cargo carried by these ships account for 66 per cent of world crude oil, 50 per cent of container traffic and 33 per cent of bulk cargo.
- Thus, IMAC performs a very crucial role in collecting shipping information, analysing traffic patterns and sharing the inputs with the user agencies.
- It tracks vessels on the high seas and gets data from the coastal radars, white shipping agreements, Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) transponders fitted on merchant ships, air and traffic management system and global shipping databases.
Transforming to NDMAC
- The IMAC will soon transform into a national NMDA centre, wherein it will be a multi-agency centre.
- The NMDA project was launched in accordance with the vision of PM on SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region).
- Approved by the Defence Acquisition Council in 2012, the IMAC became operational in 2014 and is located in Gurugram.
- It is the nodal centre of the National Command Control Communication and Intelligence System (NC3I), which was established to link the Navy and the Coast Guard.
Why such a move?
- India has a coast line of about 7500 km and an Exclusive Economic Zone(EEZ) of over 2 million sq kms.
- In addition, we are endowed with abundant oceanic wealth comprising a large number of island territories and vast sea bed area, over 97 % of our national trade is carried by sea routes.
- It is therefore, imperative that we modernize the Navy which always has to be in a high state of preparedness.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SDGs
Mains level: India's measure for SDGs
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
UNDP and Invest India have launched the SDG Investor Map for India, laying out 18 Investment Opportunities Areas (IOAs) in six critical SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) enabling sectors.
Try this PYQ:
Q.The Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), a UN mechanism to assist countries transition towards greener and more inclusive economies, emerged at:
(a) The Earth Summit on Sustainable Development 2002, Johannesburg
(b) The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development 2012, Rio de Janeiro
(c) The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 2015, Paris
(d) The World Sustainable Development Summit 2016, New Delhi
SDG Investor Map for India
- SDG Finance Facility platform at UNDP in partnership with Invest India, the investment promotion arm of the Government of India has developed this Map.
- The map will help public and private sector stake-holders direct capital towards IOAs, and White Spaces (Areas of Potential) that can contribute to the sustainable development needs of the country.
- The map has identified 18 IOAs and 8 White Spaces across 6 Priority Sectors including Education, Healthcare, Agriculture and Allied Services, Financial Services, Renewable Energy and Alternatives, and Sustainable Environment.
Utility of this map
- Investing in the SDGs at this point is crucial to ‘Building Back Better’ and making the economy and our societies more resilient and sustainable.
- With the COVID-19 pandemic, the financing gap for the SDGs in India has only widened further and decades of development progress is nearly on the verge of reversal.
- Enhanced productivity, technology adoption and increased inclusion are all critical factors that this map uses to identify the most attractive sectors for investors.
Back2Basics: What are SDGs?
- The SDGs or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all”.
- They were set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by the year 2030.
- They are included in a UN Resolution called the 2030 Agenda or what is known as Agenda 2030.
- Countries are expected to take ownership and establish a national framework for achieving these Goals.
- Implementation and success will rely on countries’ own sustainable development policies, plans and programmes.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Working of democracy
Mains level: Paper 2- Evolution of democracy in India
Democracy has evolved in many ways with time. The article examines its evolution in the Indian context.
Historical background of democracy
- In recorded history, the Greeks were the first to experiment with models of government.
- There were monarchies, oligarchies and democracies among the Greek city-states of the 5th Century BCE.
- Aristotle wrote that while monarchies were for the benefit of the monarchs and oligarchies for the benefit of men with means, democracies were for the benefit of men without means.
- Democracy has travelled a long way from those times.
- In the world’s successful democracies like the US, UK and India, there is a fine balance between the elected and non-elected institutions with enough safeguards.
How democracy worked in India
- There was much scepticism about the idea of universal adult franchise during the making of the Indian Constitution.
- But Rajendra Prasad assured the Assembly’s members about the raw political wisdom of the average Indian as also the strength of the other institutions to safeguard the democratic process.
- However, the infamous Emergency exposed the flaws in Indian democracy.
Gandhiji’s and B R Ambedkar’s approach
- Mahatma Gandhi was not a big admirer of the parliamentary system.
- Gandhi’s view was that in the British system, the parliament works only for partisan interest — and not for the national interest.
- He wrote in Harijan in January 1937 that by political independence he meant system suitable to Indian context i.e. Ram Rajya — sovereignty of the people based on pure moral authority.
- B R Ambedkar too described democracy in India as “only a top-dressing” on an Indian soil “which is essentially undemocratic”.
- He underscored the importance of social democracy for the success of political democracy.
- Gandhi was referring to the tyranny of the British rule and Ambedkar was responding to the oppressive caste system.
- Neither was against democracy, but both were against the idea of “majoritarian rule”.
- For Gandhi, democracy meant the weak getting the same chance as the strong.
- For Ambedkar, it was about giving voice to the voiceless.
- For democracies to succeed, both believed that the parliamentary majorities need to be restrained through constitutional ethics and public morality.
- Constitutional ethics is about leaders respecting constitutional order, conventions and institutions.
- Gandhi’s greater emphasis was on public morality.
- He insisted that for India’s democracy to succeed, the Congress should convert itself into a lok sevak sangh and work at the grassroots level.
Consider the question “Public morality and unelected institution are necessary checks on the elected government not inimical to it. Comment.”
Conclusion
India’s democracy, as envisaged by the makers of its Constitution, thrived essentially because of the respect of the leaders for ethical constitutionalism and moral activism of the grassroots activists. Neither should see the other as an enemy and try to bring them down.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Policy approach for industrial development
The article suggests the policy approach to achieve industrial growth while avoiding the isolationist approach in pursuit of AtmaNirbharBharat.
Issue of policy binary
- The goals of the Make in India initiative and now the AatmaNirbharBharat Abhiyan are driving a major shift in policy.
- Import duties are being raised.
- Production-linked incentives are being offered to firms across a wide canvas of 10 priority sectors.
- At the same time, there is considerable unease at the rolling back of trade liberalisation.
- This binary is not very useful.
Steps needed to gain competitive advantage
1) Infrastructure
- It would still take India many years to develop its physical infrastructure to the levels required for international competitiveness.
- Until then, large industrial parks for textiles, electronics, toys or shipbuilding need to be developed by state agencies with soft financing.
- Competitive logistics are essential.
- This was critical for the success of the information technology (IT) industry where world-class infrastructure was created within the software parks.
- High-speed broadband real-time connectivity to the US market was provided through public investment.
- This was done well before general telecom modernisation began.
2) Closing the financing gap
- Long-term financing for world-class infrastructure is still a gap.
- The central government can either use one of its existing financial institutions or create a new development financial institution to provide long-term low-interest rate debt.
- The sovereign needs to provide risk-mitigation through an implicit guarantee. It can afford to do so.
3) Prevent real exchange rate appreciation
- Before considering specific increases in import duties, real exchange appreciation should be undone.
- This would have the effect of raising tariffs across the board.
- It is high time the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) agreed on this objective.
4) Change the regime for SEZ
- Allow SEZ to sell into the domestic area with import duties at the lowest applicable rate with any trading partner and the same value-addition norms.
- Tax exemption on profits could be dispensed with while continuing to provide a duty-free import regime.
- This would create a level-playing field for production vis-à-vis competitive locations overseas.
- Large zones would have to be developed by the state.
- The private sector can be partners in the process, but achievement of scale is only possible by the state.
- Production for the domestic as well as the global market would become easier.
5) Encourage domestic value addition
- Domestic value-addition can be incentivised by-
- 1) Reducing duties to zero for all primary raw materials and inputs.
- 2) then progressively higher rates for intermediates with the highest rate for the finished product.
- In short, have just the opposite of the inverted duty structure we have had for computers.
- This would change investment and production decisions if other costs of production in India have been made competitive.
6) Commitment of procurement of full production
- In some industries, commitment of procurement of full production for a few years would suffice to get investment.
- Bids could be invited for solar panels, or for battery storage for the grid, for annual supply for, say, five years with the condition that full value-addition has to be done in India.
- Such commitment would provide for amortisation of the capital investment and make it a risk-free investment.
- If the bid size is large enough, the best global firms would come and invest.
- If the bids are repeated, prices would come down and a competitive industry structure would be created.
7) Encourage public investment
- Public investment in firms should not be ruled out altogether.
- In some cases, it may be the best way to create competitive capacity.
- Maruti Suzuki is a good example in India.
- Volkswagen was set up by a state government in Germany, which is still a substantial shareholder.
- This is a policy instrument that can be used to create competitive advantage.
8) Creation of fund
- There should also be willingness to create a fund that looks at modest returns, but aims at creating national and global champions through start-ups.
Conclusion
The foundation of China’s incredible success was laid by Deng Xiaoping with the maxim on economic policy that one should not bother about the colour of the cat as long as it caught mice. India’s policies have tended to be doctrinaire. We need a heavy dose of pragmatism to achieve our full potential.
Source:-
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/industrial-growth-the-right-policy-mix-for-success/2136735/
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Western disturbances , Winter rainfall
Mains level: Peculiarities of Indian weather
For the past few days, Chandigarh and its neighbouring states have been experiencing unusually cold days although the night temperatures are normal.
Try this PYQ:
Consider the following statements:
- The winds which blow between 30°N and 60°S latitudes throughout the year are known as westerlies.
- The moist air masses that cause winter rains in the North-Western region of India are part of westerlies.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) Only 1
(b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Temperature anomaly in North
- Meteorological officials have attributed the trend to the cloud cover in the region which was absent until a few days ago.
- It is the result of a western disturbance, which has brought about a spell of precipitation in the northwest Himalaya.
Role of clouds
- During the day, clouds obstruct the heat from the sun from reaching the surface of the earth, reflecting some of it back into space.
- This lowers the temperature. Cold winds blowing down from snow-bound areas in the mountains also contribute to the cooling effect.
- At night, however, clouds act like blankets – they help retain some of the heat energy radiated back by the earth’s surface.
- Overcast weather at night, thus, increases greenhouse warming.
What are western disturbances?
- In northern India, winter rains and clouds are generally caused by moisture-bearing wind systems called western disturbances.
- They originate and gather moisture over the Mediterranean region and flow eastwards towards the Indian subcontinent.
- When some of these winds run into mountains of the northwest Himalaya, they are forced upward.
- At higher altitudes, the temperatures drop and water vapour gets condensed. This leads to cloud formation and eventually rain and snow.
Other factors for severe winters in North
- In north India, the huge temperature difference between summers and winters is due to its continentality (distance from seas and oceans).
- Air from oceans moderates the temperature as it moves onshore, but this effect is missing in continental interiors.
- As a result, north India has greater seasonal differences as compared to peninsular India.
- Temperature also reduces rapidly with altitude, and thus, the Himalayan region is colder still.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SECI
Mains level: Solar energy and its viability
India’s solar power tariffs have hit a new record low of ₹2 per unit.
Can you relate this?
We have such a lower cost of solar energy. Then why do we rely on coal powered thermal power plants?
Solar energy scenario in India
- India has an ambitious target to increase its solar power base – by 2022, it wants to quadruple its current solar capacity to 100GW.
- A number of industrial-scale solar energy plants have come up in the past few years.
- The government-backed company Solar Energy Corp. of India (SECI) has been auctioning solar energy capacity to various private developers using a bidding process that favours the cheapest tariffs.
Low tariff may seem lucrative
- The record low solar tariffs are mainly due to the “reverse bidding” process, which selects the cheapest bidder.
- India is now said to be considering a ceiling on solar tariffs – a cap of ₹2.5 ($o.035) and ₹2.68 ($0.038) per unit – for solar power companies that use both domestic and imported equipment.
- India imports over 90 per cent of solar equipment including cells and modules from overseas, mainly from China and Malaysia.
- The govt. now is in proves to impose a 25 per cent safeguard duty on solar equipment imports to protect domestic manufacturers, which could further put pressure on the razor margins of solar developers.
Impacts of such low tariff
- With the steep drop in prices, there are also concerns about the quality of the equipment being deployed, raising questions about future regulation and related costs.
- The infrastructure of many solar plants in India didn’t meet many environmental stress factors and technical standards, according to a study.
- India also has a target of increasing its rooftop solar capacity to 40,000 megawatts (MW) by 2022 similar to trends in many European countries.
- But, here too, prohibitive costs of solar equipment have kept many residential property owners from switching to rooftop solar despite a government subsidy.
Back2Basics: SECI
- It is a company of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, established to facilitate the implementation of the National Solar Mission (NSM).
- It is the only Central Public Sector Undertaking dedicated to the solar energy sector.
- The company’s mandate has been broadened to cover the entire renewable energy domain and the company will be renamed to Renewable Energy Corporation of India (RECI).
- It is responsible for the implementation of a number of govt. schemes, major ones being the solar park scheme and grid-connected solar rooftop scheme etc.
- It has a power-trading licence and is active in this domain through the trading of solar power from projects set up under the schemes being implemented by it.
Reverse bidding Process
In a reverse auction, the buyer puts up a request for a required good or service. Sellers then place bids for the amount they are willing to be paid for the good or service, and at the end of the auction the seller with the lowest amount wins.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UPI
Mains level: Paper 3- Cap on UPI transactions by TPAPs and issues with it
The article deals with the recent NPCI decision to cap the number of transactions by third party application providers (TPAPs).
Context
- The National Payments Corp of India (NPCI), in its recent guidelines imposed a 30% volume-based cap on the share of transactions by TPAPs and payment service providers (PSPs), effective from January 2021.
5 issues with the volume-based cap
1) It undermines cashless economy
- The growth and recognition of UPI would not have been possible had a cap been in place.
- Typically, customers limit themselves to one or two TPAPs of their choice.
- A transaction cap that forces users to use multiple apps may result in more transaction failures and dilute UPI’s popularity and impact.
- Lack of accessibility and user-friendliness would push users away from UPI towards other payment methods, or even cash.
2) It’s an anti-consumer decision
- Open markets and user choice have been crucial factors in the exponential increase seen in UPI adoption and its transactions.
- A volume-based cap would compel TPAPs to either limit the number of transactions on their platforms or stop enrolling new users, which in turn would restrict the customer’s use of UPI.
- TPAPs will likely be forced to redact customer incentives like cashbacks, coupons and the like.
- This could go against consumer interests by reducing choice.
3) It will also make the Indian market less attractive for investors:
- The cap would raise compliance and regulatory costs for players in the sector, which could deter new investors from entering.
- It would also adversely affect the growth potential of existing UPI players.
4) No regulatory impact assessment
- The idea of a volume-based cap does not appear to have undergone an assessment of its impact on the sector.
- As a general principle, before any such rule is imposed, an RIA (Regulatory Impact Assessment) needs to be undertaken.
- Systemic risks are not restricted to UPI and are common in all financial systems; yet, a similar cap has not been suggested for, say, retail bank transactions.
5) Impact on Atmanirbhar Bharat
- In order for Indian businesses to grow and compete at the global level, we need to integrate business processes with the global economy.
- Indian start-ups, in particular, need tools and infrastructure that lets them gain an international edge.
- Atmanirbhar Bharat envisions a self-reliant India that thrives on innovation, technology and entrepreneurship.
- But this vision cannot be fulfilled if our policies restrain the growth of a cashless economy.
Conclusion
India’s UPI ecosystem is nascent, but has demonstrated significant growth and has had a positive impact on the economy by providing the backbone needed to move towards cashless commerce. Any policy decision by regulators at this point should aim at catalysing innovation in this space. Stifling it would serve India badly.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: EVIN
Mains level: Universalization of vaccines and associated challenges in India
The government is using eVIN – Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network in association with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to identify primary beneficiaries and vaccine distribution networks.
Try this question from CSP 2016:
Q.‘Mission Indradhanush’ launched by the Government of India pertains to:
(a) Immunization of children and pregnant women
(b) Construction of smart cities across the country
(c) India’s own search for the Earth-like planets in outer space
(d) New Educational Policy
What is eVIN?
- E-VIN is an indigenously developed technology that digitizes vaccine stocks and monitors the temperature of the cold chain through a smartphone application.
- It was first launched across 12 states in 2015 to support better vaccine logistics management at cold chain points.
- It supports the central government’s Universal Immunization Programme by providing real-time information on vaccine stocks and flows, and storage temperatures across all cold chain points across states and UTs.
Components of eVIN
- eVIN combines state-of-the-art technology, a strong IT infrastructure and trained human resource to enable real-time monitoring of stock and storage temperature of the vaccines kept in multiple locations across the country.
- At present, 23,507 cold chain points across 585 districts of 22 States and 2 UTs routinely use the eVIN technology for efficient vaccine logistics management.
Benefits of eVIN
- It has helped create a big data architecture that generates actionable analytics encouraging data-driven decision-making and consumption-based planning.
- It helps in maintaining optimum stocks of vaccines leading to cost savings. Vaccine availability at all times has increased to 99% in most health centres in India.
- While instances of stock-outs have reduced by 80%, the time taken to replenish stocks has also decreased by more than half, on an average.
- This has ensured that every child who reaches the immunization session site is immunized, and not turned back due to unavailability of vaccines.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MQ-9B, BECA
Mains level: India-US defense cooperation
The Indian Navy has inducted two MQ-9B Sea Guardian unarmed drones procured from the U.S. on lease.
Try this question from CSP 2018:
Q.What is “Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)”, sometimes seen in the news?
(a) An Israeli radar system
(b) India’s indigenous anti-missile programme
(c) An American anti-missile system
(d) A defence collaboration between Japan and South Korea
MQ-9B Sea Guardian
- The Guardian, which is the maritime variant of the Predator MQ-9 UAV, has a maximum endurance of 40 hours and a maximum flying altitude of 40,000 feet.
- It has 360-degree maritime surveillance radar and optional multimode maritime surface search radar.
- The drone can perform over-the-horizon long-endurance, medium-altitude Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions.
- The recently released Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 has introduced an option for leasing military platforms.
- The Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation (BECA) has simplified such high- technology cooperation.
About BECA
- BECA will help India get real-time access to American geospatial intelligence that will enhance the accuracy of automated systems and weapons like missiles and armed drones.
- Through the sharing of information on maps and satellite images, it will help India access topographical and aeronautical data, and advanced products that will aid in navigation and targeting.
- This could be a key to Air Force-to-Air Force cooperation between India and the US.
- BECA will provide Indian military systems with a high-quality GPS to navigate missiles with real-time intelligence to precisely target the adversary.
- Besides the sailing of ships, flying off aircraft, fighting of wars, and location of targets, geospatial intelligence is also critical to the response to natural disasters.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NBFCs
Mains level: Paper 3- Banking regulation and allowing corporate houses to own banks
The article argues against the suggestion of allowing the corporate houses in the banking sector in India.
Context
- An Internal Working Group of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recommended that corporate houses be given bank licences.
Background of the idea
- In February 2013, the RBI had issued guidelines that permitted corporate and industrial houses to apply for a banking licence.
- No corporate was ultimately given a bank licence.
- None of the applicants had met ‘fit and proper’ criteria.
- In 2014, the RBI restored the long-standing prohibition on the entry of corporate houses into banking.
- The RBI’s position on the subject has remained unchanged since 2014.
Advantages
- Corporate houses will bring capital and expertise to banking.
- Moreover, not many jurisdictions worldwide bar corporate houses from banking.
Risks involved
- As the report notes, the main concerns are interconnected lending, concentration of economic power and exposure of the safety net provided to banks
- Corporate houses can easily turn banks into a source of funds for their own businesses.
- In addition, they can ensure that funds are directed to their cronies.
- They can use banks to provide finance to customers and suppliers of their businesses.
- Adding a bank to a corporate house thus means an increase in concentration of economic power.
- Not least, banks owned by corporate houses will be exposed to the risks of the non-bank entities of the group.
- If the non-bank entities get into trouble, sentiment about the bank owned by the corporate house is bound to be impacted.
Suggestion by IWG and issues with them
- The Internal Working Group (IWG) believes that before corporate houses are allowed to enter banking, the RBI must be equipped with a legal framework to deal with interconnected lending and a mechanism to effectively supervise conglomerates that venture into banking.
- But there are following 4 issues with such suggestion-
- 1) Tracing interconnected lending will be a challenge.
- 2)The RBI can only react to interconnected lending ex-post, that is, after substantial exposure to the entities of the corporate house has happened.
- It is unlikely to be able to prevent such exposure.
- 3) Any action that the RBI may take in response could cause a flight of deposits from the bank concerned and precipitate its failure.
- 4) Pitting the regulator against powerful corporate houses could end up damaging the regulator.
Issues in allowing NBFC owning corporate house in banking
- Under the present policy, NBFCs with a successful track record of 10 years are allowed to convert themselves into banks.
- The Internal Working Group believes that NBFCs owned by corporate houses should be eligible for such conversion.
- This promises to be an easier route for the entry of corporate houses into banking.
- The Internal Working Group argues that corporate-owned NBFCs have been regulated for a while.
- However, there is a world of difference between a corporate house owning an NBFC and one owning a bank.
- Bank ownership provides access to a public safety net whereas NBFC ownership does not.
- The reach and clout that bank ownership provides are vastly superior to that of an NBFC.
- The objections that apply to a corporate house with no presence in bank-like activities are equally applicable to corporate houses that own NBFCs.
Consider the question “What are the concerns and challenges in allowing the corporate houses in the banking sector in India?”
Conclusion
India’s banking sector needs reform but corporate houses owning banks hardly qualifies as one. If the record of over-leveraging in the corporate world in recent years is anything to go by, the entry of corporate houses into banking is the road to perdition.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 32
Mains level: Paper 2- Recourse to Article 32 and related issues
The article deals with the issue of recourse to Article 32 for violation of Fundamental Rights. But it is subject to fundamental principles of administration of justice.
Context
- The Chief Justice of India is reported to have stated during the hearing of journalist Siddique Kappan’s bail matter, that the Court was trying to “discourage” recourse to Article 32.
Recourse under Article 32 is not absolute
- The apex judicial process shows clearly that the Court regards Article 32 as a judicial power subject to the fundamental principles of administration of justice.
- The Supreme Court has already extended rules and doctrines such as laches (delays) or res judicata (a matter already decided by a competent court) or any other principle of administration of justice.
- Article 32 keep open “the doors of this court” and requires the state not to “put any hindrance” to a person seeking to approach the Court.
- However, the Court must ignore all laws of procedure, evidence, limitation, res judicata and other provision.
- The Supreme Court has also said that faith “must be inspired in the hierarchy of Courts [ Recourse under Article 226 should be sought before approaching the SC] and the institution as a whole” and not” only in this Court alone”.
- So, even if there is a constitutional right to remedies it remains subject to the discipline of judicial power and process.
New facets of Article 32
- The Supreme Court has also discovered new facets of Article 32.
- As early as 1950, it has ruled that powers under Article 32 are not limited to the exercise of prerogative writs.
- In 1987 the Court ruled that it has powers to rule for compensation of violation of fundamental rights.
- In 1999 it said that this power extended to the rectification of its own mistakes or errors.
Comparing Article 226 and Article 32
- Article 226 is the very dimension; the high court’s vast jurisdiction technically casts no duty on them to enforce fundamental rights.
- They have the discretion to act or not to; in contrast, the Supreme Court must.
- Fourth, Article 32 is not absolute, the Supreme Court decides on what “appropriate proceedings” should be for it to be so moved.
- But the Court may not prescribe any process as it likes but only that process which preserves, protects and promotes the right to constitutional remedies.
Need for effective bail system
- The just demand for an expeditious and effective bail system stems from manifest discrimination in bail .
- In several instances, one case is fast-tracked whereas others are consigned to slow-moving judicial action, even when rights to life and health are endangered.
- Scandalous judicial delays, measures of decongestion and diversion, and a bold resolution of “who watches the watchman” syndrome now demand urgent apex response.
Consider the question “Seeking remedy from the Supreme Court for the violation of fundamental rights under Article 32 is also a fundamental right. However, enforcement of it is not absolute. In light of this, examine the challenges in its enforcement by the Supreme Court.”
Conclusion
Article 32 makes the apex court into a “people’s court”. And future historians should not be able to conclude that the Court deliberately dealt deathblows to this “soul” of the Constitution, as Babasaheb Ambedkar described Article 32.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indian Monsson : Onset and Withdrawal
Mains level: El Nino and La Nina
Rainfall over the Southern peninsular region has been deficient so far due to prevailing La Nina conditions according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Try this PYQ:
Q.La Nina is suspected to have caused recent floods in Australia. How is La Nina different from El Nino?
- La Nina is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperature in equatorial Indian Ocean whereas El Nino is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperature in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
- El Nino has an adverse effect on south-west monsoon of India, but La Nina has no effect on monsoon climate.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) Only 1
(b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
What is the Northeast monsoon?
- India receives rainfall during two seasons.
- About 75 per cent of the country’s annual rainfall is received from the Southwest monsoon between June and September.
- The Northeast monsoon, on the other hand, occurs from October to December and is a comparatively small-scale monsoon, which is confined to the Southern peninsula.
- After the complete withdrawal of the Southwest monsoon from the country takes place by mid-October, the wind pattern rapidly changes from the south-westerly to the north-easterly direction.
- Also called the winter monsoon, the rainfall associated with the Northeast monsoon is important for almost entire South India.
Why it is important?
- Tamil Nadu records about 48 per cent (447.4 mm) of its annual rainfall (943.7 mm) during these months, making it the key factor for undertaking agricultural activities and reservoir management in the state.
- Some South Asian countries such as Maldives, Sri Lanka and Myanmar also record rainfall from October to December.
Why there are distortions?
- The majority of districts in Tamil Nadu remain highly rain-deficient up this time.
- The period after the Southwest monsoon season, from October to December, is the peak time for cyclonic activity in the North Indian Ocean region — covering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.
- The winds associated with the formation of low-pressure systems, depressions, or cyclones influence this monsoon, and therefore, the rainfall.
- Officials at IMD have linked it to the prevailing La Niña conditions in the Pacific Ocean.
La Nina link with the NE monsoon
- While La Niña conditions enhance the rainfall associated with the Southwest monsoon, it has a negative impact on rainfall associated with the Northeast monsoon.
- During La Niña years, the synoptic systems — low pressure or cyclones — formed in the Bay of Bengal remain significantly to the north of their normal position.
- Besides, instead of moving westwards, these systems recurve. As they lie to the north of their normal position, not much rainfall occurs over southern regions like Tamil Nadu.
Back2Basics: El Nino and La Nina
- While El Niño (Spanish for ‘little boy’), the more common expression, is the abnormal surface warming observed along the eastern and central regions of the Pacific Ocean (the region between Peru and Papua New Guinea).
- The La Niña (Spanish for ‘little girl’) is an abnormal cooling of these surface waters.
- Together, the El Niño and La Niña phenomena are termed as El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
- These are large-scale ocean phenomena which influence the global weather — winds, temperature and rainfall. They have the ability to trigger extreme weather events like droughts, floods, hot and cold conditions, globally.
- Each cycle can last anywhere between 9 to 12 months, at times extendable to 18 months — and re-occur after every three to five years.
- Meteorologists record the sea surface temperatures for four different regions, known as Niño regions, along this equatorial belt.
- Depending on the temperatures, they forecast either as an El Niño, an ENSO neutral phase, or a La Niña.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Desalination plants
Mains level: Drinking water scarcity in Urban India
Maharashtra state govt. has announced the setting up of a desalination plant in Mumbai, becoming the fourth state in the country to experiment with the idea.
Try this PYQ:
Q.What is the role of ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the water purification systems?
- It inactivates/kills the harmful microorganisms in water.
- It removes the entire undesirable odour from the water.
- It quickens the sedimentation of solid particles, removes turbidity and improves the clarity of water.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
What are Desalination Plants?
- A desalination plant turns salt water into water that is fit to drink.
- The most commonly used techniques used for the process is reverse osmosis where external pressure is applied to push solvents from an area of high-solute concentration to an area of low-solute concentration through a membrane.
- The microscopic pores in the membranes allow water molecules through but leave salt and most other impurities behind, releasing clean water from the other side.
- These plants are mostly set up in areas that have access to seawater.
How widely is this technology used in India?
- Desalination has largely been limited to affluent countries in the Middle East and has recently started making inroads in parts of the United States and Australia.
- In India, Tamil Nadu has been the pioneer in using this technology, setting up two desalination plants near Chennai in 2010 and then 2013, while there are two more to come.
Need for such plant
- According to the projections, the population of Mumbai is anticipated to touch 1.72 crores by 2041 and accordingly, the projected water demand would be 6424 MLD by then.
- Currently, BMC supplies 3850 MLD as against the requirement of 4200 MLD each day.
Is it ecologically safe?
- The high cost of setting up and running a desalination plant is one reason why the Maharashtra government has over the last decade been hesitant in building such a plant.
- Desalination is an expensive way of generating drinking water as it requires a high amount of energy.
- The other problem is the disposal of the byproduct — highly concentrated brine (saltwater) — of the desalination process.
- While in most places brine is pumped back into the sea, there have been rising complaints that it ends up severely damaging the local ecology around the plant.
Back2Basics: Osmosis and Reverse Osmosis
- Osmosis is a phenomenon where pure water flows from a dilute solution through a semi-permeable membrane to a higher concentrated solution.
- Semi-permeable means that the membrane will allow small molecules and ions to pass through it but acts as a barrier to larger molecules or dissolved substances.
- As water passes through the membrane to the salt solution, the level of liquid in the saltwater compartment will rise until enough pressure, caused by the difference in levels between the two compartments, is generated to stop the osmosis.
- This pressure, equivalent to a force that the osmosis seems to exert in trying to equalize concentrations on both sides of the membrane, is called osmotic pressure.
- If pressure greater than the osmotic pressure is applied to the high concentration the direction of water flow through the membrane can be reversed.
- This is called reverse osmosis. Note that this reversed flow produces pure water from the salt solution since the membrane is not permeable to salt.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Miyawaki Forests
Mains level: Various afforestation measures
Japan-inspired Miyawaki forests are emerging as a popular solution to restoring degraded habitats in the country.
Try this question:
Q.The Miyawaki Forests technique has to potential to revolutionize the concept of urban afforestation in India. Discuss.
Miyawaki Forests
- Doctor Akira Miyawaki, botanist and professor, is the inventor of the technique since 1980.
- He is a recipient of the 2006 Blue Planet Prize, which is the equivalent of a Nobel Prize in ecology.
- The approach is supposed to ensure that plant growth is 10 times faster and the resulting plantation is 30 times denser than usual.
- It involves planting dozens of native species in the same area and becomes maintenance-free after the first three years.
The technique
- The method takes its inspiration directly from processes and diversity in nature: 15 to 30 different species of trees and shrubs are planted together.
- This plant community works very well together and is perfectly adapted to local weather conditions.
- The habitat thus created will get more complex over time and attract much biodiversity.
- Vegetation becomes much denser than conventional plantations, and it has the structure of a mature natural forest. It is a multi-storey structure, where different levels of vegetation appear.
- The forest thus structured delivers many benefits in the form of ecosystem services.
- It would take about 200 years to let a forest recover on its own. With the Miyawaki method, a similar result is achieved in 20 years.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: South Asian University
Mains level: SAARC and its fading relevance
The Delhi-based South Asian University, established by all eight SAARC countries, has not had a president for over a year, while its executive council and governing board have not met for almost two and three years respectively.
Note the features of SAARC, ASEAN and East Asia Summit.
South Asian University
- South Asian University (SAU) is an International University sponsored by the eight Member States of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
- The eight countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
- India, as the host and the largest country in the SAARC group, bore the entire capital cost for setting up the university, and also pays 50% of the operational costs.
- SAU attracts students predominantly from all the eight SAARC countries, although students from other continents also attend.
- There is a country quota system for admission of students. Every year SAU conducts admission test at multiple centres in all the eight countries.
- The degrees of the university is recognised by all the member nations of the SAARC according to an inter-governmental agreement signed by the foreign ministers of the eight-member states.
Institution on failure
- After a decade of existence, the university has yet to appoint a non-Indian president, despite rules stipulating a rotation among the member countries.
- At a time when the Union government is trying to encourage international education in India, an existing international institution is facing a crisis of leadership.
A matter of reluctance
- According to the agreement signed by all the SAARC countries, the first president should have been from India, and then rotated among the other countries in alphabetical order.
- So the next president should be from the Maldives.
- But the MEA has put an advertisement calling only for Indian applicants, but there has been no appointment after one year.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Negative-Yield Bonds
Mains level: Not Much
China recently sold negative-yield debt for the first time, and this saw high demand from investors across Europe.
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
What are Negative-Yield Bonds?
- These are debt instruments that offer to pay the investor a maturity amount lower than the purchase price of the bond.
- These are generally issued by central banks or governments, and investors pay interest to the borrower to keep their money with them.
Why do investors buy them?
- Negative-yield bonds attract investments during times of stress and uncertainty as investors look to protect their capital from significant erosion.
- At a time when the world is battling the Covid-19 pandemic and interest rates in developed markets across Europe are much lower.
- Hence, investors are looking for relatively better-yielding debt instruments to safeguard their interests.
Why is there a huge demand?
- While Europe, the US and other parts of the world are facing a second wave of Covid-19 cases, China has demonstrated that it has controlled the spread of the pandemic and is therefore seen as a more stable region.
- Many feel that European investors are also looking to increase their exposure in China, and hence there is a huge demand for these bonds.
- The fact that the 10-year and 15-year bonds are offering positive returns is a big attraction at a time when interest rates in Europe have dropped significantly.
- As against minus —0.15% yield on the 5-year bond issued by China, the yields offered in safe European bonds are much lower, between –0.5% and —0.75%.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Lachit Borphukan
Mains level: Not Much
The Prime Minister has paid tribute to Lachit Borphukan on Lachit Diwas.
Try this PYQ:
Q.What was the immediate cause for Ahmad Shah Abdali to invade and fight the Third Battle of Panipat:
(a) He wanted to avenge the expulsion by Marathas of his viceroy Timur Shah from Lahore
(b) The frustrated governor of Jullundhar Adina Beg khan invited him to invade Punjab
(c) He wanted to punish Mughal administration for non-payment of the revenues of the Chahar Mahal (Gujrat Aurangabad, Sialkot and Pasrur)
(d) He wanted to annex all the fertile plains of Punjab upto borders of Delhi to his kingdom
Who was Lachit Borphukan?
- The year was 1671 and the decisive Battle of Saraighat was fought on the raging waters of the Brahmaputra.
- On one side was Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb’s army headed by Ram Singh of Amer (Jaipur) and on the other was the Ahom General Lachit Borphukan.
- He was a commander in the Ahom kingdom, located in present-day Assam.
- Ram Singh failed to make any advance against the Assamese army during the first phase of the war.
- Lachit Borphukan emerged victorious in the war and the Mughals were forced to retreat from Guwahati.
Lachit Diwas
- On 24 November each year, Lachit Divas is celebrated statewide in Assam to commemorate the heroism of Lachit Borphukan.
- On this day, Borphukan has defeated the Mughal army on the banks of the Brahmaputra in the Battle of Saraighat in 1671.
- The best passing out cadet of National Defence Academy has conferred the Lachit gold medal every year since 1999 commemorating his valour.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Challenges in securing RCEP
Asian centrality
- China’s response is a ‘dual circulation’ strategy for self-reliance and military-technological prowess to surpass the U.S.
- The global governance role of the U.S. is already reduced.
- The U.S. now exercises power with others, not over them.
- Despite its military ‘pivot’ to Asia, the U.S. needs India in the Quad, to counterbalance the spread of China’s influence through land-based trade links.
- India, like others in the Quad, has not targeted China and also has deeper security ties with Russia.
- With the ASEAN ‘code of conduct’ in the South China Sea, both the security and prosperity pillars of the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific construct will be adversely impacted.
- Leveraging proven digital prowess to complement the infrastructure of China’s Belt and Road Initiative will win friends as countries value multi-polarity.
Atmanirbhar Bharat and Challenges
- ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ will leverage endogenous technological strength, data and population.
- With the Rafale aircraft purchase, India has recognised that there will be no technology transfer for capital equipment.
- Military Theatre Commands should be tasked with border defence giving the offensive role to cyber, missile and special forces based on endogenous capacity, effectively linking economic and military strength.
- The overriding priority should be infrastructure including electricity and fibre optic connectivity; self-reliance in semiconductors, electric batteries and solar panels; and skill development.
Conclusion
There are compelling geopolitical and economic reasons for shaping the building blocks of the Asia-led order, which is not yet China-led, to secure an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, and place in the emerging triumvirate.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Gulf countries
Mains level: Paper 2- New possibilities in cooperation with the Gulf countries
The Gulf region offers new possibilities of cooperation to India. The article explains these possibilities.
Context
- External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit to Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recently is a good moment to reflect on the structural changes taking place in the Gulf and the region’s growing influence in the Indian Ocean.
Issues in approach towards the region
- For decades, India’s mercantilism saw the Gulf as a source of oil and a destination for labour exports.
- India’s bureaucratic approach to the Gulf was incapable of a political engagement with the region’s interests.
- The Indian elite has long viewed the Gulf as a collection of extractive petro-states run by conservative feudatories.
- Although the Gulf kingdoms were eager to build strong and independent political ties with India without a reference to Islamabad, India viewed them through the prism of Pakistan.
Influence in the Indian Ocean
- Delhi’s traditional focus in the Indian Ocean was riveted on Mauritius and the large Indian diaspora there.
- P.M.s visit to Mauritius and Seychelles in March 2015 saw the articulation of a long-overdue Indian Ocean policy and an acknowledgement of the strategic significance of the island states.
- Since then, India has brought Madagascar and Comoros along with Mauritius and Seychelles into the Indian Ocean Division.
- India also unveiled a maritime strategic partnership with France, a resident and influential power in the Western Indian Ocean.
- Earlier this year, Delhi became an observer at the Indian Ocean Commission — the regional grouping that brings France’s island territory of Reunion together with Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles.
- India has also become an observer to the Djibouti Code of Conduct — a regional framework for cooperation against piracy between the states of the Gulf, the Horn of Africa and East Africa.
5 Areas of new possibilities with the Gulf
1) Protecting India’s interests
- First is the immediate need to shield India’s interests in the post-pandemic turbulence that is enveloping the region.
- As the Gulf considers cutting back on foreign labour, Delhi would want to make sure its workers in the region are insulated.
- Delhi is also eager to improve the working conditions of its large labour force — close to eight million — in the Gulf.
2) New and long-term economic cooperation
- As the Gulf looks at a future beyond oil, they have embarked on massive economic diversification and are investing in a variety of new projects including renewable energy, higher education.
- India must get its businesses to focus on the range of new opportunities in the Gulf.
- India also needs to tap into the full possibilities of Gulf capital for its own economic development.
3) Financial power translating into political influence
- The Gulf’s financial power is increasingly translating into political influence shaping political narrative in the Middle East.
- The influence has been manifest in their successful transformation of the debate on Arab relations with Israel.
4) Influence on regional conflicts
- The Gulf’s ability to influence regional conflicts from Afghanistan to Lebanon and from Libya to Somalia has increased.
- The Gulf today delivers economic and security assistance to friendly states.
- The UAE currently chairs the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and has been eager to work with India in developing joint infrastructure projects.
- India needs to bring scale and depth to its regional initiatives on connectivity and security in the Indian Ocean.
5) Reforms taking place in the region
- The Gulf seek to reduce the heavy hand of religion on social life, expand the rights of women, widen religious freedoms, promote tolerance, and develop a national identity that is not tied exclusively to religion.
- The UAE has been the leader in this regard.
Consider the question “India’s engagement with the Gulf countries has been limited in several aspects. However, the region offers new possibilities of strategic and cooperation to India. Evaluate these possibilities.”
Conclusion
As India seeks to recalibrate it’s ties with the Gulf, the real challenge for South Block is to get the rest of the Indian establishment to discard outdated perceptions of the Gulf and seize the new strategic possibilities with the region.
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