Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NFS Act
Mains level: Assurance of Food Security
The government has initiated the process of ascertaining the new State/UT-specific coverage ratios for rural and urban areas under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA).
Try this question:
Q.In the ongoing crisis, maintaining the level of food security has become one of the most essential needs. In light of the above statement, critically examine the priority areas for maintaining food security in the country. Suggest measures to make accessibility and availability of food easier for all. (250W)
National Food Security (NFS) Act
- The NFS Act, 2013 aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two-thirds of India’s 1.2 billion people.
- It was signed into law on 12 September 2013, retroactive to 5 July 2013.
- It converts into legal entitlements for existing food security programmes of the GoI.
- It includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme and the Public Distribution System (PDS).
- Further, the NFSA 2013 recognizes maternity entitlements.
- The Midday Meal Scheme and the ICDS are universal in nature whereas the PDS will reach about two-thirds of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas).
- Under the provisions of the bill, beneficiaries of the PDS are entitled to 5 kilograms per person per month of cereals at the following prices:
- Rice at ₹3 per kg
- Wheat at ₹2 per kg
- Coarse grains (millet) at ₹1 per kg.
- Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily free cereals.
Why such a move?
- At present, NFSA covers up to 75 per cent of the rural population and 50 per cent of the urban population in the country.
- Based on this, state-wise coverage under NFSA was determined by the erstwhile Planning Commission—now NITI Aayog.
- It was done by using the National Sample Survey Household Consumption Expenditure Survey data for 2011-12.
- Since then, the state-wise coverage ratio has not been revised.
Statewise data
- Currently, Manipur has the highest coverage in rural areas across the country (88.56 per cent), while Andaman & Nicobar Islands has the lowest (24.94 per cent).
- Manipur is followed by Jharkhand (86.48 per cent), Bihar (85.12 per cent) and Chhattisgarh (84.25 per cent).
- In urban areas too, Manipur has the maximum coverage ratio (85.75 per cent), while Andaman & Nicobar Islands has the lowest (1.70 per cent).
- In urban areas, Manipur is followed by Bihar (74.53 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (64.43 per cent) and Madhya Pradesh (62.61 per cent).
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MJO, Cyclones
Mains level: Frequent landfalls of tropical cyclones in India
October to December period is among the favourable months for the development of cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. This year, however, October passed without witnessing a cyclonic storm.
Must read: [Burning Issue] Tropical Cyclones and India
https://www.civilsdaily.com/burning-issue-tropical-cyclones-and-india/
When do cyclones form and hit Indian coasts?
- About 80 cyclones are formed around the world annually, out of which five are formed in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, together known as the North Indian Ocean.
- India’s east and west coasts are prone to cyclones with the maximum associated hazards—rain, heavy winds and storm surge— faced by coastal districts of West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
- Cyclones in the North Indian Ocean are bi-modal in nature, that is, they occur during two seasons— April to June (pre-monsoon) and October to December (post-monsoon).
- Of these, May and November remain the most conducive for the development of cyclones.
When have cyclones skipped October, previously?
- Cyclonic disturbances— either in the form of a well-marked low pressure, depression or a deep depression— are common in October.
- Ocean disturbances enter the Bay of Bengal from the South China seaside and head towards the Indian coast.
- IMD officials have attributed it to the weak La Nina conditions along the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
- Cooler than normal sea surface temperatures over this region—termed as La Nina— has been prevailing since August this year.
Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO)
- Because Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) was positioned in a favourable phase, the low-pressure systems intensified maximum up to a deep depression.
- MJO is kind of an eastward-moving cyclic weather event along the tropics that influences rainfall, winds, sea surface temperatures and cloud cover. They have a 30 to 60-day cycle.
- Most importantly, there was the high wind shear noted between the different atmospheric levels, last month.
- The vertical wind shear— created due to significant wind speed difference observed between higher and lowers atmospheric levels— prevented the low-pressure systems and depression from strengthening into a cyclone.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: RO-RO ferry services
Mains level: Not Much
PM has virtually inaugurated the Ghogha-Hazira Ro-Pax ferry service in Gujarat.
Try this question from CSP 2016:
Q.Recently, which of the following States has explored the possibility of constructing an artificial inland port to be connected to the sea by a long navigational channel?
(a) Andhra Pradesh
(b) Chhattisgarh
(c) Karnataka
(d) Rajasthan
Ghogha-Hazira Ferry Service
- It will work as a Gateway to South Gujarat and Saurashtra region. It will reduce the distance between Ghogha and Hazira from 370 km to 90 km.
- It has a load capacity of 30 trucks (of 50 MT each) on the main deck, 100 passenger cars on the upper deck and 500 passengers plus 34 crew and hospitality staff on the passenger deck.
- The reduced cargo travel time from 10 to 12 hours to about four hours will result in huge savings of fuel (approx 9,000 litres per day) and lower the maintenance cost of vehicles drastically.
- The ferry service, while making three round trips per day on the route, would annually transport about 5 lakh passengers, 80,000 passenger vehicles, 50,000 two-wheelers and 30,000 trucks.
Benefits
- It will reduce the fatigue of truck drivers and enhance their incomes by giving them more opportunity to do extra trips.
- It will give an impetus to the tourism industry with ease of access to the Saurashtra region and lead to the creation of new job opportunities.
- With the onset of ferry services, the port sector, furniture and fertilizer industries in Saurashtra and Kutch region will get a big boost.
- Eco-tourism and religious-tourism in Gujarat, especially in Porbandar, Somnath, Dwarka and Palitana will grow exponentially.
- The benefits of enhanced connectivity through this ferry service will also result in increased inflow of tourists in the famous Asiatic lion wildlife sanctuary at Gir.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CAPFs
Mains level: Paper 3- Role of CAPFs in disaster management.
The article emphasises the role played by the CAPFs in dealing with the disasters.
Dealing with the disasters
- When disaster strikes our country, be it natural or man-made, the government summons the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) to carry out the task of overcoming the disaster.
- The CAPFs help in carrying out rescue and relief operations, and also mitigates the pains and problems arising out of the disaster.
Role played by CAPFS during Covid
- CAPFs comprise the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Sashastra Seema Bal, Assam Rifles and the ITBP.
- Even before the country got to know about the COVID-19, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) had already set up its 600-bed quarantine centre in Chawla on the outskirts of New Delhi.
- The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had roped in specialists from the Safdarjung Hospital to coordinate with ITBP officials.
- Doctors and paramedical personnel of other CAPFs were also roped in.
- The expertise acquired by ITBP personnel and the Standard Operating Procedure prepared by the ITBP came handy for the States and other police forces in establishing their own quarantine centres and COVID-19 hospitals.
Role of NDRF during Covid-19
- NDRF personnel are wholly drawn from the CAPFs.
- So, they form a good reserve of trained personnel when they go back to their parent force after their stint with NDRF.
- With 12 battalions of the NDRF— each comprising 1,149 personnel — spread across the country, its experts have the core competency to tackle biological disasters like COVID-19.
- Such personnel can be deployed at quarantines centres after short-term courses.
- A proposal mooted by NITI Aayog last year, to conduct a bridge course for dentists to render them eligible for the MBBS degree, could be revived, and such doctors could be on stand-by to help in such emergency crises.
Conclusion
It is these CAPF personnel who give a semblance of existence of government administration even in the remotest corners of the country. Their versatile experience can be utilised to the nation’s advantage.
B2BASICS:
CAPF
The Central Armed Police Forces refers to uniform nomenclature of five security forces in India under the authority of Ministry of Home Affairs. Their role is to defend the national interest mainly against the internal threats.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Equity in education and impact of digital education on it
Fairness and inclusiveness are two important aspects of education system. Growing shift toward digital education in India has implications for these two aspects. The article suggests ways to make the education system fair and inclusive.
Knowledge economy in India
- The new National Education Policy (NEP) as well as other factors have lately brightened up education landscape in India..
- The rise of education technology (ed-tech) incorporating VR, AR, ‘gamification’, 3D immersive learning, etc, is contributing to the knowledge economy’s potential for large market size, calling for requisite policy support.
Barriers to equity in education
- The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) defines two dimensions of equity in education.
- First is “fairness”, which means ensuring that personal and social circumstances do not prevent students from achieving their academic potential.
- The second is “inclusion”, which means setting a basic minimum standard for education that is shared by all students regardless of their background.
- The barriers that make equity difficult to foster in India are varied and complex.
Loss of learning during Covid pandemic
- The latest Annual State of Education Report (ASER) reveals that 20% of rural students lacked textbooks.
- Only one in ten students had access to online classes during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- The Survey provides a glimpse into the levels of learning loss that students in rural India, particularly in states like Bihar, West Bengal, UP, and Rajasthan, are suffering, resulting in sharp digital divides in education.
- Unless remedied with urgency, the digital split may disrupt learning, and jeopardise our hard-won gains resulting in large scale school drop-outs, particularly of adolescent girls.
How to remove barriers to equity?
- To remove these barriers we need to look at several aspects like monetary resources, academic standards, academic content and support.
- Apart from inequality in internet access and access to devices, even the quality of connection and related services and subscription fees exacerbate the digital divide.
- For education to be availed as a social good, access at an affordable cost and reasonable quality is a precondition.
- The availability of content in vernacular languages is yet another issue.
- In digital education along with demand-side issues, supply-side issues need fixing, such as training of teachers in ICT, new learning devices and handling the evolved curriculum.
- Teachers and academic institutions need to ensure that the content they are using is lucid, appropriate, fact-based and relevant.
- Access to education loans from banks and financial institutions are a great support in the cause of education, particularly higher education.
- Education is on the Concurrent List. A cooperative and collaborative spirit will thus be critical to realise the goals.
- The Centre has a task well cut for building consensus on NEP2020.
Consider the question “Fainess and inclusiveness are two important dimensions of equity that should be pursued by any education system. However, push towards digital educations threatens these two dimensions of the education system in India. Comment”
Conclusion
With strong corporate commitment, states’ support, backed by strong policy push and intent by the Centre, and value addition by other stakeholders, the roadblocks on the path of equity and inclusiveness in education, though daunting, could be addressed.
Source-
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/equity-in-education-matters/2121998/
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hydrogen fuel cell, H-CNG
Mains level: Paper 3- Adoption of hydrogen as vehicular fuel
Transport sector has been a major contributor of Green House Gases in India. Moving towards cleaner fuels brings to fore two options battery-operated electric vehicle (EV) and hydrogen fuel cell EV. The article compares the two.
Vehicular emission and steps taken to deal with it
- The transport sector in India contributes one-third of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, within which the lion’s share is that of road transport.
- The government has made concerted efforts to tackle vehicular emissions with policies steps and programmes such as the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME I) scheme, FAME II, tax benefits, etc.
Blending hydrogen
- Typically, hydrogen can be produced in one of three ways, i.e., from fossil fuels (grey hydrogen), through carbon capture utilisation & storage (CCUS) application and fossil fuels (blue hydrogen), or by using renewable energy (green hydrogen).
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited has patented a technology that produces H-CNG (18% hydrogen in CNG) directly from natural gas, without having to undertake expensive conventional blending.
- This compact blending process provides a 22% reduction in cost as compared to conventional blending.
- In comparison to CNG, H-CNG allows for a 70% reduction in carbon monoxide emissions and a 25% reduction in hydrocarbon emissions.
- The new H-CNG technology requires only minor tweaks in the current design of CNG buses.
- However, the issue is that the Hydrogen-spiked CNG is still being produced from natural gas-a fossil fuel.
Electric vehicle Vs. Fuel cell
- From a commercial viability standpoint, two cleaner fuel alternatives come to mind—battery-operated electric vehicles (BEV) and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV).
- Hydrogen FCEVs has reduced refuelling time (5 minutes versus 30-40 minutes with fast charges), higher energy density, longer range, etc.
- However, one needs to focus on is the entire life cycle of these vehicles as opposed to restricting the analysis to just the carbon-free tailpipe emissions.
- According to a report by Deloitte (2020) on hydrogen and fuel cells, the lifecycle GHG emissions from hydrogen FCEVs ranges between 130-230 g CO2e per km.
- The lower end of the range depicts the case of hydrogen production from renewables while the higher end reflects the case of hydrogen production from natural gas.
- The corresponding life cycles GHG emissions for BEV and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles range between 160-250 g CO2e and 180-270 g CO2e respectively.
- The cost of lithium ion-based battery-operated vehicles has been reducing while hydrogen fuel cell technology is relatively quite expensive.
- A hydrogen-run vehicle achieves an energy efficiency rate of 25-35% (roughly 45% of energy is lost during the electrolysis process alone).
Way forward
- Given that these are early days for FCEV, one can be hopeful that we will be able to achieve economies of scale and attain cost reductions.
- Hydrogen Council (2020) on hydrogen cost competitiveness that states scaling up and augmenting fuel cell production from 10,000 to 200,000 units can deliver a 45% reduction in the cost per unit.
- Similarly, the versatility of hydrogen allows for complementarity across its numerous applications.
- Moreover, based on the numbers quoted by this report, fuel cell stacks for passenger vehicles are expected to exhibit learning rates of 17% in the coming future.
- The corresponding figures for commercial vehicles stand at 11%.
- Efforts are underway in India, and the research activities pertaining to hydrogen have been compiled and recently released in the form of a country status report.
- In their quest for becoming carbon neutral by 2035, Reliance Industries plan to replace transportation fuels with hydrogen and clean electricity.
- Similarly, the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is considering setting up a green hydrogen production facility in Andhra Pradesh.
- The ministry of road transport and highways issued a notification proposing amendments to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules (1989) to incorporate safety standards for hydrogen fuel cell technology vehicles.
- As per a policy brief issued by TERI, demand for hydrogen in India is expected to increase 3-10 fold by 2050.
Consider the question “What are the benefits and challenges in the adoption of hydrogen as vehicular fuel?”
Conclusion
Against this backdrop, the future of hydrogen, particularly green hydrogen, looks promising in India.
Source:-
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/fuelling-a-green-future/2121991/
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Fast Radio Burst (FRB)
Mains level: Hunt for extra-terrestrial life
NASA has reported that it observed a mix of X-ray and radio signals never observed before in the Milky Way.
Such news makes us think about alien and extraterrestrial life at the first. Do not get carried away with such thoughts. Its simply a space based phenomena.
What is an FRB?
- The first FRB was discovered in 2007, since when scientists have been working towards finding the source of their origin.
- Essentially, FRBs are bright bursts of radio waves (radio waves can be produced by astronomical objects with changing magnetic fields).
- Its durations lie in the millisecond-scale, because of which it is difficult to detect them and determine their position in the sky.
Who discovered it?
- The X-ray portion of the simultaneous bursts was detected by several satellites, including NASA’s Wind mission.
- Further, a NASA-funded project called Survey for Transient Astronomical Radio Emission 2 (STARE2) also detected the radio burst.
Why are they significant?
- First noticed in 2018 by the Canadian observatory the waves have created ripples across the globe for one reason — they arrive in a pattern.
- This gave birth to theories that they could be from an alien civilization.
- Initially, it was believed that the collision of black holes or neutron stars triggers them.
- But the discovery of repeating FRBs debunked the theory of colliding objects.
What is the origin of the FRB detected in April?
- The source of the FRB detected in April in the Milky Way is a very powerful magnetic neutron star, referred to as a magnetar.
- Magnetar is located in the constellation Vulpecula and is estimated to be between 14,000-41,000 light-years away.
- The FRB was part of one of the magnetar’s most prolific flare-ups, with the X-ray bursts lasting less than a second.
What is a magnetar?
- A magnetar is a neutron star, “the crushed, city-size remains of a star many times more massive than our Sun.”
- The magnetic field of such a star is very powerful, which can be over 10 trillion times stronger than a refrigerator magnet and up to a thousand times stronger than typical neutron stars.
- Neutron stars are formed when the core of a massive star undergoes gravitational collapse when it reaches the end of its life.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CBD, Nagoya Protocol
Mains level: Threats of ABS
A special instrument for access to crop genetic resources, i.e. Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) system, is fraught with challenges.
What is ABS?
- The Nagoya Protocol sought to ensure commercial and research utilization of genetic resources led to sharing its benefits with the government and the community that conserved such resources.
- The Nagoya Protocol deals with Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
- It is a 2010 supplementary agreement to the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
- It sets out obligations for its contracting parties to take measures in relation to access to genetic resources, benefit-sharing and compliance.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which one the following is associated with the issue of control and phasing out of the use of ozone-depleting substances?
(a) Bretton Woods Conference
(b) Montreal Protocol
(c) Kyoto Protocol
(d) Nagoya Protocol
A deviation from its purpose
- The CBD was created with wild biodiversity in mind, especially medicinal plants where the source of a particular genetic resource and associated traditional knowledge can often be established easily.
- The situation is different with respect to genetic resources for food and agriculture, including crops and livestock.
- Humans have modified these in an incremental manner and in many different geographical locations far from where they were originally domesticated.
India at loss
- India was a victim of misappropriation or bio-piracy of our genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, which were patented in other countries.
- Well-known examples of this include neem and turmeric. It was expected that the Nagoya Protocol on ABS, a key missing pillar of the CBD, would address this concern.
Threats to livestocks
- Animal genetic resources composed of breeds and strains of domesticated animals that humans have developed out of 40 wild species in the past 10,000 years were placed under the purview of the Nagoya Protocol.
- India is a key repository of genetic resources related to animals and holds a rich diversity of distinct livestock breeds. It is, therefore, essential that these breeds are protected.
- The impending and on-going implementation of the Nagoya Protocol at national levels, therefore, creates some urgency for the animal genetic resource sector to engage with these questions.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: brown , black carbon
Mains level: Glacial melting of himalayas
A study has highlighted that brown carbon ‘tarballs’ that fasten the glacial melting has been found in the Himalayan atmosphere.
We are still to find a solution for the ill-fated Delhi air, and here comes another blow from the stubble burnings.
What are Brown Carbon ‘Tarballs’?
- Tarballs are small light-absorbing, carbonaceous particles formed due to burning of biomass or fossil fuels that deposit on snow and ice.
- They are formed from brown carbon, emitted during the burning of fossil fuels.
- The median sizes of externally mixed tarballs and internally mixed tarballs were 213 and 348 nanometre respectively.
- Primary brown carbon (BrC) co-emitted with black carbon (BC) from biomass burning is an important light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosol.
- The black carbon from the Indo-Gangetic Plain can reach the Himalaya region and influence glacial melting and climatic change.
Highlights of the study
- Until now, black carbon was found to be transported long distances by the wind to the Himalayan atmosphere.
- The study revealed that a dense array of active fire spots — corresponding to large-scale wheat-residue burning on the Indo-Gangetic Plain — occurred along the pathways of Himalaya.
- The percentage of the tarballs increased on days of higher levels of pollution and could contribute to the hastening of glacial melt and global warming.
- The researchers concluded that tarballs from long-range transport can be an important factor in the climatic effect and would correspond to a substantial influence on glacial melting in the Himalaya region.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Kartarpur Corridor, Nirguna cult
Mains level: Piligrimage diplomacy between India and Pakisatan
Pakistan has decided to transfer the management of the Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara from a Sikh body to a separate trust, saying it runs against the religious sentiments of the Sikh community.
Try this PYQ:
Consider the following Bhakti Saints:
- Dadu Dayal
- Guru Nanak
- Tyagaraja
Who among the above was/were preaching when the Lodi dynasty fell and Babur took over?
(a) 1 and 3
(b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3
(d) 1 and 2
Kartarpur Corridor
- The Kartarpur corridor connects the Darbar Sahib Gurdwara in Narowal district of Pakistan with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in India’s Punjab province.
- The first guru of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, founded Kartarpur in 1504 AD on the right bank of the Ravi River. The name Kartarpur means “Place of God”.
- The corridor is being built to commemorate 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev, founder of Sikhism on 12th November 2019.
About Guru Nanak
- Guru Nanak Dev (1469-1539) also referred to as Baba Nanak was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus.
- He advocated the ‘Nirguna’ form of Bhakti. He rejected sacrifices, ritual baths, image worship, austerities and the scriptures of both Hindus and Muslims.
- He appointed one of his disciples, Angad, to succeed him as the preceptor (guru), and this practice was followed for nearly 200 years.
- The fifth preceptor, Guru Arjan, compiled his hymns along with those of his four successors and also other religious poets, like Baba Farid, Ravidas and Kabir, in the Adi Granth Sahib.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pusa Biodecomposer
Mains level: Alternatives solutions for stubble burning
Delhi CM has said that the “Pusa bio-decomposer” is a success in Delhi and he will inform the Supreme Court that it is an effective way to prevent stubble burning.
Pusa Bio-decomposer provides a unique alternative against the stubble burning practices.
Pusa Bio-decomposer
- It is a solution developed by the scientists at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, which can turn crop residue into manure in 15 to 20 days and therefore, can prevent stubble burning.
- It involves making a liquid formulation using Pusa decomposer capsules and readily available inputs, fermenting it over 8-10 days, and then spraying the mixture on fields.
- It is a mix of seven fungi that produce enzymes to digest cellulose, lignin and pectin in paddy straw.
- The fungi thrive at 30-32 degree Celsius, which is the temperature prevailing when paddy is harvested and wheat is sown.
Back2Basics: Decomposition
- Decomposition refers to a biological process of breaking down organic material into smaller constituent parts.
- The decomposition of organic substances is ecologically significant. It plays a part in the nutrient cycle. It is an essential process of recycling matter in the biosphere.
- A decomposer is an organism whose ecological function involves the recycling of nutrients by performing the natural process of decomposition as it feeds on decaying organisms.
- Examples of decomposers are fungi and bacteria that obtain their nutrients from a dead plant or animal material.
- They break down cells of dead plants and animals into simpler substances, which become organic nutrients available to the ecosystem.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- India-U.S. relations and implications of the Presidential elections in the U.S.
The voting trend in the U.S. presidential election indicates significant support for the policies pursued by President Trump. This could impact the policies the next administration pursues.
Why U.S. election matters for the world
- The world still has need for American leadership.
- It remains the world’s largest net provider of global public goods.
- It is the lynchpin of the global multilateral system.
- If Joe Biden wins, it is possible that America will re-engage with dignity and restore mutual respect in its relations with allies and partners, beginning with the trans-Atlantic alliance.
- However, the Trump Americans, who are the new political base, will still shape American policy irrespective of who the president is.
‘America first’ is here to stay
- The American people believe that their education, employment and retirement have been impacted by the immigration, outsourcing and liberal trade policies of past administrations.
- Trump America does not want more migrants, it will not support the outsourcing of jobs at the cost of their own.
- It wants a fair deal on trade that does not allow cheaper imports to put small American businesses out of business.
- Even a Biden administration cannot return America back to the days of open borders and free trade.
- It might relax some categories of work-visas, but it cannot return to the time when outsourcing was the preferred option for American companies.
- It might re-engage with the World Trade Organisation but it cannot tear down the trade barriers that Trump has erected in the name of Make in America.
Foreign policy of next administration
- The Trump Americans do not wish to spend any more taxpayer dollars on foreign wars and they want their boys and girls to come home.
- They think America’s allies are not carrying their weight and are unfairly living off American contributions.
- They want their allies and partners to take greater responsibility for peace and security.
- Biden’s supporters hope that he can reverse the abdication of American global leadership and renew alliances, but as president he may find it difficult to go against the Trump Americans on issues like China, Iran and climate change, without endangering the Democratic Party’s long-term interests.
- And if Trump is re-elected as the president, it will only be because of his core voter base and it will strengthen his resolve.
Implications for the world
- Whether or not America withdraws from the world, American leadership, as we know it, might be over.
- America will become more transactional and less generous.
- Common values like democracy or multipolarity may be of lesser importance in America’s scheme of things.
- Whether it is Trump or Biden, the Sino-US relationship will remain complicated and rivalrous.
- Whether it is Trump or Biden, the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran cannot be restored.
- Whether it is Trump or Biden, American troops will soon be gone from Afghanistan.
- There will be less willingness to consider emerging economies as deserving beneficiaries of concessional arrangements.
- A Biden presidency might also mean a more critical look at the record of not just authoritarian states but also democracies on issues like labour, environment and non-proliferation.
Implications for India
- President Trump has been good for India in terms of foreign policy, less so in terms of economic policy.
- But Delhi should equally be prepared for the Trump administration to ratchet up pressure on trade and to tighten rules on immigration.
- With Biden, India and the US might return to a more balanced re-engagement on trade and immigration, but should be prepared for a more accommodative policy on both Pakistan and China than Trump’s.
Conclusion
Whoever is the next occupant of the White House, the way Americans voted on November 3 will shape American policy and politics for years to come.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Productivity of economy
Mains level: Paper 3- Reforms, productivity and technology to fix the problems of economy
The article discusses the three fundamentals which need an examination to fix the issues faced by the economy.
Re-examining the fundamentals
- India has an incomes crisis: incomes of people in the lower half of the pyramid are too low.
- The solutions economists propose are: free up markets, improve productivity, and apply technology.
- These fundamentals of economics must be re-examined when applied to human work.
Three solutions and issues with them
1) Freeing up the markets
- It is suggested that markets should be freed up for agricultural products so that farmers can get higher prices; and freed up for labour to attract investments.
- Without adequate incomes, people cannot be a good market for businesses.
- In fact, it is the inadequate growth of incomes that has caused a slump in investments.
- Ironically, the purpose of freeing up markets for labour is to reduce the burden of wage costs on investors just when wages and the size of markets must be increased.
2) Increasing productivity
- Productivity is a ratio of an input in the denominator and an output in the numerator.
- The larger the output that is produced with a unit of input, the higher the productivity of the system.
- Improvement of ‘productivity’ is key to economic progress.
- Economists generally use labour productivity as a universal measure of the productivity of an economy.
- Humans are the only ‘appreciating assets’ an enterprise has. They can improve their own abilities.
- The values of machines and buildings depreciate over time, as any accountant knows.
- Whereas human beings develop when they are treated with respect, and are provided with environments to learn.
- For capital-scarce and human resource-abundant countries, such as many developing countries, the correct ratio of productivity is output per unit of capital.
- This must be the driver of business as well as national strategies.
- This was the strategy of ‘Japan Inc.’ to make Japan an industrial powerhouse.
- This was E.F. Schumacher’s insight also.
3) Use of technology
- Schumacher, best known for his seminal idea ‘small is beautiful’ understood where capitalism powered with technology would be heading.
- In his essay he wrote: “If we define the level of technology in terms of ‘equipment cost per work-place’, we can call the indigenous technology of a typical developing country (symbolically speaking) a £1-technology, while that of the modern West could be called a £1,000-technology.
- The current attempt of the ‘developing ‘countries, supported by foreign aid, to infiltrate the £1,000-technology into their economies inevitably kills off the £1-technolgy at an alarming rate.
- This results in destroying traditional workplaces at a much faster rate than modern workplaces can be created and producing the ‘dual economy’ with its attendant evils of mass unemployment and mass migration.
- Schumacher had warned there was a malaise brewing beneath the drive to ‘Westernise’ and ‘technologise’ economies.
Way forward: Social contract between society and workers
- Workers provide the economy with the products and services it needs.
- In return, society and the economy must create conditions whereby workers are treated with dignity and can earn adequate incomes.
- Good jobs require good contracts between workers and their employers.
- Therefore, the government should create a good society for all citizens, must regulate contracts between those who engage people to do work for their enterprises, even in the gig economy.
- Goverment should push innovation in socially more beneficial directions to augment rather than replace less skilled workers.
Conclusion
The power balance must shift. Small enterprises and workers must combine into larger associations, in new forms, using technology, to tilt reforms towards their needs and their rights.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GST provisions
Mains level: Paper 2- Declining financial heath of the States
The financial health of the States has been declining in the last several years. The article explains the reasons and its implications for the States.
Role of States in development
- State governments drive a majority of the country’s development programmes.
- Greater numbers of people depend on these programmes for their livelihood, development, welfare and security.
- States need resources to deliver these responsibilities and aspirations.
Factors responsible for declining discal capacity of the States
1) Declining devolution to State
- Finance Commissions recommend the share of States in the taxes raised by the Union government and recommendations are normally adhered to.
- The year 2014-15 commenced with a shock: actual devolution was 14% less than the Finance Commission’s projection.
- Between 2014-15 and 2019-20, the States got ₹7,97,549 crore less than what was projected by the Finance Commission.
2) Cess and surcharge
- Various cesses and surcharges levied by the Union government are retained fully by it, they do not go into the divisible pool.
- This allows the Centre to raise revenues, yet not share them with the States.
- Hence, the Union government imposes or increases cesses and surcharges instead of taxes wherever possible and, in some cases, even replaces taxes with cesses and surcharges.
- As a result, the States lose out on their share.
- Between 2014-15 and 2019-20, cesses and surcharges soared from 9.3% to 15% of the gross tax revenue of the Union government.
- This systematic rise ensures that the revenue that is fully retained by the Union government increases at the cost of the revenue that is shared with the States.
- This government has exploited this route to reduce the size of the divisible pool.
3) GST shortfall
- Shortfalls have been persistent and growing from the inception of GST.
- Compensations have been paid from the GST cess revenue.
- GST cesses are levied on luxury or sin goods on top of the GST.
- GST compensation will end with 2021-22. But cesses will continue.
- With the abnormal exception of this year, the years ahead will generate similar or more cess revenue.
- Hence, many States have been insisting outside and inside the GST Council that the Union government should borrow this year’s GST shortfall in full and release it to the States.
- The Union government will not have to pay a rupee of this debt or interest.
- The entire loan can be repaid out of the assured cess revenue that will continue to accrue beyond 2022.
- Of the nearly ₹3 lakh crore GST shortfall to the States, the Centre will only compensate ₹1.8 lakh crore.
- The States will not get the remaining ₹1.2 lakh crore this year.
- In fact, it flies against the need of the hour to revive the economy.
- Governments ought to spend money this year to stimulate demand.
4) Declining grants from the Centre
- Central grants are also likely to drop significantly this year.
- For instance,₹31,570 crore was allocated as annual grants to Karnataka.
- Actual grants may be down to ₹17,372 crore.
Implications for the States
- To overcome such extreme blows to their finances and discharge their welfare and development responsibilities, the States are now forced to resort to colossal borrowings.
- Repayment burden will overwhelm State budgets for several years.
- The fall in funds for development and welfare programmes will adversely impact the livelihoods of crores of Indians.
- The economic growth potential cannot be fully realised.
- Adverse consequences will be felt in per capita income, human resource development and poverty.
- This is a negative sum game.
5) Loss of financial autonomy due to GST
Consider the question “What are the reasons for the declining financial health of the States in India? What are the implications for the States? Suggest the ways to deal with the issue.”
Conclusion
States are at the forefront of development and generation of opportunities and growth. Strong States lead to a stronger India. The systematic weakening of States serves neither federalism nor national interest.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CBI
Mains level: Read the attached story
Kerala has decided to withdraw the general consent accorded to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to operate in the state voluntarily.
Try answering this:
Q. Why the CBI is called as “a caged parrot speaking in its master’s voice”? Critically comment.
General Consent
- Unlike the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is governed by its own NIA Act and has jurisdiction across the country, the CBI is governed by the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.
- This makes consent of a state government mandatory for conducting an investigation in that state.
- There are two kinds of consent: case-specific and general.
- Given that the CBI has jurisdiction only over central government departments and employees, it can investigate a case involving state government employees or a violent crime in a given state only after that state government gives its consent.
When is Consent needed?
- General consent is normally given to help the CBI seamlessly conduct its investigation into cases of corruption against central government employees in the concerned state. Almost all states have given such consent.
- Otherwise, the CBI would require consent in every case.
- For example, if it wanted to investigate a bribery charge against a Western Railway clerk in Mumbai, it would have to apply for consent with the Maharashtra government before registering a case against him.
What does withdrawal mean?
- It means the CBI will not be able to register any fresh case involving a central government official or a private person stationed in these two states without getting case-specific consent.
- Withdrawal of consent simply means that CBI officers will lose all powers of a police officer as soon as they enter the state unless the state government has allowed them.
Under what provision has general consent been withdrawn?
- Section 6 of the Act says nothing contained in Section 5 shall be deemed to enable any member of the Delhi Special Police Establishment to exercise powers and jurisdiction in any area in a State, not being a Union Territory or Railway, area, without the consent of the Government of that State.
- In exercise of the power conferred by Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, the government can withdraw the general consent to exercise the powers and jurisdiction.
Does that mean that the CBI can no longer probe any case in the two states?
- The CBI would still have the power to investigate old cases registered when general consent existed.
- Also, cases registered anywhere else in the country, but involving people stationed in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal would allow CBI’s jurisdiction to extend to these states.
- There is ambiguity on whether the agency can carry out a search in either of the two states in connection with an old case without the consent of the state government.
Why such a move by the States?
- If a state government believes that the ruling party’s ministers or members could be targeted by CBI on orders of the Centre, and that withdrawal of general consent would protect them.
- This is a debatable political assumption.
- CBI could still register cases in Delhi which would require some part of the offence being connected with Delhi and still arrest and prosecute ministers or MPs.
- The only people it will protect are small central government employees.
Legal Remedies for CBI
- The CBI can always get a search warrant from a local court in the state and conduct searches.
- In case the search requires a surprise element, there is CrPC Section 166, which allows a police officer of one jurisdiction to ask an officer of another to carry out searches on his behalf.
- And if the first officer feels that the searches by the latter may lead to loss of evidence, the section allows the first officer to conduct searches himself after giving notice to the latter.
Back2Basics: Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
- Origins of CBI can be traced back to the Special Police Establishment (SPE) set up in 1941 in order to cases of bribery and corruption in War & Supply Department of India during World War II.
- The need of a Central Government agency to investigate cases of bribery and corruption was felt even after the end of World War II.
- So, DSPE (Delhi Special Police Establishment) Act, 1946 was brought that gave legal power of investigating cases to CBI.
- CBI is not a statutory body as it is not established by an Act of the Parliament.
- CBI investigates cases related to economic crimes, special crimes, cases of corruption and other high-profile cases.
- CBI comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
- CBI is exempted from Right to Information (RTI) Act similar to the National Investigating Agency (NIA), National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid), etc.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Alimony
The Supreme Court has laid down uniform and comprehensive guidelines for family courts, magistrates and lower courts to follow while hearing the applications filed by women seeking maintenance from their estranged husbands’.
Debate: Alimony as a right of women or a feminist taboo
Why such a judgement?
- Usually, maintenance cases have to be settled in 60 days, but they take years, in reality, owing to legal loopholes.
- The top court said women deserted by husbands are left in dire straits, often reduced to destitution, for lack of means to sustain themselves and their children.
- Despite a plethora of maintenance laws, women were left empty-handed for years, struggling to make ends meet after a bad marriage.
What did the Court say?
- The Supreme Court has held that deserted wives and children are entitled to alimony/maintenance from the husbands from the date they apply for it in a court of law.
- To ensure that judicial orders for grant of maintenance are duly enforced by husbands, the court said a violation would lead to punishments such as civil detention and even attachment of the property of the latter.
- The plea of the husband that he does not possess any source of income ipso facto does not absolve him of his moral duty to maintain his wife, if he is able-bodied and has educational qualifications, the court declared.
- Both the applicant wife and the respondent-husband have to disclose their assets and liabilities in a maintenance case.
- Other factors such as “spiralling inflation rates and high costs of living” should be considered, but the wife should receive alimony which fit the standard of life she was used to in the matrimonial home.
Covering expenses
- The expenses of the children, including their education, basic needs and other vocational activities, should be factored in by courts while calculating the alimony.
- Education expenses of the children must be normally borne by the father. If the wife is working and earning sufficiently, the expenses may be shared proportionately between the parties.
Permanent alimony
- The court opined it would not be equitable to order a husband to pay his wife permanent alimony for the rest of her life, considering the fact that in contemporary society marriages do not last for a reasonable length of time.
- Anyway, the court said, the duration of marriage should be accounted for while determining the permanent alimony.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PMI
Mains level: Not Much
The services sector has PMI has signalled first expansion since February this year.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which of the following brings out the ‘Consumer Price Index Number for Industrial Workers?
(a) The Reserve Bank of India
(b) The Department of Economic Affairs
(c) The Labour Bureau
(d) The Department of Personnel and Training
Purchasing Managers’ Index
- PMI is an indicator of business activity — both in the manufacturing and services sectors.
- It is a survey-based measure that asks the respondents about changes in their perception of some key business variables from the month before.
- It is calculated separately for the manufacturing and services sectors and then a composite index is constructed.
How is the PMI derived?
- The PMI is derived from a series of qualitative questions.
- Executives from a reasonably big sample, running into hundreds of firms, are asked whether key indicators such as output, new orders, business expectations and employment were stronger than the month before and are asked to rate them.
How does one read the PMI?
- A figure above 50 denotes expansion in business activity. Anything below 50 denotes contraction.
- Higher the difference from this mid-point greater the expansion or contraction. The rate of expansion can also be judged by comparing the PMI with that of the previous month data.
- If the figure is higher than the previous month’s then the economy is expanding at a faster rate. If it is lower than the previous month then it is growing at a lower rate.
What are its implications for the economy?
- The PMI is usually released at the start of the month, much before most of the official data on industrial output, manufacturing and GDP growth becomes available.
- It is, therefore, considered a good leading indicator of economic activity.
- Economists consider the manufacturing growth measured by the PMI as a good indicator of industrial output, for which official statistics are released later.
- Central banks of many countries also use the index to help make decisions on interest rates.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Char chapori
Mains level: Not Much
A proposed museum reflecting the “culture and heritage of the people living in char-chaporis” has stirred up a controversy in Assam.
Do you know?
Phumdis are a series of floating islands, exclusive to the Loktak Lake in Manipur. They cover a substantial part of the lake area and are heterogeneous masses of vegetation, soil and organic matter, in different stages of decay.
What are char-chaporis?
- A char is a floating island while chaporis are low-lying flood-prone riverbanks.
- They are used interchangeably as they keep changing shapes — a char can become a chapori, or vice versa, depending on the push and pull of the Brahmaputra.
- Prone to floods and erosion, these areas are marked by low development indices.
- While Bengali-origin Muslims primarily occupy these islands, other communities such as Misings, Deoris, Kocharis, Nepalis also live here.
- In the popular imagination, however, chars have become synonymous to the Bengali-speaking Muslims of dubious nationality.
Who are the Miyas?
- The ‘Miya’ community comprises descendants of Muslim migrants from East Bengal (now Bangladesh) to Assam.
- They came to be referred to as ‘Miyas’, often in a derogatory manner.
- The community migrated in several waves — starting with the British annexation of Assam in 1826, and continuing into Partition and the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Issues with the secularism in France
The article analyses the secularism in France and its its implications for the French society.
Education about secularism in France
- In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, state school teachers were responsible for converting young people in rural France away from the heavy hand of Catholic dogma, and they spearheaded efforts to “educate” and “civilise” indigenous peoples in the French colonies.
- In recent decades, teachers have been charged with trying to “integrate” France’s myriad ethnic minority communities.
- Of the many things that teachers are expected to do, one of the most important is to embody the principles of laïcité.
- Often translated as ‘secularism’, laïcité is better understood as a project of social cohesion and a key component of French citizenship.
- It encompass the formal separation of Church and State, but also the evacuation of religious values from the public space and their replacement with secular values such as liberty, equality, and fraternity.
How should France respond to terrorist attacks in name of Islam
1) Compromise
- This compromise would involve acknowledging that laïcité alone cannot fix the country’s social and political problems.
- It would also require the French state to recognise that France has — almost without realising it — become part of the Muslim world.
- It cannot stand apart from conflicts over religious practice that have affected countries with much larger Muslim populations, from Morocco to Indonesia.
2) Emphasize the French values
- Another way would be to double down on French “values”.
- This is the path that President Emmanuel Macron has chosen.
- He and his cabinet have spent a lot of time in recent weeks emphasising the importance of laïcité and denouncing all those who are seen to threaten it.
- But this strategy is a risky one.
- For a start, it is almost guaranteed to elicit a hostile response from leaders of Muslim-majority countries, many of whom are keen to find an international issue that can distract from their own domestic problems.
Conclusion
So, while it might seem like a good strategy to use the idea of laïcité as a shield against an amorphous Muslim threat, the danger is that this will strip it of its most positive elements and render it useless as an instrument of social integration. That, more than any terror attack, would be a tragedy for all French people.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Right of free speech
Mains level: Paper 2- Free speech and violence
The article discusses the issues with blaming the expression of free speech for the violence inflicted by the people opposed to the ideas.
Context
- The beheading of a teacher in France has brought to the fore the issue of free speech.
- It is argued that there is a need to respect people’s religion and not be provocative in the aftermath of the gruesome killing.
Issues related to free speech
1) Free-speecher’s burden
- The fact that a barbaric, crazy man can either get offended or inspired by either of the conflicting ideas cannot be a “free-speecher’s” burden.
- Should any protest or campaign be mindful of a potential violent twist that may be given to their ideas?
- Should a causal link between the expression of “offensive ideas” and sufferance of bodies allow violent zealots to hold the right to ransom?
2) Existence of ideas in person
- Ideas have no real, independent existence outside of the bodies in which they inhere.
- Had ideas lived autonomously, independent of the bodies and minds that carry them, ideas would not die.
- But we don’t. And the reason is that some ideas die or weaken over time.
- They become anomalous and discredited either because they are disputed scientifically or because they are contested vigorously and passionately till an anachronistic idea is defeated.
3) Ideas could be good or bad
- In the conflicting terrain of ideas, lies the kernel of social change.
- Ideas could be good or bad.
- How else, except through a conflict of ideas, do women contest patriarchy and push back on received gendered ideas of womanhood?
Issues with arguing on free-speech outside context
- First, as academic Ghassan Hage summed up in his Facebook post: Truth also needs to have its ethics.
- You may be truthful, but unethical.
- The beheading of French teacher requires us to dwell on not just any killing but the barbarism behind it.
- To dwell instead on the genealogies and causes of violent behaviour is bad ethics, for it ends up being nothing more than an apologia for violence.
- Second, it’s bad politics.
- The right to free speech empowers and enables many marginalised lives.
- It is a basic right that preconditions the realisation of other rights.
- So basic that it enables the weak and the oppressed to rise against their oppressors.
Conclusion
In any case, free speech is restrained by the state through its many criteria of “reasonableness”. To further circumscribe it by burdening it with plausible violent appropriations, or with historical conditionalities, is to feed the logic of violence against freedom of expression.
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