Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Credit Rating Agencies
Mains level: Paper 3- Issue of rating given to India by global credit rating agencies
The Economic Survey-2020-21 highlights the issue of the adverse rating given to emerging economies by global credit rating agencies. This article suggests using our flawless repayment record as the basis of argument.
Prejudice against emerging economies
- The Economic Survey for 2020-21, charged international credit rating agencies with prejudice against emerging economies such as India and China.
- The Survey has used economic size as an argument.
- The economy that is the world’s fifth-largest has predominantly been rated AAA, S&P’s top rating.
- By contrast, India, which displaced the UK in 2019 as the world’s fifth-largest, has been rated BBB-, the lowest investment grade.
- The Survey points out that since 1994, only twice has the credit rating (as assigned by S&P and Moody’s) of the fifth-largest economy in US dollar terms been poor.
- This was when China and India rose to that rank, in 2005 and 2019 respectively.
Issues with Credit Rating
- Rating agencies rarely get credit quality right and they have been found to be well behind the curve in almost every default crisis.
- The behavior of these agencies has been pro-cyclical, which is often seen to aggravate crises and fuel bubbles.
- They are too lenient when the times are good, and too harsh when economic conditions worsen, making booms and busts that much more dramatic.
What should be the basis of India’s argument
- Unless the country has the privilege of printing the world’s reserve currency, as the US has, there is nothing special that ensures a large economy will always repay what it owes.
- India’s argument should revolve around the country’s flawless repayment record.
- The last time we were on the verge of a sovereign default, in 1991, we reformed our economy.
- Today, the country has foreign exchange reserves in excess of $584 billion, while its total external debt, including that of the private sector, is a shade over $556 billion.
Consider the question “The Economic Survey of 2020-21 point to the adverse rating of India economy by the global rating agencies. What is the significance of such ratings for the economy. What should be the basis of the argument against India’s adverse rating by the agencies?”
Conclusion
Despite the above-mentioned factors, we still find that Indian borrowers must pay higher rates of interest overseas than they would have to with a better rating. Global rating agencies need to overhaul their methodology to better reflect reality.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PFMS
Mains level: Paper 2- Role of PFMS in improving governance
The article highlights the role played by the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) in promoting the good governance.
About PFMS
- With the objective of bringing in transformational accountability and transparency and to further promote good governance, the Indian government envisioned Public Financial Management System (PFMS).
- PFMS has evolved as an end to end solution for Processing, Monitoring, and reconciling financial flows of Central Govt.
- Today, PFMS has empowered governance to become more responsive, accountable, and transparent.
Mandate of PFMS
- Through Cabinet decision, PFMS has been mandated the following:
- It acts as a financial management platform for all plan schemes and allows for efficient and effective tracking of fund flow to the lowest level of implementation for the planning scheme of the Government.
- It is mandated to provide information on fund utilization leading to better monitoring, review, and decision support system to enhance public accountability in the implementation of plan schemes.
- To result in effectiveness and economy in Public Finance Management through better cash management for Government transparency in public expenditure and real-time information on resource availability and utilization across schemes.
Achievements of PFMS
- PFMS can be credited to the transformation of Direct beneficiary transfers space in financial governance in India.
- An estimated 102 crore DBT transactions were done through PFMS in FY 19-20 amounting to about ₹2.67 lakh crore.
- Through efficient use of technology, PFMS is estimated to have saved about ₹1 lakh crore in direct beneficiary transfers.
4 Factors that could determine the successful evolution of PFMS in future
- Agility in terms of Onboarding/Integrating all Govt. accounts: Only after ensuring significant coverage, the true execution of the concept will take place.
- Effective data management capabilities: PFMS will have to add significant data management capabilities in order to ensure better monitoring/review to deliver on the idea of a decision support system for effective cash management or management of idle float in the system.
- Constantly upgrading: Adaption to rapid changes in technology is another key area that would call for a considerable amount of focus both in terms of gradation and monitoring.
- Collaboration with the banking system: Lastly, one of the most critical factors for the successful execution of PFMS is its integration with the banking systems.
- The Banks and PFMS will have to actively partner to ensure faster coverage/integration of all the Govt. entities.
Consider the question “Governance in India has long been marred with structural challenges like transparency, lack of accountability and sustainable and inclusive growth. In light of this, discuss the role played by the Public Financial Management System in tackling these challenges.”
Conclusion
The PFMS has revolutionized the ways public finances are managed in the country. With constant improvement and increasing coverage, the scope of PFMS is ever-increasing. Going ahead, PFMS will not only be seen as a tool for managing planned expenditure but will also add new meanings to Direct Beneficiary transfers, data-driven cash management, and e-Governance in India.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Terms used in Economic Survey
Mains level: Paper 3- Overview of the Economic Survey 2020-21
The pandemic has been leaving its imprint various aspects of our lives and Economic Survey is no different. This year’s Economic Survey focuses on the recovery path of the economy disrupted by the pandemic. The article takes an overview of the survey and also mentions the missing areas.
Focus on a recovery path
- The Economic Survey analyses the broad trends at the macro level and the profiling of the initiatives across various economic activities.
- This year, the Economic Survey focuses on the recovery path after initial derailment and the losses suffered by the Indian economy due to the pandemic.
- The recovery is expected to follow a V-shaped path.
- The Survey advocates countercyclical fiscal policies based on the premise that growth leads to debt sustainability.
- The Survey brings together various relevant factors that have both a short and long-term impact on the economy and the budget.
- This year’s Survey focuses on enhanced public healthcare spending and demonstrates how effective it has been in slashing out-of-pocket expenditures in the recent past.
- It also shows the brilliant performance under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) and the improved outcomes in states that have implemented the programme.
- With focus on basic needs, the Survey has brought back national attention on the fundamental developmental paradigm.
- The idea of analysing inequalities in times of recovery is a reassuring premise to move on with.
Comparison with past Economic Surveys
- If we consider the last two Economic Surveys, the introduction of new concepts and approaches has been quite evident.
- In the Survey for 2018-19, the idea of “nudge” helped provide recognition of the importance of social behaviour change for any policy to succeed.
- This led to the adoption of transformative approach in the Swachh Bharat Mission and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao initiative that integrated behavioural insights.
- Another powerful idea has been using technology to run and monitor welfare schemes.
- The Economic Survey 2019-20 talked overwhelmingly about the importance of wealth creation, entrepreneurship, and financial markets in the economic development.
What the Survey misses
- The Survey should have focussed on a new narrative for trade.
- Apart from explaining the missing value chains and integration with South and Southeast Asia, the survey should have analysed the high cost of tariffs when 38 per cent of our exports are import-dependent.
Consider the question “In the wake of economic disruption caused by the pandemic, India needs a new narrative for trade. However, India faces the challenge of missing value chains and lack of integration with South and Southeast Asia. In light of this, suggest the policies India should adopt as new narrative for trade.“
Conclusion
Besides trade, FDI inflows and the accumulation of foreign exchange reserves has been remarkable this year. It is expected that India will emerge as an important link in the global value chain sector which has been visibly disrupted by the pandemic
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Red Fort
Mains level: Red Fort and its symbolic significance for the nation
Newsfeeds on Republic Day were dominated by scenes of protests on the ramparts of the Red Fort.
Mob stormed and vandalized the national flag and the mast of Red Fort in guise of peaceful farmers protest! What did this act signify?
To unravel some of these strands of meaning, one must go back in history, to a time centuries before the Red Fort was even constructed.
The History of Capital
- Before the 13th century, Delhi — or ‘Dilli’ — was, politically speaking, a moderately significant town.
- It was for long the capital of the modestly sized kingdom of the Rajput Tomar dynasty.
- By the mid 12th century it was conquered by the Rajput Chauhans who, however, ruled from Ajmer.
- It was the conquest by Ghurid Turks in the late 12th century that put Delhi on the map as a centre of power.
- As the capital of the Sultanate, Delhi gradually developed an aura of power — in the popular imagination, it came to be associated with a dominant power in the subcontinent.
- Babur, having defeated Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat in 1526, headed for Delhi, which he described as “the capital of all Hindustan”, even though the Lodis had ruled from Agra for the previous two decades.
Sultanate period
- There was another important feature of the Delhi of these two centuries.
- From the 13th century, the capital had been located at a number of different sites – Mehrauli, Kilugarhi, Siri, Tughlaqabad, Jahanpanah, Firozabad, and Dinpanah.
- Now it came to be settled permanently in Shahjahanabad, with the emperor’s seat being in the Red Fort.
Seat of the Mughal power
- During the first century or so of Mughal rule, Agra was the capital for longer than Delhi.
- Still, the Mughals continued to be seen as rulers of Delhi.
- A Sanskrit inscription from 1607 refers to Akbar as “Dillishvara”, the lord of Delhi, though he had ruled from Delhi for a very short time.
- In a Persian inscription dated 1621 on the Salimgarh Bridge adjoining the Red Fort, Jahangir, who never reigned from Delhi, was described as “Shahanshah e Dehli”, the emperor of Delhi.
Construction of Red Fort
- It was only in the reign of Shah Jahan (1628-58) that the Mughal connection to Delhi was given concrete form, with the founding of the city of Shahjahanabad and the inauguration of its palace citadel, the Red Fort, in 1648.
- From that date to the end of Mughal rule in 1857, Delhi would be the formal capital of the Mughal Empire.
Fading centre
- The significance of Delhi and the Red Fort was thrown into sharp relief by political developments in the 18th century, once the Mughal Empire started on the long road to decline.
- Erstwhile Mughal provinces such as Bengal, Awadh, and Hyderabad broke away, and new forces like the Sikhs and the Marathas arose.
- Not only did the Mughal territories shrink, but the Mughal emperor also became increasingly ineffectual even within them.
A takeover by the East India Company
- The control over the emperor and of Delhi was, therefore, a prize worth fighting for.
- Safdar Jang, the Nawab of Awadh, fought a civil war in an attempt to keep his position as PM of the Mughal emperor.
- The Sikhs had their ambitions and came up to the walls of the city in 1783 before retreating.
- The Marathas met with greater success the following year when Mahadji Sindhia became the power behind the throne.
- Finally, the East India Company defeated the Maratha forces in 1803 and went on to control Delhi and the emperor for the next 54 years.
Shifting of capital
- Delhi was officially announced as the capital of British Raj by the then-Emperor George V, on December 12, 1911.
- The capital was shifted from Calcutta as Delhi was the financial and political seat of many earlier empires and was located closer to the geographical centre of India.
- The rising nationalist movement in Calcutta was also responsible for the shift.
Symbolic importance then
- In the popular imagination, the legitimate rule was associated with the Mughal emperor to the extent that when the country broke out in revolt in 1857, the mutinous soldiers made their way to Delhi, seeking his leadership.
- When the revolt in Delhi had been crushed, the British army occupied the Red Fort and the officers drank to their Queen’s health in the Diwan-e-Khas, where the Mughal emperors had held court.
- It was in this same hall that Bahadur Shah was put on trial, convicted, and exiled.
- Nearly ninety years later, in 1945-46, the memory of that trial foreshadowed another historic trial in the fort.
- The personnel of the Indian National Army were tried there, which generated an immense wave of nationalist sentiment in the run-up to Independence.
Symbol of the nation, now
- With the coming of Independence, it was necessary that the site of the Red Fort, over which the British colonial government had sought to inscribe its power and might, be symbolically reclaimed for the Indian people.
- It was for this reason, that after the first hoisting of the national flag at India Gate on August 15, 1947, the next day, the PM hoisted it on the ramparts of the Red Fort.
- This was to then become India’s lasting Independence Day tradition.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Way ahead for India-China relations
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has given useful insight on the future of India-China ties amid heating border tensions and has suggested the best way forward.
Statements made by EAM are major breakthrough in itself. They are the most logical and amply reflect his perfect statesmanship.
We can imbibe such statements in our answers as they hold extraordinary significance like any gospel.
Key takeaways from EAM’s speech
- 2020 was a year of exceptional stress in a relationship profoundly disturbed by the border crisis.
- China’s actions last year had not only signaled a disregard of commitments to reduce troop levels” but also “a willingness” to breach the peace and tranquillity on the border.
- For all the disagreements we had, the fact is the border areas still remained fundamentally peaceful with the last incident of a loss of life in 1975, prior to 2020.
- Until now, India is yet to receive a credible explanation for the change in China’s stance or reasons for its amassing of troops.
- Any expectation that can be brushed aside and life can carry on undisturbed despite the situation in the border is simply not realistic.
China’s contentious moves
- China did a unilateral attempt to redraw the LAC in several areas in eastern Ladakh
- China’s issuing of stapled visas to Indian citizens from Jammu and Kashmir in 2010
- Reluctance from China to deal with some of India’s military commands, Beijing had that same year refused to host the Northern Army Commander
- China’s opposition to India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the U.N. Security Council as a permanent member
- Blocking of U.N. listings of Pakistani terrorists, and
- China Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship project under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, violating India’s sovereignty
Gone is the past
- Both sides had “painstakingly” worked to normalize relations after the post-1962 war freeze and the first prime ministerial visit in 1988.
- For the border areas, he said, both had agreed a complete and practical set of understandings and agreements focused on border management, while negotiations were being conducted on the boundary dispute.
- The advancement of ties, he said, was predicated on ensuring that peace and tranquillity were not disturbed, and the LAC was both observed and respected by both sides.
- For this reason, it was explicitly agreed the two countries would refrain from massing troops on their common border, along with a detailed understanding of handling frictions that would arise.
No progress over the years
- Over the years, he said, there was no sign of progress of arriving at a common understanding of the LAC, while there was increasing construction of border infrastructure, especially in the Chinese side.
- India had made efforts to reduce the considerable infrastructure gap since 2014, including through greater budgetary commitments and border road building.
Way forward
The External Affairs Minister suggested “three mutuals” and “eight broad propositions” as a way forward for the relationship.
#Three mutuals
Mutual respect, mutual sensitivities and mutual interests are the “determining factors”.
#Major propositions
(1) Adhering to commitment
- The first proposition was that agreements already reached must be adhered to in their entirety, both in letter and in spirit.
(2) Respect for LAC
- Both sides also needed to strictly observe and respect the LAC, and any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo was completely unacceptable.
(3) Maintaining peace and tranquillity
- Peace and tranquillity in border areas was the basis for the development of the relationship in other domains. If that was disturbed, he said, the rest of the relationship would be too.
(4) Broader partnership
- The fourth proposition was that while both remain committed to a multipolar world, they should recognise that a multipolar Asia was one of its essential constituents.
(5) Reciprocity
- While each state had its interests, concerns and priorities, sensitivities to them could not be one-sided and relations were reciprocal in nature. As rising powers, neither should ignore the other’s set of aspirations.
(6) Divergences management
- While both sides had made a common cause on development and economic issues and common membership of plurilateral groups was a meeting point, there were divergences when it came to interests and aspirations.
(7) Civilizational ties
- The last proposition was that as civilizational states, India and China must always take the long view.
(8) Cooperation and competition
- Even before the events of 2020, the relationship had reflected a duality of cooperation and competition.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Green India Mission
Mains level: Success of afforestation measures
The central government’s afforestation scheme, Green India Mission (GIM), was able to only achieve 2.8 per cent of its plantation target, according to the Economic Survey 2021.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Consider the following statements:
- As per law, the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority exists at both National and State levels.
- People’s participation is mandatory in the compensatory afforestation programmes carried out under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Green India Mission
- GIM is one of the eight Missions outlined under India’s action plan for addressing the challenge of climate change -the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).
- Launched in February 2014, it is aimed at protecting; restoring and enhancing India’s diminishing forest cover and responding to climate change by a combination of adaptation and mitigation measures.
- The mission has the broad objective of both increasing the forest and tree cover by 5 million ha, as well as increasing the quality of the existing forest and tree cover in 10 years.
- The Mission proposes a holistic view of greening and focuses not on carbon sequestration targets alone, but also, on multiple ecosystem services, especially, biodiversity, water, biomass etc., along with provisioning services like fuel, fodder, timber and non-timber forest produces.
- It will also increase options of forest-based livelihood of households living in the fringe of those landscapes where the Mission is implemented.
Limited success of the scheme
- As of March 2020, plantation under the scheme was undertaken only over 0.14 m ha land.
- A 2018 parliamentary committee report on GIM found that the scheme was grossly underfunded.
- The report found that the scheme had also missed its targets by 34 per cent in both 2015-16 and 2016-17 financial years.
- The committee also pointed out that the afforestation done under the mission was only aimed at increasing tree count without considering the soil and weather conditions.
- Trees like eucalyptus were planted which make environmental problems worse rather than solving it.
- Planting of unsuitable trees may cause drought and prevent biodiversity in the regions.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Doomsday Clock
Mains level: Various existential threat to mankind
The hands of the ‘Doomsday Clock’, a visual depiction of how vulnerable the world is to a climate or nuclear catastrophe, remained at ‘100 seconds to midnight’ for the second consecutive year — the closest it has been to the symbolic annihilation of humanity.
Q.The ‘Doomsday Clock’ represents the hypothetical countdown to raise human consciousness against mutually assured destruction. In this light, discuss various existential threats to humanity and action taken so far.
What is the ‘Doomsday Clock’?
- The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, founded by Albert Einstein and students from the University of Chicago in 1945, created the ‘Doomsday Clock’.
- It is held as a symbol to represent how close the world is to a possible apocalypse.
- It is set annually by a panel of scientists, including 13 Nobel laureates, based on the threats — old and new — that the world faced in that year.
- When it was first created in 1947, the hands of the clock were placed based on the threat posed by nuclear weapons, which the scientists then perceived to be the greatest threat to humanity.
- Over the years, they have included other existential threats, such as climate change and disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence.
Significance of such clock
- The reason the scientists selected a clock is twofold — they wanted to use the imagery of an apocalypse (midnight) as well as the “contemporary idiom of a nuclear explosion” (zero countdowns) to illustrate the threats to humanity.
- The clock was originally set to seven minutes to midnight and has since moved closer or further away from the dreaded 12 o’clock position.
- The furthest it has been being 17 minutes after the end of the Cold War in 1991.
Why was the clock set at ‘100 seconds from midnight’?
- It was set at the ‘100 seconds from midnight’ position due to the prevailing climate conditions, “cyber-based disinformation”, nuclear risk and the pandemic.
- It is the closest to Doomsday we have ever been in the history of the Clock.
- We now face a true emergency – an absolutely unacceptable state of world affairs that has eliminated any margin for error or further delay.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ULBs in India
Mains level: ULB reforms
Rajasthan has become the 5thState in the country to successfully undertake Urban Local Bodies (ULB) reforms stipulated by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance and has thus become eligible for additional reform linked to borrowing.
Which are the four other States?
: They are Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur and Telangana, who have completed ULB reforms.
Now try this PYQ:
Q.The Constitution (Seventy-Third Amendment) Act, 1992, which aims at promoting the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the country, provides for which of the following?
- Constitution of District Planning Committees.
- State Election Commissions to conduct all panchayat elections.
- Establishment of State Finance Commissions.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) Only 1
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
What are the ULB reforms?
The four citizen-centric areas identified for reforms are:
- Implementation of One Nation One Ration Card System
- Ease of doing business reform
- Urban Local body/ utility reforms
- Power Sector reforms.
The set of reforms stipulated by the Department of Expenditure are:
(a) The State will notify:
- Floor rates of property tax in ULBs which are in consonance with the prevailing circle rates (i.e. guideline rates for property transactions) and;
- Floor rates of user charges in respect of the provision of water supply, drainage, and sewerage which reflect current costs/past inflation.
(b) The State will put in place a system of periodic increases in floor rates of property tax/ user charges in line with price increases.
Why need such reforms?
- Reforms in ULBs and the urban utility reforms are aimed at the financial strengthening of ULBs to enable them to provide better public health and sanitation services to citizens.
- Economically rejuvenated ULBs will also be able to create good civic infrastructure.
Back2Basics: Municipal Governance in India
- Municipal or local governance refers to the third tier of governance in India, at the level of the municipality or urban local body.
- Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) are small local bodies that administer or govern a city or a town of a specified population.
- They are vested with a long list of functions delegated to them by the state governments.
- These functions broadly relate to public health, welfare, regulatory functions, public safety, public infrastructure works, and development activities.
- There are several types of Urban Local Bodies in India such as Municipal Corporation, Municipality, Notified Area Committee, Town Area Committee, Special Purpose Agency, Township, Port Trust, Cantonment Board, etc.
Development through history
- It has existed since the year 1687, with the formation of Madras Municipal Corporation, and then Calcutta and Bombay Municipal Corporation in 1726.
- In the early part of the nineteenth century, almost all towns in India had experienced some form of municipal governance.
- In 1882 the then Viceroy of India, Lord Ripon, known as the Father of Local Self Government, passed a resolution of local self-government which lead to the democratic forms of municipal governance in India.
- In 1919, a Government of India Act incorporated the need of the resolution and the powers of democratically elected government were formulated.
- In 1935 another Government of India act brought local government under the preview of the state or provincial government and specific powers were given.
Changes after the 74th Amendment (1992)
- It was the 74th amendment to the Constitution that brought constitutional validity to municipal or local governments.
- Until amendments were made in respective state legislation on an ultra vires (beyond the authority) basis and the state governments were free to extend or control the functional sphere.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Prabuddha Bharat
Mains level: Not Much
PM will address the 125th-anniversary celebrations of ‘Prabuddha Bharata’, a monthly journal of the Ramakrishna Order, started by Swami Vivekananda in 1896.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which one of the following pairs does not form part of the six systems of Indian Philosophy?
(a) Mimamsa and Vedanta
(b) Nyaya and Vaisheshika
(c) Lokayata and Kapalika
(d) Sankhya and Yoga
Prabuddha Bharata
- The journal ‘Prabuddha Bharata’ has been an important medium for spreading the message of India’s ancient spiritual wisdom.
- It is India’s longest-running English language journal (wiki).
- Its publication was started from Chennai (erstwhile Madras), where it continued to be published for two years, after which it was published from Almora.
- Later, in April 1899, the place of publication of the Journal was shifted to Advaita Ashrama and it has been continuously published from there since then.
- Some of the greatest personalities have left their imprint on the pages of ‘Prabuddha Bharata’ through their writings on Indian culture, spirituality, philosophy, history, psychology, art, and other social issues.
- Luminaries like Netaji SC Bose, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Sister Nivedita, Sri Aurobindo, Former President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, among others, have contributed to the Journal over the years.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: India-Myanmar relations
Myanmar’s military staged a coup detaining de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and declaring it had taken control of the country for one year under a state of emergency.
Q.Despite its military coup, Myanmar is the key in linking South Asia to Southeast Asia and the eastern periphery becomes the focal point for New Delhi’s regional outreach. Analyse.
What is the news?
- The intervention came with rising tensions between the military, which ruled the country for nearly five decades, and the civilian government over allegations of fraud in November’s elections.
- The military had signaled its intentions to seize power to settle its claims of irregularities in the polls, which Suu Kyi’s party won easily.
How was the coup carried out?
- The military detained the leaders of the governing NLD party and Myanmar’s civilian leadership, including Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, along with various ministers and even the opposition.
- The military quickly seized control of the country’s infrastructure, suspending most television broadcasts and canceling all domestic and international flights, according to reports.
- Telephone and internet access was suspended in major cities.
- The stock market and commercial banks were closed, and long lines were seen outside ATMs in some places.
- In Yangon, the country’s largest city and former capital, residents ran to markets to stock up on food and other supplies.
Who is Aung San Suu Kyi?
- Suu Kyi came to power as state councilor in 2016 after the country’s first fully democratic vote in decades.
- Her ascension to leadership was seen as a critical moment in the transition of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, to democracy from military dictatorship.
- Suu Kyi, the daughter of the country’s independence hero General Aung San, spent more than 15 years under house arrest.
- Her time in detention made her an international icon, and she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
- Since her release, her reputation has been tarnished by her cooperation with the military and her deadly campaign against the Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority group.
India’s response to the takeover
- India is “deeply concerned” with the return to military rule, which is a repeat of events thirty years ago.
- It sees only option to engage, building on its outreach in recent years via the security and defence establishment.
- India seeks a more pragmatic approach, engaging the military while pushing for more freedoms and democracy in Myanmar.
Various issues concerning India
- One important reason for the change is that India’s security relationship with the Myanmar military.
- These days, it has become extremely close, and it would be difficult to “burn bridges” with them given their assistance in securing the North East frontiers from insurgent groups.
- Apart from strategic concerns, India has cultivated several infrastructure and development projects with Myanmar, which it sees as the “gateway to the East” and ASEAN countries.
- These include the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway and the Kaladan Multi-modal transit transport network, as well as a plan for a Special Economic Zone at the Sittwe deep-water port.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: POCSO Act
Mains level: Paper 2- Interpretation of Section 7 of POCSO Act
In a recent judgement, Section 7 of POCSO Act was interpreted in a controversial way by the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court.
Issue of the definition of sexual assault under POCSO Act
- Recently, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court held that skin-to-skin contact is essential to constitute the offence defined under Section 7 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act).
- Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, which deals with outraging modesty of women and which provides for a lesser sentence, was held to be applicable in such cases.
- This ruling raises several concerns.
- The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had asked the Maharashtra government to appeal this decision in the Supreme Court.
- The Supreme Court has currently stayed the acquittal of the accused under this judgement.
Concerns with the judgement
- The Court held that the stringent nature of punishment provided for the offence required stricter proof and serious allegations.
- The court said the punishment should be proportionate to the seriousness of the crime.
- Nevertheless, while adjudging the seriousness of the offence the court has not given consideration to the fact that the victim, a minor, is entitled to greater protection.
- The major concern is that the interpretation of the court seems to defeat the purpose of the POCSO Act.
- Section 7 of POCSO defines sexual assault as “Whoever, with sexual intent touches the vagina, penis, anus or breast of the child or makes the child touch the vagina, penis, anus or breast of such person or any other person, or does any other act with sexual intent which involves physical contact without penetration is said to commit sexual assault.”
- The court has concluded that the touching of the breast without skin-to-skin contact is not similar to the abovementioned acts and, therefore, does not fall within this definition.
- The court seems to have followed a rather pedantic approach to reach this conclusion.
- The fact that the trauma of the child whose breasts were groped through a cloth could be of the same nature and severity as direct touching of the breast is not discussed.
- And if the trauma is the same, the mere existence of cloth should not affect the applicability of the POCSO Act.
Legislative history and object of POCSO Act
- The POCSO Act was enacted with the specific intention of protecting children from sexual assault and sexual harassment.
- It took into consideration the standards prescribed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations to which the Indian government acceded to on December 11, 1992.
- The Act acknowledges the special vulnerability of children and that special protection, above and beyond that provided in the IPC, is required when the victim is a child.
Conclusion
If such an interpretation is followed, there is a threat that the POCSO Act in itself might become redundant as a wide range of sexually violative activities would be excluded from its ambit due to lack of skin-to-skin contact.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Positive Externality
Mains level: Paper 3- Challenge of Big Tech
The article deals with the issue of checking the misuse of monopoly power by the Big Tech while encouraging their positive externalities.
Worldwide Investigations against Big Tech
- Big Tech firms, especially Facebook and Google have been investigated worldwide, including in the European Union and the United States, on the abuse of monopolistic power.
- Comparisons are drawn with investigations in the U.S. on the telecom industry and the break-up of the AT&T.
- However, there are important differences this time around.
- First, the information good that is being provided by the Internet firms of today, is largely non-rival.
- Second, Internet firms operate globally, therefore, it is often difficult to lay down international rules of obligation and fulfilment.
- Third, while it is debatable whether the goods and services provided by the Internet firms are excludable.
- It is this factor that was leveraged by the Internet firms to provide search, navigation, and social connectivity with no charge to the consumers, and, consequently, making these services non-excludable.
Monetisation model of Big Techs and isseus with it
- Public goods should be provided by governments, but the information goods as described above are being provided by private firms.
- This arrangement poses several problems.
- First, private firms need to have monetisation models to cover the costs of providing their services.
- So, the Internet firms have resorted to personalised advertisements and third-party sharing of the personal data of their users for monetisation purposes.
- Second, the strong network effects present in these Internet platforms warrant increasing the subscriber base and garnering as much market share as possible.
- This results in near-monopoly of some firms in their defined markets.
- These firms may resort to anti-competitive behaviour including acquiring rivals to vertically integrate; erecting entry barriers by refusing to interconnect and inter-operate with competing firms, and leveraging their capital base, thereby engaging in predatory pricing, and driving out competitors.
Positive externalities and consumer surplus
- Network effects create a huge consumer surplus.
- Even without our knowledge, these Internet firms have now become an indispensable part of our lives.
- There are positive externalities as well, for example, Google Maps Application Program Interface (APIs) is being used by almost all logistic transand port companies.
- Facebook APIs are used for advertisement by almost all firms across the industry.
- Google, recently announced that its Search is being expanded to provide accurate and timely information on vaccine distribution to enable quick recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Challenge of regulation
- The question before policymakers is how to regulate these Internet firms from abusing their monopoly power while encouraging the positive externalities and consumer surplus they create.
- It is often very difficult to prove that the firms engage in the abuse of their monopoly power.
- Due to strong network effects, it is not possible to ban or curtail these services.
Way forward
- A traditional view is to subsidise the good that creates positive externalities.
- Governments can provide tax subsidy to these Internet firms in return for their orderly behaviour in the marketplace.
- Governments could explore mandating sharing of Non-Personal Data (NPD) owned by these firms for societal and economic well-being as pointed out in the expert committee on NPD.
- The other way to control any abusive behaviour of the Internet firms is to use the power of public voice.
- The huge public outcry and subsequent government actions have delayed the recent changes to privacy policy relating to the sharing of personal information between WhatsApp and its parent firm, Facebook.
Consider the question “Services provided by the Internet firms have become indispensable part of our life, this leads to the problem of checking their monopoly power while encouraging their positive externalities and consumer surplus. In light of this, discuss the challenges posed by the Big Techs and suggest the ways to deal with them.”
Conclusion
While governments and regulators deal with these dilemmas the Internet firms should adhere to core ethical principles in conducting their businesses as firms that aim at super monopoly profits and are greedy to become powerhouses of the world, often end up in the ditch.
Back2Basics:What is positive externality
- A positive externality exists if the production and consumption of a good or service benefits a third party not directly involved in the market transaction.
- For example, education directly benefits the individual and also provides benefits to society as a whole through the provision of more informed and productive citizens.
What is Network Effect
- The network effect is a phenomenon whereby increased numbers of people or participants improve the value of a good or service.
- The Internet is an example of the network effect. Initially, there were few users on the Internet since it was of little value to anyone outside of the military and some research scientists.
- However, as more users gained access to the Internet, they produced more content, information, and services.
- The development and improvement of websites attracted more users to connect and do business with each other.
- As the Internet experienced increases in traffic, it offered more value, leading to a network effect.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: President’s address
Mains level: Significance of Presidential address
Many Opposition parties announced their decision to boycott the President’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament at the start of the Budget session in solidarity with the farmers protesting against the three farm laws.
Try this PYQ:
Q. The President’s address is one of the most solemn occasions in the Parliamentary calendar. Discuss. Highlight its importance in Parliamentary Democracy.
President’s address
- The Constitution gives the President the power to address either House or a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament.
- Article 87 provides two special occasions on which the President addresses a joint sitting. The first is to address the opening session of a new legislature after a general election.
- The second is to address the first sitting of Parliament each year. A session of a new or continuing legislature cannot begin without fulfilling this requirement.
- When the Constitution came into force, the President was required to address each session of Parliament.
In the UK, the history of the monarch addressing the Parliament goes back to the 16th century. In the US, President Gorge Washington addressed Congress for the first time in 1790.
History & precedent
- In India, the practice of the President addressing Parliament can be traced back to the Government of India Act of 1919.
- This law gave the Governor-General the right of addressing the Legislative Assembly and the Council of State.
- The law did not have a provision for a joint address but the Governor-General did address the Assembly and the Council together on multiple occasions.
- There was no address by him to the Constituent Assembly (Legislative) from 1947 to 1950.
- And after the Constitution came into force, President Rajendra Prasad addressed members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for the first time on January 31, 1950.
By the govt, about the govt
- The President’s speech essentially highlights the government’s policy priorities and plans for the upcoming year. The address provides a broad framework of the government’s agenda and direction.
- There is no set format for the President’s speech. The Constitution states that the President shall “inform Parliament of the cause of the summons”.
How it is done in India?
- The speech that the President reads is the viewpoint of the government and is written by it.
- Usually, in December, the PM’s Office asks the various ministries to start sending in their inputs for the speech.
- A message also goes out from the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs asking ministries to send information about any legislative proposals that need to be included in the President’s address.
- All this information is aggregated and shaped into a speech, which is then sent to the President. The government uses the President’s address to make policy and legislative announcements.
Assembly debates on the matter
- During the making of the Constitution, Prof K T Shah wanted the President’s address to be more specific.
- He suggested that the language be changed to specify that the President shall inform Parliament “on the general state of the Union including financial proposals, and other particular issues of policy he deems suitable for such address”.
- His amendment was inspired by the US Constitution, according to which the President gives to Congress information on the State of the Union, and recommend measures as he shall judge necessary.
- But Shah’s amendment was rejected by the Constituent Assembly.
- The address of the President follows a general structure in which it highlights the government’s accomplishments from the previous year and sets the broad governance agenda for the coming year.
Notable addresses till date
- In 1985 President Giani Zail Singh announced that PM Rajiv Gandhi’s government intended to introduce a new national education policy and the anti-defection law.
- In 1996, PM Vajpayee’s 13-day government announced its intention of giving statehood to Uttaranchal and Vananchal (Jharkhand) and 33 percent reservation to women in legislatures.
- During his second stint in 1999, Vajpayee’s government mooted the idea of a fixed term for Lok Sabha and State Vidhan Sabhas.
- After the devastating tsunami of 2004, PM Manmohan Singh’s government used the President’s Address to announce the creation of a national law for disaster management.
Procedure & tradition
- In the days following the President’s address, a motion is moved in the two Houses thanking the President for his address.
- This is an occasion for MPs in the two Houses to have a broad debate on governance in the country.
- The PM replies to the motion of thanks in both Houses and responds to the issues raised by MPs.
- The motion is then put to vote and MPs can express their disagreement by moving amendments to the motion.
Role of the opposition
- Opposition MPs have been successful in getting amendments passed to the motion of thanks in Rajya Sabha on five occasions (1980, 1989, 2001, 2015, 2016).
- They have been less successful in Lok Sabha. For example in 2018, Lok Sabha MPs tabled 845 amendments of which 375 were moved and negated.
Significance of the address
- The President’s address is one of the most solemn occasions in the Parliamentary calendar.
- It is the only occasion in the year when the entire Parliament, i.e. the President, Lok Sabha, and Rajya Sabha come together.
- The event is associated with ceremony and protocol.
- The Lok Sabha Secretariat prepares extensively for this annual event.
- In the past, it used to get 150 yards of red baize cloth from the President’s house for the ceremonial procession.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Dark Matter
Mains level: Dark Matter, Black Holes
Space scientists from the University of Sussex have found a new way to know more about dark matter. They have narrowed down the range of masses within which particles that could make up dark matter may lie in.
What is the news about?
- Around 95 % of the Universe is unknown to human beings.
- It is often referred to as dark which has nothing to do with the colour of any substance but to do with the unknown nature of cosmic entities known as dark matter and dark energy.
Trending in news these days is the Quantum Technology. (as it used to be until last year were- the Internet of Things (IoT) CSP 2019, Artificial Intelligence (AI) etc.)
Must read all this news in a loop:
- National Mission on QC
- Quantum Coin
- Quantum Supremacy
- Quantum Entanglement
What is Dark Matter?
- Dark matter is composed of particles that do not absorb, reflect, or emit light, so they cannot be detected by observing electromagnetic radiation.
- Dark matter is a form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe and about a quarter of its total mass-energy density or about 2.241×10−27 kg/m3.
What does the research say?
- Scientists carried out the research using quantum gravity, a field of study that tries to combine two of Einstein’s concepts — quantum physics and general relativity theory of gravity.
- This is the first time anyone has thought of using what we know about quantum gravity to calculate the mass range for dark matter.
- Their research shows that the dark matter particles can neither be super light nor super heavy unless there is a force acting on it that is yet unknown.
Quantum gravity: The concept
- Quantum gravity is a field of theoretical physics that seeks to describe gravity according to the principles of quantum mechanics.
- Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics which describes nature at the smallest scales of energy levels of atoms and subatomic particles.
- Here quantum effects cannot be ignored, such as in the vicinity of black holes or similar compact astrophysical objects where the effects of gravity are strong, such as neutron stars.
Significance of the findings
- This might help in finding out more about this mysterious force. There are currently four known forces in the Universe — gravitational, electromagnetic, weak and strong.
- Scientists estimate that roughly 68 per cent of the Universe is made up of dark energy which is responsible for the accelerated expansion of the Universe.
- Another 27 per cent is a dark matter whose existence was inferred from the observation that ordinary matter in galaxies, including the Milky Way, is far less than that required by gravity to hold the galaxies together.
Why does the ‘Dark Matter’ matter?
- Dark matter’s gravitational effects are also necessary to explain the motions of clusters of galaxies and the structure of the entire Universe at the largest scale.
- On smaller scales, dark matter is too diffused to impact the motion of the Solar System, Earth or the origin and evolution of humans in any significant way.
- But the nature of that dark matter is still unclear. It is most likely made of particles that do not couple to light because of which humans cannot see them.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Patharughat uprising
Mains level: Peasants movements in colonial India
Twenty-five years before the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, more than a hundred peasants fell to the bullets of the British on January 28, 1894, in Patharughat, a small village in Assam’s Darrang district.
Make a note of all breakthrough peasants’ revolt in the nineteenth century. Also, try this PYQ:
Q.The demand for the Tebhaga Peasant Movement in Bengal was for-
(a) The reduction of the share of the landlords from one-half of the crop to one-third
(b) The grant of ownership of land to peasants as they were the actual cultivators of the land
(c) The uprooting of Zamindari system and the end of serfdom
(d) Writing off all peasant debts
Patharughat uprising
- After the British annexation of Assam in 1826, surveys of the vast lands of the state began.
- On the basis of such surveys, the British began to impose land taxes, much to the resentment of the farmers.
- In 1893, the British government decided to increase agricultural land tax reportedly by 70- 80 per cent.
- Up until then the peasants would pay taxes in kind or provide service in lieu of cash.
- Across Assam, peasants began protesting the move by organising Raij Mels, or peaceful peoples’ conventions.
The day of the massacre
- The unarmed peasants were protesting against the increase in land revenue levied by the colonial administration when the military opened fire.
- Despite these gatherings being democratic, the British perceived them as “breeding grounds for sedition”.
- On January 28, 1894, when the British officers were refusing to listen to the farmers’ grievances, things heated up.
- There was a lathi charge, followed by an open firing which killed many of the peasants present.
- Official records, as mentioned in the Darrang District Gazette, 1905, edited by BC Allen, placed the casualties in the Patharughat incident as 15 killed and 37 wounded.
Why was the incident significant?
- The incident was one of the most tragic and inspiring episodes in the saga of the Indian freedom movement.
- However, it rarely features in the mainstream historical discourse of the freedom struggle.
- For the larger Assamese community, Patharughat comes second only to the Battle of Saraighat, when the Ahoms defeated the Mughals in 1671.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: EDISON alliance
Mains level: Global action against digital divide
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has announced the launch of an Essential Digital Infrastructure and Services Network (EDISON) Alliance.
The peculiarity of name ‘EDISON Alliance’ creates a hotspot here for prelims. UPSC may either crate confusion over purpose or parent organization. The alliance is yet to take shape completely; hence there is an ambiguity over its members.
EDISON Alliance
- Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF), which describes itself as an international organization for public-private partnership, will serve as the secretariat and platform for the EDISON Alliance.
- A wider group of ‘Champions Leaders’ will advise and support the Alliance, the WEF said while announcing the launch.
- Alliance aims to work towards ensuring global and equitable access to the digital economy.
- Its prime goal is to ensure an unprecedented level of cross-sectoral collaboration between the technology industry and other critical sectors of the economy, according to the WEF.
Why need such an alliance?
- Access to digital technologies has enabled many to work, learn and live during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- However, the pandemic has exposed and exacerbated existing gaps and inequalities in almost half of the global population.
- Some 3.6 billion people, remain offline and broadband services are too expensive for 50 percent of the population in developed countries, the WEF said.
- This hampers access to health, education, and economic inclusion.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Marine Turtle Action Plan
Mains level: Not Much
The Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has launched the National Marine Turtle Action Plan.
Do you know?
Most people use the term “turtle” to reference any reptile with a shell on its back, but there are several differences between these two unique creatures. In actual sense tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises.
Tortoises have more rounded and domed shells where turtles have thinner, more water-dynamic shells. Turtle shells are more streamlined to aid in swimming. One major key difference is that tortoises spend most of their time on land and turtles are adapted for life spent in water.
National Marine Turtle Action Plan
Aim: To strengthen and sustain collective and collaborative sea turtle conservation through the monitoring of key sites and a network of partners in the Indian sub-continent
Project details
- The project contains ways and means to not only promote inter-sectoral action for conservation but also guide improved coordination amongst the government, civil society and all relevant stakeholders.
- It highlights actions to be taken for handling stranded animals on the shore, stranded or entangled animals in the sea or on a boat, reducing threats to marine species and their habitats, rehabilitation, etc.
Why need such a project?
- India has rich marine biodiversity along a vast coastline of over 7,500 km.
- It has significant nesting and feeding grounds for four species of marine turtles, namely leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), green (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea)
- Even though all four species are listed under Schedule I of the Indian Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, their populations in the Indian waters are under threat.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Paris Club, G20
Mains level: Not Much
Chad has become the first country to officially request a debt restructuring under a new common framework “G20 Common Framework” introduced by China and other Group of 20 countries last year with the help of the Paris Club.
What is G20 Common Framework?
- G20 Common Framework is the Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI).
- It was announced in November 2020 to deal with the issue of unsustainable debts faced by various countries as an impact of COVID-19.
What is the news?
- This official request of Chad for debt restructuring under the G20 common framework was notified by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- The creditors will now soon begin discussions on the first test of the new framework.
- The creditors will also ask China and other private-sector creditors to participate as agreed last year.
- A new four-year programme of Chad worth about $560 million under the Extended Credit and Extended Fund facilities was announced by IMF.
- Chad is under high debt like many other African countries.
Significance of the move
- This is the first time that a country has requested debt restructuring under the framework and the investors will now look at how the framework can work.
- Participation in China is also a question. Last year, G20 Common Framework brought non-members of the Paris Club- India, China, and Turkey to join the framework.
Back2Basics: Paris Club
- Paris Club is a club or group of officials from major creditor countries.
- It was established in the year 1956.
- It aims to find sustainable solutions to the difficulties faced by debtor countries in payments.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Draft fifth Science, Technology and Innovation Policy
The article discusses the features in the fifth Science, Technology and Innovation policy and also suggests the areas that needs attention.
Draft Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy
- The new policy envisages technological self-reliance and aims to position India among the top three scientific superpowers.
- For that to happen, the draft policy says, we need to attract our best minds to remain in India by developing a people-centric science, technology, and innovation ecosystem.
- It aims at doubling private sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development every five years.
Following are the highlights of the policy
1) Funding issue
- Raising our R&D investment in science (about 0.6% now) to 2% of the GDP has been a national goal for a while.
- Despite strong recommendations in the past by several scientific bodies and leading scientists and policymakers, we are still well short of that goal.
- The 2020 draft policy blames this on “inadequate private sector investment” and adds that “a robust cohesive financial landscape remains at the core of creating an STI-driven Atmanirbhar Bharat.”
- Government is trying to shift the responsibility of financing R&D to different agencies such as the States, private enterprises, and foreign multinational companies.
- But it is doubtful if the various funding models that are presented are workable or practical, especially during a pandemic.
- Private sector cannot be expected to pay for basic research as return on investment in basic research takes too long from a private sector perspective.
- The fact is that basic science research in India is suffering from the lack of adequate funding despite grand proclamations.
- We need to implement the self-financing revenue model proposed in the Dehradun Declaration for the CSIR labs back in 2015.
2) A decentralized institutional mechanism
- Policymakers are considering alternative mechanisms of governance of the financial landscape.
- The issue of the administrative burdens of researchers and the problem of journal paywalls is also being considered.
- Policymakers are also exploring international best practices of grant management.
- The draft policy visualises a decentralized institutional mechanism for a robust STI Governance.
- This intention is in fact defeated in the document itself, where several new authorities, observatories and centres have been proposed.
- Decentralisation of administrative architecture is essential, but we need to explore the practical option of providing more autonomy to research and academic centres for financial management.
3) Steps to tackle the discrimination
- The number of suicides of students is on the increase in the IITs.
- In 2019, more than 2,400 students dropped out from the 23 IITs in just two years, over half of them belonging to the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes.
- Caste discrimination could be one of the reasons for these tendencies.
- As a part of inculcating an inclusive culture in academia, the document promises to tackle discriminations “based on gender, caste, religion, geography, language, disability and other exclusions and inequalities”.
- It mentions more representation of women and the LGBTQ community.
Way forward
- The document should prioritise important issues and amplify first the problems which have cultural and administrative dimensions.
- The document does not mention how to stem the rot within, although it speaks extensively about science communication and scientific temperament.
- There is need to facilitate an environment that encourages a mindset that constantly challenges conventional wisdom as well as open-minded inquiry among the students.
Consider the question “As India aspires to be the scientific superpower, suggest the areas which the new Science, Technology and Innovation policy should focus on”
Conclusion
With the advent of new disruptive technologies, global competitiveness will be increasingly determined by the quality of science and technology, which in turn will depend on raising the standard of Indian research/education centres and on the volume of R&D spending. India has no time to waste.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Expenditure in Budget
Mains level: Paper 3- Issues with expenditure estimates in the Budget
The article highlights the issues with the system of Budget presentation and suggest the areas to focus on.
Issues with expenditure and revenue estimates
- Experience shows revenues being much less than the Budget projections: each year, this mistake is repeated and even amplified.
- The expenditure estimates are even more disingenuous because they understate the actual expenditures that should be counted.
- This concern has been repeatedly brought up by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).
- A CAG report in 2018 identified at least three methods of reducing the stated expenditure:
- 1) Not paying for the full fertilizer subsidy.
- 2) Not paying the central government’s dues to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for the food subsidy, and forcing the FCI to borrow from the market.
- 3) Using other special purpose vehicles to pay for infrastructure investment, like the Long Term Irrigation Fund.
- In 2017-18, just those three items amounted to ₹1,29,446 crore or 1.8% of GDP.
- These strategies are problematic because they are non-transparent and they also force other agencies (like State governments and public sector enterprises) to go in for expensive commercial borrowing.
What CGA data reveals
- The data from the Controller General of Accounts show that between April and November 2020, revenues of the central government predictably collapsed, by around 18%, or ₹181,372 crores, compared to the same period of the previous year.
- But despite that, expenditures should have gone up, because the lockdown-induced collapse in an economic activity meant that public spending would be the only thing keeping the economy afloat.
- In three rounds of stimulus packages government claimed to inject amounts of ₹1.7-lakh crore in March, ₹20-lakh crore in May, and then ₹2.65-lakh crore in November
- However, the public accounts show that the total spending of the central government increased by only ₹86,301 crores.
- That was only a 4.6% increase — not even enough to keep pace with inflation.
- In other words, the central government reduced its real spending over the period of the pandemic and economic crisis.
- This fiscal stance obviously affects people and also adds to contractionary tendencies in the economy, and prolongs the severe demand recession.
- Policies that destroy informal economic activities eventually come to harm the formal enterprises as well.
Consider the question “There has been growing concerns that expenditure estimates presented in our Budget fail to represent the actual expenditure of the government. What are the reasons for that and how it could affect the reliability of government finances?”
Conclusion
The Budget this year needs to focus on moving to a more expansionary fiscal stance that prioritizes employment generation and public service provision.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now