Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Fiscal deficit
Mains level: Paper 2- Challenges posed by high debt levels
The article discusses the challenges associated with the Budget with a high fiscal deficit.
Change in government’s stance
- India’s economy has suffered more than most from the covid pandemic and so have its people.
- Its economic contraction has put pressure on its government, like so many others, to respond.
- Until this week, government’s response had been relatively restrained.
- The government implied that any welfare-promoting and growth-enhancing measures had to stand on a solid macro-economic foundation.
- The federal budget for the next financial year, 2021-22, with the fiscal deficit for the current fiscal at 9.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) has changed that optimistic narrative.
- The government has effectively abandoned its long-term commitment to bring the deficit down to close to 3% of GDP, pitching instead for a gentle descent to 4.5%—six years from now.
Implications of high fiscal deficit
- Once the covid pandemic retreats, India might end up with a debt-to-GDP ratio of about 90%, compared to the low 70s at present.
- It would be saddled with a permanently elevated fiscal deficit and a financial system bogged down by high levels of bad debt.
- Consumer price inflation has topped the Reserve Bank of India’s target zone of 2%-6% since the covid lockdown began last year.
- Unlike the US or China, countries in India’s position—which have neither a reserve currency nor strong growth momentum—cannot grow rapidly while exploding their debt.
- They can’t afford to ignore rating agencies because of their supposed bias, or cock a snook at bond markets and just run the currency presses instead.
- They need to grow in order to reduce their debt. That’s a very different dynamic.
- India isn’t so attractive that it can expect vast sums of investment to arrive even if its macro-economic numbers look bad and its sovereign rating is junk.
- We don’t have a history of deflation, we aren’t hitting the zero lower bound.
- It’s quite the opposite; we have an economy prone to sustained high inflation.
- India is not in a position in which it could build really productive assets using sustained deficit.
- This is still a developing economy, which especially in bad times should tread carefully rather than throw caution to the winds.
Rationale behind high spending
- The government is hoping that increased spending will help India grow out of this predicament.
- The only way India can pull itself out of this jam is if private investment pours into the country, financing projects that push up the country’s potential growth rate.
- Yet the government, already monopolizing domestic financial savings, seems to want to go to war with global markets as well.
Consider the question “Fiscal deficit figures for FY21 marks the end of India’s departure from the path of fiscal consolidation. Discuss the challenges posed by such high fiscal deficit to the Indian economy.
Conclusion
India’s greatest strength had been his commitment to fiscal responsibility. The path of fiscal adventurism could end up leaving India’s macroeconomy vulnerable.
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: PMANSY
Mains level: Paper 2- Allocation in Budget for health
The article analyses the allocation for the health sector in the Budget and highlights the need for more allocations.
Need to increase spending on health
- The Economic Survey argues for the need to increase public spending on healthcare to 2.5-3 per cent of the GDP — it’s about 1.5 per cent currently.
- The Survey points out that there is not much difference in terms of outcomes and quality between healthcare services in the private sector and such services in public centres.
- The Economic Survey, therefore, calls for strengthening the National Health Mission (NHM) along with Ayushman Bharat.
- NHM was initiated in 2005-06 to strengthen public health services.
- The Ayushman Bharat provide social insurance, thereby financing private sector services with public funds.
- The Economic Survey makes a strong pitch for greater regulation of health services in the private sector.
Break-up of allocation in Budget on health (and well being)
- The finance minister described “health and well-being” as one of the pillars of the budget in her budget speech and announcing a 137 per cent increase in allocations for it.
- She placed healthcare, water and sanitation and nutrition as the key components of this pillar.
- However, the figures in the budget documents reveal a different story.
- There is an absolute increase of 9.6 per cent in allocations for the Department of Health and Family Welfare that includes NHM and Ayushman Bharat.
- A 26.8 per cent increase for the Department of Health Research and 40 per cent increase for the AYUSH Ministry do not add up to much since each of them are only 3-4 per cent of the total health budget.
- A Finance Commission grant of Rs 13,000-crore and Rs 35,000-crore for COVID-19 vaccination are one-time allocations and, therefore, do not strengthen the overall system.
- The core health service and research ministries (H&FW and AYUSH) have together received only an 11 per cent increase.
- Even in COVID times, the health services get only 2.21 per cent of the total central budget — down from 2.27 per cent in the 2020-21 budget.
- Computing for inflation, the increase in allocation for health services alone disappears and actually becomes negative.
- Water and sanitation received a 179 per cent increase from Rs 21,518 crore to Rs 60,030 crore already earmarked for the flagship schemes, Swachh Bharat and Jal Jeevan Mission.
- But allocation for nutrition decreased by 27 per cent, with the “new” Poshan 2.0 merely combining the poorly performing Supplementary Nutrition Programme and Poshan project.
- Added together, health, water and sanitation and nutrition make up the claimed 137 per cent increase in allocation to “health” services — with a real decline in healthcare and nutrition.
Pradhan Mantri Atma Nirbhar Swasthya Yojana (PMANSY)
- Finance Minister also announced a new scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Atma Nirbhar Swasthya Yojana, to support the almost 29,000 health and wellness centres in the country.
- The scheme also envisages the creation of public health laboratories and critical care hospital blocks and virology institutes.
Concerns with PMANSY
- PMANSY has an announced allocation of Rs 64,180 crore over six years, but it does not find a place in the present budget documents.
- But these additional activities could have been slotted in the NHM.
- Since 2014, the allocation for NHM has been on the wane.
- Therefore, even the marginal 1.33 per cent increase (from Rs 27,039 crore to Rs 30,100 crore) is a demonstration of the government’s realisation that public services do matter.
- The allocations of about Rs 10,000-Rs 11,000 crore each year for the PMANSY is not enough for making the public services capable of “universal health coverage”.
- The High-Level Expert Group on Universal Health Coverage had estimated that by 2020, we need a 114 per cent increase in sub-centres and primary health centres, 179 per cent increase in community health centres and a 230 per cent increase in sub-district and district hospitals.
- Getting anywhere close to this requires doubling of real allocations every year over a five-year period to reach something like 10 per cent of the budget.
- In the present budget, it declines to a mere 2.21 per cent.
Way forward
- If such public provisioning for universal health coverage can’t be done, then effective low-cost rationalised service system options have to be designed.
- Insurance schemes only create the mirage of affordability of health services while adding to peoples’ expenses.
- Community and public services are indisputably the most cost-effective for any society.
Consider the question “Examine the benefits of the idea of health and well being under which health, water and sanitation and nutrition are clubbed together.”
Conclusion
Water and sanitation are meaningful for health, but not if it only inflates the allocation to “Health and Wellbeing”. What we need is the real increase in spending on health.
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: Sub-categorization of OBCs
The Centre has extended the tenure of the Commission to Examine Sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) headed by Justice G Rohini, till 31st July this year.
Rs 1.92 crore have been spent on the Commission including salary, consultant fee and other expenses and the report is yet to be publicized. It is can be very well understood that the report will have huge political consequences.
What is the sub-categorisation of OBCs?
- OBCs are granted 27% reservation in jobs and education under the central government.
- In September 20202, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court reopened the legal debate on sub-categorisation of SCs and STs for reservations.
- The debate arises out of the perception that only a few affluent communities among over 2,600 included in the Central List of OBCs have secured a major part of this 27% reservation.
Need for sub-categorization
- The argument for sub-categorisation — or creating categories within OBCs for reservation — is that it would ensure “equitable distribution” of representation among all OBC communities.
- To examine this, the Rohini Commission was constituted on October 2, 2017.
- At that time, it was given 12 weeks to submit its report but has been given several extensions since, the latest one being the 10th.
- Before the Rohini Commission was set up, the Centre had granted constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).
What are the Commissions’ terms of reference?
It was originally set up with three terms of reference:
- To examine the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation among the castes or communities included in the broad category of OBCs with reference to such classes included in the Central List;
- To work out the mechanism, criteria, norms and parameters in a scientific approach for sub-categorisation within such OBCs;
- To take up the exercise of identifying the respective castes or communities or sub-castes or synonyms in the Central List of OBCs and classifying them into their respective sub-categories.
The fourth term of reference was added on January 22, 2020, when the Cabinet granted it an extension:
- To study the various entries in the Central List of OBCs and recommend correction of any repetitions, ambiguities, inconsistencies and errors of spelling or transcription.
Why so many extensions are being given?
- This was added following a letter to the government from the Commission on July 30, 2019.
- In process of preparing the sub-categorised central list of OBCs, the Commission has noted several ambiguities in the list as it stands now.
- The Commission is of the opinion that these have to be clarified/rectified before the sub-categorised central list is prepared.
What progress has it made so far?
- In its letter to the government on July 30, 2019, the Commission wrote that it is ready with the draft report (on sub-categorisation).
- Following the latest term of reference given (on January 22, 2020) to the Commission, it is studying the list of communities in the central list.
How smooth has its work been?
- A hurdle for the Commission has been the absence of data for the population of various communities to compare with their representation in jobs and admissions.
- On August 31, 2018, then Home Minister had announced that in Census 2021, data of OBCs will also be collected, but since then the government has been silent on this.
- Many groups of OBCs have been demanding enumeration of OBCs in the Census.
What have its findings been so far?
- In 2018, the Commission analysed the data of 1.3 lakh central jobs given under OBC quota over the preceding five years and OBC admissions to central higher education institutions.
- The findings were: 97% of all jobs and educational seats have gone to just 25% of all sub-castes classified as OBCs; 24.95% of these jobs and seats have gone to just 10 OBC communities.
- 983 OBC communities — 37% of the total — have zero representation in jobs and educational institutions; 994 OBC sub-castes have a total representation of only 2.68% in recruitment and admissions.
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: Art. 239AA
Mains level: Delhi govt. - LG power tussle
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is all set to introduce legislation to amend a 1991 Act pertaining to the powers and functions of the Delhi government and the Lieutenant Governor (LG).
What is the new bill?
- The Bill is likely to clearly define the powers of the LG and the Delhi government on the lines of the Supreme Court judgment of February 2019.
- It is likely to give more teeth to the LG’s office.
Why need such a law?
- The Delhi UT government is often at loggerheads with the Centre on administrative matters in the Capital.
What made it to the news?
- A Supreme Court Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and Ashok Bhushan had, other than the question of services, given a unanimous verdict on the role of the two authorities.
- In the February 14, 2019 verdict, the court upheld as “legal” the MHA’s 2015 notifications authorising the LG to exercise powers in relation to services.
- It had directed the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) police not to take cognizance of offences against Central government officials.
SC confirms HC findings
- The apex court confirmed the Delhi High Court’s finding that the ACB’s jurisdiction is confined to Delhi officials and statutory bodies and does not extend to Central government officials.
- Last year, the MHA notified the rules for the newly created UT of J&K, where it provided a solution in case of difference of opinion between the LG and a Minister.
- It ruled that if no agreement could be reached even after a month, the decision of the Lieutenant Governor shall be deemed to have been accepted by the Council of Ministers.
What are the key propositions?
- According to changes proposed in the new Act, the LG could act in his discretion in any matter that is beyond the purview of the powers of the Assembly of Delhi.
- This would be in matters related to the All India (Civil) Services and the ACB.
Back2Basics: Special Status for New Delhi
- Article 239AA of the Constitution of India granted Special Status to Delhi among Union Territories (UTs) in the year 1991 through 69th constitutional amendment.
- It provided a Legislative Assembly and a Council of Ministers responsible to such Assembly with appropriate powers.
- That’s when Delhi was named as National Capital Region (NCT) of Delhi.
- As per this article – Public Order, Police & Land in NCT of Delhi fall within the domain and control of Central Government which shall have the power to make laws on these matters.
- For remaining matters of State List or Concurrent List, in so far as any such matter is applicable to UTs, the Legislative Assembly shall have the power to make laws for NCT of Delhi.
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: Rohingya crisis
Mains level: Paper 2- Factors to consider while dealing with the situation in Myanmar
The article discusses the five lessons from past experiences as the international community frames its response to the military coup in Myanmar.
Coup in Myanmar
- After Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) swept the polls by winning almost 80% of the vote, Myanmar’s military staged a coup and declared a state of Emergency for a year.
- Myanmar, which started a fragile transition to democracy 10 years ago after decades of brutal military dictatorship, is back in the hands of the Generals.
Lessons for the international community
1) Benefits of sanctions
- The developments in Myanmar will invariably bring back the old debate around the prudence of sanctions.
- Notwithstanding the western sanctions before 2010 [during military rule], China, Thailand and Singapore were the key trading partners of Myanmar.
- The present reality is no different.
- Singapore was reportedly the largest foreign investor in Myanmar in 2020, accounting for 34% of the overall approved investment.
- Given that the military has been able to economically withstand sanctions by striking deals with Asian countries in the past, sanctions are unlikely to bring any major political change.
2) Accountability for crime against humanity
- As political changes got underway in 2010, many generals were on the radar of the international community for perpetuating a regime of human rights abuses, quietly vanished from the scene.
- This bred a culture of impunity.
- During the 2017 Rohingya crisis, senior military officials brazenly exploited social media to mobilise public support for brutality against Rohingyas.
3) China’s influence
- Three, a critical international player in Myanmar is China.
- The international community, particularly the West, has to factor in China’s multi-layered influence on Myanmar.
4) Revival of past international mechanisms
- Many international mechanisms comprising Western and Asian countries that were formed to coordinate strategies on Myanmar were disbanded after the 2015 election.
- That the changes in Myanmar were irreversible was the standard thinking.
- Relevant actors should be brought on a common platform by reviving past mechanisms.
5) Increasing the engagement with domestic stakeholders
- The expectation that Myanmar will see a nationwide protest against the military after the coup should be examined with the geographical extent of Bamar, Myanmar’s largest ethnic group, who support the National League for Democracy.
- The minorities in the country form around 35% of the population.
- In the current scenario, the military will continue to exploit ethnic and religious fault lines.
- Engagement with domestic stakeholders, including ethnic minorities, especially from the north, should be pursued by the international community.
Consider the question “As military hinders Myanmar’s transition to democracy, what are the factors that should be considered by the international community as it form the response to the situation in the country.”
Conclusion
There is one consistent lesson, that no change is irreversible, particularly in a context where military leadership scripted the meaning of democracy, and domestic forces and geopolitics continuously fail to deter its actions and impulses to rule.
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: PMMVY
Mains level: Maternity healthcare
The government’s maternity benefit scheme, or Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, has crossed 1.75 crores, eligible women, till the financial year 2020, the Centre informed Parliament.
PMMVY
- The PMMVY is a maternity benefit program introduced in 2017 and is implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
- It is a conditional cash transfer scheme for pregnant and lactating women of 19 years of age or above for the first live birth.
- It provides partial wage compensation to women for wage-loss during childbirth and childcare and to provide conditions for safe delivery and good nutrition and feeding practices.
- Under the scheme, pregnant women and lactating mothers receive ₹5,000 on the birth of their first child in three instalments, after fulfilling certain conditionalities.
- In 2013, the scheme was brought under the National Food Security Act, 2013 to implement the provision of cash maternity benefit stated in the Act.
- The direct benefit cash transfer is to help expectant mothers meet enhanced nutritional requirements as well as to partially compensate them for wage loss during their pregnancy.
Eligibility Conditions and Conditionalities
The first transfer (at pregnancy trimester) of ₹1,000 requires the mother to:
- Register pregnancy at the Anganwadi Centre (AWC) whenever she comes to know about her conception
- Attend at least one prenatal care session and taking Iron-folic acid tablets and TT1 (tetanus toxoid injection), and
- Attend at least one counselling session at the AWC or healthcare centre.
The second transfer (six months of conception) of ₹2,000 requires the mother to:
- Attend at least one prenatal care session and TT2
The third transfer (three and a half months after delivery) of ₹2,000 requires the mother to:
- Register the birth
- Immunize the child with OPV and BCG at birth, at six weeks and at 10 weeks
- Attend at least two growth monitoring sessions within three months of delivery
Additionally, the scheme requires the mother to:
- Exclusively breastfeed for six months and introduce complementary feeding as certified by the mother
- Immunize the child with OPV and DPT
- Attend at least two counselling sessions on growth monitoring and infant and child nutrition and feeding between the third and sixth months after delivery
Before judging this factual information, take this PYQ form 2019:
Q.Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017?
- Pregnant women are entitled to three months pre-delivery and three months post-delivery paid leave.
- Enterprises with creches must allow the mother a minimum of six crèche visits daily.
- Women with two children get reduced entitlements.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
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: Square Kilometre Array Observatory, Radio Telescopes
Mains level: Not Much
The Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) Council held its maiden meeting and approved the establishment of the world’s largest radio telescope.
Note all important telescopes in news and their features. Some of them are – Thirty Meter Telescope, Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, Spitzer, Chandra etc.
SKAO
- It is a new intergovernmental organisation dedicated to radio astronomy and is headquartered in the UK.
- At the moment, organisations from ten countries are a part of the SKAO.
- These include Australia, Canada, China, India, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK.
What are radio telescopes?
- Unlike optical telescopes, radio telescopes can detect invisible gas and, therefore, they can reveal areas of space that may be obscured by cosmic dust.
- Significantly, since the first radio signals were detected by physicist Karl Jansky in the 1930s, astronomers have used radio telescopes to detect radio waves emitted by different objects in the universe and explore it.
- According to NASA, the field of radio astronomy evolved after World War II and became one of the most important tools for making astronomical observations since.
The Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico, which was the second-largest single-dish radio telescope in the world, collapsed in December 2020.
Significance of SKA telescope
- The telescope, proposed to be the largest radio telescope in the world, will be located in Africa and Australia whose operation, maintenance and construction will be overseen by SKAO.
- Some of the questions that scientists hope to address using this telescope include the beginning of the universe, how and when the first stars were born and the life-cycle of a galaxy.
- It would explore the possibility of detecting technologically-active civilizations elsewhere in our galaxy and understanding where gravitational waves come from.
- As per NASA, the telescope will accomplish its scientific goals by measuring neutral hydrogen over cosmic time, accurately timing the signals from pulsars in the Milky Way.
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: Alternate Mobility Solutions (AMS)
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will, from now on, also look after the development of Ropeways and Alternate Mobility Solutions (AMS).
Q.With growing mobility and diverse terrain across the country, it is imperative that all solutions be enabled and implemented. In this light, discuss various changes adopted by the Transport Ministry in this regard.
Ropeways
- A ropeway is a form of naval lifting device used to transport light stores and equipment across rivers or ravines.
- It comprises a jackstay, slung between two sheers one at either end, from which is suspended a block and tackle, that is free to travel along the rope and hauled back and forth by inhauls.
- An amendment to the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 has been notified, to enable this step.
Impacts of the move
- The move is expected to give a boost to the sector, by setting up a regulatory regime and facilitating research and new technology to come into this sector.
- This means that the Ministry will have responsibility for the development of ropeway and alternative mobility solutions technology, as well as construction, research, and policy in this area.
- Formulation of the institutional, financial, and regulatory framework for the technology will also fall under the ambit of this move.
Expected benefits
- Last-mile connectivity for remote locations
- Reducing congestion on mainstream roads
- Chance to develop world-class ropeway infrastructure
- Setting up of an organised and dedicated rope-way and alternative mobility solutions industry
- New technology, like CPT – Cable Propelled Transit coming to the sector
- Setting safety norms for unregulated ropeways
- Allowing freight and goods at remote stations
- Regulating tariffs structure for the technology
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: Monpa Handmade Paper
Mains level: Not Much
PC: East Mojo
The sale of the 1000-years old heritage Monpa handmade paper or “Mon Shugu” is quickly catching pace after a special mention by PM in his Mann ki Baat.
Monpa Handmade Paper
- Monpa paper is made from the bark of tree Shugu Sheng grown locally in Tawang and is identified by its distinctive translucent fibrous texture.
- The paper is weightless but its natural fibres add great tensile strength to this paper making it apt for various artworks.
- It has been used for writing Buddhist scriptures, manuscripts and for making prayer flags.
- Writing on this paper is also known to be tamper-proof.
Note: This paper is yet to be awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
Revitalized by KVIC
- Khadi and Village Industries Commission, which revived this ancient art at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh on 25th December 2020.
- It has made Monpa Handmade paper available online through its e-portal.
- The revival of this art assumes significance as Monpa Handmade paper was once produced in every household in Tawang and the paper was exported to many countries like Tibet, Bhutan, Myanmar and Japan among others.
- However, with the new technologies coming in, the handmade paper industry almost disappeared in the last 100 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: KAPILA program
Mains level: Patenting solutions in India
The Government has launched a campaign namely KAPILA for Intellectual Property Literacy and creating patent awareness, informed Union Ministry for Education to the Parliament.
Remember one thing, ‘KAPILA’ Program is related to IP awareness. It sounds much like an animal husbandry related initiative.
KAPILA Initiative
- KAPILA is an acronym for Kalam Program for IP (Intellectual Property) Literacy and Awareness.
- Under this campaign, students pursuing education in higher educational institutions will get information about the correct system of the application process for patenting their invention and they will be aware of their rights.
- The program will facilitate the colleges and institutions to encourage more and more students to file patents.
Why in news?
- As many as 46,556 users have registered for the Union Government’s Intellectual Property Literary project.
- This marks the success of the campaign.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now