Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Gross fixed capital formation
Mains level: Paper 3- Year of economic consolidation
The article argues that we are less likely to witness high growth next year rather it is going to be the year of consolidation.
Year of consolidation
- The Economic Survey, the Union budget, and the RBI credit policy attest that the economy is on the recovery path.
- The fourth quarter will register a positive growth rate, and as a consequence, the contraction for the full year will be between 7.5-8 per cent.
- The contraction sets the pace for growth in 2021-22 which is now going to be critical as it is the foundation for the fructification of the budget revenue targets.
- But consider this: GDP in 2019-20 was Rs 146 lakh crore, which has come down to Rs 134 lakh crore in 2020-21.
- Hence, a 10 per cent growth will take the Indian economy to Rs 147 lakh crore — when compared to Rs 145 lakh crore, this reflects modest growth.
- Therefore, expectations should be tempered when we talk of growth next year.
- There will be a revival in economic activity on all ends which will probably bear fruit in 2022-23 — FY 2021-22 will be a year of consolidation.
Policy architecture
- The government has brought in a cogent policy framework right from the time of the Atmanirbhar announcements, culminating in the budget.
- There is a focus on infrastructure as well as providing incentives to investment through the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
- Real estate, power and construction saw several policy reforms last year.
- There is a strong capex push by the government and there will more action taken here.
RBI policies
- The RBI has promised to continue accommodative policies, which sends a signal of managing liquidity considering the large borrowing programme of the government of Rs 12.8 lakh crore.
- RBI will carry out more open market operations, and long-term repo operations during the year to ensure that interest rates remain stable.
- However, there will be concern around state government borrowings too, which will exert pressure on the availability of funds.
- Hence, there will be more central bank intervention in the market to ensure that funds are available.
Inflation concerns
- Inflation is a concern as global commodity prices have already started going up and this has led to core inflation rising.
- Given that the monsoon has been good in the last four years, there is a possibility of an adverse season this time which can affect food prices.
- In India, too, we have seen that the price of petrol and diesel is rising sharply.
- Add to this rising manufactured goods inflation witnessed of late, and there is a possibility of inflation rising above the MPC’s tolerance levels.
Lack of consumption growth
- For growth to take place, consumption growth has to be real and rapid.
- Consumption growth has been affected by the absence of commensurate job creation.
- Consumption growth is unlikely too soon as consumption is dependent on job creation.
- Jobs get created when growth is high and hence there is circular reasoning here.
- Income has been affected in 2020 due to the pandemic which has led to job losses as well as salary cuts.
- This has affected the sustainability of the pent-up demand seen in October and November.
Falling investment
- Investment has lagged with gross fixed capital formation falling to a low of 24.2 per cent in 2019-20 from 34.3 per cent in 2011-12.
- Reversing this decline will be challenging because the demand for such projects has slowed down and banks have been wary of lending for infrastructure.
- There is also surplus capacity in industry with the capacity utilisation rate being 63.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2020-21.
- Therefore, private investment will rise only gradually and the onus is on governments to manage their targets.
- Private investment will follow, but at a slower pace and realistically speaking, will fire more in 2022-23 rather than 2021-22.
Consider the question “Growth has to be driven by two engines- consumption and investment. India has been facing challenges on both fronts. In light of this, suggest the measures India needs to adopt to move forward on both fronts.
Conclusion
The year 2021-22 will be one of cautious optimism. Growth will trend upwards, but it has to be interpreted with caution, keeping a check on the consumption while pushing the investment while arresting the inflation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Conclusive Land Titling
Mains level: Land records management in India
Land ownership in India
- In India, land ownership is determined through various records such as sale deeds that are registered, property tax documents, government survey records, etc.
- Land ownership is broadly defined by access to a land title. Land Title is a document that determines the ownership of land or immovable property.
- Having a clear land title protects the rights of the titleholder against other claims made by anyone else to the property.
What is the news?
- In 2020, even as laws for farm reform and labour code reform were being enacted, the government’s think tank, NITI Aayog, took steps to initiate land reforms.
- A Model Bill on Conclusive Land Titling was sent to States and Union Territories last June seeking their comments.
- In September, after many States failed to send in their feedback, the Centre warned that their agreement would be presumed.
What is Conclusive Land Titling?
- In a conclusive titling system, the government provides guaranteed titles and compensation in case of any ownership disputes.
- Achieving this will require shifting to a system of registered property titles (as opposed to sale deeds) as the primary evidence of ownership, and having clear and updated land records.
How does the current system work?
- India currently follows a system of presumptive land titling.
- This means that land records are maintained, with information on possession, which is determined through details of past transactions.
- Ownership, then, is established on the basis of current possession. Registration of land is actually a registration of transactions, such as sale deeds, records of inheritance, mortgage and lease.
- Holding registration papers does not actually involve the government or the legal framework guaranteeing the ownership title of the land.
What will change in the new system?
- On the other hand, under a conclusive land titling system, land records designate actual ownership.
- The title is granted by the government, which takes the responsibility for accuracy.
- Once a title is granted, any other claimant will have to settle disputes with the government, not the titleholder.
Why is conclusive land titling needed?
- The main advantage is that a conclusive system will drastically lower litigation related to land.
- According to a 2007 World Bank study on ‘Land Policies for growth and poverty reduction’, land-related disputes accounted for two-thirds of all pending court cases in India.
- A NITI Aayog study on strengthening arbitration estimated that disputes on land or real estate take an average time of 20 years in the courts to be resolved.
A move for EODB
- Right now, because land titles are based on transactions, people have to keep the entire chain of transaction records, and a dispute on any link in that chain causes ambiguity in ownership.
- Once conclusive titling is in place, investors who want to purchase land for business activities will be able to do so without facing the constant risk that their owners may be questioned and their entire investment may go to waste.
- Land disputes and unclear titling also create hurdles for infrastructure development and housing construction, leading to costly delays and inefficiency.
Multiple benefits
- In cities, urban local bodies depend on property taxes that can be levied properly only if there is clear ownership data available.
- In rural areas, the need is even more acute. Access to agricultural credit is dependent on the ability to use the land as collateral.
- Without being able to prove their ownership of land and access formal credit from banks, small and marginal farmers are often left at the mercy of unscrupulous moneylenders.
What does the model Bill propose?
- The Bill circulated by the NITI Aayog in 2020 calls for Land Authorities to be set up by each State government, which will appoint a Title Registration Officer (TRO),
- TRO will prepare and publish a draft list of land titles based on existing records and documents.
- This will be considered a valid notice to all potential claimants interested in the property, who will have to file their claims or objections within a set period of time.
- If disputing claims are received, the TRO will verify all the relevant documents and refer the case to a Land Dispute Resolution Officer (LDRO) for resolution.
Major hurdles
- The biggest challenge is that land records have not been updated for decades, especially in rural and semi-urban areas.
- Land records are often in the name of the grandparents of the current owner, with no proof of inheritance.
- Unless they are based on updated records, conclusive land titles could create even more problems.
- Comprehensive village-level surveys with community involvement are a necessary precursor to the land titling process.
- Relying on current records or even satellite imagery will not provide the same accuracy as actual, on-the-ground, local surveys.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Laschamp Excursion
Mains level: Mass Extinction
This newscard is an excerpt from the original article published in DownToEarth.
The world experienced a few centuries of apocalyptic conditions 42,000 years ago, triggered by a reversal of the Earth’s magnetic poles combined with changes in the Sun’s behaviour. This event is called as Laschamps Excursion.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2018:
Q.The term “sixth mass extinction/sixth extinction” is often mentioned in the news in the context of the discussion of
(a) Widespread monoculture Practices agriculture and large-scale commercial farming with indiscriminate use of chemicals in many parts of the world that may result in the loss of good native ecosystems.
(b) Fears of a possible collision of a meteorite with the Earth in the near future in the manner it happened 65million years ago that caused the mass extinction of many species including those of dinosaurs.
(c) Large scale cultivation of genetically modified crops in many parts of the world and promoting their cultivationin other Parts of the world which may cause the disappearance of good native crop plants and the loss offood biodiversity.
(d) Mankind’s over-exploitation/misuse of natural resources, fragmentation/loss, natural habitats, destructionof ecosystems, pollution and global climate change.
Laschamp Excursion
- The Laschamp event was a geomagnetic excursion (a short reversal of the Earth’s magnetic field). It occurred 41,400 years ago, during the end of the Last Glacial Period.
- This event is named after the village where it was discovered in the French Massif Central.
- It led to series of catastrophic events like the ozone layer was destroyed, electrical storms raged across the tropics, solar winds generated spectacular light shows (auroras), Arctic air poured across North America, ice sheets and glaciers surged and weather patterns shifted violently.
- During these events, life on earth was exposed to intense ultraviolet light, Neanderthals and giant animals known as megafauna went extinct, while modern humans sought protection in caves.
The Adams Event
- This last major geomagnetic reversal triggered a series of dramatic events that have far-reaching consequences for our planet.
- Because of the coincidence of seemingly random cosmic events and the extreme environmental changes found around the world 42,000 years ago, researchers have called this period the “Adams Event”.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mawsynram
Mains level: Not Much
A recent study that looked at the rainfall pattern in the past 119 years found a decreasing trend at Cherrapunji and nearby areas.
Try this PYQ:
Q.“Climate is extreme, rainfall is scanty and the people used to be nomadic herders.” The above statement best describes which of the following regions?
(a) African Savannah
(b) Central Asian Steppe
(c) North American Prairie
(d) Siberian Tundra
Mawsynram
- Mawsynram is a town in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya state in northeastern India, 60.9 kilometres from Shillong.
- Mawsynram receives the highest rainfall in India.
- It is reportedly the wettest place on Earth, with an average annual rainfall of 11,872mm but that claim is disputed.
- According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Mawsynram received 26,000 millimetres (1,000 in) of rainfall in 1985.
Why it rain highest in Mawsynram?
- Because of the uneven relief of India due to the presence of a number of hill ranges, the monsoon is not able to shed its moisture evenly over India.
- Windward sides receive more rainfall and leeward sides receive less rainfall.
- Mawsynram lies in the funnel-shaped depression caused by the Khasi range in Meghalaya.
- The Bay of Bengal branch of monsoons is trapped in it and causes heavy rainfall.
Decreasing rainfall trends
- The research analysed daily rain gauge measurements during 1901–2019 and noted that the changes in the Indian Ocean temperature have a huge effect on the rainfall in the region.
- There was a reduction in the vegetation area in northeast India in the past two decades, implying that human influence also plays an important role in the changing rainfall patterns.
- The traditional way of cultivation known as Jhum cultivation or shifting cultivation is now decreased and being replaced by other methods.
- Also, previous studies have noted there is sizable deforestation in the region.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sant Ravidas
Mains level: Bhakti Saints and their contribution
The President of India recently addressed the ‘Shri Guru Ravidas Vishva Mahapeeth Rashtriya Adhiveshan-2021’ in New Delhi.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2019:
Q.Consider the following statements:
1.Saint Nimbarka was a contemporary of Akbar.
2.Saint Kabir was greatly influenced by Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi.
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
Who was Sant Ravidas?
- Ravidas was an Indian mystic poet-saint of the Bhakti movement and founder of the Ravidassia religion during the 15th to 16th century CE.
- Venerated as a guru (teacher) in the region of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and mainly Punjab and Haryana. He was a poet-saint, social reformer and spiritual figure.
- The life details of Ravidas are uncertain and contested. Scholars believe he was born in 1450 CE, in the cobbler caste.
- Ravidas’s devotional Verses were included in the Sikh scriptures known as Guru Granth Sahib.
- The Panch Vani text of the Dadupanthi tradition within Hinduism also includes numerous poems of Ravidas.
- He taught the removal of social divisions of caste and gender and promoted unity in the pursuit of personal spiritual freedoms.
Why his preaching is important?
- Philosophy and values of Sant Ravidas like social justice, equality and fraternity have been imbued in our constitutional values.
- He had envisaged a society that is based on equality and free from any kind of discrimination.
- He gave it the name ‘Be-gampura’ (a city near Lahore) where there is no place for any kind of grief or fear.
- Such an ideal city would be bereft of fear, vulnerability or scarcity. Rule of law based on the right ideas like equality and welfare of all would be the principle for governance.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Sexual harassment at workplace
Why the Ramani judgement matters
- The verdict went beyond a mere refusal to convict Ramani for criminal defamation.
- The verdict vindicated Ramani by accepting Ramani’s truth as a defence to the charge of defamation.
- The verdict urged society to “understand that sometimes a victim may for years not speak up due to mental trauma,” and underlined that a woman has a right to speak up about the abuse, even after decades.
- It pointed out that since sexual harassment typically takes place in private, women’s testimonies cannot be dismissed as untrue or defamatory simply because they are unable to provide other witnesses to back their allegations.
- Institutional mechanisms have systemically failed to protect women or provide justice, the verdict reasoned.
- Therefore, survivors are justified in sharing their testimonies on media or social media platforms as a form of self-defence.
Right to dignity
- The Ramani verdict points out that sexual abuse violates the constitutionally recognised rights to dignity (Article 21) and equality (Articles 14 and 15), and that (a man’s) right to reputation cannot be protected at the cost of (a woman’s) right to dignity.
- The Ramani verdict is a huge moral vindication of the #MeToo movement and will serve to deter powerful men from using the defamation law to silence survivors.
Problem of institution
- Sexual harassment is a problem of institutions rather than of individuals alone.
- The world over, employers deploy sexual harassment as a means to discipline and control women workers.
- In India and Bangladesh, at least 60 per cent of garment factory workers experience harassment at work.
- In Guangzhou, China, a survey found that 70 per cent of female factory workers had been sexually harassed at work, and 15 per cent quit their jobs as a result.
- For factory workers, domestic workers, street vendors, sanitation and waste workers, construction workers, sex workers, labour laws or laws against sexual harassment exist only on paper.
Conclusion
The women who spoke were unanimous that individual complaints were not an option, they needed unions to fight collectively. Women workers fighting sexual harassment, need more support and attention.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Blockchain
Mains level: Paper 3- Implications of banning blockchain technology
The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 seeks to ban cryptocurrencies. Banning cryptocurrencies would have several implications for India. This article deals with this issue.
Soaring value of Bitcoin
- Recently, Tesla announced that it will soon accept cryptocurrency as legitimate payment for its cars.
- Mastercard followed by announcing that it will incorporate ‘select cryptocurrencies’ on its global payment network.
- BNY Mellon, incidentally the US’s oldest bank, announced holding and transferring digital currencies for asset management clients.
- JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs announced executive positions to look at cryptocurrencies.
- All of this resulted in a soaring value of Bitcoin, and its younger sibling, Ethereum.
India’s governments stand on cryptocurrencies
- India’s government sought to ban cryptocurrency through a proposed legislation, the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021.
- The Bill also provides to also set up a legal structure for an “official digital currency”.
- The Bill promises to “allow for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency (blockchain) and its uses.”
- The way the technology is built, an ownerless, consensus-driven, distributed ledger like a blockchain needs cryptocurrency to grease its wheels.
- India tried to ban cryptocurrency once before, in 2018, before it was reversed by the Supreme Court.
Implications of banning cryptocurrencies
- The banning will kill innovation.
- India has more than 30,000 blockchain innovators and practitioners.
- These innovators will now be looking at moving out to friendlier regimes like the US, Switzerland, Singapore and Estonia.
- International tech companies will freeze blockchain and crypto-exchange investments in India and the step will undermine India’s reputation as a technology hub.
- India is the second-largest Bitcoin trading nation in Asia, and all those trades will move to overseas exchanges.
- China has large crypto trading and mining operations, and an Indian ban on Bitcoin will leave that space open for it.
Consider the question “What is cryptocurrency? What would be the implications of banning it?”
Conclusion
No doubt, there are many problems with cryptocurrency—it is volatile, sucks energy, and is often abused by criminals. But the answer is not to ban it, but regulate it.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Regulation of Big tech and challenges
Article highlights the issues with the growing dominance of social media giants and challenges involved in regulating them.
Issues to consider
1) Conflict of interest
- Many of the big tech companies were not, as they claimed, mere platforms.
- This is because they began to curate and generate their own content, creating possible conflicts of interest.
2) Monopoly power
- There is a suspicion that big tech companies were acquiring more monopoly power leading to lack of free competition.
- There is a conjunction of technology and finance here.
- The more companies were valued, the more they needed monopoly rent extraction to be able to justify those valuations.
3) Lack of accountability in algorithms
- There was an irony in an opaque algorithm being the instrument of a free, open and equitable society.
4) Mixed implications for distribution of wealth
- While the companies had immense economic impact, their distributive implications were more mixed.
- They empowered new players, but they also seem to destroy lots of businesses.
- These companies themselves became the symbol of inequality of economic and political power.
5) Lack of accountability and standards in regulating free speech
- Big tech companies set themselves up almost as a sovereign power.
- This was most evident in the way they regulated speech, posing as arbiters of permissible speech without any real accountability or consistency of standards.
- The prospect of a CEO exercising almost untrammelled authority over an elected president only served to highlight the inordinate power these companies could exercise.
6) Effects of big tech on democracy and democratisation
- The social legitimacy of California Libertarianism came from the promise of a new age of democratic empowerment.
- But as democracies became more polarised, free speech more weaponised, and the information order more manipulated, greater suspicion was going to be cast on this model.
- All democracies are grappling with this dilemma.
Big tech in Indian context
- India will justifiably worry about its own economic interests.
- India will be one of the largest bases of internet and data users in the world.
- The argument will be that this should be leveraged to create iconic Indian companies and Indian value addition.
- India can create competition and be more self-reliant in this space.
- Pushing back against big tech is not protectionism, because this pushback is to curb the unfair advantages they use to exploit an open Indian market.
- India can also justifiably point out that in China keeping out tech companies did not make much of a difference to financial flows or investment in other areas.
The real challenge
- It will be important to distinguish between regulations that are solving some real problems created due to Big tech, and regulation that is using this larger context to exercise more control.
- It will be easier to address those issues if the government showed a principled commitment to liberty, commitment to root out crony capitalism, an investment in science and technology commensurate with India’s challenges, and a general regulatory independence and credibility.
Consider the question “What are the challenges posed by the dominance of social media giants? Suggest the measures to deal with these challenges.”
Conclusion
We should not assume that just because big tech is being made to kneel, the alternative will be any better.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indira Sawhney Case
Mains level: 50% quota limit
The Centre has told the Supreme Court that it has no role in the choices made by the Tamil Nadu government with regard to the provision of reservation for specific castes or communities in state government jobs and admissions.
Reservation being an all-time contested issue is a less inevitable topic for mains. However, we can expect some of the thought triggering questions such as – “Reservation is hardly capable of striking a balance between social inclusion and merit. Critically comment. (250 W)”
OR
Essay topic like- “Meritocracy is unrealized without an egalitarian society” are ready to raid your mind.
Issue over 69%
- The Centre was responding to a petition challenging the constitutionality of the Tamil Nadu Backward Classes, SCs and STs Act of 1993, which provides 69% reservation in the State.
- The petitioner contends that the TN has acted “outside its competence” by identifying and classifying socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs).
- It is too far in excess of the 50% limit on quota laid down by a nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court in its judgment in the Indira Sawhney Case (1992).
Indira Sawhney Case
In the famous Mandal case (Indra Sawhney Case, 1992), the scope and extent of Article 16(4), which provides for reservation of jobs in favour of backward classes, has been examined thoroughly by the Supreme Court.
- Though the Court has rejected the additional reservation of 10% for poorer sections of higher castes, it upheld the constitutional validity of a 27% reservation for the OBCs with certain conditions.
- The advanced sections among the OBCs (the creamy layer) should be excluded from the list of beneficiaries of reservation.
- No reservation in promotions; reservation should be confined to initial appointments only. Any existing reservation in promotions can continue for five years only (i.e., upto 1997).
- The total reserved quota should not exceed 50% except in some extraordinary situations. This rule should be applied every year.
- The ‘carry forward rule’ in case of unfilled (backlog) vacancies is valid. But it should not violate the 50% rule.
What did the Centre say in the TN case?
- The inclusion or exclusion of any caste/community in the State List of SEBCs is the subject matter of the State government, and the Government of India has no role in the matter.
- It referred to the Constitution (102nd Amendment) Act of 2018, which details the difference in the procedure for inclusion or exclusion of castes and communities in the State List for SEBCs and the Central List.
Identifying SEBC
- The power to identify and specify SEBCs lies with Parliament only with reference to the Central List.
- The State governments may have separate State Lists of SEBCs for providing reservation for recruitment to State services or admissions in State government educational institutions.
- Under the newly-inserted Article 342A of the 102nd Amendment Act of 2018, the President notifies the SEBCs in a State after consultation with the Governor.
- The castes or communities included in such State Lists may differ from those included in the Central List.
A case for TN
The senior advocate appearing for Tamil Nadu said the State’s case should be heard separately. The filed affidavit said:
- India is an amalgam of States with varied population, size, history, culture and social fabric.
- The circumstances and facts prevailing in Tamil Nadu are not the same or similar to those in any other State.
- Tamil Nadu is a pioneer in the implementation of reservation in public employment and education. The policy of reservation has been in practice since 1921 in this State.
- Factual variations contributing to the grant of reservation need to be reckoned with differently for different States while deciding the question on its validity.
- The State argued that its law was protected under the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution from judicial review.
- Section 4 of the 1993 Act provides 30% reservation to the Backward Classes, 20% for the Most Backward Classes and de-notified communities, 18% for the SCs and 1% for the STs.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Social media regulation
The social media giant Facebook is locked in a battle with Australia over legislation that would require FB, Google to pay for news outlets.
Row over the news on social media
- Australia had proposed a law called the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code Bill 2020.
- It seeks to mandate a bargaining code that aims to force Google and Facebook to compensate media companies for using their content.
Imagine if the case arises in India where tons of news channels and impulsive journalists are dying off hard to gather TRPs!
Response from the ‘giants’
- Google had threatened to make its search engine unavailable in Australia in response to the legislation, which would create a panel to make pricing decisions on the news.
- Facebook responded by blocking users from accessing and sharing Australian news.
Why countries are bringing such legislation?
- Australia has launched a global diplomatic offensive to support its proposed law to force Internet giants Facebook and Google to pay media companies.
- Google accounts for 53% of Australian online advertising revenue and Facebook for 23%.
- The legislation sets a precedent in regulating social media across geographies and is being closely watched the world over.
What is happening in other countries?
- Australia’s proposed law would be the first of its kind, but other governments also are pressuring Google, Facebook and other internet companies to pay news outlets and other publishers for the material.
- In Europe, Google had to negotiate with French publishers after a court last year upheld an order saying such agreements were required by a 2019 EU copyright directive.
- France is the first government to enforce the rules, but the decision suggests Google, Facebook and other companies will face similar requirements in other parts of the 27-nation trade bloc.
The ‘doubted’ reluctance
- Last year, Facebook announced it would pay US news organizations including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and USA Today for headlines.
- In Spain, Google shut down its news website after a 2014 law required it to pay publishers.
Why does this matter?
- Developments in Australia and Europe suggest the financial balance between multibillion-dollar internet companies and news organizations might be shifting.
- Australia is responding to complaints by news reports, magazine articles and other content that appears on their websites or is shared by users.
- The government acted after its competition regulator tried and failed to negotiate a voluntary payment plan with Google.
- The proposed law would create a panel to make binding decisions on the price of news reports to help give individual publishers more negotiating leverage with global internet companies.
Not losing out revenue gain
- Google’s agreement means a new revenue stream for news outfits, but whether that translates into more coverage for readers, viewers and listeners is unclear.
- The union for Australian journalists is calling on media companies to make sure online revenue goes into newsgathering.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mission ‘Lal Lakir’
Mains level: Not Much
The Punjab state cabinet has approved the implementation of mission ‘Lal Lakir’.
Try this MCQ:
Q.The SVAMITVA Scheme sometimes seen in the news is related to:
Urban Employment/ Land records management/ Child Adoption/ None of these
Mission ‘Lal Lakir’
- ‘Lal Lakir’ refers to land that is part of the village ‘abaadi’ (habitation) and is used for non-agriculture purposes only.
- The mission is aimed at facilitating villagers to monetize property rights and availing benefits provided by government departments, institutions and banks in all villages across the state.
- As no record of rights is available for such properties within the ‘Lal Lakir’, the same cannot currently be monetized as per the real value of the property and no mortgages can be created on such properties.
- There are households within the ‘Lal Lakir’, which do not own property other than the areas within the ‘Lal Lakir’, and are thus at a disadvantage.
An extension to SVAMITVA
- Under the mission, the right of record of properties within ‘Lal Lakir’ in the villages of the state will be prepared with the cooperation of the government of India under the SVAMITVA scheme.
- SVAMITVA stands for Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas.
- This will enable mapping the land, households, habitation and all other areas falling within ‘Lal Lakir’.
- It will go a long way in improving the living standard of villagers and boosting their self-esteem.
Back2Basics: SVAMITVA
- SVAMITVA stands for Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas.
- Under the scheme, the latest surveying technology such as drones will be used for measuring the inhabited land in villages and rural areas.
- The mapping and survey will be conducted in collaboration with the Survey of India, State Revenue Department and State Panchayati Raj Department under the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
- The drones will draw the digital map of every property falling in the geographical limit of each Indian village.
- Property Cards will be prepared and given to the respective owners.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Life under Antarctic
Mains level: Not Much
Researchers have accidentally discovered living under the ice shelves of the Antarctic — in extremely cold and harsh conditions.
Life beneath the Antarctic
- Scientists have discovered sessile sponges — a pore bearing multicellular organism and other alien species — attached to the sides of rock beneath the ice sheets.
- The unidentified species are estimated to be related to sponges, ascidians (sea squirts), hydroids, barnacles, cnidarian or polychaete. All of these look like bristle worms.
- Scientists are yet to discover how these organisms access food.
- They would use Environment Deoxyribonucleic acid (e-DNA) technology in future to identify the organisms.
Organisms discovered
Sponges
- Sponges are the members of the phylum Porifera.
- They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through them, consisting of jelly-like mesohyl sandwiched between two thin layers of cells.
Ascidians
- Ascidians, or sea squirts, are invertebrate chordates that belong to the earliest branch in the chordate phylum.
- Ascidians are found all over the world, usually in shallow water with salinities over 2.5%.
Hydroids
- Hydroids are a life stage for most animals of the class Hydrozoa, small predators related to jellyfish.
- Some hydroids such as the freshwater Hydra are solitary, with the polyp attached directly to the substrate.
Barnacles
- Barnacles are a highly specialized group of crustaceans.
- A barnacle is a type of arthropod related to crabs and lobsters.
Cnidarians
- Cnidarians, also called coelenterate, any member of the phylum Cnidaria (Coelenterata), a group made up of more than 9,000 living species.
- Mostly marine animals, the cnidarians include the corals, hydras, jellyfish, Portuguese men-of-war, sea anemones, sea pens, sea whips, and sea fans.
Now take this chance to revise your biology basics on various phyla. It will be beneficial for state PSC exams. UPSC has also begun puzzling us on core biology questions.
Defying old theories
- The discovery has left many of them baffled for it contradicts earlier theories of non-survival of life in such extreme conditions.
- Until now, scientists believed that sea life decreased with an increase in the depth of the Antarctic ice floor.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Making businesses recognise their carbon footprint
The article explains the global trend in investors and lendors are demanding companies to recognise their impact on environment and act on it.
Accountability on climate change: global trend
- There is a wave of investors pushing large corporations from across sectors, to recognise their carbon footprint and take affirmative action.
- Aviva, the British insurance company announced it would divest stock and bond holdings in 30 of the biggest corporate emitters of carbon, if their boards failed to take affirmative action over climate change.
- MPs in the United Kingdom called on the Bank of England to ratchet up environment standards in its pandemic stabilising, corporate bond programme.
- Swedbank AB, Sweden’s biggest mortgage bank, has taken a decision not to provide fresh loans to new oil and gas projects.
Companies realising social and environmental impacts
- Several large and growing companies, especially in Europe, are realising their social and environmental impacts and making it a boardroom agenda even without investor guns on their heads.
- Schneider Electric, the energy management and automation company, has embedded environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into every facet of its activities.
- The company climbed from 29th to number 1 rank in the 2021 Global 100 ranking in the Corporate Knights index of the world’s most sustainable companies.
- Only one company from India, Tech Mahindra, has made it to the world’s 100 most sustainable list.
Indian scenario
- Indian institutional lenders and investors are simply not demanding enough on sustainability.
- A majority of Indian companies are only meeting compliance norms set out by various state or city authorities.
- Rarely do they go beyond rule-based compliances and implement environment, social and governance or ESG goals with purpose and passion like their European counterparts.
Way forward
- SEBI is putting the final touches on the Business Responsibility and Environment Reporting (BRSR) guidelines.
- The new ESG reporting norm will apply to the top 1,000 listed companies on Indian exchanges.
- Under BRSR reporting guidelines, companies will have to declare their R&D spends on improving environmental and social outcomes.
- They will have to disclose energy and water consumed to turnover ratios, and the percentage of recycled or reused input materials, among many other social and governance disclosures such as CSR, employee skilling and gender diversity.
- It’s time for lending institutions and investors to align with SEBI and use their muscle to drive a deeper change.
Consider the question “Indian institutional lenders and investors are not demanding enough on sustainability from the companies. Rarely do they go beyond rule-based compliances and implement environment, social and governance or ESG goals with purpose and passion like their European counterparts. In light of this, suggest the measures to nudge the businesseses to act on their environmental responsibilities.”
Conclusion
Stepping up green standards to meet Paris Climate Agreement goals cannot be the government’s responsibility alone. Businesses must be part of the movement, or the target of containing global warming to less than 1.5 degrees of pre-industrial levels, will remain elusive.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Catalysing accountability and creative governance in local government
The article explains the innovative approach adopted by the Fifteenth Finance Commission in devolution of funds.
Steep hike in grants
- Local governments are the closest to the people at the grassroots level.
- They provide critical civic amenities such as roads, water and sanitation, and primary education and health.
- With this in view, the Fifteenth Finance Commission (FFC) has recommended grants of Rs 4,36,361 crore from the Union government to local governments for 2021-26.
- This is an increase of 52 per cent over the corresponding grant of Rs 2,87,436 crore by its predecessor for 2015-20.
Innovation in recommendations
1) Scaling of capacities in municipalities
- The Commission has recommended Rs 8,000 crore as performance-based grants for incubation of new cities and Rs 450 crore for shared municipal services.
- This is designed to foster innovations in urban governance to transform our cities with speed and scale.
- There is an urgent need for synergistically combined area-based development to spur economic growth and job creation, and decongesting through the development of satellite townships.
- Separately, the massive scaling of capacities in municipalities, particularly the 4,000-odd smaller ones, cannot be done by building capacities in each one of them, but through institutional and technological innovations, without compromising their autonomy.
- The shared municipal services model, with mobile internet, maps, platform thinking, and outsourced services all taken together, can help us fast-track the creation of municipal capacities at scale.
- This is one of the innovations in the FFC recommendations.
2) Allocation covers all three tiers of panchayats
- Of grants for all local governments with 90 per cent weightage on population and 10 per cent on area remains unchanged from the Fourteenth Finance Commission.
- For panchayats, the FFC allocations cover all the three tiers — village, block, and district — as well as the Excluded Areas in a state exempted from the purview of Part IX and Part IX-A of the Constitution.
- Funds to all three can improve functional coordination and facilitate the creation of assets collectively across smaller jurisdictions.
- This is the second new aspect of the FFC recommendations.
3) Focus on metropolitan governance
- The FFC calls for a focus on urban agglomerations (UAs) that include urban local bodies, census towns and outgrowths.
- In 2011, out of the total urban population of 377 million, 61 per cent lived in UAs.
- The FFC has emphasised the need to focus on the complex challenges of air quality, drinking water supply, sanitation, and solid waste management in the million-plus UAs and cities.
- Thus, for 2021-26, there is a Million-plus Challenge Fund of Rs 38,196 crore that can be accessed by million-plus cities only through adequate improvements in their air quality and meeting service level benchmarks for drinking water supply, sanitation, and solid waste management.
- This focus on metropolitan governance through substantive but 100 per cent outcome-based grants is the third innovation.
- For ULBs other than the million-plus category, the total grants are Rs 82,859 crore.
- The grants to local governments, both urban (less than a million category) and rural, contain a mix of basic, tied as well as performance grants.
4) Entry-level conditions
- The efficiency, smooth functioning and accountability of local bodies have been plagued by:
- (i) lack of readily accessible and timely audited accounts,
- (ii) absence of timely recommendations of State Finance Commissions and suitable actions thereon,
- (iii) inadequate mobilisation of property tax revenues (especially in ULBs).
- Finance Commissions in the past have drawn pointed attention to these issues, but with limited success.
- These entry-level conditions for availing any grants and their applicability to all local governments is the fourth innovation.
Consider the question “Examine the innovative approach adopted by the Fifteenth Finance Commission for the devolution of funds to panchayats and municipal bodies.”
Conclusion
Hopefully, over the next five years, through a partnership among the Union, states, and local governments, in the spirit of cooperative federalism, these recommendations and innovations will catalyse progress in the accountability and effectiveness of local governments in India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various missions on Mars
Mains level: Mars mission worldwide and their success
NASA’s rover Perseverance, the most advanced astrobiology laboratory ever sent to another world has landed safely on the floor of Jezero Crater on Mars.
Last week, separate probes launched by the UAE (Hope Mission) and China (Tianwen-1) reached Martian orbit. NASA has three Mars satellites still in orbit, along with two from the European Space Agency.
Perseverance Rover
- The Perseverance rover weighs less than 2,300 pounds and is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab.
- It is a part of the mission named ‘Mars 2020’.
- The rover’s mission will be to search for signs of past microbial life. It will also collect samples of Martian rocks and dust, according to the release.
- All of NASA’s previous Mars rovers — including the Sojourner (1997), Spirit and Opportunity (2004) and Curiosity (exploring Mars since 2012) — were named in this way.
Objectives of the mission
- Looking for habitability: identify past environments capable of supporting microbial life.
- Seeking bio-signatures: seek signs of possible past microbial life in those habitable environments, particularly in special rocks known to preserve signs over time.
- Caching samples: collect core rock and regolith (“soil”) samples and store them on the Martian surface.
- Preparing for humans: test oxygen production from the Martian atmosphere.
Major components
(a) Looking for underground water
- Perseverance will carry the Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Experiment (RIMFAX).
- The instrument will look for subsurface water on Mars – which, if found, will greatly help the case for a human mission or the cause of a human settlement on Mars.
(b) Testing a helicopter
- The Mars Helicopter is a small drone. It is a technology demonstration experiment: to test whether the helicopter can fly in the sparse atmosphere on Mars.
- The low density of the Martian atmosphere makes the odds of actually flying a helicopter or an aircraft on Mars very low.
(c) Producing oxygen on Mars
- Perseverance will have an instrument – MOXIE, or Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment – that will use 300 watts of power to produce about 10 grams of oxygen using atmospheric carbon dioxide.
- Should this experiment be successful, MOXIE can be scaled up by a factor of 100 to provide the two very critical needs of humans: oxygen for breathing, and rocket fuel for the trip back to Earth.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: India Energy Outlook Report, 2021
Mains level: India energy sector
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has recently released the India Energy Outlook 2021 report.
Try this MCQ:
Q.The Global Energy Transition Index recently seen in news is released by:
a) International Energy Agency (IEA)
b) World Economic Forum (WEF)
c) International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
d) International Solar Alliance
Highlights of the India Energy Outlook Report
(1) Energy consumption
- India at present is the fourth-largest global energy consumer behind China, the United States and the European Union.
- It will overtake the European Union as the world’s third-largest energy consumer by 2030.
- It will account for the biggest share of energy demand growth over the next two decades.
(2) Energy demand
- India accounts for nearly one-quarter of global energy demand growth from 2019-40 — the largest for any country.
- Its share in the growth in renewable energy is the second-largest in the world, after China.
- A five-fold increase in per capita car ownership will result in India leading the oil demand growth in the world.
- Also, it will become the fastest-growing market for natural gas, with demand more than tripling by 2040.
(3) Industrial consumption
- By 2040, India is set to account for almost 20 per cent of global growth in industrial value-added, and to lead global growth in industrial final energy consumption, especially in steelmaking.
- The nation accounts for nearly one-third of global industrial energy demand growth to 2040.
(4) Dependence on fossil fuels
- To meet its energy needs, India will be more reliant on fossil fuel imports as its domestic oil and gas production stagnates.
- India’s oil demand is seen rising by rising by 74 per cent to 8.7 million barrels per day by 2040 under the existing policies scenario.
- The natural gas requirement is projected to more than triple to 201 billion cubic meters and coal demand is seen rising to 772 million tonnes in 2040 from the current 590.
(5) Coal trade
- India currently accounts for 16 per cent of the global coal trade.
- Many global coal suppliers were counting on growth in India to underpin planned export-oriented mining investments.
(6) Per-capita emission
- On a per-capita basis, India’s energy use and emissions are less than half the world average, as are other key indicators such as vehicle ownership, steel and cement output.
- India will soon become the world’s most populous country, adding the equivalent of a city the size of Los Angeles to its urban population each year.
About International Energy Agency
- The IEA is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization established in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis.
- It was initially dedicated to responding to physical disruptions in the supply of oil, as well as serving as an information source on statistics about the international oil market and other energy sectors.
- At the end of July 2009, IEA member countries held a combined stockpile of almost 4.3 billion barrels of oil.
- They are required to maintain total oil stock levels equivalent to at least 90 days of the previous year’s net imports.
- The IEA acts as a policy adviser to its member states but also works with non-member countries, especially China, India, and Russia.
- The Agency’s mandate has broadened to focus on the “3Es” of effectual energy policy: energy security, economic development, and environmental protection.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Willingness to pay mechanism
Mains level: Air pollution in Delhi
Air pollution claimed approximately 54,000 lives in Delhi in 2020, according to a Greenpeace Southeast Asia analysis of the cost to the economy due to air pollution.
Try this question from CS Mains 2015:
Q.Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata are the three megacities of the country but the air pollution is a much more serious problem in Delhi as compared to the other two. Why is this so?
Deaths due to Air Pollution
- Globally, approximately 1,60,000 deaths have been attributed to PM 2.5 air pollution in the five most populous cities — Delhi, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Shanghai and Tokyo.
- Six Indian cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Lucknow — feature in the global analysis.
- An estimated 25,000 avoidable deaths in Mumbai in 2020 have been attributed to air pollution.
- Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad estimated an approximate 12,000, 11,000, and 11,000 avoidable deaths respectively due to polluted air.
The ‘Cost Estimator’
- The ‘Cost Estimator’, an online tool that estimates the real-time health impact and economic cost from fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) air pollution in major world cities.
- It was deployed in collaboration between Greenpeace Southeast Asia, IQAir and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
- Using real-time ground-level PM 2.5 measurements collated in IQAir’s database, the algorithm applies scientific risk models in combination with population and public health data.
Computing the “Lost Years”
- To show the impact of air pollution-related deaths on the economy, the approach used by Greenpeace is called ‘willingness-to-pay.
- It refers to a lost life year or a year lived with a disability is converted to money by the amount that people are willing to pay in order to avoid this negative outcome.
- The cost estimator also sustained the estimated air pollution-related economic losses of ₹1,23,65,15,40,000.
Greenpeace recommends-
- Despite a temporary reprieve in air quality owing to the lockdown, the latest figures from the report underscore the need to act immediately.
- The need of the hour is to rapidly scale up renewable energy, bring an end to fossil fuel emissions and boost sustainable and accessible transport systems.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tree Cities of the World
Mains level: Urban forestry
Hyderabad city has received another feather in its cap by being chosen as one among the ‘Tree Cities of the World’.
Tree Cities of the World
- The Tree Cities of the World programme is an international effort to recognize cities and towns committed to ensuring that their urban forests and trees are properly maintained, sustainably managed, and duly celebrated.
- This status is accorded by the Arbor Day Foundation jointly with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN.
- To receive recognition, a town or city must meet five core standards:
- Establish Responsibility
- Set the Rules
- Know What You Have
- Allocate the Resources and
- Celebrate the Achievements
Try this question:
Q.The Miyawaki Forests technique has to potential to revolutionize the concept of urban afforestation in India. Discuss.
Why it is a great achievement?
- Hyderabad is the only city in the country to have been selected for this recognition in response to its commitment to growing and maintaining urban forestry.
- The recognition stands Hyderabad alongside 120 cities from 23 countries, including developed nations such as USA, UK, Canada, Australia and others.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Blue Economy
Mains level: Blue Economy and its contribution to GDP
The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has rolled out the Draft Blue Economy policy for India in the public domain inviting suggestions and inputs from various stakeholders.
Blue Economy Policy
- India’s draft blue economy policy is envisaged as a crucial framework towards unlocking country’s potential for economic growth and welfare.
- The draft policy outlines the vision and strategy that can be adopted by the govt to utilize the plethora of oceanic resources available in the country.
Objectives:
The policy aims to-
- Enhance the contribution of the blue economy to India’s GDP
- Improve the lives of coastal communities
- Preserve marine biodiversity and
- Maintain the national security of marine areas and resources
What comprises India’s blue economy?
- India’s blue economy is understood as a subset of the national economy.
- It comprises an entire ocean resources system and human-made economic infrastructure in marine, maritime, and onshore coastal zones within the country’s legal jurisdiction.
- It aids the production of goods and services that have clear linkages with economic growth, environmental sustainability, and national security.
- The blue economy is a vast socio-economic opportunity for coastal nations like India to utilize ocean resources for societal benefit responsibly.
Need for such policy
- With a coastline of nearly 7.5 thousand kilometres, India has a unique maritime position.
- Nine of its 29 states are coastal, and the nation’s geography includes 1,382 islands.
- There are nearly 199 ports, including 12 major ports that handle approximately 1,400 million tons of cargo each year.
- Moreover, India’s Exclusive Economic Zone of over 2 million square kilometres has a bounty of living and non-living resources with significant recoverable resources such as crude oil and natural gas.
- Also, the coastal economy sustains over 4 million fisherfolk and coastal communities.
Key areas
The policy recognizes the following seven thematic areas.
- National accounting framework for the blue economy and ocean governance.
- Coastal marine spatial planning and tourism.
- Marine fisheries, aquaculture, and fish processing.
- Manufacturing, emerging industries, trade, technology, services, and skill development.
- Logistics, infrastructure and shipping, including trans-shipments.
- Coastal and deep-sea mining and offshore energy.
- Security, strategic dimensions, and international engagement.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Skill education in India
The article deals with state of the education and its relation with employment in India.
Improving higher education system
- Improving India’s higher education justice and worker productivity needs the broadening of our education ambition.
- Our focus on Gross Enrollment Ratio should also be anchored to Employed Learner Ratio -proportion of our 55 crore labour force in formal learning.
- For enrolling five crore new employed learners, India needs five regulatory changes.
Reflecting on global and domestic education experience
- Multi-decade structural changes include organisations that are less hierarchical, lower longevity, shorter employee tenures, higher competition.
- There is also change in the form of work: capitalism without capital, soft skills valued more than hard skills, 30 per cent working from home etc.
- There change in the form of education in which Google knows everything, so tacit knowledge is more valuable than codified or embedded knowledge.
- These shifts are complicated by a new world of politics, third-party financing viability, and fee inflation.
India faces financing failure in skill
- We have 3.8 crore students in 1,000-plus universities and 50,000-plus colleges.
- We confront a financing failure in skills:
- Employers are not willing to pay for training of candidates but a premium for trained candidates.
- Candidates are not willing to pay for training but for jobs.
- Financiers are unwilling to lend unless a job is guaranteed, and training institutions can’t fill their classrooms.
Steps need to be taken
- For many people the income support of learning-while-earning is crucial to raising enrollment.
- Many students lack employability and workers lack productivity because learning is supply-driven.
- Learning-by-doing ensures demand-driven learning.
- The de facto ban on online degree learning with only seven of our 1,000-plus universities licensed for online offerings.
- That needs to be changed.
- High regulatory hurdles creates an adverse selection among entrepreneurs running educational institutions.
Five regulatory changes
- First, modify Part 3 of the UGC Act 1956 and Part 8 of the UGC Act to include skill universities.
- Second, remove clauses 3(A), 3(B), and clause 5 of UGC ODL and Online Regulations 2020 and replace them with a blanket and automatic approval for all accredited universities to design, develop and deliver their online programmes.
- Third, modify clause 4(C)(ii) of UGC online regulations 2020 to allow innovation, flexibility, and relevance in an online curriculum as prescribed in Annex 1-(V)-3-i) that allows universities to work closely with industry on their list of courses.
- Fourth, modify clauses 13(C)(3), 13(C)(5), 13(C)(7), 18(2) of UGC online regulations 2020 to permit universities to create partner ecosystems for world-class online learning services, platforms, and experience.
- Fifth, introduce Universities in clause 2 of the Apprentices Act 1961 to enable all accredited universities to introduce, administer and scale all aspects of degree apprenticeship programs.
- These five changes would enable enrolling five crore incremental employed learner.
Conclusion
Reforming education requires thinking horizontally, holistically, and imaginatively. The reforms suggested here should be carried out considering these aspects.
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