Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Rythu Bandhu
Mains level: Paper 3- PM-KISAN and issues
The article highlights the challenge of exclusion error in the PM-KISAN and suggests measures to deal with the issue by drawing on the success of KALIA and Rythu Bandhu.
Exclusion in PM-KISAN
- Budget FY22 announced an allocation of Rs 65,000 crore to the PM-Kisan scheme.
- Since 2019, the PM-Kisan has been the largest component of the agriculture budget each year.
- The scheme is targeted at farmers who own cultivable land as per land records of the state.
- Unfortunately, this leaves out vulnerable sections such as tenant farmers, women farmers, tribal families and landless labourers.
- The exclusion is the result of the challenge of first identifying these people, since our existing systems do not formally recognise them as farmers.
The need to identify farmers
- Despite 73.2% of rural women engaging in agriculture, only 12.8% are reported to own land.
- Among tribal communities, of the 20 million tribal families, less than 2 million have received individual forest rights pattas; the rest are ‘invisible’ and left out of government safety nets.
- Landless agricultural labourers and tenant farmers account for close to 150 million people in rural India, and they too are not part of state land records.
- Although there are multiple welfare schemes for farmers, there is no standard government definition of a farmer.
- The 2007 MS Swaminathan Committee called out that the term ‘farmer’ would include any person actively engaged in growing crops and other agricultural commodities, and would include not only landholders, but also cultivators, labourers, sharecroppers, tenants and tribal families, amongst others.
Learning from KALIA and Rythu Bandhu
- Odisha has been a frontrunner in implementing an inclusive farmer welfare scheme, the KALIA.
- The KALIA provides an unconditional income support of Rs 12,500 to landless agricultural households and an annual Rs 10,000 to small and marginal land-owning farmers as well as tenant farmers.
- Odisha leveraged existing databases such as the Paddy Procurement Automation System, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and the National Food Security Act, and deployed close to 50,000 government staff at state, district and block levels to conduct extensive on-ground verification to identify eligible beneficiaries.
- Telangana took a different approach prior to rolling out the Rythu Bandhu Scheme, a direct benefit transfer scheme for land-owning farmers.
- The Rythu Bandhu Scheme targeted only land-owning farmers.
- But the state took on the onus of updating land records before implementing the scheme.
- The revenue and agriculture departments partnered to undertake a state-wide Land Records Updation Programme (LRUP).
- This shows that updating and digitising land records databasse is possible with focused efforts.
Way forward
- Instead of every scheme having its own farmer beneficiary database, the ideal solution would be to leverage the existing land records databases in every state.
- The design should ensure women’s names are not excluded.
- Implementation of the Forest Rights Act 2006 needs to be accelerated so that tribal families receive forest rights pattas and become part of the land records database.
- The next challenge is to build in incentives in the process to encourage the maintenance of the land record database, such that all future transactions such as sale, gift etc. are regularly updated to increase the reliability of the records.
Consider the question “How lack of definition of farmer leads to inclusion and exclusion errors in the schemes for farmers. Suggest the measures to deal with the issue.”
Conclusion
The pandemic, more so than anything else, has highlighted the need for the government to have robust social security mechanisms to reach the most vulnerable sections of the population, and making PM-Kisan more inclusive is an important step in that direction.
Source:
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/pm-kisan-income-support-to-farmers-needs-to-be-more-inclusive/2217436/
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: JCPOA
Mains level: Paper 2- Role IAEA can play in rescuing JCPOA
The article explains how IAEA could play an important role in finding a solution to the stalemate between the U.S. and Iran on JCPOA.
Issue of Iran’s return to JCPOA
- There is uncertainty between the U.S. and Iran on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as to whether Iranian compliance comes first or the lifting of sanctions by the U.S.
- In this context, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is back on the stage to rescue the JCPOA.
- The U.S. tried to pressurise Iran by proposing a resolution in the IAEA Board of Governors meeting criticising Iranian non-compliance with the JCPOA and its alleged IAEA safeguards violations.
- This comes amidst rumours that Iran might withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Iran may follow Indian model on creating a deterrent
- Foreign Policy recently noted that Iranian society increasingly see the weapon not just as an ultimate deterrent but as a panacea for Iran’s chronic security problems and challenges to its sovereignty by foreign powers.
- If the stalemate continues on JCPOA, because of the U.S. pressure, public opinion may shift towards the Indian model of creating a deterrent and then seeking a special dispensation to avoid severe sanctions.
- But the risks involved in such a policy will be grave, including the possibility of military action by Israel.
Relation between IAEA and NPT
- The IAEA is neither the Secretariat of the NPT nor is it empowered to request States to adhere to it.
- . It does, however, have formal responsibility in the context of implementing Article III of the Treaty.
- At the broadest level, the IAEA provides two service functions under the NPT.
- 1) It facilitates and provides a channel for endeavours aimed at further development of the applications of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
- 2) It administer international nuclear safeguards, in accordance with Article III of the Treaty, to verify fulfilment of the non-proliferation commitment assumed by non-nuclear-weapon States party to the Treaty.
- The NPT assigns to the IAEA the responsibility for verifying, at the global level, through its safeguards system, that non-nuclear weapon States fulfil their obligations not to use their peaceful nuclear activities to develop any nuclear explosive devices of any kind.
How IAEA could play role in JCPOA
- Accordingly, the Iranian file could go back to the IAEA to start fresh negotiations to restrain Iran to remain within the permissible level of enrichment of uranium.
- This may mean going back to the pre-six nation initiative, when the IAEA could not certify that Iran was not engaged in weapon activities.
- With the experience of the JCPOA, any new arrangement has to ensure the following:
- 1) Iran must have sanctions relief.
- 2) The stockpile of enriched uranium should not exceed the limits established.
- 3) There should be guarantees that Iran will not violate the safeguards agreement.
- The test is whether these can be accomplished within the framework of the IAEA.
Way forward
- Since the IAEA is a technical body, its deliberations may be kept at the technical level.
- At the same time, since it is open for the IAEA to report to the Security Council for necessary action, the IAEA will have the necessary clout to insist on the implementation of the NPT and its additional protocol.
- A new avenue may open for Iran to continue its peaceful nuclear activities as permitted in the NPT.
Consider the question “Examine the role played by IAEA under NPT. How this role can help IAEA in breaking the ice between Iran and the U.S. on JCPOA?”
Conclusion
Thus, IAEA can play an important role in ending the statement JCPOA finds itself in and ensure compliance from Iran on JCPOA and lifting sanctions by the U.S.
Back2Basics: Article III of NPT
- This article provides for the application of safeguards to ensure that nuclear material in non-nuclear weapon states (NNWS) isn’t diverted to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
- NNWS must place all nuclear materials in all peaceful nuclear activities under IAEA safeguards.
- Each nuclear weapon state (NWS) will not provide nuclear materials or equipment to a NNWS without an IAEA safeguards agreement.
- The safeguards should comply with Article IV of the NPT, and should not hamper peaceful uses of nuclear technology or economic/technical development in general.
- Safeguards agreements can be concluded on an individual or group basis.
- After the entry into force of the NPT, state parties had 180 days to commence negotiation of a safeguards agreement. Currently, state parties must begin negotiations by the date they deposit their instruments of ratification or accession.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Factors driving FDI in India
The article explains the four factors that explain the FDI inflows in India.
India’s economic decade
- Almost every major global company is either contemplating or operating on the assumption that India is a key part of their growth story.
- Google, Facebook, Walmart, Samsung, Foxconn, and Silver Lake have been just a handful of the firms that made huge investments in Inda.
- As a result, India saw the fastest growth in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows among all the major economies last year.
- Meanwhile, India’s latest FDI totals still lags behind the highest tallies in other markets such as China and Brazil.
Issues faced by investors and factors driving investment
- Frequent shifts in the policy landscape and persistent market access barriers are standard complaints levied against India by the business community.
- The government’s push to build a “self-reliant” India has also rattled skittish investors and smaller companies that lack the resources to navigate on-the-ground hurdles.
- Still, investors recognise that doing business in India — or any emerging market — comes with inherent risks but that adaptation in approach is critical to success.
- Four core dynamics drive this calculus and explain why multinational companies are making India an essential part of their growth story.
4 Factors driving FDI in India
1) India’s population
- What India offers through its nearly 1.4 billion people and their growing purchasing power is uniquely valuable for multinationals with global ambitions.
- No other country outside of China has a market that houses nearly one in six people on the planet and a rising middle class of 600 million.
2) Shifting geopolitics
- Rising U.S.-China competition is forcing multinationals to rethink their footprints and production hubs.
- Savvy countries such as Vietnam have capitalised on this opportunity to great effect, but India is finally getting serious about attracting large-scale production and exports.
3) Digital connectivity
- Cheap mobile data have powered a revolution across India’s digital economy and connected an estimated 700 million Indians to the Internet.
- More than 500 million Indians still remain offline, this is a key reason why leading global tech companies are investing in India and weathering acute policy pressure.
- Domestic Indian companies have also demonstrated their ability to innovate and deliver high quality services at scale.
- The partnerships and FDI flows linking multinationals and Indian tech firms will continue to unlock shared market opportunities for years to come.
4) National resilience
- Despite facing the scourge of the novel coronavirus head on, India has managed the pandemic better than many of its western peers and restored economic activity even before implementing a mass vaccination programme.
- These are remarkable developments, and yet they speak to India’s underlying resilience even in the face of historic challenges.
Shared value creation
- Unlocking opportunities in the Indian market cannot take the form of a one-way wealth transfer.
- Companies need to demonstrate their commitment to India.
- Successful companies do this by placing shared value creation at the heart of their business strategy.
- They tie corporate success to India’s growth and development.
- They forge enduring partnerships and lasting relationships, elevate and invest in Indian talent, align products with Indian tastes, and ultimately tackle the hardest problems facing India today.
Consider the question “Despite the issues faced by the investors, India witnessed the fastest growth in the FDI inflows among all the major economies amid pandemic. In light of this, examine the factors driving the FDI in India.”
Conclusion
For leading companies with global ambitions and a willingness to make big bets, the rewards of investing in the Indian market are substantial and well worth pursuing.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mizo-Mynmar ethnic ties
Mains level: Myanmar coup and its impact on India
India has sealed all entry points along the border with the southeast Asian neighbour and is closely monitoring to prevent any Myanmar nationals from entering the country.
Issue: Problem with refugees
- At least 1,000 people from the adjoining Chin State of Myanmar are said to have crossed over to Mizoram, fearing a military crackdown.
- The Mizoram government favours providing refuge to the Chins that are ethnically related to the majority Mizos in the State.
- However, the Ministry of Home Affairs has made it clear that “India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol theron”.
When did the refugees start arriving?
- Mizoram began feeling the heat a month after the military coup when three police personnel crossed over to Lungkawlh village in Serchhip district.
- The influx of Myanmar nationals was reported from Hnahthial, Champhai, Saitual and Serchhip districts.
- Most of the refugees waded across the Tiau River that runs along much of Mizoram’s 510-km border with Myanmar.
Try answering this:
The cross-border movement of insurgents is only one of the several security challenges facing the policing of the border in North-East India. Examine the various challenges currently emanating across the India-Myanmar border. Also, discuss the steps to counter the challenges. (15 Marks)
Is this the first time this has happened?
- Extremism, counter-insurgency and sectarian violence have driven people out of Myanmar into India in the past as well.
- More than 1,200 Buddhists and Christians from Myanmar’s Arakan State had taken refuge in Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district in 2017.
- They fled their homes after the Myanmar Army clashed with the extremist Arakan Army.
- The refugees stayed back for more than a year. Thousands of Chins are said to be living in Mizoram for more than 40 years now.
How porous is the border?
Unlike India’s border with Pakistan and Bangladesh, much of the border with Myanmar is without any fence.
- The Assam Rifles personnel guard the border but a tough terrain comes in the way of maintaining airtight vigil.
- There have been calls to fence the border. Fencing the border would also help in checking the movement of extremist groups to and from Myanmar.
- Some are against the idea, insisting that a fence would make the “free movement” of border residents into each other’s country difficult.
- The two countries had in 2018 agreed to streamline the movement of people within 16 km of the border on either side.
Note: Myanmar has indefinitely stalled the agreement to streamline the free movement of people within 16 km along the border citing domestic issues.
Mizoram welcomes the refugees
- As a humanitarian gesture, the Mizoram government has issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) to Deputy Commissioners of border districts to facilitate the entry of refugees and migrants.
- The SOP stated that all Myanmar nationals entering Mizoram in connection with the political developments in the country shall be properly identified.
- The government said those facing a threat to their lives should be treated as refugees, given medical care, relief and rehabilitation and security.
Where do the Centre and Mizoram stand now?
- The SOP was revoked on March 6 after the Centre conveyed its displeasure to the State over the development.
- The State governments have no powers to grant “refugee status to any foreigner”.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Helium and its practical uses
Mains level: Helium imports of India
India imports helium for its needs and with the U.S. appearing set to cut off exports of helium since 2021, the Indian industry stands to lose out heavily.
Helium is not just for balloons but it is the key ingredient for India’s high technology and the most sophisticated medical diagnosis.
Helium on Earth
- Helium is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2.
- It is a colourless, odourless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas, the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. Its boiling point is the lowest among all the elements.
Its discovery
- In 1906 a young Englishman by the name of Moris Travers arrived in Bangalore, to take up the position of the Director of Indian Institute of Science.
- Travers extracted helium in small quantity by heating up monazite sand abundantly available in Kerala beach, in a pioneering effort.
- Dutch physicist Kamerlingh Onnes liquefied Helium by cooling the gas to -270 degrees Celsius.
- It is known that Onnes collected helium gas from the springs of Bath in Baden Baden, Germany for his liquefaction experiment.
Helium in India
- India’s Rajmahal volcanic basin is the storehouse of helium trapped for billions of years, since the very birth of our Earth from the Sun.
- At present, researchers are mapping the Rajmahal basin extensively for future exploration and harnessing of helium.
Why India needs Helium?
- Every year, India imports helium worth Rs 55,000 crores from the U.S. to meet its needs.
- Helium is used in medicine, scientific research, for blimp inflation, party balloons as well as having welding applications.
- It finds many applications, mainly in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, in rockets and in nuclear reactors.
US monopoly in Helium
- The U.S. became the most important exporter of helium across the world.
- It was soon realized that the U.S. was also the biggest storehouse of helium.
- The US is now planning to switch off the export of helium from 2021.
- Qatar is a possible exporter but acute political and diplomatic wrangles have made Qatar unreliable.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Drift of Indian plate from Gondwanaland
Mains level: History of Indian Monsoon
Using leaf fossils, researchers have found that the Indian monsoon 25 million years ago resembled present-day Australia’s.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which one of the following is the appropriate reason for considering the Gondwana rocks as the most important rock systems of India?
(a) More than 90% of limestone reserves of India are found in them
(b) More than 90% of India’s coal reserves are found in them
(c) More than 90% of fertile black cotton soils are spread over them
(d) None of the reasons given above is appropriate in this context
India’s drift
- About 180 million years ago, India separated from the ancient supercontinent Gondwana and took a long northward journey of about 9,000 km to join Eurasia.
- During this journey, the subcontinent moved from the southern hemisphere, crossed the Equator to reach its current position in the northern hemisphere.
- Due to these changing latitudes, it experienced different climatic conditions, and a new study has now tried to map these climatic variations using leaf fossils.
Clueless over the evolution of monsoon
- The evolution of the monsoonal climate in India is still debatable and not fully understood.
- Though recent data indicates that the monsoon system we experience now dates back to about 25 million years, it is still unclear how the climate was during its long voyage.
Indian research
- The researchers analysed the morphological characters of fossil leaves collected from Deccan Volcanic Province, East Garo Hills of Meghalaya, Gurha mine in Rajasthan and Makum Coalfield in Assam.
- The four fossil assemblages were found to be from four different geological ages.
- It has been observed from across the globe that plant leaf morphological characters such as apex, base and shape are ecologically tuned with the prevailing climatic conditions.
- The research applied this model to characterize the past monsoon from fossil leaves.
It’s finding
- The results indicated that the fossil leaves from India were adapted to an Australian type of monsoon and not the current Indian monsoon system during its voyage.
- The reconstructed temperature data show that the climate was warm (tropical to subtropical) at all the studied fossil sites with temperatures varying from 16.3–21.3 degrees C.
- All the fossil sites experienced high rainfall, which varied from 191.6 cm to 232 cm.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Lachit Borphukan
Mains level: Not Much
The Prime Minister (in an election campaign) has called 17th-century Ahom General Lachit Borphukan a symbol of India’s “atmanirbhar” military might.
Try this PYQ:
Q.What was the immediate cause for Ahmad Shah Abdali to invade and fight the Third Battle of Panipat:
(a) He wanted to avenge the expulsion by Marathas of his viceroy Timur Shah from Lahore
(b) The frustrated governor of Jullundhar Adina Beg khan invited him to invade Punjab
(c) He wanted to punish Mughal administration for non-payment of the revenues of the Chahar Mahal (Gujrat Aurangabad, Sialkot and Pasrur)
(d) He wanted to annex all the fertile plains of Punjab upto borders of Delhi to his kingdom
Who was Lachit Borphukan?
- The year was 1671 and the decisive Battle of Saraighat was fought on the raging waters of the Brahmaputra.
- On one side was Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb’s army headed by Ram Singh of Amer (Jaipur) and on the other was the Ahom General Lachit Borphukan.
- He was a commander in the Ahom kingdom, located in present-day Assam.
- Ram Singh failed to make any advance against the Assamese army during the first phase of the war.
- Lachit Borphukan emerged victorious in the war and the Mughals were forced to retreat from Guwahati.
Lachit Diwas
- On 24 November each year, Lachit Divas is celebrated statewide in Assam to commemorate the heroism of Lachit Borphukan.
- On this day, Borphukan has defeated the Mughal army on the banks of the Brahmaputra in the Battle of Saraighat in 1671.
- The best passing out cadet of National Defence Academy has conferred the Lachit gold medal every year since 1999 commemorating his valour.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: History of Delhi
Mains level: Delhi sultanate
The Union government has recently formed a committee to popularize the legacy of 11th-century Tomar king, Anangpal II.
Revision: Delhi Sultanate and their contemporaries
Who was Anangpal II?
- Anangpal II, popularly known as Anangpal Tomar, belonged to the Tomar dynasty that ruled parts of present-day Delhi and Haryana between the 8th and 12th centuries.
- The capital of Tomars changed many times from being initially at Anangpur (near Faridabad) during the reign of Anangpal I (who founded the Tomar dynasty in the 8th century), to Dhillikapuri (Delhi) during the reign of Anangpal II.
- The Tomar rule over the region is attested by multiple inscriptions and coins, and their ancestry can be traced to the Pandavas (of the Mahabharata).
- Anangpal Tomar II was succeeded by his grandson Prithviraj Chauhan, who was defeated by the Ghurid forces in the Battle of Tarain (present-day Haryana) after which the Delhi Sultanate was established in 1192.
His connection with Delhi
- Anangpal II is credited to have established and populated Delhi during his reign in the 11th century.
- He was instrumental in populating Indraprastha and giving it its present name, Delhi.
- The region was in ruins when he ascended the throne in the 11th century, it was he who built Lal Kot fort and Anangtal Baoli.
- He was the founder of Dhillikapuri, which eventually became Delhi.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Jaapi, Xorai and Gamosa
Mains level: NA
As the polling date draws closer, decorative jaapis (field hats), hand-woven gamosas and bell-metal xorais are making frequent appearances in Assam.
Primarily used to felicitate important people and guests, these important symbols of Assamese identity and culture are abundantly seen in political campaigns across the state.
Jaapi
- The jaapi is a conical hat made of bamboo and covered with dried tokou (a palm tree found in rainforests of Upper Assam) leaves.
- It is most often used in official functions to felicitate guests.
- The landscape of rural Assam features a more utilitarian version, which farmers wear to protect themselves from the harsh weather, both sun and rain, while working in the fields.
- The first possible recorded use of jaapi dates back to the Ahom-era buranjis, or chronicles. Kings and ministers would wear them then.
Gamosa
- The Gamosa, which literally translates to a cloth to wipe one’s body, is omnipresent in Assam, with wide-ranging uses.
- It can be used at home as a towel (uka gamosa) or in public functions (phulam/floral gamosa) to felicitate dignitaries or celebrities.
- The popularity of the gamosa has now traveled beyond Assam and is often used by a number of public figures.
- It was during the anti-foreigner Assam Agitation of the early 1980s, when Assamese nationalism reached its crescendo, that the gamosa assumed a new role.
Xorai
- Made of bell-metal, the xorai — essentially a tray with a stand at the bottom, with or without a cover — can be found in every Assamese household.
- While it is primarily used as an offering tray during prayers, or to serve tamale-paan (betel-nut) to guests, a xorai is also presented along with the jaapi and gamosa while felicitating someone.
- The bulk of xorais in Assam are made in the state’s bell metal hub Sarthebari in Bajali district.
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