Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: RIC and BRICS
Mains level: Paper 2- India-Russia relations
The article highlights Russia’s increasing inclinations towards China and its implications for India.
Context
Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently asserted that both the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, are “responsible” enough to solve issues between their countries, while underlining the need to debar any “extra-regional power” to interfere in the process.
Implications for India-Russia ties
- By this remark, Russia expects India to give up all efforts to reverse Beijing’s encroachment strategies.
- The remarks can only be seen as reinforcing China’s claim that the Quadrilateral or Quad is aimed at containing China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
- Russia’s continued criticism of the Indo-Pacific and the Quad suggests the divergent perspectives of India and Russia on how to deal with China’s rise to global prominence.
- While India needs Russia’s partnership for its defence needs, India cannot endorse the Russian perspective on the Indo-Pacific and the Quad
- The Russian attitude toward China’s growing power and influence will be the touchstone of Russia’s relations with India.
- Russia has rejected the Indo-Pacific construct in favour of the Asia-Pacific on the ground that the first is primarily an American initiative designed to contain both China and Russia.
- With the rise of populist nationalism amidst the decline of globalisation, the resolution of the Sino-Indian boundary dispute appears a difficult task.
Background of India’s balancing strategies
- Following the disintegration of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), India soon realised Russia was much weaker than the erstwhile USSR and incapable of helping India balance potential threats from Beijing.
- On the other hand, Russia began to cast Moscow as the leader of a supposed trilateral grouping of Russia-India-China against a U.S.-led unipolar world.
- Russia became an early proponent of the ‘strategic triangle’ to bring together the three major powers.
- India’s fear of the unipolar moment too made it easier for India to become part of this initiative.
- But China’s dismissive attitude toward Indian capabilities, coupled with an emerging China-Pakistan nexus, prevented the success of this trilateral.
- India, instead, invested its diplomatic energies in rapprochement with the United States.
- Thus, India decided to get integrated in the economic order it once denounced.
- Economic liberalisation also allowed India to buy sophisticated weapons from a wider global market that included suppliers such as Israel and France.
- As the logic of intensive engagement with the West was effectively established, strategic partnership with the U.S. was a logical corollary.
- India has been searching for other major powers to balance against China as it does not have the sufficient means for hard balancing.
- India has deepened its ties with Japan and Australia in a way that is close to soft balancing.
- among all of India’s balancing efforts, the stupendous growth in ties with the U.S. has been the greatest source of concern for China which views the India-U.S. rapprochement as containment.
Way forward for India-Russia ties
- While other powers such as France, Australia, Japan and Russia will have an impact on the emerging maritime structures of the Indo-Pacific region, it is the triangular dynamic between India, China and the U.S. that is going to be the most consequential.
- Russia is yet to realise that it will gain immensely from the multilateralism that the Indo-Pacific seeks to promote.
- Being China’s junior partner only undermines Moscow’s great-power ambitions.
- Given Russia’s preoccupation with ‘status’ rivalry with the U.S., Russia’s view of India-China relations seems understandable.
- But there is a danger in permitting it to harden into a permanent attitude as an increasingly pro-Beijing Russia might adopt more aggressive blocking of India’s policy agendas.
- That is why India is particularly interested in a normalisation of relations between Washington and Moscow.
- The normalisation of relations between the U.S. and Russia will help India steer ties among the great powers.
India-China ties
- Non-alignment, painful memories of colonial subjugation, opposition to great-power hegemony, and strong beliefs in sovereignty and strategic autonomy have been the key influencers in shaping India’s and China’s engagement with each other as well as the western world.
- But this has begun to change as Beijing is asserting its hegemony over Asia.
- In such circumstances, multilateral forums such as the Russia-India-China (RIC) grouping and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have little practical value for Indian diplomacy.
- Without China’s reciprocity, options before India are limited.
- The response cannot be just symbolic or rhetorical. The absence of any material evidence of reciprocity is bound to doom an attempt at Sino-Indian rapprochement.
Conclusion
China is undoubtedly the most powerful actor in its neighbourhood but it cannot simply have its way in shaping Asia’s new geopolitics.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Agri-exports from India
Mains level: Paper 3- Issues with India's agri-exports
The article highlights the unsustainability of agri-exports owing to their water-intensive nature and subsidies provided in their production.
India’s agri-exports
- Agri-exports touched $41.8 billion in FY 2020-21, registering a growth of 18 per cent over the previous year.
- Amongst the various agri-commodity exports, rice ranks first with 17.7 million tonnes valued at $8.8 billion, roughly 21 per cent of the total value of agri-exports.
- It is followed by marine products ($6 billion), spices ($4 billion), bovine (buffalo) meat ($3.2 billion) and sugar ($2.8 billion).
Trend analysis of agri-exports
- During the last seven years, agri-exports have remained lower than the level reached in FY2013-14 ($43.3 billion).
- That was when the highest agri-trade surplus (exports minus imports) was generated ($27.8 billion).
- That was also when Indian agriculture was most globally integrated, with agri-trade (exports plus imports) touching 20 per cent of the agri-GDP.
- It has slid to 13.5 per cent by FY2020-21, indicating India is becoming less globally competitive in exports and more protectionist in imports, presumably in the name of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
- It is high time to review current agri-trade policies and accompanying tariff structures.
Why sustainability of agri-exports is a concern?
- From a strategic point of view, however, one must ask whether this growth rate can be sustained over a longer period, and the implications it has for Indian agriculture.
- Water consumption: India is a water-stressed country with per capita water availability of 1,544 cubic metres in 2011, down from 5,178 cubic metres in 1951.
- It is well known that a kg of sugar has a virtual water intake of about 2,000 litres.
- In 2020-21, India exported 7.5 million tonnes of sugar, implying that at least 15 billion cubic metres of water was exported through sugar alone.
- Rice, needs around 3,000 to 5,000 litres of water for irrigating a kg, depending upon topography.
- Also, rice cultivation contributes to more than 18 per cent of the GHG emission generated from agriculture.
- Subsidies: Power and fertiliser subsidies account for about 15 per cent of its value in states like Punjab and Haryana.
- If these subsidies are withdrawn, rice will not be as preferred a crop with farmers as it is today.
Way forward
- Farming practices such as alternate wetting drying (AWD), direct-seeded rice (DSR) and micro-irrigation will have to be taken up on a war footing.
- Farmers may be incentivised and rewarded to save water, switch from paddy and sugar to other less water guzzler crops, and reduce the carbon footprint.
- It is high time that policymakers revisit the entire gamut of rice and sugar systems from their MSP/FRP to their production in an environmentally sustainable manner.
- At least in the case of rice, procurement will have to be limited to the needs of PDS, and within PDS, it is high time to introduce the option of direct cash transfers.
Consider the question “Rice and sugar forms the part of India’s agri-basket. However, there are concerns over their sustainability. What are the reasons for concerns and suggest the measure to deal with these concerns”
Conclusion
To maintain the sustainability of the agri-exports, crops must be produced efficiently and with minimal subsidies. The government needs to take steps to ensure that with rice and sugar.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Role of the States in health crisis
The States are better equipped to deal with the health emergencies and the Centre needs to augment them in their efforts. The article deals with this issue.
Role of the States in health crisis
- Covid-19 pandemic is a national crisis calling for concerted efforts by both, the Government of India (GoI) and state governments.
- Health is a state subject, and the states have been pioneering many health programmes on their own, some with support and funding from the GoI, for a very long time.
- The number of employees in the health wing of the GoI is negligible as compared to that in any state government.
- The GoI must help them, motivate them to do better and assist them in their task.
- Also, the GoI must and can play a major role is in vaccination.
Role of the Central government
- It must try to augment supplies by encouraging companies to produce more and through imports/gifts.
- However, whatever it procures must be allotted to states in proportion to their eligible population.
- State governments must be involved in this policy.
- The vaccination policy may be left to the state governments based on the allocation.
- The GoI must also augment supplies of critical medical goods through imports and donations from friendly nations in view of their acute shortage.
- It must distribute them to the needy states transparently and equitably.
Steps that need to be taken
- Lockdowns need to be lifted in a calibrated manner depending on local conditions.
- Lockdowns are not the solution, they just buy breathing time which can be used by governments to ramp up capacity.
- State governments must set up efficient and well-functioning control rooms and telemedicine centres to guide people on home treatment and timely admission to hospitals.
- The private sector can also be fully involved in these efforts.
- Bed capacity must be increased in both private and public sectors, with all necessary requirements such as oxygen, medicines, and health workers.
- It is also important to put in place a standard guidance protocol for health workers and control rooms to guide patients through the disease.
- Enforcement of masks and distancing in public places must go on till the country is fully vaccinated.
- The measures suggested above require hard work and efficient management by state governments, by a team of reputed professionals and civil servants.
- Daily briefing by a professional, not a politician, is the need of the hour at both the Centre and state level, giving some confidence and assurance to the public.
Consider the question “In dealing with the health crisis the Union Government and the State governments are better placed for certain roles. In light of this, examine the important role of the States in dealing with the Covid pandemic and how the Union government can complement it.”
Conclusion
The central government must realise that states are on the forefront in this war, and therefore, play a supporting and proactive role. It has only a minor, behind-the-scenes role in the health sector.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NATO
Mains level: Rise of China in the global agenda
In a communiqué issued following the June 14 summit of its member-states in Brussels, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), for the first time, explicitly described China as a security risk.
Try answering this question:
Q.NATO has been an ideal vehicle for power-projection around the world by the US. Critically comment.
China as a global threat
- China has never figured in NATO summit declarations before, except for a minor reference in 2019 to the “opportunities and challenges” it presented.
- But China’s stated ambitions and assertive behaviour present systemic challenges to the rules-based international order and to areas relevant to NATO security.
- China has reacted sharply. It has urged NATO to view China’s development rationally, stop exaggerating various forms of China threat theory.
- The other two threats identified by the NATO communiqué are on predictable lines: Russia and terrorism.
Focus over two nations
- There is a significant difference, however, between a strategic focus on countering Russia and casting China as a “systemic challenge”.
- This goes back to NATO’s founding mandate and subsequent history.
What is NATO, btw?
- NATO, the planet’s largest — and largest-ever — military alliance, was formed in 1949 by 12 Allied powers to counter the massive Soviet armies stationed in Eastern and Central Europe after Second World War.
- According to Paul-Henri Spaak, the second Secretary-General of NATO, it was, ironically enough, Joseph Stalin who is the true father of NATO.
- It was Stalin’s overreach — especially with the Berlin blockade of 1948-49 and the orchestrated coup in Czechoslovakia in 1948 — that convinced a diverse set of war-ravaged European nations to come together under an American security blanket.
- The collective defence principle enshrined in NATO’s Article V states that “an attack against one ally is considered as an attack against all allies”.
- The formation of NATO, and its Soviet counterpart, the Warsaw Pact, in 1955, inaugurated the Cold War era.
NATO and its relevance now
- NATO was completely successful in its mission of protecting the “Euro-Atlantic area” from Soviet expansion and preventing war between the two superpowers.
- When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, questions were raised about NATO’s relevance and future.
- Since the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) became irrelevant when the Communist bloc disappeared, one cannot justify the continuation of a military alliance formed to protect Europe from Communist expansion.
Post-Cold War era mandate of NATO
- Its bureaucracy succeeded in refashioning NATO for the post-Cold war era.
- The refashioning rested on a paradigm shift — from collective defence, which implied a known adversary, to collective security, which is open-ended, and might require action against any number of threats.
- The threat included unknown ones and non-state actors.
- In other words, the elimination of one threat to Europe — communist Russia — did not necessarily mean that security risks to Europe have vanished.
Why dismantle a beneficial arrangement
- Another factor in the persistence of NATO is that, like all successful alliances, it has been a mutually beneficial arrangement.
- For Europe, it was an attractive bargain where, in exchange for a marginal loss in autonomy, it enjoyed absolute security at a cheap price.
- Not having to spend massively on defence allowed Europe to focus on building powerful economies and invest its surplus in a strong welfare state.
- NATO also offered the added bonus of keeping Germany down — historically a major factor for peace and stability in the region.
An effective American weapon
- For the US, NATO has been an ideal vehicle for power projection around the world — in places beyond the Euro-Atlantic area, such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.
- It views NATO as a tool to ensure the primacy of American interests across the globe.
- Unsurprisingly, NATO’s post-Cold War role has evolved in tandem with U.S. foreign policy priorities.
- The NATO doctrine of “enlargement”, which Russia calls “expansion”, is essentially about extending the American military footprint by bringing in new members.
- That is how NATO’s membership today stands at 30, having added 14 members between 1999 and 2020.
The final truth
- The Biden administration wants to mobilize NATO member-states behind its larger objective of containing China.
- NATO’s European member states may view China as an economic rival and adversary, but they are unconvinced by the American line that it is an outright security threat.
- This line also, in a way, points to the underlying logic behind NATO’s persistence in the post-Soviet world.
- Unlike the Soviet Union, China offers no alternative vision of society that could make Western capitalism insecure.
- In fact, its own economy is already deeply integrated into Western markets. China, nonetheless, is perceived as posing a ‘threat’.
- It remains to be seen how far an ageing Europe would be willing to commit itself to a strategic path that prefers confrontation to collaboration like the US.
Also read:
India & NATO
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: NDPS Act
Last week, the Tripura High Court, in a significant verdict, discovered an oversight in drafting the 2014 amendments to the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
What is Section 27A?
- The NDPS had unintentionally rendered a key provision of the Act, Section 27A which provides for punishment of those financing illicit trafficking, inoperable.
- This section has been consistently evoked since a year after the alleged suicide of a notable Bollywood actor after drugs intoxication.
What is the provision?
- The NDPS Act, 1985 is the principal legislation through which the state regulates the operations of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
- It provides a stringent framework for punishing offenses related to illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances through imprisonments and forfeiture of property.
- Section 27A of the NDPS Act, 1985, prescribes the punishment for financing illicit traffic and harboring offenders.
- The court may, for reasons to be recorded in the judgment, impose a fine exceeding two lakh rupees.”
So why is this provision inoperable?
- The text of the provision says that offences mentioned under Section 2(viiia) sub-clauses i-v are punishable through Section 27A.
- However, Section 2 (viiia) sub-clauses i-v, which is supposed to be the catalog of offences, does not exist after the 2014 amendment.
- So, if Section 27A penalises a blank list or a non-existent provision, it can be argued that it is virtually inoperable.
What was the 2014 amendment?
- In 2014, a key amendment was made to the NDPS Act to allow for better medical access to narcotic drugs.
- Since the regulation under NDPS was very stringent, despite being a leading manufacturer of morphine, an opioid analgesic used as a painkiller, it was difficult to access the drug even for hospitals.
Exceptions for essential drugs
- The 2014 amendment essentially removed state-barriers in transporting, licensing drugs classified as “essential narcotic drugs”, and made it centralized.
- This was done by first introducing a provision in Section 2 that defines essential narcotic drugs, and subsequently in Section 9 allowing the manufacture, possession, transport, import inter-State, export inter-State, sale, purchase, consumption and use of essential narcotic drugs.
- The amendment to add the definition of essential narcotic drugs re-lettered the old Section 2(viii)a that was the catalog of offences as Section 2(viii)b, and under the Section 2(viii)a, defined essential narcotic drugs.
- However, the drafters missed amending the enabling provision in Section 27A to change Section 2(viii)a to Section 2(viii)b.
How was this error noticed?
- In 2016, an accused sought bail before a special judge in West Tripura in Agartala citing this omission in drafting.
- The accused’s plea was that since Section 27A penalized a blank list, he could not be charged under the offence.
- The district judge then referred the case to the Tripura High Court.
What did the HC decide?
- The Law Ministry had argued that the court must overlook the omission and read the legislation as a whole. It also told the court that the provision would be amended to rectify the dissonance.
- The Tripura HC agreed with the government’s view, but said that it may not be the best solution.
- The amendment is yet to take place. However, criminal laws cannot be amended retrospectively.
- Article 20 of the Constitution guarantees protection against double jeopardy.
- So even if the amendment is brought in, the result of the drafting error could lead to more constitutional questions being raised.
Back2Basics: Article 20 of the Indian Constitution
The Article 20 is one of the pillars of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India. It mainly deals with protection of certain rights in case of conviction for offences.
(1) No person shall be convicted of any offence except for violation of a law in force at the time of the commission of the Act charged as an offence, nor be subjected to a penalty greater than that which might have been inflicted under the law in force at the time of the commission of the offence.
(2) No person shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once.
(3) No person accused of any offense shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Rotation and Revolution of Earth
Mains level: NA
The summer solstice will happen today around 9:02 am on Monday (Indian Standard Time).
What is Summer Solstice?
- Solstice means “sun stands still” in Latin.
- The longest day of 2021 for those living north of the Equator is June 21.
- This day is characterized by a greater amount of energy received from the sun.
- In technical terms, this day is referred to as the summer solstice, the longest day of the summer season. It occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer, or more specifically right over 23.5-degree north latitude.
The Southern Hemisphere receives most sunlight on December 21, 22 or 23 when the northern hemisphere has its longest nights– or the winter solstice.
Why do we have summer solstice?
- Since Earth rotates on its axis, the Northern Hemisphere gets more direct sunlight between March and September over the course of a day.
- This also means people living in the Northern Hemisphere experience summer during this time.
- The rest of the year, the Southern Hemisphere gets more sunlight.
- During the solstice, the Earth’s axis — around which the planet spins, completing one turn each day — is tilted in a way that the North Pole is tipped towards the sun and the South Pole is away from it.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.On 21st June, the Sun (CSP 2019):
(a) Does not set below the horizon at the Arctic Circle
(b) Does not set below the horizon at Antarctic Circle
(c) Shines vertically overhead at noon on the Equator
(d) Shines vertically overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn
Some other facts
- Summer solstice does not mean the earliest sunrise or latest sunset.
- Although June 21 will be the longest day in 2021, it does not necessarily mean that it brings the earliest sunrise or latest sunset.
- It depends on the latitudinal location of the country.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Gain-of-function research
Mains level: Bio-engineering and associated threats
With the re-emergence of the Wuhan lab-leak origin theory, questions are also being raised on what gain-of-function research is, and whether the benefits of conducting such research outweigh the risks of pathogens escaping from labs.
What is gain-of-function research?
- In virology, gain-of-function research involves deliberately altering an organism in the lab, altering a gene, or introducing a mutation in a pathogen to study its transmissibility, virulence and immunogenicity.
- It is believed that this allows researchers to study potential therapies, vaccine possibilities and ways to control the disease better in future.
- Gain-of-function research involves manipulations that make certain pathogenic microbes more deadly or more transmissible.
- This is done by genetically engineering the virus and by allowing them to grow in different growth mediums, a technique called as serial passage.
Antithesis to this theory
- There is also ‘loss-of-function’ research, which involves inactivating mutations, resulting in a significant loss of original function, or no function to the pathogen.
- When mutations occur, they alter the structure of the virus that is being studied, resulting in altered functions. Some of these significant mutations might weaken the virus or enhance its function.
Associated risks
- Some forms of gain-of-function research reportedly carry inherent biosafety and biosecurity risks and are thus referred to as ‘dual-use research of concern’ (DURC).
- This indicates that while the research may result in benefits for humanity, there is also the potential to cause harm — accidental or deliberate escape of these altered pathogens from labs may cause even pandemics.
Essential component of vaccine development
- The current medical countermeasures are often insufficient largely because of resistance mechanisms that lead to ‘escape mutants’, i.e., drug-resistant strains.
- There is, hence, a continual need to develop new antiviral drugs and additional options, such as immunotherapy, based on neutralizing monoclonal antibodies.
- Ultimately, gain-of-function studies, which enhance viral yield and immunogenicity, are required for vaccine development.
What is the situation in India?
- In India, all activities related to genetically engineered organisms or cells and hazardous microorganisms and products are regulated as per the “Manufacture, Use, Import, Export and Storage of Hazardous Microorganisms/Genetically Engineered Organisms or Cells Rules, 1989”.
- Last year, the Department of Biotechnology issued guidelines for the establishment of containment facilities, called ‘Biosafety labs’, at levels two and three.
- The notification provides operational guidance on the containment of biohazards and levels of biosafety that all institutions involved in research, development and handling of these microorganisms must comply with.
Should research continue?
- Scientists have differing opinions on the issue, particularly since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- While those on the side of gain-of-function research say that it makes science and governments battle-ready for future pandemics, there have been a rising number of calls to suspend such research.
- Proponents of gain-of-function research believe that “nature is the ultimate bioterrorist and we need to do all we can to stay one step ahead”.
- Some researchers thinks it is time to stop such research.
- Science policymakers “must wrestle with defining the rare instances in which the benefits of experiments that enhance a virus’s capacity to survive and flourish in human hosts outweigh any risks.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Nilssonia nigricans
Mains level: Not Much
A major temple in Assam has signed a MoU with NGOs, the Assam State Zoo-cum-Botanical Garden and the Kamrup district administration for the long-term conservation of the rare freshwater black softshell turtle or the Nilssonia nigricans.
Two years back, one species from our newscard: Species in news: Hump-backed Mahseer made it into the CSP 2019. The ‘Puntius Sanctus’ fish in the newscard creates such a vibe yet again.
A stand-alone species being mentioned in the news for the first time (and that too from Southern India) find their way into the prelims. Make special note here.
Q.Consider the following pairs
| Wildlife |
Naturally found in |
| 1. |
Blue-finned Mahseer |
Cauvery River |
| 2. |
Irrawaddy Dolphin |
Chambal River |
| 3. |
Rusty-spotted Cat |
Eastern Ghats |
Which of the pairs given correctly matched? (CSP 2019)
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Nilssonia nigricans
- Until sightings along the Brahmaputra’s drainage in Assam, the black softshell turtle was thought to be “extinct in the wild”.
- It was confined only to ponds of temples in northeastern India and Bangladesh.
- The International Union for Conservation of Nature had in 2021 listed the turtle as “critically endangered”.
- But it does not enjoy legal protection under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972, although it has traditionally been hunted for its meat and cartilage, traded in regional and international markets.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Flag Satyagraha
Mains level: Not Much
The Minister of State (IC) for Culture and Tourism has organized to observe the Flag Satyagraha in Jabalpur to commemorate the Jhanda Satyagraha of the year 1923.
Flag Satyagraha
- Flag satyagrahas were one of the most common acts of defiance during the nationalist rebellions led by Gandhi and the Indian National Congress throughout the struggle.
- It is a campaign of peaceful civil disobedience during the Indian independence movement.
- It was against the defiance of laws prohibiting the hoisting of nationalist flags and restricting civil freedoms.
- Flag Satyagrahas were conducted most notably in the city of Jabalpur and Nagpur in 1923 but also in many other parts of India.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.The ‘Swadeshi’ and ‘Boycott’ adopted as methods of struggle for the first time during the:
(a) Agitation against the Partition of Bengal
(b) Home Rule Movement
(c) Non-Cooperation Movement
(d) Visit of the Simon Commission to India
Course of the movement
- The arrest of nationalist protestors demanding the right to hoist the flag caused an outcry across India especially as Gandhi had recently been arrested.
- Nationalist leaders such as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Jamnalal Bajaj, Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, and Vinoba Bhave organized the revolt.
- Thousands of people from different regions including as far south as the Princely state of Travancore traveled to Nagpur and other parts of the Central Provinces to participate in civil disobedience.
- In the end, the British negotiated an agreement with Patel and other Congress leaders permitting the protestors to conduct their march unhindered and obtaining the release of all those arrested.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Green Hydrogen, BRICS
Mains level: NA
India is all set to host a two-day summit on Green Hydrogen initiatives involving the BRICS nations.
What is Green Hydrogen?
- Hydrogen, when produced by electrolysis using renewable energy is known as Green Hydrogen which has no carbon footprint.
- This gives hydrogen the edge over other fuels to unlock various avenues of green usage.
- However, challenges lie in terms of technology, efficiency, financial viability, and scaling up which the summit will aim to address.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.With reference to ‘fuel cells’ in which hydrogen-rich fuel and oxygen are used to generate electricity, consider the following statements:
- If pure hydrogen is used as a fuel, the fuel cell emits heat and water as by products.
- Fuel cells can be used for powering buildings and not for small devices like laptop computers.
- Fuel cells produce electricity in the form of Alternating Current (AC).
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Applications of green hydrogen
- Green hydrogen has innumerable applications.
- Green Chemicals like ammonia and methanol can directly be utilized in existing applications like fertilizers, mobility, power, chemicals, shipping among others.
- Green Hydrogen blending up to 10 percent may be adopted in CGD networks to gain widespread acceptance.
- Further scaling up with greening of hard to abate sectors like steel and cement through hydrogen is to be explored.
- Many countries have brought out their strategies and defined targets and roadmaps based on their resources and strengths.
Back2Basics: BRICS Countries
- BRICS is an acronym for the grouping of the world’s leading emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
- To be clear, BRICS was not invented by any of its members.
- In 2001, Goldman Sachs’ Jim O’Neill authored a paper called “Building Better Global Economic BRICs”, pointing out that future GDP growth in the world would come from China, India, Russia and Brazil.
- Significantly, the paper didn’t recommend a separate grouping for them, but made the case that the G-7 grouping, made up of the world’s most industrialized, and essentially Western countries, should include them.
- O’Neill also suggested that the G-7 group needed revamping after the introduction of a common currency for Europe, the euro, in 1999.
- In 2003, Goldman Sachs wrote another paper, “Dreaming with BRICs: Path to 2050”, predicting that the global map would significantly change due to these four emerging economies.
- In 2006, leaders of the BRIC countries met on the margins of a G-8 (now called G-7) summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, and BRIC was formalized that year.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Net-zero emission targets and G-7
The article highlights G-7 countries’ emphasis on adoption of net-zero emission target and its implications for India.
Shifting responsibility to developing countries
- The Cornwall G7 summit sought to re-establish a common purpose among the richest democracies of the world.
- The G7 agreed “collectively” to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050 and called on “all countries, in particular, major emitting economies” to join as part of global efforts.
- And, ODA (official development assistance) has been made contingent on net-zero emissions by 2050 and deep cuts in emissions in the 2020s.
- G7 made an equal effort to shift the responsibility to the large developing countries.
- However, “common and differentiated responsibilities” is the agreed guiding principle for tackling climate change.
- Differentiation underscores the responsibility of the industrialised countries to lead.
India’s climate actions
- India has been a leading stakeholder in climate action and is among the few in the G20 in line to meet their commitments under the Paris Accord.
- It has also taken on a most ambitious target of 450 GW of renewable power by 2030.
- India has shown the world the way forward on solar power with producers now offering ultra-competitive tariffs.
India’s concerns
- Coal was particularly in the eye of the G7 which stressed “that international investments in unabated coal must stop now” .
- India, that continues to rely on coal, could face a crunch in assistance in thermal power.
- BASIC, comprising India, China, Brazil and South Africa, has so far led the efforts of large developing countries in climate negotiations.
- But with possible differences of opinion on net zero, BASIC’s clout in future global negotiations is questionable.
Way forward
- Finance and technology are the key areas where the industrialised West can and must lead.
- The collective developed countries’ commitment of $ 100 billion per year was made in Copenhagen in 2009 and is nowhere near being reached.
- A smallish sum of $2 billion was committed by G7 to accelerating the transition from coal.
- For India, with its huge developmental needs and global high-table aspirations that require carbon and policy spaces, the imperative is strong diplomatic partnerships with large developing economies that have an inherent interest in GREEN-Growth with Renewable Energy, Entrepreneurship and Nature.
Conclusion
India, which has huge developmental needs and global high-table aspirations that require carbon and policy spaces, must protect its interests.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Issues of Discoms
The article highlights the need for frequent financial aids to the discoms by the Centre and discusses the factors responsible for this.
Frequent rescue packages for discoms
- Recently, there was a sharp decline in the dues owed by power distribution companies, discoms, to power generating companies.
- Discoms have paid off their dues in part by drawing down a liquidity facility arranged by the Centre last year.
- This rescue package was arranged to prevent the entire power sector chain from suffering because of the discoms’ inability to meet their obligations.
- In the initial years after the introduction of UDAY some states did, in fact, witness an improvement in their financial and operational indicators.
- But it wasn’t sustained, There has been a sharp deterioration in several parameters.
Low performance of Discoms
1) On the basis of AT&C losses
- A key metric to measure the performance of discoms is AT&C losses.
- The UDAY scheme had envisaged bringing down these losses to 15 per cent by 2019.
- However, as per data on the UDAY dashboard, the AT&C losses currently stand at 21.7 per cent at the all-India level.
- In the case of the low-income north and central-eastern states — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh — the losses are considerably higher.
2) On the basis of cost and revenue per unit
- On another metric — the gap between discoms’ costs and revenues — the difference, supposed to have been eliminated by now, stands at Rs 0.49 per unit in the absence of regular and commensurate tariff hikes.
- For the high-income southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, this gap between costs and revenues is significantly higher.
What are the factors responsible for inefficiencies?
1) Electrification push without cost restructuring
- The government’s push for ensuring electrification of all have contributed to greater inefficiency.
- To support higher levels of electrification, cost structures need to be reworked, and the distribution network would need to be augmented — in the absence of all this, losses are bound to rise.
2) Economic fallout of the pandemic
- With demand from industrial and commercial users falling, revenue from this stream, which is used to cross-subsidise other consumers, has declined, exacerbating the stress on discom finances.
- A turnaround in the economy will provide some relief, but will not form the basis of a sustained improvement in finances.
3) Lack of consumer data and metering
- Even six years after UDAY was launched, various levels in the distribution chain — the feeder, the distribution transformer (DT) and the consumer — have not been fully metered.
- As a result, it is difficult to ascertain the level in the chain where losses are occurring.
- Other than discoms in metros like Delhi and Mumbai, there is also limited data on which consumer is attached to which DT.
- This lack of data makes it difficult to isolate and identify loss-making areas and take corrective action.
4) No tariff hike
- The continuing absence of political consensus at the state level to raise tariffs or to bring down AT&C losses signal a lack of resolve to tackle the issues plaguing the sector.
Way forward
- One of the solution centres around a national power distribution company.
- Another option is to deduct discom dues, owed to both public and private power generating companies, from state balances with the RBI forcing states to take the necessary steps to fix discom finances.
- The Centre has linked additional state borrowings to the completion of distribution reforms to incentivise states to act.
Consider the question “Despite several efforts by the Centre to improve the efficiency, discoms continue to perform dismally requiring frequent financial aids. What are the factors responsible for this? Suggest the way forward.”
Conclusion
Short of radical measures — privatisation remains a chimera — it is difficult to see how a sustainable turnaround in the financial and operational position of discoms can be engineered. As the amounts involved rise, minor tinkering isn’t likely to produce the desired results.
Back2Basics: AT&C losses
- Distribution loss consists of two parts:
- a. Technical loss
- b. Commercial loss.
- It is also called AT&C loss.
- AT&C loss is nothing but the sum total of technical and commercial losses and shortage due to non-realization of billed amount.
- AT&C Loss = (Energy input – Energy billed) * 100 / Energy input.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Election Petition
Mains level: Free and fair elections
West Bengal CM has filed an election petition in the Calcutta High Court challenging the Assembly election result of Nandigram constituency, where she had contested and lost.
What is an election petition?
- The Election Commission’s role ends with the declaration of results, that is once the Returning Officer has signed the final result sheet (Form 20).
- After that, an election petition is the only legal remedy available to a voter or a candidate who believes there has been malpractice in an election.
- Such a person can challenge the result through an election petition submitted to the High Court of the state in which the constituency is located.
- Such a petition has to be filed within 45 days from the date of the poll results; nothing is entertained by courts after that.
- Although the Representative of the People Act of 1951 suggests that the High Court should try to conclude the trial within six months, it usually drags on for much longer, even years.
On what grounds can an election petition be filed?
Under Section 100 of the RP Act, an election petition can be filed on the grounds that:
- On the day of the election, the winning candidate was not qualified to contest.
- The winning candidate, his poll agent or any other person with the consent of the winning candidate has indulged in a corrupt practice. Section 123 of the RP Act has a detailed list of what amounts to corrupt practice, including bribery, use of force or coercion, appeal to vote or refrain from voting on grounds of religion, race, community, and language.
- Improper acceptance of the nomination of the winning candidate or improper rejection of a nomination.
- Malpractice in the counting process, which includes improper reception, refusal or rejection of any vote, or the reception of any vote which is void.
- Non-compliance with the provisions of the Constitution or the RP Act or any rules or orders made under the RP Act.
What happens if the court finds that a contention of malpractice is correct?
- This depends on relief that is claimed by the petitioner in her election petition.
- Under Section 84 of the RP Act, the petitioner may ask that the results of all or the winning candidates may be declared void.
- In addition to that, the petitioner may also ask the court to declare her (in case the petition is filed by a candidate) or any other candidate as the winner or duly elected.
- So the verdict on an election petition, if found in favour of the petitioner, may result in a fresh election or the court announcing a new winner.
Have there been any election results that were declared void because of an election petition?
- There are many examples, the most famous being the Allahabad High Court verdict of 1975 which set aside Indira Gandhi’s election from Rae Bareli constituency, four years earlier, on grounds of corrupt practice.
- The election petition was filed by her nearest rival Raj Narain who had lost by over one lakh votes.
- The High Court found that Indira Gandhi’s election agent Yashpal Kapur, the DM of Rae Bareli, the Superintendent of Police of Rae Bareli and the Home Secretary of UP government helped in the arrangements for her election tour.
- This amounted to a corrupt practice under Section 123 (7) of the RP Act.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: World Competitiveness Ranking
Mains level: Not Much
India’s position has remained unchanged at 43 for the third year in a row in the World Competitiveness Ranking by Switzerland-based Institute for Management Development (IMD).
World Competitiveness Ranking
- The IMD World Competitiveness Ranking ranks 64 economies and assesses the extent to which a country promotes the prosperity of its people by measuring economic well-being through hard data and survey responses from executives.
- The ranking examines four factors — economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.
- The top-performing economies are characterized by varying degrees of investment in innovation, diversified economic activities, and supportive public policy.
India’s performance
- Among the BRICS nations, India is ranked second after China (16), followed by Russia (45th), Brazil (57th) and South Africa (62th).
- Among the four indices used, India’s ranking in government efficiency increased to 46 from 50 a year ago, while its ranking in other parameters such as economic performance (37), business efficiency (32) and infrastructure (49) remained the same.
- India has maintained its position for the past three years but this year, it had significant improvements in government efficiency.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ICMED 13485 PLUS
Mains level: NA
The Quality Council of India (QCI), and the Association of Indian Manufacturers of Medical Devices (AiMeD) have added further features to the ICMED Scheme for Certification of Medical Devices.
ICMED 13485 PLUS
- The ICMED 13485 PLUS, as the new scheme has been christened, will undertake verification of the quality, safety and efficacy of medical devices.
- It was first launched in 2016.
- It has been designed to integrate the Quality Management System components and product-related quality validation processes through witness testing of products with reference to the defined product standards and specifications.
- This is the first scheme around the world in which quality management systems along with product certification standards are integrated with regulatory requirements.
- This scheme will be an end-to-end quality assurance scheme for the medical devices sector in India.
Details of the scheme
- This scheme provides the much-needed institutional mechanism for assuring product quality and safety.
- It will go a long way in assisting the procurement agencies to tackle the challenges relating to the menace of counterfeit products and fake certification.
- This will also help in eliminating the circulation and use of sub-standard medical products or devices of doubtful origin that could prove to be serious health hazards.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Atlas on General Elections
Mains level: Unique features of Indian general elections
The Election Commission of India has released ‘General Elections 2019 – An Atlas’.
Atlas on General Elections
- The Atlas encompasses all the data and statistical figures of this monumental event. It shares interesting facts, anecdotes and legal provisions related to the Indian elections.
- It brings out salient features such as data of the 23 States and Uts where women voting percentage was more than the male voting percentage.
- It has information about the largest & smallest parliamentary constituency in terms of electors, candidates and performance of political parties amongst other parameters.
- The Atlas depicts the elector’s data in different categories and through various comparison charts like Elector Gender Ratio and electors in different age categories.
- This Atlas serves as an informative and illustrative document that brings to light the nuances of the Indian electoral process and empowers readers to analyze trends and changes.
Data on 2019 Elections
- The 2019 General Elections witnessed the lowest gender gap in the history of Indian elections.
- The Elector Gender Ratio which has shown a positive trend since 1971 was 926 in the 2019 General Elections.
- The Atlas also compares the average number of electors per polling station in different states during the 2014 & 2019 General Elections.
- The Election Commission of India set up over 10 lakh polling stations in General Elections 2019 with the lowest number of electors per polling station (365) in Arunachal Pradesh.
Why was such Atlas needed?
- Since the first General Elections in 1951-52, the Commission has been publishing a compilation of electoral data in the form of narrative and statistical books.
- 17th General Elections conducted in 2019 were the largest democratic exercise in human history which witnessed the participation of 61.468 crore voters at 10.378 lakh polling stations spread over 32 lakh sq km.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Exercise EUNAVFOR
Mains level: NA
Indian Navy is participating in the maiden IN – EUNAVFOR Joint Naval Exercise in the Gulf of Aden.
Exercise EUNAVFOR
- EUNAVFOR is a multilateral naval exercise comprising of Italian Navy, Spanish Navy, and French Navy.
- Ships of the four navies will endeavor to enhance and hone their war-fighting skills and their ability as an integrated force to promote, peace, security, and stability in the maritime domain.
- EUNAVFOR and the Indian Navy converge on multiple issues including counter-piracy operations and protection of vessels deployed under the charter of the World Food Programme (UN WFP).
- Indian Navy and EUNAVFOR also have regular interaction through SHADE (Shared Awareness and De-confliction) meetings held annually in Bahrain.
- This engagement showcases increased levels of synergy, coordination, and inter-operability between India and EUNAVFOR.
- It also underscores the shared values as partner navies, in ensuring freedom of seas and commitment to an open, inclusive and rules-based international order.
Mark the nations along the Gulf of Aden:
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Regulation of social media and related issues
The article discusses the need for regulation of social media and counters against placing social media on a higher pedestal for the application of reasonable restrictions.
Social media and its regulation
- Social media is a commercial product that connects people all over the globe.
- It allows people to converse with each other through profiles both known and anonymous.
- The object is purely commercial, that is to make money.
- The fact that a commercial product could be used for a social purpose does not make the product a social good.
- The new Information Technology Rules, 2021 formulated by the Government of India attempts to bring in a minimum regulatory standard to social media.
- The present amendment to the rules is to formulate a broad and soft-touch regulation mechanism for use of the product, just like one would for a good like a car or a service like chartered accountancy.
Issues with regulation of social media
1) Immunity from content posted on platforms
- Social media companies enjoy an immunity — they are not considered responsible for the contents posted on them.
- The immunity is granted on the ground that social media is merely a platform or a sort of a glorified postbox.
- It is incorporated under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules, 2011 framed under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act.
- This protection is itself unique as it is not extended to newspapers, magazines or even websites.
- This protection is given by the government as an exceptional measure.
- The present amendment to rules only tries to update and make these rules workable considering the latest global developments.
2) Constitution allows for restriction of freedom of speech
- The Constitution itself gives us a restricted right to freedom of speech under Article 19(1)(a) and 19(2).
- The argument that social media is entitled to some form of higher protection because it exists on the internet is an untenable argument.
- The Constitution doesn’t recognise a hierarchy of rights depending on the medium through which the freedom of speech is exercised.
3) Important for political and commercial speech
- Social media has become so crucial to commercial and political speech in this country, there is an urgent need to regulate it.
- It has effectively become a public square in which the most important conversations on politics and society are discussed.
- The function of social media is clearly a public function at the lowest and as a public utility at the high end, and, therefore, automatically subject to regulation and the writ jurisdiction of the courts.
Conclusion
For all its significance and importance, social media needs to be regulated. However, the regulations should not hamper the freedom of expression and free speech.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Increasing the public spending for economic recovery
The article takes an overview of the impact of the second covid wave and suggests the need for more public spending.
Impact of reforms in recovery
- Overlapping State-level lockdowns that started in April have now lasted for almost as long as the nationwide lockdown of 2020, impacting the economy.
- Output may well have contracted in the beginning of this year.
- So, though recovery will eventually come, it could be W-shaped rather than V-shaped.
- It is asserted that the economy will recover due to the reforms planned or already implemented by the government.
- Since 1991, the term ‘reforms’ has been used to mean both policy changes that remove restrictions on private sector activity in certain areas and those that increase profits in existing lines of production.
- Recent examples of such reforms include the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan launched in 2020 and the significant lowering of corporate tax in 2019, respectively.
- However, more reforms may be ineffective in spurring recovery.
- Presently for the private sector is not undertaking investment given their expectation of the state of the economy in the near future, upon which their revenue will depend.
Public expenditure
- In February, believing that the peak of the epidemic had been crossed, the government reverted to fiscal consolidation or the paring down of the fiscal deficit.
- Accordingly, it raised its budgeted expenditure by less than 1% in the last Budget.
- But now, with a possible further contraction of the economy, to continue with the frigid fiscal stance would be disastrous.
- Data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy show that unemployment has risen in May, indicating slack demand for output.
- With this knowledge, the private sector is unlikely to respond with alacrity to liberalising reforms.
Way forward
- The objective is to revive the economy, public spending is the instrument and the funding must be found.
- It need not involve money creation.
- India’s public debt is low by comparison with the OECD countries, and debt financing remains an option.
- Even if money financing is adopted, it need not cause accelerating inflation.
- How the expansion is financed is less relevant for inflation at least in the near term.
Consider the question “Are the economic reforms enough to ensure the recovery of the economy? Also, examine the importance of public spending for economic recovery.”
Conclusion
Reforms albeit important for the economy in long run, may not be much effective in an economy battered by the pandemic. What we need is public spending and welfare measures.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Use of disruptive technologies in medical sector
The adoption of technologies such as AI and blockchain has the potential to transform the medical sector.
How new technologies can play important role in medical sector
1) Blockchain technology
- Blockchain technology can help in addressing the interoperability challenges that health information and technology systems face.
- The health blockchain would contain a complete indexed history of all medical data, including formal medical records and health data from mobile applications and wearable sensors.
- This can also be stored in a secure network and authenticated, besides helping in seamless medical attention.
2) Big data analytics
- Big data analytics can help improve patient-based services tremendously such as early disease detection.
- AI and the Internet of Medical Things, or IoMT are shaping healthcare applications.
- IoMT is defined as a connected infrastructure of medical devices, software applications, and health systems and services.
3) Medical autonomous system
- Medical autonomous systems can also improve health delivery to a great extent and their applications are focused on supporting medical care delivery in dispersed and complex environments with the help of futuristic technologies.
- This system may also include autonomous critical care system, autonomous intubation, autonomous cricothyrotomy and other autonomous interventional procedures.
4) Cloud computing
- Cloud computing is another application facilitating collaboration and data exchanges between doctors, departments, and even institutions and medical providers to enable best treatment.
Challenges
- The possible constraints in this effort are standardisation of health data, organisational silos, data security and data privacy, and also high investments.
Using technology for Universal Health Coverage
- According to the World Health Organization, Universal health coverage (UHC) is a powerful social equalizer and the ultimate expression of fairness.
- Studies by WHO show that weakly coordinated steps may lead to stand-alone information and communication technology solutions.
- India needs to own its digital health strategy that works and leads towards universal health coverage and person-centred care.
- Such a strategy should emphasise the ethical appropriateness of digital technologies, cross the digital divide, and ensure inclusion across the economy.
- ‘Ayushman Bharat’ and tools such as Information and Communication Technology could be be fine-tuned with this strategy to promote ways to protect populations.
- Online consultation should be a key part of such a strategy.
Using local knowledge
- In addition to effective national policies and robust health systems, an effective national response must also draw upon local knowledge.
- Primary health centres in India could examine local/traditional knowledge and experience and then use it along with modern technology.
Way forward
- Initial efforts in this direction should involve synchronisation and integration, developing a template for sharing data, and reengineering many of the institutional and structural arrangements in the medical sector.
- Big data applications in the health sector should help hospitals provide the best facilities and at less cost, provide a level playing field for all sectors, and foster competition.
Consider the question “Examine the role technologies such as AI and data analytics could play in the medical sector. What are the challenges in the adoption of such technologies?”
Conclusion
The above-discussed aspects highlight the potential benefits of the adoption of disruptive technologies in the healthcare system. India should embrace it while addressing the concerns with such technologies.
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