Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: The Andaman and Nicobar Command
Mains level: Paper 3- Jointness in armed forces
Context
The Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat’s recent description of the Indian Air Force (IAF) as a supporting arm and the IAF chief Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria’s rebuttal highlights turbulent journey marking the reorganisation process of the armed forces.
Issues before IAF
- The IAF is warning against splitting it into packets.
- Reports suggest that counting even ageing aircraft, the IAF is 25% short on fighter squadrons.
- A pan service shortage of about 400 pilots, almost 10% of their authorised strength, further aggravates this.
- Therefore, the IAF has a point when it warns against splitting assets, for, there may be nothing much to split.
Way forward
- Confidence building: A common understanding of the nuances of military airpower is the key.
- With the experience of operating almost every kind of aircraft the IAF operates, the naval leadership understands air power.
- This applies to the Indian Army too, in its own way.
- Confidence needs to be developed that rightly staffed apex joint organisations can draw up professional operational plans for air power.
- Enhancing military education: Confidence building will need some effort in the short term towards enhancing professional military education though, at the staff level.
- Analysis before implementation: Major reorganisations must strictly follow the sequence of written concepts, their refinement through consultation, simulation or table top war gaming, field evaluation and final analysis before implementation.
- This would help address command and control, asset adequacy, individual service roles, operational planning under new circumstances and the adequacy of joint structures.
- Who gets to lead what also matters.
- The Western Command between the Indian Army and the IAF, the Northern Command with the Indian Army, Maritime Command with the Indian Navy and the Air Defence Command with the IAF may be an acceptable formula.
Why jointness?
- With dwindling budgets, a steadily deteriorating security situation and the march of technology, the armed forces understand the need to synergise.
Challenges
- Challenges in co-existence: Different services do not co-exist well where they are colocated.
- Bitter fights over land, buildings, facilities, etc. harms optimal operational synergising.
- Allocation challenge: Then there is the issue of giving each other the best, or of wanting to be with each other.
- Lack of operational charter: The Andaman and Nicobar Command suffered from the lack of a substantial operational charter, and the services not positioning appropriate personnel or resources there.
- Lack of interest in joint tenure: As a joint tenure did not benefit career, no one strove for it.
- The U.S., when faced with the same problem, made joint tenures mandatory for promotions.
Steps to be taken
- Security strategy: We need a comprehensive National Security Strategy to guide the services develop capacities required in their respective domains.
- Professional education: We need to transform professional education and inter-service employment to nurture genuine respect for others.
- Mutual resolution of difference: The armed forces must resolve their differences among themselves, as the politicians or bureaucrats cannot do it.
- Quality staff: Good quality staff, in adequate numbers, at apex joint organisations, will help to reassure individual services and those in the field that they are in safe hands.
- Tailored approach: There is need for the acceptance of the fact that what works for other countries need not work for us.
Conclusion
We may need tailor-made solutions which may need more genuine thinking. For genuine military jointness, a genuine convergence of minds is critical.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CBAM
Mains level: Paper 3- Way forward for Indian industry after the introduction of CBAM
Context
On July 14, the European Union introduced new legislation, Fit for 55, to cut its GHG emissions by 55 per cent by 2030 and to net-zero by 2050.
Implications of Fit for 55
- Legal backing: It turns the EU’s announcement into law, protecting it from the winds of political change.
- Opportunity for India: It opens new markets for Indian industry, for example for electric vehicles.
- CBAM: However, it also introduces a potentially adverse policy called the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM).
- CBAM is meant to discourage consumers from buying carbon-intensive products and encourage producers to invest in cleaner technologies.
What is CBAM?
- The EU has had a carbon emission trading system since 2005.
- With Fit for 55, the EU’s carbon price is likely to go up.
- High carbon price will make the EU’s domestic products more expensive than imports from countries that do not have such rules.
- The new CBAM is meant to level the playing field between domestic and imported products.
- CBAM will require foreign producers to pay for the carbon emitted while manufacturing their products.
- The adjustment will be applied to energy-intensive products that are widely traded by the EU, such as iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertiliser, and electricity.
Why CBAM is a cause for concern for India?
- India is Europe’s third-largest trading partner, and it does not have its own carbon tax or cap.
- So, CBAM should be a cause for concern for it.
- A UNCTAD study predicts that India will lose $1-1.7 billion in exports of energy-intensive products such as steel and aluminium.
- India’s goods trade with the EU was $74 billion in 2020.
Way forward for Indian Industry
- Clean technology partnerships: Indian Industry should enter clean technology partnerships with European industry.
- Invest in renewables: Indian companies should invest in more renewable electricity and energy efficiency.
- Incentivise low-carbon choices: They can adopt science-based targets for emission reduction and internal carbon pricing to incentivise low-carbon choices.
- Schemes and Government financing: The government can extend the perform-achieve-trade scheme to more industries and provide finance to MSMEs to upgrade to clean technologies.
- WRI India’s analysis shows that carbon dioxide emissions from the iron and steel industry can be reduced from 900 million tonnes to 500 million tonnes in 2035 through greater electrification, green hydrogen, energy efficiency, and material efficiency.
- Diversify export: India can try to diversify its exports to other markets and products.
Consider the question “What is carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) introduced by the EU? What are its implications for Indian industry?”
Conclusion
At present, the CBAM may seem obstructionist. But over the long-term, it can provide regulatory certainty to industry by harmonising carbon prices, and Indian industry can position itself as a strong player in the trade landscape of the future.
Back2Basics: UNCTAD
- UNCTAD is a permanent intergovernmental body established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1964.
- Its headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland, and have offices in New York and Addis Ababa.
- UNCTAD is part of the UN Secretariat.
- IT report to the UN General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council but have own membership, leadership, and budget.
- It is also part of the United Nations Development Group.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SAARC countries
Mains level: Paper 2- Relevance of SAARC
Context
Despite the framework SAARC provides for cooperation amongst South Asian nations, it has remained sidelined and dormant since its 18th summit of 2014 in Kathmandu. No alternative capable of bringing together South Asian countries for mutually beneficial diplomacy has emerged.
Common challenges facing South Asia
- The region is beset with unsettled territorial disputes, as well as trans-border criminal and subversive activities and cross-border terrorism.
- The region also remains a theatre for ethnic, cultural, and religious tensions and rivalries besides a current rise in ultra-nationalism
- Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan are at loggerheads.
- US military withdrawal from Afghanistan has fuelled fears of intensification of these trends.
Significance of SAARC
- As the largest regional cooperation organisation, SAARC’s importance in stabilising and effectively transforming the region is becoming increasingly self-evident.
- SAARC is needed as institutional scaffolding to allow for the diplomacy and coordination that is needed between member-states in order to adequately address the numerous threats and challenges the region faces.
- Though SAARC’s charter prohibits bilateral issues at formal forums, SAARC summits provide a unique, informal window — the retreat — for leaders to meet without aides and chart future courses of action.
- The coming together of leaders, even at the height of tensions, in a region laden with congenital suspicions, misunderstandings, and hostility is a significant strength of SAARC that cannot be overlooked.
- In March last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi seized the Covid-19 crisis and utilised SAARC’s seal to convene a video conference of SAARC leaders.
- Such capacity to bring member-states together shows the potential power of SAARC.
What role SAARC can play in Afghanistan
- Commitment to get rid of terrorism: The third SAARC summit in 1987 adopted a Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism and updated it in 2004 with the signing of an additional protocol.
- These instruments demonstrate the collective commitment to rid the region of terror and promote regional peace, stability, and prosperity.
- Using the network of institutions: In 36 years of existence, SAARC has developed a dense network of institutions, linkages, and mechanisms.
- SAARC members are among the top troop-contributing countries to UN peacekeeping missions.
- Joint peacekeeping force: With the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, a joint peacekeeping force from the SAARC region under the UN aegis could be explored to fill the power vacuum that would otherwise be filled by terrorist and extremist forces.
Consider the question “What role SAARC can play in stabilising the region after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan? Is SAARC still relevant for the region?”
Conclusion
Allowing SAARC to become dysfunctional and irrelevant greatly distorts our ability to address the realities and mounting challenges facing SAARC nations.
Back2Basics: About SAARC
- In 1985, at the height of the Cold War, leaders of South Asian nations — namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka — created a regional forum.
- The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established with the goal of contributing “to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another’s problems.”
- Afghanistan was admitted as a member in 2007.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Census of India
Mains level: Need for and issues with Caste Census
The Ministry of Home Affairs has informed that it was decided as a matter of policy not to enumerate caste-wise population other than SCs and STs in Census.
What kind of caste data is published in the Census?
- Every Census in independent India from 1951 to 2011 has published data on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, but not on other castes.
- Before that, every Census until 1931 had data on caste.
- However, in 1941, caste-based data was collected but not published.
Why is there a demand for caste census?
- In the absence of such a census, there is no proper estimate for the population of OBCs, various groups within the OBCs, and others.
- The Mandal Commission estimated the OBC population at 52%, some other estimates have been based on National Sample Survey data.
- Some political parties make their own estimates in states and Lok Sabha and Assembly seats during elections.
How often has the demand for a caste census been made?
- It comes up before almost every Census, as records of debates and questions raised in Parliament show.
- The demand usually come from among those belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBC) and other deprived sections, while sections from the upper castes oppose the idea.
- On April 1, the constitutional body National Commission for Backward Classes urged the government to collect data on the population of OBCs “as part of Census of India 2021 exercise”.
Need for caste census
- There is a central list of OBCs and a State-specific list of OBCs.
- Some states do not have a list of OBCs; some States have a list of OBCs and a sub-set called Most Backward Classes.
- There are certain open-ended categories in the lists such as orphans and destitute children.
- Names of some castes are found in both the list of Scheduled Castes and the list of OBCs.
- Scheduled Castes converted to Christianity or Islam are also treated differently in different States.
- The status of a migrant from one State to another and the status of children of inter-caste marriage, in terms of caste classification, are also vexed questions.”
Back2Basics: Census of India
- The decennial Census of India has been conducted 15 times, as of 2011.
- While it has been undertaken every 10 years, beginning in 1872 under British Viceroy Lord Mayo, the first complete census was taken in 1881.
- Post-1949, it has been conducted by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
- All the censuses since 1951 were conducted under the 1948 Census of India Act.
- The last census was held in 2011, whilst the next was scheduled to be held in 2021.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Rudreswara Temple
Mains level: Temple architecture of India
India’s nomination of Rudreswara Temple, (also known as the Ramappa Temple) at Palampet, Mulugu district, near Warangal in the state of Telangana has been inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. This would be the 39th site in India.
Also read:
[pib] Declaration of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO
Rudreswara Temple
- The Rudreswara temple was constructed in 1213 AD during the reign of the Kakatiya Empire by Recharla Rudra, a general of Kakatiya king Ganapati Deva.
- It is also known as the Ramappa temple, after the sculptor who executed the work in the temple for 40 years.
- The main temple is flanked by the collapsed structures of the Kateshwarayya and Kameshwarayya temples in Palampet, about 220 km from Hyderabad.
- An inscription dates the temple to 1135 Samvat-Saka on the eighth day of Magha (January 12, 1214).
Its architecture
- The temple, known for its exquisite craftsmanship and delicate relief work, is a savvy blend of technical know-how and materials of its time.
- The foundation is built with the “sandbox technique”, the flooring is granite, and the pillars are basalt.
- The lower part of the temple is red sandstone while the white gopuram is built with light bricks that reportedly float on water.
- The temple complexes of Kakatiyas have a distinct style, technology, and decoration exhibiting the influence of the Kakatiyan sculptor.
- The temple stands on a 6 feet high star-shaped platform with walls, pillars, and ceilings adorned with intricate carvings that attest to the unique skill of the Kakatiyan sculptors.
- European merchants and travelers were mesmerized by the beauty of the temple and one such traveler had remarked that the temple was the “brightest star in the galaxy of medieval temples of the Deccan”.
Surviving through ages
- According to the temple priest, some of the iconography on the temple was damaged during the invasion of Malik Kafur in 1310.
- Treasure hunters vandalized the rest
- But the biggest test for the temple was an earthquake in the 17th century (one of the biggest was that of 7.7-8.2-magnitude on June 16, 1819).
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Which one of the following was a very important seaport in the Kakatiya kingdom? (CSP 2017)
(a) Kakinada
(b) Motupalli
(c) Machilipatnam (Masulipatnam)
(d) Nelluru
Back2Basics: UNESCO World Heritage Sites
- A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area, selected by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for having cultural, historical, scientific, or other forms of significance, which is legally protected by international treaties.
- The sites are judged to be important for the collective and preservative interests of humanity.
- To be selected, a WHS must be an already-classified landmark, unique in some respect as a geographically and historically identifiable place having special cultural or physical significance (such as an ancient ruin or historical structure, building, city, complex, desert, forest, island, lake, monument, mountain, or wilderness area).
- It may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humanity, and serve as evidence of our intellectual history on the planet.
- The sites are intended for practical conservation for posterity, which otherwise would be subject to risk from human or animal trespassing, unmonitored/uncontrolled/unrestricted access, or threat from local administrative negligence.
- The list is maintained by the international World Heritage Program administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 “states parties” that are elected by their General Assembly.
UNESCO World Heritage Committee
- The World Heritage Committee selects the sites to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger.
- It monitors the state of conservation of the World Heritage properties, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund, and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties.
- It is composed of 21 states parties that are elected by the General Assembly of States Parties for a four-year term.
- India is NOT a member of this Committee.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ordinance Factory
Mains level: Defence manufacturing in India
The Minister of State for Defence has introduced the Essential Defence Services Bill in the Lok Sabha.
Essential Defence Services Bill
- Essentially, the bill is aimed at preventing the staff of the government-owned ordnance factories from going on strike.
- Around 70,000 people work with the 41 ordnance factories around the country.
- It is aimed to provide for the maintenance of essential defence services so as to secure the security of the nation and the life and property of the public at large and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Why need such a bill?
- Indian Ordnance Factories is the oldest and largest industrial setup that functions under the Department of Defence Production of the Ministry of Defence.
- The ordnance factories form an integrated base for indigenous production of defence hardware and equipment, with the primary objective of self-reliance in equipping the armed forces with state-of-the-art battlefield equipment.
- It is essential that an uninterrupted supply of ordnance items to the armed forces be maintained for the defence preparedness of the country and the ordnance factories continue to function without any disruptions.
What does it allow the government to do?
- The Bill empowers the government to declare services mentioned in it as essential defence services the cessation of work of which would prejudicially affect the production of defence equipment or goods.
- It also prohibits strikes and lockouts in “any industrial establishment or unit engaged in essential defence services”.
Why does the government feel its need?
- In June the government announced the corporatization of the Ordnance Factory Board.
- The OFB was directly under the Department of Defence Production and worked as an arm of the government.
- The government has claimed that the move is aimed at improving the efficiency and accountability of these factories.
- The Bill mentioned that there is a threat, though, that the employees of these factories can go on a strike against the decision.
Also read:
Ordinance Factory Board corporatization gets Cabinet approval
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Exoplanets
Mains level: Core accretion
Scientists for the first time have spotted a Moon-forming region around an exo-planet beyond our solar system.
What are Exoplanets?
- More than 4,400 planets have been discovered outside our solar system, called exoplanets.
- Most orbit other stars, but free-floating exoplanets, called rogue planets, orbit the galactic center and are untethered to any star.
- No circumplanetary discs had been found until now because all the known exoplanets resided in “mature” – fully developed – solar systems, except the two infant gas planets orbiting PDS 70.
What is the new finding?
- The researchers have detected a disc of swirling material accumulating around one of two newborn planets.
- They were seen orbiting a young star called PDS 70, located a relatively close 370 light-years from Earth.
- It is called a circumplanetary disc, and it is from these those moons are born.
- The discovery offers a deeper understanding of the formation of planets and moons.
Focus of the finding: Formation of disc
- In our solar system, the impressive rings of Saturn, a planet around which more than 80 moons orbit, represent a relic of a primordial moon-forming disc.
- The orange-colored star PDS 70, roughly the same mass as our Sun, is about 5 million years old– a blink of the eye in cosmic time.
- The two planets are even younger. Both planets are similar (although larger) to Jupiter, a gas giant.
- It was around one of the two planets, called PDS 70c, that a Moon-forming disc was observed.
Observing birth of a moon: Core Accretion
- Stars burst to life within clouds of interstellar gas and dust scattered throughout galaxies.
- Leftover material spinning around a new star then coalesces into planets, and circumplanetary discs surrounding some planets similarly yield moons.
- The dominant mechanism thought to underpin planet formation is called “core accretion”.
- In this scenario, small dust grains, coated in ice, gradually grow to larger and larger sizes through successive collisions with other grains.
- This continues until the grains have grown to a size of a planetary core, at which point the young planet has a strong enough gravitational potential to accrete gas which will form its atmosphere.
- Some nascent planets attract a disc of material around them, with the same process that gives rise to planets around a star leading to the formation of moons around planets.
- The disc around PDS 70c, with a diameter about equal to the distance of the Earth to the sun, possesses enough mass to produce up to three moons the size of Earth’s moon.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Gatekeeper Model
Mains level: Prison reforms in India
In a bid to prevent suicides triggered by mental health issues in prisons across the country, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, has recommended the “Gatekeeper Model”.
What is the ‘Gatekeeper Model’?
- It is a model where selected inmates, trained to identify prisoners at risk of suicide, would refer them to treatment or supportive services.
- Prisoners with mental disorders will be regularly assessed for the severity of the suicidal risk and also put on regular and supervised medication.
- To address the prisoner’s mental health needs, the correctional facility would have links to community-based initiatives like the District Mental Health Programme.
Buddy system
- The concept of a ‘Buddy System’ — social support through trained prisoners called “buddies” or “listeners” — was found to have a good impact on the well-being of suicidal prisoners.
- Periodic telephone conversations with friends and family would also foster support.
Why such a move?
- Emphasizing the mental health of prisoners, the Ministry said incarcerated people could face many vulnerabilities during the pandemic, which might impact their mental wellbeing.
- The prison staff was also working under tremendous pressure and faced challenges in performing their duty while safeguarding themselves from contracting the infection.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SEZs
Mains level: Not Much
Key Highlights of the report
- If India is to become a US $5 trillion economy by 2025, then the current environment of manufacturing competitiveness and services has to undergo a basic paradigm shift.
- The report notes that the success seen by services sectors like IT and ITES (IT enabled services) has to be promoted in other services sector like health care, financial services, legal, repair and design services.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: FAANG
Mains level: Paper 3- Importance of tech start-ups.
Context
In the US, the Big Tech FAANG five are Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google (now Alphabet). Today, in India, Zomato’s stock market debut is a big occasion for India that could pave the path for other online successes.
Significance for economy
- It is the first among a host of domestic unicorns to have taken the IPO road, heralding a watershed moment.
- Boost for startups: It is also also a big leap for our country as a whole, which today boasts of the third largest start-up ecosystem in the world.
- Creation of online ecosystem: The response to Zomato’s initial public offer (IPO) gave us interesting insights into the robustness of the online economy in a pandemic-stricken world.
- Help creation of tech-giants: It could alter the composition as well as perception of markets, giving Indian investors a feel of new-generation, tech-heavy, assets-light and agile entrepreneurial growth stories, woven around the consumer internet ecosystem in India.
- Attracting FDI: With global liquidity at unprecedented levels and tech being the toast of the season, we could be looking at FDI inflows in unforeseen proportion in days to come.
- The ascent of new-age enterprises like Zomato and Paytm on the Stock Market, followed by likes of Oyo, Ola, Swiggy, Byju’s and even Flipkart could signal the emergence of India’s own FAANG family.
What sets the tech startups apart?
- Their reliance on big data and leveraging of ever-evolving technology, while sustaining a two-way connection with clients set them apart.
- The ‘stickiness’ and the ‘connect’ built over the years through carefully fabricated social layers puts them in the league of giant social media influencers.
- During the last few decades, two distinctive traits that have the potential to push the boundaries of limitations are the creation of a large talent pool and India’s prowess in software and data (including AI/ML) technology, both on a global scale.
Conclusion
As we celebrate 30 years of economic reforms, today’s debut, at least for the markets and the economy, may well be called India’s re-tryst with destiny.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 21
Mains level: Paper 2- Biocentric jurisprudence
Context
In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court of India has sought to move away from an anthropocentric basis of law.
Biocentrism Vs. Anthropocentrism
- Anthropocentrism argues that of all the species on earth humans are the most significant and that all other resources on earth may be justifiably exploited for the benefit of human beings.
- The philosophy of biocentrism holds that the natural environment has its own set of rights which is independent of its ability to be exploited by or to be useful to humans.
- Biocentrism often comes into conflict with anthropocentrism.
Supreme Court of India upholds biocentric principles
- The Great Indian Bustard is a gravely endangered species, with hardly about 200 alive in India today.
- The overhead power lines have become a threat to the life of these species as these birds frequently tend to collide with these power lines and get killed.
- Recently, the Supreme Court in M.K. Ranjitsinh & Others vs Union of India & Others, said that in all cases where the overhead lines in power projects exist, the governments of Rajasthan and Gujarat shall take steps forthwith to install bird diverters.
- In protecting the birds, the Court has affirmed and emphasised the biocentric values of eco-preservation.
- A noteworthy instance of the application of anthropocentrism in the legal world is in that of the “Snail darter” case in the United States.
- The Supreme Court of the United States of America in Tennessee Valley Authority vs Hill, had held that since the “Snail darter” fish was a specifically protected species under the Act, the executive could not proceed with the reservoir project.
Human role in extinction of species
- About 50 years ago, there were 4,50,000 lions in Africa. Today, there are hardly 20,000.
- Indiscriminate monoculture farming in the forests of Borneo and Sumatra is leading to the extinction of orangutans.
- Rhinos are hunted for the so-called medicinal value of their horns and are slowly becoming extinct.
- From the time humans populated Madagascar about 2,000 years ago, about 15 to 20 species of Lemurs, which are primates, have become extinct.
- The compilation prepared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists about 37,400 species that are gravely endangered; and the list is ever growing.
Evolution of Right of Nature laws in Constitutions
- Pieces of legislation are slowly evolving that fall in the category of the “Right of Nature laws”.
- These seek to travel away from an anthropocentric basis of law to a biocentric one.
- The Constitution of India is significantly silent on any explicitly stated, binding legal obligations we owe to our fellow species and to the environment that sustains us.
- It is to the credit of the Indian judiciary that it interpreted the enduring principles of sustainable development and read them, inter alia, into the precepts of Article 21 of the Constitution.
- In September 2008, Ecuador became the first country in the world to recognise “Rights of Nature” in its Constitution.
- Bolivia has also joined the movement by establishing Rights of Nature laws too.
- In November 2010, the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania became the first major municipality in the United States to recognise the Rights of Nature.
- These laws, like the Constitution of the countries that they are part of, are still works in progress.
Conclusion
In times like this the Supreme Court’s judgment in M.K. Ranjithsinh upholding the biocentric principles of coexistence is a shot in the arm for nature conservation. One does hope that the respective governments implement the judgment of the Court.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Gulf of Hormuz
Mains level: Paper 3- Leveraging advantageous geography to counter China
Context
The Chinese are about to extend their geographical advantage by building a new high-speed rail from Chengdu, running close by and parallel to the Arunachal border, up to Lhasa.
Manpower and Defence Budget: Comparison with China
- The Indian army, according to diverse sources, numbers between 12,50,000 and 14,00,000 officers and men.
- Chinese PLA actually has only 9,75,000 officers and men.
- They have downsized their army.
- China is an aspiring world power that spends $252 billion on its defence budget, as compared to $72.9 billion that India spends.
- Both countries limit their budget to around 2 per cent of their GDP, which in China’s case is five times our size.
Why does India need to reduce manpower in defense?
- Expensive: A major portion of the budget is spent on manpower, 81 percent of the army budget goes into manpower and maintenance. Gradually, manpower is going to get increasingly expensive.
- Also, our strategic options get constrained because the army gets 61 percent of the defense budget.
- We need to downsize the army by 2,00,000 men over five years through retirement and reduced recruitment.
- The reduction in manpower will save approximately Rs 30,000 crore, which can be equally divided between the three services.
Way forward: Bigger role to navy and air force
- We can achieve better conventional deterrence against China by giving bigger roles to the navy and air force.
- The first step is to accept that we are an asymmetric power and leverage the RMA (Revolution in Military Affairs) so that numerical inferiority is of no consequence.
- They are invulnerable on land, and their only strategic weakness is their reliance on the Indian Ocean SLOCs (sea lines of communications) for 70 percent of their imported oil.
- The only guarantee of Chinese non-aggression and good behavior is a well-crafted threat to their oil tankers and a complete naval mastery of the escalation that is bound to follow.
- India can also leverage the QUAD resources in various ways such as information.
- Build up the Car Nicobar airfield into a full-fledged airbase.
- We could negotiate with Oman for the use of the old RAF airbase at Masirah to dominate the Gulf of Hormuz and threaten the Chinese base at Djibouti.
Conclusion
China cannot be countered by throwing expensive manpower at the problem, but only by shifting the battlespace to advantageous geography, by a united navy and air force effort, while a technically advanced army holds the Himalayan border.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Secret Ballot
Mains level: Secrecy of Vote and its significance
The Supreme Court has again held that in any election, be it to Parliament or State legislature, the maintenance of secrecy of voting is “a must”.
What is the Secret Vote?
- The secret vote/ secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter’s choices in an election or a referendum are anonymous.
- It aims for forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote-buying.
- The system is one means of achieving the goal of political privacy.
What did the Supreme Court rule?
- Secrecy is a part of the fundamental right of freedom of expression.
- The confidentiality of choice strengthens democracy.
- The principle of secrecy of ballots is an important postulate of constitutional democracy, the court said.
- It is the policy of the law to protect the right of voters to the secrecy of the ballot.
- Even a remote or distinct possibility that a voter can be forced to disclose for whom she has voted would act as a positive constraint and a check on the freedom to exercise of the franchise.
Voter’s discretion is allowed
- A voter can also voluntarily waive the privilege of non-disclosure.
- The privilege ends when the voter decides to waive the privilege and instead volunteers to disclose to whom she had voted.
- Nor can a complaint be entertained from any, including the person who wants to keep the voter’s mouth sealed as to why she disclosed for whom she voted said the court.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Gross Environment Product (GEP)
Mains level: GEP vs GDP
The Uttarakhand government recently announced it will initiate valuation of its natural resources in the form of ‘Gross Environment Product’ (GEP), said to be along the lines of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Why such a move?
- The idea of the valuation of the components of the environment is not new.
- But it got impetus following rapid degradation of ecosystems, which led to adverse impacts on more than 60 percent of services we get from the ecosystems.
What is Gross Environment Product (GEP)?
- GEP is the measure of ecosystem services of any area.
- It reflects the aggregated annual value of goods and services provided by ecosystems (forests, water bodies, oceans, etc.) to people in a given region, such as at district levels, state, and country.
- It entails the establishment of a natural capital accounting framework by integrating ecological benefits into common measures of economic growth such as GDP.
- It summarizes the value of ecosystem services in a single monetary metric.
Evolution of GEP
- The term “ecosystem services” was coined in 1981 to attract academics towards this aspect.
- Ecosystem services represent the benefits humans get: Forests, lakes, and grasslands; timber and dyed; carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling; soil formation and productivity; and tourism.
- The definition is still in the process of evolution. The concept received attention and now is part of global knowledge.
Advantages offered
- GEP can be applied as a scientific basis for Eco-Compensation and public financial transfers.
- For example, Finance Commission’s revenue-sharing formula between the Union and the states including forest cover as a determining factor in a state’s share.
- GEP can be applied to measure the status of ecosystem services, which is an important indicator of sustainable development.
- It is also a critical indicator for measuring the progress of Eco-civilization.
- Its implementation can help assess the impact of anthropological pressure on our ecosystem and natural resources- air, water, soil, forests.
The Himalayan context
- The Himalayas contribute substantially to the sustainability of the Gangetic Plains where 500 million people live.
- The Union government incorporated the value of ecosystem services of its states in national accounting.
- According to the recommendation of the 12th and 13th Finance Commissions, grants were transferred to forest-rich states in amounts corresponding to their forest covers.
- However, considering only the forest cover in transferring funds to states is inadequate.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Right to be Forgotten
Mains level: Right to Privacy Issues
A TV celebrity has approached the Delhi High Court with a plea saying that his videos, photographs, and articles, etc. be removed from the internet citing his “Right to be Forgotten”.
What is the plea about?
- The plea mentions that the posts and videos on the internet related to him have caused the petitioner psychological pain for his diminutive acts.
- The plea also states that the petitioner’s mistakes in his personal life become and remains in public knowledge for generations to come.
- Consequently, the values enshrined under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and the emergent jurisprudential concept of the Right to be Forgotten becomes extremely relevant in the present case.”
What is the ‘Right to be Forgotten’ in the Indian context?
- The Right to be Forgotten falls under the purview of an individual’s right to privacy, which is governed by the Personal Data Protection Bill that is yet to be passed by Parliament.
- In 2017, the Right to Privacy was declared a fundamental right by the Supreme Court in its landmark verdict.
What does the Personal Data Protection Bill say about this?
- The Personal Data Protection Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 11, 2019, and it aims to set out provisions meant for the protection of the personal data of individuals.
- Clause 20 under Chapter V of this draft bill titled “Rights of Data Principal” mentions the “Right to be Forgotten.”
- It states that the “data principal (the person to whom the data is related) shall have the right to restrict or prevent the continuing disclosure of his personal data by a data fiduciary”.
- Therefore, broadly, under the Right to be forgotten, users can de-link, limit, delete or correct the disclosure of their personal information held by data fiduciaries.
- A data fiduciary means any person, including the State, a company, any juristic entity, or any individual who alone or in conjunction with others determines the purpose and means of the processing of personal data.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Security Council (NSC)
Mains level: Not Much
The budgetary allocation for the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) increased 10 times from ₹33.17 crores in 2016-17 to ₹333.58 crores in 2017-18.
National Security Council (NSC)
- The NSC is an executive government agency tasked with advising the Prime Minister’s Office on matters of national security and strategic interest.
- It was established by the former PM of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 19 November 1998, with Brajesh Mishra as the first National Security Advisor.
- Prior to the formation of the NSC, these activities were overseen by the Principal Secretary to the preceding Prime Minister.
Members
- Besides the NSA the Deputy National Security Advisors, the Ministers of Defence, External Affairs, Home, Finance of the Government of India, and the Vice Chairman of the NITI Aayog are members of the National Security Council.
- PM can chair the meeting of NSC (for eg – PM chaired the meeting of NSC Post Pulwama to discuss heightened tension with Pakistan).
- Other members may be invited to attend its monthly meetings, as and when is required.
Organizational structure
- The NSC is the apex body of the three-tiered structure of the national security management system in India.
- The three tiers are the Strategic Policy Group, the National Security Advisory Board, and a secretariat from the Joint Intelligence Committee.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PLFS
Mains level: Unemployment in India
The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Annual Report for July, 2019 to June 2020 was recently released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).
Periodic Labour Force Survey
- Considering the importance of the availability of labor force data at more frequent time intervals, National Statistical Office (NSO) launched PLFS in April 2017.
- The objective of PLFS is primarily twofold:
- to estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators (viz. Worker Population Ratio, Labour Force Participation Rate, Unemployment Rate) in the short time interval of three months for the urban areas only in the Current Weekly Status (CWS).
- to estimate employment and unemployment indicators in both ‘Usual Status’ and CWS in both rural and urban areas annually.
Various dimensions of the survey
The PLFS gives estimates of Key employment and unemployment Indicators:
- Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): LFPR is defined as the percentage of persons in the labor force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population.
- Worker Population Ratio (WPR): WPR is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population.
- Unemployment Rate (UR): UR is defined as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labor force.
- Activity Status- Usual Status: When the activity status is determined on the basis of the reference period of the last 365 days preceding the date of the survey, it is known as the usual activity status of the person.
- Activity Status- Current Weekly Status (CWS): The activity status determined on the basis of a reference period of the last 7 days preceding the date of the survey is known as the CWS of the person.
Highlights of the third report
- The Labour force participation ratio has increased to 40.1% in 2019-20 from 37.5% and 36.9%, respectively, in the last two years.
- Worker population rate improved to 38.2% in 2019-20 compared with 35.3% in 2018-19 and 34.7% in 2017-18.
- The unemployment rate fell to 4.8% in 2019-20. In 2018-19, it stood at 5.8% and 6.1% in 2017-18.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Labour force participation rate
Mains level: Paper 3- Challenges in easing the monetary policy
Context
Economic-policy discussions increasingly revolve around the question of when and how quickly central banks should pull back the uber-stimulus measures implemented last year in response to the pandemic.
Why withdrawal is challenging?
- Uncertainties: Both parts of the question (when and how) call for finely balanced judgment to account for uncertainties that are in play.
- Policy changes by major central banks can have far-reaching implications for economic and financial well-being, affecting not just those directly involved but also the many nations.
- To answer the question, an assessment of three current issues is required:
- The labor market.
- The surge in inflation.
- The risk of not being able to recover quickly in the event of a policy mistake.
Let’s look into these three issues
1) Labour market puzzle
- Despite massive demand, the labor market is unable to match unemployed workers to jobs.
- The situation is particularly stark in the US.
- Job data for April show that there are a record number of job openings in the US—more than nine million—labor-force participation remains stubbornly low, and unemployment high, compared to pre-pandemic levels.
- The labor market’s persistent malfunctioning—particularly employers’ struggle to find employees—is likely to lead to higher wage growth, a possibility that fuels concern about the second issue-inflation.
2) Inflation: Is it transitory or long-lasting?
- There is a view that the current uptick in inflation will sharply reverse itself.
- As the year progresses, it is expected that the base effect will wash out together with the supply and demand mismatches.
- However, there is a possibility of supply bottlenecks, changes in supply chains, and lasting inventory management challenges.
3) Policy challenges: To act or not to act
- Policymakers must be mindful of the risks associated with any given course of action—including inaction.
- In the face of such uncertainty, it is wise to ask not just what could go wrong but also what the consequences of a policy mistake would be.
- Under the current conditions, a wrong move could have far-reaching, lasting effects.
- Those favoring a continuation of loose monetary policies argue that central bankers still have tools to overcome inflation should it persist.
- But as the opponents are quick to point out, those tools have become increasingly ineffective and difficult to calibrate.
- The risk of inaction (or inertia) in this case may be larger than that of acting early.
Options with systemically important central banks
- In the case of the US, economic growth is buoyant, fiscal policy is also extremely expansionary, and businesses and households alike have significant accumulated savings that they will now be spending down.
- The conditions are now ripe for the Fed to start reducing—gradually and carefully—its bond-buying program from its current rate of $120 billion per month.
- The European Central Bank, however, is in a different position.
- While eurozone growth is picking up, the level of financial support is not as strong as in the US, and the private-sector recovery is not as advanced.
- The hardest case to call in the UK.
- With growth, fiscal support, and the private sector’s prospects more finely balanced.
- Other central bankers around the world also have an important role to play.
- Central bankers elsewhere should be running their own scenario analyses and formulating appropriate response plans.
Conclusion
There is nothing wrong with hoping that three systemically important central banks will get to their destination smoothly. But the journey is far from over, and the risk of someone slipping is not negligible.
Back2Basics: Labour force participation rate
- The labor force participation rate is a measure of an economy’s active workforce.
- The formula for the number is the sum of all workers who are employed or actively seeking employment divided by the total noninstitutionalized, civilian working-age population.
- Used in conjunction with the unemployment numbers, it offers some perspective into the state of the economy.
Source:
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/withdrawal-symptoms-central-banking-fast-and-slow/2295940/
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Right to Privacy
Mains level: Surveillance related issues
After alleged WhatsApp snooping cases the government has claimed that all interception in India takes place lawfully.
Try this question in the comment box:
Q.There should be some reasonable basis or some tangible evidence to initiate or seek approval for interception by State authorities. Critically comment with respect to individual privacy and surveillance laws in India. (250W)
What are the laws covering surveillance in India?
Communication surveillance in India takes place primarily under two laws:
- Telegraph Act, 1885: It deals with interception of calls.
- Information Technology Act, 2000: It was enacted to deal with surveillance of all electronic communication, following the Supreme Court’s intervention in 1996.
[I] Telegraph Act, 1885
- Call interception: Under Section 5(2) of this law, the government can intercept calls only in certain situations.
- For sovereignty: They include the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states or public order, or for preventing incitement to the commission of an offense.
- Free speech restrictions: These are the same restrictions imposed on free speech under Article 19(2) of the Constitution.
- Exceptions for journalists: A provision in Section 5(2) states that even this lawful interception cannot take place against journalists.
Supreme Court intervention
- In Public Union for Civil Liberties v Union of India (1996), the Supreme Court pointed out the lack of procedural safeguards in the provisions of the Telegraph Act.
- The court noted that authorities engaging in interception were not even maintaining adequate records and logs on an interception.
- It noted that- tapping is a serious invasion of an individual’s privacy.
- The Supreme Court’s guidelines formed the basis of introducing Rule 419A in the Telegraph Rules in 2007 and later in the rules prescribed under the IT Act in 2009.
- Rule 419A states that a Secretary in the MHA can pass orders of interception in the case of the Centre, and a secretary-level officer who is in charge of the Home Department can issue such directives in States.
[II] IT Act, 2000
- Electronic surveillance: Section 69 of the IT Act and the IT (Procedure for Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring, and Decryption of Information) Rules, 2009 were enacted to further the legal framework for electronic surveillance.
- Data interception: Under the IT Act, all electronic transmission of data can be intercepted.
- Section 69 of the IT Act adds another aspect that makes it broader — interception, monitoring, and decryption of digital information “for the investigation of an offense”.
Identifying the gaps
- In 2012, the Planning Commission was tasked with identifying the gaps in laws affecting privacy.
- It pointed out divergence in-laws on permitted grounds, “type of interception”, “granularity of information that can be intercepted”, the degree of assistance from service providers, and the “destruction and retention” of intercepted material.
- Although the grounds of selecting a person for surveillance and the extent of information gathering have to be recorded in writing, the wide reach of these laws has not been tested in court against the cornerstone of fundamental rights.
Only inference: Right to Privacy is not absolute
- Only in such exceptional circumstances, however, can an individual’s right to privacy be superseded to protect the national interest.
- In today’s times, when fake news and illegal activities such as cyber terrorism on the dark web are on the rise, the importance of reserving such powers to conduct surveillance cannot be undermined.
What is our concern?
- For Pegasus-like spyware to be used lawfully, the government would have to invoke both the IT Act and the Telegraph Act.
- There is no comprehensive data protection law leaving ambiguities over several laws.
- A comprehensive data protection law to address the gaps in existing frameworks for surveillance is yet to enact.
What should be the basis for surveillance?
- There should be some reasonable basis or some tangible evidence to initiate or seek approval for interception by State authorities.
- Any action without such evidence or basis would be struck down by courts as arbitrary, or invasive of one’s right to privacy.
- Any digression from the ethical and legal parameters set by law would be tantamount to a deliberate invasion of citizens’ privacy and make India a surveillance state.
Way forward
- The security of a device becomes one of the fundamental bedrock of maintaining user trust as society becomes more and more digitized.
- There is an urgent need to take up this issue seriously by constituting an independent high-level inquiry with credible members and experts that can restore confidence and conduct its proceedings transparently.
Conclusion
- We must recognize that national security starts with securing the smartphones of every single Indian by embracing technologies such as encryption rather than deploying spyware.
- This is a core part of our fundamental right to privacy.
- This intrusion by spyware is not merely an infringement of the rights of the citizens of the country but also a worrying development for India’s national security apparatus.
Back2Basics: Right to Privacy
- Right to Privacy can be defined as:
- a right to be let alone;
- the right of a person to be free from any unwarranted publicity;
- the right to live without any unwarranted interference by the public in matters with which the public is not necessarily concerned”.
- Article 21 states that “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty.
- The right to privacy is not enumerated as a Fundamental Right in the Constitution of India.
- After reading Article 21, it has been interpreted that the term ‘life’ includes all those aspects of life which go to make a man’s life meaningful, complete, and worth living.
- The scope of this right first came up for consideration in Kharak Singh’s Case which was concerned with the validity of certain regulations that permitted surveillance of suspects.
- The 1978’s judgment in Maneka Gandhi Case established the new doctrine that the distinct fundamental rights are not carved out from each other but overlap paving way for the Right to Privacy.
- The latest interpretation included the Naz Foundation Case (2009) in which Delhi HC gave the landmark decision on consensual homosexuality.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Digital Rupee
Mains level: Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is working toward a “phased implementation strategy” of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
Do you know?
China’s digital RMB was the first digital currency to be issued by a major economy.
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
- The phrase CBDC has been used to refer to various proposals involving digital currency issued by a central bank.
- They are also called digital fiat currencies or digital base money.
- The present concept of CBDCs was directly inspired by Bitcoin, but a CBDC is different from virtual currency and cryptocurrency.
- Cryptocurrencies are not issued by a state and lack the legal tender status declared by the government.
Why India needs a digital rupee?
- Online transactions: India is a leader in digital payments, but cash remains dominant for small-value transactions.
- High currency in circulation: India has a fairly high currency-to-GDP ratio.
- Cost of currency management: An official digital currency would reduce the cost of currency management while enabling real-time payments without any inter-bank settlement.
Features of CBDC
- High-security instrument: CBDC is a high-security digital instrument; like paper banknotes, it is a means of payment, a unit of account, and a store of value.
- Uniquely identifiable: And like paper currency, each unit is uniquely identifiable to prevent counterfeit.
- Liability of central bank: It is a liability of the central bank just as physical currency is.
- Transferability: It’s a digital bearer instrument that can be stored, transferred, and transmitted by all kinds of digital payment systems and services.
Various benefits offered
- It is efficient than printing notes (cost of printing, transporting, and storing paper currency)
- It reduces the risk of transactions
- It makes tax collection transparent
- Prevents money laundering
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