Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Issues with school education in India
Context
Proportion of children attending the government schools has been on the decline. This has several implications.
Issues with school education in India
- A quality, free and regular school education represents our most potent infrastructure of opportunity, a fundamental duty of the state.
- Meritocracy represents the idea that people should advance based on their talents and efforts.
- But India’s meritocracy is sabotaged by flailing government schools.
- The proportion of India’s children attending a government school has now declined to 45 per cent.
- This number is 85 per cent in America, 90 per cent in England, and 95 per cent in Japan.
- India’s 100 per cent plus school enrolment masks challenges; a huge dropout ratio and poor learning outcomes.
- We have too many schools and 4 lakh have less than 50 students (70 per cent of schools in Rajasthan, Karnataka, J&K, and Uttarakhand).
- China has similar total student numbers with 30 per cent of our school numbers.
It is not Government Vs. Private schools
- Demand for better government schools is not an argument against private schools.
- Because, without this market response to demand, the post-1947 policy errors in primary education would have been catastrophic for India’s human capital.
Way forward
- We need the difficult reforms of governance, performance management, and English instruction.
- Governance must shift from control of resources to learning outcomes; learning design, responsiveness, teacher management, community relationships, integrity, fair decision making, and financial sustainability.
- Performance management, currently equated with teacher attendance, needs evaluation of scores, skills, competence and classroom management. Scores need continuous assessments or end-of-year exams.
- The new world of work redefines employability to include the 3Rs of reading, writing, and arithmetic and a fourth R of relationships.
- India’s farm to non-farm transition is not happening to factories but to sales and customer services which need 4R competency and English awareness.
- English instruction is about bilingualism, higher education pathways, and employability.
- Employment outcomes are 50 per cent higher for kids with English familiarity because of higher geographic mobility, sector mobility, role eligibility, and entrance exam ease.
- India’s constitution wrote Education Policy into Lists I (Centre), II (State), and III (concurrent jurisdiction); this fragmentation needs revisiting because it tends to concentrate decisions that should be made locally in Delhi or state capitals.
Conclusion
Government needs urgent measure to addreess the issues which has bearing on its future.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Shah Bano Case, Article 44
Mains level: Need for UCC
Favouring the introduction of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), the Delhi High Court has said the Indian youth need not be forced to struggle with issues arising due to conflicts in various personal laws in relation to marriage and divorce.
Why did the HC promote this idea?
- The modern Indian society was gradually becoming homogenous, the traditional barriers of religion, community and caste are slowly dissipating said the Delhi HC.
- The youth of India is often forced to struggle with issues arising due to conflicts in various personal laws, especially in relation to marriage and divorce.
Shah Bano reference
- In the Shah Bano case, the apex court had said that a common civil code would help the cause of national integration by removing disparate loyalties to laws having conflicting ideologies.
- It had also observed that the State was charged with the duty of securing UCC for the citizens of the country.
What is a Uniform Civil Code?
- A UCC is one that would provide for one law for the entire country, applicable to all religious communities in their personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption etc.
- Article 44, one of the directive principles of the Constitution lays down that the state shall endeavour to secure a UCC for the citizens throughout the territory of India.
- These, as defined in Article 37, are not justiciable (not enforceable by any court) but the principles laid down therein are fundamental in governance.
Why need UCC?
- UCC would provide equal status to all citizens
- It would promote gender parity in Indian society.
- UCC would accommodate the aspirations of the young population who imbibe liberal ideology.
- Its implementation would thus support the national integration.
Issues with UCC
- There are practical difficulties due to religious and cultural diversity in India.
- The UCC is often perceived by the minorities as an encroachment on religious freedom.
- It is often regarded as interference of the state in personal matters of the minorities.
- Experts often argue that the time is not ripe for Indian society to embrace such UCC.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Delimitation of constituencies
Mains level: Jammu and Kashmir after reorganization
The Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission has completed its consultation with various and stated that it would base its final report on the 2011 Census to add at least seven more seats to the 83-member Assembly of the erstwhile state.
Agenda for delimitation
- Delimitation will be conducted on the basis of the 2011 census report. This assumes significance because the last delimitation exercise was conducted 26 years ago in 1995, and that too was based on the census of 1981.
- Apart from the demographics indicated in the Census, the commission will also take into account practicality, geographical compatibility, topography, physical features, means of communication and convenience available.
- Twenty-four seats that are reserved for Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) would not be delimited in this process. This further makes the delimitation exercise relevant because some political parties argue, that this freeze has created inequity for the Jammu region.
- The commission will also specify the number of seats to be reserved for the SC and the ST communities in the UT. This is important because despite having a sizeable tribal population, no seats had ever been reserved in the past for the Scheduled Tribes in Jammu and Kashmir.
- A draft report will be prepared and put in the public domain for consensus and feedback. Only after the fresh comments, the final draft will be prepared.
What is Delimitation and why is it needed?
- Delimitation is the act of redrawing boundaries of an Assembly or Lok Sabha seat to represent changes in population over time.
- This exercise is carried out by a Delimitation Commission, whose orders have the force of law and cannot be questioned before any court.
- The objective is to redraw boundaries (based on the data of the last Census) in a way so that the population of all seats, as far as practicable, be the same throughout the State.
- Aside from changing the limits of a constituency, the process may result in a change in the number of seats in a state.
How often has delimitation been carried out in J&K?
- Delimitation exercises in J&K in the past have been slightly different from those in the rest of the country because of the region’s special status — which was scrapped by the Centre in August 2019.
- Until then, the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats in J&K was governed by the Constitution of India, but the delimitation of the state’s Assembly was governed by the J&K Constitution and J&K Representation of the People Act, 1957.
- Assembly seats in J&K were delimited in 1963, 1973 and 1995.
- The last exercise was conducted by the Justice (retired) K K Gupta Commission when the state was under President’s Rule and was based on the 1981 census, which formed the basis of the state elections in 1996.
- There was no census in the state in 1991 and no Delimitation Commission was set up by the state government after the 2001 census as the J&K Assembly passed a law putting a freeze until 2026.
Why is it in the news again?
- After the abrogation of J&K’s special status in 2019, the delimitation of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in the newly-created UT would be as per the provisions of the Indian Constitution.
- On March 6, 2020, the government set up the Delimitation Commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, which was tasked with winding up delimitation in J&K in a year.
- As per the J&K Reorganization Bill, the number of Assembly seats in J&K would increase from 107 to 114, which is expected to benefit the Jammu region.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)
Mains level: Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)
Fearing any surge in coronavirus cases in the national capital, which is witnessing a decline in cases of infection, the Delhi government has chalked out the ‘Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).’
Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)
- In 2014, when a study by the WHO found that Delhi was the most polluted city in the world, panic spread in the Centre and the state government.
- Approved by the Supreme Court in 2016, the plan was formulated after several meetings that the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) held with state government and experts.
- The result was a plan that institutionalized measures to be taken when air quality deteriorates.
- GRAP also works as an emergency measure.
- It includes strict measures such as a ban on the entry of heavy vehicles, the odd-even road rationing restrictions, and a halt of construction work – each of which is likely to be impractical at a time when the pandemic has exacted heavy economic costs and public transport has been seen as an infection risk.
For covid purposes
- This time, it was decided to notify the GRAP that will “objectively and transparently” ensure an “institutional and automatic” response with regards to enforcement measures, lockdowns and unlock activities.
- The plan was prepared in comparison with ascent data of the four waves at specific positivity rates of 0.5%, 1%, 2% and 5% and also considered on the basis of the earlier four waves.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Avicennia marina
Mains level: Mangroves and their significance
Scientists at the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) have reported for the first time a reference-grade whole genome sequence of a highly salt-tolerant and salt-secreting true-mangrove species Avicennia Marina.
Avicennia marina
- Avicennia marina is one of the most prominent mangroves species found in all mangrove formations in India.
- It is a salt-secreting and extraordinarily salt-tolerant mangrove species that grows optimally in 75% seawater and tolerates >250% seawater.
- It is among the rare plant species, which can excrete 40% of the salt through the salt glands in the leaves, besides its extraordinary capacity to exclude salt entry to the roots.
Why in news?
- The A. marina genome assembled in this study is nearly complete and can be considered as a reference-grade genome reported so far for any mangrove species globally and the first report from India.
- This study assumes significance as agriculture productivity globally is affected due to abiotic stress factors such as limited water availability and salinization of soil and water.
Its significance
- Availability of water is a significant challenge to crop production in dryland areas, accounting for ~40 per cent of the world’s total land area.
- Salinity is prevalent in ~900 million hectares globally (with an estimated 6.73 million ha in India), and it is estimated to cause an annual loss of 27 billion USD.
- The genomic resources generated in the study will pave the way for researchers to study the potential of the identified genes for developing drought and salinity tolerant varieties of important crop species.
- This is particularly important for the coastal region as India has 7,500m of coastline and two major island systems.
Try these PYQs:
Q.Which one of the following is the correct sequence of ecosystems in the order of decreasing productivity? (CSP 2013)
(a) Oceans, lakes, grasslands, mangroves
(b) Mangroves, oceans, grasslands, lakes
(c) Mangroves, grasslands, lakes, oceans
(d) Oceans, mangroves, lakes, grasslands
Q.The 2004 Tsunami made people realize that mangroves can serve as a reliable safety hedge against coastal calamities. How do mangroves function as a safety hedge? (CSP 2011)
(a) The mangrove swamps separate the human settlements from the sea by a wide zone in which people neither live nor venture out
(b) The mangroves provide both food and medicines which people are in need of after any natural disaster
(c) The mangrove trees are tall with dense canopies and serve as an excellent shelter during a cyclone or tsunami
(d) The mangrove trees do not get uprooted by storms and tides because of their extensive roots.
Back2Basics: Mangroves
- A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water.
- Mangroves occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics, mainly between latitudes 30° N and 30° S, with the greatest mangrove area within 5° of the equator.
- Mangroves are salt-tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to live in harsh coastal conditions.
- They contain a complex salt filtration system and complex root system to cope with salt water immersion and wave action.
- They are adapted to the low-oxygen conditions of waterlogged mud.
- They are a unique group of species found in marshy intertidal estuarine regions and survive a high degree of salinity through several adaptive mechanisms.
- They form a link between marine and terrestrial ecosystems, protect shorelines, provide habitat for a diverse array of terrestrial organisms.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: India Industrial Land Bank (IILB)
Mains level: Not Much
The GIS Enabled Land Bank is gaining immense popularity.
Try to answer this question in short:
Q.Discuss the benefits of digitizing land records in India.
India Industrial Land Bank (IILB)
- The IILB is a GIS-based portal with all industrial infrastructure-related information such as connectivity, infra, natural resources and terrain, plot-level information on vacant plots, line of activity, and contact details.
- It was launched by the Ministry for Commerce and Industry in 2020.
- Currently, the IILB has approximately 4000 industrial parks mapped across an area of 5.5 lakh hectares of land, serving as a decision support system for investors scouting for land remotely.
- The system has been integrated with industry-based GIS systems of 17 states to have details on the portal updated on a real-time basis and will achieve pan-India integration by December 2021.
- In the previous quarter (Apr – Jun 2021) total users were 13,610 out of which 12,996 were unique users with total page views of approximately 1.3 lakh.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Reforms in institutions and role of civil society
Context
In the wake of the second wave of Covid, our failure as a country to hold our government accountable is evident. Civil society perhaps also needs to re-examine its role.
What constitutes civil society
- India’s civil society has many actors:
- Grassroots organisations that connect to the last mile and provide essential services.
- Think tanks and academic institutions that churn out new policy ideas and generate evidence.
- Advocacy organisations that amplify and build support for causes.
- Large impact funds and philanthropists who decide how these organisations get funded.
Challenges faced by civil society
- Government have significantly curtailed the kind of activities that civil society actors can engage in.
- Philanthropists and donor organisations often find themselves unable to support initiatives that strengthen India’s democracy and its accountability mechanisms, for fear of retribution.
- By ignoring the politics around policy and focussing disproportionately on technocratic solutions, civil society has also missed the wood for the trees.
How civil society can play role in reforms of democratic institutions
- In the absence of a strong push from civil society, our democratic institutions have no intrinsic incentive to reform.
- There is a need to re-examine parliamentary rules that are heavily tilted in favour of the sitting government, strengthen the judiciary, bolster federalism and the independent media, while creating transparency in decision making within the executive.
- Civil society has an important and irreplaceable role to play here.
- Civil society organisations too need to broaden their agenda to include issues that strengthen India’s institutions while collaborating to present a strong unified voice that demands more transparency and accountability in all areas and levels of policymaking.
- This involves taking more fights to the courts on transgressions by the government, building public opinion about expectations from a well-functioning democracy and creating tools and fora that help citizens engage with policymaking more readily.
Conclusion
To not see the strengthening of institutions and the deepening of checks and balances as important areas of work is our collective failure, one we must address immediately.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems and the National Intelligence Grid
Mains level: Paper 2- Need for a coordinated database of fugitives
Context
India lacks a domestic tracking system for fugitives. That makes it easier for them to evade the criminal justice system.
Challenges at investigation and prosecution level
- Central agencies have developed reasonable expertise in investigation and prosecution because they are focussed only on investigation and prosecution work.
- On the other hand, State police forces (except specialised wings) are engaged in law-and-order work as well as investigations.
- The bulk of the investigation and prosecution work happens at police stations in the States.
- There is a tendency to close investigations once the accused have absconded.
- Some police stations do initiate proceedings for attachment of property and declaration of the accused as proclaimed offenders, but the number of cases where coordinated efforts are made to pursue fugitives – domestically or internationally – are hardly documented.
No system for tracking criminals domestically
- Through Interpol Notices and the sharing of immigration databases of different countries, there exists a system of tracking criminals worldwide.
- However, there is no coordinated system or database for tracking criminals or wanted persons domestically in India.
- In the absence of such a system, it is relatively easy for criminals from one police station/jurisdiction to melt into the population in any other area, almost undetected.
Way forward
- The creation of a nationwide database of wanted persons, which could be accessible for police agencies, the public and others is needed.
- A nation-wide system of ‘Wanted Persons Notices’, similar to Interpol Notices, is required, to help track fugitives domestically.
- The Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems and the National Intelligence Grid are efforts in the right direction/
- Countries like the U.S. have functional inter-State extradition and fugitive tracking systems.
- India needs to set up such dedicated ‘fugitive tracking units’.
- There needs to be enhanced integration between immigration agencies, State police agencies, Interpol-New Delhi, the External Affairs Ministry and Home Ministry and central investigation agencies.
- Sharing India’s ‘wanted’ database or providing access to it to foreign embassies on a reciprocal basis or through treaties or arrangements would also be helpful.
- Signing of more bilateral and multilateral conventions on criminal matters would help plug legal infirmities.
- Signing bilateral agreements on cooperation in policing matters would also help.
- All relevant legal processes and requirements should be incorporated into one consolidated law on international cooperation.
- The entire gamut of activities pertaining to fugitives, from investigation to extradition, needs to be incorporated into a specialised set-up.
Conclusion
In the absence of a coordinated database, criminals can go undetected. What we need is a watertight system that would deter criminals from hoodwinking the law.
Back2Basics: Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS)
- CCTNS aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing the efficiency and effective policing at all levels and especially at the Police Station level.
- It aism at adoption of principles of e-Governance, and creation of a nationwide networked infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled state of- the-art tracking system around “investigation of crime and detection of criminals” in real time.
- It is is a critical requirement in the context of the present day internal security scenario.
- The scope of CCTNS spans all 35 States and Union Territories and covers all Police Stations (15,000+ in number) and all Higher Police Offices (6,000+ in number) in the country.
- The CCTNS project includes vertical connectivity of police units (linking police units at various levels within the States – police stations, district police offices, state headquarters, SCRB and other police formations – and States, through state headquarters and SCRB, to NCRB at GOI level) as well as horizontal connectivity, linking police functions at State and Central level to external entities.
National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID)
- First conceptualised in 2009, NATGRID seeks to become the one-stop destination for security and intelligence agencies to access database related to immigration entry and exit, banking and telephone details of a suspect on a “secured platform”.
- All State police are mandated to file First Information Reports (FIR) in the CCTNS.
- It is only a repository and the data pertaining to FIRs of a particular police station are a State subject.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 124 and Article 214
Mains level: Paper 2- Collegium system
Context
Judiciary is being challenged, from within and outside. It must shield itself from further erosion of its independence and competence by scrupulously following the law, as declared by the Supreme Court (SC) itself.
How the Collegium helped to secure the independence of judiciary
- In 1993, the SC held the following:
- The process of appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court and the High Courts is an integrated ‘participatory consultative process’.
- The process aims at selecting the best and most suitable persons available for appointment.
- The Collegium consists of the CJI and the four senior-most judges of the SC and high courts.
- It was devised to ensure that the opinion of the Chief Justice of India is not merely his individual opinion, but an opinion formed collectively by a body of men at the apex level in the judiciary.
- By judicial interpretation, the Supreme Court re-interpreting Article 124 and 214 of the Constitution empowered the judiciary to make appointments to the higher judiciary to secure the rule of law.
Threat to the judicial independence
- The framers of the Constitution were alive to the likely erosion of judicial independence.
- On May 23, 1949, K T Shah stated that the Judiciary, which is the main bulwark of civil liberties, should be completely separate from and independent of the Executive, whether by direct or by indirect influence.
- In 2016, the Supreme Court struck down a constitutional amendment for creating the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC).
- The SC strongly disapproved of any role for the political executive in the final selection and appointment of judges.
- The SC said that “reciprocity and feelings of payback to the political executive” would be disastrous to the independence of the judiciary.
Consider the question “How the Collegium system helped the Judiciary secure its independence? What are the issues with it?”
Conclusion
The selection of deserving judges is essential to ensure the independence of the judiciary. The Collegium must do its best in this task.
Back2Basics: About the National Judicial Appointments Commission
- The NJAC or National Judicial Appointments Commission sought to change the system, where judges would have been appointed by a commission where the legislative and the executive would have had a role.
- The NJAC was supposed to comprise of the Chief Justice of India (Chairperson, ex-officio), two other senior judges of the Supreme Court, The Union Minister of Law and Justice, ex-officio and two eminent persons, to be appointed by the Chief Justice of India, Prime Minister of India, and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
- The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 13 August 2014 and by the Rajya Sabha on 14 August 2014, and became an Act.
- The NJAC replaced the collegium system for the appointment of judges.
- The NJAC Bill and the Constitutional Amendment Bill, was ratified by 16 of the state legislatures in India, and the President gave his assent on 31 December 2014.
- The NJAC Act became effective from April 13, 2015.
- The NJAC enjoyed support from the Supreme Court Bar Association and many legal luminaries but was also challenged by some lawyer associations and groups before the Supreme Court of India through Writ Petitions.
- A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court referred the matter to a Constitution Bench that heard different arguments for over a month.
- Finally, on October 16, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court declared the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act and the NJAC Act 2014 “unconstitutional and void”.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) Schemes
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Centre has decided to allow state-run market yards to access financing facilities through its Agricultural Infrastructure Fund to calm the fears of protesting farmers that such market yards are being weakened.
Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) Schemes
- It is a Central Sector Scheme meant for setting up storage and processing facilities, which will help farmers, get higher prices for their crops.
- The Union Cabinet approved this scheme in July 2020 for a period of 10 years.
- It will support farmers, PACS, FPOs, Agri-entrepreneurs, etc. in building community farming assets and post-harvest agriculture infrastructure.
- These assets will enable farmers to get greater value for their produce as they will be able to store and sell at higher prices, reduce wastage and increase processing and value addition.
Note the following things about AIF:
1) It is a Central Sector Scheme
2) Duration of the scheme
3)Target beneficiaries
What exactly is the AIF?
- The AIF is a medium – long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and credit guarantee.
- Under the scheme, Rs. 1 Lakh Crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans with an interest subvention of 3% per annum.
- It will provide credit guarantee coverage under Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) for loans up to Rs. 2 Crore.
Target beneficiaries
The beneficiaries will include farmers:
- PACS, Marketing Cooperative Societies, FPOs, SHGs, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Startups, and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Projects
What are the new changes?
- The Union Cabinet decided to extend the AIF to State agencies and Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs), as well as federations of cooperative organizations, Farmers Producers Organizations and self-help groups.
- They will now be eligible for interest subvention for loans up to ₹2 crores, with APMCs allowed to access separate loans for different kinds of infrastructure projects to build cold storage, silos, sorting, grading and assaying units in their market yards.
- The scheme has also been extended to 2032-33.
Why such a move?
- The modifications in the Scheme will help to achieve a multiplier effect in generating investments while ensuring that the benefits reach small and marginal farmers.
- The APMC markets are set up to provide market linkages and create an ecosystem of post-harvest public infrastructure open to all farmers.
- This is also proof that APMC will not end as the farmers’ concern since the three farm laws.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tele Law Scheme
Mains level: Pendency issue in Indian Judiciary
The Law Ministry recently commemorated an event to mark the coverage of more than nine lakh beneficiaries of the government’s tele-law scheme, using common service centres (CSCs) to provide justice across the country.
Tele-Law Scheme
- The concept of Tele-Law is to facilitate the delivery of legal advice through a panel of lawyers stationed at the State Legal Services Authorities (SALSA) and CSC.
- Tele-Law means the use of communications and information technology for the delivery of legal information and advice.
- The project initiates to connect citizens with lawyers through video conferencing facilities by the Para-Legal Volunteers stationed at identified 50,000 CSCs.
- This e-interaction between lawyers and people would be through the video-conferencing infrastructure available at the CSCs.
Features of the program
- Under this programme, smart technology of video conferencing, telephone/instant calling facilities available at the vast network of CSC.
- It enables anyone to seek legal advice without wasting precious time and money.
- The service is free for those who are eligible for free legal Aid as mentioned under Section 12 of the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987.
- For all others, a nominal fee is charged.
Back2Basics: Free legal aid in India
- Article 21 of the Constitution of India states, “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law”.
- Hence ensuring legal aid to everyone is necessary for ensuring substantive equality.
- Article 39A of the Constitution of India provides for free legal aid to the poor and weaker sections of the society, to promote justice on the basis of equal opportunity.
- Articles 14 and 22(1) also make it obligatory for the State to ensure equality before the law and a legal system that promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity to all.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Methanogens on saturn's moon
Mains level: Hunt for extra-terrestrial life
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has detected an unusually high concentration of methane, along with carbon dioxide and dihydrogen, in the moons of Saturn by flying through their plumes.
What is the new observation?
- The spacecraft has found that Titan has methane in its atmosphere and Enceladus has a liquid ocean with erupting plumes of gas and water.
Are there methane-producing organisms on Earth?
- Most of the methane on Earth has a biological origin.
- Microorganisms called methanogens are capable of generating methane as a metabolic byproduct.
- They do not require oxygen to live and are widely distributed in nature.
- They are found in swamps, dead organic matter, and even in the human gut.
- They are known to survive in high temperatures and simulation studies have shown that they can live in Martian conditions.
- Methanogens have been widely studied to understand if they can be a contributor to global warming.
Could there be methanogens on Enceladus?
- We cannot conclude that life exists in the Enceladus ocean.
- It is the probability that Enceladus’ hydrothermal vents could be habitable to Earth-like microorganisms.
- There can be life hypotheses.
What other processes could have produced the methane?
- Methane could be formed by the chemical breakdown of organic matter present in Enceladus’ core.
- Hydrothermal processes could help the formation of carbon dioxide and methane.
- On Earth, hydrothermal vents on seafloors are known to release methane, but this happens at a very slow rate.
- This hypothesis is plausible but only if Enceladus was formed through the accretion of organic-rich material from comets.
- The results suggest that methane production from hydrothermal vents is not sufficient to explain the high methane concentration detected by Cassini in the plumes.
- An additional amount of methane produced via biological methanogenesis could match Cassini’s observations.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: State Development Loans
Mains level: Paper 3- Centre needs to help states to tide over the uncertain year
Context
The states are borrowing less than expected in the first quarter of FY 2021-22 despite the negative impact of state-level restrictions, amidst the second Covid wave, on economic activity.
An overview of borrowing by States
- In 2020-21, the gross amount raised through state development loans (SDLs) or bonds had jumped to Rs 8 trillion, up from Rs 6.3 trillion in the previous year.
- The increase was a fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic on state finances.
- In the first quarter of the current financial year i.e. 2021-22, gross issuances of bonds stood at Rs 1.4 trillion.
- This amount is 14 per cent lower than the bonds issued last year (Rs 1.7 trillion).
- This is also around 20 per cent lower than what states had initially indicated they would borrow (Rs 1.8 trillion) through the indicative calendar of market borrowings released by the RBI.
- As a result, state bond issuances have undershot expectations in the first quarter.
Factor’s responsible for lower state borrowing
- Lower state borrowings were a consequence of three major factors.
- First, an additional tax devolution of Rs 450 billion from the Centre in late March.
- This amount was in excess of the Rs 5.5 trillion tax devolution that had been included in the revised estimates for 2020-21.
- Second, record-high GST collections in April which doubled to Rs 1.3 trillion in the first quarter of this year, up from Rs 0.6 trillion in the same period last year.
- Third, receipt of substantial grants from the Centre adding up to Rs 436 billion in April-May related to the recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
Factors that could influence the borrowing pattern in the next three quarters
- First, the varying pace of unlocking and the consequent economic revival in states from June onwards may crucially affect state borrowings in the second quarter.
- A faster ramp-up of vaccine administration may help some states, reducing the need to borrow.
- Second, the eventual calendar for raising back-to-back loans by the GoI to compensate states for the loss in their GST revenues could also result in a change in the states’ borrowing schedule.
- Third, the quantum, and timing of tax devolution will also play a role.
Why timing of the Central tax devolution matters for States
- Central tax devolution forms a quarter of states’ combined revenue receipts.
- This revenue stream has contracted by 15 per cent in the first two months of the year, falling to Rs 392 billion each in April-May this year, from Rs 460 billion last year.
- If the Centre continues to devolve to states this amount till February 2022, then a massive Rs 2.4 trillion (36 per cent of the budgeted amount) will be left for devolution in March 2022 — assuming that the devolution for the full year is not revised below the budgeted level.
- From the states’ point of view, this would be rather inefficient from a cash flow perspective.
Conclusion
An early step-up in tax devolution by the central government may provide comfort to the states to accelerate expenditure during another uncertain year, without borrowings being pushed up in the next two quarters.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UAPA
Mains level: Paper 2- Misuse of UAPA and role of judiciary
Context
Father Stan Swamy passed away at a private hospital in Mumbai on July 5. Fr. Swamy was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
How Supreme Court judgment leaves the scope for misuse of UAPA
- The Supreme Court’s April 2019 decision in National Investigation Agency vs Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali on the interpretation of the UAPA has affected all downstream decisions involving the statute.
- This decision has created a new doctrine.
- According to the decision, in considering bail applications under the UAPA, courts must presume every allegation made in the First Information Report to be correct.
- Further, bail can now be obtained only if the accused produces material to contradict the prosecution.
- In other words, the burden rests on the accused to disprove the allegations, which is virtually impossible in most cases.
- The decision has essentially excluded the admissibility of evidence at the stage of bail.
- By doing so, it has effectively excluded the Evidence Act itself, which arguably makes the decision unconstitutional.
- Due to the Supreme Court judgment, High Courts have their hands tied, and must perforce refuse bail, as disproving the case is virtually impossible.
- The Delhi High Court recently granted bail to three young activists arrested under UAPA in a conspiracy relating to the 2020 riots in Delhi.
- The Supreme Court reportedly expressed surprise and gave the direction that the decision will “not to be treated as precedent by any court” to give similar reliefs.
Misuse of the UAPA
- With such high barriers of proof, it is now impossible for an accused to obtain bail, and is in fact a convenient tool to put a person behind bars indefinitely.
- This is being abused by the government, police and prosecution liberally: now, all dissenters are routinely implicated under charges of sedition or criminal conspiracy and under the UAPA.
- In multiple instances, evidence is untenable, sometimes even arguably planted, and generally weak overall.
- But as a consequence of UAPA being applied, the accused cannot even get bail.
Way forward
- If we want to prevent the misuse, the decision in the Watali case must be urgently reversed or diluted, otherwise, we run the risk of personal liberties being compromised very easily.
Conclusion
The provision of the act leaves the scope for misuse and therefore judiciary and legislature need to take steps to provide safeguards to prevent the misuse.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: One nation, one ration card scheme
Mains level: Paper 2- Guidelines for providing relief to migrant workers
Context
The Supreme Court on June 29 pronounced its judgment in the migrant labourers case. The case was initiated last year after the national lockdown was announced on March 24.
Guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court
- Two of the most important components to protect the migrants during this time were the food and travel arrangements insisted on by the court.
- In the orders pronounced in May this year, it laid down that dry ration be provided to migrants who want to return to their homes.
- Further, the court said that identity proof should not be insisted upon by the governments since the labourers might not be able to furnish it.
- Secondly, the court called upon the State governments to arrange transportation for workers who need to return to their homes.
- The Supreme Court fixed July 31 as the deadline for the States to implement the ‘One nation One Ration Card’ scheme.
- Apart from dry ration, the top court also directed the State governments to run community kitchens for migrant workers.
- In the order passed on June 29, the court affirmed the Right to Food under Article 21 of the Constitution.
- In furtherance of this, the court asked the States to formulate their own schemes and issue food grains to migrants.
- The top court recognised the need for direct cash benefit transfer to workers in the unorganised sector.
- But it did not issue any guidelines for the same.
Challenges
- The Supreme Court has given a purposive declaration in the case but the bulk of the judgment seems declaratory rather than mandatory.
- Under the ‘One nation One Ration Card’ scheme, the States are to complete the registration of migrant workers in order to provide dry ration to them.
- But it is unlikely that a standardised system can be developed within the deadline prescribed by the court.
- There are administrative problems in running community kitchens for migrant workers.
- First, migrant workers keep moving in search of employment and it is difficult to cover them all under the scheme.
- Second, many States do not have the necessary infrastructure to run and maintain community kitchens on such a large scale.
- The court asked the States to formulate their own schemes and issue food grains to migrants, but there are no normative data that would allow the States to identify eligible migrants.
Conclusion
In order to efficaciously implement the orders of the court, the State governments need to work with the Centre closely. It is imperative to ensure that government machinery works to its full potential and robust systems are developed to withstand the challenges of the looming third covid wave.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Harit Dhara
Mains level: Methane pollution
An Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institute has developed an anti-methanogenic feed supplement ‘Harit Dhara’.
Harit Dhara
- Harit Dhara is prepared using condensed and hydrolysable tannin-rich plant-based sources abundantly available in the country.
- It changes the composition of the volatile fatty acids that are the end-products of rumen fermentation (along with hydrogen and CO2).
- It roughly costs Rs 6/kg and it is to be fed only to animals aged above three months having fully functional rumen.
- When given to bovines and sheep, it not only cuts down their methane emissions by 17-20%.
- It also results in higher milk production and body weight gain.
Why it is significant?
- Belching cattle, buffaloes, sheep and goats in India emit an estimated 9.25 million tonnes (mt) to 14.2 mt of methane annually, out of a global total of 90 mt-plus from livestock.
- And given methane’s global warming potential – 25 times of carbon dioxide (CO2) over 100 years, making it a more potent greenhouse gas – that’s cause for concern.
- An average lactating cow or buffalo in India emits around 200 litres of methane per day, while it is 85-95 litres for young growing heifers and 20-25 litres for adult sheep.
- Feeding Harit Dhara can reduce these by a fifth.
How is methane produced by the cattles?
- Methane is produced by animals having rumen, the first of their four stomachs where the plant material they eat – cellulose, fibre, starch and sugars – gets fermented or broken down by microorganisms prior to further digestion and nutrient absorption.
- Carbohydrate fermentation leads to the production of CO2 and hydrogen.
- These are used as substrate by archaea – microbes in the rumen with structure similar to bacteria – to produce methane, which the animals then expel through burping.
- Harit Dhara acts by decreasing the population of protozoa microbes in the rumen, responsible for hydrogen production and making it available to the archaea for reduction of CO2 to methane.
- Tropical plants containing tannins – bitter and astringent chemical compounds – are known to suppress or remove protozoa from the rumen.
Need for India
- The 2019 Livestock Census showed India’s cattle population at 193.46 million, along with 109.85 million buffaloes, 148.88 million goats and 74.26 million sheep.
- Being largely fed on agricultural residues – wheat/paddy straw and maize, sorghum or bajra stover – ruminants in India tend to produce 50-100% higher methane than their industrialized country counterparts.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Consider the following:
- Carbon monoxide
- Methane
- Ozone
- Sulphur dioxide
Which of the above are released into atmosphere due to the burning of crop/biomass residue?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2, 3 and 4 only
(c) 1 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Back2Basics: CO2 equivalents
- Each greenhouse gas (GHG) has a different global warming potential (GWP) and persists for a different length of time in the atmosphere.
- The three main greenhouse gases (along with water vapour) and their 100-year global warming potential (GWP) compared to carbon dioxide are:
1 x – carbon dioxide (CO2)
25 x – methane (CH4) – I.e. Releasing 1 kg of CH4into the atmosphere is about equivalent to releasing 25 kg of CO2
298 x – nitrous oxide (N2O)
- Water vapour is not considered to be a cause of man-made global warming because it does not persist in the atmosphere for more than a few days.
- There are other greenhouse gases which have far greater global warming potential (GWP) but are much less prevalent. These are sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and perfluorocarbons (PFCs).
- There are a wide variety of uses for SF6, HFCs, and PFCs but they have been most commonly used as refrigerants and for fire suppression.
- Many of these compounds also have a depleting effect on ozone in the upper atmosphere.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Aurora, Hope Mission
Mains level: Study of Mars
The UAE’s Hope spacecraft, which is orbiting Mars since February this year, has captured images of glowing atmospheric lights in the Red Planet’s night sky, known as discrete auroras.
What causes an Aurora on Earth?
- Auroras are caused when charged particles ejected from the Sun’s surface — called the solar wind — enter the Earth’s atmosphere.
- These particles are harmful, and our planet is protected by the geomagnetic field, which preserves life by shielding us from the solar wind.
- However, at the north and south poles, some of these solar wind particles are able to continuously stream down, and interact with different gases in the atmosphere to cause a display of light in the night sky.
- This display, known as an aurora, is seen from the Earth’s high latitude regions (called the auroral oval), and is active all year round.
Where are they observed on Earth?
- In the northern part of our globe, the polar lights are called aurora borealis or Northern Lights and are seen from the US (Alaska), Canada, Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
- In the south, they are called aurora australis or southern lights and are visible from high latitudes in Antarctica, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia.
So, how are Martian auroras different?
- Unlike auroras on Earth, which are seen only near the north and south poles, discrete auroras on Mars are seen all around the planet at night time.
- Unlike Earth, which has a strong magnetic field, the Martian magnetic field has largely died out.
- This is because the molten iron at the interior of the planet– which produces magnetism– has cooled.
- However, the Martian crust, which hardened billions of years ago when the magnetic field still existed, retains some magnetism.
- So, in contrast with Earth, which acts like one single bar magnet, magnetism on Mars is unevenly distributed, with fields strewn across the planet and differing in direction and strength.
- These disjointed fields channel the solar wind to different parts of the Martian atmosphere, creating “discrete” auroras over the entire surface of the planet as charged particles interact with atoms and molecules in the sky– as they do on Earth.
Why is it important to study them?
- Studying Martian auroras is important for scientists, for it can offer clues as to why the Red Planet lost its magnetic field and thick atmosphere– among the essential requirements for sustaining life.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Which region of Mars has a densely packed river deposit indicating this planet had water 3.5 billion years ago?
(a) Aeolis Dorsa
(b) Tharsis
(c) Olympus Mons
(d) Hellas
Back2Basics:
Hope Orbiter
- The Hope Probe, the Arab world’s first mission to Mars, took off from Earth in July last year, and has been orbiting the Red Planet since February.
- The primary objective of the mission is to study Martian weather dynamics.
- By correlating the lower atmosphere and upper atmosphere conditions, the probe will look into how weather changes the escape of hydrogen and oxygen into space.
- By measuring how much hydrogen and oxygen is spilling into space, scientists will be able to look into why Mars lost so much of its early atmosphere and liquid water.
- It is expected to create the first complete portrait of the planet’s atmosphere.
- With the information gathered during the mission, scientists will have a better understanding of the climate dynamics of different layers of Mars’ atmosphere.
Mars
- Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, being larger than only Mercury.
- In English, Mars carries the name of the Roman god of war and is often referred to as the “Red Planet”.
- The latter refers to the effect of the iron oxide prevalent on Mars’s surface, which gives it a reddish appearance distinctive among the astronomical bodies visible to the naked eye.
- Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, with surface features reminiscent of the impact craters of the Moon and the valleys, deserts and polar ice caps of Earth.
- The days and seasons are comparable to those of Earth, because the rotational period, as well as the tilt of the rotational axis relative to the ecliptic plane, is similar.
- Mars is the site of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano and highest known mountain on any planet in the Solar System, and of Valles Marineris, one of the largest canyons in the Solar System.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pegasus
Mains level: Whatsapp snooping
An online database about the use of the spyware Pegasus was recently launched by the Forensic Architecture, Amnesty International and the Citizen Lab to document attacks against human rights defenders.
What is Pegasus?
- Last year, one of the biggest stories that broke into cyberspace was WhatsApp’s reports that 1,400 of its users were hacked by Pegasus, a spyware tool from Israeli firm NSO Group.
- All spyware do what the name suggests — they spy on people through their phones.
- Pegasus works by sending an exploit link, and if the target user clicks on the link, the malware or the code that allows the surveillance is installed on the user’s phone.
- A presumably newer version of the malware does not even require a target user to click a link.
- Once Pegasus is installed, the attacker has complete access to the target user’s phone.
Why is Pegasus dangerous?
- What makes Pegasus really dangerous is that it spares no aspect of a person’s identity. It makes older techniques of spying seem relatively harmless.
- It can intercept every call and SMS, read every email and monitor each messaging app.
- Pegasus can also control the phone’s camera and microphone and has access to the device’s location data.
- The app advertises that it can carry out “file retrieval”, which means it could access any document that a target might have stored on their phone.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bhalia Wheat
Mains level: Popularity of GI goods
In a major boost to wheat exports, the first shipment of Geographical Indication (GI) certified Bhalia variety of wheat was exported today to Kenya and Sri Lanka from Gujarat.
Bhalia Wheat
- The GI certified wheat has high protein content and is sweet in taste.
- The crop is grown mostly across Bhal region of Gujarat which includes Ahmadabad, Anand, Kheda, Bhavanagar, Surendranagar, Bharuch districts.
- The unique characteristic of the wheat variety is that grown in the rainfed condition without irrigation and cultivated in around two lakh hectares of agricultural land in Gujarat.
- The Bhalia variety of wheat received GI certification in July, 2011.
- The registered proprietor of GI certification is Anand Agricultural University, Gujarat.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Which of the following has/have been accorded ‘Geographical Indication’ status?
- Banaras Brocades and Sarees
- Rajasthani Daal-Bati-Churma
- Tirupathi Laddu
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Back2Basics: Geographical Indication (GI)
- The World Intellectual Property Organization defines a GI as “a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin”.
- GIs are typically used for agricultural products, foodstuffs, handicrafts, industrial products, wines and spirit drinks.
- Internationally, GIs are covered as an element of intellectual property rights under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
- They have also covered under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Authorised Economic Operators
Mains level: Not Much
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) has inaugurated the online filing of Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) T2 and T3 applications.
Who are Authorised Economic Operators?
- The AEO concept is one of the main building blocks within the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards (SAFE).
- The latter is part of the future international Customs model set out to support secure trade.
- The growth of global trade and increasing security threats to the international movement of goods have forced customs administrations to shift their focus more and more to securing the international trade flow and away from the traditional task of collecting customs duties.
- Recognizing these developments, the World Customs Organization, drafted the WCO Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate global trade (SAFE).
- In the framework, several standards are included that can assist Customs administrations in meeting these new challenges.
- Developing an Authorized Economic Operator programme is a core part of SAFE.
AEOs in India
- AEO is a voluntary programme.
- It enables Indian Customs to enhance and streamline cargo security through close cooperation with the principal stakeholders of the international supply chain viz. importers, exporters, logistics providers, custodians or terminal operators, customs brokers and warehouse operators.
Back2Basics: World Customs Organization (WCO)
- WCO is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.
- The WCO is noted for its work in areas covering international trade facilitation, customs enforcement activities, combating counterfeiting in support of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), drugs enforcement, illegal weapons trading, integrity promotion, and delivering the sustainable capacity building to assist with customs reforms and modernization.
- The WCO represents 179 Customs administrations that collectively process approximately 98% of world trade.
- As the global centre of Customs expertise, the WCO has the tools and expertise to assist implementation of all legal, policy, procedural, technological, and human resource aspects related to trade facilitation.
- The WCO maintains the international Harmonized System (HS) goods nomenclature and administers the technical aspects of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements on Customs Valuation and Rules of Origin.
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