Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bharat series (BH-series)
Mains level: Not Much
The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has rolled out a new series for vehicles registration ‘BH’ to avoid re-registration of vehicles while moving to another state.
Bharat series (BH-series)
- There was a procedure of re-registration of a vehicle while moving to another state.
- A vehicle bearing BH registration mark shall not require assignment of a new registration mark when the owner of the vehicle shifts from one State to another.
- Format of Bharat series (BH-series) Registration Mark –
Registration Mark Format:
- YY BH #### XX
- YY – Year of first registration
- BH- Code for Bharat Series
- ####- 0000 to 9999 (randomized)
- XX- Alphabets (AA to ZZ)
Why such move?
- Station relocation occurs with both Government and private sector employees.
- Such movements create a sense of unease in the minds of such employees with regard to transfer of registration from the parent state to another state.
- Under section 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, a person is allowed to keep the vehicle for not more than 12 months in any state other than the state where the vehicle is registered.
Who can get this BH series?
- BH-series will be available on voluntary basis to Defense personnel, employees of Central Government/ State Government/ Central/ State PSUs and private sector companies/organizations.
- The motor vehicle tax will be levied for two years or in multiple of two.
- This scheme will facilitate free movement of personal vehicles across States/UTs of India upon relocation to a new State/UT.
- After completion of the fourteenth year, the motor vehicle tax shall be levied annually which shall be half of the amount which was charged earlier for that vehicle.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pantanal Wetlands
Mains level: Not Much
Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetlands is facing a severe crisis due to wildfires and climate change.
Pantanal Wetlands
- The Pantanal is a natural region encompassing the world’s largest tropical wetland area, and the world’s largest flooded grasslands.
- It is located mostly within the Brazilian and extends to some portions of Bolivia and Paraguay.
- It sprawls over an area estimated at between 140,000 and 195,000 square kilometer.
- Roughly 80% of the Pantanal floodplains are submerged during the rainy seasons, nurturing a biologically diverse collection of aquatic plants and helping to support a dense array of animal species.
Risks faced
- Unlike the Amazon rainforest, vegetation in the Pantanal has evolved to coexist with fire — many plant species there require the heat from fires to germinate.
- Often caused by lightning strikes, those natural fires spring up at the end of the dry season, but the surrounding floodplains prevent them from spreading.
- What’s different now is the drought, contributing further to the unusually dry conditions and exacerbating the fire risk.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Deeper Beel
Mains level: Wetland conservation
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has notified the eco-sensitive zone of the Deepar Beel Wildlife Sanctuary on the south-western edge of Guwahati.
Deepar Beel
- Deepar Beel is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Assam and the State’s only Ramsar site besides being an Important Bird Area.
- It is located to the south-west of Guwahati city, in Kamrup Metropolitan district.
- It is a permanent freshwater lake, in a former channel of the Brahmaputra River, to the south of the main river.
- It is also called a wetland under the Ramsar Convention which has listed the lake in November 2002, as a Ramsar Site for undertaking conservation measures on the basis of its biological and environmental importance.
Major threats
- Deepar Beel has long been used as a sponge for Guwahati’s sewage via a couple of streams.
- The wetland has also suffered from seepage of toxins from a garbage dump at Boragaon adjoining it.
- It has for decades been threatened by a railway track — set to be doubled and electrified — on its southern rim, a garbage dump, and encroachment from human habitation and commercial units.
- The water has become toxic and it has lost many of its aquatic plants that elephants would feed on.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Species mentioned
Mains level: Not Much
India has added 557 new species to its fauna reveals Animal Discoveries 2020, a document published recently by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).
Major species discovered
The number of faunal species in India has climbed to 1,02,718 species. Among the new species, some interesting species discovered in 2020 are:
- Trimeresurus salazar, a new species of green pit viper discovered from Arunachal Pradesh;
- Lycodon deccanensis, the Deccan wolf snake discovered from Karnataka; and
- Sphaerotheca Bengaluru, a new species of burrowing frog named after the city of Bengaluru.
- Xyrias anjaalai, a new deep-water species of snake eel from Kerala;
- Glyptothorax giudikyensis, a new species of catfish from Manipur; and
- Clyster galateansis, a new species of scarab beetles from the Great Nicobar Biosphere.
Visitor species
- Myotis cf. frater, a bat species earlier known from China, Taiwan and Russia, has been reported for the first time from Uttarakhand in India
- Zoothera citrina gibsonhilli, an orange-headed thrush earlier known from southern Myanmar to south Thailand (central Malay peninsula) was reported for the first time from India based on a collection made from the Narcondam island in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Significance
- The ZSI publication shows that India is a mega biodiverse country, rich in biodiversity, with 23.39% of its geographical area under forest and tree cover.
- India is positioned 8th in mega biodiversity countries in the world with 0.46 BioD index which is calculated by its percentage of species in each group relative to the total global number of species in each group.
About Zoological Survey of India
- The ZSI was set up by British zoologist Thomas Nelson Annandale, in 1916.
- It is the premier taxonomic research organization in India.
- It was established to promote surveys, exploration and research leading to advancement of our knowledge of various aspects of the exceptionally rich animal life of India.
- The ZSI had its genesis as the Zoological Section of the Indian Museum at Calcutta in 1875.
- Since its inception, the ZSI has been documenting the diversity and distribution of the fauna of India towards carrying out its mandate of conducting exploration-cum-taxonomic-research programmes.
- The ZSI has published an extremely large amount of information on all animal taxa, from Protozoa to Mammalia.
Try answering this PYQ:
Q.With reference to India’s Biodiversity, Ceylon frogmouth, Coppersmith barbet, Gray-chinned minivet and White-throated redstart are: (CSP 2020)
(a) Birds
(b) Primates
(c) Reptiles
(d) Amphibians
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Diclofenac
Mains level: Paper 3- Declining vulture population and steps taken
Context
India lost more than 95% of its vulture population through the 1990s and by the mid-2000s. Today, the country requires urgent conservation efforts to save vultures from becoming extinct.
About vultures
- Vultures belong to the Accipitridae family whose members include eagles, hawks and kites.
- They are relatively social birds with an average lifespan of 10-30 years in the wild.
- Vultures are slow breeders and so the survival of every individual is very crucial.
- Generally, vultures rely on other carnivores to open carcasses.
- Their powerful bills and long slender necks are designed to help them tear off the meat chunks from inside the carcass.
- India has nine species of vultures. Many are critically endangered.
- Vultures have a highly acidic stomach that helps them digest rotting carcass and kill disease-causing bacteria.
Role played by vultures in ecosystem
- Removing vultures from the ecosystem leads to inefficient clearing of carcasses and contaminates water systems.
- If dead animals are left to rot for long durations, it may give rise to disease-causing pathogens.
- The animals that consume such flesh become further carriers of disease.
- Thus, they play a crucial role in maintaining the health of the ecosystem.
Factors responsible for decline in future population
- India has nine species of vultures. Many are critically endangered.
- Use of diclofenac: The main reason for the decline in the vulture population is the use of the drug, diclofenac.
- Diclofenac, which relieves cattle of pain, is toxic to vultures even in small doses and causes kidney failure and death.
- Hunting: Myths about the medicinal healing powers of vultures’ body parts has led to the hunting of vultures.
- Quarrying: Quarrying and blasting of stones where vultures nest have also caused their decline.
Steps to increase numbers
- India banned diclofenac for veterinary use in 2006.
- Five States are to get vulture breeding centres under the Action Plan for Vulture Conservation for 2020-2025, approved in October 2020.
- Vulture ‘restaurants’, which exist in some countries, are also a way of preserving the population.
- In these ‘restaurants’, diclofenac-free carcasses of cattle are dumped in designated areas where vultures gather to feed.
Conclusion
Awareness and action must go hand in hand. With International Vulture Awareness Day coming up on September 4, it is important for us to spread awareness about the importance of vultures in our ecosystem.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Way forward for India on Afghanistan issue
Context
In the chaos that has followed the Taliban takeover of Kabul on August 15, India has been relatively silent.
India’s role in Afghanistan’s development
- India’s role spanned three areas in Afghanistan:
- In terms of infrastructure building and development assistance, encompassing all 34 provinces of the country.
- In terms of building democracy, helping script the Constitution and hold elections.
- In terms of educational investment, allowing thousands of young Afghans to study, be trained as professionals and soldiers, and become skilled in India.
- India was the first country that Afghanistan signed a strategic partnership with.
- India was the only country that undertook perilous but ambitious projects such Parliament, the Zaranj-Delaram Highway, and the Chabahar port project in Iran for transit trade.
- India was by far the one country that polled consistently highly among countries that Afghan people trusted.
- What should India do now? India should not choose to simply walk away from such capital, regardless of the developments in Afghanistan, domestic political considerations in India and geopolitical sensitivities.
The marginalisation of India’s role in negotiations over Afghanistan
- No other power from the west to the east has considered India’s interests while charting its course on Afghanistan.
- India has found itself cut out of several quadrilateral arrangements: the main negotiations held by the “Troika plus” of the United States-Russia-China-Pakistan that pushed for a more “inclusive government” including the Taliban.
- The alternative grouping of Russia-Iran-China-Pakistan that formed a “regional arc” that has today seen them retain their embassies in Kabul.
- Neither India’s traditional strategic and defence partner, Russia, nor its fastest growing global strategic partner, the United States, thought it important to include India.
- It is time to accept that India is in need of a new diplomatic strategy.
Way forward for India
1) Leveraging its position at the UN
- India needs to begin by rallying the United Nations, to exert its considerable influence in its own interest, and that of the Afghan “republic”, which is an idea that cannot be just abandoned.
- Next, India must take a leading role in the debate over who will be nominated to the Afghan seat at the UN depending on the new regime in Afghanistan committing to international norms on human rights, women’s rights, minority rights and others.
- As Chairman of the Taliban Sanctions Committee (or the 1988 Sanctions Committee), India must use its muscle to ensure terrorists such as Sirajuddin Haqqani must not be given any exemptions: on travel, recourse to funds or arms.
2) India’s engagement with Afghanistan
- The question of whether India should convert its back-channel talks with the Taliban and with Pakistan in the past few months into something more substantive remains to be debated.
- This becomes more important as India now faces a “threat umbrella” to its north, including Pakistan’s cross-border terrorism, Afghanistan’s new regime and China’s aggression at the Line of Actual Control.
- A more broad-based and consultative process of engaging all political parties would be required.
- While not directly dealing with the Taliban, India must ensure stronger communication with those who are dealing directly, including leaders such as former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, to ensure its interests.
- As a part of its engagement, India must consider whether to revive its assistance to the resistance, which at present includes Ahmad Shah Massoud Jr., Amrullah Saleh, Abdul Rashid Dostum and Atta Mohammad Noor.
3) Engagement with the Afghan people
- The Government must embrace its greatest strength in Afghanistan — its relations with the Afghan people — and open its doors to those who wish to come here.
- In particular, India must continue to facilitate medical visas for Afghan patients and extend the education visas for students who are already admitted to Indian colleges.
Conclusion
It is India’s soft power, strategic autonomy or non-alignment principles and selfless assistance to those in need, particularly in its neighbourhood, that has been the strongest chords to its unique voice in the world. The moment to make that voice heard on Afghanistan is now.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Trailing indicators
Mains level: Paper 3- Indicators to look at to get the state of economy
Context
GDP growth estimates range from a high of 11 per cent, as per the government, to 9.5 per cent as per RBI. The variation is stark. So, what should one look at to evaluate the state of the economy?
Things to consider while evaluating the economy
- First, since the economy contracted by 7.3 per cent in 2020-21, all numbers will be exaggerated in the upward direction.
- Second, beware of interpretations based on single-month data.
- Cumulative numbers are better at times, but can be misleading too.
- Third, what is more important is how things will play out during September-December as this is the festival-cum-harvest season which engenders spending normally.
- Several indicators are used as leading signals of the economy, but here, too, we need to be careful.
- PMIs for manufacturing and services tell us if we are better off than the previous month.
- But that is not how data is normally presented as we usually talk of year-on-year growth.
- But it is an early signal for sure. The IIP and core sector numbers will be influenced by base numbers and come with a lag.
Indicators to look at as signs of recovery
- Credit growth: Bank credit is a good indicator of whether companies are producing more as all activity requires working capital.
- Here, the picture is not good as growth is (-) 0.4 per cent as of July end, indicating that activity has not picked up yet.
- Therefore, credit growth is in the negative territory.
- Investment: Debt issuances are lower in the first four months at around Rs 1.25 lakh crore, which is half of the Rs 2.57 lakh crore mobilised last year.
- Therefore, the investment scenario is still one where companies are watchful.
- There is surplus capacity in industry with utilisation rate being at 69.4 per cent in March 2021.
- Rural demand: Rural demand is an integral part of the story and presently progress on the kharif crop is satisfactory.
- A good crop is also necessary to generate spending power besides augmenting supplies in the market as well as food processing industry.
- The second wave has pushed back rural households with more expenditure on health care.
- Employment generation: Employment generation is a trigger for higher income and spending and while the battle between CMIE and EPFO data remains unresolved, the market will finally reveal if people have more money.
Inflation concern
- Inflation is high and though there is a view that it is transient.
- Several households, who are living on a fixed income have witnessed a double whammy in the form of lower returns on deposits and cumulative inflation of 6 per cent last year, and a similar number this year.
Conclusion
Investment will trail consumption and while the Centre has a good capex plan, it is only one piece in the overall puzzle. The private sector must get involved and with the banks being hesitant, the road can get longer.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Maldives and its location
Mains level: Read the attached story
Maldives has announced the signing of a $500-million infrastructure project for the construction of the Greater Malé Connectivity Project (GMCP) with India.
Greater Malé Connectivity Project
- This infrastructure project, the largest-ever by India in the Maldives, involves the construction of a 6.74-km-long bridge and causeway link.
- It will connect the Maldives capital Malé with the neighbouring islands of Villingli, Gulhifalhu and Thilafushi.
- The seeds of the project were planted during the External Affairs Minister’s visit to Malé in September 2019.
- The GMCP is not only the biggest project India is doing in the Maldives but also the biggest infrastructure project in the Maldives overall.
Significance of the Project
- This project is significant because it facilitates inter-island connectivity in the country
- Transport is a major challenge for residents who have to take boats or seaplanes to distant islands.
- It becomes even more difficult during the monsoons when the seas are rough.
- This bridge that would connect Malé with the three neighboring islands would ease the process.
The Chinese-made 1.39 km-long Sinamalé Bridge connects Malé with the islands of Hulhulé and Hulhumalé and this project, four tiles longer, would link the other three islands.
Why it is needed?
- Male is one of the most densely populated cities in the world.
- Close to 40% of the entire population of the Maldives lives in Malé, which has an area of approximately 8.30 square kilometres.
- It is very congested and land is a major issue.
Why these islands?
- On the island of Gulhifalhu, a port, is at present being built under the Indian line of credit.
- Located some 6 kilometers from Malé, since 2016, the island has been promoted as a strategic location for manufacturing, warehousing and distribution facilities due to its proximity to the capital city.
- Located 7 km from the capital, the artificial island of Thilafushi was created and designated as a landfill in the early 1990s, to receive garbage created mostly in Malé.
- The Maldives has plans of expanding industrial work on Thilafushi, making this bridge’s connectivity to the capital indispensable for the transport of employees and other services.
Why did Male opt for India’s offer?
- After a five-year grace period, the interest rate is 1.75% and the Maldives has to repay it over a 20-year period.
- India’s loans are less expensive and more transparent, unlike China’s.
- The Maldives hasn’t really been clear about how much debt it owes to China.
Importance of Maldives for India
- Geo-strategic importance: Maldives, a Toll Gate in the Indian Ocean. Located in the southern and northern parts of this island chain lies the two important sea lanes of communication (SLOCs).
- Trade: These SLOCs are critical for maritime trade flow between the Gulf of Aden and Gulf of Hormuz in West Asia and the Strait of Malacca in Southeast Asia. Nearly 50% of India’s external trade and 80% of its energy imports transit these SLOCs in the Arabian Sea.
- Important SAARC member: Besides, Maldives is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC).
- People To People Contact: There is a significant population of Maldivian students in India. They are aided by a liberal visa-free regime extended by India. There is also medical tourism.
- Economic Cooperation: Tourism is the mainstay of the Maldivian economy. The country is now a major tourist destination for some Indians and a job destination for others.
What hinders India in Male?
- Unstable governments: India’s major concern has been the impact of political instability in the neighbourhood on its security and development.
- Religious extremism: In the past decade or so, the number of Maldivians drawn towards terrorist groups like the Islamic State (IS) and Pakistan-based madrassas and jihadist groups has been increasing.
- Affinity with China: China’s strategic footprint in India’s neighbourhood has increased. The Maldives has emerged as an important ‘pearl’ in China’s “String of Pearls” construct in South Asia. It has also started using the China card to bargain with India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Draft Drone Rules, 2021
The central government has notified the Drone Rules 2021, a much more liberalised regime for unmanned aircraft systems than what existed previously.
Key features of Drone Rules 2021
These rules are built on a premise of trust, self-certification and non-intrusive monitoring. The policy is designed to usher in an era of super-normal growth while balancing safety and security considerations.
- Several approvals abolished: Unique authorisation number, unique prototype identification number, certificate of manufacturing and airworthiness, certificate of conformance, certificate of maintenance, import clearance, acceptance of existing drones, operator permit, authorisation of R&D organisation, student remote pilot licence, remote pilot instructor authorisation, drone port authorisation etc.
- Number of forms reduced: from 25 to 5.
- Types of fees: reduced from 72 to 4.
- Quantum of fee: reduced to nominal levels and delinked with size of drone. For instance, the fee for a remote pilot license fee has been reduced from INR 3000 (for large drone) to INR 100 for all categories of drones; and is valid for 10 years.
- Digital sky platform: It shall be developed as a user-friendly single-window system. There will be minimal human interface and most permissions will be self-generated.
- Interactive airspace map: with green, yellow and red zones shall be displayed on the digital sky platform within 30 days of publication of these rules.
- No permission required in green zones: Green zone means the airspace upto a vertical distance of 400 feet or 120 metre that has not been designated as a red zone or yellow zone in the airspace map; and the airspace upto a vertical distance of 200 feet or 60 metre above the area located between a lateral distance of 8 and 12 kilometre from the perimeter of an operational airport.
- De-licensing: No remote pilot licence required for micro drones (for non-commercial use) and nano drones. No requirement for security clearance before issuance of any registration or licence. Nano and model drones (made for research or recreation purposes) are exempt from type certification.
- Foreign ownership: No restriction on foreign ownership in Indian drone companies.
- Import: Import of drones to be regulated by DGFT. Requirement of import clearance from DGCA abolished.
- Size of drones: Coverage of drones under Drone Rules, 2021 increased from 300 kg to 500 kg. This will cover drone taxis also.
- Testing of drones: for issuance of Type Certificate to be carried out by Quality Council of India or authorised testing entities.
- UID: Manufacturers and importers may generate their drones’ unique identification number on the digital sky platform through the self-certification route. Drones present in India on or before 30 Nov 2021 will be issued a unique identification number through the digital sky platform provided, they have a DAN, a GST-paid invoice and are part of the list of DGCA-approved drones.
- Penalties: Maximum penalty for violations reduced to INR 1 lakh.
- Permission: Safety and security features like ‘No permission – no takeoff’ (NPNT), real-time tracking beacon, geo-fencing etc. to be notified in future. A six-month lead time will be provided to the industry for compliance.
- Drone corridors: will be developed for cargo deliveries.
- Drone promotion council: to be set up by Government with participation from academia, startups and other stakeholders to facilitate a growth-oriented regulatory regime.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Supermassive Black Holes
Mains level: Gravitational waves observation
Indian researchers have discovered three supermassive black holes from three galaxies merging together to form a triple active galactic nucleus, a compact region at the centre of a newly discovered galaxy that has a much-higher-than-normal luminosity.
What are Supermassive black holes?
- A supermassive black hole is the largest type of black hole, with mass on the order of millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun.
- Black holes are a class of astronomical objects that have undergone gravitational collapse, leaving behind spheroidal regions of space from which nothing can escape, not even light.
- They are difficult to detect because they do not emit any light. But they can reveal their presence by interacting with their surroundings.
Active galactic nuclei (AGN) from such black holes
- When the dust and gas from the surroundings fall onto a supermassive black hole, some of the mass is swallowed by the black hole, but some of it is converted into energy.
- This is emitted back as electromagnetic radiation that makes the black hole appear very luminous.
- They are called active galactic nuclei (AGN) and release huge amounts of ionized particles and energy into the galaxy and its environment.
- Both of these ultimately contribute to the growth of the medium around the galaxy and ultimately the evolution of the galaxy itself.
How does merger of black holes occur?
- A major factor impacting galaxy evolution is galaxy interactions, which happen when galaxies move close by each other and exert tremendous gravitational forces on each other.
- During such galaxy interactions, the respective supermassive black holes can get near each other.
- The dual black holes start consuming gas from their surroundings and become dual AGN.
What happens when galaxies collide?
- If two galaxies collide, their black hole will also come closer by transferring the kinetic energy to the surrounding gas.
- The distance between the blackholes decreases with time until the separation is around a parsec (3.26 light-years).
- The two black holes are then unable to lose any further kinetic energy in order to get even closer and merge.
- This is known as the final parsec problem.
Here comes the third black hole
- Many AGN pairs have been detected in the past, but triple AGN are extremely rare, and only a handful has been detected before using X-ray observations.
- The presence of a third black hole can solve this problem.
- The dual merging blackholes can transfer their energy to the third blackhole and merge with each other.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sambhar Lake
Mains level: Not Much
The world-famous Sambhar Salt Lake in Rajasthan is constantly shrinking with the degradation of soil and water quality and a decline in the population of migratory birds.
Sambhar Lake
- The lake, situated 80 km south-west of Jaipur, is the country’s largest inland saline water body which attracts thousands of migratory birds every year.
- The death of more than 20,000 birds belonging to about 10 species which migrate annually to the lake had made international headlines in 2019.
- The lake receives water from six rivers: Mantha, Rupangarh, Khari, Khandela, Medtha and Samod.
- Sambhar has been designated as a Ramsar site because the wetland is a key wintering area for tens of thousands of pink flamingos and other birds that migrate from northern Asia and Siberia.
Threats: Illegal mining
- 30% of the Sambhar Lake’s area had been lost to mining and other activities, including the illegal salt pan encroachments.
- It has also threatened the livelihoods of local people who have always lived in harmony with the lake and its ecology.
Try answering this:
Which one of the following is an artificial lake? (CSP 2014)
(a) Kodaikanal (Tamil Nadu)
(b) Kolleru (Andhra Pradesh)
(c) Nainital (Uttarakhand)
(d) Renuka (Himachal Pradesh)
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Current account opening restriction to deal with the NPA issue
Context
Some bank borrowers have gone to court demanding that it quash the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular dated August 6, 2020 on opening current accounts.
Background
- Current accounts with non-lending banks are an important channel for diversion.
- Diversion of funds is a major reason for large non-performing assets (NPAs).
- Internal diversion is for non-priority purposes and funds can also be diverted to other firms, owned or controlled by the same group, friends or relatives.
- To prevent this, the RBI mandates a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from lending banks before opening such accounts.
- Banks should verify with CRILC, the RBI credit database, and inform lenders. Banks should also obtain a NOC from the drawee bank when an account is opened through cheques.
- Widespread non-compliance with mandated safeguards forced the RBI to bar non-lending banks from opening current accounts for large borrowers.
- Thus, if borrowing is through a cash credit or overdraft account, no bank can open a current account.
What are the current regulations?
- If a borrower has no cash credit or overdraft account, a current account can be opened subject to restrictions.
- If the bank’s exposure is less than 10% of total borrowings, debits to the account can only be for transfers to accounts with a designated bank.
- If total borrowing is ₹50 crore or more, there should be an escrow mechanism managed by one bank which alone can open a current account.
- Other lending banks can open ‘collection accounts’ from which funds will be periodically transferred to the escrow account.
- If the borrowing is between ₹5 crore and ₹50 crore, lending banks can open current accounts.
- Non-lending banks can open collection accounts.
- If borrowing is below ₹5 crore, even non-lending banks can open current accounts.
- The working capital credit should be bifurcated into loan and cash credit components at individual bank levels.
Issues with regulations
- If a borrower has an overdraft, how can there not be a current account?
- An overdraft is the right to overdraw in a current account up to a limit.
- The second issue is that the circular forecloses such operational flexibility.
- Third, why should a bank with low exposure transfer funds to another bank when it can use it to adjust other dues with it?
- Fourth, share in borrowing is not static. Crossing the threshold both ways could happen often.
- Fifth, there is a mismatch between what a borrower needs and the regulations allow.
- Support of non-lending banks through current accounts in other banks is required for large accounts.
- Sixth, transactions in an active current account enables a bank to monitor a borrower’s account, however small.
- The lack of such control was why large development financial institutions of yesteryear built up huge NPAs.
- Seventh, the regulation mandates splitting working capital into loan and cash credit components across all banks.
- Such a one-size-fits-all regulation does not factor in the purpose of the different facilities.
- A large company might avail itself of loans in Mumbai, but require current accounts with another bank in Assam where it might have a factory.
- Lack of flexibility: Rules are not flexible, do not provide for unforeseen circumstances, and can be easily circumvented.
- Use more generic terms: Regulation needs to use more generic terms. Terms such as Working Capital Term Loan might mean different things in different banks.
- Diversion of fund is risk better dealt by banks: Is it not better to leave management of exceptional risks such as diversion of funds to the banks?
- The cost of regulation: the costs of regulation be justified by the benefits.
Conclusion
When regulation ignores market practices, it lacks legitimacy, a construct from neo-institutionalist literature. When legitimacy is wanting, compliance suffers.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Food fortification
Mains level: Paper 3- food fortification to deal with anaemia
Context
To deal with the high prevalence of anaemia, the government has been pursuing the policy of food fortification with iron. This policy needs a rethink.
Rice-fortification policy
- There are high levels of anaemia in India, affecting women and children equally.
- This is despite the corrective measures like mandatory supplementation of iron tablets through Anaemia Mukt Bharat programme of pharmaceutical iron supplementation.
- To deal with the issue, the government has decided on compulsory rice fortification in safety-net feeding programmes like the ICDS, PDS and school mid-day meals.
- This was announced by the Prime Minister in his recent Independence Day address to the nation.
- The mandatory rice fortification programme is being piloted in some districts already.
- Food fortification is considered attractive as it requires no behavioural modification by the beneficiary.
Why iron fortification policy needs re-examination?
1) Over-estimation of anaemia burden
- High WHO cutoff for Hg levels: WHO haemoglobin cut-offs are used to diagnose anaemia in India.
- There is a growing global consensus that these may be too high.
- A recent Lancet paper suggested a lower haemoglobin cut-off level to diagnose anaemia in Indian children.
- Using this will actually reduce the anaemia burden by two-thirds.
- Capillary Vs venous blood sample: Haemoglobin level can be falsely low when a capillary blood sample (taken by finger-prick) is used for measurement, instead of the more reliable venous blood sample (taken with a syringe from an arm vein). The anaemia burden in India is estimated from capillary blood, which inflates the anaemia burden substantially.
- If the recommended venous blood sample is used, it would halve this burden.
- There is, thus, a significant overestimation of anaemia burden.
2) Other nutrients and protein intake
- A MoHFW national survey (Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey) of Indian children showed that iron deficiency was related to less than half the anaemia cases.
- Many other nutrients and adequate protein intake are also important, for which a good diverse diet is required.
3) Iron requirement over-estimated
- The idea for iron fortification comes from the premise that a normal Indian diet cannot possibly meet an individual’s daily iron requirement.
- This is wrong thinking, and is based on older iron requirements (as per National Institute of Nutrition [NIN] 2010), which were much too high.
- The latest corrected iron requirements (NIN 2020) are 30-40 per cent lower.
- The iron density of the Indian vegetarian diet, about 9 mg/1000 kCal, can thus meet most requirements.
4) Challenges in rice fortification
- Rice fortification is very complex.
- It requires a fortified rice “kernel” or grain that is composed of rice flour paste, along with the required concentration of micronutrients and binders, extruded into a grain that exactly matches the shape of the rice it is intended to fortify.
- The problem lies in making “matching” kernels for each rice cultivar that is distributed in the food safety-net programmes from year to year and state to state.
- If it does not match, the instinct of a home cook will be to pick out and discard the odd grains, thereby defeating the purpose of fortification.
Risks involved
- Ingesting fortified salt (two teaspoons, 10 g/day) or rice (quarter kilo/day) will deliver an additional 10 mg iron/day each to the diet.
- When the iron intake exceeds 40 mg/day, the risk of toxicity goes up.
- The unabsorbed iron that remains in the gut can wreak havoc among the beneficial bacteria in the large intestine.
- Iron causes oxidative stress, and more seriously, is implicated in diabetes and cancer risk. Men will also be more at risk.
Way forward
- We just need to absorb the existing dietary iron better and complement this with all the other nutrients that are required, by eating a diverse diet (with fruits and vegetables, for example), and improving our environment.
- Indeed, it is well-known that the benefits derived from the nutrients in whole foods are greater than the sum of their parts.
Conclusion
We need to rethink our reductionist strategies if we are to deliver food and nutrition security to our people.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm
Mains level: Paper 3- Oil palm cultivation in India
Context
On August 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a support of Rs 11,000 crore to incentivise oil palm production.
National Mission on Edible Oils and Oil Palm (NMEO-OP)
- Under NMEO-OP, the government intends to bring an additional 6.5 lakh hectares under oil palm cultivation.
- The agro-business industry has said the move will help its growth and reduce the country’s dependence on palm oil imports, especially from Indonesia and Malaysia.
- Indonesia has emerged as a significant palm oil hub in the last decade and has overtaken Malaysia.
- The two countries produce 80 per cent of global oil palm.
- Indonesia exports more than 80 per cent of its production.
Reducing the import dependence
- India imported 18.41 million tonnes of vegetable oil in 2018.
- The National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm are part of the government’s efforts to reduce the dependence on vegetable oil production.
- The Yellow Revolution of the 1990s led to a rise in oilseeds production.
- Though there has been a continuous increase in the production of diverse oilseeds — groundnut, rapeseed and mustard, soybean — that has not matched the increasing demand.
- Most of these oilseeds are grown in rain-fed agriculture areas of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
Issues with oil palm cultivation in India
- Impact on biodiversity: Studies on agrarian change in Southeast Asia have shown that increasing oil palm plantations is a major reason for the region’s declining biodiversity.
- The Northeast is recognised as the home of around 850 bird species, it is also home to citrus fruits, it is rich in medicinal plants and harbours rare plants and herbs.
- Above all, it has 51 types of forests.
- Studies conducted by the government have also highlighted the Northeast’s rich biodiversity.
- The palm oil policy could destroy this richness of the region.
- To preserve the environment and biodiversity, Indonesia and Sri Lanka have already started putting restrictions on palm tree plantation.
- Water pollution: Along with adversely impacting the country’s biodiversity, it has led to increasing water pollution.
- Climate change: The decreasing forest cover has significant implications with respect to increasing carbon emission levels and contributing to climate change.
- Against the notion of self-reliance: Such initiatives are also against the notion of community self-reliance:
- The initial state support for such a crop results in a major and quick shift in the existing cropping pattern that are not always in sync with the agro-ecological conditions and food requirements of the region.
- Against commitment to sustainable agriculture: The policy also contradicts the government’s commitments under the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture.
- The mission aims at “Making agriculture more productive, sustainable, remunerative and climate resilient by promoting location specific integrated/composite farming systems.”
- The palm oil mission, instead, aims at achieving complete transformation of the farming system of Northeast India.
- Studies also show that in case of variations in global palm oil prices, households dependent on palm oil cultivation become vulnerable.
Consider the question “India depend on import for its vegetable oil requirements to a larger extent. What are the steps taken by the government to reduce the dependence? Can oil palm cultivation in India be a solution?”
Conclusion
Similar environmental and political outcomes cannot be ruled out in India. Apart from the possible hazardous impacts in Northeast India, such trends could have negative implications on farmer incomes, health, and food security in other parts of the country in the long run.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Arctic Council
Mains level: Geopolitics of the Arctic
It is tempting to view the current geopolitics of the Arctic through the lenses of the ‘great power competition’ and inevitable conflict of interests.
Current geopolitical scenario in the Arctic: US-Russia Spat
- It is mainly viewed as the growing tensions between North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies and Russia.
- By the end of the Cold War, the geopolitical tensions and security concerns in the Arctic were almost forgotten.
- The perceived ‘harmony’ was broken in 2007, when the Russian explorers planted their flag on the seabed 4,200m (13,779ft) below the North Pole to articulate Moscow’s claims in the Arctic.
- This move was certainly viewed as provocative by other Arctic State.
- The regional tension increased after the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2014.
- Consequently, relations between the U.S. and Russia reached their lowest point again.
Note: Five Arctic littoral states — Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Norway, Russia and the USA (Alaska) — and three other Arctic nations — Finland, Sweden and Iceland — form the Arctic Council (estd. 1996).
Try mapping them.
Caution: India became an Observer in the Arctic Council for the first time in 2013. And, India isn’t a full-time observer.
China’s vested interests in Arctic
- China, for example, with its self-proclaimed status of a ‘near Arctic state’, has been actively engaged in various projects across the region.
- The importance of the Arctic region for China mostly stems from its energy security issues and the need to diversify shipping lanes.
Why China focuses on Arctic?
- Transport routes from China to Europe through the Arctic are not only much shorter but also free from the challenges associated with the Malacca Strait and South China Sea.
- In the latter case, China will continue facing a backlash from many Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, supported by US forces and Quad.
Impact of Climate change on Arctic
- The Arctic is warming nearly twice as fast as the rest of the planet with consecutive record-breaking warm years since 2014.
- The Arctic is likely to begin experiencing ice-free summers within the next decade, with summers likely to be completely free of sea ice by mid-century.
Conclusion
- Given the significance of the region, the Arctic will continue to draw increased attention.
- Hence, countries should refrain from mutual provocations, excessive militarisation, and quid pro quo tactics.
- All Arctic actors should have a long-term vision and strategic goals as compared to immediate short-term gains.
- Instead of creating a potential battleground that is reminiscent of the Cold War, the parties concerned should utilise their expertise and create the required synergy to achieve shared goals.
- Climate change and its dramatic consequences must be a catalyst for Arctic cooperation.
Back2Basics: Arctic Council
- It is an advisory body that promotes cooperation among member nations and indigenous groups as per the Ottawa Declaration of 1996.
- Its focus is on sustainable development and environmental protection of the Arctic.
- The Arctic Council consists of the eight Arctic States: Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.
- In 2013, six Observers joined the Arctic Council, including China, Japan, India, Italy, South Korea, and Singapore, bringing their total number to 13.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Volanic eruptions in news
Mains level: Volcanic landforms
Geologists have detected a swarm of earthquakes at Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano, though it was not erupting.
Kilauea Volcano
- Kilauea is about 200 miles south of Honolulu, on the Big Island of Hawaii.
- It is one of the world’s most active volcanoes, having erupted 34 times since 1952. In Hawaiian tradition, Kilauea is home to the volcano goddess Pele.
- From 1983 to 2018, it erupted almost continuously, in some cases sending streams of lava that covered farms and homes.
- At the end of this decades-long eruption, Kilauea spewed lava from vents in a residential neighborhood on its eastern flank and destroyed more than 700 homes.
- In December, Kilauea erupted at the crater, creating a lake with enough lava to fill 10 Hoover dams. That eruption ended in May.
Do not skip answering this PYQ:
Consider the following statements:
- The Barren Island volcano is an active volcano located in the Indian Territory.
- Barren Island lies about 140 km east of Great Nicobar.
- The last time the Barren Island volcano erupted was in 1991 and it has remained inactive since then.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (CSP 2014)
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1 and 3 only
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Back2Basics: Volcanic Landforms
- Note the intrinsic and extrinsic types of volcanic landforms
- A volcano has 3 main characteristics
- Cone shaped mountain
- Formed by rock or ash thrown from the inside of the earth
- At times, opening or depression at top
- The three main types of volcanos are:
- Cinder cone Volcano: The cinder cones are small volcanoes with steep sides. Even though they are small, these are the ones you probably hear about. They are very explosive and made of ash and rock. Most of the cinder cones are small and less than 500 meters high. A famous cinder cone is Sunset Crater Volcano in Arizona.
- Shield Volcanoes: A shield is a low and broad volcano that usually has a very wide crater (a dent in the Earth’s surface). It is formed from thin layers of lava after consistent low-grade eruptions. The largest volcano in the world is a shield volcano. It is located in Hawaii.
- Composite volcanoes: They are the tallest type of volcano. They look very impressive but do usually have quiet and slow lava flows. They sometimes have small eruptions that cause ash and rock to go flying. One of the most famous volcanoes in the world is a composite volcano. It is Mount Fuji in Japan.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Kolkata City
Mains level: Urban development of colonial period
A 2003 judgment by the Calcutta High Court generates discussion of the city’s age, its date of founding, and Job Charnock, whom many credits for having “found” the city of Calcutta.
Calcutta: Who founded the city?
Nobody.
- A place then called Kalikatah was an important religious centre due to the existence of the Kali temple in the adjacent village of Kalighat.
- The first literary reference to the site is found in Bipradas Pipilai’s magnum opus Manasa Mangala which dates back to 1495.
- Abul Fazl’s Ain-I-Akbari dating 1596 also mentions the place.
- The Sabarna Roy Choudhury family was granted the Jagirdari of Kalikatah by Emperor Jehangir in 1608.
Who was Job Charnock?
- Job Charnock (1630–1693) was an English administrator with the East India Company.
- He was once regarded as the founder of the city of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta).
- However, this view is challenged, and in 2003 the Calcutta High Court declared that he ought not to be regarded as the founder.
- Charnock was entrusted with procuring the Company’s saltpetre and appointed to the centre of the trade, Patna in Bihar in1659.
Beginning of Urbanization
- The establishment of the Government House in 1767 and the Lottery Commission in 1817 were the other important developments in the city’s history that gave its urban landscape more defined contours.
- This commission was entirely responsible for the setting up of the city’s roads, streets and lanes.
- Some markers of urban settlements include planned roads, water supply and transport.
- The establishment of these in the early 19th century was responsible for making Calcutta the great city that it eventually became.
Significance of Kolkata
One of the most significant developments that gave the city a semblance of urban formation occurred in 1756 when the Nawab of Bengal Siraj ud-Daulah lay siege to Calcutta.
- This was in retaliation for the British East India Company engaging in unauthorized development of the structure that is now known as Fort William.
- The East India Company was defeated in a decisive battle, making them realise the vulnerability of the fort.
- Post 1757 the fort was remade and fortified with enhanced protection, the construction was exceptionally well done.
- It was really this attack on Fort William, a bastion of the British and other Europeans living there, that changed the map of Calcutta.
- The Europeans who used to primarily lived inside the fort—the European merchants, the administrators etc—started moving out.
- They knew that if there was an attack, there was infrastructure to save them. That was European Calcutta, what we call ‘White Town’.
Hey! We won’t let you move away without answering this PYQ:
Wellesley established the Fort William College at Calcutta because (CSP 2020):
(a) He was asked by the board of directors at London to do so
(b) He wanted to revive interest in oriental learning in India
(c) He wanted to provide William Carey and his associates with employment
(d) He wanted to train British civilians for administrative purposes in India.
Post your answers here:
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SUJALAM Campaign
Mains level: Not Much
The Ministry of Jal Shakti began ‘SUJALAM’, a ‘100 days campaign’ to create more and more ODF Plus villages by undertaking wastewater management at the village level.
SUJALAM Campaign
The key activities that will be organized in the villages under this campaign include:
- Organizing Community consultations, Khuli Baithaks and Gram Sabha meetings to analyze the current situation
- Pass resolution to maintain ODF sustainability and achieve a needed number of soak pits to manage the greywater
- Develop a 100 days’ plan to undertake sustainability and soak pit construction-related activities
- Construct a requisite number of soak pits
- Retrofit toilets where needed through IEC and community mobilization and
- Ensure all newly emerging Households in the village have access to toilets
Objectives of the campaign
- The effort of the campaign would be directed towards achieving the ODF plus status for villages across the country in an accelerated manner in a short time.
- The campaign will not only build desired infrastructure soak pit for management of greywater in villages but will also aid in sustainable management of water bodies.
- The disposal of wastewater and clogging of water bodies in the villages or on the outskirts of the villages remain one of the major problems.
- The Campaign would help in the management of the wastewater and in turn, would help to revive the water bodies.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- International recognition of a government
Context
The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan has triggered a new debate in international law on the issue of recognising an entity that claims to be the new government of a state.
Legal challenge of recognising a government
- Questions of recognition do not arise when the change of government within a state occurs when political power is transferred through legal means.
- However, things are different when the change of government happens through extra-legal methods like ousting the sitting government using unconstitutional means.
- China and Russia, two of the five permanent United Nations Security Council members, have seemingly shown readiness to recognise a Taliban-led government.
- Whereas countries like Canada have opposed it.
- Recognition of governments under international law is vital for several reasons.
- Recognition of government Vs. Recognition of State: Malcolm Shaw, the international lawyer, writes, “a change in government, however, accomplished, does not affect the identity of the State itself.”
- Thus, in the current debate, the issue is not about the recognition of Afghanistan, whose legal personality remains intact it’s about the recognition of government.
Two doctrines in Internation laws for recognising a government
1) Effectiveness
- According to this principle, to recognise a government means to determine whether it effectively controls the state it claims to govern.
- Under this doctrine, it is immaterial how the new government occupied office.
- Since there is hardly any doubt that the Taliban now effectively controls Afghanistan, as per this test, it would be recognised as Afghanistan’s government for international law and thus, international relations.
2) Democratic legitimacy
- According to this doctrine, recognition of a government also depends on whether it is the legitimate representative of the people it claims to govern.
- The end of the Cold War, the subsequent spread of democracy in the world, and the growing demand for universal respect for human rights gave an impetus to this doctrine in the last three decades.
- This doctrine has led many countries to bestow de jure recognition (legal recognition) on governments in exile in place of governments exercising effective control.
- Two recent examples include recognition by some states of Yemen’s government in exile since 2015.
- Second, the Nicolás Maduro government in Venezuela is not recognised by several countries due to the alleged lack of democratic legitimacy.
- The Taliban regime, despite exercising effective control over Afghanistan, lacks democratic legitimacy.
- Thus, it would fail to be recognised as the legitimate representative of Afghanistan if the doctrine of democratic legitimacy is applied.
- Nevertheless, there is no binding legal obligation on countries to withhold recognition citing democratic legitimacy.
- Thus, if Russia and China were to formally recognise the Taliban regime due to its effective control of Afghanistan, it would be consistent with international law.
Way forward for India
- India will have to find a way to engage with the Taliban given India’s huge investments in Afghanistan and stakes in the South Asian region.
- India should adopt a clear policy that it will deal with the Taliban simply because it is the de facto government, not because it is a legitimate one.
- This principle should be followed for bilateral relations and also for multilateral dealings such as within the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
Consider the question “What are the doctrines in international law in recognising the government of State? What should be India’s course of action in dealing with the Taliban in Afghanistan?”
Conclusion
Given the Taliban’s brutal past, India is within its right to withhold de jure recognition of the Taliban regime. However, India has to devise a policy to deal with the Taliban as a de facto government.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Issues with automated facial recognition system
Context
On June 23, 2021, the Joint Committee examining the Personal Data Protection Bill (2019) was granted a fifth extension by Parliament. While the Government has been simultaneously exploring the potential of facial recognition technology.
Automatic Facial Recognition in India
- To empower the Indian police with information technology, India approved implementation of the National Automated Facial Recognition System (NAFRS).
- On its implementation, it will function as a national-level search platform that will use facial recognition technology.
- It will help to facilitate investigation of crime or for identifying a person of interest regardless of face mask, makeup, plastic surgery, beard or hair extension.
Issues with AFR technology
- Intrusive in nature: The technology is absolutely intrusive, for the purposes of ‘verification’ or ‘identification’, the system compares the faceprint generated with a large existing database of faceprints typically available to law enforcement agencies.
- Accuracy and bias: Though the accuracy of facial recognition has improved over the years due to modern machine-learning algorithms, the risk of error and bias still exists.
- With the element of error and bias, facial recognition can result in profiling of some overrepresented groups (such as Dalits and minorities) in the criminal justice system.
- Privacy: As NAFRS will collect, process, and store sensitive private information: facial biometrics for long periods; if not permanently — it will impact the right to privacy.
- Accordingly, it is crucial to examine whether its implementation is arbitrary and thus unconstitutional, i.e., is it ‘legitimate’, ‘proportionate to its need’ and ‘least restrictive’?
- The Supreme Court, in the K.S. Puttaswamy judgment provided a three-fold requirement to safeguard against any arbitrary state action.
- Unfortunately, NAFRS fails each one of these tests.
- Any encroachment on the right to privacy requires the existence of ‘law’ (to satisfy legality of action); there must exist a ‘need’, in terms of a ‘legitimate state interest’; and, the measure adopted must be ‘proportionate’ and it should be ‘least intrusive.’
- Lack of law: It does not stem from any statutory enactment (such as the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill 2018 proposed to identify offenders or an executive order of the Central Government.
- Rather, it was merely approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in 2009.
- Fails proportionality test: Even if we assume that there exists a need for NAFRS to tackle modern day crimes, this measure is grossly disproportionate.
- For NAFRS to achieve the objective of ‘crime prevention’ or ‘identification’ will require the system to track people on a mass scale — avoiding a CCTV in a public place is difficult — resulting in everyone becoming a subject of surveillance: a disproportionate measure.
- Impact on civil liberties: As anonymity is key to functioning of a liberal democracy, unregulated use of facial recognition technology will dis-incentivise independent journalism or the right to assemble peaceably without arms, or any other form of civic society activism.
- Due to its adverse impact on civil liberties, some countries have been cautious with the use of facial recognition technology.
- In the United States, the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act of 2020 was introduced in the Senate to prohibit biometric surveillance without statutory authorisation.
- Similarly, privacy watchdogs in the European Union have called for a ban on facial recognition.
Way forward
- Statutory basis: NAFRS should have statutory authorisation, and guidelines for deployment.
- Data protection law: In the interest of civil liberties it is important to impose a moratorium on the use of facial recognition technology till we enact a strong and meaningful data protection law.
Consider the question “What are the issues associated with the deployment of NAFRS? Suggest the way forward.”
Conclusion
In sum, even if facial recognition technology is needed to tackle modern-day criminality in India, without accountability and oversight, facial recognition technology has strong potential for misuse and abuse.
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