Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Socio-economic Caste Census, 2021
Mains level: Subcategorization within OBCs in states
The government has made it clear in the Supreme Court that a caste census of the Backward Classes is “administratively difficult and cumbersome”.
About Socio-Economic and Caste Census
- The SECC 2011 was conducted for the 2011 Census of India.
- Then government approved the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 to be carried out after discussion in both houses of Parliament in 2010.
- The SECC 2011 was conducted in all states and union territories of India and the first findings were revealed in July 2015.
- SECC 2011 is also the first paperless census in India conducted on hand-held electronic devices by the government in 640 districts.
- SECC 2011 was the first caste-based census since 1931 Census of India and it was launched on 29 June 2011 from the Sankhola village of Hazemara block in West Tripura district.
Issues with SECC
Ans. Data NOT available
- The SECC data is stored in the Office of the Registrar General and had not been made official.
- It cannot be used as a source of information for population data in any official document.
What did the Centre say?
- The Centre reasoned that even when the census of castes were taken in the pre-Independence period, the data suffered in respect of “completeness and accuracy”.
- It said the caste data enumerated in the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) of 2011 is “unusable” for official purposes as they are “replete with technical flaws”.
- The infirmities of the SECC 2011 data makes it unusable for any official purposes and cannot be mentioned as a source of information for population data in any official document.
- Besides, the Centre said, it was too late now to enumerate caste into the Census 2021.
Why not OBCs?
- Unlike the constitutional mandate for collection of census data on SCs and STs, there is no obligation to provide the census figures of OBCs.
- The census data on SCs and STs are used for delimitation of electoral constituencies as well as for reservation of seats, as mandated under the Constitution.
Reason: Official discouragement of Caste
- The center was replying to a writ petition filed by the State of Maharashtra to gather Backward Classes’ caste data in the State while conducting Census 2021.
- The Centre clarified that exclusion of information regarding any other caste — other than SCs and STs — from the purview of the census is a “conscious policy decision”.
- The government said caste-wise enumeration in the Census was given up as a matter of policy from 1951.
- It said there was a policy of “official discouragement of caste”.
What is the plea about?
- To Maharashtra’s plea to reveal the SECC 2011 “raw caste data” of Other Backward Classes (OBC), the Centre said the 2011 Census was not an “OBC survey”.
- It was, on the other hand, a comprehensive exercise to enumerate the caste status of all households in the country in order to use their socio-economic data to identify poor households.
Why is the Centre reluctant?
- The Centre explained that a population census was not the “ideal instrument” for the collection of details on caste.
- There is a “grave danger” that the “basic integrity” of census data would be compromised.
- Even the fundamental population count may get “distorted”.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UNGA
Mains level: Mandate of the UN General Assembly
Every year since the 10th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1995, Brazil has been the first to address the delegation, followed by the United States.
About UNGA
- The UNGA is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN.
- Its powers, composition, functions, and procedures are set out in Chapter IV of the United Nations Charter.
- It also establishes numerous subsidiary organs to advance or assist in its broad mandate.
- The UNGA is the only UN organ wherein all member states have equal representation.
Why does Brazil always get to speak first?
- Brazil has been the first speaker at the UNGA annual general debate for over six decades now.
- While some assume that the order is determined alphabetically, this is not the case.
- This tradition dates back to the early years of the United Nations, following its formation soon after the end of World War II.
- In those days, most countries were reluctant to be the first to address the chamber.
- Brazil, at the time, was the only country that volunteered to speak first.
So, why does the US go next?
- In the list of speakers, the United States always goes second after Brazil as it is the host nation.
- US President Joe Biden addressed the chamber on Tuesday, detailing his vision for a new era of diplomacy in his first-ever UNGA speech.
How is the order of the remaining speakers determined?
- After the US and Brazil, the order of speakers depends on a number of factors.
- Generally the order is determined by the rank of the representative — heads of state, heads of government, crown princes, and foreign ministers would be amongst the initial speakers, followed by deputies and ambassadors.
- Other criteria like geographic balance also play a role in determining the order.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: FASTER system
Mains level: Resolving judicial pendency
The Supreme Court has given its nod for e-transfer of orders to jails through the FASTER system for quick prisoner release.
What is the FASTER system?
- FASTER is an acronym form Fast and Secured Transmission of Electronic Records.
- The system is meant to ensure that undertrials are not made to wait for days on end behind bars to be released because the certified hard copies of their bail orders took time to reach the prison.
- It is conceived for delivery of orders to concerned prisons, District Courts, High Courts, as the case may be, for instantaneous delivery of orders passed by apex court through a secure communication channel.
- The process to develop the FASTER system began with the CJI’s observations in court on July 16 this year.
Benefits offered
- With FASTER, crucial decisions, including orders on bail and stay of arrest, can be communicated electronically to prison authorities and investigating agencies through a secure channel.
- The system would also prevent unnecessary arrests and custody of people even after the court had already granted them its protection.
- It may even communicate a stay on an execution ordered by the final court on time.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS)
Mains level: Export promotion schemes in India
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade has imposed a cap on the total entitlement under the Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) at Rs 5 crore per exporter for shipments done in 2019-20 (FY20). The move is expected to benefit small businesses in the services sector.
About SEIS
- Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) aims to promote export of services from India by providing duty scrip credit for eligible exports.
- Under the scheme, service providers, located in India, would be rewarded under the SEIS scheme, for all eligible export of services from India.
- SEIS was earlier termed as Served from India Scheme (SFIS).
Eligibility
- Service Providers of notified services, located in India are eligible for the Service Exports from India Scheme.
- To be eligible, a service provider (Company / LLP / Partnership Firm) should have a minimum net free foreign exchange earnings of USD 15000 in the preceding financial year to be eligible for duty credit scrips.
- For proprietorships or individual service providers, minimum net foreign exchange earnings of USD10,000 in the preceding financial year is required to be eligible for the scheme.
- Also, in order to claim reward under the SEIS scheme, the service provider shall have to have an active Import Export Code (IE Code) at the time of rendering such services for which rewards are claimed.
Back2Basics: Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS)
- MEIS was launched with an objective to enhance the export of notified goods manufactured in a country.
- This scheme came into effect on 1 April 2015 through the Foreign Trade Policy and was in existence till 2020.
- It intended to incentivize exports of goods manufactured in India or produced in India.
- The incentives were for goods widely exported from India, industries producing or manufacturing such goods with a view to making Indian exports competitive.
- The MEIS covered almost 5000 goods notified for the purpose of the scheme.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: International Hydropower Association (IHA), Teesta River
Mains level: NA
NHPC’s 510 MW Teesta-V Power Station located in the Himalayan State of Sikkim has been conferred with the prestigious Blue Planet Prize by International Hydropower Association (IHA).
Teesta-V Power Station
- The power station has been built, owned and being operated by NHPC.
- The award has been conferred for its sustainability assessment undertaken by Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP) of IHA.
About IHA
- IHA is a London based non-profit membership association operating in 120 countries.
- The IHA membership includes leading hydropower owners and operators, developers, designers, suppliers and consultants.
- The IHA Blue Planet Prize is awarded to hydropower projects that demonstrate excellence in sustainable development.
- The Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP) is the leading international tool for measuring the sustainability of hydropower projects.
- It offers a way to benchmark the performance of a hydropower project against a comprehensive range of environmental, social, technical and governance criteria.
Back2Basics: Teesta River
- Teesta River is a 414 km long river that rises in the Pauhunri Mountain of eastern Himalayas, flows through the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal through Bangladesh and enters the Bay of Bengal.
- It drains an area of 12,540 sq km.
- In India, it flows through North Sikkim, East Sikkim, Pakyong District, Kalimpong district, Darjeeling District, Jalpaiguri District, Cooch Behar districts and the cities of Rangpo, Jalpaiguri and Mekhliganj.
- It joins River Brahmaputra at Fulchhari in Bangladesh. 315 km portion of the river lies in India and rest in Bangladesh.
- Teesta is the largest river of Sikkim and the second largest river of West Bengal after Ganges.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Weightage of Services in WPI and CPI
Mains level: Paper 3- Issues with inflation data
Context
Inflation for the last four months has been worryingly high. This is happening at a time when demand has been down, unemployment has been high, many have lost incomes and poverty has aggravated.
Issues with the recent inflation data
- The shock of lockdowns not only made data collection difficult but the consumption basket for calculating CPI should have been changed.
- Issue with the base: In April and May 2020, data on production and prices could not be collected due to the strict lockdown.
- As such, the official inflation figures for these months in 2021 do not reflect the true picture.
- For calculating inflation, a single number is arrived at by assigning weights to different commodities and services.
- Issue due to different consumption baskets: For WPI, the weights in production are used; for CPI, the consumption basket is used.
- The consumption basket is vastly different for the poor, the middle classes, and the rich.
- Hence, the CPI is different for each of these classes and a composite index requires averaging the baskets.
- So, in a sense, it represents none of the categories.
- Changed consumption pattern: During lockdown and unlock in 2020, people largely consumed essentials.
- RBI data show that consumer confidence fell drastically from 105 in January 2020 to 55.5 by January 2021.
- While the consumption pattern of the well-off sections may have changed little, the poor and middle classes, especially those who lost jobs and incomes, would have had to cut back on their consumption.
- Thus, the weights in the CPI would have changed and inflation required recalculation, but this has not been done.
- Under-representation of services: Inflation data under-represents services in the consumption basket.
- In production, services are about 55% of the GDP but have no representation in WPI and about 40% in CPI.
- Increased health and education cost not captured: Health costs and education costs shot up during the pandemic, but this is not captured in inflation figures.
- Many services were not used. Eating out and travel, for instance, should have been factored out.
Impact of the inflation
- If the income does not increase in proportion to inflation, for the middle classes, both consumption of less essential items and savings get reduced.
- But the poor, who hardly save, have to curtail essential consumption.
- Decline in demand: In India, 94% work in the unorganised sector and mostly earn low incomes and have little savings.
- By definition, they cannot bargain for higher incomes as prices rise, further, due to lockdowns, the wages of many declined, both in the unorganised and organised sectors.
- Consequently, demand has declined not only for non-essentials but even for essentials.
- Impact on employment generation: In a vicious cycle, this is slowing down economic recovery and employment generation.
- Further, this impacts the government’s revenues and tends to increase the budgetary deficit.
- This puts pressure on the government to cut back budgetary expenditures, especially on the social sector.
- That aggravates poverty and reduces demand further.
Factors leading to inflation
- Tax on fuels: Increase in tax on fuel push up the prices of all goods and services.
- This is an indirect tax, it is regressive and impacts the poor disproportionately more.
- It also makes the RBI’s task of controlling inflation difficult.
- Supply bottlenecks: The lockdowns disrupted supplies and that added to shortages and price rise.
- Prices of medicines and medical equipment rose dramatically.
- Prices of items of day-to-day consumption also rose.
- International factors: Most major economies have recovered and demand for inputs has increased while supplies have remained disrupted (like chips for automobiles).
Consider the question “What are the issues with measurement of inflation data in India? How inflation in times of low demand and reduced incomes leads to a vicious cycle?”
Conclusion
The current official inflation rate does not correctly measure price rise since the lockdown administered a shock to the economy. The method of calculating it needed modification.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Collegium system, NJAC
Mains level: Transparency issues is Judicial Appointments
In recent weeks, the Supreme Court of India’s collegium has been busy. New judges have been appointed to the Court on its advice and long overdue vacancies have been filled up.
Read this before proceeding:
Collegium recommends nine judges for Supreme Court
What is the matter of concern?
Ans. Transparency in appointments
- These recommendations are seen as reflective of a new and proactive collegium.
- What ought to concern us, though, is that long-standing apprehensions about the collegium’s operation remain unaddressed: specifically, its opacity and a lack of independent scrutiny of its decisions.
- These misgivings are usually seen in the context of a battle between the executive and the judiciary.
- Less evident is the effect that the failings have on the status of the High Courts.
- Today, even without express constitutional sanction, the collegium effectively exercises a power of supervision over each of the High Courts.
No specified reasons for Exclusion
- For nearly two years, despite vacancies on the Bench, the collegium made no recommendations for appointments to the Supreme Court.
- The conjecture in the press was that this logjam owed to a reluctance amongst some of its members to elevate Justice Akil Kureshi to the Court.
- Indeed, it was only after a change in its composition that the panel recommended on August 17 a list of names for elevation. This list did not contain Justice Kureshi’s name.
- The perfunctory nature of the collegium’s resolutions means that we do not know the reasons for his exclusion.
- We also do not know why five Chief Justices, including Justice Kureshi, and several other puisne judges are now being transferred to different courts.
The public has right to know
- This is not to suggest that these decisions are unfounded. It is possible that each of the choices made is predicated on administrative needs.
- But whatever the rationale, surely the public has a right to know.
What is needed?
Ans. Striking a balance in Separation of Power
- Separation of powers is a bedrock principle of Indian constitutionalism. Inherent in that idea is the guarantee of an autonomous judiciary.
- To that end, the process of appointing and transferring judges assumes salience.
- But the question of how to strike a balance between the sovereign function of making appointments and the need to ensure an independent judiciary has long plagued the republic.
As suggested by Dr. Ambedkar
- The Constitution’s framers wrestled over the question for many days. Ultimately, they adopted what Dr. B.R. Ambedkar described as a “middle course”.
- That path stipulates the following: Judges to the Supreme Court are to be appointed by the President of India in consultation with the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and such other judges that he deems fit.
- Judges to the High Courts are to be appointed by the President in consultation with the CJI, the Governor of the State and the Chief Justice of that court.
- In the case of transfers, the President may move a judge from one High Court to another, after consulting the CJI.
Where does primacy rest?
Ans. In a transparent Collegium system
- In this design, there is no mention of a “collegium”.
- But since 1993, when the Supreme Court rendered a ruling in the Second Judges Case, the word consultation has been interpreted to mean “concurrence”.
- What is more, that concurrence, the Court held there, ought to be secured not from the CJI alone, but from a body of judges that the judgment described as a “collegium”.
- Thus, the Court wound up creating a whole new process for making appointments and transfers and carved out a system where notional primacy came to rest in the top echelons of the judiciary.
This procedure has since been clarified. But there is, in fact, no actual guidance on how judges are to be selected.
The NJAC and after
- In 2015, Parliament sought to undo the procedures put in place by the Court through the 99th Constitutional Amendment.
- The National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), that the law created, comprised members from the judiciary, the executive, and the lay-public.
- But the Court scrapped the efforts to replace the collegium and it held in the Fourth Judges Case that judicial primacy in making appointments and transfers was an essential feature of the Constitution.
- In other words, the Court held that a body that found no mention in the actual text of the Constitution had assumed a position so sacrosanct that it could not be touched even by a constitutional amendment.
Assessing the NJAC
Ans. The NJAC was far from perfect
- There were legitimate fears that the commission might have resulted in the appointment of malleable judges.
- Therefore, it is plausible to argue that until a proper alternative is framed, the collegium represents the best solution.
- This is that allowing senior judges of the Supreme Court primacy in matters of appointments and transfers is the only practical way to guarantee the independence of the judiciary.
Promises are yet unfulfilled over transparency
- When the Court struck down the NJAC, it also promised to reform the existing system. Six years down the line those promises have been all but forgotten.
- The considerations that must go into the procedure for selecting judges is left unexplained.
- The words “merit” and “diversity” are thrown around without any corresponding debates on what they, in fact, mean.
- Somehow, amidst all of this, we have arrived at a consensus that enveloping a veil over the process of selection is essential to judicial autonomy, and that there is no legitimate reason why the public ought to know how judges are chosen and transferred.
Way forward
- It is clear that we have come a long way from a time when Chief Justices of High Courts declined invitations to the Supreme Court, because they valued the work that they were already entrusted with.
- Restoring High Courts to that position of prestige must be seen as essential to the process of building trust in our Constitution.
- Achieving this will no doubt require more than just a tweak in the process of appointments.
Conclusion
- It is clear is that the present system and the mysteries underlining the decision-making only further dilute the High Courts’ prominence.
- At some point we must take seriously the task of reforming the existing scheme because the status quo is ultimately corrosive of the very institutions that it seeks to protect.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SAARC
Mains level: Success and failures of SAARC
A meeting of foreign ministers from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, which was set to be held in New York has been cancelled.
About SAARC
- The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia.
- Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
- The SAARC comprises 3% of the world’s area, 21% of the world’s population and 4.21% (US$3.67 trillion) of the global economy, as of 2019.
- The SAARC was founded in Dhaka on 8 December 1985. Its secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal.
- The organization promotes development of economic and regional integration. It launched the South Asian Free Trade Area in 2006.
- The SAARC maintains permanent diplomatic relations at the United Nations as an observer and has developed links with multilateral entities, including the European Union.
Formation of SAARC
- After the USSR invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the security situation in South Asia rapidly deteriorated. In response, the foreign ministers of the initial seven members met in Colombo in 1981.
- At the meeting, Bangladesh proposed forming a regional association that would meet to discuss matters such as security and trade.
- While most of the countries present were in favour of the proposal, India and Pakistan were sceptical.
- Eventually, both countries relented and in 1983 in Dhaka, joined the other five nations in signing the Declaration.
What has SAARC done so far
- Despite its lofty ambitions, SAARC has not become a regional association in the mould of the European Union or the African Union.
- Its member states are plagued by internal divisions, most notably the conflict between India and Pakistan.
- This in turn has hampered its ability to form comprehensive trade agreements or to meaningfully collaborate on areas such as security, energy and infrastructure.
- The 18th and last SAARC summit was held in 2014 with Pakistan scheduled to host the 19th summit in 2016.
- Many nations pulled out of the summit, citing fears of regional insecurity caused by Pakistan and a lack of a conducive environment for the talks.
Limited success to count
- Despite these setbacks, SAARC has achieved a modicum of success.
- It has provided a platform for representatives from member countries to meet and discuss important issues, something that may have been challenging through bilateral discussions.
- India and Pakistan for example would struggle to publicly justify a meeting when tensions between the two are particularly high, but representatives from both countries could come together under the banner of SAARC.
- The bloc has also made some headway in signing agreements related to climate change, food security and combatting the Covid-19 crisis.
- It has the potential to do far more but that is contingent upon cooperation on key issues between member states.
Why was the recent meet cancelled?
Ans. Pakistan’s insistence to include the Taliban
- The member states are unable to agree upon the participation of Afghanistan, with Pakistan and India in particular at loggerheads over the issue.
- After Pakistan objected to the participation of any official from the previous Ghani administration, SAARC members reportedly agreed to keep an “empty chair” as a symbolic representation of Afghanistan.
- However, Islamabad later insisted that the Taliban be allowed to send its representative to the summit, a notion that all of the other member states rejected.
- After no consensus could be formed, Nepal, the ‘host’ of the summit, officially cancelled the meeting.
Why did countries object?
Ans. Taliban is not a legitimate govt
- The Taliban has not been recognised as the official government of Afghanistan by any SAARC countries barring Pakistan.
- Several top Taliban leaders are blacklisted by the US and/or designated as international terrorists.
- Senior leaders who are not blacklisted are known for supporting terrorist activities or affiliating with terrorist organisations.
- Allowing Taliban to represent Afghanistan in SAARC would legitimise the group and serve as a formal recognition of their right to govern.
- Apart from Pakistan, which has close ties to the Taliban, particularly its violent subgroup, the Haqqani Network, none of the other SAARC members recognise the Taliban.
Why nations should not recognize the Taliban?
- PM Modi has referred to the Taliban as a non-inclusive government, warning other nations to think before accepting the regime in Afghanistan.
- SAARC members are deeply aware of the threat of spillover terrorism from Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, with Bangladesh in particular, concerned with the effect it may have on extremism.
- Developments in Afghanistan could lead to uncontrolled flow of drugs, illegal weapons and human trafficking.
Conclusion
- With Pakistan headfast in its support for the Taliban and the rest of SAARC weary to acknowledge the group, any future summit is unlikely until the issue has been resolved.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Important facts mentioned
Mains level: Wastewater treatment in India
Sewage treatment plants (STPs) in India are able to treat a little more than a third of the sewage generated per day, according to the latest report of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
What is Wastewater?
Wastewater is used water from any combination of domestic, industrial, commercial or agricultural activities, surface runoff/ stormwater, and any sewer inflow or sewer infiltration.
In everyday usage, wastewater is commonly a synonym for:
- Sewage also called domestic wastewater or municipal wastewater which is wastewater that is produced by a community of people.
- Industrial wastewater, water-borne waste generated from a variety of industrial processes, such as manufacturing operations, mineral extraction, power generation, or water and wastewater treatment.
- Cooling water, released with potential thermal pollution after use to condense steam or reduce machinery temperatures by conduction or evaporation
- Leachate, precipitation containing pollutants dissolved while percolating through ores, raw materials, products, or solid waste
- Return flow, carrying suspended soil, pesticide residues, or dissolved minerals and nutrients from irrigated cropland
- Surface runoff, the flow of water occurring on the ground surface when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other sources, can no longer sufficiently rapidly infiltrate in the soil.
- Urban runoff, including water used for outdoor cleaning activity and landscape irrigation in densely populated areas created by urbanization
- Agricultural wastewater, generated from confined animal operations
Wastewater in India
- India generated 72,368 MLD (million litres per day) whereas the installed capacity of STPs was 31,841 MLD (43.9 per cent), according to the report.
Treatment facilities available
- Of this installed capacity, developed and operationalized capacity was 26,869 MLD (84 per cent).
- Of the total operationalised capacity, 20,235 MLD (75 per cent) was the actual utilised capacity.
- In other words, out of total 72,368 MLD sewage generated every day, only 20,235 MLD is treated.
Skewed distribution
- Five states and Union Territories (UT) — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Karnataka — account for 60 per cent of the total installed treatment capacity of the country.
- These, along with five other states and UTs — Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan — alone constitute 86 per cent of the total installed capacity.
- Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland have not installed sewage treatment plants.
- There are states like Bihar which do have a small installed capacity of STPs. But on the operational front, they score a zero.
- Chandigarh ranks first in terms of total sewage generated to what is actually treated. It generates 188 MLD of sewage and has an operational capacity to treat 271 MLD.
Major issue: Reuse of sewage
- The reuse of treated sewage is an issue which hasn’t assumed much importance in the policy planning of many state governments.
- Treated sewage water can be reused for horticulture, irrigation, washing activities (road, vehicles and trains), fire-fighting, industrial cooling, toilet flushing and gardening.
- The proportion of the reuse of treated sewage is maximum in Haryana (80 per cent) followed by Puducherry (55 per cent), Delhi (50 per cent), Chandigarh (35 per cent), Tamil Nadu (25 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (20 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (5 per cent).
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) 2021
Mains level: Air pollution
The World Health Organisation (WHO) in its first-ever update since 2005 has tightened global air pollution standards.
Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) 2021
- WHO announces limits for six pollutant categories —particulate matter (PM) 2.5 and 10, ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) sulphur dioxide (SO2) and carbon monoxide (CO).
Air quality standards in India
- India aligns with the WHO guidelines only in the case of ozone and carbon monoxide, as these have not changed. But both NO2 and SO2 guidelines are tighter than the current Indian standard.
- The move doesn’t immediately impact India as the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) don’t meet the WHO’s existing standards.
- The government has a dedicated National Clean Air Programme that aims for a 20% to 30% reduction in particulate matter concentrations by 2024 in 122 cities, keeping 2017 as the base year.
Significance of WHO’s AQG
Ans. It sets the stage for eventual shifts in policy
- WHO move sets the stage for eventual shifts in policy in the government towards evolving newer stricter standards.
- This will soon become part of policy discussions — much like climate targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions keep getting stricter over time.
- Once cities and States are set targets for meeting pollution emission standards, it could lead to overall changes in national standards.
Challenges for India
- The current challenge in India is to meet its national ambient air quality standards in all the regions.
- The hard lockdown phases during the pandemic have demonstrated the dramatic reduction that is possible when local pollution and regional influences can be minimised.
- This has shown that if local action is strengthened and scaled up at speed across the region, significant reduction to meet a much tighter target is possible.
- The influence of geo-climatic attributes is quite pronounced in all regions of India, which further aggravates the local build-up of pollution.
- This is further worsened due to the rapid proliferation of pollution sources and weak air quality management systems.
- India may require a more nuanced regional approach to maximise benefits and sustain air quality gains.
Conclusion
- Air pollution is a threat to health in all countries, but it hits people in low- and middle-income countries the hardest.
- WHO’s new Air Quality Guidelines are an evidence-based and practical tool for improving the quality of the air on which all life depends.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Fortification of food
Mains level: Isuses with fortified food
Days after the Prime Minister’s announcement of a rice fortification plan, the Centre has issued “uniform” parameters for fortified rice kernels (FRK) for grade ‘A’ and common rice.
Plan for fortified rice
- The fortified rice is to be distributed under various government schemes, including the public distribution system (PDS) and midday meals in schools, by 2024.
- The specifications for such rice have been issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
- Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution for the first time issued uniform specifications for Fortified Rice Kernels (FRK).
What are the norms announced?
- Common Rice have in case of procurement of Fortified Rice Stocks, of which 1% of FRK (w/w) should be blended with normal rice stock.
- These specifications as per standard practice have been issued in respect of Paddy, Rice and other coarse grains namely Jowar, Bajra, Maize, Ragi.
What is Fortification?
- FSSAI defines fortification as “deliberately increasing the content of essential micronutrients in a food so as to improve the nutritional quality of food and to provide public health benefit with minimal risk to health”.
What is Fortified Rice?
- Rice can be fortified by adding a micronutrient powder to the rice that adheres to the grains or spraying the surface of ordinary rice grains with a vitamin and mineral mix to form a protective coating.
- Rice can also be extruded and shaped into partially precooked grain-like structures resembling rice grains, which can then be blended with natural polished rice.
- Rice kernels can be fortified with several micronutrients, such as iron, folic acid, and other B-complex vitamins, vitamin A and zinc.
- These fortified kernels are then mixed with normal rice in a 1:100 ratio, and distributed for consumption.
Note: Biofortification is the process by which the nutritional quality of food crops is improved through agronomic practices, conventional plant breeding, or modern biotechnology. It differs from conventional fortification in that Biofortification aims to increase nutrient levels in crops during plant growth rather than through manual means during the processing of the crops.
What is the plan announced by the PM?
- Malnutrition and lack of essential nutrients in poor women and poor children pose major obstacles in their development.
- In view of this, it has been decided that the government will fortify the rice given to the poor under its various schemes.
- Be it the rice available at ration shops or the rice provided to children in their mid-day meals, the rice available through every scheme will be fortified by the year 2024.
Why such a move?
- The announcement is significant as the country has high levels of malnutrition among women and children.
- According to the Food Ministry, every second woman in the country is anemic and every third child is stunted.
- India ranks 94 out of 107 countries and is in the ‘serious hunger’ category on the Global Hunger Index (GHI).
- Fortification of rice is a cost-effective and complementary strategy to increase vitamin and mineral content in diets.
- According to the Food Ministry, seven countries have mandated rice fortification – the USA, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, and the Solomon Islands.
Advantages offered
- Health: Fortified staple foods will contain natural or near-natural levels of micro-nutrients, which may not necessarily be the case with supplements.
- Taste: It provides nutrition without any change in the characteristics of food or the course of our meals.
- Nutrition: If consumed on a regular and frequent basis, fortified foods will maintain body stores of nutrients more efficiently and more effectively than will intermittently supplement.
- Economy: The overall costs of fortification are extremely low; the price increase is approximately 1 to 2 percent of the total food value.
- Society: It upholds everyone’s right to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger
Issues with fortified food
- Against nature: Fortification and enrichment upset nature’s packaging. Our body does not absorb individual nutrients added to processed foods as efficiently compared to nutrients naturally occurring.
- Bioavailability: Supplements added to foods are less bioavailable. Bioavailability refers to the proportion of a nutrient your body is able to absorb and use.
- Immunity issues: They lack immune-boosting substances.
- Over-nutrition: Fortified foods and supplements can pose specific risks for people who are taking prescription medications, including decreased absorption of other micro-nutrients, treatment failure, and increased mortality risk.
Adhering to FSSAI standard
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) sets standards for food items in the country.
- According to FSSAI norms, 1 kg fortified rice will contain iron (28 mg-42.5 mg), folic acid (75-125 microgram), and Vitamin B-12 (0.75-1.25 microgram).
- In addition, rice may also be fortified with micronutrients, singly or in combination, with zinc(10 mg-15 mg), Vitamin A (500-750 microgram RE), Vitamin B1 (1 mg-1.5 mg), Vitamin B2 (1.25 mg-1.75 mg), Vitamin B3 (12.5 mg-20 mg) and Vitamin B6 (1.5 mg-2.5 mg) per kg.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Generalised System of Preference
Mains level: Paper 3- Agri-exports
Context
The Indian government has been encouraging agricultural exports to meet an ambitious target of $60bn by 2022.
India’s agri-exports
- The Ministry of Food Processing Industries shows that the contribution of agricultural and processed food products in India’s total exports is 11%.
- Primary processed agricultural commodities form the majority share.
- India’s export earnings will increase by focusing more on value-added processed food products rather than primary processed agricultural commodities (Siraj Hussain, 2021).
- From 2015-16 to 2019-20, the value of agricultural and processed food increased significantly from $17.8bn to $20.65bn.
- The Indian agricultural economy is shifting from primary to secondary agriculture where the focus is more on developing various processed foods.
Changes in India’s agricultural export basket
- Traditionally, Basmati rice is one of the top export commodities.
- However, now there is an unusual spike in the export of non-basmati rice.
- In 2020-21, India exported 13.09 million tonnes of non-basmati rice ($4.8bn), up from an average 6.9 million tonnes ($2.7bn) in the previous five years.
- Indian buffalo meat is seeing a strong demand in international markets due to its lean character and near organic nature.
- The export potential of buffalo meat is tremendous, especially in countries like Vietnam, Hong Kong and Indonesia.
Challenges in Increasing agri-export
- Lack of comparative advantage: The export of processed food products has not been growing fast enough because India lacks comparative advantage in many items.
- Domestic prices of processed food products are much higher compared to the world reference prices.
- Non-tariff measures: The exporters of processed food confront difficulties and non-tariff measures imposed by other countries on Indian exports (Siraj Hussain, 2021).
- Some of these include mandatory pre-shipment examination by the Export Inspection Agency being lengthy and costly.
- Compulsory spice board certification being needed even for ready-to-eat products.
- Lack of strategic planning of exports by most State governments.
- Lack of a predictable and consistent agricultural policy discouraging investments by the private sector.
- Prohibition of import of meat- and dairy based-products in most of the developed countries.
- Withdrawal of the Generalised System of Preference by the U.S. for import of processed food from India.
Consider the question “What are the challenges facing export of processed foods from India? Suggest the way forward.”
Way forward
- The main objective of the Agriculture Export Policy is to diversify and expand the export basket so that the export of higher value items, including perishables and processed food, be increased
- Support to industry: The policy needs to nurture food processing companies, ensuring low cost of production and global food quality standards, and creating a supportive environment to promote export of processed food.
- Focus on reputed brands: Reputed Indian brands should be encouraged to export processed foods globally as they can comply with the global standard of codex.
- Indian companies should focus on cost competitiveness, global food quality standards, technology, and tap the global processed food export market.
Conclusion
India has competitive advantages in various agricultural commodities which can be passed onto processed foods. It has the potential to become a global leader in the food processing sector.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: AUKUS, Quad
Mains level: Focus areas and challenges for AUKUS
The announcement of the new Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) trilateral security pact has naturally generated animated debate in strategic circles, before the QUAD summit.
What is the AUKUS?
- The first major initiative of AUKUS would be to deliver a nuclear-powered submarine fleet for Australia.
- The nuclear-powered submarines will give Australia naval heft in the Pacific, where China has been particularly aggressive.
- While the US and Britain have had the capability for decades, Australia has never had an n-sub.
Motive: To counter China
- China has nuclear-powered submarines, as well as submarines that can launch nuclear missiles.
- The three signatories to the AUKUS deal have made it clear though, that their aim is not to arm the new subs with nuclear weapons.
- China has been one of Australia’s biggest trading partners, but the relationship has soured over the last few years.
- It was in consideration of Chinese sensibilities that Australia had pulled out of the Malabar Naval Exercise with the US, India, and Japan after participating in the 2007 edition (of which Singapore too, was part).
- Australia came back to Malabar in 2020, which marked the first time in 13 years that the navies of the four Quad nations war-gamed together.
Australia at the Centrestage
- This is primarily because a nuclear-powered submarine gives a navy the capability to reach far out into the ocean and launch attacks.
- A nuclear-powered submarine offers long distances dives, at a higher speed, without being detected gives a nation the ability to protect its interests far from its shores.
- In the context of the AUKUS agreement, nuclear-powered submarines will give the Royal Australian Navy the capability to go into the South China Sea.
- It conclusively puts to rest a long-standing domestic debate on whether it was time for Australia to assess China through the strategic lens, overcoming the purely mercantile considerations that tended to dominate its China policy.
What makes nuclear submarines so important?
- A nuclear-powered submarine is classified as an “SSN” under the US Navy hull classification system, wherein ‘SS’ is the symbol for submarine, and ‘N’ stands for nuclear.
- A nuclear-powered submarine that can launch ballistic missiles is called “SSBN”.
- Conventional diesel-engine submarines have batteries that keep and propel — though not very fast — the vessel underwater. The life of these batteries can vary from a few hours to a few days.
- The newer Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP) submarines have additional fuel cells that allow them to stay underwater for longer and move faster than the conventional vessels.
- However, the fuel cells are used only at strategic times, when the endurance to remain submerged is required.
- Both conventional and AIP subs need to come to the surface to recharge their batteries using the diesel engine.
- The diesel engine also propels the vessel on the surface. However, the fuel cells of AIP can only be charged at on-land stations, not while at sea.
Why is France unhappy about Australia getting these submarines?
- The deal has complicated the relations between France and Australia, and also France and the US.
- France is upset as it has been kept out of the loop. But, with the core objective of pushing back against China’s aggression, all five countries — US, UK, Australia, France and India — are on the same track.
- The deal between France and Australia had been marked by delays and other issues.
- The first submarine was expected to be operational around 2034.
Does India have nuclear-powered submarines?
- Yes, India is among the six nations that have SSNs. The other five are the US, the UK, Russia, France and China.
- India has had the capacity since it got the Soviet-built K-43 Charlie-class SSN in 1987.
- Commissioned with the Red Fleet of the USSR in 1967, it was leased to the Indian Navy, and was rechristened INS Chakra. The submarine was decommissioned in 1991.
Indo-Pacific is the core issue
- France, which like the UK has historically been an Indo-Pacific power with territories and bases across the region.
- It has participated in a multi-nation naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal with the four Quad nations.
- There is no gainsaying the fact that rapid accretion in China’s economic and military capacities, but more particularly its belligerence, has led to a tectonic shift in regional security paradigms.
- Several countries have been obliged to review their defence preparedness in response to China’s rising military power and its adverse impact on regional stability.
A chance for the UK
- The AUKUS pact is also an emphatic assertion of the relevance of the U.S.-Australia Security Treaty (ANZUS).
- New Zealand, the outlier, walked away in 1984 from the treaty that ironically still bears its initials.
- Its “nuclear-free” stance ran counter to the U.S. Navy’s non-disclosure policy in regard to nuclear weapons aboard visiting vessels.
- Close ties notwithstanding, Australia’s future fleet of nuclear submarines will not be permitted access to New Zealand’s ports or waters, as averred by PM Jacinda Ardern.
- AUKUS provides a fresh opportunity to the United Kingdom to reinsert itself more directly into the Indo-Pacific.
- It is already a member of the Five Eyes (FVEY), an intelligence-sharing alliance built on Anglo-Saxon solidarity (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K., and the U.S.).
AUKUS is not a substitute for the Quad
- It does not erode the Quad’s significance as a platform for consultations and coordination on broader themes of maritime security, free and open trade, health care, critical technologies, supply chains and capacity-building.
- The AUKUS submarine deal, on the other hand, is an undiluted example of strategic defence collaboration, and a game-changer at that.
Chinese reception of AUKUS
- China, expectedly, has strongly criticised AUKUS and the submarine deal as promoting instability and stoking an arms race.
The exposed double standards
- China has the world’s fastest-growing fleet of sub-surface combatants.
- This includes the Type 093 Shang-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) and the Type 094 nuclear-powered Jin-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN).
- Its nuclear submarines are on the prowl in the Indo-Pacific.
- Yet, China denies Australia and others the sovereign right to decide on their defence requirements.
What’s in the box of AUKUS?
Ans. Greater role for Australia
- Australia’s proposed nuclear submarines will give quite a punch in terms of a stand-off capability.
- The growing focus on anti-submarine warfare across a more expansive region is clearly altering calculations.
- Australia’s nuclear submarines would help create a new balance of power in the Indo-Pacific, especially in tandem with the U.S. and the U.K.
- It will now have a more meaningful naval deterrence of its own to protect its sovereign interests.
- It is set to play a more robust role in ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
Way forward
- The setback ‘down under’ may spur France to focus afresh on partners such as India.
- India must strike a balance between continuing imports and implementing the all-important Atmanirbhar Bharat in defence manufacturing.
- France should take AUKUS as a business deal.
- Its momentary reaction at the cancellation of the contract by Australia should soon subside.
- As a major Indo-Pacific power, France is an important part of the regional security calculus.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Curriculum Framework (NCF)
Mains level: Need for curriculum revamp in India
The Centre has started the process to revise school textbooks by appointing former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Kasturirangan as the head of a 12-member steering committee responsible for developing a new National Curriculum Framework (NCF).
National Curriculum Framework (NCF)
- The new NCF is in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
- The committee will be headed by K Kasturirangan, who had also led the NEP 2020 drafting committee.
- The national curriculum framework serves as a guideline for syllabus, textbooks, teaching and learning practices in the country.
- India is currently following its fourth national curriculum framework that was published by the NCERT in 2005.
What was the last NCF?
- The last such framework was developed in 2005.
- It is meant to be a guiding document for the development of textbooks, syllabi and teaching practices in schools across the country.
Why revamp NCF?
- The subsequent revision of textbooks by the National Council of Educational Research and Training will draw from the new NCF.
- In fact, the steering committee will develop four such frameworks, one each to guide the curriculum of school education, teacher education, early childhood education, and adult education.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Solar Rooftop Scheme
Mains level: Renewable Energy in India
India has added 521 megawatts (MW) of rooftop solar capacity in the second quarter (Q2) of the calendar year (CY) 2021, a 53% increase than earlier quarter showing good signs of popularity.
What is Solar Rooftop?
- A solar photovoltaic (PV) system mounted on a rooftop of a building is a mini-power requirement or feed into the grid.
- The size of the installation varies significantly depending on the availability of space, amount of electricity consumed by the property and the ability or willingness of the owner to invest the capital required.
Why rooftop?
- Rooftop solar with a storage system is a benefit for both, end consumers as well as discoms (power distribution companies).
- A one-kilowatt (kW) rooftop system can produce three to five units of electricity a day.
- The combination increasingly becomes cost-effective for electricity generation compared to the traditional grid supply and diesel generators.
- In 2021, solar and storage will be cheaper than grid supply for most commercial and industrial (C&I) customers.
- The increase in penetration of rooftop solar in the distribution grid will have a significant impact on the stability of the grid.
A viable alternative
- Most housing societies in urban India rely on diesel generators for power backup. However, as power availability improves in the country, diesel generators will become redundant.
- The operational cost of diesel generators is quite high— R16-18 per unit against Rs 5-6 a unit for solar rooftop systems. So rooftop solar power makes financial sense.Solar rooftop is also a perfect solution for commercial and institutional buildings that operate mostly during the day.
- Their rooftops can be utilized to generate electricity, and they can, partially or completely, replace diesel generators. This would also help them reduce their electricity bills.
Question of energy storage
- In order to integrate rooftop solar and electric vehicles, the grid needs to be flexible and smart.
- Energy storage systems will play a key role in providing this flexibility by acting as a load when there is a surplus generation, as well as generating sources when there is a supply shortage.
- There are two major methods of integrating battery storage into the electric grid:
- Front-of-the-meter (FTM): It is implemented at the utility scale, wherein the battery system is connected to the transmission or distribution network that ensures grid reliability. This happens on a considerably large scale (~MWh scale).
- Behind-the-meter (BTM): The other method is implemented at the residential and commercial/industrial level, mainly to provide backup during a power failure or to store excess locally generated energy from solar rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems.
India’s storage capacity
- About 34 GW / 136 GWh of battery storage is expected to be installed by 2030, according to the Central Electricity Authority of India.
- This capacity would be used for RE integration, demand-side and peak load management services.
Storage challenges
- The solar segment offers a huge market opportunity for advanced battery technologies.
- However, manufacturers have some ground to cover in addressing technical limitations of batteries, such as charging characteristics, thermal performance and requirement of boost current to charge deep cycle batteries.
- Since solar companies may directly procure batteries from manufacturers and require after-sale services and technical support, battery companies should have wider a presence to address these expectations.
Other key challenges
- Rooftop solar source doesn’t match the rise in renewable energy in India.
- While industrial and commercial consumers account for 70% of total installed capacity residential consumers remain a big untapped potential to give the boost
- Solar rooftops also face several challenges such as little consumer awareness, lack of innovative government policies or attention, bureaucratic hassles, and limited support from discoms.
Way forward
- Supportive policies and innovative technological approaches are needed for the sector to achieve its potential.
- Indian policymakers need to plan for rooftop solar plus storage, rather than rooftop solar alone with the grid as storage (net / gross metering).
- The declining cost of storage solutions, along with that of rooftop solar solutions, is likely to change the future of the Indian power sector.
- Several countries such as Australia, the United States, Germany, among others have already endorsed solar power with battery storage.
- Energy storage, therefore, represents a huge economic opportunity for India.
- The creation of a conducive battery manufacturing ecosystem on a fast track could cement India’s opportunity for radical economic and industrial transformation in a critical and fast-growing global market.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Demographic transition of India
Mains level: Minority population issues
The religious composition of India’s population since Partition has remained largely stable according to a new study published by the Pew Research Centre, a non-profit based in Washington DC.
About the report
- The study, based on data sourced from India’s decennial census and the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), looked at the three main factors that are known to cause changes in the religious composition of populations — fertility rate, migration, and conversions.
- Both Hindus and Muslims, the two largest religious groups, shown not only a marked decline but also a convergence in fertility rates.
- In terms of absolute numbers, every major religion in India saw its numbers rise.
Significance of the report
- These findings, which come as a complement on religious tolerance and segregation in India.
- It is significant in the context of two major issues that have occupied centre stage in recent times — the controversy over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
- This report also gives a strong message to those fundamentalists who perceive India as a living hell for minorities.
Key findings
(a) Fertility Rates are declining
- With regard to fertility rates, the study found that Muslims, who had the highest fertility rate, also had the sharpest decline in fertility rates.
- From 1992 to 2015, the total fertility rates of Muslims declined from 4.4 to 2.6, while that of Hindus declined from 3.3 to 2.1.
- This indicates that the gaps in childbearing between India’s religious groups are much smaller than they used to be.
- The average fertility rate in India today is 2.2, which is higher than the rates in economically advanced countries such as the U.S. (1.6), but much lower than what it was in 1992 (3.4) or 1951 (5.9).
(b) Marked slowdown
- Although growth rates have declined for all of India’s major religious groups, the slowdown has been more pronounced among religious minorities, who outpaced Hindus in earlier decades.
- From 2001 to 2011, the difference in growth between Muslims (24.7%) and Indians overall (17.7%) was 7 percentage points.
- India’s Christian population grew at the slowest pace of the three largest groups in the most recent census decade — gaining 15.7% between 2001 and 2011, a far lower growth rate than the one recorded in the decade following Partition (29.0%).
(c) ‘No’ Religions group
- Interestingly, out of India’s total population of 1,200 million, about 8 million did not belong to any of the six major religious groups.
- Within this category, mostly comprising adivasi people, the largest grouping was of Sarnas (nearly 5 million adherents), followed by Gond (1 million) and Sari Dharma (5,10,000).
(d) Migration
- The study says that since the 1950s, migration has had only a modest impact on India’s religious composition.
- More than 99% of people who live in India were also born in India, and migrants leaving India outnumber immigrants three-to-one, with “Muslims more likely than Hindus to leave India”, while “immigrants into India from Muslim-majority counties are disproportionately Hindu.”
(e) Religious conversions
- Religious conversion has also had a negligible impact on India’s overall composition, with 98% of Indian adults still identifying with the religion in which they were raised.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Havana Syndrome
Mains level: Sonic Warfare tactics
A US intelligence officer traveling with CIA director William Burns has reported symptoms of Havana Syndrome.
What is Havana Syndrome?
- Havana Syndrome refers to a set of mental health symptoms that are said to be experienced by US intelligence and embassy officials in various countries.
- It typically involves symptoms such as hearing certain sounds without any outside noise being present, nausea, vertigo and headaches, memory loss and issues with balance.
- As the name suggests, it traces its roots to Cuba.
- In late 2016, US officials in embassy began experiencing sudden bursts of pressure in their brain followed by persistent headaches, feeling of disorientation and insomnia.
How severe is it?
- In 2018, at least three CIA officers working under diplomatic cover in Cuba had reported troubling sensations that seemed to leave serious injuries.
- Some officers are being compulsorily retired for their inability to coherently discharge his duty and another needing a hearing aid.
Has Havana Syndrome been reported anywhere else?
- Since the Cuban incident, American intelligence and foreign affairs officials posted in various countries have reported symptoms of the syndrome.
- In early 2018, similar accusations began to be made by US diplomats in China.
- The US media has reported around 130 such attacks across the world including at Moscow in Russia, Poland, Georgia, Taiwan, Colombia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Austria, among others.
What are the causes of Havana Syndrome?
- No one is entirely sure. But it is speculated to be a “sonic attack”.
- Medical examination of the victims began to suggest that the victims may have been subjected to high-powered microwaves that either damaged or interfered with the nervous system.
- It was said to have built a pressure inside the brain that generated the feeling of a sound being heard.
- Greater exposure to high-powered microwaves is said not only to interfere with the body’s sense of balance but also impact memory and cause permanent brain damage.
- It is suspected that beams of high-powered microwaves are sent through a special gadget that Americans have begun calling “microwave weapon”.
Who is doing this in India?
- Sources in the Indian security establishment say they are not aware of any such weapon being in the possession of an Indian agency.
- Even if there was one, it is unlikely the government would admit to having acquired such counter-espionage technology given the sensitive nature of intelligence work.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indian Rhino
Mains level: NA
Assam will mark World Rhino Day — September 22 — with a special ceremony by burning a stockpile of nearly 2,500 horns of the one-horned rhinoceros.
Rhino Horn Reverification
- The public ceremony — scheduled at Bokakhat in Kaziranga National Park (KNP) has been publicized as a “milestone towards rhino conservation” aimed at “busting myths about rhino horns”.
- It’s a loud and clear message to the poachers and smugglers that such items have no value.
- Thus the case for the destruction of horns — a process that is in compliance with Section 39(3)(c) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972.
Why are Rhinos poached for horns?
- Ground rhino horn is used in traditional Chinese medicine to cure a range of ailments, from cancer to hangovers, and also as an aphrodisiac.
- In Vietnam, possessing a rhino horn is considered a status symbol.
- Due to demand in these countries, poaching pressure on rhinos is ever persistent against which one cannot let the guard down.
Try this PYQ:
Consider the following statements:
- Asiatic lion is naturally found in India only.
- Double-humped camel is naturally found in India only.
- One-horned rhinoceros is naturally found in India only.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Post your answers here.
(Note: Comment feature is not available on the app.)
Back2Basics: Indian Rhino
- The Indian rhinoceros also called the greater one-horned rhinoceros and great Indian rhinoceros is a rhinoceros native to the Indian subcontinent.
- It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and Schedule I animal in the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
- It once ranged across the entire northern part of the Indian Subcontinent, along the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra River basins, from Pakistan to the Indian-Myanmar border.
- Poaching for rhinoceros horn became the single most important reason for the decline of the Indian rhino.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Blue Flag Certification
Mains level: NA
The international eco-label “Blue Flag”, has accorded the Blue Flag Certification for 2 new beaches this year –Kovalam in Tamil Nadu and Eden in Puducherry beaches.
With this India now has 10 International Blue Flag beaches.
Which are the other 8 beaches?
- Shivrajpur (Dwarka-Gujarat)
- Ghoghla (Diu)
- Kasarkod (Karnataka) [NOT Kasargod which is in Kerala] and
- Padubidri (Karnataka)
- Kappad (Kerala)
- Rushikonda (AP)
- Golden Beach (Odisha) and
- Radhanagar (A&N Islands)
Blue Flag Beaches
- The ‘Blue Flag’ beach is an ‘eco-tourism model’ and marks out beaches as providing tourists and beachgoers clean and hygienic bathing water, facilities/amenities, a safe and healthy environment, and sustainable development of the area.
- The certification is accorded by the Denmark-based Foundation for Environment Education.
- It started in France in 1985 and has been implemented in Europe since 1987, and in areas outside Europe since 2001 when South Africa joined.
- It has 33 stringent criteria under four major heads for the beaches, that is, (i) Environmental Education and Information (ii) Bathing Water Quality (iii) Environment Management and Conservation and (iv) Safety and Services.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: AUKUS
Mains level: Paper 2- Role for India in issues over AUKUS
Context
France recalled its ambassadors to the US and Australia in a diplomatic slap intended to convey its anger over a deal forged in secrecy that saw Paris lose a multi billion dollar submarine contract.
Depth and diversity of India’s relations
- That Delhi today is a part of a difficult conversation between the US, UK, France, Europe, and Australia points to the growing depth and diversity of India’s relations with different parts of the West.
- Popular and academic discourse on India’s foreign policy has been obsessed with the concept of “non-alignment” —was about keeping distance from the West as a whole.
- India’s contemporary diplomacy, in contrast, takes a nuanced view of internal dynamics in the West, and recognises the political agency of individual states, and develops wide-ranging relationships with the Western nations.
Relations with France
- Paris has always taken an independent view of the world, while remaining within the broad framework of the American alliance.
- In the 1990s, Paris championed the construction of a multipolar world to constrain American “hyperpower” but India did not join it.
- The last few years, however, have seen an intensification of India’s strategic engagement with France.
- For example, India has overcome the earlier reluctance to work with France on Indian Ocean security.
Engagement as collective and sub-region
- The government has also stepped up on the political engagement with Europe as a collective as well as its sub-regions — from Baltics to the Balkans and from Iberia to Mitteleuropa.
- As India discovers that every European nation, from tiny Luxembourg to a rising Poland, has something to offer, Europe has become a thriving hub of India’s international relations.
Relations with the UK
- Due to the bitter colonial legacy, relations between India and UK have always been underdeveloped.
- In the last couple of years, India has made a determined effort to build a new partnership with Britain, which is the fifth-largest economy in the world, a leading financial hub, a technological powerhouse, and punches well above its weight in global affairs.
Relations with “Anglosphere”
- India’s neglect of London also meant Delhi had no time for the “Anglosphere” that binds the UK to Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.
- Many had presumed that the Anglosphere was irrelevant — AUKUS, however, is a reminder that Anglo-Saxon political bonds endure.
- Instead of treating the Anglosphere with scepticism, India has begun to vigorously engage with the “settler colonies” that have so much to offer India — from natural resources to higher education and critical technologies.
- The UK and its settler colonies have long been the preferred destination for the Indian diaspora (besides the US).
- Leveraging diaspora politics: While the diaspora tends to connect the domestic politics of the Anglosphere with that of India, Delhi is figuring out that the diaspora politics can be played both ways.
Relations with Japan and Australia
- The transformation of India’s relations with Australia has occurred despite entrenched scepticism in the foreign policy bureaucracy.
- Finally, Japan has been a part of the West in the post-War era and Delhi’s relations with Tokyo have never been as rounded as they are today. They are also fellow members of the Quad.
Way forward for India
- This wide-ranging engagement with the West should help Delhi convey two important messages to its partners this week.
- Not undermining the larger goal: India needs to remind France, Australia, the UK and US of the shared interests in securing the Indo-Pacific and the dangers of letting the current quarrel undermine that larger goal.
- Effective deterrence in Indo-Pacific: The other is to highlight the region’s vast requirements for effective deterrence in the Indo-Pacific;
- And that there is enough room for the US, UK, France, and Europe to collaborate with Indo-Pacific partners in overlapping coalitions to develop high technology and defence-industrial cooperation in all the areas highlighted by AUKUS — effective underwater capabilities to AI, quantum computing and cyber warfare.
- Deeper cooperation: India’s interests lie in deeper strategic cooperation with France and Europe as well as the Quad and the Anglosphere.
Conclusion
India’s diverse relationships in the West must be deployed in full measure to prevent a split in the Indo-Pacific coalition.
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