Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SCO
Mains level: Role of SCO in Afghan Peace
On the face of it, the summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) this week in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, is well placed to lead the stabilization of Afghanistan after the American retreat.
About SCO
- After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the then security and economic architecture in the Eurasian region dissolved and new structures had to come up.
- The original Shanghai Five were China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
- The SCO was formed in 2001, with Uzbekistan included. It expanded in 2017 to include India and Pakistan.
- Since its formation, the SCO has focused on regional non-traditional security, with counter-terrorism as a priority.
- The fight against the “three evils” of terrorism, separatism and extremism has become its mantra. Today, areas of cooperation include themes such as economics and culture.
India’s and the SCO
- India and Pakistan both were observer countries.
- While Central Asian countries and China were not in favor of expansion initially, the main supporter — of India’s entry in particular — was Russia.
- A widely held view is that Russia’s growing unease about an increasingly powerful China prompted it to push for its expansion.
- From 2009 onwards, Russia officially supported India’s ambition to join the SCO. China then asked for its all-weather friend Pakistan’s entry.
Afghanistan and SCO
- Afghanistan has been engaged with the SCO for over 15 years.
- In 2012, Afghanistan became an observer in the SCO when then-Afghan president Hamid Karzai visited China.
- In 2015, Kabul applied for full membership in the group.
- Kabul sought to be a member of the SCO as it believes that it is a natural candidate.
- Geographically, Afghanistan is a part of the SCO region.
Limited (or No) progress made by SCO
- For all the political hype, the SCO has not deepened regionalism in Central Asia.
- Two decades after its formation — it was set up just weeks before the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington — the institutional promise of the SCO remains just that — a promise.
- Seen from the subcontinent, the SCO certainly looks better than the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
- That India and Pakistan, whose differences have prevented even regular meetings of SAARC, are actively participating in the SCO, would point to its attractiveness.
- But then SAARC is such a low bar.
Opportunities for role-play in Afghanistan
The crisis in Afghanistan presents a major opportunity for the SCO to realize its regional ambitions.
- Involvement of regional superpowers: The SCO’s importance for Afghanistan seems self-evident when you look at its sponsors and members. Its founding leaders are the two great powers of the east — Russia and China.
- Neighborhood are members: Its other initial members were Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan to the north and northeast of Afghanistan.
- Observers vested interest: Besides Afghanistan, Iran, Belarus and Mongolia are observers. Iran is said to be on track for full membership.
- Many dialogue partners: The SCO has a number of “dialogue partners”. They include Armenia and Azerbaijan from the neighboring Caucasus region and Turkey a step further to the West. Nepal and Sri Lanka from the subcontinent and Cambodia from southeast Asia are also dialogue partners.
Issues with SCO
- China centrism: For an organization that bears the name of Shanghai, but is focused on Central Asia, its associates look disparate.
- Lack of coherence: The Central Asian members of the SCO have quarrels of their own, and have struggled to develop collective approaches to their common regional security challenges.
- Dint go beyond dialogues: As it broadened its membership, the SCO has, unsurprisingly, struggled to deepen institutional cooperation.
- Not comprehensive: There is also one important country missing in the mix. It is Turkmenistan, which shares an 800 km border with Afghanistan and a 1,150 km border with Iran.
- Neutrality of members: The organizing principle of Turkmenistan rulers is absolute “neutrality” — think of it as an extreme form of “non-alignment”. It refuses to join any regional institution, political or military.
- Individual interests: Russia’s effort to build a regional institution in its Central Asian periphery ran parallel to its plans for the so-called “strategic triangle” with China and India. India and Pakistan, needless to say, are poles apart on the Taliban.
No common interest in Afghan Peace
- The US military retreat from Afghanistan has brought cheer to both Moscow and Beijing, although publicly they criticize President Joe Biden’s hasty retreat.
- The US retreat might weaken the glue that binds Moscow and Beijing in Central Asia or tightens it.
- Although Russia and China are closer to each other than ever before, their interests are not entirely the same in Central Asia.
Russian alternatives to SCO
(1) Central Security Treaty Organisation
- While military confidence-building measures have grown under the SCO banner, Russia had its own security organisation for the region, called the Central Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).
- Three of the SCO members — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan — along with Armenia and Belarus are members of the CSTO.
- Russia sees itself as the sole protector of the former Soviet Republics and may not be ready to share that role with China — “yes” to coordination, but “no” to a Sino-Russian security dyarchy.
(2) Eurasian Economic Union
- Moscow also appears reluctant to back Chinese proposals to promote trade integration under the SCO banner; it prefers the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) under its own leadership.
- China is not a member of either CSTO or EAEU. This is one reason for the weakness of SCO regionalism.
Other deterrents
(1) Affinity with Taliban
- China has openly admitted to cooperating with the Taliban by restoring all formal diplomatic ties. It is the first such country to acknowledge the Taliban.
- Turkmenistan too, which is not part of SCO, has been quite open to engaging the Taliban in sync with its principles of neutrality.
- Some Russian analysts see Turkmenistan as the potential weak link in the defense against the Taliban’s potential threats to the region.
- Uzbekistan seems open to a cautious engagement with the Taliban.
(2) Iranian aspirations for unwarranted interference (just like Turkey does regarding Kashmir)
- Iran, which has ethnic and linguistic links with the Persian-speaking Tajiks, appears equally worried about the Taliban’s policies towards minorities.
- As Moscow and Beijing, Tehran was happy to see the Americans leave in humiliation and appeared hopeful of a positive engagement with the Taliban.
- Those hopes may have been suspended for now, if not discarded.
What can the SCO do now?
- The Afghanistan debacle presents an opportunity for the SCO to play a constructive role in meeting the region’s burgeoning security challenge.
- Providing humanitarian relief, tending to refugees, facilitating an inclusive dialogue and national reconciliation constitute immediate and long-term goals in which the organization can fill a role.
- The SCO can also pressure the Taliban to share power with other domestic actors and refrain from providing sanctuary to foreign terror organizations (through foreign funds from Saudi*).
- It can suspend Afghanistan’s observer status, curtail border traffic or withhold recognition, investments, and aid, should Kabul be found wanting.
Way forward
- While the SCO is not an impressive regional institution, it remains an important diplomatic forum.
- India has sought to make full use of the SCO’s diplomatic possibilities without any illusions about its effectiveness.
- At the SCO summit this week, PM Modi would remind other leaders of the “three evils” that the SCO set out to defeat — terrorism, extremism, and separatism.
- Few would disagree that the Taliban embodied all the three sins in the past. Today, the Taliban and its mentor Pakistan say the sinner wants to become a saint.
- India must focus on finding common ground with those members of the SCO who do share India’s concerns about Afghanistan.
Conclusion
- Given this divergence, it is unlikely that the SCO can come up with a “regional solution” for the Afghan crisis.
- The only real Afghan convergence today is between Pakistan and China.
- Expect them to try and nudge the SCO towards a positive engagement with the Taliban.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GST Council
Mains level: Commodities left out of GST purview
The GST Council might consider taxing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products under the single national GST regime.
About GST Council
- The GST Council is a constitutional body that aims to bring together states and the Centre on a common platform for the nationwide rollout of the indirect tax reform.
- It is an apex member committee to modify, reconcile or to procure any law or regulation based on the context of goods and services tax in India.
- It dictates tax rate, tax exemption, the due date of forms, tax laws, and tax deadlines, keeping in mind special rates and provisions for some states.
- The predominant responsibility of the GST Council is to ensure to have one uniform tax rate for goods and services across the nation.
How is the GST Council structured?
- The GST is governed by the GST Council. Article 279 (1) of the amended Indian Constitution states that the GST Council has to be constituted by the President within 60 days of the commencement of Article 279A.
- According to the article, the GST Council will be a joint forum for the Centre and the States. It consists of the following members:
- The Union Finance Minister will be the Chairperson
- As a member, the Union Minister of State will be in charge of Revenue of Finance
- The Minister in charge of finance or taxation or any other Minister nominated by each State government, as members.
Terms of reference
- Article 279A (4) specifies that the Council will make recommendations to the Union and the States on the important issues related to GST, such as the goods and services will be subject to or exempted from the Goods and Services Tax.
- They lay down GST laws, principles that govern the following:
- Place of Supply
- Threshold limits
- GST rates on goods and services
- Special rates for raising additional resources during a natural calamity or disaster
- Special GST rates for certain States
Why bring Petro/Diesel under GST?
- GST is being thought to be a solution for the problem of near-record high petrol and diesel rates in the country, as it would end the cascading effect of tax on tax.
- The state VAT is being levied not just on the cost of production but also on the excise duty charged by the Centre on such output.
Why were they left out of GST?
- When a national GST subsumed central taxes such as excise duty and state levies like VAT on July 1, 2017, five petroleum goods – petrol, diesel, ATF, natural gas and crude oil – were kept out of its purview.
- This is because both central and state government finances relied heavily on taxes on these products.
- Since GST is a consumption-based tax, bringing petroleum under the regime would have mean states where these products are sold get the revenue and not the producer ones.
- Simply put, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with their huge population and a resultant high consumption would get more revenues at the cost of states like Gujarat.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Input Tax Credit
Mains level: Not Much
The Supreme Court has confirmed a Madras High Court judgment which upheld a fiscal formula included in the Central Goods and Service Tax Rules to execute refund of unutilized Input Tax Credit (ITC) accumulated on account of input services.
What is Input Tax Credit?
- Input credit means at the time of paying tax on output, you can reduce the tax you have already paid on inputs.
- Say, you are a manufacturer – tax payable on output (FINAL PRODUCT) is Rs 450 tax paid on input (PURCHASES) is Rs 300 You can claim INPUT CREDIT of Rs 300 and you only need to deposit Rs 150 in taxes. See here:
Pc: Cleartax.in
The case in discussion
- The apex court Bench led, by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, passed the judgment in the face of two contradicting judgments of Gujarat and Madras High Courts on the validity of Rule 89(5) of the Central GST Rules, 2017.
- Rule 89(5) provides a formula for the refund of ITC, in “a case of refund on account of inverted duty structure”.
- The Gujarat High Court had held that by prescribing a formula in sub-Rule (5) of Rule 89 to execute refund of unutilized ITC accumulated on account of input services.
- The Madras High Court, while delivering its judgment declined to follow the view of the Gujarat High Court.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Consider the following items:
- Cereal grains hulled
- Chicken eggs cooked
- Fish processed and canned
- Newspapers containing advertising material
Which of the above items is/are exempt under GST (Goods and Services Tax)?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1, 2 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Post your answers here
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: States reorganization
Mains level: Not Much
The Meghalaya Assembly has given an indigenous touch to the National Anthem ahead of the 50th anniversary of Meghalaya’s Statehood in 2022.
About Meghalaya
- Meghalaya meaning “abode of clouds” was formed by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: the United Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills, and the Garo Hills on 21 January 1972.
- It was previously part of Assam, but on 21 January 1972, the districts of Khasi, Garo and Jaintia hills became the new state of Meghalaya.
- It is the wettest region of India, with the wettest areas in the southern Khasi Hills recording an average of 12,000 mm (470 in) of rain a year.
- About 70 percent of the state is forested.
- The Meghalaya subtropical forests ecoregion encompasses the state; its mountain forests are distinct from the lowland tropical forests to the north and south.
Note the chronology of reorganization states in India
| State |
Formation Year |
Status prior to the formation |
| Andhra |
1953 |
Part of the state of Madras |
| Gujarat |
1960 |
Part of the state of Bombay |
| Maharashtra |
1960 |
Part of the state of Bombay |
| Kerala |
1956 |
State of Travancore and Cochin |
| Nagaland |
1963 |
Union territory |
| Haryana |
1966 |
Part of Punjab |
| Karnataka |
1956 |
State of Mysore was formed in 1953, enlarged Mysore in 1956 which was renamed in 1973. |
| Himachal Pradesh |
1971 |
Union Territory |
| Manipur, Tripura |
1972 |
Union Territories |
| Meghalaya |
1972 |
Autonomous state within state of Assam |
| Sikkim |
1975 |
Associate state since 1974 and a protectorate of India before that. |
| Mizoram |
1987 |
District of Assam till 1972 and Union Territory from 1972 to 1987. |
| Arunachal Pradesh |
1987 |
Union Territory |
| Goa |
1987 |
Union Territory |
| Uttarakhand |
2000 |
Part of Uttar Pradesh |
| Chhattisgarh |
2000 |
Part of Madhya Pradesh |
| Jharkhand |
2000 |
Part of Bihar |
| Telangana |
2014 |
Part of Andhra Pradesh |
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
Mains level: Not Much
A herd of around 25 elephants from Nepal’s Shuklaphanta National Park reached the tiger reserve in Uttar Pradesh almost a month back.
Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
- Pilibhit Tiger Reserve is located in Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh and was notified as a tiger reserve in 2014.
- It is one of the few well-forested districts in Uttar Pradesh.
- It forms part of the Terai Arc Landscape in the upper Gangetic Plain along the India-Nepal border.
- The habitat is characterized by sal forests, tall grasslands and swamp maintained by periodic flooding from rivers.
- The Sharda Sagar Dam extending up to a length of 22 km is on the boundary of the reserve.
- The tiger reserve got the first international award TX2 for doubling the tiger population in a stipulated time.
Try answering this PYQ:
Q.Consider the following protected areas:
- Bandipur
- Bhitarkanika
- Manas
- Sunderbans
Which of the above are declared Tiger Reserves?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1, 3 and 4 only
(c) 2, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
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- Challenges in financial inclusion
Context
There are 63.4 million MSMEs in India and 99 per cent of which are micro-enterprises with less than Rs 10 lakh in investment. Financial inclusion and integration is key to bring these businesses into the formal economy.
Financial integration
- What is Financial inclusion? On the front of “financial inclusion”, which refers to the accessibility of banking and availability of credit, we have made significant progress.
- Financial integration: The journey from inclusion to integration is not only about making products available and accessible, but also about making them relevant, applicable, and acceptable.
Demand size challenges
1) Gap between demand and supply of capital
- Due to a limited risk appetite, low or thin-file data on customers and challenging regulatory oversight, capital remains a constraint in designing bespoke products.
- Way forward: For India to overcome these challenges, the existing infrastructure must be adapted to our new purpose, providing easy-to-use, customer-centric experiences.
2) Accessibility
- Greater accessibility has major benefits for not only the customer but also the supplier.
- For example, in rural India, people tend to save in the post office, because of village postal agents collect their savings from their doorstep.
3) Intelligent product design and delivery
- Products must be designed and delivered intelligently to meet the customer where they are, and by keeping in mind that they use products to reach their goals.
- This involves tailoring the products to the needs and income profile of the customer, including being cognisant of their environment, geography, and demography.
4) Lowering the operating costs
- In the traditional financial system, the design and distribution cost on financial products at sachet size is high.
- Financial service providers are consequently dissuaded from attempting to reach rural, financially excluded groups.
- By using the power of machine learning and cloud infrastructure, we can significantly lower operating costs while offering customers affordable, bespoke financial products.
5) Demand-side issues: Financial literacy and technology readiness
- Financial literacy and technology readiness are two critical issues on the demand size.
- Financial education assists people in making sound financial decisions.
Consider the question “Benefits of the financial inclusion remain unrealised without financial integration. In light of this, examine the challenge in financial integration in India and suggest the way forward”
Conclusion
It is our responsibility to create an ecosystem for them to deploy this capital of courage.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 25 and 26
Mains level: Paper 2- Evolution of rights-bases jurisprudence
Context
On August 14, 2021, the Tamil Nadu government appointed 24 trained archakas (priests) in temples across the State. In the weeks since, a series of writ petitions have been filed before the Madras High Court assailing these appointments.
Administration of Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu by government and challenges to it
- The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE), 1959, is the governing law on the administration of Hindu temples and religious institutions.
- In 1971, Section 55 of the HR&CE Act was amended to abolish hereditary priesthood.
- Removal of caste-based discrimination: In 2006, the amendment provided for the appointment of sufficiently trained Hindus irrespective of their caste as archakas to Hindu temples by the government.
- Challenges in the Court: Challenges to both amendments were taken to the Supreme Court, which upheld the law, as amended.
- In Seshammal v. Union (1972), the Supreme Court observed that the amendment to the HR&CE Act abolishing hereditary priesthood did not mean that the government intended to bring about any “change in the rituals and ceremonies”.
- Constitutional legitimacy: In Adi Saiva Sivachariyargal v. Govt. of Tamil Nadu (2015), the Supreme Court observed that “the constitutional legitimacy, naturally, must supersede all religious beliefs or practices”.
- The Court further went on to state that appointments should be tested on a case-by-case basis and any appointment that is not in line with the Agamas will be against the constitutional freedoms enshrined under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution.
Judicial balancing of the various rights by the Supreme Court
- In Indian Young Lawyers’ Association v. State of Kerala (the Sabarimala case) and Joseph Shine v. Union of India (2018), the Supreme Court reiterated the need to eliminate “historical discrimination which has pervaded certain identities”’, “systemic discrimination against disadvantaged groups”.
- In these cases the Supreme Court rejected stereotypical notions used to justify such discrimination.
- In all these cases, the Court prioritised judicial balancing of various constitutional rights.
- The constitutional order of priority: In the Sabarimala case, it held that “in the constitutional order of priorities, the individual right to the freedom of religion was not intended to prevail over but was subject to the overriding constitutional postulates of equality, liberty and personal freedoms recognised in the other provisions of Part III”.
Way forward
- Building on the Sabrimala case: The constitutional courts will now be called upon to build on the gains of the Sabarimala case when it comes to administration of temples, insofar as it concerns matters that are not essentially religious.
- Dealing with the gender bias: The Supreme Court, in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India (2018), interpreted Article 15 as being wide, progressive and intersectional.
- Today, while most of the debate is around whether men from all caste groups can become archakas, we have failed to recognise the gender bias inherent in these discussions.
Consider the question “We have been witnessing the evolution of rights-based jurisprudence in the various judgements of the Supreme Court. This will help to eliminate “systemic discrimination against disadvantaged groups”, and reject stereotypical notions used to justify such discrimination. Comment.”
Conclusion
At once, caste orthodoxy and patriarchy entrenched within the realm of the HR&CE Act can be eliminated and supplanted with a vision of a just, equal and dignified society.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Autonomous districts, Sixth Schedule
Mains level: Issues related to Assymetric Federalism in India
As a normative idea and an institutional arrangement that supports the recognition and provision of an expansive ‘self-rule’ for territorially concentrated minority groups, asymmetric federalism has recently received bad press in India.
India’s Federalism: A backgrounder
- Nations are described as ‘federal’ or ‘unitary’, depending on the way in which governance is organised.
- In a unitary set-up, the Centre has plenary powers of administration and legislation, with its constituent units having little autonomy.
- In a federal arrangement, the constituent units are identified on the basis of region or ethnicity and conferred varying forms of autonomy or some level of administrative and legislative powers.
- In India, the residuary powers of legislation, that is the power to make law in a field not specified in the Constitution, is vested in Parliament.
- Hence India has a quasi-federal framework.
Why is it said that India has asymmetric federalism?
- The main forms of administrative units in India are the Centre and the States.
- Just as the Centre and the States do not have matching powers in all matters, there are some differences in the way some States and other constituent units of the Indian Union relate to the Centre.
- This creates a notable asymmetry in the way Indian federalism works.
- But there are other forms, too, all set up to address specific local, historical and geographical contexts.
The asymmetric structure
- Besides the Centre and the States, the country has Union Territories with a legislature, and Union Territories without a legislature.
- When the Constitution came into force, the various States and other administrative units were divided into Parts A, B, C and D.
- Part A States were the erstwhile provinces, while Part B consisted of erstwhile princely states and principalities. Part C areas were the erstwhile ‘Chief Commissioner’s Provinces’.
- They became Union Territories, and some of them initially got legislatures and were later upgraded into States.
- Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa belong to this category.
Power apparatus in these asymmetries: Sixth Schedule
- The Sixth Schedule to the Constitution contains provisions for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
- These create autonomous districts and autonomous regions.
- Any autonomous district with different Scheduled Tribes will be divided into autonomous regions.
- These will be administered by District Councils and Regional Councils.
- These Councils can make laws with respect to allotment, occupation and use of land, management of forests other than reserve forests and water courses.
- Besides they can regulate social customs, marriage and divorce and property issues.
An integrationist approach adopted by the Constituent Assembly
- Post-independence, India was criticized for arguably becoming a ‘homogenous Hindu nation’ after Partition.
- To counter this, the Gopinath Bordoloi Committee, a sub-committee of the Constituent Assembly sought to accommodate the distinctive identity, culture and way of life of tribal groups in the NE by envisioning ‘self-rule’.
- This distinctive constitutional status to territorially concentrated minorities fosters centrifugal tendencies.
- Asymmetric federalism fosters subversive institutions, political instability and breakup of States.
Curious case of Manipur: Recent developments
- Article 371 gives expansive constitutional powers to Manipur’s Hill Areas Committee (Article 371C) over tribal identity, culture, development and local administration, are exemplars.
- The integrationist approach resonates powerfully in two recent attempts by Manipur’s government to
- stall the introduction and passage of the Manipur (Hill Areas) Autonomous District Council (Amendment) Bill, 2021, and
- induct nine Assembly members from the valley areas into the Hill Areas Committee.
- This move is being perceived as a “malicious” and “direct assault” on the Hill Areas Committee and the constitutional protection accorded to the Hill Areas of Manipur under Article 371C.
A determined move
- These moves marks a calculated initiative to use this as a double-edged sword to simultaneously set apace electoral agenda for the upcoming Assembly elections in early 2022 and reclaim its agency to fortify state-level constitutional asymmetry.
- The attempt to increase membership of the six district councils to 31 members each and secure more powers to the councils by giving more developmental mandate are welcome.
Managing HAC: A difficult task
- If history is any guide, the task of reclaiming the Hill Areas Committee’s agency is not going to be easy.
- Its members often leverage tribe/party loyalty over-commitment to protect constitutional asymmetry and common tribals’ cause.
- How the HAC and various tribal groups strategically navigate their politics to offset the majoritarian impulse to manipulate the legal and political process to dilute/dissolve extant constitutional asymmetry remains to be seen.
Way forward
- There should be sincere commitment to promote tribal development, identity and culture that Article 371C seeks to bridge.
- Recognizing and institutionally accommodating tribal distinctiveness is not just as a matter of political convenience
- This valuable and enduring good will be key to promote the State’s integrity, stability and peace in the long run.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Permafrost
Mains level: Thawing of Permafrost
The latest IPCC report has warned that increasing global warming will result in reductions in Arctic permafrost and the thawing of the ground is expected to release greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide.
What is Permafrost?
- ‘Permafrost’ or permanently frozen ground is land that has been frozen at or below 0 degrees Celsius for two or more consecutive years.
- A staggering 17 per cent of Earth’s entire exposed land surface is comprised of permafrost.
- Composed of rock, sediments, dead plant and animal matter, soil, and varying degrees of ice, permafrost is mainly found near the poles, covering parts of Greenland, Alaska, Northern Canada, Siberia and Scandinavia.
- The Arctic region is a vast ocean, covered by thick ice on the surface (called sea ice), surrounded by land masses that are also covered with snow and ice.
Permafrost thawing
- When permafrost thaws, water from the melted ice makes its way to the caves along with ground sediments, and deposits on the rocks.
- In other words, when permafrost thaws, the rocks grow and when permafrost is stable and frozen, they do not grow.
Why thawing?
- The link between the Siberian permafrost and Arctic sea ice can be explained by two factors:
- One is heat transport from the open Arctic Ocean into Siberia, making the Siberian climate warmer.
- The second is moisture transport from open seawater into Siberia, leading to thicker snow cover that insulates the ground from cold winter air, contributing to its warming.
- This is drastically different from the situation just a couple of decades ago when the sea ice acted as a protective layer, maintaining cold temperatures in the region and shielding the permafrost from the moisture from the ocean.
- If sea ice (in the summer) is gone, permafrost start thawing.
Impact on Climate Change
- Due to relentlessly rising temperatures in the region, since the late-twentieth century, the Arctic sea ice and surrounding land ice are melting at accelerating rates.
- When permafrost thaws due to rising temperatures, the microbes in the soil decompose the dead organic matter (plants and animals) to produce methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), both potent greenhouse gases.
- CH4 is at least 80 times more powerful than CO2 on a decadal timescale and around 25 times more powerful on a century timescale.
- The greenhouse gases produced from thawing permafrost will further increase temperatures which will, in turn, lead to more permafrost thawing, forming an unstoppable and irreversible self-reinforcing feedback loop.
- Experts believe this process may have already begun. Giant craters and ponds of water (called ‘thermokarst lakes’) formed due to thawing have been recorded in the Arctic region. Some are so big that they can be seen from space.
Why a matter of concern?
- An estimated 1,700 billion tonnes — twice the amount currently present in the atmosphere — of carbon is locked in all of the world’s permafrost.
- Even if half of that were to be released to the atmosphere, it would be game over for the climate.
- Scientific estimates suggest that the Arctic Ocean could be largely sea ice-free in the summer months by as early as 2030, based on observational trends, or as late as 2050, based on climate model projections.
Potential to cause another pandemic
Ans. Permafrost has many secrets.
- When the permafrost was formed thousands of years ago, there weren’t many humans who lived in that region which was necessarily very cold.
- Researchers recently found mammoths in the permafrost in Russia.
- And some of these mammoth carcasses when they begin to degrade again may reveal bacteria that were frozen thousands of years ago.
- So there will be surprises. But whether they will be lethal surprises is just not possible to say.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NFRA
Mains level: Not Much
Audit regulator National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) wants to be positioned as a regulator for the entire gamut of financial reporting, covering all processes and participants in the financial reporting chain.
What is NFRA?
- NFRA is an independent regulator to oversee the auditing profession and accounting standards in India under Companies Act 2013.
- It came into existence in October 2018.
- After the Satyam scandal took place in 2009, the Standing Committee on Finance proposed the concept of the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) for the first time in its 21st report.
- Companies Act, 2013 then gave the regulatory framework for its composition and constitution.
Functions
- NFRA works to improve the transparency and reliability of financial statements and information presented by listed companies and large unlisted companies in India.
Powers & duties
- NFRA is responsible for recommending accounting and auditing policies and standards in the country.
- It may undertake investigations, and impose sanctions against defaulting auditors and audit firms in the form of monetary penalties and debarment from practice for up to 10 years.
- Since 2018, the powers of the NFRA were extended to include the governing of auditors of companies listed in any stock exchange, in India or outside of India, unlisted public companies above certain thresholds.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CAFMD
Mains level: Not Much
India and the US has together launched the “Climate Action and Finance Mobilization Dialogue (CAFMD)”.
What is CAFMD?
- The CAFMD is one of the two tracks of the India-U.S. Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 partnership launched at the Leaders’ Summit on Climate in April 2021, by PM Modi and US President Mr. Biden.
- The dialogue will strengthen India-US bilateral cooperation on climate and environment.
- It will also help to demonstrate how the world can align swift climate action with inclusive and resilient economic development, taking into account national circumstances and sustainable development priorities.
Key agendas
- The US will collaborate with India to work towards installing 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030.
- Currently, India’s installed power capacity is projected to be 476 GW by 2021-22 and is expected to rise to at least 817 GW by 2030.
CAFMD would have three pillars:
- Climate Action Pillar: which would have joint proposals looking at ways in emissions could be reduced in the next decade.
- Setting out a Roadmap: to achieving the 450GW in transportation, buildings and industry.
- Finance Pillar: would involve collaborating on attracting finance to deploy 450 GW of renewable energy and demonstrate at scale clean energy technologies.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Social reformers in Colonial India
Mains level: Not Much
The PM has laid the foundation stone of Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.
UPSC is exploring deeper for social reformers involved in the freedom struggle. This is very much visible from the questions based on Rakhmabai, Gopal Baba Walangkar, Sakharam Deuskar etc. in CS Prelims 2020.
Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh (1886-1979)
- Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh was an Indian freedom fighter, journalist, writer and a revolutionary.
- He was President in the Provisional Government of India, which served as the Indian Government in exile during World War I from Kaabul in 1915.
- He also formed the Executive Board of India in Japan in 1940 during the Second World War.
- He also took part in the Balkan War in the year 1911 along with his fellow students of Muhammedan Anglo College.
- In recognition of his services, the government of India issued postage stamps in his honor. He is popularly known as “Aryan Peshwa”.
- He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1932.
Involvement in Swadeshi Movement
- He met several leaders involved in the Swadeshi movement, deciding to promote small industries with indigenous goods and local artisans.
- He was influenced by the speeches of Dadabhai Naoroji, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Maharaja of Baroda, and Bipin Chandra Pal, helping to make him a patriot who turned Swadeshi.
Formation of provisional govt in exile
- On 1 December 1915 during World War I Pratap established the first Provisional Government of India at Kabul in Afghanistan as a government-in-exile of Free Hindustan, with himself as President, Maulavi Barkatullah as Prime Minister, and Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi as Home Minister, declaring jihad on the British.
- Due to his revolutionary ideas Pratap had a good relationship with Lenin, who invited him to Russia after its liberation and welcomed him.
- By this time, the British had noticed his activities, and the British Government of India put a bounty on his head, attached/confiscated his entire estate, and declared him a fugitive, causing him to flee to Japan in 1925.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NMP
Mains level: Paper 3- How NMP is different from PPP
Context
The National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), a bold initiative was recently announced by the Finance Minister.
PPP model and issues with it
- BOT: The PPP was about attracting private parties to build, operate and then transfer ‘greenfield’ or new infrastructure projects under build-operate-transfer (BOT) concession agreements.
- More risks for the private sector: The winning private bidder had to take not only the operating risk, but also the development and construction risk of the project, such as a toll road, from scratch.
- Why it was prone to delays?: It involved the acquisition of land. This process became controversial and was subject to delay.
- It involved securing environmental and other regulatory approvals. These proved challenging to obtain.
- Undermining the trust: Compliance with these became a source of friction between the concessioning authority and the concessionaire.
- All this undermined trust between the public and private parties and led to a huge volume of disputes for which there was no readily available resolution mechanism.
How NMP is different from PPP?
- Brownfield assets: The NMP is about leasing out ‘brownfield’ infrastructure assets such as an already operating inter-State toll highway under a toll-operate-transfer (TOT) concession agreement.
- No land acquisition: In such an arrangement no acquisition of land is involved.
- No construction risk: Nor does the concessionaire need to take any of the construction risk.
- It is also certain to attract a different class of private capital.
- To be successful in the BOT bids required a proven ability to navigate and manage the system.
- Under the NMP, what will be required is operational experience in running a particular class of infrastructure assets and a strong understanding of the potential cash flows generated over the life of the concession.
- This is certain to attract the largest global pension funds.
Way forward
- Allow flexibility: Given the long tenure of these concession agreements, they must be designed to allow for some flexibility so that each party has the opportunity to deal with unforeseen circumstances (such as climate-related disasters).
- Performance standards: Contracts must also incorporate clear key performance indicators expected of the private party and clear benchmarks for assets as they are handed over by the government at the start of the concession.
- Ensure effective implementation: No matter how well a contract is crafted, it still needs to be implemented effectively.
- No opacity in concessional agreements: Experience shows that there is a tendency for government departments to inject opacity so that they have more power over the concessionaire.
- To avoid this, it would be useful if the responsibility for administering the concession agreements did not lie directly with the line ministries and/or their agencies.
- Dispute resolution mechanism: It is vital to put in place a robust dispute resolution mechanism.
- Institute for contracts: There is a strong case to set up a centralised institution with the skills and responsibility to oversee contract design, bidding and implementation.
- An institution such as ‘3 PPP India’, first mooted in the 2014 Budget, is needed.
- Set up tribunal: It would also be advisable to set up an Infrastructure PPP Adjudication Tribunal along the lines of what was recommended by the Kelkar Committee (2015).
- Start with predictable sectors: The government could start with sectors that offer the greatest cash flow predictability and the least regulatory uncertainty before expanding the experiment.
Conclusion
The NMP significantly differs from the PPP model and seeks to avoid its shortcomings through various changes.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Private Final Consumption Expenditure
Mains level: Paper 3- Measures to sustain the growth momentum
Context
India’s GDP data for Q1 of 2021-22 was released on August 31, 2021. The data revealed the real GDP growth at 20.1% in Q1.
Making sense of the growth
- Base effect: Real GDP growth at 20.1% in Q1 of 2021-22 is largely because of the contraction of 24.4% in the corresponding quarter of the first COVID-19 year, that is, 2020-21.
- The Q1 2021-22 output and GDP growth data reflect a strong base effect since the corresponding levels of Q1 of 2020-21 were significantly adversely impacted by the first wave of COVID-19.
- Fall in magnitude: The magnitude of real GDP fell short of the corresponding level in 2019-20 by a margin of ₹3.3 lakh crore.
- Required rate: A growth rate of 32.3% was required in Q1 of 2021-22 for achieving the same level of real GDP as in Q1 of 2019-20.
- To achieve the annual growth of 9.5% as forecast by both the Reserve Bank of India and the International Monetary Fund for 2021-21, an average growth of 6.8% in the remaining part of the year would be required.
- The task would become relatively more demanding in Q3 and Q4 considering that the real GDP growth was positive at 0.5% and 1.6%, respectively, in the corresponding quarters of 2020-21.
Analysing the demand side
1) Private consumption growth lagging overall GDP growth
- Largest segment: The largest segment of GDP viewed from the demand side is private final consumption expenditure (PFCE).
- Its average share over the last three years (2018-19 to 2020-21) was 56.5%.
- If PFCE were to reach back the 2019-20 level, it should have grown by 35.5% in this quarter.
- The recovery in private consumption demand is lagging behind the overall GDP growth.
- Way forward: Private consumption depends largely on income growth and its distribution.
- Therefore, it would be useful to focus on further supporting income and employment levels for the MSMEs and informal sectors of the economy which have a higher propensity to consume.
2) Export and investment: positive outcome in Q1
- Noticeable positive outcomes in Q1 of 2021-22 came from exports and to some extent, from investment as reflected by gross fixed capital formation (GFCF).
- Exports grew by 39.1% over a contraction of 21.8% in Q1 of 2020-21.
- This differential is reflected in a positive growth of 8.7%.
- Investment: In the case of GFCF, the base effect was quite large.
- Despite a growth of 55.3% in Q1 of 2021-22, its magnitude was still 17.1% lower than the corresponding level in Q1 of 2019-20.
3) Contraction in government final consumption
- The only demand segment which contracted even with reference to Q1 of 2020-21 was government final consumption expenditure (GFCE).
- This contraction was by a margin of (-) 4.8%.
Analysing the output side
1) Key service sectors
- The key service sector — namely trade, transport, storage grew by 34.3% in Q1 of 2021-22 as compared to a contraction of 48.1% in Q1 of 2020-21.
- However, relative to its level in Q1 of 2019-20, the output of this large service sector was significantly lower by 30.2% in Q1 of 2021-22.
- Though public administration, defence and other services showed a growth of 5.8% in Q1 of 2021-22 over Q1 of 2020-21, they actually reflected a contraction of 5.0% as compared to Q1 of 2019-20.
2) Agriculture
- The key positive news came from the agricultural sector which showed a growth of 4.5% in Q1 of 2021-22, in continuation of annual growth of 3.6% in 2020-21.
- Given agriculture’s positive growth in all the quarters of 2020-21, further contribution from this sector to the overall growth may not be expected.
- Its average weight to the overall output is also low at about 15%.
- It is the high weight manufacturing sector and the two substantive service sectors — trade, transport et. al and financial, real estate et al. — which will have to support growth in the remaining part of the year.
Way forward
- Government should raise the demand: The Centre’s fiscal deficit in the first four months of 2021-22 amounted to only 21.3% of the budgeted target as compared to the corresponding average level of 90% over the last four years.
- Clearly, significant policy space is opening up for the government to raise its demand and its contribution to output in the remaining part of the current fiscal year.
- Dealing with likely third wave: Attempts should be made either to bypass or at least curb the adverse impact of COVID-19’s likely third wave.
- Vaccination and investment in health infra: Both the coverage of vaccination and the pace of investment in health infrastructure should be accelerated.
- As revenues improve, expenditures can be increased.
- There is no need to reduce the fiscal deficit below the budgeted level of 6.8% of GDP.
Consider the question “To make up for the loss of output in the last two years India needs to embark on the path of high growth trajectory. Suggest the measure to achieve this objective.”
Conclusion
We need a faster rate of growth to make up for the loss of output in the previous two years from the trend rate. We must lay the foundation for faster growth in this year itself.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Light water reactor
Mains level: Paper 2- North Korea's nuclear program
Context
The resumption of North Korea’s largest fissile material production reactor, has sparked speculation about its real and symbolic significance.
Background of North Korea’s nuclear weapons development
- In 1994, Pyongyang barred IAEA access to the Yongbyon complex amid suspicions that the country was generating plutonium from spent fuel.
- 1994 Agreed Framework, an executive agreement signed by President Bill Clinton, required Pyongyang to freeze all nuclear activity and allow inspection of its military sites in return for the construction of two light water reactors.
- The accord broke down in 2002.
- In June 2008, in order to express its denuclearisation commitment to the U.S. and four other countries, Pyongyang blew up the cooling tower at the Yongbyon complex.
- A few months in 2008, Pyongyang barred IAEA inspectors access to its reprocessing plant in the Yongbyon complex and eventually expelled them the following April.
- In November 2010 American scientist Siegfried Hecker confirmed accounts that North Korea had rapidly built a uranium enrichment plant at Yongbyon.
Why does resumption nuclear reactor matter?
- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has underlined that the restart of activity in Yongbyon constitutes a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
- Reprocessing of fuel: The reactor at the Yongbyon complex has been central to the North Korean reprocessing of spent fuel rods to generate plutonium.
- Enrichment of fuel: Besides the production of highly enriched uranium for the development of atomic bombs.
Way forward
- Negotiations: The Biden administration has adopted a pragmatic path of declaring its readiness to resume negotiations with Pyongyang.
- UN treaty on complete abolition of nuclear arms: The UN treaty on complete abolition of atomic arms, whose deliberations were boycotted by all nuclear weapons states, is the morally superior alternative.
Conclusion
The protracted stand-off over North Korea reinforces the hollowness of the doctrine of deterrence and begs the question whether proliferation can ever be prevented just because nuclear weapons states want to perpetuate their dominance.
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Back2Basics: IAEA
- The International Atomic Energy Agency is the world’s central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the nuclear field.
- It works for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology, contributing to international peace and security and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
- The IAEA was created in 1957 in response to the deep fears and expectations generated by the discoveries and diverse uses of nuclear technology.
- The Agency’s genesis was U.S. President Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” address to the General Assembly of the United Nations on 8 December 1953.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palm (NEOM-OP)
Mains level: Edible oil scarcity in India
Last week, the government announced the minimum support prices (MSP) of rabi crops for the marketing season 2022-23.
Key Highlight: Hike for Oilseeds MSPs
- The MSP for wheat is up by 2 per cent while that of rapeseed-mustard is up by 8.6 per cent.
- This indicates that the government wants to focus more on edible oils/oilseeds than on wheat.
- It is important to note that PM recently announced a Rs 11,000-crore National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palm (NEOM-OP), as a part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
About NEOM-OP
- This is a bold step to augment domestic edible oil supplies, given that 60 per cent of the edible oil consumed in the country is imported — more than half of this is palm oil followed by soybean and sunflower.
- In FY 2020-21, edible oil imports touched $ 11 billion or about Rs 80,000 crore (for 13.5 million tonnes).
- Despite these imports, edible oil inflation remains very high (July 2021 was 32.5 per cent).
- Against this backdrop, the move to promote oil palm is a step in the right direction.
Reasons for oil price hikes
- Effective duty for rapeseed and cottonseed oils ranges from 38.5 per cent for crude and 49.5 per cent for refined oils.
- It’s this high import duty, at a time when global edible oil prices have gone up by almost 70 per cent (y-o-y), that has caused high domestic inflation (32.5 per cent) in edible oils.
Why Oil Palm?
- It is the only crop that can give up to four tonnes of oil productivity per hectare under good farm practices.
- But it is a water-guzzling crop, loves humidity (requires 150 mm rainfall every month) and thrives best in areas with temperatures between 20 and 33 degrees Celsius.
- The National Re-assessment Committee (2020) has identified 28 lakh hectares suitable for oil palm cultivation in the country — the actual area under oil palm cultivation, as of 2020, is only 3.5 lakh hectares.
- Much of this (34 per cent) is in the Northeastern states, including Assam, followed by Andhra Pradesh (19 per cent) and Telangana (16 per cent).
- A large potential is thus waiting to be tapped.
No reasons for farmers to switch
- The government has a massive procurement programme for wheat, but a very meagre one for rapeseed-mustard even when the prices rule below MSP.
- This relative incentive structure remains in favour of wheat.
- So, we doubt if farmers will switch from wheat to mustard in any meaningful manner to bridge the edible oil deficit.
What can be done to make NEOM-OP more effective?
The NEOM-OP intends to focus on productivity and area expansion by supporting the farmers in the following ways:
(A) Financial assistance
- Input assistance for planting material, additional assistance to cover maintenance/opportunity costs of farmers, with no limits on acreage.
- Big-budget assistance to industries that plan to set up a five tonnes/hour processing unit.
- Such a comprehensive assistance package will attract farmers as well as incentivize the industry to work with agriculturists and augment domestic edible oil production.
(B) Pricing mechanism for OP
- There will be no MSP, but the FFB price for farmers would be fixed at 14.3 per cent of average landed crude palm oil price of the past five years, adjusted with the wholesale price index.
- This is the most critical part of the pricing policy and the formula needs to be carefully calibrated.
- However, the litmus test of pricing will be dovetailing it with the import tariff policy to protect the farmers in case landed prices fall below the cost of production.
Way forward
(1) Rationalizing import duties
- The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP, which recommends MSP) recommended that India should keep an import duty trigger at $800/tonne (say).
- If the import price falls below $800/tonne, the import tariff needs to go up in countercyclical manner.
- Thus, import duty needs to be in sync with rational domestic price policy.
- It is a necessary condition to give a fillip to aatmanirbharta in edible oils.
(2) Neutral incentive structure
- But the sufficient condition would be revisiting the existing incentive structure that unduly favours rice, wheat and sugarcane through heavy subsidisation of power, fertilisers and open-ended procurement.
- The need is to devise a crop-neutral incentive structure where cropping patterns are aligned with demand patterns, and the crops are produced in a globally competitive manner.
Conclusion
- There is a huge deficit in edible oil production in the country.
- Achieving self-sufficiency in edible oil production through the other oilseeds complex would require adding about 45 million hectares under oilseed cultivation.
- This is not possible without drastically cutting down the area under cereal crops.
- The best alternative is, therefore, to ensure proper care of palm oil crops, provide good planting material, better irrigation management, fertilizers and other inputs to raise productivity to four tonnes of oil/hectare.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Emergency
Mains level: Important judgments
The 1975 verdict of Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha of the Allahabad high court, disqualifying then PM Indira Gandhi on charges of electoral malpractices was a judgment of “great courage” that “shook” the nation, said CJI in his speech.
What was the case?
- It all started with the 1971 Lok Sabha elections, where the Congress (R), which was the newly formed faction of the Congress party floated by Indira Gandhi after her expulsion from the party in 1969, won a landslide victory securing 352 out of the 518 seats in the lower house.
- An election petition was filed directly before a High Court challenging the election of Indira Gandhi.
What is an Election Petition?
- Election Petition has to be filed within 45 days from the date of declaration of the election results.
- The Representation of People (RP) Act of 1951 lists out the grounds on which the election of a candidate can be called into question.
- Section 123 of the RP Act lists certain corrupt practices which, if proved successful, can be grounds to declare the election of a candidate void.
- While hearing an election petition, the High Court being the court of first instance, exercises powers similar to a trial court.
- Thus, there is cross-examination of witnesses and detailed examination of evidence which is normally employed in trial courts and not High Courts.
Findings against Gandhi
- Use of government machinery to set up stage, loudspeakers
- Use of gazetted officer as an election agent
A case that led to the promulgation of National Emergency
The verdict is widely believed to have led to the imposition of Emergency on June 25, 1975.
- A vacation bench of the Supreme Court allowed a partial stay of the judgment after Gandhi had appealed against the High Court verdict.
- Then Justice VR Krishna Iyer, said that she could continue as Member of Parliament (MP) in the Lok Sabha and could attend the House, but could not participate in its proceedings or vote as MP.
- She also could not draw any remuneration as an MP.
- Importantly, the apex court allowed her to continue as Prime Minister and allowed her to speak and participate in the proceedings of the House and to draw salary in her capacity as Prime Minister.
- The order by the apex court, while not completely against Gandhi, did not satisfy her.
- She wanted a blanket stay on the Allahabad High Court judgment.
- Since the Supreme Court did not grant her that, National Emergency was proclaimed the very next day, June 25.
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Back2Basics: National Emergency
- The Constitution employs the expression ‘proclamation of emergency’ to denote National Emergency under Article 352.
- Under Article 352, the president can declare a national emergency when the security of India or a part of it is threatened by war or external aggression or armed rebellion.
- The President can declare a national emergency even before the actual occurrence of war or armed rebellion or external aggression
- When a national emergency is declared on the grounds of ‘war’ or ‘external aggression’, it is known as ‘External Emergency’.
- On the other hand, when it is declared on the grounds of ‘armed rebellion’, it is known as ‘Internal Emergency’.
- The term ‘armed rebellion is inserted from the 44th amendment. Before this term, it was known as an internal disturbance.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NATGRID
Mains level: Not Much
The PM is soon expected to launch the National Intelligence Grid or NATGRID that aims to provide cutting-edge technology to enhance India’s counter-terror capabilities.
What is NATGRID?
- NATGRID is an intelligence sharing network that collates data from the standalone databases of the various agencies and ministries of the Indian government.
- It is a counter terrorism measure that collects and collates a host of information from government databases including tax and bank account details, credit/debit card transactions, visa and immigration records and itineraries of rail and air travel.
- It will also have access to the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems, a database that links crime information, including First Information Reports, across 14,000 police stations in India.
- As of 2019, NATGRID is headed by an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Ashish Gupta.
Its establishment
- The 26/11 terrorist siege in Mumbai back in 2008 exposed the deficiency that security agencies had no mechanism to look for vital information on a real-time basis.
Access to NATGRID
- Prominent federal agencies of the country have been authorized to access the NATGRID database.
- They are the:
- Central Bureau of Investigation
- Directorate of Revenue Intelligence,
- Enforcement Directorate
- Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
- Central Board of Direct Taxes (for the Income Tax Department)
- Cabinet Secretariat
- Intelligence Bureau
- Directorate General of GST Intelligence
- Narcotics Control Bureau
- Financial Intelligence Unit, and
- National Investigation Agency
Future prospects
- According to the first phase plan, 10 user agencies and 21 service providers will be connected with the NATGRID, while in later phases, about 950 additional organizations will be brought on board.
- In the following years, more than 1,000 organizations will be further integrated into the NATGRID.
- These data sources include records related to immigration entry and exit, banking and financial transactions, and telecommunications.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Mains level: IAEA standards
Iran has agreed to allow international inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to install new memory cards into surveillance cameras at its sensitive nuclear sites and to continue filming there, potentially averting a diplomatic showdown this week.
Try this question from CSP 2020:
Q.In India, why are some nuclear reactors kept under “IAEA Safeguards” while others are not?
(a) Some use Uranium and others use thorium.
(b) Some use imported uranium and others use domestic supplies.
(c) Some are operated by foreign enterprises and others are operated by domestic enterprises.
(d) Some are State- owned and others are privately-owned.
Post your answers here.
What is IAEA?
- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons.
- As the preeminent nuclear watchdog under the UN, the IAEA is entrusted with the task of upholding the principles of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1970.
- It was established as an autonomous organization on July 29, 1957, at the height of the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
- Though established independently of the UN through its own international treaty, the agency reports to both the UN General Assembly and the UNSC.
What are its safeguards?
- Safeguards are activities by which the IAEA can verify that a State is living up to its international commitments not to use nuclear programs for nuclear weapons purposes.
- Safeguards are based on assessments of the correctness and completeness of a State’s declared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities.
- Verification measures include on-site inspections, visits, and ongoing monitoring and evaluation.
Basically, two sets of measures are carried out in accordance with the type of safeguards agreements in force with a State.
- One set relates to verifying State reports of declared nuclear material and activities.
- Another set enables the IAEA not only to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material but also to provide assurances as to the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in a State.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Read the attached story
The government is in talks with exporters to help them deal with an international container shortage that has led to freight rates rising by over 300 per cent in the past year for key shipping routes.
Why is there an international container shortage?
- The reduction in the number of shipping vessels operating as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic has led to fewer empty containers being picked up.
- This has left many containers in inland depots and stuck at ports for long durations.
- Long waiting times at key ports such as those in the US due to congestion are also contributing to lengthening turnaround time for containers.
- A sustained global economic recovery has added to the impetus to trade.
- Some countries are willing to pay a premium for empty containers and that this was further adding to the container shortage.
Freight rate impact
- The lack of availability of containers and the faster than expected recovery in international trade has pushed up freight rates significantly over the past year.
- Some key international routes are seeing an increase in freight rates of over 500 per cent compared to September last year.
- Structural problems such as the high turnaround time for ships in India also add to the container shortage issue that exporters are currently facing.
How is the container shortage impacting Indian exporters?
- Delay: Indian exporters are facing major delays in their shipments and consequent liquidity issues as they have to wait longer to receive payment for exported goods.
- Liquidity crunch: Exporters noted that shipments that used to take 45 days are now taking 75-90 days leading to a 2–3-month delay in payments leading to liquidity crunch particularly for small exporters.
How can the government help address this issue?
- Exporters are calling on the government to regulate the export of empty containers.
- Exporters have asked the government to curb the export of empty containers at all Indian ports in line with a move by the Kolkata port which restricted the number of empty containers permitted to be exported to 100 per vessel for a three month period.
- Exporters are also calling on the government to release about 20,000 containers that have been abandoned or are detained by government agencies so that they can augment supply.
- Indian exporters has also called on the government to notify a freight support scheme for all exports till the end of the fiscal when freight rates are expected to normalise.
- They are also asking the government to push back on a move by shipping lines to offer priority bookings at higher rates, asking that shipping lines revert to taking bookings on a first come first serve basis.
- In the medium term, exporters have called on the government to take steps to boost the manufacturing of containers in India.
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