Month: September 2021

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Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

124 years of the Battle of Saragarhi

Prelims Only | | Mains Paper 1: Modern Indian History
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Battle of Saragarhi

Mains level: Anglo-Afghan Wars

This September 12 marks the 124th anniversary of the Battle of Saragarhi that has inspired a host of armies, books and films, both at home and abroad.

What is the Battle of Saragarhi?

  • The Battle of Saragarhi is considered one of the finest last stands in the military history of the world.
  • Twenty-one soldiers were pitted against over 8,000 Afridi and Orakzai tribals but they managed to hold the fort for seven hours.
  • Though heavily outnumbered, the soldiers of 36th Sikhs (now 4 Sikhs), led by Havildar Ishar Singh, fought till their last breath, killing 200 tribals and injuring 600.

What was Saragarhi, and why was it important?

  • Saragarhi was the communication tower between Fort Lockhart and Fort Gulistan.
  • The two forts in the rugged North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), now in Pakistan. were built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh but renamed by the British.
  • Though Saragarhi was usually manned by a platoon of 40 soldiers, on that fateful day, it was being held by only 21 soldiers from 36th Sikh (now 4 Sikh) and a non-combatant called Daad, a Pashtun who did odd jobs for the troops.
  • Saragarhi helped to link up the two important forts which housed a large number of British troops in the rugged terrain of NWFP.
  • Fort Lockhart was also home to families of British officers.

What transpired on that day?

  • Around 9 am that day, the sentry at Saragarhi saw a thick haze of dust and soon realized that it was caused by a large army of tribals marching towards the fort.
  • The 8,000 and 15,000 tribals wanted to isolate the two forts by cutting off the lines of communication between them.
  • Unfortunately, the Pathans had cut the supply route between Fort Lockhart and Saragarhi.

Who was Havildar Ishar Singh who led the troops?

  • Havildar Ishar Singh was born in a village near Jagraon.
  • He joined the Punjab Frontier Force in his late teens after which he spent most of his time on various battlefields.
  • Soon after it was raised in 1887, Ishar was drafted into the 36th Sikhs.
  • He was in his early 40s when he was given independent command of the Saragarhi post.
  • Ishar Singh was quite a maverick who dared to disobey his superiors but he was loved by his men for whom he was always ready to go out on a limb.

How was the news of the battle received in Britain?

  • Making a departure from the tradition of not giving gallantry medals posthumously, Queen Victoria awarded the 21 dead soldiers — leaving out the non-combatant/
  • They were awarded the Indian Order of Merit (comparable with the Victoria Cross) along with two ‘marabas’ (50 acres) and Rs 500 each.

How are the slain soldiers remembered?

  • In 2017, the Punjab government decided to observe Saragarhi Day on September 12 as a holiday.
  • Even today the Khyber Scouts regiment of the Pakistani army mounts a guard and salutes the Saragarhi memorial close to Fort Lockhart.

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Historical and Archaeological Findings in News

Thamirabarani Civilization is 3200 years old

Places in newsPrelims Only | History and Art & Culture | Mains Paper 1: Arts & Culture
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Thamirabarani Civilization

Mains level: Ancient Indian Civilizations

 

A carbon dating analysis of rice with soil, found in a burial urn at Sivakalai in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu has yielded the date of 1155 BC, indicating that the Thamirabarani civilization dates back to 3,200 years.

About Thamirabarani River

  • The Thamirabarani or Tamraparni or Porunai is a perennial river that originates from the Agastyarkoodam peak of the Pothigai hills of the Western Ghats.
  • It flows through the Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts of the Tamil Nadu state of southern India into the Gulf of Mannar.
  • It was called the Tamraparni River in the pre-classical period, a name it lent to the island of Sri Lanka.
  • The old Tamil name of the river is Porunai.

Its history

  • Its many name derivations of Tan Porunai include Tampraparani, Tamirabarni, Tamiravaruni.
  • Tan Porunai nathi finds mention by classical Tamil poets in ancient Sangam Tamil literature Purananuru.
  • Recognised as a holy river in Sanskrit literature Puranas, Mahabharata and Ramayana, the river was famed in the Early Pandyan Kingdom for its pearl and conch fisheries and trade.
  • The movement of people, including the faithful, trade merchants and toddy tapers from Tamraparni river to northwestern Sri Lanka led to the shared appellation of the name for the closely connected region.
  • One important historical document on the river is the treatise Tamraparni Mahatmyam.
  • It has many ancient temples along its banks. A hamlet known as Appankoil is located on the northern side of the river.

Significance of the carbon dating

  • This has provided evidence that there was a city civilisation in south India as long back as 3,200 years ago, the later part of the Indus Valley Civilisation.
  • Vicinity to the ancient port of Muziris, now known as Pattanam, in Kerala add another significance to the trade history of this site.
  • Now, research would be conducted at Quseir al-Qadim and Pernica Anekke in Egypt, which were once part of the Roman empire, as well as in Khor Rori in Oman, to establish the Tamils’ trade relations with these countries.
  • Potsherds bearing Tamil scripts have been found in these countries.
  • Studies would also be conducted in Southeast Asian countries, such as Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, where King Rajendra Chola had established supremacy.

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Also read

Sangam era older than previously thought, finds study

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Textile Sector – Cotton, Jute, Wool, Silk, Handloom, etc.

Catching up on PLI scheme for textile sector

| Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: MMF vs natural fibre

Mains level: Paper 3- PLI for textile sector

Context

The Cabinet approved the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the textile sector that is expressly targeted at the man-made fibre (MMF) and technical textiles segments.

Why India needs to focus on Man-made fibre (MMF) in textile trade

  • Preference for MMF:  The MMF surpassed cotton as the fibre of choice in the 1990s.
  • The MMFs share in worldwide textile consumption is about 75%.
  • Dominance of natural fibre in India’s export: India’s textile and clothing exports have continued to remain dominated by cotton and other natural fibre-based products.
  • The MMF have contributed less than 30% of the country’s $35.6 billion in overall sectoral exports in 2017-18.
  • While policy makers have been cognisant of the need to bolster support for the MMF segment.

About the scheme

  • The PLI scheme has a budgeted outlay of ₹10,683 crore.
  • Incentive at two levels: The incentives have been categorised into two investment levels.
  • First level: Firms investing at least ₹300 crore into plant and machinery over two years would need to hit a minimum turnover of ₹600 crore before becoming eligible to receive the incentive over a five-year period.
  • Second level: At a second level an investment of ₹100 crore with a pre-set minimum turnover of ₹200 crore would enable qualification for the incentive.
  • Intermediate products included: The aim of the scheme is to specifically focus investment attention on 40 MMF apparel product lines, 14 MMF fabric lines and 10 segments or products of technical textiles.
  • The inclusion of intermediate products reflects the Government’s keenness to ensure the scheme ultimately delivers on the broader policy objectives.

Conclusion

Operational success of the scheme is likely to hinge on how new entrepreneurs and existing companies weigh the risk-reward equation, especially at a time when the pandemic-spurred uncertainty has already made private businesses leery of making fresh capital expenditure.

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Economic Indicators and Various Reports On It- GDP, FD, EODB, WIR etc

Why we must focus on Human Development not GDP growth?

op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: GDP computation and various terminologies

Mains level: Growth vs Development debate

The much-anticipated estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2021-22 were released on 31 August. This has seen an unprecedented decline in GDP at 24.4%.

Why debate this?

  • An increasing GDP is often seen as a measure of welfare and economic success.
  • However, it fails to account for the multi-dimensional nature of development or the inherent short-comings of capitalism, which tends to concentrate income and, thus, power.
  • The real issue thriving the Indian Economy is the relevance of GDP estimates as the sole or most important indicator of a recovery.
  • Our economy was slowing down even before the pandemic and was then devastated by it.

GDP as an indicator

  • Economic growth assesses the expansion of a country’s economy.
  • Today, it is most popularly measured by policymakers and academics alike by increasing gross domestic product or GDP.
  • This indicator estimates the value-added in a country which is the total value of all goods and services produced in a country minus the value of the goods and services needed to produce them.
  • It is common to divide this indicator by a country’s population to better gauge how productive and developed an economy is – the GDP per capita.

A brief history of Growth and GDP

  • The concept of economic growth gained popularity during the industrial revolution, when market economies flourished.
  • In the 1930s, Nobel laureate, Simon Kuznets wrote extensively about national statistics and propagated the use of GDP as the measure of the national income of the US.
  • Against the backdrop of a bloody world wars, governments were on the look for analytical tools to raise taxes to finance the newly minted war machine.
  • It was at the 1944 Bretton Woods conference that GDP became the standard tool for measuring a country’s economy.
  • Right from the classicals to the neo-classicals, the idea of development was intertwined with economic growth, i.e. accumulation of wealth and production of goods and services.

Prominence of GDP today

  • GDP as a measure of economic growth is popular because it is easier to quantify the production of goods and services than a multi-dimensional index can measure other welfare achievements.
  • Precisely because of this, GDP is not, on its own, an adequate gauge of a country’s development.
  • Development is a multi-dimensional concept, which includes not only an economic dimension, but also involves social, environmental, and emotional dimensions.

Limitations of GDP

  • One of the limitations of GDP is that it only addresses average income, failing to reflect how most people actually live or who benefits from economic growth.
  • There is also a possibility that the wealth of a society becomes more concentrated and why this is counterproductive to development.
  • If left unchecked, growing inequalities can not only slow down growth, but also generate instability and disorder in society.

Therefore, a growing GDP cannot be assumed to necessarily lead to sustainable development.

Relevance since COVID times

(a) Failure to capture informal economy

  • A decline in economic activity, as captured by GDP data, is only one part of the distress caused by the slowdown and covid.
  • GDP estimates hardly capture the extent of depressed economic activity in the informal sector.
  • This makes it irrelevant to the cause of understanding the changing fortunes of workers and others who are dependent on these activities.
  • India’s informal sector is not only a significant part of the overall economy but is crucial for generating broad demand, given the significantly large proportion of our population that depends on it.

(b) Rise in distress employment

  • Most worrisome is a reversal of the trend of non-farm diversification due to reverse migration.
  • After more than five decades, we have seen an actual increase in the proportion of workers employed in agriculture.

(c) Farmers losses

  • Farmers have fared badly. Already suffering from low output prices, the majority of farmers have seen incomes decline as input costs rose (such as on diesel and fertilizers).
  • Even though our farm sector appears relatively unaffected by covid, the ground reality of farmer incomes is at complete variance with the aggregate statistics from the national accounts.
  • The failure to capture livelihood and income losses in the informal sector is only one aspect of our GDP data inadequacy.

GDP can never account this

  • This failure to reflect the economic conditions of our population’s majority is partly a result of the way data on GDP is calculated, but also due to infirmities of the database itself.
  • But its limitations at the conceptual level are far more serious.

Alternate measures

  • One expanded indicator, which attempts to measure the multi-dimensional aspect of development, is the Human Development Index (HDI) by UNDP.
  • It incorporates the traditional approach to measuring economic growth, as well as education and health, which are crucial variables in determining how developed a society is.
  • In 2018, the World Bank launched the Human Capital Index (HCI).
  • This index ranks countries’ performances on a set of four health and education indicators according to an estimate of the economic productivity lost due to poor social outcomes.

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Back2Basics:

National Income Accounting

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Terrorism and Challenges Related To It

Two decades of 9/11

op-ed snap | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: US and the global war on terror

Twenty years later, the 9/11 terror attacks look a lot less epochal than they seemed in the heat of the moment.

Why was 9-11 a major breakthrough?

  • One major inference in the wake of 9/11 was about the power of non-state actors — demonstrated by al Qaeda’s massive surprise attack on the world’s lone superpower at its zenith.
  • Al Qaeda’s rise seemed to fit in with the age of economic globalization and the internet, which heralded the weakening of the state system and the arrival of a borderless world.
  • Two decades later, though, the system of nation-states looks quite robust after enduring the challenge from international terrorism.

Implications of the attack

  • The state system adapted quickly to the disruptions created by 9/11.
  • There was much anxiety about terror groups gaining access to weapons of mass destruction or leveraging new digital technologies to increase their power over states.
  • The state system has succeeded in keeping nuclear weapons and material away from terrorists.
  • It has also become adept at using digital tools to counter extremism.
  • If 9/11 made air travel risky, the states quickly developed protocols to de-risk it.

Humiliating end for the US everywhere

  • Marking the 20th anniversary of 9/11 days after the humiliating US retreat from Kabul and domestic turmoil might suggest that Al-Qaeda and its associates did succeed in ending America’s unipolar moment.
  • The choice of targets in the 9/11 attacks — the World Trade Center and the Pentagon — was not accidental.
  • They were designed to strike at the very heart of American capitalism and its famed military power.
  • American capitalism met its greatest threat not in 2001 but in the 2008 financial crisis that was triggered by the reckless ideology of deregulation.
  • America lost in Afghanistan and the Middle East because it over-determined the terror threat and put security approaches above political common sense.

Today’s agenda for terror

  • And the ambition of the jihadists — who organized the 9/11 attacks, to destroy America has risen to a higher extent:
  1. To overthrow the Arab regimes
  2. Unleash a war with Israel
  3. Pit the believers against the infidels
  • To be sure, terrorist organizations and the religious extremism that inspires them to continue to be of concern.

Age of ideological warfare

  • Sectarian schisms, ideological cleavages, internecine warfare, and the messiness of the real world have cooled the revolutionary ardor that the world was so afraid of after 9/11.
  • In the battle between states and non-states, the former have accumulated extraordinary powers in the name of fighting the latter.
  • All nations, including liberal democracies, have curtailed individual liberty by offering greater security against terrorism.
  • Abuse of state power has inevitably followed.

Security narratives by the US since then

  • After 9/11, President George W Bush turned his attention to confronting an imagined “global axis of evil” — Iran, Iraq, and North Korea.
  • None of the three countries was involved in 9/11.
  • And the US rewarded Pakistan with billions of dollars in military and economic assistance that actively nurtured the Taliban and succeeded in bleeding and defeating the US in Afghanistan.

Threats earned by the US

  • This blinded the US to an emerging challenger — China — on the horizon. Washington’s obsession with the Middle East gave Beijing two valuable decades to consolidate its rise without any hindrance.
  • Although America’s unipolar moment may have ended, the US will continue to remain the most powerful nation in the world, with the greatest capacity to shape the international system.

What about the jihadist agenda for the Middle East?

  • The Islamist effort to destroy the Gulf kingdoms spluttered quite quickly as the Arab monarchs cracked down hard on the jihadi groups.
  • Many Arab states do not see al Qaeda and its offshoots as existential threats.
  • They worry more about other Muslim states like Turkey, Qatar, and Iran that seek to leverage Islam for geopolitical purposes.
  • These fears have pushed smaller Gulf kingdoms towards Israel and shattered the jihadi hope to trigger the final Islamic assault on the Jewish state.
  • Developments in China and Pakistan reinforce the proposition that politics among nation-states is more significant than the power of the transcendental religious forces.

How did India Respond?

  • India has been facing the problem of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism since 1989.  Unfortunately, the USA and the UK sided with Pakistan during this time.
  • However, this changed after India’s 2nd nuclear test and the 9/11 attack in the USA. Though the USA continued to rely on Pakistan, it considered Pakistan as an unreliable partner. This was further proved when Osama bin Laden was found hiding in Pakistan.
  • Indian response to terror attacks had been that of “strategic restraint”.
  • It was limited to diplomatic actions. This was evident in attacks on the Indian Parliament (December 2001) and the Kaluchak massacre (May 2002).
  • However, now we witness that India has adopted a policy of imposing costs on Pakistan by striking across the border, e.g. Balalkot airstrikes.
  • This capacity of India has been built over its strong economy and strong global linkages. Despite the economic disaster of 1991, India emerged stronger after LPG reforms.

Conclusion

  • The trans-national nature of the new terror groups is now countered by better border controls and greater international cooperation on law enforcement.
  • However, in the subcontinent, as elsewhere, violent religious extremism thrives only under state patronage.
  • The answers to the challenges presented by the return of the Taliban and the likely resurgence of jihadi terrorism are not in the religious domain but in changing the geopolitical calculus of Pakistan’s deep state.

B2BASICS

Violent Non-state actors

  • In international relations, violent non-state actors (VNSA), also known as non-state armed actors or non-state armed groups (NSAGs), are individuals and groups that are wholly or partly independent of governments and which threaten or use violence to achieve their goals.
  • VNSAs vary widely in their goals, size, and methods. They may include narcotics cartels, popular liberation movements, religious and ideological organizations, corporations (e.g. private military contractors), self-defence militia, and paramilitary groups established by state governments to further their interests.

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International Space Agencies – Missions and Discoveries

What is a Solar Storm?

Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Solar Storm

Mains level: Not Much

Studies have found that a powerful solar storm can cause a disruption of the internet, damage submarine cables, and communication satellites.

What is a Solar Storm?

  • A solar storm or a Coronal Mass Ejection as astronomers call it is an ejection of highly magnetized particles from the sun.
  • These particles can travel several million km per hour and can take about 13 hours to five days to reach Earth.
  • Earth’s atmosphere protects us, humans, from these particles.
  • But the particles can interact with our Earth’s magnetic field, induce strong electric currents on the surface and affect man-made structures.

History of solar storms

  • The first recorded solar storm occurred in 1859 and it reached Earth in about 17 hours.
  • It affected the telegraph network and many operators experienced electric shocks.
  • A solar storm that occurred in 1921 impacted New York telegraph and railroad systems and another small-scale storm collapsed the power grid in Quebec, Canada in 1989.
  • A 2013 report noted that if a solar storm similar to the 1859 one hit the US today, about 20-40 million people could be without power for 1-2 years, and the total economic cost will be $0.6-2.6 trillion.

Why is it a cause of concern?

  • The Sun goes through an 11-year cycle – cycles of high and low activity.
  • It also has a longer 100-year cycle.
  • During the last three decades, when the internet infrastructure was booming, it was a low period.
  • And very soon, either in this cycle or the next cycle, we are going towards the peaks of the 100-year cycle.
  • So it is highly likely that we might see one powerful solar storm during our lifetime.

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Wildlife Conservation Efforts

First Dugong Conservation Reserve to be built in India

Species | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Dugong

Mains level: Not Much

India’s first Dugong conservation reserve will be built in Tamil Nadu for the conservation of Dugong, a marine mammal.

Try answering this PYQ:

With reference to ‘dugong’, a mammal found in India, which of the following statements is/are correct?

  1. It is a herbivorous marine animal.
  2. It is found along the entire coast of India.
  3. It is given legal protection under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1974.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 3 only

 

Post your answers here.

Dugong Conservation Reserve

  • The reserve will spread over an area of 500 km in Palk Bay on the southeast coast of Tamil Nadu.
  • Palk Bay is a semi-enclosed shallow water body with a water depth maximum of 13 meters.
  • Located between India and Sri Lanka along the Tamil Nadu coast, the dugong is a flagship species in the region.

Dugong: The sea cow

  • Dugong or the sea cow is the State animal of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
  • This endangered marine species survive on seagrass and other aquatic vegetation found in the area.
  • It is the only herbivorous mammal that is strictly marine and is the only extant species in the family Dugongidae.
  • Dugongs are usually about three-meter long and weigh about 400 kg.
  • Dugongs have an expanded head and trunk-like upper lip.
  • Elephants are considered to be their closest relatives. However, unlike dolphins and other cetaceans, sea cows have two nostrils and no dorsal fin.

Their habitat

  • Distributed in shallow tropical waters in the Indo-Pacific region, in India, they are found in the Gulf of Kutch, Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
  • Dugongs are long-living animals, that have a low reproductive rate, long generation time, and high investment in each offspring.
  • The female dugongs do not bear their first calf until they are at least 10 and up to 17 years old.
  • A dugong population is unlikely to increase more than 5% per year. They take a long time to recover due to the slow breeding rate.

Causes of extinction

  • Having being declared vulnerable, the marine animal calls for conserving efforts.
  • Studies have suggested the reasons for the extinction of the animal such as slow breeding rate, fishing, and the loss of habitat.
  • They are also known to suffer due to accidental entanglement and drowning in gill-nets.

Conservation in India

  • The conservation reserve can promote growth and save vulnerable species from the verge of extinction.
  • Dugongs are protected in India under Schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife Act 1972 which bans the killing and purchasing of dugong meat.
  • IUCN status: Vulnerable

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Festivals, Dances, Theatre, Literature, Art in News

Festival in news: Nuakhai

Prelims Only | Indian Society | Mains Paper 1: Diversity Of India
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Nuakhai

Mains level: Not Much

In Odisha, Nuakhai, an important agrarian festival in the State is being celebrated today.

Nuakhai

  • Nuakhai or is an agricultural festival mainly observed by people of Western Odisha and Southern Chhattisgarh in India.
  • It is observed to welcome the new rice of the season.
  • As per the customary practice, people offer the new grains of crops to the deities before their own consumption.
  • According to the calendar it is observed on Panchami tithi (the fifth day) of the lunar fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada or Bhadraba (August–September), the day after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
  • This is the most important social festival of Western Odisha and adjoining areas of Simdega in Jharkhand, where the culture of Western Odisha is much predominant.
  • It is also a festival of social cohesion as all the members of the family come together to celebrate Nuakhai.

Try this PYQ:

Consider the following pairs:

Tradition                                    State

  1. Chapchar Kut Festival   —  Mizoram
  2. Khongjom Parba ballad —  Manipur
  3. Thang-Ta Dance           —   Sikkim

Which of the pairs given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2

(c) 1 and 2

(d) 2 and 3

 

Post your answers here.

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Trade Sector Updates – Falling Exports, TIES, MEIS, Foreign Trade Policy, etc.

[pib] Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA) scheme for Specified Agriculture Products

PIB | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Transport and Marketing Assistance Scheme

Mains level: Export promotion schemes in India

The Centre has revised “Transport and Marketing Assistance” (TMA) scheme for Specified Agriculture Products’.

What is the TMA Scheme?

  • The TMA Scheme was introduced in 2019 to provide assistance for the international component of freight, to mitigate the disadvantage of higher freight costs faced by the Indian exporters of agriculture products.
  • All exporters, duly registered with relevant Export Promotion Council as per Foreign Trade Policy, of eligible agriculture products, shall be covered under this scheme.
  • The assistance, at notified rates, will be available for the export of eligible agriculture products to the permissible countries, as specified from time to time.
  • Assistance would be provided in cash through a direct bank transfer as part reimbursement of freight paid.

Following major changes have been made in the revised scheme:

  • Dairy products, which were not covered under the earlier scheme, will be eligible for assistance under the revised scheme.
  • Rates of assistance have been increased, by 50% for exports by sea and by 100% for exports by air.

List of ineligible products

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The national security discourse is changing

| Security Issues | Mains Paper 3: External State & Non-State Actors: Challenges To Internal Security.,Various Security Forces, Agencies & Their Mandates
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR)

Mains level: Paper 3- Interplay between national security and domestic policies

Context

From a rising China to the pressures of climate change; from the challenges of counter-terrorism to the COVID-19 pandemic (the four Cs), the old order is collapsing much faster than the ability of nations to create the foundations of a new one.

The reduced difference between the domestic and foreign policy of the  U.S.

  • The idea that foreign and domestic policies are tightly intertwined is not a novel one.
  • All serious grand strategic thinking in democracies looks for sustenance in popular public support.
  • A process that was started by former U.S. President Donald Trump has been taken forward by the Biden Administration.
  • Asserting that “foreign policy is domestic policy and domestic policy is foreign policy,” the new administration has suggested that their task is to re-imagine American national security for the unprecedented combination of crises they face at home and abroad.
  • These crises include the pandemic, the economic crisis, the climate crisis, technological disruption, threats to democracy, racial injustice, and inequality in all forms”.
  • There is a growing bipartisan acknowledgment in the U.S. today that the requirements of American national security today are different from what they were during the Cold War.
  • Today’s strategic environment requires a different response for national security: one that shores up domestic industrial base helps in maintaining pre-eminence in critical technologies, makes supply chains for critical goods more resilient, protects critical infrastructure from cyberattacks and responds with a sense of urgency to climate change.

Indian situation: Dependence on the external supply chain is the national security challenge

  • In India too, there is greater recognition of the challenges emanating on national security from domestic vulnerabilities.
  • Dependence on Chinese manufacturing: One of the most significant consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has been to reveal how deeply India has been dependent on Chinese manufacturing for critical supplies.
  • At a time when Indian armed forces were facing the People’s Liberation Army, this exposed India to a new realization that dependence on overseas supply chains is a national security challenge of the highest order.
  • Dimensions of national security: The Indian Army chief has argued that “national security comprises not only warfare and defence but also financial security, health security, food security, energy security, and environmental security apart from information security”.

Way forward for India

  • Shore up domestic capacities: India has since moved towards increasing domestic capacities in critical areas and also started looking at free trade agreements through a new lens.
  • Whole-of-government approach: Army Chief had suggested that instead of viewing national security “primarily from the perspective of an armed conflict, there is a need to take a whole-of-government approach towards security”.
  • Investment in armed forces: The Army chief has pointed out that investment in the armed forces contributes to the national economy.
  • Therefore, indigenization of defence procurement provides an impetus to indigenous industries, aid to civil authorities, or Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR).
  • Demand for hi-tech military products by the armed forces helps entire industries.
  • Transportation and logistics capacities of the armed forces are acting as force enablers for the Government in times of emergencies.

Consider the question “The idea that foreign and domestic policies are tightly intertwined is not a novel one. In light of this, examine the challenges facing India’s national security that are linked with its domestic vulnerability. Suggest the ways forward.”

Conclusion

As nations across the world reconceptualise their strategic priorities, policymakers will need to think more creatively about the roles of various instruments of statecraft. National security thinking is undergoing a shift. India cannot be left behind.

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Foreign Policy Watch: India-Afghanistan

The fall of Afghanistan, the fallout in West Asia

op-ed snap | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: India & Its Neighborhood - Relations
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Geopolitical dynamics with Taliban's formation of legitimate govt

Three weeks after they walked into Kabul without any resistance, the Taliban now has announced an interim Council of Ministers.

Chord with Pakistan: Crowing of its puppets

  • Pakistan appears to have got its way. This government formation has tightly controlled the head of its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
  • Afghanistan’s acting PM is Mullah Hassan Akhund, a close associate of former Taliban founder Mullah Omar.
  • Abdul Ghani Baradar is his deputy, but again, this could be a token position.
  • Baradar had been arrested in 2010 by the Pakistanis for pursuing a dialogue with the Hamid Karzai government without Pakistani sanction and jailed for eight years.
  • Pakistan’s true proteges are Sirajuddin Haqqani, the acting interior minister, and Mohammed Yaqoob, the acting defence minister, a son of Mullah Omar, who is also close to Haqqani.

The West Asian players

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Iran have been direct role-players in Afghan affairs for over 25 years.

  • Sheikhdom involvement: In the 1990s, the first two were supporters and sources of funding for the Taliban, while Iran was an antagonist. After 9/11, all three countries became deeply involved with the Taliban. Since 2005, the Gulf sheikhdoms have contributed millions of dollars to different Taliban leaders and factions.
  • Iran’s defiance of the US: Iran began a substantial engagement with various Taliban leaders from 2007 and provided funding, weapons, training and refuge when required. It wanted the Taliban to maintain pressure on the U.S. forces to ensure their speedy departure from the country.
  • Regional competition: In the 2010s, when the US began to engage with Iran on the nuclear issue, Saudi Arabia became more directly involved in Afghan matters to prevent Iran’s expanding influence among Taliban groups. Thus, besides Syria and Yemen, Iran and Saudi Arabia have also made Afghanistan an arena for their regional competitions.
  • Earliest acknowledgment of the Taliban: In 2012, Qatar, on U.S. request, allowed the Taliban to open an office in Doha as a venue for their dialogue with the Americans. This has made Qatar an influential player in Afghan affairs, with deep personal ties with several leaders, many of whom keep their families in Doha.

Competitions for influence

The low-key reactions of the Gulf countries to recent developments in Kabul reflect the uncertainties relating to the Taliban in power.

Nature of the govt: Their ability to remain united, their policies relating to human rights, and, above all, whether the Taliban will again make their country a sanctuary for extremist groups.

Fractionalization within terror groups: The country already has several thousand foreign fighters, whose ranks could swell with extremists coming in from Iraq and Syria, and threaten the security of all neighbouring states.

Three sets of regional players are active in Afghanistan today:

  1. Pakistan-Saudi coalition: This has been the principal source of support for the Taliban-at-war. They would like to remain influential in the new order, but neither would like to see the Taliban revert to their practices of the 1990s that had justifiably appalled the global community.
  2. Turkey and Qatar: They represent the region’s Islamist coalition and, thus, share an ideological kinship with the Taliban. Both would like to see a moderate and inclusive administration.
  3. Iran: While many of its hardliners are overjoyed at the U.S. “defeat”, more reflective observers recall the earlier Taliban emirate which was viscerally hostile to Shias and Iran. Iran also sees itself as the guardian of the Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara minorities in the country.

Options Available: The outlook for security

Linking with Israel-Palestine Conflict: The region now has two options: one, an Israel-centric security order in which the Arab Gulf states would link themselves with Israel to confront Iran. This is being actively promoted by Israeli hawks since it would tie Israel with neighbouring Arab states without having to concede anything to meet Palestinian aspirations.

Comprehensive regional security arrangement: The other option is more ambitious: The facilitators and guarantors of this security arrangement are likely to be China and Russia: over the last few years, both have built close relations with the major states of the region. i.e., Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Consensus to ward away the US

  • The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states led by Saudi Arabia lifted the over three-year blockade of Qatar.
  • The discussions between Iran and Saudi Arabia and plans are in place for the next meetings.
  • Turkey has initiated diplomatic overtures towards Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
  • None of these initiatives involves the Americans.

Conclusion: A new order is in making

  • These developments suggest that the germ of a new regional security order in West Asia is already sown in fertile ground.

Way forward for India

  • The Indian policies are at a crossroads. Continued bandwagoning with the US makes no sense.
  • Indian diplomacy should harmonize with the regional capitals, including Beijing, which can be a natural ally on issues of terrorism.
  • The bottom line is that India’s vital interests remain to be secured.
  • Demonizing the Taliban can only be counterproductive.

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Foreign Policy Watch: India – Germany

 How India and Germany can work together to tackle climate change?

op-ed snap | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: India-Germany relations

Both nations, India and Germany with innovative economies and many highly-trained people can tackle the climate challenge.

India-Germany Relations: A backgrounder

Freedom struggle: Subhas Chandra Bose, a prominent freedom fighter for Indian independence, made a determined effort to obtain India’s independence from Britain by seeking military assistance from the Axis powers. The Indische Legion was formed to serve as a liberation force for British-ruled India principally made up of Indian prisoners of war.

Diplomacy: India maintained diplomatic relations with both West Germany and East Germany and supported their reunification in 1990. Contrary to France and the UK, Germany has no strategic footprint in Asia.

Past contentions: Germany condemned India for liberating Goa from Portuguese rule in 1961 and supported Portugal’s dictatorial regime under Salazar against India. It was critical of India for intervening in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.  It rejected India’s 1998 nuclear tests.

Quest for UNSC: India and Germany both seek to become permanent members of the UNSC and have joined with Japan and Brazil to coordinate their efforts via the G4 collective.

Cultural ties: Germany has supported education and cultural programs in India. Germany helped establish the IIT Madras after both governments signed an agreement in 1956 and increased its cooperation and supply of technology and resources over the decades to help expand the institution

Trade and investment: Germany is India’s largest trading partner in Europe. Germany is the 8th largest foreign direct investor (FDI) in India.

Common concerns

  • In South Asia and Europe, we have become used to extremely hot weather, flooding, dramatic depletion of groundwater tables, and drought.
  • The EU has adopted an ambitious Green Deal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and to decouple economic growth from the consumption of natural resources.

Why the two?

  • India is one of few countries that looks set to deliver on the national goals it set itself as part of the Paris agreement.
  • Compared to other G20 countries, its per capita emissions are very low.
  • Germany recently adopted laws on reducing greenhouse gases more quickly, achieving climate neutrality by 2045 and stopping the use of coal for electricity production by 2038.

Collaborated efforts to date

  • In 2015, India’s PM and Germany’s Federal Chancellor agreed to further strengthen the two countries’ strategic partnership.
  • On this basis, Germany and India have succeeded in building up a cooperation portfolio worth almost 12 billion euros.
  • Already, nine out of 10 measures support climate goals and SDGs together.

Indo-German development cooperation focuses on three areas:

  1. Transition to renewable energies
  2. Sustainable urban development and
  3. Sustainable management of natural resources

What does Germany have to offer?

  • As a pioneer of the energy transition, Germany is offering knowledge, technology transfer, and financial solutions.
  • The pandemic has shown global supply chains are vulnerable.
  • Yet, when it comes to agriculture and natural resources, there are smart solutions that are being tested in India and Germany for more self-reliance, including agroecological approaches and sustainable management of forests, soils, and water.
  • Experience in India has shown that these methods also boost incomes for the local population and make them less dependent on expensive fertilizers, pesticides and seeds.

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ISRO Missions and Discoveries

Tasks accomplished by the Chandrayaan-2

| Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Chandrayaan-3 Mission

Mains level: Accomplishments of India's Lunar Mission

The failure of Chandrayaan-2, India’s second mission to the Moon, to make a soft landing on the lunar surface had led to much disappointment.  But that did not mean the entire mission had been wasted.

Chandrayaan-2: A quick recap

  • Chandrayaan-2 consisted of an Orbiter, Lander and Rover, all equipped with scientific instruments to study the moon.
  • The Orbiter would watch the moon from a 100-km orbit, while the Lander and Rover modules were to be separated to make a soft landing on the moon’s surface.
  • ISRO had named the Lander module as Vikram, after Vikram Sarabhai, the pioneer of India’s space programme, and the Rover module as Pragyaan, meaning wisdom.

Utility of the Orbit

  • The Orbiter part of the mission has been functioning normally. It is carrying eight instruments.
  • Each of these instruments has produced a handsome amount of data that sheds new light on the moon and offers insights that could be used in further exploration.

Some of the most significant results so far:

(a) Water

  • The presence of water on the Moon had already been confirmed by Chandrayaan-1, India’s first mission to the Moon that flew in 2008.
  • Using far more sensitive instruments, the Imaging Infra-Red Spectrometer (IIRS) onboard Chandrayaan-2 has been able to distinguish between hydroxyl and water molecules and found unique signatures of both.
  • This is the most precise information about the presence of H2O molecules on the Moon to date.
  • Previously, water was known to be present mainly in the polar regions of the Moon.
  • Chandrayaan-2 has now found signatures of water at all latitudes, although its abundance varies from place to place.

(b) Minor elements

  • The Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS) measures the Moon’s X-ray spectrum to examine the presence of major elements such as magnesium, aluminum, silicon, calcium, titanium, iron, etc.
  • This instrument has detected the minor elements chromium and manganese for the first time through remote sensing, thanks to a better detector.
  • The finding can lay the path for understanding magmatic evolution on the Moon and deeper insights into the nebular conditions as well as planetary differentiation.
  • CLASS has mapped nearly 95% of the lunar surface in X-rays for the first time.
  • Sodium, also a minor element on the Moon surface, was detected without any ambiguity for the first time.

(c) Study of Sun

  • One of the payloads, called Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM), besides studying the Moon through the radiation coming in from the Sun, has collected information about solar flares.
  • XSM has observed a large number of microflares outside the active region for the first time.
  • This has great implications on the understanding of the mechanism behind the heating of the solar corona, which has been an open problem for many decades.

Utility of this Data

  • While the Orbiter payloads build upon existing knowledge of the Moon in terms of its surface, sub-surface and exosphere, it also paves the path for future Moon missions.
  • Four aspects — mineralogical and volatile mapping of the lunar surface, surface and subsurface properties and processes involved, quantifying water in its various forms across the Moon surface, and maps of elements present on the moon — will be key for future scope of work.
  • A key outcome from Chandrayaan-2 has been the exploration of the permanently shadowed regions as well as craters and boulders underneath the regolith, the loose deposit comprising the top surface extending up to 3-4m in depth.
  • This is expected to help scientists to zero in on future landing and drilling sites, including for human missions.

Who is going to use it?

  • Some key future Moon missions that hope to make use of such data include the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)-ISRO collaboration Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission scheduled for launch in 2023/2024.
  • Its aim is to obtain knowledge of lunar water resources and to explore the suitability of the lunar polar region for setting up a lunar base.
  • NASA’s Artemis missions plan to enable human landing on the Moon beginning 2024 and target sustainable lunar exploration by 2028.
  • The Chinese Lunar Exploration Programme too plans to establish a prototype of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) at the lunar south pole and build a platform supporting large-scale scientific exploration.

What was missed because of the crash-landing?

  • The most obvious miss has been the opportunity to demonstrate the technology to make a soft landing in outer space.
  • The lander Vikram and rover Pragyaan were carrying instruments to carry out observations on the surface.
  • These were supposed to pick up additional information about the terrain, and composition, and mineralogy.
  • While the instruments onboard the Orbiter is making “global” observations, those on the lander and rover would have provided much more local information.
  • The two diverse sets of data could have helped prepare a more composite picture of the Moon.

Future with the Chandrayaan-3

  • ISRO scientists maintain that the accident was caused by a relatively small error that has been identified and corrected.
  • But, to demonstrate this technology all over again, ISRO would have to send a fresh mission, Chandrayaan-3, planned for next year.
  • It is expected to have only a lander and rover, and no Orbiter.

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RBI Notifications

[pib] Account Aggregator Network (AAN): A financial data-sharing system

PIB | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Account Aggregator Network (AAN) and its regulation

Mains level: Account Aggregator Network (AAN)

The Account Aggregator system in banking has been started off with eight of India’s largest banks. In this newscard, we shall learn it in a FAQ manner.

What is an Account Aggregator?

  • An Account Aggregator (AA) is a type of RBI regulated entity (with an NBFC-AA license) that helps an individual securely and digitally access and share information from one financial institution they have an account with to any other regulated financial institution in the AA network.
  • Data cannot be shared without the consent of the individual.
  • There will be many Account Aggregators an individual can choose between.
  • Account Aggregator replaces the long terms and conditions form of ‘blank cheque’ acceptance with a granular, step by step permission and control for each use of your data.

How would it improve an average person’s financial life?

  • India’s financial system involves many hassles for consumers today.
  • This includes sharing of physical signed and scanned copies of bank statements, stamp documents, or having to share your personal username and password to give your financial history to a third party.
  • The AAN would replace all these with a simple, mobile-based, simple, and safe digital data access & sharing process.
  • This will create opportunities for new kinds of services — eg new types of loans.
  • The individual’s bank just needs to join the Account Aggregator network.

How is AAN different to Aadhaar eKYC data sharing?

  • Aadhaar eKYC and CKYC only allow sharing of four ‘identity’ data fields for KYC purposes (eg name, address, gender, etc).
  • Similarly, credit bureau data only shows loan history and/or a credit score.
  • The AAN allows sharing of transaction data or bank statements from savings/deposit/current accounts.

What kind of data can be shared?

  • Today, banking transaction data is available to be shared (for example, bank statements from a current or savings account) across the banks that have gone live on the network.
  • Gradually the AA framework will make all financial data available for sharing, including tax data, pensions data, securities data (mutual funds and brokerage), and insurance data will be available to consumers.
  • It will also expand beyond the financial sector to allow healthcare and telecom data to be accessible to the individual via AA.

Can AAs view or ‘aggregate’ personal data? Is the data sharing secure?

  • Account Aggregators cannot see the data; they merely take it from one financial institution to another based on an individual’s direction and consent.
  • Contrary to the name, they cannot ‘aggregate’ your data.
  • AAs are not like technology companies which aggregate your data and create detailed profiles of you.
  • The data AAs share is encrypted by the sender and can be decrypted only by the recipient.
  • The end to end encryption and use of technology like the ‘digital signature’ makes the process much more secure than sharing paper documents.

Can a consumer decide they don’t want to share data?

Yes. Registering with an AA is fully voluntary for consumers.

  • If the bank the consumer is using has joined the network, a person can choose to register on an AA, choose which accounts they want to link, and share their data.
  • A customer can reject a consent to share request at any time.
  • If a consumer has accepted to share data in a recurring manner over a period (eg during a loan period), it can also be revoked at any time later as well by the consumer.

Duration of the data shared

  • The exact time period for which the recipient institution will have access will be shown to the consumer at the time of consent for data sharing.

How can a customer get registered with an AA?

  • One can register with an AA through their app or website.
  • AA will provide a handle (like username) which can be used during the consent process.
  • Today, four apps are available for download (Finvu, OneMoney, CAMS Finserv, and NADL) with operational licenses to be AAs.
  • Three more have received in principle approval from RBI (PhonePe, Yodlee, and Perfios) and may be launching apps soon.
  • A customer can register with any AA to access data from any bank on the network.

Does a customer need to pay the AA for using this facility?

  • This will depend on the AA. Some may charge a small user fee.
  • Some AAs may be free because they are charging a service fee to financial institutions.

What new services can a customer access if their bank has joined the AA network of data sharing?

The two key services that will be improved for an individual is access to loans and access to money management.

  • If a customer wants to get a small business or personal loan today, there are many documents that need to be shared with the lender.
  • This is a cumbersome and manual process today, which affects the time taken to procure the loan and access to a loan.
  • Similarly, money management is difficult today because data is stored in many different locations and cannot be brought together easily for analysis.
  • Through Account Aggregator, a company can access tamper-proof secure data quickly and cheaply, and fast track the loan evaluation process so that a customer can get a loan.
  • Also, a customer may be able to access a loan without physical collateral, by sharing trusted information on a future invoice or cash flow directly from a government system like GST or GeM.

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Textile Sector – Cotton, Jute, Wool, Silk, Handloom, etc.

PLI Scheme for Textiles

Schemes | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: PLI scheme for various sectors

Mains level: Textile sector of India

The Union Government has approved Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Textiles.  This move is a part of the overall announcement of PLI Schemes for 13 sectors made earlier during the Union Budget 2021-22.

What is PLI Scheme?

  • As the name suggests, the scheme provides incentives to companies for enhancing their domestic manufacturing apart from focusing on reducing import bills and improving the cost competitiveness of local goods.
  • PLI scheme offers incentives on incremental sales for products manufactured in India.
  • The scheme for respective sectors has to be implemented by the concerned ministries and departments.

Criteria laid for the scheme

  • Eligibility criteria for businesses under the PLI scheme vary based on the sector approved under the scheme.
  • For instance, the eligibility for telecom units is subject to the achievement of a minimum threshold of cumulative incremental investment and incremental sales of manufactured goods.
  • The minimum investment threshold for MSME is Rs 10 crore and Rs 100 crores for others.
  • Under food processing, SMEs and others must hold over 50 per cent of the stock of their subsidiaries, if any.
  • On the other hand, for businesses under pharmaceuticals, the project has to be a greenfield project while the net worth of the company should not be less than 30 per cent of the total committed investment.

What are the incentives involved?

  • An incentive of 4-6 per cent was offered last year on mobile and electronic components manufacturers such as resistors, transistors, diodes, etc.
  • Similarly, 10 percent incentives were offered for six years (FY22-27) of the scheme for the food processing industry.
  • For white goods too, the incentive of 4-6 per cent on incremental sales of goods manufactured in India for a period of five years was offered to companies engaged in the manufacturing of air conditioners and LED lights.

What is in the box for Textiles?

  • The PLI scheme for textiles aims to promote the production of high value Man-Made Fibre (MMF) fabrics, garments and technical textiles.
  • Any person or company willing to invest a minimum of Rs 300 crore in plant, machinery, equipment and civil works (excluding land and administrative building cost) to produce products of MMF fabrics, garments and products of technical textiles will be eligible.
  • Investors willing to spend a minimum of Rs 100 crore under the same conditions shall be eligible.

Benefits offered

  • PLI scheme for Textiles will promote production of high value MMF Fabric, Garments and Technical Textiles in country.
  • The incentive structure has been so formulated that the industry will be encouraged to invest in fresh capacities in these segments.
  • This will give a major push to the growing high-value MMF segment which will complement the efforts of the cotton and other natural fiber-based textiles industry.
  • This will help to generate new opportunities for employment and trade, resultantly helping India regain its historical dominant status in global textiles trade.

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Back2Basics: India’s textile sector

  • The textile industry in India traditionally, after agriculture, is the only industry that has generated huge employment for both skilled and unskilled labour.
  • The domestic textiles and apparel industry contributes 5% to India’s GDP, 7% of industry output in value terms, and 12% of the country’s export earnings.
  • The textile industry continues to be the second-largest employment generating sector in India. It offers direct employment to over 35 million in the country.
  • India is first in global jute production and shares 63% of the global textile and garment market. India is second in global textile manufacturing and also second in silk and cotton production.
  • 100% FDI is allowed via automatic route in textile sector.

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Foreign Policy Watch: India-Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s economic crisis poses challenges for India

| International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: SAARC Currency Swap Framework 2019-2022

Mains level: Paper 2- India-Sri Lanka relations

Context

On 31 August 2021, Sri Lanka declared a state of economic emergency, as it is running out of foreign exchange reserves for essential imports like food.

Economic cooperation with Sri Lanka

  • India is Sri Lanka’s third-largest export destination, after the US and UK.
  • More than 60% of Sri Lanka’s exports enjoy the benefits of the India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect in March 2000.
  •  India is also a major investor in Sri Lanka.
  •  Foreign direct investment (FDI) from India amounted to around $ 1.7 billion over the years from 2005 to 2019.
  • Concessional financing of about $ 2 billion has been provided to Sri Lanka through various Indian government-supported Lines of Credit across sectors like railways, infrastructure and security.
  • India’s development partnership with Sri Lanka has always been demand-driven, with projects covering social infrastructure like education, health, housing etc.
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had signed a currency-swap agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) under the Saarc Currency Swap Framework 2019-22.

Factors responsible for economic emergency in Sri Lanka

  • Tourism: Tourism, a big dollar earner for Sri Lanka, has suffered since the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 2019, followed by the pandemic.
  • Declining FDI: Earnings fell from $3.6 billion in 2019 to $0.7 billion in 2020, even as FDI inflows halved from $1.2 billion to $670 million over the same period.
  • Debt distress: Its public debt-to-GDP ratio was at 109.7% in 2020, and its gross financing needs remain high at 18% of GDP, higher than most of its emerging economy peers.
  •  The external debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 62% in 2020 and is predominantly owed by its public sector.
  • More than $2.7 billion of foreign currency debt will be due in the next two years.

How economic crisis may push Sri Lanka to align its policies with China

  • Reliance on Chinese credit: Sri Lanka has increasingly relied on Chinese credit to address its foreign debt burden.
  • Unable to service its debt, in 2017, Sri Lanka lost the unviable Hambantota port to China for a 99-year lease.
  • Increasing bilateral trade: China’s exports to Sri Lanka surpassed those of India in 2020 and stood at $3.8 billion (India’s exports were $3.2 billion).
  • Strategic investment by China: Owing to Sri Lanka’s strategic location at the intersection of major shipping routes, China has heavily invested in its infrastructure (estimated at $12 billion between 2006 and 2019).
  • In May, Sri Lanka passed the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Act, which provides for establishing a special economic zone around the port and also a new economic commission, to be funded by China.

Implications for India

  • Relations between India and Sri Lanka seem to have plummeted since the beginning of this year.
  • In February, Sri Lanka backed out from a tripartite partnership with India and Japan for its East Container Terminal Project at the Colombo Port, citing domestic issues.
  • Sri Lanka’s economic crisis may further push it to align its policies with Beijing’s interests.
  • India is already on a diplomatic tightrope with Afghanistan and Myanmar.
  • Other South Asian nations like Bangladesh, Nepal and the Maldives have also been turning to China to finance large-scale infrastructure projects.

Way forward

  • Nurturing the Neighbourhood First policy with Sri Lanka will be important for India.
  • Explore possibility through regional platforms: The BIMSTEC and the Indian Ocean Rim Association could be leveraged to foster cooperation in common areas of interest like technology-driven agriculture and marine sector, IT, renewable energy, and transport and connectivity.
  • Cooperation on private sector investment: Both countries could also cooperate on enhancing private sector investments to create economic resilience.

Consider the question “How economic troubles in Sri Lanka could impact India? Suggest the way forward.”

Conclusion

With its economy in deep trouble, Sri Lanka may get further pushed towards China, India has to deliver on its Neighbourhood First policy to protects itself from the adverse fallout.

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Agricultural Sector and Marketing Reforms – eNAM, Model APMC Act, Eco Survey Reco, etc.

How India’s food systems must respond to the climate crisis

op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Agriculture and related issues,PDS, Buffer Stock & Food Security
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: EAT-Lancet diet

Mains level: Paper 3- Food system issues

Context

This month, the UN Secretary-General will convene the Food Systems Summit. There is a proposal to have an International Panel on Food and Nutritional Security (IPFN) — an “IPCC for food,” similar to the panel on climate change.

Issues with India’s agriculture?

  • What is a food system? According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), food systems encompass the entire range of actors involved in the production, aggregation, processing, distribution, consumption and disposal of food products.
  • Effects of Green Revolution: The Green Revolution succeeded in making India food sufficient, however, it also led to water-logging, soil erosion, groundwater depletion and the unsustainability of agriculture.
  • Deficit mindset: Current policies are still based on the “deficit” mindset of the 1960s.
  • Biased policies: The procurement, subsidies and water policies are biased towards rice and wheat.
  • Three crops (rice, wheat and sugarcane) corner 75 to 80 per cent of irrigated water.
  • Lack of diversification: Diversification of cropping patterns towards millets, pulses, oilseeds, horticulture is needed for more equal distribution of water, sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture.

Issues with various elements of India’s food system

1) Changes needed in India’s agriculture

  • The narrative of Indian agriculture has to be changed towards more diversified high-value production, better remunerative prices and farm incomes.
  • Inclusive: It must be inclusive in terms of women and small farmers.
  • Similarly, women’s empowerment is important particularly for raising incomes and nutrition.
  • Women’s cooperatives and groups like Kudumbashree in Kerala would be helpful.
  • Small farmers require special support, public goods and links to input and output markets.
  • Better remunerative prices: Farmer producer organisations help get better prices for inputs and outputs for small-holders.
  • The ITC’s E-Choupal is an example of technology benefiting small farmers.
  • Innovation: One of the successful examples of a value chain that helped small-holders, women and consumers is Amul (Anand Milk Union Ltd) created by Verghese Kurien.
  • Such innovations are needed in other activities of food systems.

2) Hunger and malnutrition in India

  • The NFHS-5 shows that under-nutrition has not declined in many states even in 2019-20. Similarly, obesity is also rising.
  • A food systems approach should focus more on the issues of undernutrition and obesity.
  • Safe and healthy diversified diets are needed for sustainable food systems.
  • The EAT-Lancet diet, which recommends a healthy and sustainable diet, is not affordable for the majority of the population in India.
  • Animal-sourced foods are still needed for countries like India. For instance, per capita consumption of meat is still below 10 kg in India as compared to 60 to 70 kg in the US and Europe.

3) Ensuring sustainability of food system

  • Estimates show that the food sector emits around 30 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gases.
  • Sustainability has to be achieved in production, value chains and consumption.
  • How to achieve sustainability? Climate-resilient cropping patterns have to be promoted.
  • Instead of giving input subsidies, cash transfers can be given to farmers for sustainable agriculture.

4) Health and social protection

  • Food systems also need health infrastructure.
  • The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the weak health infrastructure in countries like India.
  • Inclusive food systems need strong social protection programmes.
  • India has long experience in these programmes. Strengthening India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, public distribution system (PDS), nutrition programmes like ICDS, mid-day meal programmes, can improve income, livelihoods and nutrition for the poor and vulnerable groups.

5) Role of non-agriculture

  • Some economists like T N Srinivasan argued that the solution for problems in agriculture was in non-agriculture.
  • Reduce pressure on agriculture: Therefore, labour-intensive manufacturing and services can reduce pressure on agriculture.
  • Income from agriculture is not sufficient for smallholders and informal workers.
  • Strengthening rural MSMEs and food processing is part of the solution.

Conclusion

India should also aim for a food systems transformation, which can be inclusive and sustainable, ensure growing farm incomes and nutrition security.

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Renewable Energy – Wind, Tidal, Geothermal, etc.

Green hydrogen, a new ally for a zero carbon future

op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields,Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Pink hydrogen

Mains level: Paper 3- Green hydrogen

Context

The forthcoming 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow from November 1-12, 2021 is to re-examine the coordinated action plans to mitigate greenhouse gases and climate adaptation measures.

How Green hydrogen as a fuel can be a game changer?

  • Hydrogen is the most abundant element on the planet, but rarely in its pure form which is how we need it.
  • High energy density: It has an energy density almost three times that of diesel.
  • ‘Green hydrogen’, the emerging novel concept, is a zero-carbon fuel made by electrolysis using renewable power from wind and solar to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.
  • Best solution to remain under 1.5° C: The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts the additional power demand to be to the tune of 25%-30% by the year 2040.
  • Thus, power generation by ‘net-zero’ emission will be the best solution to achieve the target of expert guidelines on global warming to remain under 1.5° C.
  • Untapped potential: Presently, less than 0.1% or say ~75 million tons/year of hydrogen capable of generating ~284GW of power, is produced.

Challenges: Production and storage cost

  • The challenge is to compress or liquefy the LH2 (liquid hydrogen); it needs to be kept at a stable minus 253° C.
  • This leads to its ‘prior to use exorbitant cost’.
  • The ‘production cost’ of ‘Green hydrogen’ has been considered to be a prime obstacle.
  • The production cost of this ‘green source of energy’ is expected to be around $1.5 per kilogram (for nations having perpetual sunshine and vast unused land), by the year 2030; by adopting various conservative measures.

Experiments in India

    • The Indian Railways have announced the country’s first experiment of a hydrogen-fuel cell technology-based train by retrofitting an existing diesel engine; this will run under Northern Railway on the 89 km stretch between Sonepat and Jind.
  • The project will not only ensure diesel savings to the tune of several lakhs annually but will also prevent the emission of 0.72 kilo tons of particulate matter and 11.12-kilo tons of carbon per annum.

Way forward for India

  • India is the world’s fourth-largest energy-consuming country (behind China, the United States and the European Union), according to the IEA’s forecast, and will overtake the European Union to become the world’s third energy consumer by the year 2030.
  • It is high time to catch up with the rest of the world by going in for clean energy, decarbonising the economy and adopting ‘Green hydrogen’ as an environment-friendly and safe fuel for the next generations.

Conclusion

In order to achieve the goal of an alternative source of energy, adopting a multi-faceted practical approach to utilise ‘Green hydrogen’ offers a ray of hope.

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Women empowerment issues – Jobs,Reservation and education

NDA to admit Women: Centre

| Indian Society | Mains Paper 1: Role Of Women & Women Organization
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Women in Armed FOrces

The Centre gave the Supreme Court the “good news” that it had taken a decision to allow women entry into the National Defence Academy (NDA), so far a male bastion for recruitment into the Armed Forces.

About National Defence Academy

  • The NDA is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services train together before they go on to respective service academy for further pre-commission training.
  • It is located in Khadakwasla, Pune, Maharashtra.
  • It is the first tri-service academy in the world.
  • Applicants to the NDA are selected via a written exam conducted by the UPSC every year, followed by extensive interviews by the Services Selection Board.

What was the latest development?

  • Recently, the Supreme Court upheld the right of serving Short Service Commission (SSC) women officers of the Navy to be granted Permanent Commission (PC) on a par with their male counterparts.

Women in Armed Forces: Significance

  • The court ruled that women naval officers cannot be denied the right to equal opportunity and dignity entitled to under the Constitution on specious grounds such as physiology, motherhood and physical attributes.
  • The battle for gender equality is about confronting the battles of the mind.
  • History is replete with examples where women have been denied their just entitlements under law and the right to fair and equal treatment in the workplace.

Why males have ever dominated the armed forces?

  • Militaries across the world help entrench hegemonic masculine notions of aggressiveness, strength and heterosexual prowess in and outside their barracks.
  • The military training focuses on creating new bonds of brotherhood and camaraderie between them based on militarized masculinity.
  • This temperament is considered in order to enable conscripts to survive the tough conditions of military life and to be able to kill without guilt.
  • To create these new bonds, militaries construct a racial, sexual, gendered “other”, attributes of whom the soldier must routinely and emphatically reject.

Dimensions of the Issue

Gender is not a hindrance: As long as an applicant is qualified for a position, one’s gender is arbitrary. It is easy to recruit and deploy women who are in better shape than many men sent into combat.

Combat Readiness: Allowing a mixed-gender force keeps the military strong. The armed forces are severely troubled by falling retention and recruitment rates. This can be addressed by allowing women in the combat role.

Effectiveness: The blanket restriction for women limits the ability of commanders in theatre to pick the most capable person for the job.

Tradition: Training will be required to facilitate the integration of women into combat units. Cultures change over time and the masculine subculture can evolve too.

Cultural Differences & Demographics: Women are more effective in some circumstances than men. Allowing women to serve doubles the talent pool for delicate and sensitive jobs that require interpersonal skills, not every soldier has.

Hurdles for Women

Capabilities of women: Although women are equally capable, if not more capable than men, there might be situations that could affect the capabilities of women such as absence during pregnancy and catering to the responsibilities of motherhood, etc.

Adjusting with the masculine setup: To then simply add women to this existing patriarchal setup, without challenging the notions of masculinity, can hardly be seen as “gender advancement”.

Fear of sexual harassment: Sexual harassment faced by women military officers is a global phenomenon that remains largely unaddressed, and women often face retaliation when they do complain.

Gender progressiveness could be an illusion: Women’s inclusion is criticized as just another manoeuvre to camouflage women’s subjugation and service as women’s liberation.

Battle of ‘Acceptance’: Acceptance of women in the military has not been smooth in any country. Every army has to mould the attitude of its society at large and male soldiers in particular to enhance acceptability of women in the military.

Job Satisfaction: Most women feel that their competence is not given due recognition. Seniors tend to be over-indulgent without valuing their views. They are generally marginalised and not involved in any major decision-making.

Doubts about Role Definition: The profession of arms is all about violence and brutality. To kill another human is not moral but soldiers are trained to kill.

Physical and Physiological Issues: The natural physical differences in stature, strength, and body composition between the sexes make women more vulnerable to certain types of injuries and medical problems. The natural processes of menstruation and pregnancy make women particularly vulnerable in combat situations.

Comfort Level: Most women accepted the fact that their presence amongst males tends to make the environment ‘formal and stiff’. The mutual comfort level between men and women colleagues is often very low.

Conclusion

  • Concern for equality of sexes or political expediency should not influence defence policies.
  • Armed forces have been constituted with the sole purpose of ensuring defence of the country and all policy decisions should be guided by this overriding factor.
  • All matters concerning defence of the country have to be considered in a dispassionate manner.
  • No decision should be taken which even remotely affects the cohesiveness and efficiency of the military.

Way ahead

  • Induction of women into armed forces should be on the basis of their abilities and not on the basis of their gender.
  • The training for both women and men should be standardized to eliminate differentiation based on physical capabilities.
  • The career aspects and opportunities for women need to be viewed holistically keeping the final aim in focus.

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Minority Issues – SC, ST, Dalits, OBC, Reservations, etc.

Domicile Based Job Quota

| Polity | Mains Paper 2: Indian Constitution - historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Article 16

Mains level: Equal opportunity enshrined in Constitution

The Jharkhand Assembly has passed a Bill, which provides 75% reservation for local people in the private sector up to ₹40,000 salary a month.

Try answering this PYQ first:

Q.One of the implications of equality in society is the absence of- (CSP 2018)

(a) Privileges

(b) Restraints

(c) Competition

(d) Ideology

What is the move?

  • Every employer shall register such employees receiving gross monthly salary as wages not more than ₹ 40,000 as the limit notified by the government from time to time on the designated portal within three months of the Act coming into force.
  • Every employer shall fill up 75% of the total existing vacancies on the date of notification of this Act and subsequent thereto by local candidates with respect to such posts where the gross monthly salary or wages are not more than ₹40,000”.
  • The Bill provides for the local MLA to supervise the employment procedure and issue directions to the employer concerned as it may deem fit.

Other such states

  • Once notified, Jharkhand will become the third State in the country, after Andhra Pradesh and Haryana, to pass such law.
  • In 2019, Andhra Pradesh passed such law, while in June last, Haryana passed law, reserving 75% quota for the local people in private jobs with monthly salary less than ₹50,000.

What is Quota for Locals?

Ans. Constitutional provision for Equal Treatment

  • Article 16 of the Constitution guarantees equal treatment under the law in matters of public employment. It prohibits the state from discriminating on grounds of place of birth or residence.
  • Article 16(2) states that “no citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or office under the State”.
  • The provision is supplemented by the other clauses in the Constitution that guarantee equality.
  • However, Article 16(3) of the Constitution provides an exception by saying that Parliament may make a law “prescribing” a requirement of residence for jobs in a particular state.
  • This power vests solely in the Parliament, not state legislatures.

Why does the Constitution prohibit reservation based on domicile?

  • When the Constitution came into force, India turned itself into one nation from a geographical unit of individual principalities and the idea of the universality of Indian citizenship took root.
  • India has single citizenship, and it gives citizens the liberty to move around freely in any part of the country.
  • Hence the requirement of a place of birth or residence cannot be qualifications for granting public employment in any state.

But are reservations not granted on other grounds such as caste?

  • Equality enshrined in the Constitution is not mathematical equality and does not mean all citizens will be treated alike without any distinction.
  • To this effect, the Constitution underlines two distinct aspects which together form the essence of equality law:
  1. Non-discrimination among equals, and
  2. Affirmative action to equalize the unequal

Supreme Court rulings on quota for locals

  • The Supreme Court has ruled against reservation based on place of birth or residence.
  • In 1984, ruling in Dr Pradeep Jain v Union of India, the issue of legislation for “sons of the soil” was discussed.
  • The court expressed an opinion that such policies would be unconstitutional but did not expressly rule on it as the case was on different aspects of the right to equality.
  • In a subsequent ruling in Sunanda Reddy v State of Andhra Pradesh (1995), the Supreme Court affirmed the observation in 1984 ruling to strike down a state government policy that gave 5% extra weightage to candidates.
  • In 2002, the Supreme Court invalidated appointment of government teachers in Rajasthan in which the state selection board gave preference to “applicants belonging to the district or the rural areas of the district concerned”.
  • In 2019, the Allahabad HC struck down a recruitment notification by the UP PSC which prescribed preference for women who are “original residents” of the UP alone.

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