Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ABHIM
Mains level: Paper 2- ABHIM
Context
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission, one of the largest pan-India schemes for strengthening healthcare infrastructure, in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
Aims of Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (ABHIM) and how it seeks to achieve it
- This was launched with an outlay of ₹64,180 crore over a period of five years.
- In addition to the National Health Mission, this scheme will work towards strengthening public health institutions and governance capacities for wide-ranging diagnostics and treatment, including critical care services.
- The latter goal would be met with the establishment of critical care hospital blocks in 12 central institutions such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and in government medical colleges and district hospitals in 602 districts.
- Laboratories and their preparedness: The government will be establishing integrated district public health labs in 730 districts to provide comprehensive laboratory services.
- Research: ABHIM will focus on supporting research on COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, including biomedical research to generate evidence to inform short-term and medium-term responses to such pandemics.
- One health approach: The government also aims to develop a core capacity to deliver the ‘one health’ approach to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks in humans and animals.
- Surveillance labs: A network of surveillance labs will be developed at the block, district, regional and national levels for detecting, investigating, preventing, and combating health emergencies and outbreaks.
- Local capacities in urban areas: A major highlight of the current pandemic has been the requirement of local capacities in urban areas.
- The services from the existing urban primary health centres will be expanded to smaller units – Ayushman Bharat Urban Health and Wellness Centres and polyclinics or specialist clinics.
Conclusion
The Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (ABHIM) is another addition to the arsenal we have to prepare for such oubreaks in the future.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Global carbon budget
Mains level: Paper 3- Why India should not commit to net-zero emission target
Context
The recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change made it clear that limiting the increase in the world’s average temperature from pre-industrial levels to those agreed in the Paris Agreement requires global cumulative emissions of carbon dioxide to be capped at the global carbon budget.
Understanding why reaching net zero by itself is irrelevant to forestalling dangerous warming
- The promise of when you will turn off the tap does not guarantee that you will draw only a specified quantity of water.
- The top three emitters of the world — China, the U.S. and the European Union — even after taking account of their net zero commitments and their enhanced emission reduction commitments for 2030, will emit more than 500 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide before net zero.
- These three alone will exceed the limit of about 500 billion tonnes from 2020 onwards, for even odds of keeping global temperature increase below 1.5°C.
Issues with ‘net zero’ target
- Neither the Paris Agreement nor climate science requires that net zero be reached individually by countries by 2050, the former requiring only global achievement of this goal “in the second half of the century”.
- Claims that the world “must” reach specific goals by 2030 or 2050 are the product of specific economic models for climate action.
- They front-load emission reduction requirements on developing countries, despite their already low emissions, to allow the developed world to backload its own, buying time for its own transition.
- These stringent limits on future cumulative emissions post 2020, amounting to less than a fifth of the total global carbon budget, is the result of its considerable over-appropriation in the past by the global North.
- Promises of net zero in their current form perpetuate this hugely disproportionate appropriation of a global commons, while continuing to place humanity in harm’s way.
Suggestions for India
- India is responsible for no more than 4.37% cumulative emissions of carbon dioxide since the pre-industrial era, even though it is home to more than a sixth of humanity.
- India’s per capita emissions are less than half the world average, less than one-eighth of the U.S.’s.
- For India to declare net zero now is to accede to the further over-appropriation of the global carbon budget by a few.
- India’s contribution to global emissions, in both stock and flow, is so disproportionately low that any sacrifice on its part can do nothing to save the world.
- India, in enlightened self-interest, must now stake its claim to a fair share of the global carbon budget.
- Technology transfer and financial support, together with “negative emissions”, if the latter succeeds, can compensate for the loss of the past.
- Such a claim by India provides it greater, and much-needed long-term options.
- It enables the responsible use of coal, its major fossil fuel resource, and oil and gas, to bootstrap itself out of lower-middle-income economy status and eradicate poverty, hunger and malnutrition for good.
- India’s resource-strapped small industries sector needs expansion and modernisation.
- The agriculture sector, the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions for India after energy, needs to double its productivity and farmers’ incomes and build resilience.
- Infrastructure for climate resilience in general is critical to future adaptation to climate change.
- All of these will require at least the limited fossil fuel resources made available through a fair share of the carbon budget.
Conclusion
Without restriction of their future cumulative emissions by the big emitters, to their fair share of the global carbon budget, and the corresponding temperature target that they correspond to made clear, India cannot sign on to net zero.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: EoDB
Mains level: Paper 3- Reducing the cost of doing business in India
Context
The controversy over Ease of the Doing Business (EoDB) notwithstanding, India must now sharpen its focus on the Cost of Doing Business (CoDB).
Cost of Doing Business in India
- India has made considerable progress on EoDB rankings since 2016.
- While the Centre’s focus on EoDB has been commendable, several state governments have also made efforts to improve business conditions.
- India must now sharpen its focus on the Cost of Doing Business (CoDB).
- India lags behind other countries in terms of CoDB on several counts.
Two key factors influencing CoDB — energy costs and regulatory overload
- High fuel costs: Diesel prices in India are 20.8 per cent higher than those in China, 39.3 per cent higher than in the US, 72.5 per cent higher than Bangladesh and 67.8 per cent higher than in Vietnam.
- This is largely because of heavy taxation — total taxes on diesel account for over 130 per cent of the base price in India.
- High power costs: In the case of electricity, prices for businesses in India were higher by around 7-12 per cent vis-à-vis those in the US, Bangladesh or China and by as much as 35-50 per cent as compared to those in South Korea or Vietnam prior to the recent coal/energy crisis.
- Coal, which accounts for more than 70 per cent of electricity generation in India, is also pricier vis-à-vis other countries leading to higher electricity prices.
- Like in the case of the petroleum sector, government levies account for nearly half of the prices paid by coal consumers.
- And coal producers cannot claim input tax credit because electricity is not under GST.
- Further, coal freight costs are amongst the highest in the world as high freight rates are used to cross-subsidise passenger fares by the railways.
- Regulatory overload: Outsized regulatory levels also pose a significant burden on businesses.
- A Teamlease report highlights that a small manufacturing company with just one plant and up to 500 employees is regulated by more than 750 compliances, 60 Acts and 23 licences and regulations.
- A mid-sized manufacturing company with six plants spread across different states is regulated by more than 5,500 compliances, 135 Acts and 98 licences and registrations.
- Keeping track of such a large number of regulations along with the changes thereof, imposes huge operational and financial costs on businesses, particularly the MSME segment.
Way forward
- Including fuels under GST would lower costs for businesses owing to input tax credit even if taxation levels continue to remain high.
- Cleaning up the power distribution sector, which is largely state-controlled, could potentially lower electricity prices for businesses.
- Fiscal incentives by the Centre: A majority of the compliances stem from the states and reducing this burden would require a significant push on states to act on this front.
- The Centre could leverage the “carrot and stick” framework — using fiscal incentives to nudge the states to act and disincentivise them from maintaining the status quo.
Consider the question “What are the factors affecting the cost of doing business in India? Suggest the measures to reduce it.”
Conclusion
The Government must prioritise reducing the cost of energy and compliances for businesses rather than focusing on de jure measures to boost ease of doing business. These will boost India’s manufacturing competitiveness significantly and further increase formalisation in the economy.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: China's territorial expansionism
China has recently passed a new land law for the “protection and exploitation of the country’s land border areas”.
Land Border Law: Key Takeaways
- The law states that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China are sacred and inviolable.
- It asks the state to take measures to safeguard territorial integrity and land boundaries and guard against and combat any act that undermines these.
- The state can take measures to strengthen border defence, support economic and social development as well as opening-up in border areas.
- It seeks to improve public services and infrastructure in such areas, encourage and support people’s life and work there.
Other features
- In effect, this suggests a push to settle civilians in the border areas.
- The law also asks the state to follow the principles of equality, mutual trust, and friendly consultation, handle land border related-affairs with neighbouring countries.
China’s land borders
- China shares its 22,457-km land boundary with 14 countries including India, the third-longest after the borders with Mongolia and Russia.
- Unlike the Indian border, however, China’s borders with these two countries are not disputed.
- The only other country with which China has disputed land borders is Bhutan (477 km).
Why is it significant for India?
- China claims up to 90,000 square kilometres in Arunachal Pradesh in the eastern sector.
- It has illegally occupied 38,000 square kilometres of Aksai Chin in the western sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
- While recent tensions in the western sector have been centred on Ladakh, both sides have lately clashed in Uttarakhand as well.
A signal to India
- The law is not meant specifically for the border with India.
- However, this could create hurdles in the resolution of the 17-month-long military standoff at LAC.
- There is also a clear distinction that PLA will do border management but it will make negotiations a little more difficult.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Population Register
Mains level: NPR, NRC, Census
The latest form of the National Population Register (NPR) appears to have retained contentious questions such as “mother tongue, place of birth of father and mother and last place of residence”.
National Population Register
- The NPR is a Register of usual residents of the country.
- It is being prepared at the local (Village/sub-Town), sub-District, District, State and National level.
- This is carried under provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
- It is mandatory for every usual resident of India to register in the NPR.
- A usual resident is defined for the purposes of NPR as a person who has resided in a local area for the past 6 months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next 6 months or more.
Why NPR is under fire?
- Though NPR was first compiled in 2010 and updated in 2015, the new questions were part of a trial exercise involving 30 lakh respondents in September 2019.
- The exercise has perceived the first step toward the compilation of the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRC) according to Citizenship Rules, 2003.
Questions in NPR
- In 2020 NPR, the respondent will have to specify the “name of State and district” if the place of birth of father and mother is in India and mention the country’s name if not born here.
- The form will collect details on 14 parameters of all family members.
- The sub-heads include passport number, relationship to head of the family, whether divorced/widowed or separated, mother tongue, if non-worker, cultivator, labourer, government employee, daily wage earner among others.
- The form also has a column on Aadhar, mobile phone, Voter ID and driving license number, which are to be provided if available with the respondent.
How are NRIC and NPR related?
- Out of the NPR, a set of all usual residents of India, the government proposes to create a database of “citizens of India”.
- Thus, the “National Register of Indian Citizens” (NRIC) is a sub-set of the NPR.
- The NRIC will be prepared at the local, sub-district, district and State levels after verifying the citizenship status of the residents.
- The rules say the particulars of every family and individual found in the Population Register shall be verified and scrutinized by the Local Registrar.
How NPR is different from Census?
- The census involves a detailed questionnaire — there were 29 items to be filled up in the 2011 census.
- They are aimed at eliciting the particulars of every person, including age, sex, marital status, children, occupation, birthplace, mother tongue, religion, disability and whether they belonged to any SC or ST.
- On the other hand, the NPR collects basic demographic data and biometric particulars.
- While the census is legally backed by the Census Act, 1948, the NPR is a mechanism outlined in a set of rules framed under the Citizenship Act, 1955.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Khasi Tribe, khatduh
Mains level: Matrilineal society in NE
Matrilineal Meghalaya is set to break the tradition of share of parental property to the khatduh, which means the youngest daughter in the Khasi language.
Matrilineal Society of Meghalaya
- The matrilineal tradition which the Khasi and other subgroups practice in Meghalaya is unique within India.
- Khasi are an ancient tribe said to be the largest surviving matrilineal culture in the world.
- Matrilineal principles among the Khasi are emphasised in myths, legends, and origin narratives.
Their evolution
- Khasi kings embarking on wars left the responsibility of running the family to women and thus their role in society became very deep rooted and respected.
- Reference to Nari Rajya (female kingdom; or land of matriarchy) in the epic Mahabharata likely correlates with the Khasi and Jaintia Hills and Meghalaya’s present-day matrilineal culture.
Property rights
- The youngest daughter of the family, the Ka Khadduh, inherits all ancestral property.
- After marriage, husbands live in the mother-in-law’s home.
- The mother’s surname is taken by children.
- When no daughters are born to a couple, they adopt a daughter and pass their rights to property to her.
- The birth of a girl is celebrated while the birth of a son is simply accepted.
- There is no social stigma attributed to a woman remarrying or giving birth out of wedlock as the “Khasi Social Custom Lineage Act” gives security to them.
- Care of children is the responsibility of mothers or mothers-in-law.
Matrilineal, not matriarchal
- While society is matrilineal, it is not matriarchal. In past monarchies of the state, the son of the youngest sister of the king inherited the throne.
- Even now in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly or village councils or panchayats the representation of women in politics is minimal.
Issues with the system
- Some Khasi men perceive themselves to be accorded a secondary status.
- They have established societies to protect equal rights for men.
- They express that Khasi men don’t have any security, they don’t own land, they don’t run the family business and, at the same time, they are almost good for nothing.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Podu, Shifting cultivation
Mains level: Not Much
The Telangana government has decided to move landless, non-tribal farmers engaged in Podu shifting cultivation inside forests to peripheral areas as it looks to combat deforestation.
What is Shifting Cultivation?
- Shifting cultivation is a form of agriculture or a cultivation system, in which, at any particular point in time, a minority of ‘fields’ are in cultivation and a majority are in various stages of natural re-growth.
- Over time, fields are cultivated for a relatively short time, and allowed to recover, or are fallowed, for a relatively long time.
- Eventually, a previously cultivated field will be cleared of the natural vegetation and planted in crops again.
- Fields in established and stable shifting cultivation systems are cultivated and fallowed cyclically.
- This type of farming is also called jhumming in India.
What is Podu?
- Podu is a traditional system of cultivation used by tribes in India, whereby different areas of jungle forest are cleared by burning each year to provide land for crops.
- The word comes from the Telugu language.
- Podu is a form of shifting agriculture using slash-and-burn methods.
Issue in Telangana
- Shifting cultivation continues to be a predominant agricultural practice in many parts of India, despite state discouragement and multipronged efforts.
- Telangana government has red-flagged encroachment of forests by non-tribals, who are indulging in the practice of shifting agriculture (podu).
- Several political leaders have raised the issues of shifting agriculture and deforestation wherein encroachers clear a portion of land.
- The government now wants to shift out all farmers from the forests to the periphery by allotting lands to them for cultivation.
Impact of the move
- Tribal farmers who have been traditionally cultivating for decades will not be affected by this drive against illegal encroachers.
- The government has, in fact, given land ownership titles to tribals.
- Other encroaching farmers will be shifted out.
Back2Basics: Various shifting cultivation in India
| Type |
Place of practice |
| Jhum |
North-eastern India |
| Vevar and Dahiyaar |
Bundelkhand Region (Madhya Pradesh) |
| Deepa |
Bastar District (Madhya Pradesh) |
| Zara and Erka |
Southern States |
| Batra |
South-eastern Rajasthan |
| Podu |
Andhra Pradesh |
| Kumari |
Hilly Region of the Western Ghats of Kerala |
| Kaman, Vinga and Dhavi |
Odisha |
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Cyber Coordination Centre, CERT-IN
Mains level: Cyber security challenges for India
There are cybersecurity organisations in the country but no central body responsible for safety in the online space said the National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC).
National Cyber Coordination Centre
Headed by National Cyber Security Coordinator: Lt. Gen. Rajesh Pant (Retd.)
Objective: To help the country deal with malicious cyber-activities by acting as an Internet traffic monitoring entity that can fend off domestic or international attacks
- The National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) is an operational cybersecurity and e-surveillance agency in India.
- It is jurisdictionally under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
- It coordinates with multiple security and surveillance agencies as well as with CERT-In of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
- Components of the NCCC include a cybercrime prevention strategy, cybercrime investigation training and review of outdated laws.
Functions
- It will be India’s first layer for cyber threat monitoring and all communication with government and private service providers would be through this body only.
- The NCCC will be in virtual contact with the control room of all ISPs to scan traffic within the country, flowing at the point of entry and exit, including the international gateway.
Cyber-security bottlenecks in India
- India has no dedicated Cyber-security regulation and is also not well prepared to deal with cyberwarfare.
- India has formulated the National Cyber Security Policy 2013 which is not yet implemented.
- NCCC has been classified to be a project of the Indian government without a legal framework, which may be counterproductive as it may violate civil liberties and human rights.
- Some have expressed concern that the NCCC could encroach on Indian citizens’ privacy and civil liberties, given the lack of explicit privacy laws in the country.
Back2Basics: Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN)
- CERT-IN is an office within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
- It is the nodal agency to deal with cyber security threats like hacking and phishing. It strengthens the security-related defence of the Indian Internet domain.
- It was formed in 2004 by the Government of India under the Information Technology Act, 2000 Section (70B) under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
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