Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Calamity
Mains level: Disaster management
Under the existing Scheme of State Disaster Response Fund / National Response Fund of the Ministry of Home Affairs, there is no provision to declare any disaster including flood as a National Calamity.
How does the law define a disaster?
- A natural disaster includes earthquake, flood, landslide, cyclone, tsunami, urban flood, heatwave; a man-made disaster can be nuclear, biological and chemical.
- As per the Disaster Management Act, 2005, “disaster” means:
- A catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from natural or man-made causes, or
- It results in substantial loss of life or human suffering or damage to, and destruction of, property, or damage to, or degradation of, environment, and
- Damage is of such a nature or magnitude as to be beyond the coping capacity of the community of the affected area.
How can any of these be classified as a national disaster?
- There is no provision, executive or legal, to declare a natural calamity as a national calamity.
- The existing guidelines of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF)/ National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), do not contemplate declaring a disaster as a National Calamity.
Has there ever been an attempt to define a national calamity?
- In 2001, the National Committee under the chairmanship of the then PM was mandated to look into the parameters that should define a national calamity.
- However, the committee did not suggest any fixed criterion.
How, then, does the government classify disasters/calamities?
- The 10th Finance Commission (1995-2000) examined a proposal that a disaster be termed “a national calamity of rarest severity” if it affects one-third of the population of a state.
- The panel did not define a “calamity of rare severity” but stated that a calamity of rare severity would necessarily have to be adjudged on a case-to-case basis taking into account.
What happens if a calamity is so declared?
- When a calamity is declared to be of “rare severity/severe nature”, support to the state government is provided at the national level.
- The Centre also considers additional assistance from the NDRF.
- A Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) is set up, with the corpus shared 3:1 between Centre and state.
- When resources in the CRF are inadequate, additional assistance is considered from the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF), funded 100% by the Centre.
- Relief in repayment of loans or for grant of fresh loans to the persons affected on concessional terms, too, are considered once a calamity is declared “severe”.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Retractable Roof Polyhouse
Mains level: Not Much
The CSIR-CMERI has recently inaugurated a “naturally ventilated polyhouse facility” and laid the foundation stone of “retractable roof polyhouse”.
What is a Polyhouse?
- A polyhouse is a specially constructed structure like a building where specialized polythene sheet is used as a covering material under which crops can be grown in partially or fully controlled climatic conditions.
- It is covered with a transparent material as to permit the entry of natural light. Polyhouses are also helpful in reducing threats such as extreme heat and pest attacks in crops.
- This is especially important for crops growing in the open field with no protection from the weather, and therefore its yield, quality, and crop maturity timings are changed.
Retractable Roof Polyhouse
- The retractable roof system is a modular screen system for greenhouses that helps in saving costs and time along with providing stability, flexibility & durability for the greenhouse structure.
- Such polyhouse will have an automatic retractable roof which will be operated based on weather conditions and crop requirements from the conditional database using the software.
Advantages offered
- Ability to use the benefits of natural weather conditions
- Long life of the system and material used
- Easy assembly and installation
- Maximum insulation and complete protection from insecticides
- Easy maintenance & even easier repair work during operation
Why need such polyhouse?
- With rapidly rising temperatures due to mounting greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from human activities, crops are increasingly facing both threats — extreme heat and pest attacks — simultaneously.
- Crop losses in India due to insect pests are about 15 percent at present and this loss may increase as climate change lowers the plant defense system against insects and pests.
- Conventional greenhouses have a stationary roof to reduce the effect of weather anomalies and pests.
- However, there are still disadvantages due to roof covering which sometimes lead to excessive heat and insufficient light (early morning).
- Besides this, they are also prone to insufficient levels of carbon dioxide, transpiration, and water stress.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Abanindranath Tagore
Mains level: Not Much
Year-long celebrations marking 150 years of Abanindranath Tagore have been kicked off in Kolkata.
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951)
- Tagore CIE was the principal artist and creator of the “Indian Society of Oriental Art”.
- A nephew of Rabindranath Tagore and a decade younger to the poet, he helped shape modern Indian art and was the creator of the iconic ‘Bharat Mata’ painting.
- He was also the first major exponent of Swadeshi values in Indian art, thereby finding the influential Bengal school of art, which led to the development of modern Indian painting.
- He was also a noted writer, particularly for children.
- Tagore sought to modernize Mughal, Rajput styles to counter the influence of Western models of art, as taught in art schools under the British Raj.
- Along with other artists from the Bengal school of art, Tagore advocated in favor of a nationalistic Indian art derived from Indian art history, drawing inspiration from the Ajanta Caves.
Q. Which among the following event happened earliest? (CSP 2018)
(a) Swami Dayanand established Arya Samaj.
(b) Dinabandhu Mitra wrote Neeldarpan.
(c) Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay wrote Anandmath.
(d) Satyendranath Tagore became the first India to succeed in the Indian Civil Services Examination.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SATYAM Programme
Mains level: Yoga as a therapy
The Ministry of Science & Technology (MoST) is implementing the Science and Technology of Yoga and Meditation (SATYAM) Programme to explore the effect of yoga and meditation as add on therapy to fight COVID-19.
SATYAM Programme
- The MoST is implementing SATYAM Programme since the year 2015-16 to promote scientific research in the field of yoga and meditation in order to understand its role in human wellbeing.
- Its main objective is encouraging scientists, clinicians and experienced practitioners of yoga and meditation, with a proven track record, to submit concept notes.
Themes covered:
- Investigations on the effect of Yoga and Meditation on physical and mental health and well being.
- Investigations on the effect of Yoga and Meditation on the body, brain, and mind in terms of basic processes and mechanisms.
Focus on COVID
It shall focus on three dimensions of COVID related illness:
- Mental Stress
- Respiratory
- Immune system
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Inner Line Permit
Mains level: Paper 2- Assam-Mizoram border dispute
Context
The violent stand-off between the Assam and Mizoram armed policemen at Vairengte in Mizoram, on July 26, took six lives and left over 50 injured is the culmination of a long-standing border dispute.
History of the boundary issue
- The ‘inner line’ boundary of the Lushai hills was ‘fixed’ in 1875 on the southern border of Assam’s Cachar district.
- In line with the colonial practice of ‘fixing’ borders, this boundary was however not ‘precise’ as it was drawn largely using natural markers such as rivers and hills.
- In post-independent India, the Mizoram government has accepted this boundary in preference over the subsequent revisions made by the colonial government.
- There was a change in boundary when the Inner Line Permit under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 was extended to the Lushai hills district in 1930 and 1933.
- The Mizoram government perceives that the boundary instituted by these revisions amounted to unilateral superimposition.
- These revisions are also seen to conspicuously fail to recognise the Mizo’s long-standing historical rights to use the un-demarcated southern border of Cachar as their hunting ground, for jhum cultivation, and as sites of their resource extraction including rubber and timber.
- However, considering that borders cannot be driven by perception but by institutionalised rules and laws, Assam’s government continues to refuse to accept Mizoram’s standpoint.
- The Assam government considers Mizo plantation and settlements in the Inner Line Reserve Forest areas as an ‘encroachment’.
People-centric Vs. State-centric approach in dispute
- At the heart of this dispute is the contending approaches of the Assam and Mizoram governments to ‘borders’, namely ‘state-centric and ‘people-centric approaches.
- The Assam government represent a continuum of the colonial ‘state-centric’ approach to borders which gives premium to legal, juridical and administrative recognition and protection of the border.
- The Mizoram government advocate a ‘people-centric approach seeks to give a premium to the historical and traditional rights of the local indigenous people.
- The Mizoram government also advocate the principle of uti possidetis juris (‘as you possess under law’, including customary law) on the other hand.
Way forward
- Historical context: Fixing the Assam-Mizoram border and resolve the dispute need to be sensitive to the historical context.
- Deep historical knowledge, sensitivity and an accommodative spirit need to inform dialogue and negotiation under the neutral supervision of the Centre.
- Inter-governmental forum: It is about time that the Centre sets up a permanent inter-governmental forum to involve important stakeholders in order to effectively manage border and territorial conflicts.
- Quick-fix solution should be avoided: Any quick-fix solution driven by temporal electoral considerations should be avoided if we were to resuscitate and sustain interdependent Assam-Mizoram borders and beyond.
Conclusion
The resolution should be sensitive to the possibility of fluid and overlapping sovereignty, where forest ‘commons’ are seen not simply as sites of revenue-extraction but as powerful symbols of identity and sustainable livelihood resources for the local people.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SOFI report
Mains level: Paper 2- Rising food insecurity
Context
The latest edition of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, released jointly by five UN organisations in July, reveals that the pandemic and failure on the part of state to combat its effects, has led to a significant increase in the prevalence of hunger and food insecurity in the country.
About the report
- Estimates on food insecurity presented in the SOFI report are based on two globally-accepted indicators of food insecurity:
- 1) The Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU), which estimates the proportion of people suffering from chronic deficiency of calories.
- 2) A more recently developed an experience-based indicator called the Prevalence of Moderate and Severe Food Insecurity (PMSFI).
- The PoU estimates are based on estimates of per-capita supply of food and distributional parameters estimated using the national consumption surveys
- On the other hand, PMSFI estimates are based on data collected through surveys that attempt to capture people’s experiences of food insecurity (such as eating less, modifying diet to eat cheaper food etc).
- No assessment of food insecurity during a pandemic: The PMSFI estimates presented in the report are particularly important because, since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Indian government has not undertaken any official assessment of food insecurity in the country.
- Not only has the government not conducted its own consumption or food security surveys, it does not approve the publication of results based on the Gallup World Poll.
- As a result, estimates for India are not published in the SOFI reports.
- However, these can still be obtained indirectly because the data are presented for South Asia and for “South Asia (excluding India)”.
- Estimates for India can be obtained by comparing the two sets of data.
What the report says
- According to the data presented in the report, the prevalence of moderate to severe food insecurity in India rose by about 6.8 percentage points in 2018-20.
- Data show that there were about 43 crore of moderate to severe food-insecure people in India in 2019.
- As a result of the pandemic-related disruptions, this increased to 52 crore in one year.
- In terms of prevalence rates, moderate to severe food insecurity increased from about 31.6 per cent in 2019 to 38.4 per cent in 2021.
Causes of food insecurity in India
- Economic distress: The problems of hunger and food insecurity are grave in India because of widespread economic distress, high unemployment and high levels of inequality.
- Dependence on informal economy: A large proportion of the poor is dependent on the informal economy in which incomes are too low and uncertain.
- Unemployment: Unemployment rates have risen sharply over the last few years, shrinking public investment and the economic slowdown have compounded the distress among working classes and the peasantry.
- With low and uncertain incomes, families dependent on the informal economy do not have assured access to adequate and nutritious food.
Way forward
- Monitoring system: There is an urgent need for the government to establish systems for regular monitoring of the food security situation in the country.
- Universal access to food: It is ironic that the country with the largest stock of grain in the world — 120 million tonnes as of July 1, 2021 — accounts for a quarter of the world’s food-insecure population.
- Universalising access to the public distribution system is the need of the hour at least during the pandemic.
Conclusion
The increasing severity of food insecurity in India points to the urgent need for measures by the government to ensure the right to food of citizens of India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: 1991 reforms
Mains level: Paper 3- Changes brought about by 1991 reforms
Context
It has been 30 years since the spirit of liberalisation was unleashed in 1991 economic reforms. The private sector, which had been seen very differently up to 1990, was placed at the centre of the reform process. And this has continued and grown since then.
Challenges and opportunities for Indian industry after economic reforms
1) Entry of MNCs and centrality to consumers
- The first challenge was the entry of MNCs through the joint venture (JV) route.
- Centrality to consumers: The reforms gave centrality to the consumer who till 1991 did not have a choice.
- The Indian consumer was given choices and companies, both foreign and Indian, wanted to be their first choice.
- Growth in demand: The surge of new demand from the marketplace transformed the scenario, reflected in GDP growth rapidly moving up to 7 per cent per annum.
2) Increased competition
- For the first time, Indian companies faced real competition from other Indian as well as foreign companies.
- But, many corporates restructured themselves and transformed into competitive forces.
- The new reality of reduced customs duties and industrial licensing disappearing, removed the protection umbrella and Indian companies, by and large, who had been planning for this day, were ready to face this challenge.
3) Government-industry partnership
- Till June 1991, the government and industry were at a distance from each other.
- June 1991 changed all of that, the government’s dialogue with industry deepened, consultations were frequent.
- Feedback on what was happening on the ground was taken regularly.
- A government-industry partnership became a reality.
4) Boost to aspiration of industries
- The most significant change brought about by the reforms pertained to the level of “aspirations” of the industry.
- There was excitement and ambition to be world-class.
- Rise of IT industry: In this, the IT industry led by TCS, Infosys and Wipro played a major role.
- They showed that Indian engineers and managers were the best in the world.
- They exuded confidence which spread to others.
5) Boost to entrepreneurship
- Not just the big industry, but also, the small and medium sectors that became part of the new energy in industry.
- Component manufacturing and exports were new initiatives from ancillaries and suppliers of major manufacturers.
6) Infrastructure
- The public sector had a monopoly over infrastructure.
- This changed and the private sector was invited to participate, to get into public-private partnerships and end the government’s monopoly.
7) Birth of new private sector bank
- Banking had been nationalised in 1969.
- But the reforms of 1991 gave birth to a new private sector bank — HDFC Bank — which, after due diligence by the government and the Reserve Bank of India, opened its doors in 1994.
- This was a huge step forward in the reform process.
8) Improvement in corporate governance
- An industry-led initiative brought out the first-ever task force guidelines and report on corporate governance.
- This was followed by many other actions and policies.
Conclusion
There is still a long way to go, but the die that was cast in 1991 has led to a new tsunami of change.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Retrospective taxation
Mains level: Cairn Issue
The government took the first step towards doing away with the contentious retrospective tax law of 2012, which was used to raise large tax demands on foreign investors like Vodafone and Cairn Energy.
Retrospective Tax Law: A backgrounder
- The roots of this law date back to 2007, when Vodafone bought over a majority stake in the telecom operations of Hutch in India for $11.1 billion.
- While the deal involved the changing of hands of Indian operations of Hutch, the companies party to it were registered outside India and all the paperwork and financial transactions, too, were done outside the country.
- But the Indian government ruled that Vodafone was liable to pay capital gains tax to it as the deal involved the transfer of assets located in India.
- Importantly, there was no rule in the Indian statutes then that allowed such taxation.
- Vodafone challenged this claim and the case went to Supreme Court, which ruled in 2012 that there was no tax liability on Vodafone’s part to Indian authorities.
What was the law made then?
- In 2012, Parliament amended the Finance Act to enable the taxman to impose tax claims retrospectively for deals executed after 1962 which involved the transfer of shares in a foreign entity whose assets were located in India.
- The target, of course, was the Vodafone deal. Very soon, tax claims were also raised on Cairn Energy.
How did the Companies react?
- The changes to the Finance Act allowed India to reimpose its tax demand on Vodafone.
- Tax authorities had slapped a tax bill of Rs 7,990 crore on Vodafone, saying the company should have deducted the tax at source before making a payment to Hutchison.
- By 2016, reports say, the bill had risen to Rs 22,100 crore after adding interest and penalty.
- The demand on Cairn was for Rs 10,247 crore in back taxes over its move, beginning in 2006, to bring its Indian assets under a single holding company called Cairn India Ltd.
- A few years later, when Cairn India Ltd floated an IPO to divest about 30 per cent of its ownership of the company, mining conglomerate Vedanta picked up most of the shares.
- However, Cairn UK was not allowed to transfer its stakes as Indian officials held that the company had to first clear the tax liability.
Note: This story is of no use to aspirants. But one must understand how such cases create regression for the Indian economy in the long run.
A case in the Hague
- That prompted Cairn UK to move the Permanent Court of Arbitration to The Hague, Netherlands.
- It said that India had violated the terms of the India-UK Bilateral Investment Treaty by imposing a retrospective tax due on it.
- The treaty provides protection against arbitrary decisions by laying down that India would treat investment from the UK in a “fair and equitable” manner.
- Vodafone, too, had sought arbitration before the Permanent Court of Arbitration, citing the “fair and equitable” treatment clause in the India-Netherlands BIT.
India’s response
- In September last year, the Hague court ruled in favour of Vodafone, quashing India’s tax claim after holding that it violated the “equitable and fair treatment standard” under the bilateral investment treaty.
- India refused to pay the compensation, Cairn launched recovery proceedings across countries as part of which a French court ordered the freezing of some Indian assets in Paris.
- This move discourages foreign investors from coming to India and that the Centre should look to resolve the case at the earliest.
- The amendments now mooted are designed to do just that.
Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021
- The Bill offers to drop tax claims against companies on deals before May 2012 that involve the indirect transfer of Indian assets would be “on fulfilment of specified conditions”.
Various conditions:
- The condition includes the withdrawal of pending litigation and the assurance that no claim for damages would be filed.
- As per the proposed changes, any tax demand made on transactions that took place before May 2012 shall be dropped, and any taxes already collected shall be repaid, albeit without interest.
- To be eligible, the concerned taxpayers would have to drop all pending cases against the government and promise not to make any demands for damages or costs.
Why is the amendment necessary?
- The retrospective taxation was termed “tax terrorism”.
- It is argued that such retrospective amendments militate against the principle of tax certainty and damage India’s reputation as an attractive destination.
- This could help restore India’s reputation as a fair and predictable regime apart from helping put an end to taxation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), IAEA
Mains level: India's nunclear energy programme
Other than the imported Russian-built reactor-based project in Tamil Nadu, which is grandfathered under an earlier 1998 agreement, progress of greenfield projects since the Indo-US nuclear deal has been tardy.
Indo-US Nuclear Deal
- The deal was signed in 2008 jointly by then Indian PM Dr. Manmohan Singh and then US President George Bush.
- India agreed to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and to place all its civil nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.
- In exchange, the United States agreed to work toward full civil nuclear cooperation with India.
- The implementation of this waiver made India the only known country with nuclear weapons which is not a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) but still allowed to carry out global nuclear commerce.
Q. In India, why are some nuclear reactors kept under “IAEA Safeguards” while others are not? (CSP 2020)
(a) Some use Uranium and others use thorium.
(b) Some use imported uranium and others use domestic supplies.
(c) Some are operated by foreign enterprises and others are operated by domestic enterprises.
(d) Some are State-owned and others are privately-owned.
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Implementation not in spirit
- The US has been discussing the sale of nuclear reactors to India since the 2008 pact, two subsequent agreements were signed only in 2016 and 2019.
- A “project proposal” to set up six reactors in collaboration with Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC) has been announced, but work is yet to begin.
- WEC, alongside Wilmington-based GE Hitachi Nuclear, has been negotiating to build reactors in India since the nuclear deal was inked.
- The project, however, came under a cloud after WEC filed for bankruptcy in mid-2017 following cost overruns on reactors coming up in the US.
- The GE Hitachi project has barely made any progress.
Back2Basics: Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
- NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is:
- to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology,
- to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and
- to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament
- Between 1965 and 1968, the treaty was negotiated by a Committee on Disarmament, an UN-sponsored organization based in Geneva, Switzerland.
- The treaty defines nuclear-weapon states as those that have built and tested a nuclear explosive device before 1 January 1967; these are the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China.
- Four UN member states have never accepted the NPT, three of which possess or are thought to possess nuclear weapons: India, Israel, and Pakistan.
- In addition, South Sudan, founded in 2011, has not joined.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Horizontal quota
Mains level: Debate over 50% cap of reservations
The Bihar government recently announced 33% horizontal reservation for women in State engineering and medical colleges.
What are vertical and horizontal reservations?
- Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes is referred to the as vertical reservation.
- It applies separately for each of the groups specified under the law.
- Horizontal reservation refers to the equal opportunity provided to other categories of beneficiaries such as women, veterans, the transgender community, and individuals with disabilities, cutting through the vertical categories.
How are the two categories of quotas applied together?
- The horizontal quota is applied separately to each vertical category, and not across the board.
- For example, if women have 50% horizontal quota, then half of the selected candidates will have to necessarily be women in each vertical quota category.
- This means half of all selected SC candidates will have to be women, half of the unreserved or general category will have to be women, and so on.
- The interlocking of the two types of reservation throws up a host of questions on how certain groups are to be identified.
- For example, would an SC woman be put in the category of women or SC? Since quotas are fixed in percentages, what percentage of quota would be attributed to each?
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Agalega Island
Mains level: Indian ocean power competition
Mauritius has denied a report that it has allowed India to build a military base on the remote island of Agalega.
Agalega Island
- Agaléga are two outer islands of Mauritius located in the Indian Ocean, about 1,000 kilometers north of Mauritius island.
- The islands have a total area of 2,600 ha (6,400 acres).
- There is an MoU between the governments of Mauritius and India to develop the Agaléga islands and resolve infrastructural problems faced by Agaleans.
Why in news?
- India asserts that these new facilities are part of its Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) policy, which aims to increase maritime cooperation between countries in the region.
- Mauritius, for its part, has indicated that its coastguard personnel will use the new facilities.
- But it is clear that the Indian investment of $250m in developing an airfield, port, and communications hub on this remote island is not aimed at helping Mauritius develop its capacity to police its territorial waters.
Significance of this area
- The Agalega area is currently a blind spot for the Indian Navy and by building a military facility in it, New Delhi hopes to expand its maritime domain awareness.
- In times of conflict, knowing the location of enemy ships and submarines, without being detected in the process, creates a significant advantage.
- China’s naval forays into this region are the true motivator for its expanding naval presence.
- In peacetime, effective maritime domain awareness helps establish international partnerships with like-minded militaries and also acts as a deterrent to both state and non-state adversaries, by signaling reach.
Conclusion
- The Indian Ocean is now increasingly contested.
- Whether or not China is deterred by India’s surveillance efforts, Agaléga is now a pawn in this new era of major power competition across the Indian Ocean and indeed the wider Indo-Pacific region.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 33
Mains level: Paper 2- Issue of strike by government employees
Context
Recently, the Minister of Defence introduced the Essential Defence Services Bill, 2021.
About the Essential Defence Services Bill, 2021
- The Bill seeks to provide for the maintenance of essential defence services so as “to secure the security of nation and the life and property of the public at large”.
- Prohibit strike by ordinance factory staff: It prevents staff of the government-owned ordnance factories from going on strike.
- Power to declare essential service: The Bill seeks to empower the government to declare services mentioned in it as “essential defence services” and prohibit strikes and lockouts in any industrial establishment or unit engaged in such services.
No fundamental right to strike
- There is no fundamental right to strike under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
- Under Article 33 of the Constitution, Parliament, by law, can restrict or abrogate the rights of the members of the armed forces or the forces charged with the maintenance of public order.
- Thus, for the armed forces and the police, where discipline is the most important prerequisite, even the fundamental right to form an association can be restricted under Article 19(4) in the interest of public order and other considerations.
Supreme Court judgements on the issue
- Many states prohibit strikes: This is not for the first time that strikes by government employees are being made explicitly illegal by the government, many states have similar provisions.
- The Supreme Court in Delhi Police v. Union of India (1986) upheld the restrictions to form association by the members of the non-gazetted police force.
- While the right to freedom of association is fundamental, recognition of such association is not a fundamental right.
- Parliament can by law regulate the working of such associations by imposing conditions and restrictions on their functions, the court held.
- In T.K. Rangarajan v. Government of Tamil Nadu (2003), the Supreme Court held that the employees have no fundamental right to resort to strike.
Conclusion
Strikes cannot be justified on any equitable ground. Strike as a weapon is mostly misused which results in chaos
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 370
Mains level: Paper 2- J and K after 2 years of repeal of Article 370
Context
Two years ago, India bid farewell to Articles 370 and 35 (A), marking the start of a new era in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir.
Assessing the impact of changes on five parameters
1) National unity
- Articles 370 and 35 (A) created an unnatural and unhealthy divide in our nation.
- For every law passed, every rule made, we had to ascertain whether it applied to J&K or not.
- Today, such distinctions are history, J&K has been fully integrated with the other states and Union Territories.
2) Democracy at the grass-root level
- A healthy culture of grassroots-level participation was absent.
- Panchayat polls held: One of the critical deliverables for J&K was to hold panchayat polls, which were finally held in 2020.
- This one step will go a long way in shaping the development paradigm in Jammu and Kashmir.
- Political activity has also picked up across Jammu and Kashmir.
- The Centre’s emphasis on a proper delimitation followed by full-fledged elections is in line with the commitments made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
3) Peace
- The third parameter is that of peace.
- The memories of 2008, 2010 and 2016 are still fresh in the minds of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
- An effort was made to reignite such sparks of tension after the decisions on Article 370 and 35 (A) but the Valley as well as Jammu have remained peaceful.
4) People’s aspirations
- Jammu and Kashmir did not have RTI laws and its SC, ST and OBC communities were not able to get the benefits of reservation
- The fact that the most marginalised groups can now get reservation benefits is a major leap forward in fulfilling the aspirations of the people of J&K.
5) Economic growth
- The Valley is today abuzz with news of action against corruption in key departments and financial bodies in the state.
- Money being sent for public good was being misused by vested interest groups.
- The economic upliftment in the Valley began with the Prime Minister’s Package of 2015.
- This set the stage for extensive spending on physical and social infrastructure.
- With the going of 370 and 35 (A) there is great hope that tourism will pick up in the Valley.
- Incentives given to different sectors of the economy — be it saffron farmers or those who fish trout — combined with a largely peaceful environment is empowering many lives.
- With corruption and leakages drastically reduced, resources are reaching the intended beneficiaries.
Conclusion
The situation in Jammu and Kashmir was never easy. As we enter the Amrut Mahotsav, it is for us to see the new realities in J&K. The people of the state have got the wings to fly and, in the years to come, J&K will make even greater contributions to India’s growth and development.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GVA
Mains level: Paper 3- Issues in GST
Context
After four years, the promise of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) remains substantially unrealised.
Why tax base of GST is not expanding
- The GST is strongly co-related to overall GDP.
- Revenue collection of the GST is dependent on the nominal growth rate of Gross Value Added (GVA) in the economy.
- Since inception, GVA per quarter has been between ₹40-lakh crore to ₹47-lakh crore and GST revenue has not been higher than ₹2.7-lakh crore to ₹3.1-lakh crore.
- The Tax to Gross value addition is only about 5% to 6.5% though GVA growth was much higher.
- Issues: A very large segment is covered by exemption, composition schemes, evasion and lower tax rate.
Five Issues with the GST structure
1) Dominance of the Centre
- The political architecture of GST is asymmetrically loaded in favour of the Centre.
- No body to adjudicate: There is no particular body is tasked to adjudicate if there is a dispute between States and between the Centre and the States.
- Centre’s domination: In the voting, the central government has one-third vote and States have two-thirds of total votes.
- All states have equal voting rights regardless of size and stake.
- With the support of a dozen small States whose total GST collection is not more than 5% of the total central government can dominate the decision making process in GST Council.
- Small states dictate the terms: With equal value for each States’ voting, larger and mid-sized States feel shortchanged.
2) Flaw in tax structure
- Nearly 45% to 50% of commodity value is outside the purview of the GST, such as petrol and petroleum products.
- Certain states not getting revenue as origin state: States which export or have inter-State transfers or mineral and fossil fuel extractions are not getting revenue as the origin States and need a compensation mechanism.
- The pre-existing threshold level of VAT has been tweaked too often which has led to an evaporation of tax base incentivising, enabling evasion and mis-reporting.
- Most trading and retail establishments, (however small) are out of the fold of the GST.
- At the retail level, irrespective of whether Input Tax Credit (ITC) is required or not, the burden can be passed off to the consumer.
- As a result, the loss could be as high as one third.
3) Exemptions
- Exemptions from registration and taxation of the GST have further eroded the GST tax base compared to the tax base of the pre-existing VAT.
- Ground for evasion: Exemptions are purely distortionary and also provide a good chance to remain under the radar, thereby directly increasing evasion or misclassification.
- Theoretically, exemptions at the final stages reduce tax realisation.
- Multiple rates: As multiple rates are charged at different stages, it goes against the lessons of GST history.
- This tax works well with a single uniform tax rate for all commodities and services at all stages, inputs and outputs alike.
- While most countries have a single rate, India stands out and is among the five countries to have four rates/slabs.
4) Exclusion
- Against the interest of States: Petroleum products remaining outside the purview of GST has helped the Centre to increase cesses and decrease central excise, in what would otherwise have been shareable with the States.
- Now, States will be keen on including petrol and diesel under the GST as their share of tax goes up in the process, even if there is a special rate fixed for it.
- Equity requires that petrol and diesel be brought under the GST.
- Cascading of taxes: Apart from the complexity it creates in record keeping and ‘granting ITC’, in the present form it also leads to a cascading which the GST avowedly tried to avoid.
5) Lack of compliance
- Compliance with GST return (GSTR-1) filing stipulation and the resultant tax information is not up to date.
- Fraudulent claims of Input Tax Credit (ITC) because of a lack of timely reconciliation are quite high though it has come down by two thirds.
- Tax evasion, estimated by a National Institute of Public Finance and Policy’s paper, is at least 5% in minor States and plus 3% in the major States.
Conclusion
Policy gaps along with compliance gaps do need to be addressed. Without proper tax information, infrastructure and base, the States would go in for selective tax enforcement. In the long run, voluntary compliance will suffer and equity in taxation will be violated.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Recusal of Judges
Mains level: Inter-state river disputes
The Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana (who hails from AP) recused himself from hearing Andhra Pradesh’s plea after it said “no” to the Supreme Court’s suggestion to go for mediation over a dispute with Telangana over the Krishna River dispute.
Q. Can you list down some basic principles of judicial conduct?
Independence, Impartiality, Integrity, Propriety, Competence and diligence and Equality are some of them as listed under the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct.
What is the Recusal of Judges?
- Recusal is the removal of oneself as a judge or policymaker in a particular matter, especially because of a conflict of interest.
- Recusal usually takes place when a judge has a conflict of interest or has a prior association with the parties in the case.
- For example, if the case pertains to a company in which the judge holds stakes, the apprehension would seem reasonable.
- Similarly, if the judge has, in the past, appeared for one of the parties involved in a case, the call for recusal may seem right.
- A recusal inevitably leads to delay. The case goes back to the Chief Justice, who has to constitute a fresh Bench.
Rules on Recusals
- There are no written rules on the recusal of judges from hearing cases listed before them in constitutional courts.
- It is left to the discretion of a judge.
- The reasons for recusal are not disclosed in an order of the court. Some judges orally convey to the lawyers involved in the case their reasons for recusal, many do not. Some explain the reasons in their order.
- The decision rests on the conscience of the judge. At times, parties involved raise apprehensions about a possible conflict of interest.
Issues with recusal
- Recusal is also regarded as the abdication of duty. Maintaining institutional civilities is distinct from the fiercely independent role of the judge as an adjudicator.
- In his separate opinion in the NJAC judgment in 2015, Justice Kurian Joseph highlighted the need for judges to give reasons for recusal as a measure to build transparency.
- It is the constitutional duty, as reflected in one’s oath, to be transparent and accountable, and hence, a judge is required to indicate reasons for his recusal from a particular case.
Back2Basics:
Krishna Water Dispute
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MPLAD Scheme
Mains level: Not Much
Virtually, 50% of funds allotted for ongoing MPLADS projects have lapsed.
What is the MPLAD scheme?
- The Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) is a program first launched during the Narasimha Rao Government in 1993.
- It was aimed towards providing funds for developmental works recommended by individual MPs.
Funds available
- The MPs then were entitled to recommend works to the tune of Rs 1 crore annually between 1994-95 and 1997-98, after which the annual entitlement was enhanced to Rs 2 crore.
- The UPA government in 2011-12 raised the annual entitlement to Rs 5 crore per MP.
Implementation
- To implement their plans in an area, MPs have to recommend them to the District Authority of the respective Nodal District.
- The District Authorities then identify Implementing Agencies that execute the projects.
- The respective District Authority is supposed to oversee the implementation and has to submit monthly reports, audit reports, and work completion reports to the Nodal District Authority.
- The MPLADS funds can be merged with other schemes such as MGNREGA and Khelo India.
Guidelines for MPLADS implementation
- The document ‘Guidelines on MPLADS’ was published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in June 2016 in this regard.
- It stated the objective of the scheme to enable MPs to recommend works of developmental nature with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets based on the locally felt needs in their Constituencies.
- Right from the inception of the Scheme, durable assets of national priorities viz. drinking water, primary education, public health, sanitation, and roads, etc. should be created.
- It recommended MPs to works costing at least 15 percent of their entitlement for the year for areas inhabited by Scheduled Caste population and 7.5 percent for areas inhabited by ST population.
- It lays down a number of development works including construction of railway halt stations, providing financial assistance to recognized bodies, cooperative societies, installing CCTV cameras etc.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q. With reference to the funds under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), which of the following statements are correct? (CSP 2020)
- MPLADS funds must be used to create durable assets like physical infrastructure for health, education, etc.
- A specified portion of each MP’s fund must benefit SC/ST populations.
- MPLADS funds are sanctioned on a yearly basis and the unused funds cannot be carried forward to the next year.
- The district authority must inspect at least 10% of all works under implementation every year.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 and 4 only
(c) 1, 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 4 only
“Post your answers here”
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: AQC and its jurisdiction
Mains level: Air pollution
The Lok Sabha has passed the Bill to formalize the Commission for Air Quality Management For National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas.
Highlights of the AQC Bill
- The AQC would be a ‘permanent’ body to address pollution in the National Capital Region Delhi and address sources of pollution in Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
- The all-powerful body assumed several powers to coordinate action among States, levy fines — ranging up to ₹1 crore or five years of prison — to address air pollution.
Key features
- Over-riding powers: While the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and its state branches have the powers to implement provisions of the Environment Protection Act for air, water and land pollution.
- In case of dispute or a clash of jurisdictions, the AQC’s writ would prevail specific to matters concerning air pollution.
- Chair: The body has a full-time chairperson and a range of members consisting of both representatives from several Ministries as well as independent experts and will have the final say on evolving policy and issuing directions.
- Curb on stubble burning: the Commission may impose and collect environment compensation causing pollution by stubble burning.
- No penalties to farmers: The Centre, facing flak earlier this year from farmers protesting the farm laws, had committed to removing a clause in the Air Commission Bill that would penalize farmers for burning stubble, an important contributor to noxious air quality.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: INS Vikrant
Mains level: Indigenization of defense production
The much-awaited sea trials of India’s maiden indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC-1), built by the public sector Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) have begun.
Indigenous Aircraft Carrier 1
- IAC is the first aircraft carrier designed and built in India.
- It has been designed by the Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design (DND), and is being built at Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), a public sector shipyard under the Ministry of Shipping.
- The IAC-1, the biggest warship made indigenously, has an overall length of 263 m and a breadth of 63 m.
- It is capable of carrying 30 assorted aircraft including combat jets and helicopters.
- Propelled by four gas turbines, it can attain a top speed of 30 knots (about 55 kmph).
- The vessel will have a complement of 1,500 personnel.
Significance of IAC 1
- An aircraft carrier is one of the most potent marine assets for a nation, which enhances a Navy’s capability to travel far from its home shores to carry out air domination operations.
- Many experts consider having an aircraft carrier as essential to be considered a ‘blue water’ navy — one that has the capacity to project a nation’s strength and power across the high seas.
- An aircraft carrier generally leads as the capital ship of a carrier strike/battle group.
- As the carrier is a valuable and sometimes vulnerable target, it is usually escorted in the group by destroyers, missile cruisers, frigates, submarines, and supply ships.
Why does it matter that this is a Made-in-India warship?
- Only five or six nations currently have the capability of manufacturing an aircraft carrier — India joins this elite club now.
- According to the Navy, over 76 per cent of the material and equipment on board IAC-1 is indigenous.
- India’s earlier aircraft carriers were either built by the British or the Russians.
- The INS Vikramaditya, currently the Navy’s only aircraft carrier that was commissioned in 2013, started out as the Soviet-Russian Admiral Gorshkov.
- The country’s two earlier carriers, INS Vikrant and INS Viraat, were originally the British-built HMS Hercules and HMS Hermes before being commissioned into the Navy in 1961 and 1987 respectively.
Why will this warship be named INS Vikrant?
- INS Vikrant, a Majestic-class 19,500-tonne warship, was the name of India’s much-loved first aircraft carrier, a source of immense national pride over several decades of service before it was decommissioned in 1997.
- India acquired the Vikrant from the United Kingdom in 1961, and the carrier played a stellar role in the 1971 war with Pakistan that led to the birth of Bangladesh.
Now that India has the capability, will it build more carriers?
- Since 2015, the Navy has been seeking approval to build a third aircraft carrier for the country, which, if approved, will become India’s second Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-2).
- This proposed carrier, to be named INS Vishal, is intended to be a giant 65,000-tonne vessel, much bigger than IAC-1 and the INS Vikramaditya.
- The Navy has been trying to convince the government of the “operational necessity” of having a third carrier.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Fast Track Special Courts
Mains level: Resolving judicial pendency
The Union Cabinet has approved the continuation of 1023 Fast Track Special Court (FTSCs) including 389 exclusive POCSO Courts for two more years.
Fast Track Special Courts
- Fast Track Special Courts are dedicated courts expected to ensure swift dispensation of justice.
- They have a better clearance rate as compared to the regular courts and hold speedy trials.
- Besides providing quick justice to the hapless victims, it strengthens the deterrence framework for sexual offenders.
- Central Share is to be funded from Nirbhaya Fund. The Scheme was launched on 02.10.2019.
- To bring more stringent provisions and expeditious trial and disposal of such cases, the Central Government enacted “The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018”.
- It made provision of stringent punishment including the death penalty for perpetrators of rape.
- This led to the establishment of the Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs).
Note: Article 247 gives power to Parliament to establish certain additional courts for the better administration of laws made by it or of any existing laws with respect to a matter enumerated in the Union List.
Benefits offered by fast track courts
- Further the commitment of the Nation to champion the cause of safety and security of women and girl child.
- Reduce the number of pending cases of Rape & POCSO Act.
- Provide speedy access to justice to the victims of sexual crimes and act as a deterrent for sexual offenders.
- Fastracking of these cases will declog the judicial system of the burden of case pendency.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: K-shaped recovery
Mains level: Paper 3- Vaccination and policy measures for fast recovery of economy
Context
Increasing pace of vaccination and normalising of monetary policy hold key to economic rebound.
K-shaped recovery and its impact
- Growth indicators so far suggest resilience in the short term — a shallow dent in May’s economic activity followed by a recovery in June, back to April’s levels.
- K-shaped recovery: The external, investment and industrial sectors have been relatively resilient, with consumption and services bearing the brunt.
- Notwithstanding signs of some fatigue in ultra-high frequency indicators in July, damage from the second wave seems largely limited to April-June 2021.
- However, K-shaped recovery means light cracks on the top conceal much larger structural faultlines below.
- Rising poverty: The Pew Research Centre estimates that the pandemic has led to India’s poor rising by 75 million while the middle and upper-middle class has shrunk by 39 million.
- MSMEs and informal workforce worst hit: A recent survey by the ILO finds that the worst-hit — MSMEs and their informal workforce — have struggled to access the government’s pandemic support programmes.
- These more structural scars may become blurred in the GDP data in coming quarters but will almost certainly affect the medium-term growth story.
Way forward in the near term
1) Policy
- Achieving two objectives: When inflation is under control, then flush liquidity and ultra-accommodative monetary policy will help achieve two objectives—
- 1) Ensuring easy financial conditions.
- 2) Help control borrowing costs of the government’s expansive borrowing programme.
- Inflation risk: The above strategy is not costless, it effectively uses the central bank’s credibility in controlling inflation as “collateral”.
- So when inflation flares up and remains sticky, this arithmetic becomes increasingly complicated.
- The RBI’s consistent message recently has been to view the current inflation surge as a “temporary hump”.
- Much as the current monetary policy stance maintains that the economy is ill-equipped to handle policy normalisation, it is a matter of when rather than if.
- As growth strengthens and the RBI’s inflation-targeting credibility comes under greater scrutiny, a policy pivot would become increasingly likely.
2) Vaccination
- The “ultimate unlocking” of the economy remains contingent on a critical mass getting vaccinated, which on materialising should trigger a revival in consumer and business sentiment.
- The uptick in the pace of vaccination over the last few days and higher seroprevalence reported in some states are welcome news.
Conclusion
Even with widespread vaccinations, future pandemic waves may well be unavoidable. Fiscal, monetary and administrative policies cannot remain in a suspended emergency.
Back2Basics: K-shaped recovery
- A K-shaped recovery occurs when, following a recession, different parts of the economy recover at different rates, times, or magnitudes.
- This is in contrast to an even, uniform recovery across sectors, industries, or groups of people.
- A K-shaped recovery leads to changes in the structure of the economy or the broader society as economic outcomes and relations are fundamentally changed before and after the recession.
- This type of recovery is called K-shaped because the path of different parts of the economy when charted together may diverge, resembling the two arms of the Roman letter “K.”
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