Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Health Authority
Mains level: Paper 2- Health system transformation
Context
After decades of low government expenditure on health, the Covid pandemic created a societal consensus on the need to strengthen our health system.
Steps to strengthen our health system
- The Fifteenth Finance Commission recommended greater investment in rural and urban primary care, a nationwide disease surveillance system extending from the block-level to national institutes, a larger health workforce and the augmentation of critical care capacity of hospitals.
- The Union budget of 2021 reflected these priorities in a proposed Pradhan Mantri Aatmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana (PMASBY) to be made operational over six years, with a budget of Rs 64,180 crore.
- Broader vision of health: The Finance Minister also projected a broader vision of health beyond healthcare by merging allocations to water, sanitation, nutrition and air pollution control with the health budget.
- Under the Ayushman Bharat umbrella the Digital Health Mission was launched in September 2021.
- The Health Infrastructure Mission, launched in October 2021, was a renamed and augmented version of the PMASBY.
- These missions join the two other components of Ayushman Bharat launched in 2018.
- The Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC) component is nested in the National Health Mission (NHM) while the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) is steered by the National Health Authority (NHA).
Way forward
- While much of the following needs to be done by the states, the Centre should incentivise and support such efforts by the states.
- Link synergically: Primary healthcare services under the CPHC and linkage with water, sanitation, nutrition and pollution control programmes will strengthen the capacity of the health system for health promotion and disease prevention.
- The budget of 2022 must not only fund these missions adequately but indicate how they will link synergically while functioning under different administrative agencies.
- Allocate more funds: The NHM received only a 9.6 per cent increase in the 2021 budget.
- PMJAY did not see an increase in allocation last year, because its utilisation for non-Covid care declined sharply in the previous year.
- More importantly, limiting cost coverage to hospitalised care reduces the PMJAY’s capacity to significantly lower out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) on health, which is driven mostly by outpatient care and expenditure on medicines.
- Focus on Digital Heath Mission: The Digital Health Mission can enhance efficiency of the health systems in a variety of ways.
- These include better data collection and analysis, improved medical and health records, efficient supply chain management, tele-health services, support for health workforce training, implementation of health insurance programmes, real time monitoring and sharper evaluation of health programme performance along with effective multi-sectoral coordination.
- Improve the skill and number of healthcare workers: We need to increase the numbers and improve the skills of all categories of healthcare providers.
- While training specialist doctors could take time, the training of frontline workers like Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) can be done in a shorter time.
- Upgrade district hospitals: District hospitals need to be upgraded, with greater investment in infrastructure, equipment and staffing.
- In underserved regions, such district hospitals should be upgraded to become training centres for students of medical, nursing and allied health professional courses.
Conclusion
The expanded ambit of health, as defined in last year’s budget, must continue for aligning other sectors to public health objectives. The Union budget of 2022 can add further momentum to our health system transformation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: India-Israel-Gulf Trilateral
A recent speech by the PM Modi has marked three decades since New Delhi established formal diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv on January 29, 1992, when P.V. Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister.
India-Israel Relation: A Backgrounder
(I) Recognition of Israel
- Both nations became independent almost at the same time, in the late 1940s, following a long struggle against British Colonialism.
- Though India had recognized Israel on September 17, 1950, full-fledged diplomatic relations between the countries were established on January 29, 1992.
- Their diplomatic relationship was previously based on popular consensus and only much later became official.
(II) India’s reluctance for extending ties
- The popular perception of Israel was negative as it was a state formed on religion and analogous to Pakistan.
- This was because during that time India was a young state that needed to take into account Arab states’ numerical impact at the United Nations.
- Furthermore, it could not afford to antagonize its Muslim population by establishing ties with a Jewish state.
- Sympathizing the Palestinian cause is a by-product of these motives.
(III) India’s shift towards Israel
- Though India voted against a UN resolution for the creation of Israel, once Israel is created, India officially recognized Israel (in 1950).
- But full diplomatic ties were established only in 1992.
Reasons for India prioritizing Israel
- India’s exclusion from OIC: The formation of an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in 1969 which neglected the sentiments of Indian Muslims by blocking India’s membership to this group by Pakistan is one of the primary triggers for the change instance.
- Backing of Kashmir: India has received no backing from the Arab countries on the Kashmir Issue. There have been no serious attempts by the Arab world to put pressure on Pakistan to reign in the cross-border insurgency in Kashmir.
- Support in crucial wars: Israel supported India during the Indo-Pak wars even before full diplomatic ties were established.
- India’s US allegiance: With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of the US as a superpower, India started aligning itself with the US, and this further added to our improved relations with Israel.
- Deviation from NAM: After decades of Non-Alignment and Pro-Arab policy, in 1992 India changed its stance and established full diplomatic ties with Israel.
- Support at global forums: Israel has always been a vocal supporter of India’s permanent seat in the UNSC.
- Technology: India’s world-class institutes of higher education could benefit from the strong culture of research and high-end innovation that thrives in Israel.
Israeli interests in India
- India presents a massive market for Israel’s manufactured goods and technology.
- India has for long enjoyed great goodwill among Israel’s citizens as the only country in the world where Jews have not faced anti-Semitism.
- There are many instances of Jews under Hitler’s persecution finding shelter in India including some that were said to have been facilitated by Nehru.
- The minuscule Jew community was able to rise to eminence in various fields.
- Israel cherishes its admirers in India for its ability to thrive in spite of very adverse situations in its short history as an independent nation.
Collaborations between India and Israel
[A] Military collaboration
- Against terrorism: India and Israel have increased collaboration in military ventures since both nations face the threats of rising radical terrorism and separatism.
- Arms trade: India is the largest buyer of Israeli military equipment and Israel is the second-largest defense supplier to India after Russia.
- Security: Working groups in areas of border management, internal security and public safety, police modernization, and capacity building for combating crime, crime prevention, and cybercrime were established.
- Defence R&D: IAI is developing the Barak 8 missile for the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force which is capable of protecting sea vessels and ground facilities from aircraft and cruise missiles.
[B] Political collaboration
- Since the up-gradation of relations in 1992, defense and agriculture have become the two main pillars of the bilateral engagement.
- The political ties have become especially cordial under the Modi Government.
- In 2017, Prime Minister Modi became the first-ever Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel.
[C] Agriculture collaboration
- India has chosen Israel as a strategic partner (G2G) in the field of agriculture.
- This partnership evolved into the Indo-Israel Agricultural Project (IIAP), under the Indo-Israel Action Plan, based on an MOU signed by Indian and Israeli ministers of Agriculture in 2006.
- The partnership aims to introduce crop diversity, increase productivity & increase water use efficiency.
- India has a lot to learn from the dryland agriculture of Israel. The Economic Survey 2016-17 batted for Indo-Israel cooperation in drip-irrigation technologies.
[D] Economic collaboration
- India is Israel’s third-largest trading partner in Asia after China and Hong Kong.
- In recent years, bilateral trade has diversified to include several sectors like pharmaceuticals, agriculture, IT and telecom, and homeland security.
- Major exports from India to Israel include precious stones and metals, chemical products, textiles, etc.
- Major imports from Israel include chemicals and mineral products, base metals and machinery, and transport equipment. Potash is a major item of Israel’s exports to India.
Various deterrents in ties
- Bilateral Trade and investment still below potential: From just $200 million in 1992, bilateral trade (excluding defense) peaked at about $5 billion in 2012 but since then it has dropped to about $4 billion. Also, bilateral trade has not diversified much—diamonds and chemicals still make up for the large chunk of the pie.
- Connectivity between the two countries is still poor with just one direct flight from Mumbai 3 times a week and no direct flights from Delhi.
- Historical retrenchment: India’s consistent support for a sovereign, independent, viable, and united Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, living within secure and recognized borders, side by side, and at peace with Israel and Pro-Arab stance has been a sticky point.
- Limited People to People ties and cultural differences: Israelis and Indian approach business differently and often find it difficult to get on the same page.
- India’s support for Palestinian Cause: Though formal ties were established in 1992, the ideological divide resurfaces time and again due to India’s affinity for Palestine.
Way forward
- Indian policy appears to be guided primarily by strategic considerations.
- There is a strong need to use soft power diplomacy to build people-to-people bridges and to add to economic benefits through robust inter-country tourism.
- The Indian and Israeli markets do not compete with one another but complete one another.
- A potential quadrilateral with US and UAE can help this relationship soar to new heights.
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Indo-Abrahamic Accord: A new QUAD
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mapping of the Persian Gulf region
Mains level: Significance India-Oman Ties from Chinese threat perspective
India is laying out the red carpet for Oman’s top defence official Mohammed Nasser Al Zaabi, who will be in India for a four-day official visit.
India-Oman Relations: A Backgrounder
- The Sultanate of Oman is a strategic partner of India in the Gulf.
- Both nations are linked by geography, history and culture and enjoy warm and cordial relations.
- An Indian consulate was opened in Muscat in February 1955 which was upgraded to a consulate general in 1960 and later into a full-fledged embassy in 1971.
- The first ambassador of India arrived in Muscat in 1973.
History of the ties
- Oman, for many years, was ruled by Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said, who was a friend of India.
- Sultan Qaboos, the longest-reigning leader of the modern Arab world, died in January ‘2020 at the age of 79.
- He was a man who was, as a student, taught by Shankar Dayal Sharma who went on to become the President of India.
- Sultan Qaboos’s father, an alumnus of Ajmer’s Mayo College, sent his son to study in Pune for some time, where he was former President Shankar Dayal Sharma’s student.
Economic ties
- Expatriate community: Oman has over five hundred thousand Indian nationals living there making them the largest expatriate community in Oman. They annually remit $780 million to India.
- Bilateral trade: In 2010, bilateral trade between India and Oman stood at $4.5 billion. India was Oman’s second-largest destination for its non-oil exports and its fourth-largest source for Indian imports.
- Energy: India has been considering the construction of a 1,100-km-long underwater natural gas pipeline from Oman called the South Asia Gas Enterprise (SAGE).
Defense cooperation
Oman is the first Gulf nation to have formalized defense relations with India.
- Naval cooperation: The Indian Navy has berthing rights in Oman, and has been utilizing Oman’s ports as bases for conducting anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.
- Tri-services base: In February 2018, India announced that it had secured access to the facilities at Duqm for the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy. Duqm had previously served as a port for the INS Mumbai.
- Arms trade: The standard issue rifle of the Royal Army of Oman is India’s INSAS rifle.
- Bilateral exercises: Naseem al-Bahr (Arabic for Sea Breeze) is a bilateral maritime exercise between India and Oman. The exercise was first held in 1993.
Significance of Oman for India
- Oman is India’s closest defense partner in the Gulf region and an important anchor for India’s defense and strategic interests.
- It is the only country in the Gulf region with which all three services of the Indian armed forces conduct regular bilateral exercises and staff talks, enabling close cooperation and trust at the professional level.
- It also provides critical operational support to Indian naval deployments in the Arabian sea for anti-piracy missions.
Duqm port and its strategic imperative
- In a strategic move to expand its footprint in the Indian Ocean region, India has secured access to the key Port of Duqm in Oman for military use and logistical support.
- This is part of India’s maritime strategy to counter Chinese influence and activities in the region.
- The Port of Duqm is strategically located, in close proximity to the Chabahar port in Iran.
- With the Assumption Island being developed in Seychelles and Agalega in Mauritius, Duqm fits into India’s proactive maritime security roadmap.
- In recent years, India had deployed an attack submarine to this port in the western Arabian Sea.
Deterrent in ties: Chinese influence in Oman
- China started cultivating ties with the Arab countries following the former Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.
- Beijing has cultivated close ties with Oman and the latter was, in fact, the first country to deliver oil to China.
- As of today, 92.99 per cent of Oman’s oil exports go to China, making China Oman’s largest oil importer.
- Oman and China signed an agreement to establish an Oman-China Industrial Park at Duqm in 2016.
- China has identified Oman as a key country in the region and has been enhancing defence ties with it steadily.
Way forward
- India does not have enough energy resources to serve its current or future energy requirements. The rapidly growing energy demand has contributed to the need for long term energy partnerships with countries like Oman.
- Oman’s Duqm Port is situated in the middle of international shipping lanes connecting East with West Asia.
- India needs to engage with Oman and take initiatives to utilise opportunities arising out of the Duqm Port industrial city.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pegasus
Mains level: State survellience and Right to Privacy
A New York Times report has claimed that the Indian government had bought the Pegasus Spyware in 2017.
What is Pegasus?
- Pegasus is a spyware developed by NSO Group, an Israeli surveillance firm that helps spies hack into phones.
- In 2019, when WhatsApp sued the firm in a U.S. court, the matter came to light.
- In July 2021, Amnesty International, along with 13 media outlets across the globe released a report on how the spyware was used to snoop hundreds of individuals, including Indians.
- While the NSO claims its spyware is sold only to governments, none of the nations have come forward to accept the claims.
Why is Pegasus so lethal?
- What makes Pegasus really dangerous is that it spares no aspect of a person’s identity.
- It makes older techniques of spying seem relatively harmless.
- It can intercept every call and SMS, read every email and monitor each messaging app.
- Pegasus can also control the phone’s camera and microphone and has access to the device’s location data.
- The app advertises that it can carry out “file retrieval”, which means it could access any document that a target might have stored on their phone.
Dysfunctions created by Pegasus
- Privacy breach: The very existence of a surveillance system, whether under a provision of law or without it, impacts the right to privacy under Article 21 and the exercise of free speech under Article 19.
- Curbing Dissent: It reflects a disturbing trend with regard to the use of hacking software against dissidents and adversaries. In 2019 also, Pegasus software was used to hack into HR & Dalit activists.
- Individual safety: In the absence of privacy, the safety of journalists, especially those whose work criticizes the government, and the personal safety of their sources is jeopardised.
- Self-Censorship: Consistent fear over espionage may grapple individuals. This may impact their ability to express, receive and discuss such ideas.
- State-sponsored mass surveillance: The spyware coupled with AI can manipulate digital content in users’ smartphones. This in turn can polarize their opinion by the distant controllers.
- National security: The potential misuse or proliferation has the same, if not more, ramifications as advanced nuclear technology falling into the wrong hands.
Snooping in India: A Legality check
For Pegasus-like spyware to be used lawfully, the government would have to invoke both the IT Act and the Telegraph Act. Communication surveillance in India takes place primarily under two laws:
- Telegraph Act, 1885: It deals with interception of calls.
- Information Technology Act, 2000: It was enacted to deal with surveillance of all electronic communication, following the Supreme Court’s intervention in 1996.
Cyber security safeguards in India
- National Cyber Security Policy: The policy was developed in 2013 to build secure and resilient cyberspace for India’s citizens and businesses.
- Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In): The CERT-In is responsible for incident responses including analysis, forecasts, and alerts on cybersecurity issues and breaches.
- Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C): The Central Government has rolled out a scheme for the establishment of the I4C to handle issues related to cybercrime in the country in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.
- Budapest Convention: There also exists Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. However, India is not a signatory to this convention.
Issues over government involvement
- It is worth asking why the government would need to hack phones and install spyware when existing laws already offer impunity for surveillance.
- In the absence of parliamentary or judicial oversight, electronic surveillance gives the executive the power to influence both the subject of surveillance and all classes of individuals, resulting in a chilling effect on free speech.
Way forward
- The security of a device becomes one of the fundamental bedrock of maintaining user trust as society becomes more and more digitized.
- Constituting an independent high-level inquiry with credible members and experts that can restore confidence and conduct its proceedings transparently.
- The need for judicial oversight over surveillance systems in general, and judicial investigation into the Pegasus hacking, in particular, is very essential.
Conclusion
- We must recognize that national security starts with securing the smartphones of every single Indian by embracing technologies such as encryption rather than deploying spyware.
- This is a core part of our fundamental right to privacy.
- This intrusion by spyware is not merely an infringement of the rights of the citizens of the country but also a worrying development for India’s national security apparatus.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Repo , Reverse Repo, Normalization
Mains level: Normalization of Monetary Policy
In a recent report, the State Bank of India, which is the largest public sector bank in the country, has stated that the stage is set for a reverse repo normalization.
What is Monetary Policy Normalisation?
The RBI keeps tweaking the total amount of money in the economy to ensure smooth functioning by two types of policies:
(I) Loose Monetary Policy
When the RBI wants to boost economic activity it adopts a so-called “loose monetary policy”.
There are two parts to such a policy:
- RBI injects more money (liquidity) into the economy: It does so by buying government bonds from the market. As the RBI buys these bonds, it pays back money to the bondholders, thus injecting more money into the economy.
- RBI also lowers the interest rate: it charges banks when it lends money to them; this rate is called the repo rate. Lower interest rates and more liquidity, together, are expected to boost both consumption and production in the economy.
(II) Tight Monetary Policy
- It involves the RBI raising interest rates and sucking liquidity out of the economy by selling bonds (and taking money out of the system).
- When any central bank finds that a loose monetary policy has started becoming counterproductive in reducing inflation, the central bank “normalizes the policy” by tightening the monetary policy stance.
What is Reverse Repo?
- An interest rate that the RBI pays to the commercial banks when they park their excess “liquidity” (money) with the RBI.
- The reverse repo, thus, is the exact opposite of the repo rate.
- Under normal a circumstance, that is when the economy is growing at a healthy pace, the repo rate becomes the benchmark interest rate in the economy.
- That’s because it is the lowest rate of interest at which funds can be borrowed.
- As such, the repo rate forms the floor interest rate for all other interest rates in the economy — be it the rate you pay for a car loan or a home loan or the interest you earn on your fixed deposit, etc.
How does Reverse Repo fit into policy normalization?
- Imagine a scenario where the RBI pumps more and more liquidity into the market but there are no takers of fresh loans.
- This is because the banks are unwilling to lend or because there is no genuine demand for new loans in the economy.
- In such a scenario, the action shifts from repo rate to reverse repo rate because banks are no longer interested in borrowing money from the RBI.
- Rather they are more interested in parking their excess liquidity with the RBI. And that is how the reverse repo becomes the actual benchmark interest rate in the economy.
What does reverse repo normalization mean?
- Simply put, it means the reverse repo rates will go up.
- Over the past few months, in the face of rising inflation, several central banks across the world have either increased interest rates or signaled that they would do so soon.
- In India, too, it is expected that the RBI will raise the repo rate.
- But before that, it is expected that the RBI will raise the reverse repo rate and reduce the gap between the two rates.
- In the immediate aftermath of Covid, RBI had increased this gap.
Implications of such policy
- Incentivize commercial banks to park excess funds with RBI, thus sucking some liquidity out of the system.
- The next step would be raising the repo rate.
- This process of normalization, which is aimed at curbing inflation, will not only reduce excess liquidity but also result in higher interest rates across the board in the Indian economy.
- This will help reduce the demand for money among consumers (since it would make more sense to just keep the money in the bank) and make it costlier for businesses to borrow fresh loans.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2020:
Q.If the RBI decides to adopt an expansionist monetary policy, which of the following it would NOT do?
- Cut and optimize the statutory liquidity ratio
- Increase the Marginal Standing Facility Rate
- Cut the Bank Rate and Repo Rate
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Post your answers here:
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Septemeranthus
Mains level: NA
A new genus of a parasitic flowering plant has recently been discovered from the Nicobar group of islands.
Septemeranthus
- The genus Septemeranthus grows on the plant species Horsfieldia glabra (Blume) Warb.
- The parasitic flowering plants have a modified root structure spread on the stem of the tree and are anchored inside the bark of the host tree.
- It has a distinct vegetative morphology, inflorescence architecture and floral characters.
- The leaves of the plant are heart-shaped with a very long tip and the ovary,fruit and seeds are ‘urceolate’ (earthen pot-shaped).
- Birds consume viscous seeds of this new genus and seeds have potential of pseudo viviparous germination that deposit on the leaves and branches of their same plant which is already attached to host plants.
Key features
- They need a host tree or shrub in order to thrive and exhibit a worldwide distribution in tropical as well as temperate habitats.
- They are important in forest ecology, pathology and medicine.
- They play an important role as they provide food for frugivorous birds.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2019:
Q.Recently, there was a growing awareness in our country about the importance of Himalayan nettle (Girardinia diversifolia) because it is found to be a sustainable source of
(a) anti-malarial drug
(b) bio-diesel
(c) pulp for paper industry
(d) textile fibre
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ICDS
Mains level: Paper 2- Early childhood care and education
Context
The National Education Policy, 2020 has rightly highlighted the importance of early childhood care and education (ECCE), vital for the young child’s early cognitive, social, and emotional development.
Need for focus on early childhood care and education (ECCE)
- The National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) finds only 13.6 per cent of children enrolled in pre-primary schools.
- With its overriding focus on health and nutrition, ECCE has hitherto been the weakest link of the anganwadi system.
- Multiple administrative duties have left anganwadi workers with little time for ECCE.
- A child’s early learning begins at birth, initially through stimulation, play, interactions, non-verbal and verbal communication.
- Unfortunately, due to a lack of parental awareness compounded by the daily stresses of poverty, disadvantaged households are unable to provide an early learning environment.
- The existing system at best serves the age group of 3-6 years, ignoring infants and toddlers.
Way forward
1] A meaningful ECCE programme in anganwadis
- A meaningful ECCE programme in anganwadis is not only a more intelligent and cost-effective strategy but is also feasible to implement through seven concerted actions.
- 1)Activity-based framework which reflect local context: To design and put in place a meaningful activity-based ECCE framework that recognises the ground realities with autonomy to reflect the local context and setting.
- 2) Remove non-ICDS work: Routine tasks of anganwadi workers can be reduced and non-ICDS work, such as surveys, removed altogether.
- 3)Extend Anganwadi time: Anganwadi hours can be extended by at least three hours by providing staff with an increase in their present remuneration, with the additional time devoted for ECCE.
- Karnataka has already taken the lead; its anganwadis work from 9.30 am to 4 pm.
- This will have the added benefit of serving as partial daycare, enabling poor mothers to earn a livelihood.
- 4) Change in policy mindset: ICDS needs a change in policy mindset, both at central and state levels, by prioritising and monitoring ECCE.
- 5) Engagement with parents: Anganwadi workers must be re-oriented to closely engage with parents, as they play a crucial role in the cognitive development of young children.
- Responsive parenting requires both parents to play an active role in ECCE activities at home; therefore, anganwadi workers should be asked to consciously engage with fathers too.
- Appropriate messaging and low-cost affordable teaching materials can be designed and made accessible to parents.
- 6) Activity-based play material: ICDS must supply age-appropriate activity-based play material in adequate quantities regularly, and anganwadi workers encouraged to utilise them in a liberal manner.
- 7) Invest in research and training: States should invest in research and training to support early childhood education, and ensure that the ECCE programme is not a downward extension of school education.
2] Pre-primary sections in government primary schools
- Some educationists have suggested that owing to the high workload of anganwadi workers, ECCE in anganwadis would remain a non-starter.
- Therefore, all government primary schools should open pre-primary sections, with anganwadis limiting themselves to the 0-3 age group.
- Challenges: It would require a massive outlay to build over a million classrooms with a million nursery teachers and helpers — even a conservative estimate would put the additional annual outlay at over Rs 30,000 crore.
- Moreover, with child stunting levels at 35 per cent in India, would children enrolled in pre-schools would require supplementary nutrition and health monitoring.
- This would overburden the nursery teacher.
Conclusion
Nearly 1.4 million anganwadis of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) across India must provide ECCE for the millions of young children in low-income households.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Electoral bonds
Mains level: Paper 2- Issues with electoral bonds
Context
Ever since its introduction, the electoral bond scheme has envenomed the democratic process, by destroying altogether any notion of transparency in political funding.
Issue of anonymity in electoral bond
- The electoral bond scheme is designed to allow an individual, or any “artificial juridical person”, including body corporates, to purchase bonds issued by the State Bank of India during notified periods of time.
- These instruments are issued in the form of promissory notes, and in denominations ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹1 crore.
- Once purchased, the buyer can donate the bond to any political party of their choice and the party can then encash it on demand.
Supreme Court’s opinion
- The Supreme Court has allowed the scheme to continue unabated and has denied an interim stay on its operation.
- In one such provisional order, the Court asserted that the bonds were not, in fact, anonymous.
- According to the Court, since both the purchase and the encashment of bonds are made through banking channels, all it would take for a person to glean the identity of a donor was for her to look through every corporation’s financial statement — these records, the Court said, ought to be available with the Registrar of Companies.
- What the order ignored was that there is no attendant obligation on political parties to provide details to the public on each donation received by them through electoral bonds.
- Companies are also under no obligation to disclose the name of the party to whom they made the donation.
Violation of voter’s right
- The Supreme Court has consistently held that voters have a right to freely express themselves during an election and that they are entitled to all pieces of information that give purpose and vigour to this right.
- Surely, to participate in the electoral process in a meaningful manner and to choose one’s votes carefully, a citizen must know the identity of those backing the candidates.
Electoral bond does not eliminate the role of black money in funding elections
- As affidavits filed by the Election Commission of India in the Supreme Court have demonstrated, the scheme, if anything, augments the potential role of black money in elections.
- It does so by, among other things, removing existing barriers against shell entities and dying concerns from donating to political parties.
- Moreover, even if the bonds were meant to eliminate the presence of unaccounted currency, it is difficult to see what nexus the decision to provide complete anonymity of the donor bears to this objective.
- It is for this reason that the Reserve Bank of India reportedly advised the Government against the scheme’s introduction.
Conclusion
The worries over the electoral bond scheme, however, go beyond its patent unconstitutionality. This is because in allowing anonymity it befouls the basis of our democracy and prevents our elections from being truly free and fair.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Credit to GDP ratio
Mains level: Paper 3- How to generate high growth
Context
Although the impact of Omicron is less on the economy, the loss of GDP in the last two years is high. Also note that the pre-Covid year FY20 had a low base with 4 per cent growth of GDP. Therefore, the need to focus on higher growth in the forthcoming budget and in the medium term, that is, beyond India@75, is obvious.
Challenges in creating quantity and quality of jobs in the economy
- Unemployment rate is high in both rural and urban areas;
- Decline in work participation rates, particularly for women;
- Recovery in employment is still below the levels of the pre-Covid period.
- 85 per cent of the workforce is still in informal sector.
- Lack of skill: Less than 5 per cent of India’s workforce has formal skill training.
- Need for structural change: Manufacturing and services need structural change.
- Focus on MSME sector is needed for higher employment.
Policies needed to achieve higher economic growth and jobs
1] Capital expenditure and infrastructure
- The government outlined an infrastructure project pipeline worth more than Rs 102 lakh crore and asset monetisation pipeline of Rs 6 lakh crore to be implemented in the medium term.
- Continuing focus on infrastructure and capex by the government is important as it is a key driver for the “future of India”.
2] Focus on export growth
- It is well known that rise in exports is one of the main engines of growth and also important for employment creation.
- Export growth in India has increased and is expected to reach $400 billion by the end of FY22.
- One worrying aspect of India’s export performance is the failure in expanding the share of labour intensive products in the export basket.
- Protectionist trade policy: However, one problem in recent years is that India’s trade policy has become more protectionist by increasing import tariffs.
- Join RCEP: India should also join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) for integrating our industries with the value chains in Asia.
3] Manufacturing and service sector growth
- The share of manufacturing in GDP and employment has hardly increased over time.
- Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes can improve performance.
- However, more efforts are required to improve the manufacturing sector.
- Similarly, there are a lot of opportunities for India in the service sector.
- Brand and customer centricity are important here.
- India can also think of more business in the service sector.
- Growing startups including unicorns in manufacturing and services is part of this effort.
4] Banking reforms
- Banking reforms are important as bank credit growth is a key indicator of economic growth.
- Low credit-to-gdp ration in India: Credit to GDP ratio in India is only around 55 per cent compared to 100 per cent and 150 per cent in many other countries.
- Credit should flow to all categories of economic agents like firms, households etc.
- The bad bank, a key initiative of the last budget, is yet to take shape.
- The role of fintech companies in the financial sector has increased significantly.
- They may not be able to replace banks although they are competing on payments.
- The banks also have to focus now on ESG (environment, social and governance) while giving credit.
- Big technology and digital push is also needed for banks.
5] Deal with K-shaped recovery
- The K-shaped recovery of the economy is still continuing.
- The policies have to focus on giving a push to the MSME sector, increasing investment in agriculture and rural infrastructure, a social sector push including bridging divides in health and education, social protection measures like foodgrain distribution, cash transfers, MGNREGA in rural areas, urban employment guarantee schemes etc.
- This will also create demand for the economy.
Conclusion
In the near term, fiscal policy has to play an important role in achieving the objectives of growth and jobs by expanding fiscal space while the fiscal deficit can be stabilised in the medium term. Increase in private investment may take some more time.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various articles mentioned in news
Mains level: Suspensions of MLAs in MH Assembly
The Supreme Court has set aside the one-year suspension of 12 MLAs from the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
What was the case?
- A petition was filed against the suspension.
- It stated the move as “grossly arbitrary and disproportionate”.
- The challenge relied mainly on grounds of denial of the principles of natural justice, and of violation of laid-down procedure.
What did the judgment observe?
- The apex court observed the decision to suspend them for a year was ‘unconstitutional, substantively illegal and irrational’.
What did the court say about members being suspended beyond an ongoing session?
(A) Arbitrary Action
- The court agreed with the MLAs’ contention that the suspension has to follow the procedure laid down in Rule 53.
- It said that the suspension of a member must be preferred as a short term or a temporary, disciplinary measure for restoring order in the Assembly.
- Anything in excess of that would be irrational suspension, the court said.
- It said that Rule 53 only provides for the withdrawal of a member for the remainder of the day or in case of repeat misconduct in the same session, for the remainder of the session.
(B) Defining ‘disorderly behaviour’
- The court said that as per this rule, withdrawal of a member can only be done in case of the member’s conduct being “grossly disorderly”.
- It relied on definitions of the two words and said that the conduct has to be considered in a graded objective manner.
- It is not a punishment like expulsion but more a direction to ensure that the business of the House can be carried on smoothly, without any disruption.
(C) Violative of Fundamental Rights
- The MLAs were not given an opportunity to present their case and that the suspension violated their fundamental right to equality before the law under Article 14 of the Constitution.
- They also submitted that they were not given access to video of the proceedings of the House, and it was not clear how they had been identified in the large crowd that had gathered in the chamber.
(D) Against constitutional ethos
- It termed the one-year suspension worse than expulsion or disqualification or resignation as far as the rights of the constituency to be represented in the House are concerned.
- It would also impact the democratic setup.
(E) Immunity of the state legislature
- It also considered whether the legislature had complete immunity from judicial review in matters of irregularity of procedure.
- It ruled that procedures are open to judicial review on the touchstone of being unconstitutional, grossly illegal, irrational or arbitrary.
Legal basis of the Judgment
Ans. The bench referred to Article 190 (4) of the Constitution
- It says- if for a period of sixty days a member of a House of the Legislature of a State is without permission of the House absent from all meetings thereof, the House may declare his seat vacant.
- Under Section 151 (A) of The Representation of the People Act, 1951, “a bye-election for filling any vacancy shall be held within a period of six months from the date of the occurrence of the vacancy”.
- This means that barring exceptions specified under this section, no constituency can remain without a representative for more than six months.
What was the Assembly’s response to the judicial enquiry?
- It argued that the House had acted within its legislative competence.
- Under Article 212, courts do not have jurisdiction to inquire into the proceedings of the legislature.
- Article 212 (1) states that “the validity of any proceedings in the Legislature of a State shall not be called in question on the ground of any alleged irregularity of procedure”.
- It also said that a seat does not automatically become vacant if the member does not attend the House for 60 days but it becomes vacant only if declared so by the House.
- It was submitted that the House is not obligated to declare such a seat vacant.
Why was this suspension controversial?
- manipulation: A thin majority coalition government could use such suspensions to manipulate the number of Opposition party members.
- Avoiding legislative scrutiny: With prominent members suspended, opposition will not be able to effectively participate in discussions/debates in the House fearing suspension of its members for a longer period.
- Enmity among legislators: The court pointed out that Parliament and Assemblies were becoming more and more an intransigent place.
Way forward
- A nation aspiring to be a “world leader” should debate on the welfare of its citizens rather than make Parliament/State Assemblies a stage to exchange jeers and launch personal attacks.
- The members must maintain statesmanship and not brinkmanship in the House, said the apex court.
- For becoming world leaders and self-dependent/reliant, quality of debates in the House ought to be of the highest order.
Conclusion
- Parliament or the State legislatures are no places to create a ruckus.
- It is a place where policies and laws are propounded for governing the citizenry.
- Aggression during the debates has no place in the setting of country governed by the Rule of Law.
- Even a complex issue needs to be resolved in a congenial atmosphere by observing collegiality and showing full respect and deference towards each other.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Nagraj Case
Mains level: Quota in Promotions
The Supreme Court has refused to lay down the criteria for determining the inadequacy of representation for granting reservation in promotions for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates in government jobs.
What did the court held?
- The court stuck firm by the decisions of its Constitution Benches in the Jarnail Singh and M. Nagaraj case that the question of adequate representation of SC/ST communities ought to be left to the respective States to determine.
- It held ‘cadre’, and not class or group or the entire service, as the unit for the purpose of collection of quantifiable data for giving promotion quotas.
Why such decision?
- Determination of inadequate representation depends upon myriad factors of states which this Court cannot envisage.
- Laying down of criteria for determining the inadequacy of representation would result in curtailing the discretion given to the State governments.
Quota in Promotions: A timeline
What was the case?
- The Union government has been pressing for reservation in promotion proportionate to the population of SCs and STs as per a 1995 judgment by the top court in the RK Sabharwal case.
- It wants it to be left open to the Centre and states to decide on promotional avenues for SCs and STs.
- It claims that the condition regarding the collection of quantifiable data to show the inadequacy of representation of SCs/STs is “vague”.
- Advocates representing the general category have contended that the reservation cannot be for an indefinite period and that it must stop as soon as the upper ceiling has been reached.
- Further, they have emphasized that reservation in promotion should be cadre-based only after quantifiable data is collected and the creamy layer has been excluded.
Defying the need for quantifiable data
- Attorney General sought to convince the court that the roster system, based on the proportionate population of SCs/STs, has been working quite well in all government departments.
- The condition of collecting quantifiable data on inadequacy of representation of SCs/STs may not be required at all.
- He urged that there is no need to verify any further or collect quantifiable data after the roster system.
What is the Nagraj Case?
- Article 16(4A) of Indian Constitution allows reservations to SCs and STs in promotions, as long as the government believes that they are not adequately represented in government services.
- In 2006, a Constitution bench’s ruling in the M Nagaraj case made it incumbent upon the state to collect quantifiable data showing inadequacy of representation in public employment.
- This was to be done in addition to maintaining overall administrative efficiency.
Related amendments
- 77th Amendment: It introduced Clause 4A to the Constitution, empowering the state to make provisions for reservation in matters of promotion to SC/ST employees if the state feels they are not adequately represented.
- 81st Amendment: It introduced Clause 4B, which says unfilled SC/ST quota of a particular year, when carried forward to the next year, will be treated separately and not clubbed with the regular vacancies of that year to find out whether the total quota has breached the 50% limit set by the Supreme Court.
- 82nd Amendment: It inserted a proviso at the end of Article 335 to enable the state to make any provision for SC/STs “for relaxation in qualifying marks in any examination or lowering the standards of evaluation, for reservation in matters of promotion to any class or classes of services or posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of a State”.
- 85th Amendment: It said reservation in the promotion can be applied with consequential seniority for the SC/ST employee.
Why such demand for quotas in promotion?
- The Attorney General has said that it is tough for a member of the SC/ST to reach the ‘Group A’ category jobs.
- The time has come for the apex court to firm up and draw the basis for reservation in promotions for SC/ST candidates to fill up vacancies in top jobs.
- The Bench referred to records filed before it to note that there was low representation of SC/ST category in Group A jobs.
- Instead of improving the situation in the Group A ranks, the court said, efforts are on to ensure adequate representation in Groups B and C.
- This was not fair, it remarked.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PUC Certificate
Mains level: Not Much
Delhi govt will soon make PUC certificate mandatory for fuel at filling stations.
What is PUC Certificate?
- The PUC certificate is a document that any person driving a motor vehicle can be asked to produce by a police officer in uniform authorized by the state government.
- These issue certificates if a vehicle is found complying with the prescribed emission norms.
- Since the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 came into force, PUC certificate has been made mandatory.
- A PUC certificate contains information such as the vehicle’s license plate number, PUC test reading, date on which the PUC test was conducted and the expiry date.
How is a pollution control check carried out?
- The computerized model for pollution check was developed by the Society of Indian Automobile manufacturers.
- A gas analyzer is connected to a computer, to which a camera and a printer are attached.
- The gas analyzer records the emission value and sends it to the computer directly, while the camera captures the license plate of the vehicle.
- Subsequently, a certificate may be issued if the emission values are within the limits.
Fines for non-compliance
- The test costs between Rs 60 and Rs 100.
- The validity of the test is one year for BS IV vehicles and three months for others.
- The fine for PUC violations has now gone up to Rs 10,000; it used to be Rs 1,000 for the first offence and Rs 2,000 for subsequent violations before the amendments came into force.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NeoCoV
Mains level: Not Much
NeoCov coronavirus found in bats may pose threat to humans in the future, scientists caution.
Coronavirus: A quick backgrounder
- Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are known to infect animals and humans.
- They are largely categorized into four genera — alpha, beta, gamma, and delta.
- Broadly speaking, alpha and beta coronaviruses commonly infect mammals such as bats and humans, while Gamma and Delta mainly infect birds.
Infecting humans: Through ‘Zoonotic Spillover’
- While animals, including bats, are generally considered as the reservoirs of coronaviruses, rarely spillover events could occur.
- It is possible for viruses that infect animals to jump to humans, a process which is known as zoonotic spillover.
- Many major infectious diseases, including COVID-19, is widely thought to be a result of spillover.
COVID-19 Pandemic
- SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, belongs to the genus of beta coronavirus.
- It is in fact the 7th type of coronavirus known to infect and cause severe disease in humans.
How does it affect humans?
- How a coronavirus latches onto special receptors on host cells depends on a key part of the virus known as its receptor-binding domain.
- The differences in the receptor-binding domain of coronaviruses are therefore what determine the type of host receptor the virus will use and thus the host that it will be able to infect.
- There are currently 4 well-characterized receptors for coronaviruses, including ACE2, which is used by SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, and DPP4 used by MERS-CoV.
What is NeoCoV?
- NeoCoV is a bat coronavirus that was first identified in 2011.
- It was identified in a species of bats known as Neoromicia, which is where the name NeoCoV was derived from.
- Commonly known as aloe bats, this species is distributed in the Afro-Malagasy region.
- NeoCoV shares an 85% similarity to MERS-CoV in the genome sequence, making it the closest known relative of MERS-CoV.
Does NeoCoV infect humans and cause high mortality?
- It is important to note that inherently, NeoCoV cannot interact with human receptors, implying that in its current form the virus cannot infect humans.
- NeoCoV does not infect humans yet and has thus not caused any deaths.
What does the preprint say and why is it important?
- The study reports that despite their similarity, MERS-CoV and NeoCoV use different receptors to infect cells.
- The bat coronavirus NeoCoV was found to use bat ACE2 receptors for efficiently entering cells.
- The interaction between NeoCoV and bat ACE2 receptors is different from what is seen in other coronaviruses that utilize ACE2.
- However, specific mutations artificially created in the receptor-binding domain of NeoCoV can enhance its efficiency to interact with human ACE2 receptors.
- These mutations have not yet been seen in NeoCov isolates from natural settings.
Conclusion
- SARS-CoV-2 is not the first coronavirus to infect humans and cause large disease outbreaks, nor is it likely to be the last.
- The study highlights that through further adaptation, coronaviruses like NeoCoV or other related viruses could potentially gain the ability to infect humans.
Way forward
- To prevent future outbreaks, it will thus be important to monitor this family of viruses for potential zoonosis while continuing research efforts on understanding the complex receptor usage of different coronaviruses.
- Genomic surveillance of human and animal viruses is, therefore, the key to understanding the spectrum of viruses, and possibly provides early warning to potential spillover events.
Try this question from CSP 2021:
Q. The term ACE2′ is talked about in the context of:
(a) genes introduced in the genetically modified plants
(b) development of India’s own satellite navigation system
(c) radio collars for wildlife tracking
(d) spread of viral diseases
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Defining formal sector
Mains level: Paper 3- Challenges of formalisation
Context
Despite efforts by the government, formalisation of economy still eludes us.
Prevalence of informality in India
- Despite witnessing rapid economic growth over the last two decades, 90% of workers in India have remained informally employed, producing about half of GDP.
- Combining the International Labour Organization’s widely agreed upon template of definitions with India’s official definition (of formal jobs as those providing at least one social security benefit — such as EPF), the share of formal workers in India stood at 9.7% (47.5 million).
- The prevalence of informal employment is also widespread in the non-agriculture sector.
- About half of informal workers are engaged in non-agriculture sectors which spread across urban and rural areas.
- Industries thriving without paying taxes are only the tip of the informal sector’s iceberg.
- What remains hidden are the large swathes of low productivity informal establishments working as household and self-employment units which represent “petty production”.
- To conflate the two distinct segments of the informal sector would be a serious conceptual error.
Fiscal perspective of formalisation
- Efforts to encourage formalisation: Currency demonetisation, introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), digitalisation of financial transactions and enrolment of informal sector workers on numerous government Internet portals are all meant to encourage the formalisation of the economy.
- The formal sector is more productive than the informal sector, and formal workers have access to social security benefits.
- The above-mentioned efforts are based on the “fiscal perspective” of formalisation.
- This perspective appears to draw from a strand of thought advanced by some international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, which foregrounds the persistence of the informal sector to excessive state regulation of enterprises and labour which drives genuine economic activity outside the regulatory ambit.
- Hence, it is believed that simplifying registration processes, easing rules for business conduct, and lowering the standards of protection of formal sector workers will bring informal enterprises and their workers into the fold of formality.
Issues with fiscal perspective
- Early on, in an attempt to promote employment, India protected small enterprises engaged in labour intensive manufacturing by providing them with fiscal concessions and regulating large-scale industry by licensing.
- Such measures led to many labour-intensive industries getting diffused into the informal/unorganised sectors.
- Further, they led to the formation of dense output and labour market inter-linkages between the informal and formal sectors via sub-contracting and outsourcing arrangements (quite like in labour abundant Asian economies).
- While such policy initiatives may have encouraged employment, bringing the enterprises which benefited from the policy into the tax net has been a challenge.
- Political and economic reasons operating at the regional/local level in a competitive electoral democracy are responsible for this phenomenon, too.
Role of underdevelopment
- Global evidence suggests that the view that legal and regulatory hurdles alone are mainly responsible for holding back formalisation does not hold much water.
- A well-regarded study, ‘Informality and Development’ argues that the persistence of informality is, in fact, a sign of underdevelopment.
- The finding suggests that informality decreases with economic growth, albeit slowly.
- A similar association is also evident across major States in India, based on official PLFS data.
- Hence, the persistence of a high share of informal employment in total employment seems nothing but a lack of adequate growth or continuation of underdevelopment.
Impact of pandemic
- Research by the State Bank of India recently reported the economy formalised rapidly during the pandemic year of 2020-21, with the informal sector’s GDP share shrinking to less than 20%, from about 50% a few years ago — close to the figure for developed countries.
- These findings of a sharp contraction of the informal sector during the pandemic year (2020-21) do not represent a sustained structural transformation.
- They are a temporary (and unfortunate) outcome of the pandemic and severe lockdowns imposed in 2020 and 2021.
Way forward
- Policy efforts directed at bringing the informal sector into the fold of formality fail to appreciate that the bulk of the informal units and their workers are essentially petty producers eking their subsistence out of minimal resources.
- The economy will get formalised when informal enterprises become more productive through greater capital investment and increased education and skills are imparted to its workers.
Consider the question “What are the reasons for persistent informality in India? Suggest the way to ensure the smooth transition to the formality.”
Conclusion
Policy efforts to formalise the economy will have limited results as the bulk of informal units are petty producers.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Amendment to IAS cadre rules
Context
There are recent reports in the media about serious concerns of several state governments on Government of India’s proposed move to amend the IAS service rules to meet the shortage of officers at various levels at the Centre.
How does central deputation work?
- Voluntary: Under the current dispensation, officers opt for central deputation from the states voluntarily.
- The Centre then makes a selection from among these officers for posts which are vacant or are likely to be vacant in the near future.
- While doing so, it considers the suitability of the officer based on his/her past experience.
- Once the selection is finalised, orders are issued, requesting the state government to relieve the officer concerned.
- Quota for each state: Each state has a certain quota beyond which its officers are not accepted by the Centre.
Shortage of officers on central deputation
- In the last decade, there has been a gradual decline in the number of officers who opt for central deputation.
- Generally, of the total cadre strength of the states, about 25-30 per cent used to be on central deputation.
- Currently, less than 10 per cent are working in various central ministries.
- According to certain reports, in states like UP, Bihar, Odisha and Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the number is between 8 per cent and 15 per cent.
- One of the reasons for this non-availability of officers for central deputation is the inadequate recruitment more than a decade and half ago.
- But an important reason is also the comparatively better service conditions in the states.
So, what do the proposed rules seek to achieve?
- While fixing the cadre strength of states, about 40 per cent posts of senior duty are earmarked for central deputation.
- Shortage to be shared equitably: Considering that recruitments in the past were not adequate, the proposed change in rules provides for shortage to be shared equitably between the Centre and states.
- Time limit to relieve officers: Also, since vacancies need to be filled in time, there is a suggestion of a time limit in which states must respond and relieve the officer selected.
Way forward
- Respect the views of State: It has to be clearly understood that when states give the list of officers they wish to offer for central deputation, it will be the decision of the states alone.
- The Centre, if it wishes to have an officer work for it, can suggest so to the state.
- If the state does not wish to suggest his name for deputation, the Centre should respect their views, even though they have the power under cadre rules to do so.
- Improving working conditions for officers: The Centre has to realise that improving working conditions for officers at the deputy secretary and director levels is critical to the success of cadre management.
- Many of the officers at this level have concerns regarding education of their children, transport and the higher cost of living in Delhi.
- A deputation allowance for the period of deputation in Delhi could be an option.
- Non-adversarial manner: The states also have to look at this issue in a non-adversarial manner, where needs of both the Centre and the state have to be matched and met.
- The Centre should dispel fears of states about misuse of central power.
Conclusion
Proposed amendment to service rules is needed to meet shortage of personnel, but Centre must dispel states’ fears about overreach.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Banking frauds
- Poor banking governance: Most frauds show that banks did not observe due diligence, both before and after disbursing loans. Poor level of checks and balances in the banking system is one of the reason.
- Poor monitoring: Lack of technology and fraud monitoring agencies to detect frauds makes the problem more complex. There is an absence of an effective mechanism to monitor the credit flow. Flawed risk-mitigation design, which creates an excessive focus on credit or market risks, but focuses less on operational risks also leading to more breaches.
- Technological backwardness: Excessive dependence on manual supervision, at both external and internal levels makes it impossible to manually control and supervise the sheer volume of transactions.
- Immoral behaviour: The disintegrating moral fibre of Indian businessmen, bankers and other white-collar professionals, nepotism in internal committees of banks, unnecessary political interventions lead to increased frauds.
- Political interference: The political pulls and pressures on investigating agencies, and long-drawn processes of legal system act less as a deterrent.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Anti-dumping duty, Countervailing Duty
Mains level: Read the attached story
India has initiated an anti-dumping probe against imports of a certain type of tiles, used for covering the floors in residential and commercial buildings, from China, Taiwan and Vietnam following a complaint by domestic players.
Why in news?
- Countries start anti-dumping probes to determine whether their domestic industries have been hurt because of a surge in cheap imports.
- The dumping has caused material injury to the domestic players. If established, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) would recommend an anti-dumping duty on these imports.
- As a countermeasure, they India would impose these duties under the multilateral regime of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
What is Dumping?
- Dumping is a process wherein a company exports a product at a price that is significantly lower than the price it normally charges in its home (or its domestic) market.
- This is an unfair trade practice which can have a distortive effect on international trade.
- Anti dumping is a measure to rectify the situation arising out of the dumping of goods and its trade distortive effect.
What is Anti-Dumping Duty?
- An anti-dumping duty is a protectionist tariff that a domestic government imposes on foreign imports that it believes are priced below fair market value.
- In order to protect their respective economy, many countries impose duties on products they believe are being dumped in their national market.
- In fact, anti-dumping is an instrument for ensuring fair trade and is not a measure of protection per se for the domestic industry.
- Such ‘dumped’ products have the potential to undercut local businesses and the local economy.
- Anti-dumping duties provide relief to the domestic industry against the injury caused by dumping.
Mechanism in India
- The Department of Commerce recommends the anti-dumping duty, provisional or final.
- The Department of Revenue in Finance Ministry acts upon the recommendation within three months and imposes such duties.
WTO and Anti-Dumping Duties
- The WTO operates a set of international trade rules, including the international regulation of anti-dumping measures.
- It does NOT intervene in the activities of companies engaged in dumping.
- Instead, it focuses on how governments can—or cannot—react to the practice of dumping.
- In general, the WTO agreement permits governments to act against dumping if it causes or threatens material injury to an established domestic industry.
Issues with such duties
- Anti-dumping duties have the potential to distort the market.
- In a free market, governments cannot normally determine what constitutes a fair market price for any good or service.
Back2Basics:
Countervailing duty (CVD)
- Countervailing duty (CVD) is a specific form of duty that the government imposes in order to protect domestic producers by countering the negative impact of import subsidies.
- CVD is thus an import tax by the importing country on imported products.
- To make their products cheaper and boost their demand in other countries, foreign governments sometimes provide subsidies to their producers.
- To avoid flooding of the market in the importing country with these goods, the government of the importing country imposes a countervailing duty, charging a specific amount on import of such goods.
How does it work?
- The duty nullifies and eliminates the price advantage (low price) enjoyed by an imported product when it is given subsidies or exempted from domestic taxes in the country where they are manufactured.
- It raises the price of the imported product, bringing it closer to its true market price.
- In this way, the government is able to provide a level playing field for domestic products.
CVD and India
- The World Trade Organization (WTO) permits the imposition of countervailing duty by its member countries.
- In India, the CVD is imposed as an additional duty besides customs on imported products when such products are given tax concession in the country of their origin.
Who imposes countervailing measures in India?
- The countervailing measures in India are administered by the Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD), in the commerce and industry ministry’s department of commerce.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: America COMPETES Act
Mains level: US Visa policies and its impact for Indians
The US has unveiled the Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology, and Economic Strength (COMPETES) Act of 2022 that proposes to open up new vistas for talented individuals from across the world with a new start-up visa.
What is the COMPETES Act?
- The bill provides $52 billion to encourage more semiconductor production in the US, and $45 billion for grants and loans to improve supply chain resilience and manufacturing, among other programs.
- It also includes funding to address social and economic inequality, climate change, and immigration.
- For instance, it provides an exemption for STEM PhDs from the green card cap and creates a new green card for entrepreneurs.
- The bill also authorizes $600 million a year to construct manufacturing facilities to make the US less reliant on solar components made in Xinjiang, China.
Key provisions in the Act
- The Act amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to create a new classification of “W” non-immigrants for entrepreneurs with an ownership interest in a start-up entity.
- It seeks to establish procedures for foreign nationals with an ownership interest in a start-up entity to self-petition for lawful permanent resident status as an immigrant entrepreneur.
- The bill exempts from the numerical limits on immigrant visas certain foreign nationals (and the spouses and children of such aliens) who have earned a doctoral degree in STEM.
Implications for Indians
- It would mean more opportunities in the US for Indian talent, and for skilled workers.
- Every year, the US administration issues 85,000 H-1B work permits.
- Every year, Indians and Indian companies corner a lion’s share of the H-1B work permits issued that year.
- With this new category, Indian professionals will likely have a better shot at opportunities that the Act is likely to provide.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SSLV, PSLV, GSLV
Mains level: Commercial space activities in India
The new chairman of the ISRO Dr S Somanath has indicated inauguration of indigenous new launch rockets, called the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV).
What is SSLV?
- The SSLV is a small-lift launch vehicle being developed by the ISRO with payload capacity to deliver:
- 600 kg to Low Earth Orbit (500 km) or
- 300 kg to Sun-synchronous Orbit (500 km)
- It would help launching small satellites, with the capability to support multiple orbital drop-offs.
- In future a dedicated launch pad in Sriharikota called Small Satellite Launch Complex (SSLC) will be set up.
- A new spaceport, under development, near Kulasekharapatnam in Tamil Nadu will handle SSLV launches when complete.
- After entering the operational phase, the vehicle’s production and launch operations will be done by a consortium of Indian firms along with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL).
Vehicle details
(A) Dimensions
- Height: 34 meters
- Diameter: 2 meters
- Mass: 120 tonnes
(B) Propulsion
- It will be a four stage launching vehicle.
- The first three stages will use Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) based solid propellant, with a fourth terminal stage being a Velocity-Trimming Module (VTM).
SSLV vs. PSLV: A comparison
- The SSLV was developed with the aim of launching small satellites commercially at drastically reduced price and higher launch rate as compared to Polar SLV (PSLV).
- The projected high launch rate relies on largely autonomous launch operation and on overall simple logistics.
- To compare, a PSLV launch involves 600 officials while SSLV launch operations would be managed by a small team of about six people.
- The launch readiness period of the SSLV is expected to be less than a week instead of months.
- The SSLV can carry satellites weighing up to 500 kg to a low earth orbit while the tried and tested PSLV can launch satellites weighing in the range of 1000 kg.
- The entire job will be done in a very short time and the cost will be only around Rs 30 crore for SSLV.
Significance of SSLV
- SSLV is perfectly suited for launching multiple microsatellites at a time and supports multiple orbital drop-offs.
- The development and manufacture of the SSLV are expected to create greater synergy between the space sector and private Indian industries – a key aim of the space ministry.
Back2Basics:
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PLIS
Mains level: Paper 3- Food processing industry in India
Context
One of the largest producers of fruits and vegetables in the world to boost processed food in large quantities, India has formulated a unique Production-Linked Incentive Scheme (PLIS) which aims to incentivise incremental sales.
Progress made so far
- A sum of ₹10,900 crore has been earmarked for the scheme.
- Beneficiaries have been obliged to commit a minimum investment while applying for the scheme.
- Under Category 1, firms are incentivised for incremental sales and branding/marketing initiatives taken abroad.
- Assuming the committed investment as a fixed ratio of their sales and undertaking execution of at least 75% of the projects, the sector is likely to witness at least ₹6,500 crore worth of investment over the next two years.
- New alternatives are being explored which have immense potential in replacing the staples of rice and wheat in the form of Nutri-cereals, plant-based proteins, fermented foods, health bars and even fresh fortified foods for pets.
- By welcoming the new brands in the category, PLIS aims to create an enabling ecosystem for innovation in both food products and processes.
Way forward
1] Improve infrastructure
- A study in the United States concluded that a 1% increase in public infrastructure increased the food manufacturing output by 0.06% in the longer run (https://bit.ly/3rOeE0l).
- This correlation holds good for India too as a higher investment is being concentrated in States such as Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
- These States as reported by the Good Governance Index 2020-21, ranked among the highest in the ‘Public Infrastructure and Utilities’ parameter with ‘Connectivity to Rural Habitations’ showing the highest improvement.
2] Improve profitability in export
- For the exports market, it is now established that sales promotion is positively related to increased sales volume, but inversely related to profitability.
- To bridge this gap, of the 13 key sectors announced under the PLIS, the ‘Food Processing PLIS’ earmarks a dedicated Category 3 for supporting branding and marketing activities in foreign markets.
- This ensures that India’s share of value-added products in the exports basket is improved, and it may leverage on its unique geographical proximity to the untapped markets of Europe, the Middle East/West Asia, Africa, Oceania and Japan.
3] Access to credit
- The access of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to finance is a perennial problem in the country, predominating due to a lack of proper credit history mechanism for MSMEs.
- Smart financing alternatives such as peer-to-peer (P2P) lending hold potential for micro-food processors.
- Access to working capital has in theory been addressed by the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS), a platform for facilitating the financing/discounting of trade receivables of MSMEs through multiple financiers.
Conclusion
With growing populations, changing food habits and unrestricted use of natural resources, nations must come together and lay out a road map for a common efficient food value chain.
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