Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: INA Mutiny, INC and Bose
Mains level: Netaji and his contribution in immediate freedom attainment
In public discourse, the popular imagination of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose is increasing all across the length and breadth of our country these days.
Back in 2016, when there was ruckus over de-classification of some files associated with Netaji, a question too appeared in UPSC CSE Mains:
Q. Highlight the differences in the approach of Subhash Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi in the struggle for freedom.
We can expect a repetition again considering the scale of ongoing debate around Netaji and the vitality of his INA leading to immediate withdrawal of British rulers from India.
Also read:
Celebration of Parakram Diwas
Context
The Bose-Gandhi rivalry is frequently understood as the biggest dichotomy of the Indian nationalist movement.
Bose: A complex character of freedom movement
- Bose was a complex character. His complexity comes alive when one realizes his disagreement with the Congress leadership, when Bose took over the Indian National Army (INA).
- He constituted four regiments, three of which were named after Gandhi, Nehru and Maulana Azad.
- He had profound respect for his colleagues.
- In 1943, while Gandhi was in jail, Bose on the former’s birthday gave a moving address over the Azad Hind Radio where he referred to Gandhi as ‘father of the nation’.
- This was probably the first time this epithet was used for Gandhi, and soon it became ubiquitous.
Bose and his association with INC
- Bose was a key member and a frontline leader of the Indian National Congress.
- He plunged into the anti-colonial movement under Gandhi’s leadership in 1921 and rose to be the president of the Congress in 1938 and 39.
- There were certain differences of opinion with the Gandhian high command in 1939, but he remained true to the Congress ideal of freedom.
Joining the Indian National Congress
- On July 16, 1921, Bose had returned to Bombay from London where he had gone on his father’s insistence to prepare for the Indian Civil Services examination.
- Despite qualifying for the services he had refused to take up the opportunity.
- Such was Bose’s zeal to join the freedom struggle that on the very afternoon he arrived in India he went to meet Gandhi at Mani Bhawan.
Relations with the mainstream leaders
(A) Bose vs. Gandhi
- Bose wanted to know how the different aspects of the movement were going to culminate in the non-payment of taxes, the last stage of the campaign.
- Secondly, he wanted to know how the non-payment of taxes would eventually force the British to leave and thirdly how Gandhi could promise Swaraj in one year.
- On Gandhi’s advice Bose moved to Calcutta, where he worked closely with the lawyer and Congress leader C R Das.
- As president of the Congress, his first disagreement with Gandhi happened in December 1938 when Bose was eager to form a coalition government in Bengal along with the Krishak Praja Party.
- The following year, Bose was hopeful for re-election as Congress president. A second term was very rare and Gandhi was pretty much against the idea of re-electing Bose.
- Bose found support from the younger and left leaning members of the Congress and also from the literary giant Rabindranath Tagore.
- Tagore had personally written to Gandhi requesting a second term for Bose. However, Bose was aggrieved to know that Gandhi saw this as a ‘personal defeat’.
(B) Bose vs. Nehru
- Both leaders were of same age, similar political leanings and often finding themselves frustrated by Gandhi’s commitment to non-violence.
- However, while Nehru was starry-eyed in his reverence for Gandhi, Bose though immensely respectful of Gandhi, found his political strategies to be ambiguous.
- Bose and Nehru had been in prison at that time and both expressed disappointment and anger over unilateral withdrawal of non-cooperation movement over Chauri Chaura incident.
- Both were left-leaning radical men, unswerving in their commitment to ‘purna swaraj’ and to the forming of a socialist state in independent India.
- When Bose sought the support of the Nazi government in Germany, he found himself ideologically at the farthest end to Nehru’s views.
(C) Bose vs. Patel
- In response to Bose’s re-election, several members of the Congress Working Committee resigned including Vallabhbhai Patel and Rajendra Prasad.
- Patel had an old rivalry with Bose, which was both personal and political.
- Their relationship had deteriorated rapidly with the death of Patel’s elder brother Vithalbhai in 1933.
- Bose had been very close to Vithalbhai and had nursed him during his last days.
- In his will, Vithalbhai had left a substantial portion of his property to Bose.
- Vallabhbhai had cast aspersions on the authenticity of the will and a long legal battle had followed culminating in the victory of Patel.
As Congress president
- In February 1938 Bose had taken over as president of the Congress and the next two years would be defining in creating his political profile as a Congressman and in drawing the rift with Gandhi and Nehru.
- At the Haripura session of the Congress, Bose made his presidential address, which is known to be the lengthiest and most important speech he ever made to the party.
- He made it clear that he stood for unqualified Swaraj.
- However, it needs to be noted that nowhere in the speech did Bose suggest any criticism or deviation from Gandhi’s methods.
Resignation from INC
- On April 29, 1939 Bose resigned from his post as president of the Congress Party.
- In a statement to the press, he mentioned the efforts he had made to find a common ground with Gandhi.
- These having failed, he felt his presidency may be a sort of obstacle or handicap in the path of the Congress as it sought to reconcile its two wings.
Life after leaving Congress
(A) World War II
- In September 1939 German tanks invaded Poland, marking the beginning of the Second World War.
- The war was to have a most significant impact in the history of modern India.
- Bose was a special invitee in the three-day meeting of the Congress Working Committee from September 9 to decide India’s position on the war.
- For Bose, the war served as a golden opportunity for India to launch a civil disobedience movement in order to win independence.
- For Bose the stance taken by the resolution to support British was completely unacceptable.
- Nehru had nothing but hatred towards Fascism and Nazism and sought for some concessions from the British government to fight Mussolini and Hitler.
(B) Escape to Germany
- Bose organized mass protests in Calcutta for the removal of the Holwell monument that stood in Dalhousie Square as a memorial to those who died in the Black Hole of Calcutta.
- He was arrested by the British government for the protests, but was released soon after he went into a seven-day hunger strike.
- Bose’s arrest and the subsequent release set the scene for him to escape to Germany via Afghanistan and the Soviet Union.
After Netaji’s demise ( rather disappearance)
- It is also worth noting that at the end of the Second World War, Nehru put on his barrister’s gown and joined the defense team for the INA prisoners at the time of the Red Fort trials.
- In the several speeches of Nehru after Bose’s death, the former referred to Netaji in the most affectionate way.
- In August 1947, in his first speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Nehru mentioned only two people by name and were Gandhi and Bose. It was quite a warm reference.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Suspension of MLAs
Mains level: Read the attached story
- Some legislators were suspended for one year by the Maharashtra Assembly for alleged disorderly conduct.
- The unusually long period of suspension has been questioned by the Supreme Court, which is hearing a challenge to the Assembly’s action.
A case in apex court
- The court has reserved its judgment after hearing elaborate arguments.
- The main question before the court is whether suspension for a whole year is valid.
Suspending MLAs: A fact check
- Each state has their individual rules for the conduct of assembly. These rules provides for the suspension of MLAs.
- Under Rule 53 of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Rules, 1960, only the Speaker has the power to suspend MLAs indulging in unruly behavior.
- Therefore, the motion to suspend cannot be put to vote as this would allow the Government to suspend as many Members of Opposition as it sees fit.
Constitutional ground behind this suspension
- The Court referred to Article 190 (4) of the Constitution which says that if for a period of 60 days, a member of a House, without its permission, is absent; the House may declare his or her seat vacant.
- Suspension of MLAs beyond this period would lead to their disqualification.
What did the Supreme Court observe?
- Suspension of the MLAs would amount to punishing the constituencies as a whole.
- Each constituency has equal amount of right to be represented in the House, observed the court.
- The apex court observed that any state cannot create a constitutional void, a hiatus situation for any constituency.
- It said the House cannot suspend a member beyond 59 days.
What does the State government say?
- Counsel for the State government has argued that there is no limitation on the power of the legislature to punish for breach of privilege or disorderly conduct in the course of its proceedings.
- Once the power to punish a member for disorderly conduct is recognized, there can be no judicial review of the manner in which it is exercised.
- Further, during suspension, a member continues to hold office, but only loses their voice in the legislature.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Kerala Bird Atlas (KBA)
Mains level: Not Much
The Kerala Bird Atlas (KBA), the first-of-its-kind State-level bird atlas in India, has created solid baseline data about the distribution and abundance of bird species across all major habitats, giving an impetus to futuristic studies.
Kerala Bird Atlas (KBA)
- The KBA has been prepared based on systematic surveys held twice over 60 days a year during the wet (July to September) and dry (January to March) seasons between 2015 and 2020.
- It was conducted as a citizen science-driven exercise with the participation of over 1,000 volunteers of the birdwatching community.
- The KBA accounts for nearly three lakh records of 361 species, including 94 very rare species, 103 rare species, 110 common species, 44 very common species, and 10 most abundant species.
- It was found that the species count was higher during the dry season than in the wet season while species richness and evenness were higher in the northern and central districts than in the southern districts.
Significance of KBA
- The KBA offers authentic, consistent and comparable data through random sampling from the geographical terrain split.
- It is arguably Asia’s largest bird atlas in terms of geographical extent, sampling effort and species coverage derived from the aggregation of 25,000 checklists.
- The KBA is considered to be a valuable resource for testing various ecological hypotheses and suggesting science-backed conservation measures.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Root Bridges
Mains level: NA
The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has underlined some green rules for the living root bridges of Meghalaya to get the UNESCO World Heritage Site tag.
Living Root Bridges
- A living root bridge is a type of simple suspension bridge formed of living plant roots by tree shaping.
- They are common in the southern part of the Northeast Indian state of Meghalaya. Such a bridge is locally called jingkieng jri.
- They are handmade from the aerial roots of rubber fig trees (Ficus elastic) by the Khasi and Jaintia peoples of the mountainous terrain along the southern part of the Shillong Plateau.
- Most of the bridges grow on steep slopes of subtropical moist broadleaf forest between 50m and 1150m above sea level.
Why is it so unique?
- As long as the tree from which it is formed remains healthy, the roots in the bridge can naturally grow thick and strengthen.
- New roots can grow throughout the tree’s life and must be pruned or manipulated to strengthen the bridge.
- Once mature some bridges can have as many as 50 or more people crossing, and have a lifespan of up to 150 years.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ramanuja, Vishishtadvaita
Mains level: Not Much
Work is going apace on the 216-ft tall ‘Statue of Equality’ of the 11th century reformer and Vaishnavite saint, Sri Ramanuja, to be unveiled by PM Modi next month in Hyderabad.
Statue of Equality
- The ‘Statue of Equality’, as it is called, is being installed to mark the 1,000th birth anniversary of Sri Ramanuja.
- It was built of panchaloha, a combination of gold, silver, copper, brass and zinc, by the Aerospun Corporation in China and shipped to India.
- It is the second largest in the world in sitting position of the saint.
- The monument will be surrounded by 108 “Divya Desams” of Sri Vaishnavite tradition (model temples) like Tirumala, Srirangam, Kanchi, Ahobhilam, Badrinath, Muktinath, Ayodhya, Brindavan, Kumbakonam and others.
- The idols of deities and structures were constructed in the shape at the existing temples.
Who was Sri Ramanuja?
Ramanuja or Ramanujacharya (1017–1137 CE) was a philosopher, Hindu theologian, social reformer, and one of the most important exponents of Sri Vaishnavism tradition within Hinduism.
- His philosophical foundations for devotionalism were influential to the Bhakti movement.
His works
- Ramanuja’s philosophical foundation was qualified monism and is called Vishishtadvaita in the Hindu tradition.
- His ideas are one of three subschools in Vedanta, the other two are known as Adi Shankara’s Advaita (absolute monism) and Madhvacharya’s Dvaita (dualism)
- Important writings include:
- Vedarthasangraha (literally, “Summary of the Vedas meaning”),
- Sri Bhashya (a review and commentary on the Brahma Sutras),
- Bhagavad Gita Bhashya (a review and commentary on the Bhagavad Gita), and
- The minor works titled Vedantapida, Vedantasara, Gadya Trayam (which is a compilation of three texts called the Saranagati Gadyam, Sriranga Gadyam and the Srivaikunta Gadyam), and Nitya Grantham.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CAPF
Mains level: Paper 3- Issues with multiple agencies guarding borders
Context
Recent developments warrant a comprehensive review of border management to ensure the all-weather security of our borders.
What makes India’s border management difficult?
- India shares land borders with Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, which stretch approximately 15,106 km.
- In addition, we have an approximately 3,323 km-long LoC with Pakistan, which further extends to the rechristened 110 km stretch of “Actual Ground Position Line” (AGPL) dividing the Siachen glacier region.
- Further east, we have the 3,488 km LAC with China.
- We share maritime boundaries with Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar and Indonesia; we have a 7,683 km coastline and an approximately 2 million sq km exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
- This makes India’s task more complex than most other countries.
Multiple agencies securing borders
- Complexity is accentuated by the fact that along with the army, we have multiple other security agencies — the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) and the Paramilitary Forces (PMF) — sharing the responsibility.
- While the army is deployed along the LoC and AGPL, the Border Security Force (BSF) looks after the international border with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
- Guarding the LAC has been assigned to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Assam Rifles.
- The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) is responsible for guarding the borders with Nepal and Bhutan.
- The Assam Rifles looks after our border with Myanmar.
- In a nutshell, in addition to the army, we have four agencies guarding borders with six neighbours.
- Conversely, maritime borders are guarded by a single agency — the Coast Guard.
Need for review of the border management
- There is a lack of a coherent policy on training, planning and the conduct of guarding operations among various outfits.
- Overall coordination is also affected.
- Our adversary on the western border has often escalated violations by resorting to the prolonged use of military resources.
- Chinese provocations along the LAC are military operations.
- Clearly, the peace-time scenario is now by and large militarised.
Way forward
- Single security agency: In this scenario, India needs a single security agency adequately equipped, suitably armed and trained in advanced military drills and sub-unit tactics to guard our borders.
- Manpower from Army: Further, to augment the battle efficiency, a fixed percentage of manpower, including the officer cadre, should be drawn on deputation from the army.
- Paramilitary force under Ministry of Defence: To ensure the desired training and operational standards, this single security agency should be designated as a paramilitary force under the Ministry of Defence and operate under the army.
- Mergers: The ITBP and the SSB should be fully merged into the new outfit; the BSF and CRPF still have important internal security duties and can be partially merged.
- The reorganised Assam Rifles too should retain its role of conducting counter-insurgency operations and act as a reserve for the army for conventional operations.
- Most countries have raised specialised and dedicated armed bodies for border security.
- Iran has the Border Guard Command, Italy has the Border Police Service, Russia has created a Border Guard Service, whereas in the US, it is under Homeland Security.
- Most of these countries, based on threat perception and for better combat cohesion, have placed these organisations under the command of the armed forces.
Conclusion
India should adopt a single agency with adequate resources and training to deal with the evolving challenges.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tenth schedule
Mains level: Paper 2- Loopholes in anti-defection law
Context
It is time that we took a fresh look at the Tenth Schedule to our Constitution.
Shortcomings of the anti-defection law
- Partisan nature of Speaker: Paragraph 3 of the Tenth Schedule was omitted by the Constitution (91st Amendment) Act, 2003, which came into effect on January 1, 2004.
- Paragraph 3, as it existed prior to the amendment, protected defectors as long as one-third of the members of a political party formed a separate group.
- In the context of small assemblies, one-third of the members could easily be cobbled together.
- Often, the speaker of the assembly was seen to be collaborating with the political party in power to protect the defectors under the one-third rule.
- Such partisan conduct of the speakers is at the heart of a non-functional Tenth Schedule.
- The seeming political bias of the speakers acting as tribunals is apparent from how disqualification petitions are dealt with.
- We have seen this happen in Manipur, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and other jurisdictions.
- Allowing two-third members to merge with another party: After the omission of paragraph 3, paragraph 4 allowed for the protection of defecting members provided two-thirds of the members of the legislative party merged with another political party.
- This provision has invariably been misused.
- Constitutional flaw in provisions of paragraph 4: Third, there is a constitutional flaw in the manner in which the provisions of paragraph 4 have been enacted.
- Paragraph 4(1) stipulates that a member of the house will not be disqualified from his membership where his original political party merges with another political party and he claims that he and other members have become members of the other political party or a new political party is being formed by such merger.
- However, paragraph 4(2) provides that such a merger would be deemed to have taken place only if not less than two-thirds of the members of the legislative party agreed to such a merger.
- This allows for clandestine corruption where two-thirds of the members of the legislative party are bought over, by means fair or foul, to either topple governments or to strengthen a razor-thin majority of the party in power.
- This makes the entire provision unworkable and unconstitutional.
- Prolonging the proceedings: We have witnessed situations where, even though the provisions of paragraph 4 are not ex-facie attracted, the speaker of the assembly makes sure that the proceedings are interminably prolonged so that the term of the assembly comes to an end before the proceedings under the Tenth Schedule against those ex-facie defectors have been concluded.
Need for urgent attention to Article 164(1B)
- This allows for the toppling of governments by inducements of various kinds.
- The motivation is that a fresh election allows the disqualified member to be re-elected.
- He then becomes a member of the assembly once again, as its term is not over and can also be appointed a minister.
- Under Article 164(1B), such a defection has no real consequences.
Way forward
- 1] Ensure impartiality of Speaker: Speakers, when elected must resign from the party to which they belong.
- At the end of their term, there should be a cooling-off period before they can become members of any political party.
- 2] Omit Paragraph 4 through Amendment: Paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule should be omitted by moving a constitutional amendment.
- 3] Make disqualification for 5 years: All those disqualified under paragraph 2 of the Tenth Schedule should neither be entitled to contest elections nor hold public office for five years from the date of their disqualification.
- Article 164(1B) should be omitted by moving a constitutional amendment.
- Set time limit to decide petition for disqualification: All petitions for disqualification of members under paragraph 2 of the Tenth Schedule should be decided, by adopting a summary procedure, within a period of three months.
Consider the question “Has anti-defection law succeeded in curbing the defections and ensuring the stability of the elected governments? Give reasons in support of your argument.”
Conclusion
If our polity wants to get rid of open corruption, it needs to take urgent steps to plug existing loopholes that have made the Tenth Schedule unworkable.
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Back2Basics: Article 164(1B)
- A member of the Legislative Assembly of a State or either House of the Legislature of a State having Legislative Council belonging to any political party who is disqualified for being a member of that House under paragraph 2 of the Tenth Schedule shall also be disqualified to be appointed as a Minister under clause (1) for duration of the period commencing from the date of his disqualification till the date on which the term of his office as such member would expire or where he contests any election to the Legislative Assembly of a State or either House of the Legislature of a State having Legislative Council, as the case may be, before the expiry of such period, till the date on which he is declared elected, whichever is earlier.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Amar Jawan Jyoti, National War Memorial
Mains level: Read the attached story
The iconic Amar Jawan Jyoti (AJJ) at India Gate was extinguished as a part of its merger with the flame at the National War Memorial (NWM). This has sparked a political controversy.
What is the Amar Jawan Jyoti?
- The eternal flame at the AJJ underneath India Gate in central Delhi was an iconic symbol of the nation’s tributes to the soldiers who have died for the country in various wars and conflicts since Independence.
- Established in 1972, it was to mark India’s victory over Pakistan in the 1971 War, which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh.
- The then PM Indira Gandhi had inaugurated it on Republic Day 1972, after India defeated Pakistan in December 1971.
Description of the bust
- The key elements of the Amar Jawan Jyoti included a black marble plinth, a cenotaph, which acted as a tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
- The plinth had an inverted L1A1 self-loading rifle with a bayonet, on top of which was a soldier’s war helmet.
How the eternal flame was kept burning?
- For 50 years the eternal flame had been burning underneath India Gate, without being extinguished.
- But on Friday, the flame was finally put off, as it was merged with another eternal flame at the National War Memorial.
- Since 1972, when it was inaugurated, it used to be kept alive with the help of cylinders of liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG.
- One cylinder could keep one burner alive for a day and a half.
- In 2006 that was changed. Though a project that cost around Rs 6 lakh the fuel for the flames was changed from LPG to piped natural gas, or PNG.
- It is through this piped gas that the flame marking the tribute to Indian soldiers had been kept alive eternally.
Why was it placed at India Gate?
- The India Gate, All India War Memorial, as it was known earlier, was built by the British in 1931.
- It was erected as a memorial to around 90,000 Indian soldiers of the British Indian Army, who had died in several wars and campaigns till then.
- Names of more than 13,000 dead soldiers are mentioned on the memorial commemorating them.
- As it was a memorial for the Indian soldiers killed in wars, the Amar Jawan Jyoti was established underneath it by the government in 1972.
Reasons for its relocation
- The correct perspective is that the flame will not be extinguished, but just moved to be merged with the one at the National War Memorial.
- The flame which paid homage to the soldiers killed in the 1971 War, does not even mention their name, and the India Gate is a “symbol of our colonial past”.
- The names of all Indian martyrs from all the wars, including 1971 and wars before and after it are housed at the National War Memorial.
- Hence it is a true tribute to have the flame paying tribute to martyrs there.
- Further, it can also be seen as part of the government’s redevelopment of the entire Central Vista, of which India Gate, the AJJ and the National War Memorial are parts of.
What else is planned with the extinguish?
- The canopy next to the India Gate will get a statue of the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
- The new statue will be 28 feet high.
- Till the statue is completed, a hologram statue of Bose will be placed under the canopy, which he will unveil on January 23.
- The canopy used to have a statue of Kind George V, which was removed in 1968.
Why Netaji?
- January 23 this year marks his 125th birth anniversary.
- From this year onwards, Republic Day celebrations will start on January 23, as opposed to the usual practice of starting it on January 24, to mark the birth anniversary of Bose.
- It will end on January 30, the day Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated.
- The government had earlier announced that Bose’s birth anniversary would be celebrated as Parakram Divas.
What is the National War Memorial and when was it made?
- The National War Memorial, which is around 400 meters from India Gate was inaugurated in February 2019, in an area of around 40 acres.
- It was built to commemorate all the soldiers who have laid down their lives in the various battles, wars, operations and conflicts of Independent India.
- There are many independent memorials for such soldiers, but no memorial existed commemorating them all at the national level.
- Discussions to build such a memorial had been ongoing since 1961, but it did not come up.
Its architecture
- The architecture of the memorial is based on four concentric circles.
- Largest is the Raksha Chakra or the Circle of Protection which is marked by a row of trees, each of which represent soldiers, who protect the country.
- The Tyag Chakra, the Circle of Sacrifice, has circular concentric walls of honour based on the Chakravyuh.
- The walls have independent granite tablets for each of the soldiers who have died for the country since Independence.
- As of today, there are 26,466 names of such soldiers on these granite tablets etched in golden letters.
- A tablet is added every time a soldier is killed in the line of duty.
- The final is the Amar Chakra, the Circle of Immortality, which has an obelisk, and the Eternal Flame.
- Busts of the 21 soldiers who have been conferred with the highest gallantry award of the country, Param Vir Chakra, are also installed at the memorial.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Declaration on Forests and Land Use
Mains level: Not Much
At COP-26 in Glasgow, countries got together to sign the Declaration on Forests and Land Use (or the Deforestation Declaration). However, India was among the few countries that did not sign the declaration.
What is this Deforestation Declaration?
- It was signed by 142 countries, which represented over 90 percent of forests across the world.
- The declaration commits to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 while delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation.
- The signatories committed $19 billion in private and public funds to this end.
Why did India abstain from joining?
- India had concerns about the linkage the declaration makes between deforestation, infrastructure development and trade.
- Any commitment to the environment and climate change should not involve any reference to trade, cited India.
- Analysts in India have linked the decision to a proposed amendment to the Forest Conservation Act 1980 that would ease the clearances presently required for acquiring forest land for new infrastructure projects.
India abstained from many things
- A look at India’s positions on some other recent critical pledges and decisions related to climate change reveals a clear pattern of objections or absence.
- At CoP26, India was not part of the dialogue on Forests, Agriculture and Commodity Trade (FACT).
- FACT, which is supported by 28 countries seeks to encourage “sustainable development and trade of agricultural commodities while protecting and managing sustainably forests and other critical ecosystems”.
- India also voted against a recent draft resolution to allow for discussions related to climate change and its impact on international peace and security to be taken up at the UNSC.
Why should India join this declaration?
- Broadly speaking, all of India’s objections are based on procedural issues at multilateral fora.
- Although justifiable on paper, these objections seem blind to the diverse ways in which climate change is linked to global trade, deforestation, agriculture, and international peace, among other issues.
- For context, consider India’s palm oil trade. India is the largest importer of crude palm oil in the world.
- Palm oil cultivation, covering roughly 16 million acres of land in Indonesia and Malaysia, has been the biggest driver of deforestation in the two countries.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Federal system
Mains level: Paper 2- Federal character of India polity
Context
Conscious recognition of the federal character of our polity is essential to protect our national character.
Federal spirit and ideas in Indian Constitution
- Conscious of the differential needs of the populations of different states, the drafters of the Constitution made provisions for an equitable share of powers and responsibilities among different levels of governments.
- The lists in the 7th Schedule of the Constitution — Union, state and concurrent — are an example of this division, wherein each level of government has its own sphere, enabling context-sensitive decision-making.
- Local self-government: Later, institutions for local self government were added through the 73rd and 74th amendments, which strengthened grass roots democracy.
- Division of responsibility: Article 246 and Article 243 G provide for this division of responsibilities.
- Finance Commission: Article 280 provided for the constitution of Finance Commission to define the financial relationship and terms between the Union and states.
- Inter-State Council: Article 263 provided for the establishment of an Inter-State Council for smooth transition of business between the Union and states and resolution of disputes.
- The inter-state tribunals, the National Development Council and other informal bodies have served as vehicles of consultations between the Union, states and UTs.
- Rajya Sabha: Apart from these institutions and the Rajya Sabha, the Constitution makers also left much scope for consultative and deliberative bodies so as to strengthen the spirit of cooperation and federalism.
Steps against the spirit of federalism
- The Planning Commission has been scrapped.
- The Inter-State Council has met only once in the last seven years while the National Development Council has not met at all.
- The tenure of the 15th Finance Commission was mired in controversy and many states expressed apprehensions about devolution.
- The GST has already taken away much of the autonomy available to states and has made the country’s indirect tax regime unitary in nature.
- Article 370 was removed without consulting the state legislature.
- Parliament legislated on “agriculture”, entry no. 14 in the state list, to enact the three contentious farm laws, overstepping its jurisdiction and imposing a law on the states.
- The New Education Policy has been flagged as encroaching on the federal nature of the polity.
- The BSF’s jurisdiction was extended in Assam, West Bengal and Punjab without any consultation with the concerned states.
- The constitutional office of governor has come under scrutiny several times for encroaching on the powers of state executive and legislature.
Conclusion
It should be underlined that Article 1 of our Constitution declares that “India that is Bharat is a union of states”, and that devolution of powers is necessary in such a setting.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: All India Services
Mains level: Paper 2- Amendments to IAS Cadre rules
Context
The Central Government has proposed four amendments to Rule 6(1) of the IAS (Cadre) Rules, 1954 dealing with deputation, and has sought the views of State governments before January 25, 2022.
Historical background of All India Services
- It was Sardar Patel who had championed the creation of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS) as “All India Services” (AIS) whose members would be recruited and appointed by the Centre and allotted to various States, and who could serve both under the State and the Centre.
- Speaking to the Constituent Assembly on October 10, 1949, Patel said, “The Union will go, you will not have a united India if you have not a good All India Service which has the independence to speak out its mind, which has a sense of security….”.
Central deputation of All India Service officers
- Consultative process: AIS officers are made available for central deputation through a consultative process involving the Centre, the States and the officers concerned.
- The Centre would choose officers only from among those “on offer” from the States.
- Concurrence of the State government: The existing Rule 6(1) states that a cadre officer may be deputed to the Central Government (or to another State or a PSU) only with the concurrence of the State Government concerned.
- However, it has a proviso which states that in case of any disagreement, the matter shall be decided by the Central Government.
- Unfortunately, both the Centre and the States have at times flouted these healthy conventions for political considerations.
The politicisation of the deputation process
- In May 2021, the Centre unilaterally issued orders for the central deputation of the Chief Secretary of West Bengal just before his last day in service.
- Some States used to vindictively withhold the names of some of the officers who had opted for central deputation or delay their relief after they were picked up by the Centre.
- The proposed amendment to rule: The Central Government has proposed four amendments to Rule 6(1) of the IAS (Cadre) Rules, 1954 dealing with deputation.
Two of the four proposed amendments are disconcerting
- 1] Providing a fixed number of IAS officers for central deputation: One is a new proviso making it mandatory for the State government to provide a certain fixed number of IAS officers for central deputation every year.
- The proposed amendment more or less compels a State government to offer IAS officers for central deputation even when these officers themselves may not wish to go on central deputation.
- Reasons for shortage of IAS officers: Poor working conditions in junior-level posts, an opaque and arbitrary system of empanelment for senior-level posts, and lack of security of tenure at all levels are the real reasons for the shortage of IAS officers, which the Centre should address.
- 2] Requiring states to release the officer: The other is a proviso that requires the State government to release such officers whose services may be sought by the Central Government in specific situations.
- Based on experiences of the recent past, State governments have a justified apprehension that this proviso may be misused for political considerations.
Issues with the proposed amendments
- The contemplated changes have grave implications for the independence, security and morale of IAS officers.
- Infringement of rights of States: States are right in perceiving the proposed amendments as a serious infringement of their rights to deploy IAS officers as they deem best, especially when the cutting edge of policy implementation is mostly at the State level.
- States may prefer officers of the State Civil Services to handle as many posts as possible.
- . In course of time, the IAS will lose its sheen, and the best and the brightest candidates will no longer opt for the IAS.
- Against cooperative federalism: In S.R. Bommai vs Union of India (1994), the Supreme Court held that “States have an independent constitutional existence and they have as important a role to play in the political, social, educational and cultural life of the people as the Union. They are neither satellites nor agents of the Centre”.
Consider the questions “What are the proposed amendments to IAS Rule 1954? What are the concerns with the proposed changes?”
Conclusion
In a federal setup, it is inevitable that differences and disputes would arise between the Centre and the States. But all such quarrels should be resolved in the spirit of cooperative federalism and keeping the larger national interest in mind.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NEET Quota row
Mains level: Significance of the Judgment, New definition of Merit
The Supreme Court has pronounced its decision upholding the constitutional validity of providing 27% quota to Other Backward Classes (OBC) in NEET All India Quota (AIQ) seats for UG and PG medical courses.
What is the issue?
- The petitioners, several NEET aspirants, had argued that since the top court had limited reservation to 50% in the Indira Sawhney judgment, the government should have first applied to the court before tinkering with the quota calculations.
- The court further confirmed that there was no need for the Centre to have got the prior consent of the Supreme Court before introducing OBC quota in the AIQ seats under NEET.
- The court reasoned that material affluence of certain individual members of a socially backward group or ‘creamy layer’ could not be used against the entire group to deny it the benefits of reservation.
What is the background of this case?
- The government introduced OBC/EWS quota before the counselling of NEET counselling.
- The candidates applying for NEET PG were not provided any information on the distribution of the seat matrix.
- Such information is provided by the counselling authority only after the counselling session is to begin.
Key observations of the Apex Court
- The SC has held that reservation is not at odds with merit.
- It observed that ‘merit’ could not be narrowed to the limit of success in open competitive exams.
- Merit of a person is a sum total of “lived experiences” and his or her struggle to overcome cultural and social setbacks, observed the SC.
Why is this a landmark judgment?
- Merit cannot be reduced to narrow definitions of performance in an open competitive examination, which only provides formal equality of opportunities , said the SC.
- Current competencies are assessed by competent examinations but are not reflective of excellence, capability and potential of an individual.
Major justifications for Reservations
- Exams did not reflect how social, economic and cultural advantages that accrued to certain classes contributed to their success in them, the court noted.
- Examinations are not a proxy for merit.
- Merit should be socially contextualized and re-conceptualized.
- Reservation is not at odds with merit but furthers its distributive impact, Justice Chandrachud observed.
Constitutionality of the decision
- The court held that the power of the State governments to provide reservations under Article 15 (4) and (5) of the Constitution was not an “exception” to Article 15 (1).
- It enshrines the mandate that “the State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, and place of birth or any of them”.
- The court held that the power of the State government to craft reservations for the OBC amplified the principle of “substantive equality” manifested through Article 15 (1).
Implications: Victory for States
- In a significant victory for States such as Tamil Nadu, the court confirmed their power to make “special provisions” and provide reservations in educational admissions, whether in aided or unaided institutions.
- TN provides government jobs for the advancement of “any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the SCs and STs”.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various articles mentioned in news
Mains level: Reservations for OBCs
The latest order in Rahul Ramesh Wagh v. State of Maharashtra &Ors makes it mandatory that the principles laid down by the Supreme Court for providing reservation to OBCs in local bodies shall be followed across the country.
Let us understand the Case
- Maharashtra had constituted a Commission to ascertain the backwardness of OBCs in June 2021.
- But without waiting for an empirical report, an ordinance was promulgated to amend the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads Act, Panchayat Samitis Act and the Maharashtra Village Panchayat Act.
- They were aimed to conduct local body elections with OBC reservation.
- This was struck down by the Supreme Court.
The latest case arose out of the challenge made to the ordinance promulgated on the teeth of the Supreme Court judgments by the Governor of Maharashtra to conduct the local body elections by providing 27% reservation to OBCs.
What did the SC observe now?
- Reservation to OBCs in local body elections without empirical base can no more be sustainable in law.
- The latest order in RR Wagh v. State of Maharashtra & others makes it mandatory that the principles laid down by the Supreme Court for providing reservation to OBCs in local bodies shall be scrupulously followed across the country.
Which principles is the apex court talking about?
- A five-judge Constitution Bench in the K. Krishnamurthy (Dr.) v. Union of India (2010) judgment said that barriers to political participation are not the same as barriers to education and employment.
- Though reservation to local bodies is permissible, the top court declared that the same is subject to three conditions:
- to set up a dedicated Commission to conduct empirical inquiry into the nature of the backwardness in local bodies
- to specify the proportion of reservation required to be provisioned local body-wise
- such reservation shall not exceed aggregate of 50% cap of the total seats reserved for SCs/STs/OBCs taken together
- This is famously referred as ‘Triplet Test’.
Major takeaways of K. Krishnamurthy Case
In this case, the Supreme Court had interpreted Article 243D(6) and Article 243T(6), which permit reservation by enactment of law for backward classes in local bodies respectively.
- It held that barriers to political participation are not the same as that of the barriers that limit access to education and employment.
- However, for creating a level playing field, reservation may be desirable as mandated by the aforementioned conditions.
- Above articles provide a separate constitutional basis for reservation, as distinct from what are conceived under Article 15 (4) and Article 16 (4) which form the basis for reservation in education and employment.
Reception of the Krishnamurthy Judgment
- The Indian political class usually displays apathy to the law declared by the courts as contrary to the enacted law.
- The 2010 judgment was not acted upon and the constitutionality of the enacted reservation was challenged.
- This resulted in the 2021 judgment of a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court.
What can be concluded from the aspirant’s perspective?
- Maharashtra Legislative Assembly passed a resolution to stall the local body elections in the wake of the judicial interference.
- Elections, undoubtedly, must be held on time.
- Since Judiciary does not usually interfere into Elections, States often seek to bypass the OBC reservation issues.
Conclusion
- Had the governments stuck to the law as mandated by Article 141 of the Constitution, this quandary wouldn’t have arisen.
- Much of the judiciary’s time could have been saved.
- Rule of law is not just a set of letters, but it has to be followed in spirit.
Back2Basics: Article 141 of the Constitution
- It stipulates that the law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding on all Courts within the territory of India.
- Thus, the general principles laid down, by the Supreme Court are binding on each individual including those who are not a party to an order.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Read the attached story
Mains level: Hurdles in 5G Rollout
Air India said Boeing had cleared its B777 aircraft for flights to the US following concerns that the 5G roll-out there could interfere with critical aircraft functions.
What is 5G Technology?
- 5G or fifth generation is the latest upgrade in the long-term evolution (LTE) mobile broadband networks.
- It’s a unified platform which is much more capable than previous mobile services with more capacity, lower latency, faster data delivery rate and better utilization of spectrum.
How can 5G affect flight safety?
- Airlines take off and land using auto-pilot systems, which use data from radar altimeters to determine the altitude of the aircraft.
- Altimeters emit radio waves at 4.2-4.3 Gigahertz (GHz) frequency, which could interfere with a 5G band called C-Band, which lies between 3.7-4.4 GHz.
- This interference can mess up the data. That’s the safety concern. Radio altimeters are used at airports and other low-altitude locations.
- A different kind of altimeter, called pressure altimeter, is used for high altitude areas.
- Not using auto-pilot would lead to more fuel consumption and higher costs for airlines.
What happens to Air India’s operations?
- While scheduled international flights, to and from India, remain suspended due to the pandemic, Air India operates flights to the US under an air bubble agreement.
- These routes are served by the airline’s wide-body fleet of Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 planes.
- The roll out of 5G is expected to primarily impact the operations of Boeing 777 and 747.
Can this impact India’s 5G roll-out?
- India’s 5G auctions are expected to include spectrum bands of 3.3GHz -3.6GHz, which means the C-Band may not be operational, at least in the near future.
- Plus, aircraft equipment is manufactured globally, with certain standards.
- The FAA tests will likely lead to standards for altimeters and applied internationally.
- For aircraft makers, altimeters are key equipment. But they’re bought off-the-rack instead being designed in-house.
- Once a standard is known, it can be implemented in all aircraft.
Also read
[Burning Issue] 5G Technology
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Anti-Microbial Resistance
Mains level: Overdose of anti-biotics
The Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) report published in The Lancet provides the most comprehensive estimate of the global impact of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) so far.
What is AMR?
- Antimicrobial resistance (AMR or AR) is the ability of a microbe to resist the effects of medication that once could successfully treat the microbe
- Antibiotic resistance occurs naturally, but misuse of antibiotics in humans and animals is accelerating the process.
- A growing number of infections – such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorrhoea, and salmonellosis – are becoming harder to treat as the antibiotics used to treat them become less effective.
- It leads to higher medical costs, prolonged hospital stays, and increased mortality.
How does it occur?
- Antibiotics are medicines used to prevent and treat bacterial infections.
- Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in response to the use of these medicines.
- Bacteria, not humans or animals, become antibiotic-resistant.
- These bacteria may infect humans and animals, and the infections they cause are harder to treat than those caused by non-resistant bacteria.
What did the GRAM report find?
- AMR is a leading cause of death globally, higher than HIV/AIDS or malaria.
- As many as 4.95 million deaths may be associated with bacterial AMR in 2019.
- Lower respiratory tract infections accounted for more than 1.5 million deaths associated with resistance in 2019, making it the most common infectious syndrome.
The six leading pathogens for deaths associated with resistance were:
- Escherichia coli (E. Coli)
- Staphylococcus aureus
- Klebsiella pneumonia
- Streptococcus pneumonia
- Acinetobacter baumannii
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
What are the implications of this study?
- Common infections such as lower respiratory tract infections, bloodstream infections, and intra-abdominal infections are now killing hundreds of thousands of people every.
- This includes historically treatable illnesses, such as pneumonia, hospital-acquired infections, and foodborne ailments.
Way forward
- Doctors recommend greater action to monitor and control infections, globally, nationally and within individual hospitals.
- Access to vaccines, clean water and sanitation ought to be expanded.
- The use of antibiotics unrelated to treating human disease, such as in food and animal production must be “optimised” and finally they recommend being “more thoughtful”.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sammakka-Sarakka Jatara
Mains level: Not Much
Medaram, a tiny village in Telangana’s tribal heartland of Mulugu district, is getting ready to host the Sammakka-Sarakka jatara, billed as the country’s biggest tribal fair.
Sammakka-Sarakka Jatara
- The mega four-day jatara, scheduled to begin on February 16 in Medaram. It takes place once in two years.
- It is perhaps the only tribal fair devoted to pay tribute to tribal warriors who made supreme sacrifices defending the rights of aboriginal tribal people.
- It symbolises the traditions and heritage of the Koya tribal people.
- The sacred site in Medaram and its surrounding Jampanna vagu, named after tribal martyr Jampanna, son of Sammakka, comes alive with lakhs of devotees during the four-day jatara.
Why do tribals come to Medaram?
- This festival commemorates a tribal revolt led by Sammakka and Saralamma, a mother-daughter duo, against levy of taxes on tribal people during drought conditions by the then Kakatiya rulers in the 12th century.
- Tribals (and others) flock to Medaram during the jatara not just from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh but also from as far as Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
- Sammakka and Saralamma are revered by devotees as tribal goddesses, and devotees make offerings to propitiate them to bestow health and wealth.
- All the rituals at the jatara site are held in tune with tribal traditions under the aegis of tribal priests.
Features of the celebrations
- One of the striking features of the tribal fair is the offering of jaggery to the tribal goddess at the altars (bamboo poles).
- It encompasses common features of tribal fairs – die-hard devotees going into a trance, the sacrifice of fowls and goats, besides pulsating traditional drum beats accompanying folk songs.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tamiraparani Civilization
Mains level: Ancient Indian Civilizations
A reconnaissance survey in the sea off the coast of Korkai in Thoothukudi district where Tamiraparani River joins the sea, which finds mention in Sangam literature, will be undertaken by the Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department.
About Tamiraparani River
- The Thamirabarani or Tamraparni or Porunai is a perennial river that originates from the Agastyarkoodam peak of the Pothigai hills of the Western Ghats.
- It flows through the Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts of the Tamil Nadu state of southern India into the Gulf of Mannar.
- It was called the Tamraparni River in the pre-classical period, a name it lent to the island of Sri Lanka.
- The old Tamil name of the river is Porunai.
Its history
- Its many name derivations of Tan Porunai include Tampraparani, Tamirabarni, Tamiravaruni.
- Tan Porunai nathi finds mention by classical Tamil poets in ancient Sangam Tamil literature Purananuru.
- Recognised as a holy river in Sanskrit literature Puranas, Mahabharata and Ramayana, the river was famed in the Early Pandyan Kingdom for its pearl and conch fisheries and trade.
- The movement of people, including the faithful, trade merchants and toddy tapers from Tamraparni river to northwestern Sri Lanka led to the shared appellation of the name for the closely connected region.
- One important historical document on the river is the treatise Tamraparni Mahatmyam.
- It has many ancient temples along its banks. A hamlet known as Appankoil is located on the northern side of the river.
Back2Basics: Keeladi Civilization
- The Keeladi tale began to unravel in March 2015 when first round of excavation was undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
- It unearthed antiquities providing crucial evidence to understanding the missing links of the Iron Age [12th century BCE to 6th century BCE] to the Early Historic Period [6th century BCE to 4th century BCE].
- Further excavations threw up strong clues about the existence of a Tamil Civilization that had trade links with other regions in the country and abroad.
- This civilization has been described by Tamil poets belonging to the Sangam period.
- Results of carbon dating of a few artifacts traced their existence to 2nd century BCE (the Sangam period).
Key findings in excavations
- These included brick structures, terracotta ring wells, fallen roofing with tiles, golden ornaments, broken parts of copper objects, iron implements, terracotta chess pieces, ear ornaments, spindle whorls, figurines.
- It also had black and redware, rouletted ware and a few pieces of Arretine ware, besides beads made of glass, terracotta and semi-precious stones.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NATO
Mains level: Paper 2- Disruption in Central Asia and role of Russia
Context
Vladimir Putin, who annexed Crimea in 2014 has now mobilised some 100,000 troops on the Ukraine border.
How insecurity and history plays role in Russia’s actions
- Russia, the world’s largest country by land mass, lacks natural borders except the Arctic Ocean in the north and the Pacific in the far east.
- Its vast land borders stretch from northern Europe to Central and north east Asia.
- The country’s heartland that runs from St. Petersburg through Moscow to the Volga region lies on plains and is vulnerable to attacks.
- In the last two centuries, Russia saw two devastating invasions from the west — the 1812 attack by Napoleonic France and the 1941 attack by Nazi Germany.
- After the Second World War, Russia re-established its control over the rim land in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which it hoped would protect its heartland.
- But the disintegration of the Soviet Union threw its security calculations into disarray, deepening its historical insecurity.
NATO’s expansion after disintegration of the Soviet Union
- When the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia lost over three million square kilometres of sovereign territory.
- In the last months of the Soviet Union, the West promised that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would not “expand an inch to the east”.
- The United States and the United Kingdom repeated the pledge after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
- But despite the promises, NATO continued expansion.
- In March 1999, in the first enlargement since the end of the Cold War, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland (all were members of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact) joined NATO.
- Five years later, seven more countries — including the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, all of which share borders with Russia — were taken into the alliance.
- Russia felt threatened but was not able to respond.
- But in 2008, when the U.S. promised membership to Georgia and Ukraine in the Bucharest summit, Russia, which was coming out of the post-Soviet retreat, responded forcefully.
How Russia see NATO expansion as threat to its dominance on Black Sea
- Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania, all Black Sea basin countries, are NATO members.
- Ukraine and Georgia are the other countries that share the Black Sea coast, besides Russia.
- Russia was already feeling squeezed on the Black Sea front, its gateway to the Mediterranean Sea.
- If Ukraine and Georgia also join NATO, Russia fears that its dominance over the Black Sea would come to an end.
- So, in 2008, Mr. Putin sent troops to Georgia over the separatist conflict in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
- In 2014, when the Kremlin-friendly regime of Ukraine was toppled by pro-western protesters, he moved to annex the Crimean peninsula, expanding Russia’s Black Sea coast, thereby protecting its fleet based in Sevastopol in Crimea.
Restoring the rim land
- In recent years, Mr. Putin has tried to turn every crisis in the former Soviet region into a geopolitical opportunity.
- South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the self-proclaimed republics that broke away from Georgia, are controlled by Russia-backed forces.
- In 2020, when protests erupted in Belarus after a controversial presidential election, Mr. Putin sent assistance to the country to restore order.
- In the same year, Russia sent thousands of “peacekeepers” to end the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
- Earlier this year, Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, with Mr. Putin’s backing, manufactured a migrant crisis on the Polish border of the European Union.
- This month, when violent unrest broke out in Kazakhstan, the largest and wealthiest country in Central Asia, its leader turned to Russia for help.
How do geopolitical circumstances favour Russia?
- The U.S.’s ignominious withdrawal from Afghanistan has left the Central Asian republics deeper in the Russian embrace.
- Europe is very much dependent on Russian gas, which limits its response.
- For years, the West, the winner of the Cold War, discounted Mr. Putin.
- Having failed to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan, NATO is unlikely to pick a war with Russia over Ukraine.
Conclusion
By destabilising Georgia and Ukraine and re-establishing Russia’s hold in Belarus, Caucasus and Central Asia, Moscow has effectively stalled NATO’s further expansion into its backyard.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PLI scheme
Mains level: Paper 3- Lessons from the success of mobile manufacturing
Context
The mobile phones and room air conditioners (RAC) sectors in recent times have shown us the formulae for expansion of the manufacturing sector and growing exports.
How did India expand its mobile manufacturing base?
- We were one of the largest consumers of mobile phones in 2014.
- In 2014-15, our mobile phone imports exceeded $8 billion.
- Our electronics imports were threatening to exceed our oil imports.
- Steps taken by govt: The government took many steps like 100 per cent automatic FDI,
- levy of import duties to protect local manufacturers,
- the Phased Manufacturing Plan (PMP),
- manufacturing clusters (EMC 2.0) and
- the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
- They have attracted investments, created lakhs of jobs, and have moved us from being a net importer to a net exporter.
- Our mobile phone manufacturing value has jumped more than eight times from Rs 0.27 trillion in 2013-14 to Rs 2.2 trillion in 2020-21.
- We have surpassed the US and South Korea to become the second-largest manufacturer globally.
Steps need to be taken
- Our mobile phone exports are primarily limited to feature phones and low-value smartphones.
- India must aim for a significant increase in exports from the current $4 billion.
- China exports $200 billion, and Vietnam exports $60 billion worth of mobile phones.
- The PLI scheme aims to achieve the same by allocating incentives of Rs 410 billion for the mobile phone category over the next five years.
- Low value addition: Our value addition in mobile phone manufacturing is currently limited to 15-20 per cent versus more than 40 per cent in China.
- The scheme for promoting the manufacturing of electronic components and semiconductors (SPECS) is a step in the right direction.
- We must focus on setting up a fabrication plant to manufacture semiconductor chips to facilitate complete vertical integration.
The Room AC sector story
- We imported RACs worth Rs 41 billion in 2017-18.
- The government initiated multiple measures such as the PMP scheme, banning the import of refrigerant-filled ACs, increasing the import duty on RACs and critical components, and the PLI scheme.
- From 2017-18, RAC imports have declined by 56 per cent to Rs 18 billion in 2020-21.
- Our import of RACs has shifted from China to an FTA country like Thailand, where import duty isn’t applicable.
- A judicious mix of protection (levy of import duty/banning of finished goods) and incentives (PMP, PLI scheme, 100 per cent FDI) has developed local manufacturing, created jobs, and turned a trade surplus.
Way forward
- We missed the manufacturing/export bus in the 1980s.
- We did excel in services like software to become back office to the world. With China+1 becoming a geopolitical imperative, it is an opportune time for us to expand the manufacturing sector and improve our export market share.
- To achieve our true potential we need close coordination and seamless working between central, state, and local governments, the rule of law, improvements in infrastructure, especially logistics and flexible labour laws.
Conclusion
Many of our peers are ahead of us in ease of doing business, but none of them has a large domestic market like us. The automobile and generic pharma sector in the past and the mobile phone/RAC sectors recently have shown that we know the formulae.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendment
Mains level: Paper 2- Strengthening local governments
Context
The “State Finances, Study of Budgets of 2021-22” report, correctly identify the role of the city governments in meeting the challenges the pandemic has thrown up, the report also points to the draining of resources.
What the RBI report says about the role of local governments
- The report highlights the frontline role played by the third-tier governments by implementing containment strategies, healthcare.
- Due to this, their finances have come under severe strain, forcing them to cut down expenditures and mobilise funding from various sources.
- Need for functional autonomy: The RBI further commented that the functional autonomy of civic bodies must increase and their governance structure strengthened.
- Empowering financially: This could happen by ‘empowering them financially through higher resource availability.
- The RBI did echo the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission report on local bodies that emphasised city governance structures and financial empowerment.
- Limited coverage of property tax: The RBI report also highlights the limited coverage of property tax and its failure in shoring up municipal corporation revenues.
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data show that India has the lowest property tax collection rate in the world — i.e., property tax to GDP ratio.
Issues faced by city governments
- During the pandemic, while leaders from the Prime Minister to Chief Ministers to District Magistrate were seen taking a call on disaster mitigation strategies, city mayors were found missing.
- The old approach of treating cities as adjuncts of State governments continues to dominate the policy paradigm.
- The general approach towards urban empowerment has remained piecemeal in India.
- The first intervention to understand ‘the urban’ (though there are references in the Five Year plans) and plan with a pan-Indian vision took place in the 1980s when the National Commission On Urbanisation was formed with Charles Correa as its chairperson.
- Another important intervention was in the first half of the 1990s with the Constitution 73rd and 74th Amendments.
- The latter refers to urban reforms — empowering urban local bodies to perform 18 functions listed in the 12th Schedule.
- However, there is no mention of financial empowerment.
- The only exception to the rule has been the people’s plan model of Kerala where 40% of the State’s plan budget was for local bodies (directly) with a transfer of important subjects such as planning, etc.
How to achieve functional autonomy for city government
- This should happen with three F’s: the transfer of ‘functions, finances and functionaries’ to city governments.
- There are nearly 5,000 statutory towns and an equal number of census towns in India.
- Nearly 35% of the population lives in urban centres.
- And, nearly two-thirds of the country’s GDP stems from cities and almost 90% of government revenue flows from urban centres.
- Before value-added tax and other centralised taxation systems, one of the major earnings of cities used to be from octroi.
- But this source of revenue collection was taken away by the State and the central governments.
- Instead, finance commissions recommended grants to urban local bodies based on a formula of demographic profile.
- In such a situation, it is difficult for the towns to sustain their ability to perform their bare minimum functions, especially with the latest Pay Commission recommendations.
- This has resulted in burdening people more with taxes and further privatisation/outsourcing of the services of the municipalities.
- The often-cited example is how cities in the Scandinavian countries manage their functions well — from city planning to mobility to waste management.
- But the truth is that a chunk of the income tax from citizens is given to city governments.
- A committee formed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to review the 74th constitutional amendment recommended that 10% of income tax collected from the cities was to be given back to them as a direct revenue grant from the central government.
Way forward
- 1] Cities must be treated as important centres of governance, where democratic decentralisation can bring in amazing results.
- There will be transparency and adequate participation of the people.
- 2] Cities should not be considered as entrepreneurship spaces where the sole driving force is to make them competitive to attract investments.
- 3] The resources required for quantitative and qualitative data must be immediately provided to the cities to ensure a disaster risk reduction plan keeping vulnerable communities in mind.
- 4] A piecemeal approach such as the concept of ‘smart cities’ must be shunned altogether.
- This approach further widens the gap between different sets of people.
- 5] Leadership in the cities must be elected for a term of five years.
- Likewise, the third F, i.e., functionaries, must be transferred to the cities with a permanent cadre.
Consider the question “The functional autonomy of civic bodies must be increased and their governance structure strengthened. This could happen by ‘empowering them financially through higher resource availability’. Comment.”
Conclusion
Thus, in this exercise by the RBI, the good part is that there has least been a mention of cities, with local bodies as important centres of governance.
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