Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Creation of All India Services
Mains level: Paper 2- Civil Service reforms
Context
Recently, two IAS officers were the subject of widespread public derision for misuse of power. A week later, the media and the public feted those who had successfully cracked the UPSC examination in order to become bureaucrats of the future.
About Indian Administrative Service
- Civil Services refer to the career civil servants who are the permanent executive branch of the Republic of India.
- The modern Indian Administrative Service was created under Article 312(2) in part XIV of the Constitution of India, and the All-India Services Act, 1951.
- It is the backbone of the administrative machinery of the country.
- As India is a parliamentary democracy, the ultimate responsibility for running the administration rests with the people’s elected representatives.
- The elected executive decides the policy and it is civil servants, who serve at the pleasure of the President of India, implement it.
- Article 311 of the Constitution protects Civil Servants from politically motivated vindictive action.
What makes civil services favourable in India
- Most countries in the world have a cadre of professional civil servants but nowhere are new entrants to the system of government celebrated like in India.
- Colonial legacy: The fact is that, 75 years after independence and 30 years after liberalisation, there is still an overhang of the all-powerful, all-pervasive state.
- There are good reasons for a favourable view of the civil services.
- Merit based selection: For one, candidates are selected on merit based on an open examination and interview.
- Job security: Then there is the job security that comes with gaining entry.
- Unless a civil servant does an extraordinary wrong, she has a job for life, and steady, time-bound promotions which ensure that everyone retires at the top irrespective of performance.
Issues with public perception
- However, in the perceived strengths of the civil services lie its weaknesses.
- Single exam: The single UPSC examination is treated as gospel.
- But merit and competence cannot be judged by a single exam.
- Permanence is a problem: The permanence of the job is a problem too.
- Punishment for over-reach or misuse of power is a transfer, either from a weightier ministry to a lighter one or from high-profile capitals to geographically remote ones.
- A system of limited accountability: The result is that all civil servants, never mind their ability or competence, operate in a system of limited accountability with few incentives to perform and plenty of opportunities to use and abuse their powers.
Way forward
- Placing civil servant at par with other professions: The civil services system needs to be brought down from its pedestal and placed at par with every other profession like elsewhere in the world.
- This will not happen via political diktat. It requires the weight of public opinion.
- Broaden the selection criteria: The system must be manned by capable, competent individuals. This cannot be decided on the basis of one exam.
- Remove the job permanency: The underperforming officers need to be separated which cannot happen when the job is for life.
- It may sound radical for India’s civil services but that is the way the rest of India and the world function, including the UK from where we inherited the structure.
Conclusion
If we can make these changes in the civil services, India will get the government it needs for the 21st century.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)
Mains level: Paper 2- Opportunities and challenges for BIMSTEC
Context
After 25 years, BIMSTEC can do much better as a grouping, addressing shortcomings in trade and connectivity.
About BIMSTEC
- BIST-EC in 1997: The 1997 Bangkok Declaration led to creation of the grouping of Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand with the acronym, BIST-EC.
- BIMSTEC: Three countries-Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar joined BIST-EC later to make it the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
- At the grouping’s birth, the world was different; it was stamped by America’s ‘unipolar moment’.
- India and Thailand joined hands to start an experiment of infusing a part of South Asia with the economic and institutional dynamism that defined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
- But BIMSTEC found the burdens of South Asia too heavy to carry, and so it grew slowly.
- The grouping has succeeded in rejuvenating itself.
- Instrument of regional cooperation and integration: Since its Kathmandu summit in 2018, it is viewed as an instrument of regional cooperation and integration, not just of sub-regional cooperation.
New opportunities in the changed geopolitical context
- In the third decade of the 21st century, the strategic contestation between the United States and China defines the region’s geopolitics and geo-economics, creating new tensions and opportunities.
- Deepening linkage between South Asia and Southeast Asia: In this Indo-Pacific century, the Bay of Bengal Community (BOBC) has the potential to play a pivotal role, deepening linkages between South Asia and Southeast Asia.
- Collaboration with IPEF: It should accelerate the region’s economic development by collaborating with the newly minted Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF).
- New synergy should be created between BIMSTEC and the IPEF.
- While all member-states are equal, three have a special responsibility: Bangladesh as the host of the BIMSTEC Secretariat; Thailand as the representative of Southeast Asia; and India as the largest state in South Asia.
Key achievements of BIMSTEC
- Charter: It has crafted a new Charter for itself, spelling out the grouping’s vision, functions of its constituent parts, and has secured a legal personality.
- Sectors of cooperation reduced to 7: It has prioritised the sectors of cooperation, reducing them from the unwieldy 14 to the more manageable seven, with each member-state serving as the lead country for the assigned sector.
- Strengthened Secretariat: It has, finally, taken measures to strengthen the Secretariat.
- Combating terrorism: The grouping has also registered progress in combating terrorism, forging security cooperation, and creating mechanisms and practices for the better management of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
- Held regular summits: Unlike the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, post-2014, BIMSTEC has continued to hold its summits and meetings of Foreign Ministers.
- Unlike the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) which held only one summit since its establishment in 1997, BIMSTEC has succeeded in holding five summits so far; it has now resolved to hold regular summits once in two years.
- Sectoral cooperation: Institutions such as an Energy Centre and the Centre on Weather and Climate are in place to push sectoral cooperation forward.
Challenges
- No progress on FTA yet: A major failure relates to the continuing inability to produce a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) 18 years after the signing of the Framework Agreement.
- Lack of connectivity: The other disappointment is connectivity — in infrastructure (roads, railways, air, river, and coastal shipping links), energy, the digital and financial domain, and institutions that bring people closer together for trade, tourism and cultural exchanges.
- Only limited progress has been achieved so far, despite the adoption of the Master Plan for Connectivity supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
- Much of the connectivity established recently is the outcome of bilateral initiatives taken by India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan to strengthen transport links.
- No progress on Blue Economy: The grouping has talked about the Blue Economy but is yet to begin any work on it.
- Business chambers and corporate leaders are yet to be engaged fully with the activities of BIMSTEC.
Conclusion
If BIMSTEC is truly committed to its stated goals, it must recreate the spirit of working in unison.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Act East Policy
Context
The military takeover in Myanmar on February 1, 2021 and its aftermath have seen an adverse impact on India’s Act East policy.
What happened in Myanmar?
- The 2021 coup occurred in the aftermath of the general election on 8 November 2020, in which the NLD won 396 out of 476 seats in parliament, an even larger margin of victory than in the 2015 election. The military’s proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, won only 33 seats. The Army claimed the results of the election were rigged and did not acknowledge the results.
- On February 3 2021, Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest under charges for breaking COVID-19 laws. Additional charges included importing and using radio and communication devices from her security team which is prohibited in Myanmar and require clearances from intelligence agencies.
- Aung San Suu Kyi received an additional criminal charge for violating the National Disaster Act on 16 February, and two additional charges for violating communications laws and an intent to incite public unrest on 1 March.
Events of the Myanmar Coup
- By March 31st 2021, at least 520 civilians have been killed by military or police forces and at least 3070 pope. At least three members from the NLD have died in police custody
- About 400 elected parliament members were placed under house arrest. Following the coup, the NLD arranged for the MPs to remain housed in the complex until 6 February.
- When the Myanmar ambassador to the United Nations, Kyaw Moe Tun, condemned the coup by the military, he was fired from his post the following day.
- Civil resistance efforts have emerged within the country, in opposition to the. Numerous acts of civil disobedience labour strokes, military boycott campaign, and formal recognition of the election results by elected officials
- Since the onset of the coup, residents in urban centres such as Yangon staged cacerolazos, striking pots and pans in unison every evening as a symbolic act to drive away evil, as a method of expressing their opposition to the coup.
India’s stance regarding the Myanmar Coup
- Ever since the protests started, there have been reports of defections from the Myanmar Police Force. On March 11, 2021, 11 officers crossed the India-Myanmar border into the state of Mizoram with their families. The Myanmar government reached out to India to extradite them, with the Indian government replying that they would make a decision regarding that matter.
- The Assam Rifles were given orders to tighten security along the India–Myanmar border. From 10 March, the border has been closed after 48 nationals from Myanmar have crossed it.
- Officially, the Indian government has expressed its deepest concern regarding the developing situation in Myanmar. While supporting a smooth and transitional process towards democracy, it is also concerned that the instability in Myanmar may affect the northeastern states.
Look East Policy
- In order to recover from the loss of the strategic partner -USSR (end of the Cold war 1991), India sought to build up a relationship with the USA and allies of the USA in Southeast Asia.
- In this pursuit, former Prime minister of India P V Narasimha Rao launched Look East policy in 1992, to give a strategic push to India’s engagement with the South-East Asia region, to bolster its standing as a regional power and a counterweight to the strategic influence of the People’s Republic of China.
Difference Between Look East and Act East:
Look East:
- Look East policy focused on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries + Economic Integration.
- India became a dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1996 and summit level partner in 2002.
- In 2012 the relationship got up-graded into a Strategic Partnership.
- The time when India launched the Look East Policy in 1992, India’s trade with ASEAN was USD 2 billion. After signing the Free Trade Agreement in 2010 with ASEAN, the trade has grown to USD 72 billion (2017-18).
- India is also an active participant in several regional forums like the East Asia Summit (EAS), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) etc.
Act East:
Act East Policy focused on ASEAN countries + Economic Integration + East Asian countries + Security cooperation.
Prime minister of India highlighted 4C’s of Act East Policy.
- Culture
- Commerce
- Connectivity
- Capacity building
- Security is an important dimension of India’s Act East Policy.
- In the context of growing Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, securing freedom of navigation and India’s own role in the Indian Ocean is a key feature of Act East Policy.
- In pursuance of this, India has been engaged under the narrative of Indo-pacific and informal grouping called Quad.
Impact on Act East policy
- With the present dispensation in Myanmar, the Act East policy is going nowhere.
- Impact on outreach: This has not only stymied New Delhi’s initiatives in terms of land outreach towards the vibrant economies of South East Asia, but has retarded development in the Northeast.
- Pragmatism demands that an ambitious policy that had fired the aspirations of the Northeast does not become a casualty to the inertia of policymakers.
- There seems to be a full-bodied recalibration exercise among insurgent groups operating from the Sagaing Division and Chin State in Myanmar.
- In the north, the ULFA which was until recently in a submissive mood and had declared three back-to-back unilateral ceasefires has suddenly turned belligerent.
- Need for a relook at Act East policy: In this background, a fresh look needs to be taken at both the furtherance of the Act East policy and the security matrix that governs the Northeast.
Suggestions
1] Opening a new axis of land-sea connectivity
- Promoting trade and commerce: Favourable bilateral relations with Bangladesh offer an opportunity for opening a new axis of land-sea connectivity for promoting trade and commerce with Southeast Asia.
- Upgrade land routes: There is a need to upgrade the multitude of land routes to the seaports of Mongla and Chittagong in Bangladesh, from Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.
- The key land linkages from the Northeast are — Agartala via Akhaura, Dawki (Meghalaya) via Tamabil, Sutarkandi (Assam), and Srimantapur (Tripura) via Bibir Bazar.
- Exploit shared river connectivity: In addition, there is a need to use inland water transport (IWT) to exploit the shared river connectivity of the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers.
2] Continued engagement with Myanmar
- The land gateway to South East Asia does not seem likely in the near future.
- But there should be no dilution in our initiatives to ensure that peace and stability return to Myanmar at the earliest.
- For this, there is a need for continued engagement, both formal and informal, with the warring factions in Myanmar.
3] Develop appropriate infrastructure
- Appropriate infrastructure such as container depots, cold storage facilities and seamless highways will have to be developed on a war footing.
- Indian manufactured goods will have to be transported to the rail/roadheads in the Northeast like Guwahati for ready access to the seaports of Bangladesh.
4] Integrated defence zones
- To make ineffective the strike capability of the insurgent groups there is a need to create “integrated defence zones”.
- These should be jointly manned by the Tatmadaw (Myanmar army) and the Indian Army/Assam Rifles
- To enthuse dynamism and empower the Assam Rifles, there is a need to retain its current structure of being officered by the Indian Army, as it ensures systemic command and control.
- This force needs to be mandated to undertake intelligence operations for greater transparency of the events within Myanmar and further the national strategy.
Conclusion
The Act East policy is intertwined with India’s Northeast policy. Let not the dismal scenario of Myanmar impede our vision for the actualisation of our ambitious Act East to go East, as alternates exist. To that end, there is a need to ensure the continued economic development of Northeastern states.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper- India-Pakistan relation
Context
An official delegation from Pakistan was in New Delhi recently to hold talks with its Indian counterparts under the aegis of the Indus Water Treaty.
Positive developments in the relations
- Starting from February, India has been sending through Pakistan consignments of wheat, via the World Food Programme, to the Taliban-run Afghanistan.
- Evidently, channels of communication between the two governments are working and open hostility has subsided, if not vanished completely.
- China factor: The change has been driven by realist considerations that surfaced during the Ladakh border crisis on the Line of Actual Control with China in the summer of 2020.
- The recent change of government in Pakistan, including Imran Khan’s removal, is seen as a positive in New Delhi.
- The official Indian establishment has had close ties with both the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party that are now part of the government.
Countering the collusive military threat from China and Pakistan
- The border crisis in Ladakh raised the spectre of a collusive military threat between China and Pakistan.
- Such a challenge cannot be effectively dealt with by the military alone and would need all the instruments of the state — diplomatic, economic, informational, and military — to act in concert.
- To prevent such a situation, India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval opened backchannel talks with Pakistan.
Way ahead
- There are some low-hanging fruits which can be plucked the moment a political go-ahead is given.
- These include a deal on the Sir Creek dispute, an agreement for revival of bilateral trade, return of High Commissioners to the missions in Delhi and Islamabad, and build-up of diplomatic missions to their full strength.
- Demilitarisation of the Siachen glacier is still seen to be off the table as the Indian proposal is believed to be unacceptable to the Pakistan Army.
- A window of opportunity would possibly open in Pakistan after the next elections, which are scheduled next year but could be held earlier.
Conclusion
India must shift course from the belligerence it has displayed and profited from earlier in favour of proper diplomatic and political engagement with Pakistan.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- India's approach in dealing with the Taliban
Context
It is good that India has extended humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan at this time through international agencies and not let its unhappiness with the Taliban’s policies come in the way.
India’s recent engagement with Afghanistan
- Recently, the Ministry of External Affairs announced that a team led by J P Singh, Joint Secretary (PAI) “is currently on a visit to Kabul to oversee the delivery operations of our humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan”.
- The MEA clearly implied that this engagement should be seen only in the limited context of assistance to the Afghan people
- The continuance of humanitarian assistance can be only one, though an important, segment of interaction; other aspects, especially security issues and later, connectivity and investments, as Afghanistan stabilises, have to be part of the dialogue with the Taliban.
Why Afghanistan matters to India’s security
- Afghanistan impacts India’s security.
- It has, in the past, provided space to al Qaeda with which the Taliban had a special relationship.
- Afghanistan has an ISIS presence too.
- Of special concern to India are the Taliban’s ties with the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.
- A recent United Nations report has emphasised that the Taliban’s connections with these groups have not been severed.
So, what should be India’s approach toward the Taliban?
- It is argued that both “principle and pragmatism” demand that India should not do business with the Taliban.
- However, Pakistan has continued to sponsor terror and yet India has continued to engage it and has maintained a diplomatic presence in Islamabad.
- India cannot argue that the diplomatic door must be kept open for Pakistan because it’s a neighbour while it can be shut on the Taliban because Afghanistan directly impacts Indian security.
- Engagement with Taliban: An engagement with the Taliban would at least give an opportunity to convey Indian concerns directly and encourage those elements within the group who wish to open up its diplomatic choices.
- Exploit contradiction: Far from being a monolith, the Taliban has significant tribal and regional contradictions.
- Therefore, India should not leave the Afghan arena entirely to Pakistan and China because of the social manifestation of Taliban theology.
- The Taliban is here to stay and for India, there is no alternative but to deal with it even while repeating, if it wishes, the mantra of inclusive government.
- India should also maintain contacts with the leaders of the ousted Republic, especially as the Taliban itself wants them to return to the country.
Conclusion
All in all, the sooner India establishes a permanent presence in Kabul the better for the pursuit of national interests in the external sphere. This is not an exercise in evangelism but the cold and undeterred pursuit of interests.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ASHA program
Mains level: Paper 2- Strengthening ASHA
Context
India’s one million Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) volunteers have received World Health Organization’s Global Health Leaders Awards 2022.
Background of the ASHA program
- In 1975, a WHO monograph titled ‘Health by the people’ and then in 1978, an international conference on primary health care in Alma Ata (in the then USSR and now in Kazakhstan), gave emphasis for countries recruiting community health workers to strengthen primary health-care services that were participatory and people centric.
- Soon after, many countries launched community health worker programmes under different names.
- India launched the ASHA programme in 2005-06 as part of the National Rural Health Mission.
- The biggest inspiration for designing the ASHA programme came from the Mitanin (meaning ‘a female friend’ in Chhattisgarhi) initiative of Chhattisgarh, which had started in May 2002.
- The core of the ASHA programme has been an intention to build the capacity of community members in taking care of their own health and being partners in health services.
- Each of these women-only volunteers work with a population of nearly 1,000 people in rural and 2,000 people in urban areas, with flexibility for local adjustments.
A well thought through and deliberated program
- The ASHA programme was well thought through and deliberated with public health specialists and community-based organisations from the beginning.
- 1] Key village stakeholders selected: The ASHA selection involved key village stakeholders to ensure community ownership for the initiatives and forge a partnership.
- 2] Ensure familiarity: ASHAs coming from the same village where they worked had an aim to ensure familiarity, better community connect and acceptance.
- 3] Community’s representative: The idea of having activists in their name was to reflect that they were/are the community’s representative in the health system, and not the lowest-rung government functionary in the community.
- 4] Avoiding the slow process of government recruitment: Calling them volunteers was partly to avoid a painfully slow process for government recruitment and to allow an opportunity to implement performance-based incentives in the hope that this approach would bring about some accountability.
Contribution of ASHA
- It is important to note that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, ASHAs have made extraordinary contributions towards enabling increased access to primary health-care services; i.e. maternal and child health including immunisation and treatment for hypertension, diabetes and tuberculosis, etc., for both rural and urban populations, with special focus on difficult-to-reach habitations.
- Over the years, ASHAs have played an outstanding role in making India polio free, increasing routine immunisation coverage; reducing maternal mortality; improving new-born survival and in greater access to treatment for common illnesses.
Challenges
- Linkages with AWW and ANM: When newly-appointed ASHAs struggled to find their way and coordinate things within villages and with the health system, their linkage with two existing health and nutrition system functionaries — Anganwadi workers (AWW) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) as well as with panchayat representatives and influential community members at the village level — was facilitated.
- This resulted in an all-women partnership, or A-A-A: ASHA, AWW and ANM, of three frontline functionaries at the village level, that worked together to facilitate health and nutrition service delivery to the community.
- No fixed salary to ASHAs: Among the A-A-A, ASHAs are the only ones who do not have a fixed salary; they do not have opportunity for career progression.
- These issues have resulted in dissatisfaction, regular agitations and protests by ASHAs in many States of India.
Way forward
- The global recognition for ASHAs should be used as an opportunity to review the programme afresh, from a solution perspective.
- 1] Higher remuneration: Indian States need to develop mechanisms for higher remuneration for ASHAs.
- 2] Avenues for career progression: It is time that in-built institutional mechanisms are created for capacity-building and avenues for career progression for ASHAs to move to other cadres such as ANM, public health nurse and community health officers are opened.
- 3] Extend the benefits of social sector services: Extending the benefits of social sector services including health insurance (for ASHAs and their families) should be considered.
- 4] Independent and external review: While the ASHA programme has benefitted from many internal and regular reviews by the Government, an independent and external review of the programme needs to be given urgent and priority consideration.
- 5] Regularisation of temporary posts: There are arguments for the regularisation of many temporary posts in the National Health Mission and making ASHAs permanent government employees.
Conclusion
The WHO award for ASHA volunteers is a proud moment and also a recognition of every health functionary working for the poor and the underserved in India. It is a reminder and an opportunity to further strengthen the ASHA programme for a stronger and community-oriented primary health-care system.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Gulf Cooperation Council
Mains level: Indian diaspora in Gulf
India has hit out at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) over its statement condemning the comments made by two Indian leaders in retaliation to the insults on Hindu deities.
The spread of religious hatred should be condemned in any form.
But do you think that the onus of secularism has been bestowed only on a particular religious community?
It is often observed that the other community is free to make blasphemous comments on various deities in guise of the exercise of their freedom of speech!
What is the news?
- The remark had triggered outrage in the Islamic world.
- Qatar and Kuwait summoned India’s Ambassadors and handed over to them protest notes.
- India has categorically rejected and condemned the controversial remarks.
Why is Gulf outraging?
- Barring the Jewish state of Israel, the 10 other countries of the Gulf region — Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Jordan and Yemen — together account for one-fifth of the world’s Muslim population.
- They are among the strongest voices of the Muslim world.
Gulf countries and India
- India has enjoyed centuries of good relations with countries like Iran, while smaller gas-rich nation Qatar is one of India’s closest allies in the region.
- India shares good relations with most of the countries in the Gulf.
- The two most important reasons for the relationship are oil and gas, and trade.
- Two additional reasons are the huge number of Indians who work in the Gulf countries, and the remittance they send back home.
How much trade does India do with countries in this region?
- The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) substantial oil and gas reserves are of utmost importance for India’s energy needs.
- The GCC includes UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.
- It has emerged as a major trading partner of India and has vast potential as India’s investment partner for the future.
(1) UAE
- The UAE was India’s third largest trading partner in 2021-2022, and second largest for both exports ($28 billion) and imports ($45 billion) when these are counted individually.
- In terms of total trade volume, the UAE ($72.9 billion) was behind the United States ($1.19 trillion) and China ($1.15 trillion).
- The UAE accounted for 6.6% of India’s total exports and 7.3% of imports in the last financial year, up 68.4% since the previous year when international trade was impacted by the pandemic.
(2) Saudi Arabia
- At a total volume of $42.9 billion in 2021-22, Saudi Arabia was India’s fourth largest trading partner.
- While exports were low at $8.76 billion (2.07% of India’s total exports), imports from Saudi Arabia were the fourth largest at $34.1 billion (7%), up 50% from the previous year.
- Most of it was crude oil.
(3) Iraq
- It was India’s fifth largest trading partner in 2021-22 at $34.3 billion.
(4) Qatar
- The total trade was $15 billion, accounting for just 1.4% of India’s total trade, but the country is India’s most important supplier of natural gas.
- Qatar accounts for 41% of India’s total natural gas imports.
- The UAE accounts for another 11%.
How much oil does India import?
- More than 84% of India’s petroleum demand, which included crude oil and petroleum products, was met with imports.
- The share of Persian Gulf countries in India’s crude imports has remained at around 60% over the last 15 years.
- India sourced crude oil from 42 countries in 2021-22, up from 27 countries in 2006-07. Hence the sources are now more diversified.
- In 2021-2022, the largest exporter of oil to India was Iraq, whose share has gone up from 9% in 2009-2010 to 22%.
- Saudi Arabia has accounted for 17-18% of India’s oil imports for over a decade. Kuwait and UAE remain major oil exporters to India.
- Iran used to be the second largest oil exporter to India in 2009-2010, its share went down to less than 1% in 2020-21, due to US sanctions.
Why Gulf matters?
Ans. Huge remittances
- More than 13.46 million Indian citizens work abroad. If Persons of Indian Origin are added, this number goes up to over 32 million.
- Counting only the 13.4 million non-resident Indians (NRIs), the Gulf has the largest numbers.
- The UAE (3.42 million), Saudi Arabia (2.6 million) and Kuwait (1.03 million) together account for over half of all NRIs.
- In terms of remittances from abroad, India was the largest recipient in 2020 at $83.15 billion, according to World Bank data.
- This was nearly twice the remittances to the next highest recipient, Mexico, at $42.9 billion.
- The UAE accounted for 26.9%, Saudi Arabia for 11.6%, Qatar for 6.4%, Kuwait for 5.5% and Oman for 3%.
- Beyond the GCC, remittances from the US accounted for 22.9%, second only to the UAE.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bad Banks
Mains level: Bad Banks in India
The finance ministry said the Rs 6,000-crore National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL) or bad bank is expected to take over the first set of non-performing accounts of banks next month.
What is a Bad Bank?
- A bad bank conveys the impression that it will function as a bank but has bad assets to start with.
- Technically, it is an asset reconstruction company (ARC) or an asset management company that takes over the bad loans of commercial banks, manages them and finally recovers the money over a period of time.
- Such a bank is not involved in lending and taking deposits, but helps commercial banks clean up their balance sheets and resolve bad loans.
- The takeover of bad loans is normally below the book value of the loan and the bad bank tries to recover as much as possible subsequently.
Bad Banks to be established
- The NARCL-IDRCL structure is the new bad bank.
- The National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL) has already been incorporated under the Companies Act.
- It will acquire stressed assets worth about Rs 2 lakh crore from various commercial banks in different phases.
- Another entity — India Debt Resolution Company Ltd (IDRCL), which has also been set up — will then try to sell the stressed assets in the market.
How will the NARCL-IDRCL work?
- The NARCL will first purchase bad loans from banks.
- It will pay 15% of the agreed price in cash and the remaining 85% will be in the form of “Security Receipts”.
- When the assets are sold, with the help of IDRCL, , the commercial banks will be paid back the rest.
- If the bad bank is unable to sell the bad loan, or has to sell it at a loss, then the government guarantee will be invoked.
- The difference between what the commercial bank was supposed to get and what the bad bank was able to raise will be paid from the Rs 30,600 crore that has been provided by the government.
Will a bad bank resolve matters?
- From the perspective of a commercial bank saddled with high NPA levels, it will help.
- That’s because such a bank will get rid of all its toxic assets, which were eating up its profits, in one quick move.
- When the recovery money is paid back, it will further improve the bank’s position.
- Meanwhile, it can start lending again.
Why do we need a bad bank?
- The idea gained currency during Rajan’s tenure as RBI Governor.
- The RBI had then initiated an asset quality review (AQR) of banks and found that several banks had suppressed or hidden bad loans to show a healthy balance sheet.
- However, the idea remained on paper amid lack of consensus on the efficacy of such an institution.
- ARCs have not made any impact in resolving bad loans due to many procedural issues.
- While commercial banks resume lending, the so-called bad bank, or a bank of bad loans, would try to sell these “assets” in the market.
Good about the bad banks
- The problem of NPAs continues in the banking sector, especially among the weaker banks.
- The bad bank concept is in some ways similar to an ARC but is funded by the government initially, with banks and other investors co-investing in due course.
- The presence of the government is seen as a means to speed up the clean-up process.
- Many other countries had set up institutional mechanisms such as the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP) in the US to deal with a problem of stress in the financial system.
Back2Basics: NARCL
- NARCL has been incorporated under the Companies Act and has applied to Reserve Bank of India for license as an Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC).
- NARCL has been set up by banks to aggregate and consolidate stressed assets for their subsequent resolution.
- Public Sector Banks will maintain 51% ownership in NARCL.
- The NARCL will acquire assets by making an offer to the lead bank.
- Once NARCL’s offer is accepted, then, IDRCL will be engaged for management and value addition.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: No-Confidence Vote
Mains level: Not Much
British Prime Minister will face a no-confidence vote that could oust him from power.
What is No-Confidence Vote?
- If the government has to demonstrate its strength on the floor of the House, it can have a motion of confidence.
- However, the opposition parties (or any member) can move a motion expressing want of confidence (no confidence) in the Council of Ministers.
- The procedure is laid down under Rule 198 of the rules of procedure and conduct of the business of the Lok Sabha.
- A no-confidence motion need not set out any grounds on which it is based.
- Even when grounds are mentioned in the notice and read out in the House, they do not form part of the no-confidence motion.
Its procedure
- A no-confidence motion can be moved by any member of the House.
- It can be moved only in the Lok Sabha and not Rajya Sabha.
- Rule 198 of the Rules of Procedure and conduct of Lok Sabha specifies the procedure for moving a no-confidence motion.
- The member has to give written notice of the motion before 10 am which will be read out by the Speaker in the House.
- A minimum of 50 members have to accept the motion and accordingly, the Speaker will announce the date for discussion for the motion.
- The allotted date has to be within 10 days from the day the motion is accepted. Otherwise, the motion fails and the member who moved the motion will be informed about it.
- If the government is not able to prove its majority in the House, then the government of the day has to resign.
How is the voting done?
These are the modes by which voting can be conducted:
- Voice vote: In a voice vote, the legislators respond orally.
- Division vote: In case of a division vote, voting is done using electronic gadgets, slips or in a ballot box.
- Ballot vote: The ballot box is usually a secret vote – just like how people vote during state or parliamentary elections.
What happens if there is a tie?
- Following the vote, the person who has the majority will be allowed to form the government.
- In case there is a tie, the speaker can cast his vote.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Consider the following statements regarding a No-Confidence Motion in India:
- There is no mention of a No-Confidence Motion in the Constitution of India.
- A Motion of No-Confidence can be introduced in the Lok Sabha only.
Which of the statements given above is / are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Post your answers here.
Back2Basics: What is a Trust-Vote?
- A confidence motion or a trust vote is a procedure for the government to prove its majority in the House.
- A trust vote can take place by way of a motion of confidence which is moved by the government or brought by the opposition.
- It is a motion normally proposed by the Prime Minister to test the majority in the Lok Sabha.
- Such an exercise normally takes place when a new government is set to be formed.
- Any party will first have to prove its majority on the floor of the House before taking over.
- A trust vote can also be brought about if a government resigns and another party stakes a claim to form the government.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Kabir, Bhakti Movement
Mains level: NA
President Kovind inaugurated the Sant Kabir Academy and Research Centre Swadesh Darshan Yojana and paid tribute to the Bhakti saint, Kabir at Maghar, his resting place in Uttar Pradesh.
Kabir and the Bhakti Movement
- The Bhakti movement, which began in the 7th century in South India, had begun to spread across north India in the 14th and the 15th centuries.
- The movement was characterized by popular poet-saints who sang devotional songs to God in vernacular languages.
- Most of the preaching were meant for abolishing the Varna system and promoting Hindu-Muslim unity.
- They emphasized an intense emotional attachment with God.
Who was Sant Kabir?
- One school within the Bhakti movement was the Nirguni tradition and Sant Kabir was a prominent member of it.
- In this tradition, God was understood to be a universal and formless being.
- Many of the saints of the Bhakti movement came from the ranks of the lower to middle artisanal classes.
- Kabir was an alleged ‘low caste’ weaver (Julaha), Raidas was a leather worker and Dadu a cotton carder.
- Their radical dissent against orthodoxy and rejection of caste made these poet-saints extremely popular among the masses and their ideology of egalitarianism spread across India.
His life
- He was born in Varanasi and lived between the years 1398 and 1448, or till the year 1518 according to popular belief.
- He was from a community of ‘lower caste’ weavers of the Julaha caste, a group that had recently converted to Islam.
- He learned the art of weaving, likely studied meditative and devotional practices under the guidance of a Hindu guru and grew to become an eminent teacher and poet-singer.
- Kabir’s beliefs were deeply radical, and he was known for his intense and outspoken voice which he used to attack the dominant religions and entrenched caste systems of the time.
- He composed his verses orally and is generally assumed to be illiterate.
His literary works
- Kabir’s compositions can be classified into three literary forms – dohas (short two liners), ramanas (rhymed 4 liners), sung compositions of varying length, known as padas (verses) and sabdas (words).
- There are myriad legendary accounts on the other hand, for which there exists less of a factual historical basis.
Kabir’s critique of religion and caste
- Kabir is in modern times portrayed as a figure that synthesized Islam and Hinduism.
- While he did borrow elements from different traditions, he very forcefully proclaimed his independence from them.
- He did not only target the rituals and practices of both Hinduism and Islam, but also dismissed the sacred authority of their religious books, the Vedas and the Quran.
- He even combined Allah and Ram in his poems.
- He sought to eradicate caste distinctions and attempted to create an egalitarian society, by stressing the notion that a Bhakt (devotee) was neither a Brahmin nor an ‘untouchable’ but just a Bhakt.
Kabir’s legacy
- Kabir’s own humble origins and his radical message of egalitarianism fostered a community of his followers called the Kabir Panth.
- A sect in northern and central India, many of their members are from the Dalit community.
- All regard Kabir as their guru and treat the Bijak as their holy scripture.
- The Bijak contains works attributed to Kabir and is argued by historians to have been written in the 17th century.
- Several of Kabir’s verses and songs form a vital part of the Guru Granth Sahib.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2019:
Q.Consider the following statements:
1.Saint Nimbarka was a contemporary of Akbar.
2.Saint Kabir was greatly influenced by Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Read the attached story
Mains level: NA
Ten antiquities (sculptures) retrieved from Australia and the United States were handed over to the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Some of the returned antiquities, and how they had gone missing:
(1) Dvarapala:
- Retrieved in 2020 from Australia, this stone sculpture belongs to the Vijayanagar dynasty dating to the 15th-16th century.
- He is holding a gada in one hand and has another leg raised up to the level of his knee.
- The sculpture was burgled from Moondreeswaramudayar Temple, Tiruneveli in1994.
(2) Nataraja:
- Retrieved in 2021 from the US, this image of Nataraja, a depiction of Shiva, in his divine cosmic dance form, is in tribhanga posture, standing on the lotus pedestal.
- It is dateable to the 11th-12th century. Possibly, ananda tandava or the Dance of Bliss is portrayed here.
- The sculpture was burgled from the strong room of Punnainallur Arulmigu Mariyamman Temple, Thanjavur, in 2018.
(3) Kankalamurti:
- Retrieved in 2021 from the US, Kankalamurti is depicted as a fearsome aspect of Lord Shiva and Bhairava.
- The sculpture is four-armed, holding ayudhas such as damaru and trishula in the upper hands and a bowl and a trefoil shaped object, as a treat for the playful fawn, in the lower right hand.
- The idol is dateable to the 12th-13th century, and was stolen from Narasinganadhar Swamy Temple, Tirunelveli in 1985.
(4) Nandikeshvara:
- Retrieved in 2021 from the US, this bronze image of Nandikeshvara is dateable to the 13th century.
- It is shown standing in tribhanga posture with folded arms, holding an axe and a fawn in the upper arms, with his forearms in namaskara mudra.
- This sculpture was stolen from Narasinganadhar Swamy Temple, Tirunelveli, in 1985.
(5) Four-armed Vishnu:
- Retrieved in 2021 from the US, dateable to the 11th century, and belonging to the later Chola period.
- The sculpture has Lord Vishnu standing on a padma pedestal holding attributes such as shankha and chakra in two hands; while the lower right hand is in abhaya mudra.
- It was stolen from Arulmigu Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Ariyalur, in 2008.
(6) Goddess Parvati:
- Retrieved in 2021 from the US, the image depicts a Chola-period sculpture dateable to the 11th century.
- She is shown holding a lotus in the left hand whereas the right is hanging down near her kati.
- This sculpture was also stolen from Arulmigu Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Ariyalur in 2008.
(7) Standing child Sambandar:
- Retrieved in 2022 from Australia. Sambandar, the popular 7th-century child saint, is one of the Muvar, the three principal saints of South India.
- The sculpture is dateable to the 11th century.
- The legend goes that after receiving a bowl of milk from Goddess Uma, the infant Sambandar devoted his life to composing hymns in praise of Lord Shiva.
- The sculpture displays the saint’s childlike quality, while also empowering him with the maturity and authority of a spiritual leader.
- It was stolen from Sayavaneeswarar Temple, Nagapattinam, between 1965 and 1975.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Malnutrition challenge
Context
The country’s response to its burden of malnutrition and growing anaemia has to be practical and innovative.
What is malnutrition?
- Malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients.
- The term malnutrition covers 2 broad groups of conditions.
- One is ‘undernutrition’—which includes stunting (low height for age), wasting (low weight for height), underweight (low weight for age) and micronutrient deficiencies or insufficiencies (a lack of important vitamins and minerals).
- The other is overweight, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer).
What are the root causes of malnutrition in India?
The following three deficits are the root cause of malnutrition in India.
1) Dietary deficit
- There is a large dietary deficit among at least 40 per cent of our population of all age groups, shown in— the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau’s Third Repeat Survey (2012), NFHS 4, 2015-16, the NNMB Technical Report Number 27, 2017.
- Our current interventions are not being able to bridge this protein-calorie-micronutrient deficit.
- The NHHS-4 and NFHS-5 surveys reveal an acute dietary deficit among infants below two years, and considerable stunting and wasting of infants below six months.
- Unless this maternal/infant dietary deficit is addressed, we will not see rapid improvement in our nutritional indicators.
2) Information deficit at household level
- We do not have a national IEC (information, education and communication) programme that reaches targeted households to bring about the required behavioural change regarding some basic but critical facts.
- For example, IEC tells about the importance of balanced diets in low-income household budgets, proper maternal, child and adolescent nutrition and healthcare.
3) Inequitable market conditions
- The largest deficit, which is a major cause of dietary deficiency and India’s chronic malnutrition, pertains to inequitable market conditions.
- Such market conditions deny affordable and energy-fortified food to children, adolescents and adults in lower-income families.
- The market has stacks of expensive fortified energy food and beverages for higher income groups, but nothing affordable for low-income groups.
The vicious cycle of malnutrition
- Link with mother: A child’s nutritional status is directly linked to their mother.
- Poor nutrition among pregnant women affects the nutritional status of the child and has a greater chance to affect future generations.
- Impact on studies: Undernourished children are at risk of under-performing in studies and have limited job prospects.
- Impact on development of the country: This vicious cycle restrains the development of the country, whose workforce, affected mentally and physically, has reduced work capacity.
Marginal improvement on Stunting and Wasting
- The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) has shown marginal improvement in different nutrition indicators, indicating that the pace of progress is slow.
- This is despite declining rates of poverty, increased self-sufficiency in food production, and the implementation of a range of government programmes.
- Children in several States are more undernourished now than they were five years ago.
- Increased stunting in some states: Stunting is defined as low height-for-age.
- While there was some reduction in stunting rates (35.5% from 38.4% in NFHS-4) 13 States or Union Territories have seen an increase in stunted children since NFHS-4.
- This includes Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Kerala.
- Wasting remains stagnant: Wasting is defined as low weight-for-height.
- Malnutrition trends across NFHS surveys show that wasting, the most visible and life-threatening form of malnutrition, has either risen or has remained stagnant over the years.
Prevalence of anaemia in India
- What is it? Anaemia is defined as the condition in which the number of red blood cells or the haemoglobin concentration within them is lower than normal.
- Consequences: Anaemia has major consequences in terms of human health and development.
- It reduces the work capacity of individuals, in turn impacting the economy and overall national growth.
- Developing countries lose up to 4.05% in GDP per annum due to iron deficiency anaemia; India loses up to 1.18% of GDP annually.
- The NFHS-5 survey indicates that more than 57% of women (15-49 years) and over 67% children (six-59 months) suffer from anaemia.
Way forward
1] Increase investment:
- There is a greater need now to increase investment in women and children’s health and nutrition to ensure their sustainable development and improved quality of life.
- Saksham Anganwadi and the Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment (POSHAN) 2.0 programme have seen only a marginal increase in budgetary allocation this year (₹20,263 crore from ₹20,105 crore in 2021-22).
- Additionally, 32% of funds released under POSHAN Abhiyaan to States and Union Territories have not been utilised.
2] Adopt outcome oriented approach on the nutrition programme
- India must adopt an outcome-oriented approach on nutrition programmes.
- It is crucial that parliamentarians begin monitoring needs and interventions in their constituencies and raise awareness on the issues, impact, and solutions to address the challenges at the local level.
- Direct engagement: There has to be direct engagement with nutritionally vulnerable groups and ensuring last-mile delivery of key nutrition services and interventions.
- This will ensure greater awareness and proper planning and implementation of programmes.
- This can then be replicated at the district and national levels.
3] Increase awareness and mother’s education
- With basic education and general awareness, every individual is informed, takes initiatives at the personal level and can become an agent of change.
- Various studies highlight a strong link between mothers’ education and improved access and compliance with nutrition interventions among children.
4] Monitoring
- There should be a process to monitor and evaluate programmes and address systemic and on the ground challenges.
- A new or existing committee or the relevant standing committees meet and deliberate over effective policy decisions, monitor the implementation of schemes, and review nutritional status across States.
Conclusion
We must ensure our young population has a competitive advantage; nutrition and health are foundational to that outcome.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Accessible India Campaign
Mains level: Facilitating PWDs
With its deadline of June 2022 almost up, the status of targets under the Accessible India Campaign (AIC) is likely to be discussed during a meeting of the Central Advisory Board on Disability.
What is Accessible India Campaign?
- Accessible India Campaign or Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan is a program that is launched to serve the differently-able community of the country.
- The flagship program has been launched on 3 December 2015, the International Day of People with Disabilities.
- The program comes with an index to measure the design of disabled-friendly buildings and human resource policies.
- The initiative also in line with Article 9 of the (UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) which India is a signatory since 2007.
- The scheme also comes under the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 for equal Opportunities and protection of rights which provides non-discrimination in Transport to Persons with Disabilities.
Recent developments
- The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) released the Harmonised Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility in India 2021.
- Drafted by a team of the IIT-Roorkee and the National Institute of Urban Affairs of the MoHUA, the revised guidelines aim to give a holistic approach.
- Earlier, the guidelines were for creating a barrier-free environment, but now they are focusing on universal accessibility.
Key highlights
- Ramps: The guidelines provide the gradient and length of ramps — for example, for a length of six metres, the gradient should be 1:12. The minimum clear width of a ramp should be 1,200 mm.
- Beyond PwDs: While making public buildings and transport fully accessible for wheelchair users is covered in the guidelines, other users who may experience temporary problems have also been considered. For instance, a parent pushing a child’s pram while carrying groceries or other bags, and women wearing saris.
- Women friendly: Built environment needs for accessibility for women should consider diverse age groups, diverse cultural contexts and diverse life situations in which women operate. Diverse forms of clothing (saris, salwar-kameez, etc.) and footwear (heels, kolhapuri chappals, etc.) require a certain orientations.
- Accessibility symbols: The guidelines call for accessibility symbols for PwD, family-friendly facilities and transgender to be inclusively incorporated among the symbols for other user groups.
- Targeted authorities: The guidelines are meant for State governments, government departments and the private sector, as well as for reference by architecture and planning institutes.
Policy measures for PwDs
- India is a signatory to the UN Convention the Right of Persons with Disabilities, which came into force in 2007.
- The Union Minister for Social justice and Empowerment has also launched the “Sugamya Bharat App” to complain for ease accessibility for PwDs.
- India has its dedicated the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which is the principal and comprehensive legislation concerning persons with disabilities.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs)
Mains level: Prevention of juvenile crimes
The CBI is in the process of sending requests to several countries seeking information under the MLATs about those involved in the online sexual abuse of minors and circulation of child pornographic material on social media platforms.
What are MLATs?
- The MLATs in criminal matters are the bilateral treaties entered between the countries for providing international cooperation and assistance.
- These agreements allow for the exchange of evidence and information in criminal and related matters between the signing countries.
Benefits of Treaty
- It enhances the effectiveness of participating countries in the investigation and prosecution of crime, through cooperation and mutual legal assistance.
- It will provide a broad legal framework for tracing, restrain and confiscation of proceeds and instruments of crime as well as the funds meant to finance terrorist acts.
- It will be instrumental in gaining better inputs and insights in the modus operandi of organized criminals and terrorists.
- These in turn can be used to fine-tune policy decisions in the field of internal security.
Enforcing MLATs in India
- The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is the nodal Ministry and the Central authority for seeking and providing mutual legal assistance in criminal law matters.
- The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) may be involved in this process when such requests are routed through diplomatic channels by these Ministries.
- Section 105 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) speaks of reciprocal arrangements to be made by the Centre with the Foreign Governments
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tiangong space station
Mains level: Not Much
Three Chinese astronauts floated into the country’s new Tiangong space station for a three-month mission.
Tiangong Space Station
- Tiangong means “Heavenly Palace”.
- It was 10.4 metres long and 3.35 metres wide at its widest point, and weighed 8.6 metric tonnes.
- It was launched on September 15, 2016 and, in late 2016, hosted two Chinese astronauts for 30 days in what was China’s longest manned space mission so far.
- The recently decommissioned space lab followed the Tiangong-1, China’s first space station, which crashed into the southern Pacific Ocean on April 1, 2018 after Chinese scientists lost control of the spacecraft.
- China had launched Tiangong-1 in 2011 as proof-of-concept of technologies for future stations.
- The Tiangong will be fully operational by the end of 2022.
Features of this Space Station
- The significant feature of Tiangong is its two robotic arms.
- The US has previously expressed concern over its ability to grab objects including satellites from space.
- The 10-meter-long arm was in action previously seen in action successfully grabbing and moving a 20 tonne Tianzhou-2 cargo ship in a test.
- One of the noteworthy tasks for the Shenzhou-14 crew is to test and operate the large and small
- The small arm is quite flexible and can perform operations with greater precision.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: eVTOL Aircrafts
Mains level: Not Much
The Union Civil Aviation Ministry is exploring the possibility of inviting manufacturers of Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft to set up base in India.
What is eVTOL?
- EVTOL aircraft is one that uses electric power to hover, take off, and land vertically.
- Most eVTOLs also use what is called as distributed electric propulsion technology which means integrating a complex propulsion system with the airframe.
- There are multiple motors for various functions; to increase efficiency; and to also ensure safety.
- It works on electric propulsion based on progress in motor, battery, fuel cell and electronic controller technologies.
- It is also fuelled by the need for new vehicle technology that ensures urban air mobility (UAM).
Features of eVTOL
- eVTOL is emerging as a runway independent technological solution” for the globe’s transportation needs.
- There are an estimated 250 eVTOL concepts or more being fine-tuned to bring alive the concept of UAM.
- Some of these include the use of multi-rotors, fixed-wing and tilt-wing concepts backed by sensors, cameras and even radar.
- The key word here is “autonomous connectivity”. Some of these are in various test phases.
- In short, eVTOLs have been likened to “a third wave in an aerial revolution”; the first being the advent of commercial flying, and the second, the age of helicopters.
What are the developments in powering eVTOLs?
- The roles eVTOLs adopt depends on battery technology and the limits of onboard electric power.
- Power is required during the key phases of flight such as take-off, landing and flight (especially in high wind conditions).
- There is a “Diamond Nuclear Voltaic (DNV) technology” using minute amounts of carbon-14 nuclear waste encased in layered industrial diamonds to create self-charging batteries.
- There are some industry experts who are questioning the use of only batteries and are looking at hybrid technologies such as hydrogen cells and batteries depending on the flight mission.
What are the challenges?
- As the technology so far is a mix of unpiloted and piloted aircraft, the areas in focus include “crash prevention systems”.
- There are also issues such as ensuring safety in case of power plant or rotor failure.
- Aircraft protection from cyberattacks is another area of focus.
- A third area is in navigation and flight safety and the use of technology when operating in difficult terrain, unsafe operating environments, and also bad weather.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Fishing Cats
Mains level: Not Much
The Chilika Lake, Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon, has 176 fishing cats, according to a census done by the Chilika Development Authority (CDA) in collaboration with the Fishing Cat Project (TFCP).
About Fishing Cats
- About twice the size of a typical house cat, the fishing cat is a feline with a powerful build and stocky legs.
- It is an adept swimmer and enters water frequently to prey on fish as its name suggests.
- It is known to even dive to catch fish.
- It is nocturnal and apart from fish also preys on frogs, crustaceans, snakes, birds, and scavenges on carcasses of larger animals.
- It is capable of breeding all year round but in India its peak breeding season is known to be between March and May.
Conservation status
- IUCN Red List: Endangered
- CITES: Appendix II
- Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I
Various threats
- One of the major threats facing the fishing cat is the destruction of wetlands, which is its preferred habitat.
- As a result of human settlement, drainage for agriculture, pollution, and wood-cutting most of the wetlands in India are under threat of destruction.
- Another threat to the fishing cat is the depletion of its main prey-fish due to unsustainable fishing practices.
- It is also occasionally poached for its skin.
Back2Basics: Chilika Lake
- Chilika Lake is a brackish water lagoon, spread over the Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts of Odisha.
- It is located at the mouth of the Daya River, flowing into the Bay of Bengal, covering an area of over 1,100 km2.
- It is the largest coastal lagoon in India and the largest brackish water lagoon in the world after The New Caledonian barrier reef.
- It has been listed Ramsar Site as well as a tentative UNESCO World Heritage site.
Its formation
- The process of the formation of the Chilika might have begun in the latter part of the Pleistocene epoch, around 20,000 years ago.
- India’s peninsular river Mahanadi carried a heavy load of silt and dumped part of it at its delta.
- As the sediment-laden river met the Bay of Bengal, sand bars were formed near its mouth.
- These created a backflow of the seawater into the sluggish fresh water at the estuary, resulting in the huge brackish water lake.
- Marine archaeological studies on the Odisha coast clearly show that the Chilika once acted as a safe harbor for cargo ships bound for Southeast Asia and other parts of the world.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Tackling inflation
Context
The economy now seems to be largely out of the shadow of Covid-19, and only a notch better than in 2019-20. But the big question remains: can India rein in the raging inflation that is at 7.8 per cent (CPI for April 2022), with food CPI at 8.4 percent, and WPI at more than 15 per cent?
Need for bold steps on three fronts to tackle inflation
- Unless bold and innovative steps are taken at least on three fronts, GDP growth and inflation both are likely to be in the range of 6.5 to 7.5 per cent in 2022-23.
- 1] Tightening of loose monetary policy: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is mandated to keep inflation at 4 per cent, plus-minus 2 per cent.
- The RBI has already started the process of tightening monetary policy by raising the repo rate, albeit a bit late.
- It is expected that by the end of 2022-3, the repo rate will be at least 5.5 per cent, if not more.
- It will still stay below the likely inflation rate and therefore depositors will still lose the real value of their money in banks with negative real interest rates.
- That only reflects an inbuilt bias in the system — in favour of entrepreneurs in the name of growth and against depositors, which ultimately results in increasing inequality in the system.
- 2] Prudent fiscal policy: Fiscal policy has been running loose in the wake of Covid-19 that saw the fiscal deficit of the Union government soar to more than 9 per cent in 2020-21 and 6.7 per cent in 2021-22, but now needs to be tightened.
- Government needs to reduce its fiscal deficit to less than 5 per cent, never mind the FRMB Act’s advice to bring it to 3 per cent of GDP.
- However, it is difficult to achieve when enhanced food and fertiliser subsidies, and cuts in duties of petrol and diesel will cost the government at least Rs 3 trillion more than what was provisioned in the budget.
- 3] Rational trade policy: Export restrictions/bans go beyond agri-commodities, even to iron ore and steel, etc. in the name of taming inflation.
- But abrupt export bans are poor trade policy and reflect only the panic-stricken face of the government.
- A more mature approach to filter exports would be through a gradual process of minimum export prices and transparent export duties for short periods of time, rather than abrupt bans, if at all these are desperately needed to favour consumers.
- Liberal import policy: A prudent solution to moderate inflation at home lies in a liberal import policy, reducing tariffs across board.
Way forward
- If India wants to be atmanirbhar (self-reliant) in critical commodities where import dependence is unduly high, it must focus on two oils — crude oil and edible oils.
- In crude oil, India is almost 80 per cent dependent on imports and in edible oils imports constitute 55 to 60 per cent of our domestic consumption.
- In both cases, agriculture can help.
- Ethanol production: Massive production of ethanol from sugarcane and maize, especially in eastern Uttar Pradesh and north Bihar, where water is abundant and the water table is replenished every second year or so through light floods, is the way to reduce import dependence in crude oil.
- Palm plantation: In the case of edible oils, a large programme of palm plantations in coastal areas and the northeast is the right strategy.
Conclusion
We need to invest in raising productivity, making agri-markets work more efficiently.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PIL
Mains level: Issues with PIL
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petitioner in the Supreme Court barely escaped having to pay ₹18 lakh for indulging in a “luxury litigation”.
What is the news?
- A Supreme Court Bench of Justice B.R. Gavai and Hima Kohli initially asked the litigant to pay ₹18 lakh, that is, ₹1 lakh for every one of the 18 minutes the case took up.
- However, the court later, in its order, slashed the amount to ₹2 lakh on the request of the litigant’s counsel.
Why did the apex court got disgusted?
- The bench criticized the highly derogatory practice of filing frivolous petitions encroaching valuable judicial time.
- This time can otherwise be utilised for addressing genuine concerns.
What is Public Interest Litigation (PIL)?
- PIL refers to litigation undertaken to secure public interest and demonstrates the availability of justice to socially-disadvantaged parties.
- It was introduced by Justice P. N. Bhagwati in 1979.
- It is the chief instrument through which judicial activism has flourished in India.
- It is suited to the principles enshrined in Article 39A[a] of the Constitution to protect and deliver prompt social justice with the help of law.
How was it introduced?
- PIL is a relaxation on the traditional rule of locus standi.
- Before 1980s the judiciary and the Supreme Court of India entertained litigation only from parties affected directly or indirectly by the defendant.
- It heard and decided cases only under its original and appellate jurisdictions.
- However, the Supreme Court began permitting cases on the grounds of PIL, which means that even people who are not directly involved in the case may bring matters of public interest to the court.
- It is the court’s privilege to entertain the application for the PIL.
Filing a PIL
Any citizen can file a public case by filing a petition:
- Under Art 32 of the Indian Constitution, in the Supreme Court
- Under Art 226 of the Indian Constitution, in the High Court
- Under 133 of the Criminal Procedure Code, in a Magistrate’s Court
Parties against whom PILs can be filed
- A PIL may be filed against state government, central government, municipal authority, private party.
- Also, private person may be included in PIL as ‘Respondent’, after concerned of state authority.
- g. a private factory in Mumbai which is causing pollution then PIL can be filed against the government of Mumbai, state pollution central board including that private factory of Mumbai.
Importance of PIL
- PIL gives a wider description to the fundamental rights to equality, life and personality, which is guaranteed under part III of the Constitution of India.
- It also functions as an effective instrument for changes in the society or social welfare.
- Through PIL, any public or person can seek remedy on behalf of the oppressed class by introducing a PIL.
Issues with PIL
- Off late, PILs have become a tool for publicity.
- People file frivolous petitions which result in the wastage of time of the courts.
- People have used them with a political agenda as well.
- They unnecessarily burden the judiciary.
- Even if the petition is eventually dismissed, the courts spend time and effort on them before dismissing them.
How do frivolous petitions waste time?
- At present, only judges have the power to dismiss a petition.
- The Registry of the SC or HC only ensures that the technical requirements of filing a petition are fulfilled.
- As a result of which petitions are admitted to the court irrespective of the merits of the case.
Way forward: Preventing frivolous PILs
The Supreme Court had issued eight directions in its Balwant Singh Chaufal Judgment to help constitutional courts separate genuine PIL petitions from the barmy ones:
- It had asked every High Court to frame its own rules to encourage bona fide PIL petitions and curb the motivated ones
- Verifying the credentials of the petitioner before entertaining the plea
- Checking the correctness of the contents
- Ensuring the petition involves issues of “larger public interest, gravity and urgency” which requires priority
- Ensuring there is no personal gain, or oblique motive behind the PIL
- Ensuring that it is aimed at redressal of genuine public harm or public injury
Conclusion
- PIL petitions have had a beneficial effect on the Indian jurisprudence and has alleviated the conditions of the citizens in general.
- Such petitions bring justice to people who are handicapped by ignorance, indigence, illiteracy.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
Mains level: E-waste management
Attero Recycling, one of India’s largest electronic waste management companies, is set to invest close to $1 billion in expanding their electronic waste recycling facilities in India.
E-waste Management: A tricky task
- E-waste management is a complicated process given the multitude of actors that are involved in the process.
- The major stakeholders in the value chain include importers, producers/manufacturers, retailers (businesses/government/others), consumers (individual households, businesses, government and others), traders, scrap dealers, dissemblers/dismantlers and recyclers.
- To critically assess each in the different stages of processing, it is important to understand the e-waste value chain.
- The process involves four stages: generation, collection, segregation and treatment/disposal.
India’s regulatory ecosystem
- Indian electronics sector boomed in the last decade.
- Increased production and penetration of imported electronics items led to an accelerated e-waste generation that necessitated regulatory control over the sector.
- India has Electronic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2011 in place since . Its scope was expanded in 2016 and 2018 through amendments.
Provisions of the 2011 Rules
- To streamline e-waste management, the Government introduced Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) whereby producers were required to collect and recycle electronic items.
- Since manufacturers were incurring the disposal cost, their designs would incorporate less toxic and easily recyclable materials, thereby reducing input material requirements.
Inherent flaws in Implementation
- Recycling: Less than five percent of the waste is treated through formal recycling facilities.
- Informal sector: The rest is handled by the informal sector with very little enforcement of environmental and occupational safety norms.
- Weak Regulations: A deeper analysis revealed that the EPR regulations in India were not quantified through collection or recycling targets as in other countries with better implementation framework and mechanisms.
- Lack of incentivization: In the absence of targets, producers had little incentive to ensure the collection of their used products.
Current scenario and issues in e-waste recycling
- Crude and Scrappage: As of today, some 95% of e-waste is managed by the informal sector which operates under inferior working conditions and relies on crude techniques for dismantling and recycling.
- Infrastructure lacunae: Another important issue is the lack of sufficient metal processing infrastructure which is why recyclers have to export materials to global smelters.
- Price competencies: As aggregators are mostly informal, they demand up-front cash payments.
- Bloomed informal network: The informal network is well-established and rests on social capital ties that PROs have yet to establish and are hence insulated from reaching the viable number of aggregators.
- Policy failure: Policy changes have tried repeatedly to formalize the sector, but issues of implementation persist on the ground.
Way forward
- Effective design: Since India is highly deficient in precious mineral resources, there is a need for a well-designed, robust and regulated e-waste recovery regime that would generate jobs and wealth.
- Consumer responsibility: The consumers must responsibly consume the product for its useful life and then weigh between the chances of repair or disposal with utmost consciousness towards the environment.
- Recyclable products: On the supply side, e-waste can be reduced when producers design electronic products that are safer, and more durable, repairable and recyclable.
- Reuse: Manufacturers must reuse the recyclable materials and not mine rare elements unnecessarily to meet new production.
- Commercial recycling: Rather than hoping that informal recyclers become formal it would be more feasible for companies and the state to design programs ensure e-waste easily makes its way to proper recyclers.
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