Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Falling of Indian rupee, challenges and advantages
Context
- The Indian rupee has been quite the controversial newsmaker this year. Having fallen more than 11 percent against the US dollar so far in 2022, the rupee breached the much-feared 80-mark in July and went on to set record lows, touching 83 to a dollar late in October.
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Impact on trade
- Widening trade deficit: The first phenomenon is one of the biggest worries caused by a falling rupee, a rise in import costs, threatening higher inflation and a widening trade deficit.
- Advantage for export: However, there also exists a ray of hope, a depreciated currency implies cheaper, more competitive exports and therefore, a possible export-led boost to the domestic economy. The net effect of these opposing forces would determine the impact of a depreciating currency on an economy.
- Robust Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI): The import bill has risen not only on the back of a raging dollar and hardening crude prices but has also been spurred by strengthening domestic demand and manufacturing, as evidenced by a robust Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) of 55.3 in October.
- Subdued merchandized export: Although service exports have done fairly well in FY 2022-23, merchandise exports have remained subdued and could soon worsen due to economic downturns in Europe and the US.
Impact on foreign investment
- Weak rupee low foreign portfolio investors (FPI): The rupee has a complicated relationship with the moody foreign portfolio investors (FPIs). A weaker rupee can discourage FPIs. In turn, FPI outflows can further push the rupee to depreciate.
- Falling NRI deposits: With the rupee losing value against the dollar, and interest rates around the world rising, NRI deposit flows also fell in the five-month period from April to August 2022, down to US$1.4 billion from US$2.4 billion a year ago.
- FDI is Rising: Net FDI flows have remained positive and are set to grow, with April-June 2022 seeing an inflow of US$13.6 billion, higher than the same period last year. Even Indian stock markets have remained resilient, particularly on the back of large net-purchases by domestic institutional and retail investors, offsetting the equity sell-off by foreign investors.
- Negative foreign investment: Net foreign investment (FII) flows did turn negative for a few months in 2022, and while rebounding FPI and resilient FDI do point to a more optimistic opinion of India among foreign investors, foreign investment is absolutely crucial at this juncture in India’s growth story and must be watched closely.
Efforts taken by RBI
- Use of forex reserve: In an effort to defend the rupee, the RBI has intervened and sold off some of its foreign exchange reserves. The reserves stood at US$524.52 billion as of 21 October 2022, witnessing a fall of over US$115 billion since the beginning of the year.
- according to RBI external situation is better: RBI has stated that most external indicators such as external debt to GDP ratio, net international investment position to GDP ratio and the ratio of short-term debt to reserves reflect India’s relatively comfortable position in meeting its external financing requirements–even in contrast to other emerging economies.
- Careful intervention: Over-tightening of monetary policy and excessive intervention in the currency market can pose significant risks to the country’s growth prospects and the RBI must be careful to intervene just enough to quell volatility, without expending an inordinate amount of reserves.
- Leveraging the growth rate: India has the chance to leverage its relatively healthy growth rates and rising infrastructure and capital expenditure to attract foreign investment, spurring growth and strengthening the capital account.
- High investor confidence: Investor confidence has been steady, with the country seeing a record high of annual FDI inflows of US$84.8 billion in FY2021-22 in spite of the pandemic and volatile geopolitical scenario.
- Stability in growth: This confidence needs to be leveraged and by positioning India on the international stage as a thriving and stable haven for investments, both the country’s growth and forex needs can be met.
- Sufficient policy support is needed: Although the falling rupee has caused worry for a few economic indicators, with sufficient policy support, the domestic economy could emerge as an outlier in a global downturn.
Conclusion
- With the United States (US) on a war path to curtail inflation and the supply side stifled by the conflict in Ukraine, even historically strong currencies like the euro and the British pound have plummeted against the raging dollar, more than the rupee. Government and RBI must stay on course of steady growth of economy.
Mains Question
Q. Discuss the impact of falling rupee on Trade and foreign investment in India? How India has unique opportunity for growth amidst the crisis around the world?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Read the attached story
Mains level: Making of Indian Constitution
PM highlighted the contribution of women in the Constituent Assembly which drafted the Constitution was hardly discussed and efforts should be made to educate future generations about their work.
These are the 15 invisible architects of the Indian republic cited by the PM-
Note: This newscard has some invincible set of facts that no one can remember in one go. However, we advise you to take some notes and have it on your desk. Be it sticky notes or something. Revise them for some days.
(1) Ammu Swaminathan
- She was born into an upper-caste Nair family in the Palghat district of Kerala.
- She was a social worker and politician who along with Annie Besant, Margaret Cousins, Malathi Patwardhan, Mrs. Dadabhoy, and Mrs. Ambujammal, formed the Women’s India Association in 1917 in Madras.
- One of the first associations to demand adult franchise and constitutional rights for women.
- She strongly opposed discriminatory caste practices although, she belonged to an upper-caste and strongly advocated equal status, adult franchise, and the removal of untouchability.
- Ammu became a part of the Constituent Assembly in 1946 from the Madras constituency.
- She felt that the Constitution was too long and that it had gone into unnecessary detail and wanted a constitution that could fit easily into a pocket or purse.
(2) Annie Mascarene
- Annie Mascarene was born into a Latin Catholic family belonging to Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
- She was one of the first women to join the Travancore State Congress and became the first woman to be part of the Travancore State Congress Working Committee.
- She was one of the leaders of the movements for independence and integration with the Indian nation in the Travancore State.
- She was elected to the First Lok Sabha in the Indian general election, 1951.
- She was the first woman MP from Kerala and one of only ten elected to Parliament in the elections.
- Before her election to Parliament, she had served briefly as Minister in Charge of Health and Power during 1949-1950.
(3) Begum Aizaz Rasul
- She was born into the princely family of Malerkotla, Punjab.
- She was the only Muslim woman in the Constituent Assembly.
- She, together with her husband joined the Muslim League after the enactment of the GOI Act 1935.
- In 1950, after the dissolution of the Muslim League in India, she joined Congress.
- She was elected to the Constituent Assembly as a member of the Muslim League representing the United Provinces.
- Although she was not a part of any committee in the Assembly, she advocated for National language, reservation and property rights, and minority rights.
- She was against making ‘Sanskritised Hindi’ the National language, as only very few understood it and instead advocated for Hindustani.
(4) Dakshayani Velayudhan
- She was born into an agrestic slave caste, Pulayas, on a small island of Bolgatty on the coast of Cochin.
- She was the only Dalit women member of the Constituent Assembly and also the youngest at 34 years.
- She was the first Dalit woman to graduate in India, and was the only female student pursuing a course in the sciences.
- She was inspired into politics through her family’s fight against discriminatory caste practices.
- She was the first generation Kerala woman to be able to cover their upper-body.
- She was nominated to the Assembly in 1945 from Madras.
- In the Assembly, she advocated on issues of untouchability, forced labour, reservations, and against separate electorates for Dalits.
- She believed that the best way to address untouchability was through sustained state propaganda and not through punishment.
- In 1977 she set up a women’s rights organization Mahila Jagriti Parishad in Delhi.
(5) Durgabai Deshmukh
- Durgabai, from the ripe age of twelve, was a part of the Indian freedom movement.
- She quit school to protest the imposition of English as a medium of education, part of the Non-Cooperation Movement.
- She volunteered at a conference held by the Indian National Congress in Kakinada at the age of 14.
- She participated in the Salt Satyagraha from Madras in May of 1930.
- While she was in prison, she studied English and completed her master’s degree from Andhra University.
- She then studied law at Madras University and practiced at the bar for a few years.
- She established Andhra Mahila Sabha to coach young Telugu girls in Madras for their Matriculation examination conducted by the Banaras Hindu University in 1936.
- She was elected to the Constituent Assembly from Madras and was part of the Committee on Rules and Procedure and the Steering Committee.
- She also advocated for judicial-independence and human trafficking.
- She also felt that Hindustani should be adopted as a national language instead of Sanskritised Hindi but, she later argued against adopting Hindi as the national language.
(6) Hansa Jivraj Mehta
- She was a writer, social reformer, social activist, and educator.
- In 1937, she contested in the Bombay Legislative Council elections from the general category; she not only won but remained on the council till 1949.
- She became President of the All India Women’s Conference in 1946.
- During the presidency, she drafted the Indian Women’s Charter of Rights and Duties, which called for gender equality and civil rights for women.
- She is 1946 also served as a member of the UN sub-committee on the status of women.
- She along with Eleanor Roosevelt, vice-chaired the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights Committee.
- She was part of the Advisory Committee, Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights, Provincial Constitution Committee.
- She strongly advocated for a uniform civil code and believed that purdah was an evil practice. She also rejected quotas, reserved seats, and separate electorates for women.
(7) Kamla Chaudhary
- She was a feminist, fictional writer, and political activist.
- Her political career began in 1930 when she joined the Indian National Congress and was an active participant in the Civil Disobedience Movement.
- At the 54th session of the All India Congress Committee, she was the vice-president.
- She was elected to the Constituent Assembly.
(8) Leela Roy
- She was a great social reformer, a staunch feminist and a social and political activist, and a close associate of Subash Chandra Bose.
- In 1923 she received her M.A from Dhaka University and was the first woman to obtain it from the University.
- She was an advocate for women’s education and established Dipali Sangh, an association for women, in 1923.
- She founded a school named Dipali School and twelve other free primary schools with the help of the Dipali Sangha.
- Subsequently, in 1928, she established two other schools known as Nari Shiksa Mandir (Temple of Women’s Education) and Shiksa Bhaban (House of Education).
- Another important contribution was made b her to Muslim women’s education by setting up one of her schools as Qamrunnessa Girl’s School in Dhaka.
- She was the only woman to be elected from Bengal to the Constituent Assembly on 9th December 1946.
- However, she resigned from her post a few months later to protest against the partition of India.
(9) Malati Choudhury
- She hailed from East Bengal (now Bangladesh).
- At the age of 16, in 1929, she was sent to Santiniketan where she got admitted to Viswa-Bharati.
- Along with her husband, during the Salt Satyagrah joined the Indian National Congress.
- In 1933, she formed Utkal Congress Samajvadi Karmi Sangh along with, her husband and later came to be known as the Orissa Provincial Branch of the All India Congress Socialist Party.
- She joined Gandhiji in his famous padayatra in Orissa in 1934.
- For the upliftment of vulnerable communities in Odisha, she set-up several organizations such as the Bajiraut Chhatravas.
(10) Purnima Banerjee
- She was a part of the individual Satyagraha and Quit India movement.
- She was a member of the Congress Socialist Party and the Indian National Congress.
- She held the post as the Secretary of the Allahabad City Congress Committee, working towards creating rural engagement.
- She was appointed to the Constituent Assembly from United Provinces.
- She argued that the preventative detention clause in Draft Article 15A (Article 22 of the Constitution of India) must prescribe time limits beyond which a person cannot be detained.
- During the discussion of the Preamble, she expressly stated that ‘sovereignty’ is derived from the people of India.
- During the discussion around the qualifications of Rajya Sabha members, Banerjee believed that the age limit should be reduced from 35 to 30 years.
(11) Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
- Inspired by Gandhi’s fight for Independence, she gave up her Sherborne and Oxford education to be his Secretary for 16 years.
- In 1927 she along with Margaret cousins co-founded the All-India Women’s Conference.
- She held the position of Secretary in 1930 and President in 1933.
- She played a vital part in India’s establishment of constitutional equality of genders guaranteed under Articles 14, 15, and 16.
- She was also played a pivotal part in the inclusion of the Uniform Civil Code as part of the Directive Principles of State Policy.
- She was the first Health Minister of independent India and held office for ten years.
- She was the first female and first Asian President of the world health Assembly.
(12) Renuka Ray
- Renuka Rai is a celebrated women’s rights and inheritance rights in parent a property activist.
- She, like Kaur, was inspired by Gandhi’s call for the independence struggle, joined Gandhi’s Ashram accompanying him in protests.
- In 1934 while working as a secretary of the AIWC, she authored ‘legal disability is Women in India; A Plea for A Commission of Inquiry’.
- She worked for the prevention of women trafficking and the improvement of conditions of female labourers.
- Ray contributed to numerous women’s rights issues, minority rights, and bicameral legislature provisions. She fought for Uniform Personal Law Code.
- In 1949 represented India in the UN General assembly.
(13) Sarojini Naidu
- The first woman president of the Indian National Congress was popularly known as the Nightingale of India.
- When in England, she had gained some experience in suffragist campaigns and was drawn to India’s Congress movement and Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-cooperation Movement.
- Besides being a suffragette, she was also a women rights activist, and she advocated for reforms to improve the conditions of widows in the Indian National Social Conference in Madras, 1908.
- In 1917 she headed the All-India Women’s Deputation and championed women’s suffrage before E. S. Montagu (Secretary of State for India).
- In the same year, she together with Annie Besant, set up the Women’s India Association.
- In 1931 she accompanied Gandhi to London for the inconclusive second session of the Round Table Conference.
- She was appointed to the Constituent Assembly from Bihar as part of the ad-hoc committee on the national flag.
(14) Sucheta Kriplani
- The first elected female chief minister of an Indian state was born in Ambala.
- A graduate from Indraprastha College for Women, Delhi University, taught Constitutional History at Banaras Hindu University until 1939.
- She became a member of the Congress Party in 1938, served as the Secretary to the Foreign Department and Women’s Section for a year and a half.
- Under her leadership, the women’s wing of the Congress Party was established in 1940.
- She held an active role in India’s struggle for independence during the 1940s and was remembered especially for her role in the 1942 Quit India Movement for which she was arrested in 1944 and detained for a year.
- She was elected to the Constituent Assembly from the United Provinces in 1946 as a member of the Flag Presentation Committee.
- This committee presented the first Indian flag before the Constituent Assembly.
- Kriplani served as a Secretary to the Relief and Rehabilitation Committee established by the Congress Party, playing a pivotal role in rehabilitating the Bengali refugees during the partition.
- She had a colourful political career. She was also a part of various delegations to international organizations and countries.
(15) Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
- Born, Swarup Kumari Nehru was a diplomat and politician. She changed her name after her marriage in 1921.
- As an enthusiastic participant of the independence struggle, she was imprisoned on three different occasions.
- After the Indian Independence, she became an eminent diplomat representing India in the United Nations between 1946- 48 and 1952-53.
- She was an Ambassador to Moscow, Mexico, and Washington and later to England and Ireland concurrently.
- She is the first woman to become President of the UN General Assembly.
- She was appointed as the governor of Maharashtra after her return to India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Juvenile Justice
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Context
- The Supreme Court (SC) made an observation in its judgment of November 16 in the infamous Kathua rape-murder case that the rising rate of juvenile delinquency in India is a matter of concern and requires immediate attention.
Present approach and implications towards Juvenile delinquency
- The goal of reformation: There is a school of thought, that firmly believes that howsoever heinous the crime may be, be it single rape, gangrape, drug peddling or murder but if the accused is a juvenile, he should be dealt with keeping in mind only one thing i.e., the goal of reformation.
- Continuance of crime: The school of thought, we are talking about, believes that the goal of reformation is ideal. The manner in which brutal and heinous crimes have been committed over a period of time by the juveniles and still continue to be committed, makes us wonder whether the [Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children)] Act, 2015 has subserved its object.
- No reformation but more crime: We have started gathering an impression that the leniency with which the juveniles are dealt with in the name of goal of reformation is making them more and more emboldened in indulging in such heinous crimes.
- Criminal trials are not allowed: The law, contained in successive Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Acts (JJ Acts), places a blanket ban on the power of the criminal court to try and punish a person below the specified age for committing any offence.
- Lack of clarity on maturity of person: Should a person, who has sufficient maturity of understanding to judge the nature and consequences of his/her action, get blanket immunity from the criminal process without the fear of being prosecuted, tried and punished, merely because that person is below the specified age?
- Child friendly inquiry: Under the existing law, such a person, at best, could be subjected to a child-friendly enquiry by a Juvenile Justice Board (JJ Board) and reformation for a maximum period of three years in a correctional home.
The issue of maturity of Juvenile offender
- Help of experts to assess maturity: It is well settled that the assessment of whether or not an offender has attained sufficient maturity of understanding to judge the nature and consequences of his/her conduct is to be done by the court with the help of experts, and is a judicial function as exemplified by Section 83 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
- Judicial discretion was not allowed in JJ Act 2000: The JJ Act 2000 to the extent it deprived the criminal court of the power to try and to punish a person below the age of 18 years for committing an offence, when such a person could be assessed to have attained sufficient maturity to judge the nature and consequences of his/her conduct ,encroached upon the judicial domain and was, therefore, unconstitutional.
- No changes on maturity in JJ act 2015: The current JJ Act, 2015, suffers from the same defect, except that the age of criminal responsibility for heinous offences has been reduced to 16 years.
- Immature send to correctional homes: It has been overlooked that the fundamental premise of juvenile justice law is that a juvenile offender who lacks such maturity should not be sent to a criminal court to be tried for the commission of an offence, and instead, should be sent to a correctional home for reform and rehabilitation.
- Mature juvenile must be punished: Conversely, therefore, should the offender have such maturity, he/she must be prosecuted before the criminal court, tried and, if found guilty, punished. The age of the juvenile offender alone cannot, therefore, justify a blanket immunity from the criminal process rather, the question of such immunity must be assessed on a case-by-case basis depending on the maturity of such offender.
Trying the mature juvenile as adult
- Mature juvenile and adults are not same: Indeed, Section 23 of the JJ Act, 2015 mandates that notwithstanding anything contained in Section 223 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1973 or in any other law for the time being in force, “there shall be no joint proceedings of a child alleged to be in conflict with the law, with a person who is not a child”.
- Separate provision for mature juveniles: Provisions already exist in the JJ Act, 2015, as to how a child who has attained the age of 16 years could be tried and punished for a heinous offence.
- Assessing the maturity of all juvenile irrespective of age: The same provisions could be extended to all juvenile offenders, regardless of age or nature of the crime, once it is found by the competent court that any such offender had sufficient maturity of understanding to judge the nature and consequences of his/her actions.
Conclusion
- Government should amend JJ Act 2015. Such an amendment would go a long way in providing the requisite balance between the rationales underlying the juvenile justice system and the criminal justice system and realizing the objectives professed by both.
Mains Question
Q. What are the flaws with existing Juvenile Justice Act 2015 vis-e-vis maturity of juveniles? How to address the issue mature juvenile and punishment to them?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Population and population decline trend
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Context
- Recently, when the world population touched eight billion, several headlines focused on how India was the largest contributor to the last billion and is set to surpass China as the world’s most populous nation by 2023. But missing in this conversation is the real threat of depopulation that parts of India too face, and the country’s complete lack of preparedness to deal with it.
Note: “The population and Population decline are continuously in the headlines which makes the population and associated topics important for the upcoming Mains Examinations.”
India’s Population trend
- The total population of India currently stands at 1.37 billion which is 17.5% of the world population.
- Between 1992 and 2015, India’s Total fertility rate (TFR) had fallen by 35% from 3.4 to 2.2.
- Young people (15-29 age years) form 27.2% of the population in 2021. This made India enter the Demographic dividend stage.
- The percentage of the elderly population has been increasing from 6.8% in 1991 to 9.2% in 2016.
What is depopulation?
- The depopulation decline (also sometimes called population decline, underpopulation, or population collapse) in humans is a reduction in a human population size.
- Over the long term, stretching from prehistory to the present, Earth’s total human population has continued to grow; however, current projections suggest that this long-term trend of steady population growth may be coming to an end.
The depopulation discussion and the missing links
- Falling fertility rate and discussing reversal: Demographers, policy experts and politicians in countries such as Japan, South Korea and Europe, which are experiencing falling fertility and nearing the inflection point of population declines, are beginning to talk about what the future holds and whether reversal is possible.
- The missing key elements in the conversation: Talking about equitable sharing of housework; access to subsidized childcare that allows women to have families as well as a career; and lowered barriers to immigration to enable entry to working-age people from countries which aren’t yet in population decline is missing.
Fertility in India
- Falling fertility rate: It is now well-established that fertility in India is falling along expected lines as a direct result of rising incomes and greater female access to health and education. India’s total fertility rate is now below the replacement rate of fertility.
- Many states are on the verge of population decline: Parts of India have not only achieved replacement fertility, but have been below the replacement rate for so long that they are at the cusp of real declines in population. Kerala, which achieved replacement fertility in 1998, and Tamil Nadu, which achieved this in 2000, are examples.
- Decline in working age population: In the next four years, both Tamil Nadu and Kerala will see the first absolute declines in their working-age populations in their histories. With falling mortality (barring the pandemic), the total population of these States will continue to grow for the next few decades, which means that fewer working-age people must support more elderly people than ever before.
- Replacement level fertility is the level of fertility at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next.
- In simpler terms, it denotes the fertility number required to maintain the same population number of a country over a given period of time.
- In developed countries, replacement level fertility can be taken as requiring an average of 2.1 children per woman.
- In countries with high infant and child mortality rates, however, the average number of births may need to be much higher.
- RLF will lead to zero population growth only if mortality rates remain constant and migration has no effect.
A depopulating future and the challenges
- Invisible trend because infuse of migrants: Access to working-age persons notably different from the situation in other States with low fertility. For instance, Delhi and Karnataka which are both net recipients of migrants, and will not confront population decline in the near future.
- A skewed sex ratio remains a danger: As the latest round of the NFHS showed, families with at least one son are less likely to want more children than families with just one daughter.
- Difference in education: The stark differences between northern and southern States in terms of basic literacy as well as enrolment in higher education, including in technical fields, will mean that workers from the southern States are not automatically replaceable.
Conclusion
- With decades of focus on lowering fertility, the conversation in India is stuck in a rut. It is for the southern States to break away from this outmoded, data-free rhetoric and join the global conversation on depopulation. India’s cannot ignore the depopulation in the name of migration to meet its current labour needs.
Mains question
Q. What is depopulation, which has been a hot topic in recent times? Where do you see India in global population trends? Discuss.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NPR, NRC
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Central government proposes to make birth certificates a mandatory document for almost every sphere of life — admission in educational institutions, inclusion in the voter list, appointment in Central and State government jobs, issue of driving licence and passport.
Why in news?
- These changes are proposed in the draft Bill to amend the Registration of Birth and Death (RBD) Act, 1969.
Registration of Births and Deaths Act (RBD), 1969
- The registration of births, deaths and stillbirths are compulsory under the provisions of RBD Act in all parts of the Country.
- The normal period of 21 days (from the date of occurrence) has been prescribed for reporting the birth, death and stillbirth events.
- Registration of birth and death is already compulsory under the RBD Act, 1969 and violating it is a punishable offence.
Why need amendment?
- The database may be used to update the Population Register and the electoral register, and Aadhaar, ration card, passport and driving licence databases after the amendment.
- Presently, the registration of births and deaths is done by the local registrar appointed by States.
What are the proposed amendments?
Ans. Unified Database of Birth and Death
- It is proposed that the Chief Registrar (appointed by the States) would maintain a unified database at the State level.
- It would then integrate it with the data at the “national level,” maintained by the Registrar General of India (RGI).
- The amendments will imply that the Centre will be a parallel repository of data.
- It shall be mandatory for hospitals and medical institutions to provide a copy of all death certificates, stating the cause of death, to the local registrar apart from the relative of the deceased.
Significance of the database
- Population Register prepared under the Citizenship Act, 1955;
- Electoral registers or electoral rolls prepared under the Representation of the People Act, 1951
- Aadhaar database prepared under the Aadhaar Act, 2016;
- Ration card database prepared under the National Food Security Act, 2013;
- Passport database prepared under the Passport Act; and
- Driving licence database under the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, and
- Other databases at the national level are subject to provisons of Section 17 (1) of the RBD Act, 1969
What are the newly proposed changes?
- The centrally-stored birth/death data will be updated in real-time without any human interface required.
- This would lead to addition and deletion from the electoral roll when an individual turns 18, and after death, respectively.
Why such move?
- The government intends to improve compliance by making the registration mandatory to avail basic services such as admission in schools and registration of marriages.
- Provisions exist for compulsory registration of births and deaths but after the law is amended, it will be
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sacred Grooves
Mains level: Not Much
This newscard is an excerpt from the original article published in the Sunday edition of TH.
What are Sacred Grooves?
- Sacred groves of India are forest fragments of varying sizes, which are communally protected, and which usually have a significant religious connotation for the protecting community.
- It usually consists of a dense cover of vegetation including climbers, herbs, shrubs and trees, with the presence of a village deity and is mostly situated near a perennial water source.
- Sacred groves are considered to be symbols of the primitive practice of nature worship and support nature conservation to a great extent.
- The introduction of the protected area category community reserves under the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2002 has introduced legislation for providing government protection to community-held lands, which could include sacred groves.
Historical references
- Indian sacred groves are often associated with temples, monasteries, shrines, pilgrimage sites, or with burial grounds.
- Historically, sacred groves find their mentions in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist texts, from sacred tree groves in Hinduism to sacred deer parks in Buddhism for example.
- Sacred groves may be loosely used to refer to natural habitat protected on religious grounds.
- Other historical references to sacred groves can be obtained in Vrukshayurveda an ancient treatise, ancient classics such as Kalidasa’s Vikramuurvashiiya.
- There has been a growing interest in creating green patches such as Nakshatravana
Regulation of activities in Sacred Grooves
- Hunting and logging are usually strictly prohibited within these patches.
- Other forms of forest usage like honey collection and deadwood collection are sometimes allowed on a sustainable basis.
- NGOs work with local villagers to protect such groves.
- Traditionally, and in some cases even today, members of the community take turns to protect the grove.
Threats to such grooves
- Threats to the groves include urbanization, and over-exploitation of resources.
- While many of the groves are looked upon as abode of Hindu deities, in the recent past a number of them have been partially cleared for construction of shrines and temples.
Total grooves in India
- Around 14,000 sacred groves have been reported from all over India, which act as reservoirs of rare fauna, and more often rare flora, amid rural and even urban settings.
- Experts believe that the total number of sacred groves could be as high as 100,000.
- They are called by different names in different states:
- Sarna in Bihar
- Dev Van in Himachal Pradesh
- Devarakadu in Karnataka
- Kavu in Kerala
- Dev in Madhya Pradesh
- Devarahati or Devarai in Maharashtra
- Lai Umang in Maharashtra
- Law Kyntang or Asong Khosi in Meghalaya
- Oran in Rajasthan
- Kovil Kadu or Sarpa Kavu in Tamil Nadu
What lies ahead?
- The groves have great research value in in situ conservation of rare, endangered and threatened plant species.
- It is high time that public awareness is created about the importance of these sacred groves, developmental activities are banned and the felling of trees or removal of any other vegetation is completely stopped.
- This is possible only by way of enacting a special law for the protection and management of sacred groves.
- As the management practices and other rituals vary from state to state, the concerned state governments may promulgate such an act as suitable for the state.
- The idea should be to protect certain rare, endangered and threatened plant species in the era of global warming and climate change.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Rare earth elements
Mains level: Not Much
To counter India’s reliance on China for imports of critical rare earth minerals, industry has urged the government to establish ‘India Rare Earths Mission’.
What are Rare Earth Metals?
- The rare earth elements (REE) are a set of seventeen metallic elements. These include the fifteen lanthanides on the periodic table plus scandium and yttrium.
- Rare earth elements are an essential part of many high-tech devices.
- They have a wide range of applications, especially high-tech consumer products, such as cellular telephones, computer hard drives, electric and hybrid vehicles, and flat-screen monitors and televisions.
- Significant defense applications include electronic displays, guidance systems, lasers, and radar and sonar systems.
- Rare earth minerals, with names like neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium, are crucial to the manufacture of magnets used in industries of the future, such as wind turbines and electric cars.
Applications of REMs in various fields:
- Electronics: Television screens, computers, cell phones, silicon chips, monitor displays, long-life rechargeable batteries, camera lenses, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), baggage scanners, marine propulsion systems.
- Defense Sector: Rare earth elements play an essential role in our national defense. The military uses night-vision goggles, precision-guided weapons, communications equipment, GPS equipment, batteries, and other defense electronics. These give the United States military an enormous advantage. Rare earth metals are key ingredients for making the very hard alloys used in armored vehicles and projectiles that shatter upon impact.
- Renewable Energy: Solar panels, Hybrid automobiles, wind turbines, next-generation rechargeable batteries, bio-fuel catalysts.
- Manufacturing: High strength magnets, metal alloys, stress gauges, ceramic pigments, colorants in glassware, chemical oxidizing agent, polishing powders, plastics creation, as additives for strengthening other metals, automotive catalytic converters
- Medical Science: Portable x-ray machines, x-ray tubes, magnetic resonance imagery (MRI) contrast agents, nuclear medicine imaging, cancer treatment applications, and for genetic screening tests, medical and dental lasers.
- Technology: Lasers, optical glass, fiber optics, masers, radar detection devices, nuclear fuel rods, mercury-vapor lamps, highly reflective glass, computer memory, nuclear batteries, high-temperature superconductors.
DO YOU KNOW?
Metals such as cadmium, lead are often used in manufacturing plastic and over time can enter coastal waters. These are acutely harmful for coastal wildlife and humans.Different kinds of plastic releases different kinds of metals that may release when exposed to water and UV lights.
What are the challenges in accessing Critical minerals?
- Deposits in geopolitically sensitive regions: Reserves are often concentrated in regions that are geopolitically sensitive or fare poorly from an ease of doing business perspective.
- Controlled production: A portion of existing production is controlled by geostrategic competitors. For example, China wields considerable influence in cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo through direct equity investments and its Belt and Road Initiative.
- Agreements in advance from outside: Future mine production is often tied up in off take agreements, in advance, by buyers from other countries to cater to upcoming demand.
A step taken by Indian government for sourcing strategic minerals
- For sourcing of strategic minerals, the Indian government established Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) in 2019 with the mandate to secure mineral supply for the domestic market.
India Rare Earths Mission
- Industries in India have urged to set up a Mission, manned by professionals, like the India Semiconductor Mission and make their exploration a critical component of the Deep Ocean Mission plan of the government.
- It would seek to encourage private sector mining in the sector and diversify sources of supply for these strategic raw materials.
- The industry group has mooted making rare earth minerals a part of the ‘Make In India’ campaign, citing China’s ‘Made in China 2025’ initiative that focuses on new materials, including permanent magnets that are made using rare earth minerals.
Why such move?
- Though India has 6% of the world’s rare earth reserves, it only produces 1% of global output, and meets most of its requirements of such minerals from China.
- In 2018-19, for instance, 92% of rare earth metal imports by value and 97% by quantity were sourced from China.
What lies ahead?
- There is a need to harness the potential of the country’s own rare earth reserves.
- This would help build domestic capability and broad-base supply sources for such an important and strategic raw material.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Darjeeling Tea
Mains level: Not Much
Tea Board officials admitted that Indian tea had not been able to establish itself globally, and that one of its key brands, Darjeeling Tea, was under acute stress.
About Darjeeling Tea
- Darjeeling Tea, called the ‘Champagne of Teas’, was the first Indian product to get the GI (Geographical Identification) tag in 2004 for its distinctive aroma and flavour.
- About 87 gardens in Darjeeling which employ about 55,000 workers produce approximately 7 million kg of tea, most of which is exported.
Why is it under distress?
- Garden owners are reeling under higher costs of production and other issues.
- Inferior quality tea from Nepal is being imported, and then sold and re-exported as premium Darjeeling Tea.
- Nepal shares similar climatic conditions and terrain, produces tea at a lower price because of less input costs, particularly labour, and fewer quality checks.
- In 2017, the production of Darjeeling Tea hit a low of 3.21 million kg. Since a substantial market of Darjeeling Tea switched to cheaper varieties of tea, including the imported variety from Nepal.
- Tea planters and industry experts admit that the tea industry in Darjeeling has not recovered from the damage it incurred in 2017.
Is climate change impacting production?
- The decline in production is due to multiple factors, which include climate change, declining yields, and high absenteeism among workers.
- Because of the hilly terrain of Darjeeling, there is no land left for expansion of tea gardens.
- The tea bushes are older than other parts of the country.
- Uprooting and planting them is both time and cost-intensive.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Shiveluch Volcano
Mains level: Not Much
The Shiveluch volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East has increased its activity and is now in danger of erupting violently.
About Shiveluch
- Shiveluch is one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Kamchatka, having erupted at least 60 times in the past 10,000 years.
- Kamchatka is home to 29 active volcanoes, part of a vast belt of Earth known as the “Ring of Fire” which circles the Pacific Ocean and is prone to eruptions and frequent earthquakes.
- It has two main parts: Old Shiveluch, which tops 3,283 metres (10,771 ft), and Young Shiveluch – a smaller, 2,800-metre peak protruding from its side.
- Young Shiveluch lies within an ancient caldera – a large crater-like basin that likely formed when the older part underwent a catastrophic eruption at least 10,000 years ago.
- It is this part that has become extremely active; the lava dome continues to grow and that stronger “fumarole activity” has been observed.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sankaradeva
Mains level: Bhakti Movement
‘Gurujana’ a musical tribute to 15th–16th century Assamese polymath Srimanta Sankardeva was recently released by the PIB.
Srimanta Sankardeva (1449–1568)
- Sankardeva was a 15th–16th century Assamese polymath; a saint-scholar, poet, playwright, dancer, actor, musician, artist social-religious reformer and a figure of importance.
- He is widely credited with building on past cultural relics and devising-
- New forms of music (Borgeet)
- Theatrical performance (Ankia Naat, Bhaona),
- Dance (Sattriya)
- Literary language (Brajavali)
Literary works
- He has left extensive literary trans-created scriptures (Bhagavat of Sankardev), poetry and theological works written in Sanskrit, Assamese and Brajavali.
Political influence
- The Bhagavatic religious movement he started, Ekasarana Dharma and also called the Neo-Vaishnavite movement, influenced two medieval kingdoms – Koch and the Ahom kingdom.
- His influence spread even to some kingdoms as the Matak Kingdom founded by Bharat Singha, and consolidated by Sarbananda Singha in the latter 18th century endorsed his teachings.
- The assembly of devotees he initiated evolved over time into monastic centers called Sattras, which continue to be important socio-religious institutions in Assam and to a lesser extent in North Bengal even today.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Constitution facts
Mains level: Evolution of the Constitution of India
Context
- On November 26, 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted our Constitution. Hence, every year we celebrate this day as Constitution or Law Day. India’s Constitution has now endured for almost 73 years.
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Did you know?
- The original constitution of India was handwritten by Prem Behari Narain Raizada in a flowing italic style with beautiful calligraphy.
- 2,000 Amendments were made to the 1st draft of the Constitution before it was finalized.
- Era of constitutional democracies: Constitution-making itself is a relatively unexceptional endeavor. Ginsburg, Elkins and Blount note that in the period from 1789–2005, 806 national constitutions were promulgated.
- Shadow of partition: It was written under extraordinarily difficult conditions, The partition of India which resulted in the displacement of millions of people on both sides of the border.
- Mass death and refugee crisis: Partition was accompanied by mass deaths, devastation, violence, and brutality. Amid all this, as refugees flowed into Delhi, our dual-purpose assembly, a parliament by morning and a constituent body in the afternoon drafted our enduring founding instrument. One that would remain relevant not just for the turbulence of that present, but also would be meaningful for future generations to come.
- A lengthy process: Of the 148 cases, which were randomly chosen from 806, on average, the constitution-making process took 16 months. India’s constitution-making project took about three years from 1946 to 1949.
Legitimacy of the constitution
- Constitution narrates the story of people: It’s not only the text, but also the story crafted of the birth of a constitution that is critical in the internalization of a constitutional order by a people.
- Legitimacy of constitution makers: The drafters deployed the considerable political goodwill enjoyed by key national leaders who were members of the assembly to give legitimacy to the Constitution.
- Egalitarian foundation for decent nation: The Constitution reflects the will of the people, and how its egalitarian foundation would create a better, more decent nation.
Influence of freedom movements on the crafting of the Constitution
- Rise of constitutionalism: The freedom movement and resistance to colonial power was also good training for constitution-crafting. Dietmar Rothmund highlights the unique evolution of Indian constitutionalism, each set of reforms introduced by the British coloniser, while being designed to fulfil certain demands, leads to inspiring new agitations.
- Tilak’s Swaraj Bill of 1895: As the legal historian Rohit De writes, the Constitution, had its inspiration in sources like Tilak’s Swaraj Bill of 1895 (which included rights to free speech, free press, equality before law) and the Declaration of Rights of 1918 (where the Indian National Congress demanded that civil and political rights to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of press and association and for all this to be included in the Government of India Act 1919).
- Resolution of Fundamental Rights and Economic Changes:
- Constitutional development that drew from the Resolution of Fundamental Rights and Economic Changes at the Karachi Session of the Congress in 1931. This resolution argues that “in order to end exploitation of the masses, political freedom must include economic freedom”.
- Along with fundamental rights, it provided for ending of bonded and child labour, free primary education, expansion of labour welfare, regime protection labour unions, women workers, providing for redistribution of resources through state control over key industries and national resources, recognizing the communal problem and laying out protection of minority rights.
Consensus based approach
- It was also the consensus-oriented method that found favor with the Constituent Assembly that has helped our Constitution endure.
- The framers appreciated the link between consensus in adoption and the legitimacy of the Constitution. For instance, when debating the adoption of Hindi as a national language, Rajendra Prasad, president of the Constituent Assembly, said that the choice of national language would have to be “carried out by the whole country”.
- Even if a majority of the Assembly made a choice that was not approved by a section of the people, then, implementation of the Constitution would be rendered perilous. Hence, Hindi was made “the official language of the Union”, while English was retained to be used for all “official purposes”.
Conclusion
- India’s drafters and the methodologies they adopted to craft their glorious product, hold lessons for contemporary politicians and law makers. Consensus, craft and vision are invaluable while making an instrument to endure.
Mains Question
Q. Explain the impact of colonial legacy and freedom movement on drafting of constitution? What were the extra ordinary circumstances during the partition of India?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Election Commission
Mains level: Issues with the Election Commission and Appointments
Context
- A vital issue of national importance dominating the headlines for the last three days is the PIL in the Supreme Court regarding the autonomy and neutrality of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Constitutional mandate for Election Commission of India (ECI).
- The Constitution intended the Election Commission to be fiercely independent and vested it with enormous powers of superintendence, direction and control over all elections.
- The apex court has repeatedly adjudged these powers to be absolute and unquestionable.
- It has declared Article 324 to be the reservoir of all powers of the ECI and has repeatedly declared free and fair elections to be part of the basic structure of the Constitution.
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- The President has the power to select Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.
- They have tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
- They have the same status and receive pay and perks as available to Judges of the Supreme Court of India.
- The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only through accusation by Parliament.
- Election commissioner or a regional commissioner shall not be removed from office except on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
What are the issues regarding the appointment of the Election commissioners?
- Flawed system of appointment of the Election Commissioners: They are appointed unilaterally by the government of the day.
- B. R. Ambedkar’s remark on tenure: Tenure B R Ambedkar’s statement to the Constituent Assembly “the tenure can’t be made a fixed and secure tenure if there is no provision in the Constitution to prevent a fool or a naive or a person who is likely to be under the thumb of the executive”
- Uncertainty over the elevation: Uncertainty over the elevation of an Election Commissioner to the post of CEC, which makes them vulnerable to government pressure. They consider themselves on probation, always conscious of how their conduct is viewed by the government, which can exploit this fear. Since all three members have equal voting rights and all decisions in the commission are taken by the majority, the government can even control an independent-minded CEC through the majority voting power of the two Election Commissioners.
What are the demands for the appointment of EC’s?
- Appointments through a broad-based consultation: There has been a demand for appointments through a broad-based consultation, including parliamentary scrutiny.
- The Proposed mechanism: A collegium consisting of the Prime Minister, leader of the Opposition (LOP) and the Chief Justice of India (CJI).This system is already in operation for the appointment of the Central Vigilance Commissioner, Chief Information Commissioner and Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation.
- The probable benefit of this mechanism: This will obviate the possibility of allegations against the incumbent of being partisan to the government. Opposition parties would not be able to raise a finger against the incumbent since the LOP would be a party to the selection.
- Collegium system for appointing Election Commissioners: In its 255th Report, the Law Commission of India also recommended a collegium system for appointing Election Commissioners. Political stalwarts and many former CECs including BB Tandon, N Gopalaswami, TS Krishnamurthy supported the idea.
- Extending protection to Election Commissioners: At present, only the CEC is protected from being removed (except through impeachment). One has to remember that the Constitution enabled protection for the CEC as it was initially a one-man Commission. Logically, this should have been extended to the other two Commissioners, who were added in 1993, as they collectively represent the ECI.
Memory shot: Constitutional Provisions in short
- 324: Functions of EC and its composition.
- 325: One general electoral roll and equality among the citizens.
- 326: Adult suffrage.
- 327: Power to Parliament: To make provisions with respect to elections to federal and State Legislatures.
- 328: Power to State Legislature: To make laws with respect to elections to such legislature.
- 329: Bars interference by courts in electoral matters. Notwithstanding anything said in the constitution i.e., validity of any law relating to the delimitation of constituencies or the allotment of seats to such constituencies shall not be called in question in any court.
Added Information: Conditions for filing an Election Petition
- No election to either House of Parliament or either House of the Legislature of a State shall be called in question except by an election petition.
- Any elector or candidate can file an election petition on grounds of malpractice during the election.
- In respect of elections to the Parliament and State Legislatures, they can only be filed before the High Court.
- In respect of elections for the offices of President and Vice President, such petitions can only be filed before the Supreme Court.
Conclusion
- The recent questions raised about the ECI’s credibility are certainly worrisome. An ECI in office with the express consent of both the ruling and opposition parties is a great opportunity to convince the country and all the parties contesting the elections of its neutrality and impartiality.
Mains Question
Q. Election Commission of India, the most powerful in the world, is said to have the most flawed appointment system. What are the concerns and demands raised from time to time? Discuss
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Cess, Surcharge
Mains level: Not Much
Several States, including some governed by the Centre urged to rein in its reliance on raising revenues through cesses and surcharges which reduce their share in the divisible pool of taxes.
What are Cesses and Surcharges?
The Union government has the authority to collect money through a variety of levies referred to as a tax, fee, cess, and surcharge.
(A) Cess
- Cess is charged on the tax amount and is levied for a specific purpose.
- In India, cess is applicable to all the taxpayers, and it is calculated over, and above the base tax liability of the taxpayer, cess taxes initially go to the consolidated fund of India (CFI) that has to be used for the purpose for which it was collected.
- Education Cess, Swachh Bharat Cess
(B) Surcharge
- The surcharge is levied on the tax payable and not on the total income.
- It directly goes to the CFI, and after that it can be used for any purpose, just like the normal tax.
- Surcharge applies to the taxpayer whose income is more than Rs 50 lakh.
- In simple terms, surcharge is a tax on tax that is not collected for any particular cause, and the union government may use the proceeds of surcharges for any purpose it sees as important.
- The objective behind the surcharge is to put a high tax burden on people with high incomes.
Difference between the two
- The rate of cess under income tax is fixed at 4%, whereas the rate of surcharges varies from 10%, 15%, 25% & 37% based on the taxpayers’ total income.
- Cess is calculated on total tax and surcharge amount; surcharge is calculated on total tax amount only.
- In a nutshell, while both are taxes, cess is collected from every taxpayer to meet a certain purpose, and the surcharge is an additional tax collected from the taxpayers who have higher slab income.
Key difference over which states dispute
- Major difference is that each can be shared with the state government, the surcharge can be kept with CFI, and it can be utilised for other taxes.
- However, cess should be utilised for a particular reason. This restricts the states expenditure.
- Tamil Nadu noted that the share of cesses and surcharges had grown from 10.4% of gross tax revenue in 2011-12 to 26.7% in 2021-22.
- This has deprived the States of their legitimate share of revenue collected by the Union Government.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MGNREGA
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Central government has constituted a panel to review the implementation and assess efficacy as a poverty alleviation tool of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme.
About the review committee
- The committee is headed by former Rural Development secretary Amarjeet Sinha.
- It had its first meeting on November 21, 2022, and has been given three months to submit its suggestions.
- It is tasked to study the various factors behind demand for MGNREGA work, expenditure trends and inter-State variations, and the composition of work.
- It will suggest what changes in focus and governance structures are required to make MGNREGA more effective.
What is MGNREGA?
- The MGNREGA stands for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005.
- This is labour law and social security measure that aims to guarantee the ‘Right to Work’.
- The act was first proposed in 1991 by V. Narasimha Rao.
What is so unique about it?
- MGNREGA is unique in not only ensuring at least 100 days of employment to the willing unskilled workers, but also in ensuring an enforceable commitment on the implementing machinery i.e., the State Governments, and providing a bargaining power to the labourers.
- The failure of provision for employment within 15 days of the receipt of job application from a prospective household will result in the payment of unemployment allowance to the job seekers.
- Any Indian citizen above the age of 18 years who resides in rural India can apply for the NREGA scheme. The applicant should have volunteered to do unskilled work.
- Employment is to be provided within 5 km of an applicant’s residence, and minimum wages are to be paid.
- Thus, employment under MGNREGA is a legal entitlement.
Why is MGNREGS under fire these days?
- Not enough work: Bihar despite its levels of poverty, does not generate enough work to make a concrete difference, and on the other end of spectrum we have Kerala which is economically better but has been utilising it for asset creation.
- No asset creation: There is a lack of tangible asset creation. The committee will study if the composition of work taken up presently under the scheme should be changed.
Issues in implementation
- Insufficient budgetary allocations: Increase in the nominal budget but actual budget (after adjusting inflation) decreased over the years.
- Approved Labour Budget Constraints: The Centre through the arbitrary “Approved Labour Budget” has reduced the number of days of work and put a cap on funds through the National Electronic Fund Management System
- Not so attractive wages rate: Currently, MGNREGA wage rates of 17 states are less than the corresponding state minimum wages.
- Delay in wage payments: Under the MGNREGA, a worker is entitled to get his or her due wages within a fortnight of completion of work, failing which the worker is entitled to the compensation.
- No-work situations are rising: None of the states was able to provide full 100 days employment as mentioned in the scheme.
- Data manipulations by authorities: A recent study has found that data manipulation in the MGNREGA is leading to gross violations in its implementation.
- Non-purposive spending and corruptions: Many works sanctioned under MGNREGA often seem to be non-purposive. Quite often, they are politically motivated hotspots to create rampant corruption.
- Centralization weakening local governance: A real-time MIS-based implementation and a centralised payment system has further left the representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions with literally no role in implementation.
Conclusion
- Large scale social security programmes like MGNREA are subjected to undergo several stumbling blocks in the times of ongoing pandemic.
- Government and NGOs must study the impact of MGNREGA in rural areas so as to ensure that this massive anti-poverty scheme is not getting diluted from its actual path.
- We must view MGNREGA as an opportunity and explicitly include it in a broad-based strategy to tackle any socie-economic crisis.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q. Among the following who are eligible to benefit from the “Mahatma Gandhi national rural employment guarantee act”?
(a) Adult members of only the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe households.
(b) Adult members of below poverty line (BPL) households.
(c) Adult members of households of all backward communities.
(d) Adult members of any household.
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Capital Gains Tax
Mains level: Not Much
The Finance Ministry is looking at rationalizing long-term capital gains tax structure by bringing parity between similar asset classes and revising the base year for computing indexation benefits.
What is Capital Gains Tax?
- Capital gains tax is levied on the profits made on investments (Base Year: 2001).
- It covers real estate, gold, stocks, mutual funds, and various other financial and non-financial assets.
- Under the Income Tax Act, gains from sale of capital assets — both movable and immovable — are subject to ‘capital gains tax’.
Types of CGT
(A) STCG (Short-term capital asset)
- An asset held for a period of 36 months or less is a short-term capital asset.
- The criteria is 24 months for immovable properties such as land, building and house property from FY 2017-18.
- For instance, if you sell house property after holding it for a period of 24 months, any income arising will be treated as a long-term capital gain, provided that property is sold after 31st March 2017.
- The reduced period of the aforementioned 24 months is not applicable to movable property such as jewellery, debt-oriented mutual funds etc.
Some assets are considered short-term capital assets when these are held for 12 months or less. This rule is applicable if the date of transfer is after 10th July 2014 (irrespective of what the date of purchase is). These assets are:
- Equity or preference shares in a company listed on a recognized stock exchange in India
- Securities (like debentures, bonds, govt securities etc.) listed on a recognized stock exchange in India
- Units of UTI, whether quoted or not
- Units of equity oriented mutual fund, whether quoted or not
- Zero coupon bonds, whether quoted or not
(B) LTCG (Long-term capital asset )
- An asset held for more than 36 months is a long-term capital asset.
- They will be classified as a long-term capital asset if held for more than 36 months as earlier.
- Capital assets such as land, building and house property shall be considered as long-term capital asset if the owner holds it for a period of 24 months or more (from FY 2017-18).
Whereas, below-listed assets if held for a period of more than 12 months, shall be considered as long-term capital asset.
- Equity or preference shares in a company listed on a recognized stock exchange in India
- Securities (like debentures, bonds, govt securities etc.) listed on a recognized stock exchange in India
- Units of UTI, whether quoted or not
- Units of equity oriented mutual fund, whether quoted or not
- Zero coupon bonds, whether quoted or not
Why is it so complicated?
Capital gains tax is complicated for a few primary reasons.
- First, the rate changes from asset to asset. LTCG tax on stocks and equity mutual funds is 10% but on debt mutual funds is 20% with indexation.
- Second, holding period changes from asset to asset. The holding period for LTCG tax is two years in real estate, one year for stocks, and three years for debt mutual funds and gold.
- Third, exemptions available against it come with their own complex conditions. For instance, buying a house after selling one can get you an exemption, but the new house must be bought in two years or built in three years of the sale.
Stipulated reforms by Finance Ministry
- Currently, shares held for more than one year attract a 10% tax on long-term capital gains.
- Gains arising from sale of immovable property and unlisted shares held for more than 2 years and debt instruments and jewellery held for over 3 years attract 20% long-term capital gains tax.
- Also, a change in base year for computing inflation-adjusted capital gains is being contemplated.
- The index year for capital gains tax calculation is revised periodically to make it more relevant. The last revision took place in 2017 when the base year was updated to 2001.
- Since the prices of assets increase over time, the indexation is used to arrive at the inflation-adjusted purchasing price of assets to compute long-term capital gains for the purpose of taxation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Nuclear Enrichment
Mains level: Not Much
The Russian state-owned nuclear energy corporation Rosatom has offered a more advanced fuel option to India’s largest nuclear power station at Kudankulam, which will allow its reactors to run for an extended 2-year cycle without stopping to load fresh fuel.
What is the news?
- Rosatom’s nuclear fuel division, TVEL Fuel Company, is the current supplier of TVS – 2 M fuel for the two VVER 1,000 MWe reactors generating power in the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP).
- This fuel has an 18-month fuel cycle, meaning that the reactor has to be stopped for fresh fuel loading every one-and-a-half years.
- TVEL has now offered the more modern Advanced Technology Fuel (ATF), whose fuel cycle is a whopping 24 months.
Benefits of the move
- This fuel will ensure more efficiency and additional power generation due to the prolonged operation of the reactor.
- It will result in sizable savings of the foreign exchange need to buy fresh fuel assemblies from Russia.
What is the Nuclear Fuel Cycle?
- The nuclear fuel cycle consists of front-end steps that prepare uranium for use in nuclear reactors and back-end steps to safely manage, prepare, and dispose of used—or spent—but still highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel.
- Uranium is the most widely used fuel by nuclear power plants for nuclear fission.
- Nuclear power plants use a certain type of uranium—U-235—as fuel because its atoms are easily split apart.
- Although uranium is about 100 times more common than silver, U-235 is relatively rare at just over 0.7% of natural uranium.
Steps involved in fuel enrichment
- Uranium concentrate is separated from uranium ore at uranium mills or from a slurry at in-situ leaching facilities.
- It is then processed in conversion and enrichment facilities, which increases the level of U-235 to 3%–5% for commercial nuclear reactors, and made into reactor fuel pellets and fuel rods in reactor fuel fabrication plants.
- Nuclear fuel is loaded into reactors and used until the fuel assemblies become highly radioactive and must be removed for temporary storage and eventual disposal.
- Chemical processing of spent fuel material to recover any remaining product that could undergo fission again in a new fuel assembly is technically feasible.
Back2Basics: Uranium Enrichment
- It is a process that is necessary to create an effective nuclear fuel out of mined uranium.
- It involves increasing the percentage of uranium-235 which undergoes fission with thermal neutrons.
- Nuclear fuel is mined from naturally occurring uranium ore deposits and then isolated through chemical reactions and separation processes.
- These chemical processes used to separate the uranium from the ore are not to be confused with the physical and chemical processes used to enrich the uranium.
Why is enrichment carried out?
- Uranium found in nature consists largely of two isotopes, U-235 and U-238.
- Natural uranium contains 0.7% of the U-235 isotope.
- The remaining 99.3% is mostly the U-238 isotope which does not contribute directly to the fission process (though it does so indirectly by the formation of fissile isotopes of plutonium).
- The production of energy in nuclear reactors is from the ‘fission’ or splitting of the U-235 atoms since it is the main fissile isotope of uranium.
- Naturally occurring uranium does not have a high enough concentration of Uranium-235 at only about 0.72% with the remainder being Uranium-238.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: RTI
Mains level: Online dispensation of RTI
The Supreme Court has launched an online portal that will help citizens file and access applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act in matters related to the court
What is the online RTI portal?
- The online RTI portal has been initiated to make it convenient for people to access information about the Supreme Court.
- So far, RTI applications at the Supreme Court had to be filed only via post.
- Various public interest litigation (PILs) had been filed before the Supreme Court seeking an online RTI portal for the Court.
- The online portal is likely to streamline responses of the Supreme Court under the Right to Information Act.
How does the online portal work?
- The online portal can be accessed at a dedicated url.
- Essentially, the process of filing an RTI in the Supreme Court is the same as how one normally files the application.
- This web portal can be used only by Indian citizens to file RTI applications, first appeals and to make payment for fees, and copying charges, under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act).
- An applicant must first register themselves in the web portal.
Fees prescribed
- The applicant can pay the prescribed fee through internet banking, credit/debit card of Master/Visa or UPI.
- The fee per RTI application is ₹10.
- Any applicant who is Below Poverty Line (BPL) is exempted to pay the application fee under the RTI Rules, 2012.
Expected time for response
- By law, RTIs must be replied to within 30 days.
- In fact, in life and death cases, RTIs must be responded to within 48 hours.
Back2Basics: Right to Information
- RTI is an act of the parliament which sets out the rules and procedures regarding citizens’ right to information.
- It replaced the former Freedom of Information Act, 2002.
- Under the provisions of RTI Act, any citizen of India may request information from a “public authority” (a body of Government or “instrumentality of State”) which is required to reply expeditiously or within 30.
- In case of the matter involving a petitioner’s life and liberty, the information has to be provided within 48 hours.
- The Act also requires every public authority to computerize their records for wide dissemination and to proactively publish certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Preventing cruelty to animals
A draft Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Amendment) Bill, 2022, prepared by the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying, has been opened for public comment.
Why in news?
- Recently, instances of animal cruelty in India witnessed a surge.
- The same has ushered the debate around animal rights and the extent of legal protection that the current laws provide them.
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Amendment) Bill, 2022
- The Centre has proposed to overhaul The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, introducing 61 amendments in the law.
- It includes stringent penalties of three years’ imprisonment for committing “gruesome cruelty” including “bestiality” with animals.
Main changes proposed in the law
- Cruelty as a cognizable offence: Several offences have been made cognizable, which means offenders can be arrested without an arrest warrant.
- Recognizing gruesome cruelty: The proposed law describes “gruesome cruelty” as any act involving animals which leads to “extreme pain and suffering” and is “likely to leave the animal in life-long disability”. It includes mutilation or killing of animals by the use of strychnine injection in the heart or any other cruel manner.
- Stringent penalties: Essentially, the law is proposed to be made tighter, with more stringent punishments. The draft proposes fines from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000 “or the cost of the animal. For killing an animal, the draft Bill proposes a maximum punishment of five years in jail.
What are the existing penal provisions?
- An offence such as this — fairly common in India — would currently attract charges under Section 428 (mischief by killing or maiming animal) IPC and Section 11 (treating animals cruelly) of The PCA Act, 1960.
- It prescribes some rubbish penal provisions.
Need for such law
- Barbarism: In September, a doctor in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur allegedly tied a dog to his car and dragged it across the city.
- Non-deterrence: Present provisions are incapable of acting as any deterrent for potential offenders.
- Ridicules penalties: First-time offenders under the PCA Act are punished with a fine of Rs 10-50. If it is found that this is not the offender’s first such crime in the past three years, the maximum punishment would be a fine between Rs 25 and Rs 100, a jail term of three months, or both.
Key propositions for such law
- Along with animal welfare organisations and several political leaders have in the past called for the law to be amended.
- In 2014, the Supreme Court, in ‘Animal Welfare Board of India vs A Nagaraja & Others’, had said that “Parliament is expected to make proper amendment of the PCA Act to provide an effective deterrent.
Government response
- In April 2021, the Centre had proposed changes where the penalty can go up to Rs 75,000 per animal or three times the cost of the animal as determined by the jurisdictional veterinarian.
- It proposed imprisonment of three years which may extend to five years or both.
- The government has finally moved in this direction with proposed amendments.
Legal remedies in India
- The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 recognises that animals can suffer physically and mentally, and is applicable to ‘all living creatures’.
- The Constitution also enshrines the principle of ahimsa and mandates to all citizens of India to ‘have compassion for living creatures’.
- The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) is the central body responsible for animal welfare in the country.
- The National Institute for Animal Welfare created in 1999, has the broad mandate to improve animal welfare through research, education and public outreach.
- According to Section 50(4) of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, a Wildlife Offence Report (WLOR) can be filed.
Apart from increasing penalties, what else is proposed?
(1) Freedoms to animals
- “It shall be the duty of every person having charge of an animal to ensure that the animal in his care or under his charge has freedom from:
- Thirst, hunger and malnutrition;
- Discomfort due to environment;
- Pain, injury and diseases;
- Fear and distress, and the
- Freedom to express normal behaviour for the species
(2) Protection to community animals
- The draft defines “community animal” as “any animal born in a community for which no ownership has been claimed by any individual or an organization, excluding wild animals as defined under the wildlife Protection Act, 1972 (53 of 1972).”
- The proposed law also says that in case of a community animal, the local government such as municipality or panchayats shall be responsible for taking care of the community animals in a manner developed by the State Government or by the Board.
Latent issues with the law
- Simply increasing the quantum of punishment may not be enough to stop cruelty against animals.
- Some already marginalised communities like ‘madaris’ (who perform with animals) and ‘saperas’ (snake charmers) may be disproportionately affected.
- Others have argued that focusing on the individual act of ‘cruelty’, such as farmers putting up electric fences around their fields, is an incomplete approach.
Conclusion
- Steps are needed to mitigate the larger issues of vanishing animal habitats and climate change exacerbating man-animal conflict.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Mains level: Urban Agriculture, Use of technology and food security
Context
- As per the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization, urban and peri-urban agriculture have a significant role in global food and nutritional security, and so it is seeking to encourage such activities through the Urban Food Agenda.
What is Urban Agriculture?
- Urban agriculture refers to agricultural practices in urban and peri-urban areas. Peri-urban areas are those transitioning from rural land uses (such as for agriculture or livestock production) to urban ones (such as the built environment, manufacturing, services, and utilities), and are located between the outer limits of urban and regional centres and the rural environment.
- Cultivating food and non-food product: Urban agricultural practices are geared towards cultivating or growing a wide range of food and non-food products, and include activities such as rearing livestock, aquaculture, beekeeping, and commercial-scale floriculture.
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Urban Agriculture and Technology
- Farming using software: In France, for instance, certain software gives farmers access to cross-referenced information on their smartphones about the weather, spraying dates, seeds, fertilization plans, and regulatory compliance.
- Use of mobile applications: In India and the US, mobile applications can help connect urban growers and local consumers. Technology also helps food growers in precision farming, which involves mapping and monitoring geological and plant data for a field so that inputs can be adapted to suit ultra-localized needs. Local communities can be helpful in the gathering of such data.
- Aeroponics: Aero Farms in Newark, US, builds and operates vertical indoor farms to enable local production at scale and increase the availability of safe and nutritious food. The company uses aeroponics to grow leafy greens without sun or soil in a fully controlled environment. The technology enables year-round production with less water consumption and high yields per square metre.
- Container system: In Paris, a start-up called Agricool grows strawberries in containers across the city. The company retrofits old, unused containers to accommodate LED lights and aeroponics system to grow strawberries year-round. These ‘cooltainers’ are powered by clean energy and use about 90 percent less water than traditional farming activities. This can also create job opportunities for city residents in the agricultural sector.
- Small area large population: India’s total urban area has been estimated at around 222,688 sq. km, or about 6.77 percent of the country’s geographical area. This small area is home to around 35 percent of India’s population, around 500 million Indians.
- less area to convert into green spaces: If Indian cities were to allocate 10 percent of their geographic space for greens (gardens, playgrounds, public parks and the like), as suggested in the Urban & Regional Development Plans Formulation & Implementation guidelines, this would mean 22,268 sq. km of the total urban area is available to convert into public green spaces.
- Space constraint hinders the urban agriculture: Even if half of this area (111,34 sq. km) were used for urban agriculture instead of parks, gardens, playgrounds, and horticulture, this is a mere 5 percent of all urban area and 0.56 percent of all land under agriculture in the country. This showcases the space constraints that urban agriculture must tackle.
Urban constraints and use of technology
- Raised bed farming: Raised bed farming is the agricultural technique of building freestanding crop beds above the existing soil level. In certain instances, raised beds are covered with plastic mulch to create a closed planting bed. The method helps reduce soil compaction and allows better control of the soil. The planted area also gets protected in case of excess rainfall. This method affords far greater productivity than regular farming.
- Container gardening: Container gardening refers to the practice of growing plants in containers instead of planting them on the ground. Containers could include polyethene plastic bags, clay pots, plastic pots, metallic pots, milk jugs, ice cream containers, bushel baskets, barrels, and planter box bottles. Most vegetables grown in backyard gardens can be grown in containers.
- Aquaponics: A closed-loop aquaponics system is an organic strategy that draws on the strengths of the basic ecological foundations of the nitrogen and carbon cycles. Nutrient-rich fish water is used to fertilise and water plants. This system requires only a few inputs primarily energy and some of the basic plant nutrients.
- The vertical farming: The vertical farming model essentially aims at increasing the amount of agricultural land by stacking many racks of crops vertically, thereby having many levels on the same space of land.
- Rooftop Plant Production: Under rooftop plant production (RPP) systems, food crops can be grown using raised beds, row farming, or a hydroponic greenhouse. Hydroponics is the practice of growing plants in a nutrient solution with or without a soilless substrate to provide physical support. RPP systems maximize the cultivation area with artificial lighting. RPP can be used to grow crops that require higher light intensities and more vertical space.
Conclusion
- Urban agriculture faces several constraints, but each of these can be overcome by adopting a range of technologies, establishing urban agriculture initiatives in peri-urban areas, launching community initiatives in common spaces, and altering planning parameters and city regulations to include urban agriculture as a ULB activity.
Mains Question
Q. What is the urban agriculture? What are constraints in urban agricultural practice and how to overcome those constraints?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: COP 27
Mains level: Loss and damage fund
Context
- All 197 Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agreed to enable financing for loss and damage to those that need it the most.
What is Loss and damage (L&D) fund?
- Adverse impact of climate change: Loss and damage (L&D) refer to the adverse impacts that vulnerable communities and countries face as a result of a changing climate.
- Making the rich countries pay: Rich countries had resisted L&D payments for years. Under pressure, they could no longer duck their responsibility.
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- Formation of Transition committee: The COP27 decision includes the development of a Transition Committee dedicated to L&D, with equal representation from rich and poor countries.
- Operationalizing the funding arrangement: The committee has been tasked with configuring institutional arrangements, identifying and expanding sources of funding, and coordinating with existing funding arrangements — by COP28 in the UAE next year.
What role India can play in facilitating the Loss & Damage?
- Develop a Global Vulnerability Index: Last year, CEEW developed a Climate Vulnerability Index for India. It found that over 80 per cent of Indians are highly vulnerable to extreme climatic disasters. Such data in the public domain helps map critical vulnerabilities and plan strategies to build resilience by climate-proofing communities, economies and infrastructure.
- South-led research consortium: India would do well to convene experts and encourage the development of a South-led research consortium dedicated to scientific exploration of “event attribution” science. This would enrich climate science, draw attention to the more vulnerable regions, build research capacity in developing countries, and strengthen the L&D framework.
- Champion the Early Warning Systems Initiative: The Executive Action Plan for the Early Warnings for All Initiative, unveiled at COP27. It aims to ensure every person on Earth is protected by early warning systems within five years. It has called for targeted investments of $ 3.1 billion during 2023-27, which could avoid annual losses of $3-16 billion against natural hazards in developing countries.
- Leverage the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI): India founded the CDRI “to promote the resilience of new and existing infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks in support of sustainable development”. CDRI is currently undertaking a Fiscal Risk Assessment study to support the development of a comprehensive disaster-risk financing strategy in more than 35 countries and multilateral entities.
Other strategies for Loss & Damage funds
- Pressurizing the developing countries: Pressure must also be put on large emerging economies, with rising emissions, to contribute to L&D financing. Limiting L&D compensation depends on increasing adaptation spending.
- Global Resilience Reserve Fund: The global resilience reserve fund is capitalized by IMF Special Drawing Rights, to create an insurance cushion against severe physical and macroeconomic shocks that climate risks would impose.
- Enhanced and accelerated emissions mitigation: While countries around the globe released its long-term low-carbon emissions development strategy last week, it must use scientific methods to quantify its long-term targets, to give direction to industry and investors.
Conclusion
- Loss & Damage financing is just a band-aid. Global emissions must reduce by 50 per cent by 2030 but there is no opprobrium for failing to present credible plans to do so. India drew attention to sustainable lifestyles via its Lifestyle for Environment mission. World must change its attitude towards climate change because it is already too late.
Mains Question
Q. What is Loss and damage fund agreed Under COP 27? What role India can play for global south for facilitating the L&D fund?
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