Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Measles and other contagious diseases
Mains level: Measles outbreak, Immunization program and the concerns
Context
- A measles outbreak in Mumbai has raised concerns amongst the country’s public health authorities. The city has reported more than 200 cases in the past two months and at least 13 children have lost their lives.
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Measles: A memory shot
- Measles is a highly contagious viral disease.
- Measles is caused by a virus in the paramyxovirus family and it is normally passed through direct contact and through the air.
- The virus infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body.
- Measles is a human disease and is not known to occur in animals.
All you need to know about Measles
- Signs and symptoms include:
- The first sign of measles is usually a high fever, runny nose, a cough, red and watery eyes, and small white spots inside the cheeks can develop in the initial stage.
- The most serious complications include blindness, encephalitis, severe diarrhoea and related dehydration, ear infections, or severe respiratory infections such as pneumonia.
- Who is at risk?
- Unvaccinated young children are at highest risk of measles and its complications, including death.
- Unvaccinated pregnant women are also at risk.
- Any non-immune person (who has not been vaccinated or was vaccinated but did not develop immunity) can become infected.
- Transmission:
- Measles is one of the world’s most contagious diseases.
- It is spread by coughing and sneezing, close personal contact or direct contact with infected nasal or throat secretions.
- Treatment:
- No specific antiviral treatment exists for measles virus.
- Severe complications from measles can be reduced through supportive care that ensures good nutrition, adequate fluid intake and treatment of dehydration with WHO-recommended oral rehydration solution.
- All children diagnosed with measles should receive two doses of vitamin A supplements.
- Prevention:
- Routine measles vaccination for children, combined with mass immunization campaigns in countries with high case and death rates, are key public health strategies to reduce global measles deaths.
- The measles vaccine is often incorporated with rubella and/or mumps vaccines.
Reasons sought behind the sudden outbreak of Measles in India
- A backslide in the universal immunisation programme during the pandemic:
- By all accounts, the outbreak seems to have been precipitated by a backslide in the universal immunisation programme during the pandemic.
- According to the state government data, only 41 per cent of the eligible children have been inoculated against measles in Mumbai.
- Vaccine hesitancy:
- Parents, reportedly, are showing a disinclination to continue the inoculation regime for their children after they developed fever on being administered the first jab.
- Overworked public health professionals, including ASHA workers, have also had to combat vaccine hesitancy.
- Mission Indradhanush: In recent years, the Centre’s Mission Indradhanush project has improved vaccine coverage and reduced delays between shots.
- Low coverage in last two years: WHO and UNICEF studies have shown that immunisation programmes especially those focusing on DPT (diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus) and measles have taken a hit in low- and mid-income countries, including India, in the past two years.
- Missed shots during Pandemic restrictions: Early in the pandemic, the National Health Mission’s information system reported that at least 100,000 children missed their shots because of the restrictions on movement.
- India speeding up the immunization after the pandemic: Anecdotal reports do indicate that India’s universal inoculation programme picked up during the latter part of the pandemic. But measles is a highly contagious disease. Experts had cautioned that even a 5 per cent fall in the vaccination rate can disrupt herd immunity and precipitate an outbreak. The surge of the disease in Mumbai indicates that their fears are coming true.
Countries with lower per capita incomes are more at risk
- Measles is still common in many developing countries particularly in parts of Africa and Asia. The overwhelming majority (more than 95%) of measles deaths occur in countries with low per capita incomes and weak health infrastructures.
- Measles outbreaks can be particularly deadly in countries experiencing or recovering from a natural disaster or conflict. Damage to health infrastructure and health services interrupts routine immunization, and overcrowding in residential camps greatly increases the risk of infection.
- Measles outbreaks can result in epidemics that cause many deaths, especially among young, malnourished children. In countries where measles has been largely eliminated, cases imported from other countries remain an important source of infection.
Conclusion
- Studies have shown that child vaccination had suffered during the pandemic as attention shifted towards adult vaccination. Now that the pandemic has waned, governments must carefully evaluate at the grassroots how many children fell out of the vaccine net during this period and take countermeasures.
Mains question
Q. Measles is a highly contagious disease with a high mortality rate in unvaccinated children. Discuss the reasons behind the recent outbreak of measles in India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Chabahar Port
Mains level: Read the attached story
India and Iran held Foreign Office level consultations to continue cooperation for development of the Shahid Beheshti terminal of the Chabahar Port.
Chabahar Port
- In 2016, India signed a deal with Iran entailing $8 billion investment in Chabahar port and industries in Chabahar Special Economic Zone.
- The port is being developed as a transit route to Afghanistan and Central Asia.
- India has already built a 240-km road connecting Afghanistan with Iran.
- All this were expected to bring cargo to Bandar Abbas port and Chabahar port, and free Kabul from its dependence on Pakistan to reach the outer world.
- Completion of this project would give India access to Afghanistan and beyond to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Europe via 7,200-km-long multi-modal North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
Why is Chabahar back in the news?
- The visit is a chance to strengthen ties and the maritime relationship between the two countries.
- Due to pandemic, there were less number of visits from India to Iran and vice-versa and the pace of the project is also allegedly slower.
- This visit will also highlight the importance of Chabahar as a gateway for Indian trade with Europe, Russia and CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States] countries.
- India is keen in developing the Shahid Beheshti port as a “a transit hub” and link it to the International North South Trade Corridor (INSTC), that also connects to Russia and Europe.
What is India’s strategic vision for Chabahar?
- When the first agreement for Chabahar was signed by then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2003, the plan had a three-fold objective:
- To build India’s first offshore port and to project Indian infrastructure prowess in the Gulf
- To circumvent trade through Pakistan, given the tense ties with India’s neighbour and build a long term, sustainable sea trade route and
- To find an alternative land route to Afghanistan, which India had rebuilt ties with after the defeat of the Taliban in 2001
- Subsequently, PM Manmohan Singh’s government constructed the Zaranj -Delaram Highway in Afghanistan’s South.
- It would help connect the trade route from the border of Iran to the main trade routes to Herat and Kabul, handing it over to the Karzai government in 2009.
- In 2016, PM Modi travelled to Tehran and signed the agreement to develop Chabahar port, as well as the trilateral agreement for trade through Chabahar with Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani.
Commencement of operations
- Since the India Ports Global Chabahar Free Zone (IPGCFZ) authority took over the operations of the port in 2018, it has handled 215 vessels, 16,000 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) and four million tons of bulk and general cargo.
Why is it gaining importance?
- In the last few years, a fourth strategic objective for the Chabahar route has appeared, with China’s Belt and Road Initiative making inroads in the region.
- The government hopes to provide Central Asia with an alternate route to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) through Iran for future trade.
Why is the Chabahar dream taking so long to realise?
- India’s quest for Chabahar has hit geopolitical road-block after road-block; the biggest issue has been over Iran’s relationship with western countries, especially the United States.
- In years when western sanctions against Iran increased, the Chabahar project has been put on the back-burner.
- However, the nuclear talks resulted in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015 came into being, the Chabahar port has been easier to work on.
- In 2018, the Trump administration put paid to India’s plans by walking out of the JCPOA and slapping new sanctions on dealing with Iran.
- This led to the Modi government “zeroing out” all its oil imports from Iran, earlier a major supplier to India, causing a strain in ties.
- India also snapped ties with Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, which put an end to the humanitarian aid of wheat and pulses that was being sent to Kabul via Chabahar.
- When India restarted wheat aid this year, it negotiated with Pakistan to use the land route to Afghanistan instead.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has notified the draft Aircraft Security Rules, 2022 which enable the aviation security regulator, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to impose penalties upto ₹1 crore on airports and airlines for violation of security measures.
Why such move?
- India’s civil Aviation Sector is facing a unique crisis a crisis of credibility and safety.
- Some of the issues are-
- The windshield of a go air flight cracks mid-air, two go air flights suffer engine snags, a flight could not take off because of a dog on the runway.
- A bird was found in the cockpit of an Air India Express cruising at 37 000 feet.
- One flight suffered an engine snag another noticed smoke in the cabin.
- Luggage is not being loaded or is going missing.
Draft Aircraft Security Rules, 2022
- The rules will supersede Aircraft Security Rules, 2011 and were necessary after Parliament passed Aircraft Amendment Act, 2020 in September 2020.
- It gives statutory powers to BCAS, along with the Director General of Civil Aviation and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.
- These allow them to impose penalties which could only be imposed by courts earlier.
- The amendment were necessary after the UN aviation watchdog, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), raised questions about the three regulators functioning without statutory powers.
Key features
- Hefty fines: Once the draft Rules are finalised, the BCAS can impose a fine of ₹50 lakh to ₹1 crore (depending on the size of the company) on airports and airlines if they fail to prepare and implement a security programme.
- Security clearance: They can commence operations only after seeking a security clearance.
- Regulating passenger behaviour: Individuals will also face penalties ranging from ₹1 lakh to ₹25 lakh depending on the nature of offence.
- Data security: In order to deal with cyber security threats, the rules also require each entity to protect its information and communication technology systems against unauthorised use and prohibit disclosure.
- Unburdening the CISF: The draft rules now authorise airports to engage private security agents instead of CISF personnel at “non-core areas” and assign security duties as per the recommendation of the National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016.
Tap to read more about: India’s ailing Civil Aviation Sector.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ETCA
Mains level: India-Australia relations
After 10 years of negotiations, India and Australia have finally agreed an interim free trade deal called the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA).
What is the news?
- Australia’s parliament has ratified the ECTA.
- The two countries has signed the ECTA on April 2 this year.
- The trade deal will now come into effect on a mutually agreed date.
Key terms of the India-Australia ECTA
- Under the India-Australia ECTA, duties on 100 percent tariff lines will be eliminated by Australia, covering 6,000 broad sectors.
- Meanwhile, India’s tariffs on 90 percent of Australian goods exports, including meat, wool, cotton, seafood, nuts, and avocados, will be removed.
- From day one, Australia will offer zero-duty access to India for almost 96.4 percent of exports by value. Presently, many of these products have a 4-5 percent customs duty imposed by Australia.
Key benefits offered
- Exporters, businesses, workers, and consumers in both markets are set to benefit from the trade liberalization, market opening, and freer movement of people.
- Implementation of the trade agreement will create an estimated 1 million jobs.
- The India-Australia ECTA agreement is expected to increase bilateral trade to about US$45-50 billion in the next five years from the existing US$31 billion.
- India hopes to increase its merchandise exports by US$10 billion BY 2026-27.
Special benefits to India
- IT sector to be a big gainer as it contributes significantly to both economies
- Visas to be offered to Indian chefs and yoga instructors
- Work opportunities for Indian students pursuing education in Australia
- Cheaper raw materials from Australia will make Indian goods more competitive in the global market
- Medicines approved under rigorous US and UK regulatory regimes will benefit from a fast track mechanism to get approval in Australia (improving market prospects for India’s patented, generic, and biosimilar medicines)
Volume of India-Australia Trade
- Australia is the 17th largest trading partner to India and India is Australia’s ninth largest trading partner.
- In 2021-22, India’s goods exports to Australia valued US$8.3 billion and imports were about US$16.7 billion. Two-way trade in goods and services in 2020 were valued at US$24.3 billion.
- India’s merchandise exports to Australia grew 135 percent between 2019 and 2021.
- India’s exports consist primarily of a broad-based basket largely of finished products. Around 96 percent of Australia’s exports are raw materials and intermediate products.
How will Indian IT firms benefit from the deal?
- Along with ECTA, the Australian parliament has also approved an amendment to the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) – a long-standing tax issue for Indian companies operating in Australia.
- As per industry estimates, Indian IT firms lost more than $1 bn in taxes due to the existing provisions in DTAA.
- Most IT firms take up projects where they do some portion of work on-site, and some from India.
- However, Australian courts had ruled that even the work done from India can be taxed as per local Australian laws.
- The same income was subject to taxes in India too.
What’s in it for pharma companies?
- ECTA says Indian drugs that have already been approved in the UK and US will get faster approval in Australia too.
- India has the highest number of USFDA-approved sites and other stringent regulatory agencies approvals too — which will yield results once ECTA comes into effect.
- India exported $387 mn worth of pharma products to Australia registering a growth of 11.58% FY22.
- India can now expect share in Australia’s US$ 13 billion pharma market to go up.
Will ECTA give a push to labour-intensive industries?
- Getting easier access for apparel, textiles, leather, footwear, gems & jewellery, furniture, machinery and electrical goods in western markets is India’s key aims in trade deals.
- ECTA will see India getting zero duty on 98.3% of tariff lines from the day the agreement comes into force and on 100% of tariff lines within five years.
Can India cut its trade deficit with Australia?
- At the moment, Australia exports much more to India than it imports.
- During the last financial year, India had a trade deficit of $8.5 billion with Australia with $8.3 billion worth of exports and $16.8 billion worth of imports.
- Entering the Australian market is not just about lower tariffs as Australia is already a very open economy.
- There already are firmly established players in Australia and displacing them would need cutting trade costs and signing a comprehensive deal.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Inflation
Mains level: Inflation and the concerns
Context
- The recent data seems to indicate that retail inflation has possibly peaked and is now likely to trend downwards. But, it would be wise to exercise caution. The latest data, while providing useful nuggets of information about price trends in the economy, challenges some of the widely held conceptions about inflation, and gives mixed signals about its trajectory.
- Inflation is an increase in the level of prices of the goods and services that households buy. It is measured as the rate of change of those prices. Typically, prices rise over time, but prices can also fall (a situation called deflation).
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Inflation Rate
- Inflation Rate is the percentage change in the price level from the previous period. If a normal basket of goods was priced at Rupee 100 last year and the same basket of goods now cost Rupee 120, then the rate of inflation this year is 20%.
- Inflation Rate= {(Price in year 2 – Price in year 1)/ Price in year 1} *100
Five broad trends emerge to consider as reasons behind high inflation.
- Russia- Ukraine war:
- The sharp rise in commodity prices as a consequence of the war is considered to have been largely responsible for the spurt in inflation this year, pushing it beyond the upper threshold of the RBI’s inflation-targeting framework.
- For instance, India’s crude oil import price rose from $84.67 per barrel in January to $112.87 in March, and further to $116.01 in June. The ripple effects of higher commodity prices have been felt across the economy.
- Inflation generalized in formal and informal sectors:
- There are indications that inflation is getting more generalized across both the formal and informal segments of the economy.
- One indication of this comes from the clothing and footwear category, a highly fragmented industry with the presence of both formal and informal segments. Another possible indication comes from rentals.
- Rental inflation in India had tended to remain largely range-bound over much of the past few years. But as this category has the highest individual item-wise weight in the inflation index, any movement in either direction, however small, would have a large impact on core inflation.
- Supply side disruptions during the pandemic: During the pandemic, supply-side disruptions had caused goods inflation to rise, even as services inflation remained relatively muted owing to risk-averse behaviour by consumers and restrictions on high-contact intensive sectors.
- Competition and the pricing mechanism in the economy:
- Prices are rigid on the downside will depend not only on how demand fares now with monetary conditions having been tightened, but also on the extent of competition in the economy, among others.
- After all, greater market concentration creates conditions for greater pricing power. A badly damaged non-corporate sector (MSMEs) would have led to ruptures in the low-cost economy, increasing the pricing power of the corporate sector during this period.
- Wage- price spiral:
- Inflation in India is not a consequence of a strong economy. Wage growth in the large informal rural economy has been lower than inflation.
- While some skill-intensive segments of the urban formal labour force may be able to exercise some bargaining power, the labour force participation rates suggest continuing slack in urban labour markets.
What are the concerns?
- Commodity should have come down over the period: If high core inflation in the months after the beginning of hostilities was an outcome of the passthrough, either in part or completely, of the Ukrainewar, then the decline in commodity prices since then should have led to a moderation in core inflation
- Services inflation vs goods inflation: But as activities normalised, there was an expectation that services inflation would see a strong pick-up. The recent data indicates that this has not been the case. While services inflation has risen, it remains considerably lower than goods inflation, perhaps owing to a combination of lower cost-push pressures, more slack and less demand.
Conclusion
- While inflation may have peaked, it is far from being quashed. The RBI expects inflation to edge downwards from 6.5 per to 5 per cent in the first quarter of the next financial year (2023-24). But RBI ca not afford to underestimate the price pressures in the economy.
Mains Question
Q. What is inflation? Some of the new emerging trends are considered while measuring rising inflation in the current scenario. Discuss.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CIC and RTI
Mains level: Central Information Commission, and issues with the effectiveness of Right to Information Act
Context
- The most vital mandate of the Central Information Commission, the apex body under India’s transparency regime, is to decide the disclosure or the non-disclosure of information. But the commission has seemingly relinquished this primary duty in cases of larger public importance.
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All you need to know about Central Information Commission (CIC)
- Chief Information commissioner (CIC): Chief Information commissioner who heads all the central departments and ministries- with their own public information officers (PIO)s. CICs are directly under the President of India.
- Composition: The Commission consists of a Chief Information Commissioner and not more than ten Information Commissioners. At present (2019), the Commission has six Information Commissioners apart from the Chief Information Commissioner.
- Appointment: They are appointed by the President on the recommendation of a committee consisting of the PM as Chairperson, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the PM.
- Office term: The CIC/IC shall hold office for such term as prescribed by the Central Government or until they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. They are not eligible for reappointment.
- Power and functions:
- It is the duty of the Commission to receive and inquire into a complaint from any person regarding information request under RTI, 2005.
- The Commission can order an inquiry into any matter if there are reasonable grounds (suo-moto power).
- While inquiring, the Commission has the powers of a civil court in respect of summoning, requiring documents etc.
Procedure of RTI and the role of CIC
- Provision to File and application and seek guaranteed reply: Citizens can file applications under the Right to Information Act with any public body and are guaranteed a reply from the public information officer of that public body within 30 days.
- Provision of appeal in case of dissatisfaction:
- In case of a no reply or dissatisfaction with the response, the citizen can file an appeal at the departmental level and then a second and final appeal with the Information Commission.
- Each State has its own State Information Commission to deal with second appeals concerning State bodies. At the Centre, it is the Central Information Commission (CIC).
- Before the amendment to the Until the 2019 amendment to the RTI Act, Information Commissioners (ICs) appointed to the CIC were equal in status to the Chief Election Commissioner, and that of a Supreme Court judge. They had a five-year fixed term and terms of service.
- After the amendments of 2019, the Centre gave itself powers to change and decide these terms whenever it wished, thereby striking at the independence of the commission and those who man it.
What are the concerns raised over the changed approach of CIC?
- Decreasing accountability: Records show that not a single order for disclosure has been forthcoming in matters of public importance. The present set of Information Commissioners have together adopted a new jurisprudence that has created additional hurdles in a citizen’s quest for accountability.
- Systematic ignorance to the mandate of non-disclosure: The Commission has adopted a new way of delegating its mandate to decide cases to the Ministry before it. In most cases, the Ministries reiterate their earlier stand of nondisclosure, most often under vague grounds of national interest.
- Refusing to its duty: After these public authorities pass fresh orders, which are usually a reiteration of their earlier stand against disclosure, the CIC refuses to accept any further challenge to such orders, therefore, refusing to do its duty of deciding the cases.
- Ignoring the principle of natural justice: One of the cardinal rules of natural justice is that no one should be a judge in their own cause. However, the commission now allows, or rather wants, the very Ministry that stands accused of violating the RTI Act to act as the judge in their own cause and decide whether a disclosure is necessary.
- New instruments such as pending cases and stay orders: A case to keep pending for final order or a stay order is unheard of and there is no provision in the RTI Act for the same.
- Officers have no fear of any penal provisions: Bureaucrats reject RTIs with glee with no fear of facing penal provisions outlined in Section 20 of the RTI Act, knowing fully well that they have a free hand under the Information Commissioners.
Back to basics: The 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.
Conclusion
- Dark clouds surround India’s transparency regime. Citizens have to mount intense pressure on authorities to act and appoint commissioners of integrity. Lawyers have to help willing citizens take matters to court and seek justice.
Mains question
Q. What are the role and functions of Central Information Commission? CIC’s deviance from its duty may undermine citizens’ power of right to information.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NFHS and GHI
Mains level: Malnutrition in India
Context
- The Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2022 has brought more unwelcome news for India, as far as its global ranking on a vital indicator of human development is concerned. India ranked 107 out of 121 countries. Malnutrition still haunts India
- The GHI is an important indicator of nutrition, particularly among children, as it looks at stunting, wasting and mortality among children, and at calorific deficiency across the population.
Findings according to the National family health survey findings (NFHS-5)
- India’s National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) from 2019-21 reported that in children below the age of five years, 35.5% were stunted, 19.3% showed wasting, and 32.1% were underweight.
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Status of budgetary allocation for Government Schemes
- Gaps in the funding: Experts have suggested several approaches to address the problem of chronic malnutrition, many of which feature in the centrally-sponsored schemes that already exist. However, gaps remain in how they are funded and implemented, in what one might call the plumbing of these schemes.
- Saksham Anganwadi:
- The Government of India implements the Saksham Anganwadi and Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition (POSHAN) 2.0 scheme (which now includes the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme),
- It seeks to work with adolescent girls, pregnant women, nursing mothers and children below three.
- However, the budget for this scheme for FY2022-23 was ₹20,263 crore, which is less than 1% more than the actual spent in FY2020-21 an increase of less than 1% over two years.
- PM POSHAN:
- PM POSHAN, or Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman, known previously as the Mid-Day Meal scheme (National Programme of Mid-Day Meal in Schools).
- The budget for FY2022-23 at ₹10,233.75 crore was 21% lower than the expenditure in FY2020-21.
- It is clear that the budgets being allocated are nowhere near the scale of the funds that are required to improve nutrition in the country.
What are the hurdles for effective Implementation of such large-scale schemes.
- Underfunded Nutrition Programme: An Accountability Initiative budget brief reports that per capita costs of the Supplementary Nutrition Programme (one of the largest components of this scheme) has not increased since 2017 and remains grossly underfunded, catering to only 41% of the funds required.
- Vacant posts of Projects officers and insufficient manpower: The budget brief also mentions that over 50% Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) posts were vacant in Jharkhand, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, pointing to severe manpower constraints in successfully implementing the scheme of such importance.
- Regular controversies over the food served under MDM: While PM POSHAN (or MDM) is widely recognized as a revolutionary scheme that improved access to education for children nationwide, it is often embroiled in controversies around what should be included in the mid-day meals that are provided at schools.
- Irregular social audits: Social audits that are meant to allow community oversight of the quality of services provided in schools are not carried out routinely.
- Volatile food prices effects: The effect of cash transfers is also limited in a context where food prices are volatile and inflation depletes the value of cash.
- Social factors: Equally, there are social factors such as ‘son preference’, which sadly continues to be prevalent in India and can influence household-level decisions when responding to the nutrition needs of sons and daughters.
Suggestions for the effective delivery of the government schemes
- Tracing the reasons behind existing malnutrition: It is clear that malnutrition persists due to depressed economic conditions in large parts of the country, the poor state of agriculture in India, persistent levels of unsafe sanitation practices, etc. Political battles over malnutrition are not going to help; nor is continuing to think in silos.
- Cash transfers where purchasing poverty is less: Cash transfers have a role to play here, especially in regions experiencing acute distress, where household purchasing power is very depressed. Cash transfers can also be used to incentivize behavioural change in terms of seeking greater institutional support.
- Targeted supplementation: Food rations through PDS and special supplements for the target group of pregnant and lactating mothers, and infants and young children, are essential.
- Community participation: Getting these schemes right requires greater involvement of local government and local community groups in the design and delivery of tailored nutrition interventions.
- Comprehensive social education programs for girls: A comprehensive programme targeting adolescent girls is required if the inter-generational nature of malnutrition is to be tackled. There is a need of comprehensive social education programme.
Conclusion
- Malnutrition has been India’s scourge for several years now. A month-long POSHAN Utsav may be good optics, but is no substitute for painstaking everyday work. The need of the hour is to make addressing child malnutrition the top priority of the government machinery, and all year around.
Mains Question
Q. Despite large government nutrition programs, malnutrition still haunts India. Discuss the problems and suggest solutions.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Regulation of online gaming
A ministerial panel is likely to recommend a uniform 28 percent tax GST rate on Online Gaming, irrespective of whether it is a game of skill or chance.
Online gaming sector in India
- In the past few years, India’s nascent online gaming industry witnessed an unprecedented rise, catapulting it to the top five mobile gaming markets in the world.
- Registering a growth rate of 38%, online gaming is the next sunrise industry.
- Currently, there are more than 400 gaming companies in India, and it is home to 420 million online gamers, second only to China, according to an analysis by KPMG.
Types of gaming
- The types of online gaming include:
- E-sports (well-organized electronic sports which include professional players) ex. Chess
- Fantasy sports (choosing real-life sports players and winning points based on players’ performance) ex. MPL cricket
- Skill-based (mental skill) ex. Archery
- Gamble (based on random activity) ex. Playing Cards, Rummy
Why is the gaming industry booming in India?
- Digital India boom in the gaming industry
- Narrowing of the digital divide
- IT boom
Other factors promoting the boom
- Growing younger population
- Higher disposable income
- Inexpensive internet data
- Introduction of new gaming genres, and
- Increasing number of smartphone and tablet users
Prospects of online gaming
- State List Subject: The state legislators are, vide Entry No. 34 of List II (State List) of the Seventh Schedule, given exclusive power to make laws relating to betting and gambling.
- Distinction in laws: Most Indian states regulate gaming on the basis of a distinction in law between ‘games of skill’ and ‘games of chance’.
- Classification on dominant element: As such, a ‘dominant element’ test is utilized to determine whether chance or skill is the dominating element in determining the result of the game.
- Linked economic activity: Staking money or property on the outcome of a ‘game of chance’ is prohibited and subjects the guilty parties to criminal sanctions.
- ‘Game of Skill’ debate: Placing any stakes on the outcome of a ‘game of skill’ is not illegal per se and may be permissible. It is important to note that the Supreme Court recognized that no game is purely a ‘game of skill’ and almost all games have an element of chance.
Need for regulation
- No comprehensive regulation: India currently has no comprehensive legislation with regards to the legality of online gaming or boundaries that specify applicable tax rates within the betting and gambling industry.
- Ambiguity of the sector: The gaming sector is nascent and is still evolving, and many states are bringing about legislation seeking to bring about some order in the online gaming sector.
- State list subject: Online gaming in India is allowed in most parts of the country. However, different states have their own legislation with regards to whether online gaming is permitted.
- Economic advantage: Well-regulated online gaming has its own advantages, such as economic growth and employment benefits.
Issues with online gaming
- Gaming addiction: Numerous people are developing an addiction to online gaming. This is destroying lives and devastating families.
- Compulsive gaming: Gaming by children is affecting their performance in schools and impacting their social lives & relationships with family members. Ex. PUBG
- Impact on psychological health: Online games like PUBG and the Blue Whale Challenge were banned after incidents of violence and suicide.
- Threat to Data privacy: Inadvertent sharing of personal information can lead to cases of cheating, privacy violations, abuse, and bullying.
- Betting and gambling: Online games based on the traditional ludo, arguably the most popular online game in India, have run into controversy, and allegations of betting and gambling.
Why hasn’t a comprehensive law yet materialized?
- Earlier, states like Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka also passed laws banning online games.
- However, they were quashed by state High Courts on grounds that an outright ban was unfair to games of skill:
- Violation of fundamental rights of trade and commerce, liberty and privacy, speech and expression;
- Law being manifestly arbitrary and irrational insofar as it did not distinguish between two different categories of games, i.e. games of skill and chance;
- Lack of legislative Competence of State legislatures to enact laws on online skill-based games.
Way forward
- Censoring: Minors should be allowed to proceed only with the consent of their parents — OTP verification on Aadhaar could resolve this.
- Awareness: Gaming companies should proactively educate users about potential risks and how to identify likely situations of cheating and abuse.
- Regulating mechanism: A Gaming Authority in the central government should be created.
- Accountability of the gaming company: It could be made responsible for the online gaming industry, monitoring its operations, preventing societal issues, suitably classifying games of skill or chance, overseeing consumer protection, and combatting illegality and crime.
- All-encompassing legislation: the Centre should formulate an overarching regulatory framework for online games of skill. India must move beyond skill-versus-chance debates to keep up with the global gaming industry.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Assam-Meghalaya Boundary Dispute
Mains level: Inter-state boundary dispute in India
The recent firing incident on the Assam-Meghalaya border has put the focus on the five-decade-old boundary issue between the two northeastern states.
What is the Assam-Meghalaya Boundary Dispute?
- Meghalaya, carved out of Assam as an autonomous State in 1970, became a full-fledged State in 1972.
- The creation of the new State was based on the Assam Reorganisation (Meghalaya) Act of 1969, which the Meghalaya government refused to accept.
- This was because the Act followed the recommendations of a 1951 committee to define the boundary of Meghalaya.
- On that panel’s recommendations, areas of the present-day East Jaintia Hills, Ri-Bhoi and West Khasi Hills districts of Meghalaya were transferred to the Karbi Anglong, Kamrup (metro) and Kamrup districts of Assam.
- Meghalaya contested these transfers after statehood, claiming that they belonged to its tribal chieftains.
- Assam said the Meghalaya government could neither provide documents nor archival materials to prove its claim over these areas.
- After claims and counter-claims, the dispute was narrowed down to 12 sectors on the basis of an official claim by Meghalaya in 2011.
Other boundary disputes in North-East
The states of the Northeast were largely carved out of Assam, which has border disputes with several states.
During British rule, Assam included present-day Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya besides Mizoram, which became separate state one by one. Today, Assam has boundary problems with each of them.
- Nagaland shares a 500-km boundary with Assam.
- In two major incidents of violence in 1979 and 1985, at least 100 persons were killed. The boundary dispute is now in the Supreme Court
- On the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary (over 800 km), clashes were first reported in 1992, according to the same research paper.
- Since then, there have been several accusations of illegal encroachment from both sides, and intermittent clashes. This boundary issue is being heard by the Supreme Court.
- The 884-km Assam-Meghalaya boundary, too, witnesses flare-ups frequently. As per Meghalaya government statements, today there are 12 areas of dispute between the two states.
How did the two governments go about handling the issue?
- The two States had initially tried resolving the border dispute through negotiations but the first serious attempt was in May 1983 when they formed a joint official committee to address the issue.
- In its report submitted in November 1983, the committee suggested that the Survey of India should re-delineate the boundary with the cooperation of both the States towards settling the dispute.
- There was no follow-up action. As more areas began to be disputed, the two States agreed to the constitution of an independent panel in 1985.
- Headed by Justice Y.V. Chandrachud, the committee submitted its report in 1987.
- Meghalaya rejected the report as it was allegedly pro-Assam.
- In 2019, the Meghalaya government petitioned the Supreme Court to direct the Centre to settle the dispute. The petition was dismissed.
How was the ice broken?
- In January 2021, Home Minister urged all the north-eastern States to resolve their boundary disputes by August 15, 2022, when the country celebrates 75 years of Independence.
- It was felt that the effort could be fast-tracked since the region’s sister-States either had a common ruling party.
- In June 2021, the two States decided to resume talks at the CM level and adopt a “give-and-take” policy to settle the disputes once and for all.
- Of the 12 disputed sectors, six “less complicated” areas — Tarabari, Gizang, Hahim, Boklapara, Khanapara-Pilingkata and Ratacherra — were chosen for resolving in the first phase.
- Both States formed three regional committees, one each for a district affected by the disputed sectors.
What were the principles followed?
- These committees, each headed by a cabinet minister, were given “five principles” for approaching the issue.
- These principles are historical facts of a disputed sector, ethnicity, and administrative convenience, willingness of people and contiguity of land preferably with natural boundaries such as rivers, streams and rocks.
- The committee members conducted surveys of the disputed sectors and held several meetings with the local stakeholders.
- This paved the way for the March 29 closure of the six disputed sectors.
Issues with this settlement
- Officials in Assam said it was better to let go of areas where they did not have any administrative control rather than “live with an irritant forever”.
- However, residents in the other six disputed sectors feel the “give-and-take” template could spell disaster for them.
- The fear is more among non-tribal people who could end up living in a “tribal Meghalaya with no rights”.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Read the attached story
Mains level: Inter-state boundary dispute in India
The Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute is in the news again after a leader in Maharashtra stated the “commitment to acquiring” Maratwhi-speaking villages along the border.
Maha-K’taka boundary dispute
- The erstwhile Bombay Presidency, a multilingual province, included the present-day Karnataka districts of Vijayapura, Belagavi, Dharwad and Uttara-Kannada.
- In 1948, the Belgaum municipality requested that the district, having a predominantly Marathi-speaking population, be incorporated into the proposed Maharashtra state.
- However, the States Reorganization Act of 1956, which divided states into linguistic and administrative lines, made Belgaum and 10 taluka of Bombay State a part of the then-Mysore State
The Mahajan Commission
- While demarcating borders, the Reorganization of States Commission sought to include talukas with a Kannada-speaking population of more than 50 per cent in Mysore.
- Opponents of the region’s inclusion in Mysore argued, and continue to argue, that Marathi-speakers outnumbered Kannadigas who lived there in 1956.
- In September 1957, the Bombay government echoed their demand and lodged a protest with the Centre, leading to the formation of the Commission under former CJI Mehr Chand Mahajan in October 1966.
Beginning of the dispute
- The Commission recommended that 264 villages be transferred to Maharashtra (which formed in 1960) and that Belgaum and 247 villages remain with Karnataka.
- Maharashtra rejected the report, calling it biased and illogical, and demanded another review.
- Karnataka welcomed the report and has ever since continued to press for implementation, although this has not been formally done by the Centre.
A case pending in the Supreme Court
- Successive governments in Maharashtra have demanded their inclusion within the state– a claim that Karnataka contests.
- In 2004, the Maharashtra government moved the Supreme Court for a settlement of the border dispute under Article 131(b) of the Constitution.
- It demanded 814 villages from Karnataka on the basis of the theory of village being the unit of calculation, contiguity and enumerating linguistic population in each village.
- The case is pending in the apex court.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Nyingma school of buddhism
Mains level: Not Much
In a significant development in Tibetan Buddhist circles, the Nyingma sect has identified a boy from Spiti in Himachal Pradesh as the reincarnation of the late Taklung Setrung Rinpoche, a scholar known for his knowledge of Tibetan Tantric school.
About the Nyingma Sect
- Nyingma (literally ‘old school’) is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
- It is founded on the first lineages and translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan in the eighth century, during the reign of King Trisong Detsen (r. 710–755).
- Nyingma traditional histories consider their teachings to trace back to the first Buddha Samantabhadra (Güntu Sangpo) and Indian mahasiddhas such as Garab Dorjé, Śrī Siṃha and Jñānasūtra.
- Traditional sources trace the origin of the Nyingma order in Tibet to figures associated with the initial introduction of Buddhism in the 8th century, such as Padmasambhava, Yeshe Tsogyal, Vimalamitra, Vairotsana, Buddhaguhya and Shantaraksita.
Who is a Rinpoche?
- Rinpoche is an honorific term used in the Tibetan language.
- It literally means “precious one”, and may refer to a person, place, or thing—like the words “gem” or “jewel”.
- The word consists of rin (value), po (nominalizing suffix) and chen (big).
- The word is used in the context of Tibetan Buddhism as a way of showing respect when addressing those recognized as reincarnated, older, respected or an accomplished Lamas or teachers of the Dharma.
- It is also used as an honorific for abbots of Buddhist monasteries.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Scheduled Tribes
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Union Government has put on hold a proposal to change the procedure for scheduling new communities as Scheduled Tribes, which has been in the pipeline for more than eight years.
Why in news?
- The proposal to change the procedure was based on the recommendations of a government task force constituted in February 2014, headed by then-Tribal Affairs Secretary Hrusikesh Panda.
- It called the existing procedure:
- Cumbersome and time-consuming
- Defeats the Constitutional agenda for affirmative action and inclusion
Who are the Scheduled Tribes?
- The term ‘Scheduled Tribes’ first appeared in the Constitution of India.
- Article 366 (25) defined scheduled tribes as “such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this constitution”.
- Article 342 prescribes procedure to be followed in the matter of specification of scheduled tribes.
- Among the tribal groups, several have adapted to modern life but there are tribal groups who are more vulnerable.
- The Dhebar Commission (1973) created a separate category “Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs)” which was renamed in 2006 as “Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)”.
How are STs notified?
- As per the current procedure, each proposal for the scheduling of a new community as ST has to originate from the relevant State Government.
- It is then sent to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, which sends it to the Office of the Registrar General of India (RGI).
- Once approved by the Office of the RGI, it is sent to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), and only after its approval is it sent to the Cabinet.
Status of STs in India
- The Census 2011 has revealed that there are said to be 705 ethnic groups notified as Scheduled Tribes (STs).
- Over 10 crore Indians are notified as STs, of which 1.04 crore live in urban areas.
- The STs constitute 8.6% of the population and 11.3% of the rural population.
Issues with the procedure of ST notification
The Panda committee had explained that there were multiple obstacles unnecessarily preventing at least 40 communities from being listed as ST.
- Exclusion over name: Several tribes pronounced or spelt their community’s name in different ways; some communities were split when new States were created, leaving them as ST in one State and not in the other;
- Migration led exclusion: Some tribespeople were forcefully taken as indentured labour to other States where they were left out of the ST list.
- No ethnographic study: The modalities not only lacked sufficient anthropologists and sociologists to comment on proposals for exclusion or inclusion.
Recommendations to change the procedure
The Panda committee recommends-
- Once a proposal is received from a State Government, it should be circulated simultaneously to the NCST.
- The Office of the RGI and the Anthropological Survey of India, each of which would have six months to give their opinions.
- A special Committee on scheduling would then consider the proposal and the opinions of the above-mentioned authorities and make a final recommendation within one month.
- The Committee would consist of the Tribal Affairs Secretary, and representatives of the NCST, Office of the RGI, Anthropological Survey of India, State Government and the concerned State tribal research institute.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Guru Tegh Bahadur
Mains level: Not Much
November 24, is commemorated as the Shaheedi Divas of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth guru of the Sikhs, who stood up against forcible conversions by the Mughals, and was executed on the orders of Aurangzeb in 1675.
Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675)
- Guru Tegh Bahadur was the ninth of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion. He was born at Amritsar in 1621 and was the youngest son of Guru Hargobind.
- His term as Guru ran from 1665 to 1675. One hundred and fifteen of his hymns are in Guru Granth Sahib.
- There are several accounts explaining the motive behind the assassination of Guru Tegh Bahadur on Aurangzeb’s orders.
- He stood up for the rights of Kashmiri Pandits who approached him against religious persecution by Aurangzeb.
- He was publicly executed in 1675 on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Delhi for himself refusing Mughal rulers and defying them.
- Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib and Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi mark the places of execution and cremation of his body.
Impact of his martyrdom
- The execution hardened the resolve of Sikhs against religious oppression and persecution.
- His martyrdom helped all Sikh Panths consolidate to make the protection of human rights central to its Sikh identity.
- Inspired by him, his nine-year-old son, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, eventually organized the Sikh group into a distinct, formal, symbol-patterned community that came to be known as Khalsa (Martial) identity.
- In the words of Noel King of the University of California, “Guru Teg Bahadur’s martyrdom was the first-ever martyrdom for human rights in the world.
- He is fondly remembered as ‘Hind di Chaadar’.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Consider the following Bhakti Saints:
- Dadu Dayal
- Guru Nanak
- Tyagaraja
Who among the above was/were preaching when the Lodi dynasty fell and Babur took over?
(a) 1 and 3
(b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3
(d) 1 and 2
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Role of PRI's in a fight against climate change
Context
- If India has to achieve the set of goals enunciated in the ‘Panchamrit’ resolution of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow 2021, it is necessary that Panchayati raj institutions, the third tier of government which are closest to the people are involved.
- Major impact on rural areas: The greater variability in rainfall and temperatures, etc. experienced of late has directly affected the livelihood and well-being of millions of rural households.
- PRI excluded from National action plan: India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change 2008 identifies a range of priority areas for coordinated intervention at the national and State levels. However, there would have been better results had Panchayati raj institutions been given a greater role.
- Decentralization of climate efforts are necessary: Through the ongoing decentralization process which ensures people’s participation, panchayats can play a crucial and frontline role in coordinating effective responses to climate risks, enabling adaptation and building climate-change resilient communities.
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What is carbon neutrality?
- Zero carbon production:
- The climate change discussion also focuses on the emerging and widely accepted concept of ‘carbon neutrality’ which puts forth the notion of zero carbon developments, nature conservation, food, energy and seeds sufficiency, and economic development.
- As human activities are the cause of the current climate crisis, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to growing and extreme weather events are critical.
- Zero carbon development which promotes sustainable living is the effective solution to reducing anthropogenic emissions and improving climate resilience.
Efforts of Panchayat raj institutes to fight climate change: Case study of Meenangadi
- Carbon neutral Meenangadi: In 2016, the panchayat envisaged a project called ‘Carbon neutral Meenangadi’, the aim being to transform Meenangadi into a state of carbon neutrality. There were campaigns, classes and studies to begin with. An awareness programme was conducted initially. A greenhouse gases emission inventory was also prepared. The panchayat was found to be carbon positive.
- Implementation of Multi-sectoral schemes: An action plan was prepared by organising gram Sabha meetings. Socio-economic surveys and energy-use mapping were also carried out. Several multi sector schemes were implemented to reduce emissions, increase carbon sequestration, and preserve the ecology and bio-diversity.
- Tree plantation Initiative: ‘Tree banking’ was one of landmark schemes introduced to aid carbon neutral activities which encouraged the planting of more trees by extending interest-free loans. Interestingly 1,58,816 trees were planted which have also been geo-tagged to monitor their growth.
- People’s participation: The entire community was involved in the process, with school students, youth, and technical and academic institutions given different assignments. Five years have passed and the changes are visible. Local economic development was another thrust area where LED bulb manufacturing and related micro-enterprises were initiated.
Government of India’s effort to support climate change: ‘Clean and Green Village’
- SDG theme: The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has focused its attention on localising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on a thematic basis.
- Various activities delegated to PRI: ‘Clean and Green Village’ has been identified as the fifth theme where panchayats can take up activities on natural resource management, biodiversity protection, waste management and afforestation activities.
- Documentation of best practices: According to the latest data, 1,09,135-gram panchayats have prioritised ‘Clean & Green Village’ as one of their focus areas for 2022-23. The Ministry has highlighted the need for the documentation of best practices and for wider dissemination.
- Integrated panchayat development plan: The net result is that many panchayats are coming forward with their eco plans. The integrated Panchayat Development Plan prepared by all panchayats is a stepping stone towards addressing many of the environmental concerns of villages.
Conclusion
- In today’s age of rapid technological advancements and digital transformation, India’s rural local bodies are silently contributing their strength to ensuring the global target of carbon neutrality, as envisaged in the UN conference on climate change.
Mains Question
Q. What role PRIs can play in a fight against climate change? What is the scheme of “Clean and Green Village” of Ministry of Panchayat Raj?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: India's rising geopolitical significance and balanced foreign policy
Context
- The ongoing war in Ukraine on the one hand and the confrontation between Russia and the United States and the West, on the other have increased the frequency/regularity of the question, whose side is India on, after all? Is India with Russia or with the U.S./the West in this war?
What is the issue of India taking the either side?
- India doesn’t support the either camp: When great powers seek India’s support during geopolitical contestations, such as the one over Ukraine, they end up facing a stubborn India that is reluctant to toe the line.
- India is not a satellite state: The inherent reason behind Indian reluctance, however, is not stubbornness but a sense of self which views itself as a pole in the international system, and not as a satellite state or a camp follower.
- India has a different position than two poles: India refuses to take sides because it views itself as a side whose interests are not accounted for by other camps or poles.
- India projects the multipolar world order: New Delhi’s constant exhortations of a multipolar world are also very much in tune with this thinking about itself as a pole in a multipolar world.
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India’s history of not taking the side (non-alignment)
- Historically different civilization: The origins of this thought can be found in the character of the country’s long struggle for independence; the pre- and post-Independence articulations of leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Gandhiji, and Bal Gangadhar Tilak among others on international politics; the (not uncontested) primacy India inherited as the legatee state of the British empire in South Asia; India’s larger than life civilizational sense of self.
- Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) experiment: NAM have contributed to India’s desire for a unique foreign policy identity and a voice in the comity of nations. For much of its modern independent history, India’s foreign policy has been a unique experiment.
- Independent foreign policy: Historically, India’s view of itself as a pole is evident in the manner in which it used to pursue non-alignment for several decades after Independence. Some vestiges of this continue to inform India’s foreign policy to this day.
- Non-alignment is not a neutrality: It is also important to point out that India’s non-alignment is often misunderstood given that a number of foreign commentators and practitioners interpret it as neutrality. For India, however, non-alignment is not neutrality, but the ability to take a position on a given issue on a case-by-case basis.
How India asserts itself as a different pole in international affairs?
- No domination in south Asia: India has a different view of itself as a pole. It has not actively sought to dominate the South Asian regional subsystem even when it could.
- No alliance like NATO: Its balancing behaviour has been subpar, it has refused to build alliances in the classical sense of the term, or sought camp followers or allegiances. As a matter of fact, even its occasional balancing behaviour (for instance, the 1971 India-Soviet Treaty during the Bangladesh war) was contingent on emergencies.
- South Asia is not a Strategic periphery: It does believe it has a strategic periphery in South Asia where it has a natural claim to primacy.
- Doesn’t allow interference in south Asia: It discourages interference by other powers in that space.
- India speaks for global south: India often tends to speak for ‘underprivileged collectives’, physical (South Asia) or otherwise (NAM, developing nations, global south, etc. in varying degrees); and it welcomes the rule of law and regional order.
- India as unique player in international system: India’s recent or past statements on issues of global importance be it Ukraine or Iraq, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s aerial campaign in Serbia, or bringing climate change to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) indicate that it tends to take positions that not just suit its interests but are also informed by its sense of being a unique player on the global stage.
- India as partner not cheerleader: Western powers must, therefore, treat India as a partner rather than as a cheerleader. They should mainstream India into global institutions such as the UNSC, and consult India rather than dictate to India which side to take.
Conclusion
- As India becomes the chair of the G20 and the SCO in 2022, it will further seek to assert itself as a major pole in the international system, and dissuade demands to follow one camp or another. Therefore, those wishing to work with India on the global stage must learn to deal with the ‘India pole’.
Mains Question
Q. Analyse the India’s policy of not taking the position of west or Russia on global issues. How India asserts itself as a different pole in international affairs?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill, 2022
Mains level: Data surveillance and the concerns over the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill, 2022
Context
- Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology released the Digital Personal data Protection Bill, 2022, on November 18.
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Background: Demand for the data surveillance reforms
- The journey towards a data protection legislation began in 2011 when the department of Personnel and Training initiated discussions on the Right to Privacy Bill, 2011.
- As per an Office Memorandum dated September 29, 2011, the then attorney General, Goolam Vahanvati, opined that conditions under which the government can carry out “interception of communication” should be spelt out in the Bill.
- The report of the group emphasized the need to examine the impact of the increased collection of citizen information by the government on the right to privacy. Since then, civil society organizations, lawyers and politicians have consistently demanded surveillance reform, highlighting how personal data can only be protected when the government’s power to conduct surveillance of citizens is meaningfully regulated.
- Eases cross-border data flows but wide-ranging powers to state agencies: The reworked version of the data protection Bill, released three months after the Govt withdrew an earlier draft, eases cross-border data flows and increases penalties for breaches. But it gives the Centre wide-ranging powers and prescribes very few safeguards.
- Delicate balance on privacy and restrictions: Officials at the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) have said the new draft strikes a delicate balance and factors in learning from global approaches, while staying aligned to the Supreme Court’s ruling on privacy as a fundamental right, but within reasonable restrictions.
- Seven principles of the Bill: The explanatory note accompanying the Bill elaborates on the seven principles it seeks to promote, including transparency, purpose limitation, data minimization, and preventing the unauthorized collection of personal data.
The surveillance architecture In India
- Main components: The surveillance architecture in India comprises mainly of Section 5(2) of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885; Section 69 of the Information Technology Act, 2000; and the procedural rules promulgated under them.
- No clearly defined ground: No But this architecture does not meaningfully define the grounds under which, or the manner in which, surveillance may be conducted.
- No safeguards: It also does not contain safeguards such as ex-ante or ex-post facto independent review of interception directions.
- Lack of accountability: The concentration of power with the executive thus creates a lack of accountability and enables abuse. Evidence for this emerges not only from instances of political surveillance, but also from the slivers of transparency that accidentally emerge from telecom companies.
- Excessive surveillance: For instance, submissions by Airtel to the Telecommunications Department, as part of the public consultation process for the Indian Telecommunication Bill, reveal that excessive data collection requests are already a reality. Airtel has asked the government to share the costs it incurs to comply with the increasing demands from law enforcement agencies to carry out surveillance.
- Concerns over citizen data processing: Apart from outright surveillance, unfettered collection and processing of citizen data for other purposes, such as digital governance, raise concerns.
What are the concerns over the revoked version of the bill?
- No proposals for surveillance reform: All iterations of the data protection legislation since the draft Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, the draft Data Protection Bill, 2021 and the 2022 Bill have no proposals for surveillance reform.
- Data processing without consent: Personal data can be processed even without the person’s consent. Blanket exemptions Like previous iterations, Clause 18(2) of the 2022 Bill allows the Union government to provide blanket exemptions for selected government agencies.
- Permits exemption to private entities: However, this Bill is more egregious than previous iterations as it permits exemption to private sector entities that may include individual companies or a class of them, by assessing the volume and nature of personal data under Clause 18(3).
- Exemptions without the purview of data protection: Under the new Bill in India, exempted state agencies and private entities will not be within the purview of the Data Protection Board, the body responsible for imposing penalties in case fiduciaries infringe privacy.
Data processing in other countries
- Exemptions on case by case and the rationale behind it: While the existing or proposed legislations in the European Union and in the U.S. permit security agencies to claim exemptions on a case-by-case basis, depending on why they are collecting personal data, they do not contain blanket exemption powers to an entire government entity.
- Meaningful state surveillance: Other jurisdictions exercise meaningful oversight over state surveillance. For instance, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal in the U.K. is authorized to hear complaints against misuse of surveillance powers and can impose monetary penalties in case of a breach.
Conclusion
- The preamble to the 2022 Bill states that the purpose is to protect the personal data of individuals and to ensure that personal data is processed only for lawful purposes. However, blanket exemptions for state agencies alongside private entities raise untold concerns, which need to be addressed on a war footing.
Mains question
Q. What do you understand by data surveillance? It is said the Data surveillance architecture in India lacks accountability and transparency. Analyze.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CITES, its appendices
Mains level: Not Much
India’s decision not to vote against a proposal to re-open the international trade in ivory at the ongoing conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
What is CITES?
- CITES stands for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
- It is as an international agreement aimed at ensuring “that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival”.
- It was drafted after a resolution was adopted at a meeting of the members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 1963.
- It entered into force on July 1, 1975, and now has 183 parties.
- The Convention is legally binding on the Parties in the sense that they are committed to implementing it; however, it does not take the place of national laws.
- India is a signatory to and has also ratified CITES convention in 1976.
CITES Appendices
- CITES works by subjecting international trade in specimens of selected species to certain controls.
- All import, export, re-exports and introduction from the sea of species covered by the convention has to be authorized through a licensing system.
It has three appendices:
- Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction. Trade-in specimens of these species are permitted only in exceptional circumstances.
- Appendix II provides a lower level of protection.
- Appendix III contains species that are protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling trade.
What is the news?
- India remained absent during the CITES conference aimed to re-open the international trade in ivory.
Why such move by India?
- Elephant remains one of India’s most powerful cultural and religious symbols.
- A pioneer in banning even the domestic trade in ivory in 1986, India has always been at the forefront of global elephant conservation initiatives.
What is the tussle over Ivory?
- The international ivory trade was globally banned in 1989 when all African elephant populations were put in CITES Appendix I.
- However, the populations of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe were transferred to Appendix II in 1997, and South Africa’s in 2000 to allow two “one-off sales”.
- This is because ivory stockpiled from natural elephant deaths and seizures from poachers.
- Subsequently, Namibia’s proposal for allowing a regular form of controlled trade in ivory by delisting the elephant populations of the four countries from Appendix II was rejected at CoP17 (2016) and CoP18 (2019).
- At the ongoing CoP19, the proposal was moved by Zimbabwe but met the same fate.
- These are low income countries often battling to generate some revenue from Ivory trade.
India and ivory trade
- The endangered Asian elephant was included in CITES Appendix I in 1975, which banned the export of ivory from the Asian range countries.
- In 1986, India amended The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 to ban even domestic sales of ivory.
- After the ivory trade was globally banned, India again amended the law to ban the import of African ivory in 1991.
- In 1981 when New Delhi hosted COP3, India designed the iconic CITES logo in the form of an elephant.
- Over the years, India’s stand has been unequivocal on the ivory issue.
What has changed now?
- After protracted negotiation, India signed an agreement in July with Namibia to fly in cheetahs.
- India has agreed to promote “sustainable utilisation and management of biodiversity” by supporting advances in this area of bilateral cooperation “at international forums including meetings of” CITES.
- While the word “ivory” was not mentioned, Namibia sought India’s support under this agreement.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Arittapatti, Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS)
Mains level: Not Much
The Tamil Nadu Government has issued a notification declaring Arittapatti in Melur block, Madurai district, a biodiversity heritage site.
About Arittapatti
- Arittapatti village, rich in ecological and historical significance, houses around 250 species of birds including three important raptors -birds of prey, namely the Laggar Falcon, the Shaheen Falcon and Bonelli’s Eagle.
- It is also home to wildlife such as the Indian Pangolin, Slender Loris and pythons.
- The biodiversity-rich area is surrounded by a chain of seven hillocks or inselbergs that serve as a watershed, charging 72 lakes, 200 natural springs and three check dams.
- The Anaikondan tank, built during the reign of Pandiyan kings in the 16th century is one among them, the government notification said.
- Several megalithic structures, rock-cut temples, Tamil Brahmi inscriptions and Jain beds add to the historical significance of the region.
What is a Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS)?
- Biodiversity Heritage Sites are rich Biodiversity Areas and are important components of local ecosystems which are being conserved and managed by the society.
- BHS are declared as per provision under Section 37(1) of Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
- The State Government may, from time to time in consultation with the local bodies, notify the areas of biodiversity importance as biodiversity heritage sites under this Act.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Lachit Borphukan
Mains level: NA
The three-day-long celebration of the 400th birth anniversary of Ahom General Lachit Barphukan has begun.
Who was Lachit Borphukan?
- The year was 1671 and the decisive Battle of Saraighat was fought on the raging waters of the Brahmaputra.
- On one side was Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb’s army headed by Ram Singh of Amer (Jaipur) and on the other was the Ahom General Lachit Borphukan.
- He was a commander in the Ahom kingdom, located in present-day Assam.
- Ram Singh failed to make any advance against the Assamese army during the first phase of the war.
- Lachit Borphukan emerged victorious in the war and the Mughals were forced to retreat from Guwahati.
Lachit Divas
- On 24 November each year, Lachit Divas is celebrated state-wide in Assam to commemorate the heroism of Lachit Borphukan.
- On this day, Borphukan has defeated the Mughal army on the banks of the Brahmaputra in the Battle of Saraighat in 1671.
- The best passing out cadet of National Defence Academy has been conferred the Lachit gold medal every year since 1999 commemorating his valour.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI)
Mains level: Necessity of developing Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI) and issues associated with it.
Context
- The Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI) are in the news as the union government proposing a slew of infrastructure projects to boost business and tourism on the islands, conservation groups are on the warpath.
The significance of Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI)
- Oceanic outpost: The ANI is an oceanic outpost for continental India.
- Facilitates unique surveillance: With a critical vantage location overlooking the ten-degree and six-degree channels (through which a vast majority of cargo and container traffic in the eastern Indian Ocean transits), the islands give India a unique surveillance and maritime interdiction capability.
- Strategically important: The ANI is a vital ‘staging post’ for maritime operations, and a hub for logistics, providing operational turnaround for Indian warships and aircraft deployed in the Andaman Sea.
- Location: Located between 6° and 14° North Latitude and 92° and 94° East Longitude lie the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory in India.
- Two groups of Island: It consists of two groups of islands. The islands located north of 10° north latitude are known as Andaman while islands located south of 10° north latitude are called Nicobar.
- The Andamans: More than 300 islands make up the Andamans. North, Middle, and South Andaman, known collectively as Great Andaman, are the main islands;
- The 10- degree channel: The 10-degree channel which is about 145 km long separates Little Andaman in the south from the Nicobar Islands.
- The Nicobars: The Nicobars consists of 19 islands. Among the most prominent is Car Nicobar in the north; and Great Nicobar in the south. About 90 miles to the southwest of Great Nicobar lies the northwestern tip of Sumatra, Indonesia.
- Formation: Both the Andaman and Nicobar groups are formed by the above-sea extensions of submarine ridges of mountains and are a part of a great island arc. The highest peak is 2,418 feet at Saddle Peak on North Andaman, followed by Mount Thullier at 2,106 feet on Great Nicobar and Mount Harriet at 1,197 feet on South Andaman. Barren island, the only known active Volcano in south Asia lies in the Andaman Sea. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, there were volcanic eruptions on Barren Island.
- Andaman Terrain: Formed of sandstone, limestone, and shale of Cenozoic age, the terrain of the Andamans is rough, with hills and narrow longitudinal valleys. Flat land is scarce and is confined to a few valleys.
- Nicobar Terrain: The terrain of the Nicobar is more diverse than that of the Andamans. Some of the Nicobar Islands, such as Car Nicobar, have flat coral-covered surfaces with offshore coral formations that prevent most ships from anchoring. Other islands, such as Great Nicobar, are hilly and contain numerous fast-flowing streams.
- Great Nicobar is the only island in the territory with a significant amount of fresh surface water.
Climate: The climate of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is tropical but is moderated by sea.
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Past objections on India developing Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI)
- Perspective of India’s diplomatic community:
- When India first began developing the ANI in the 1980s, the defence and foreign policy establishments were not entirely in agreement.
- India’s diplomatic community opposed the militarization plan, arguing that turning the islands into a strategic-military garrison would weaponize the littorals, an outcome unlikely to sit well with India’s maritime neighbors.
- Neighbor’s apprehensions: Indonesia and Malaysia were apprehensive that India would use its military facilities on the Andamans to dominate its region, and project power east of Malacca.
Today’s perspective India developing Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI)
- More empathy towards India: Today arguably, there is more empathy for Indian compulsions to develop the ANI. It is clear that developing the islands is a necessity for India that could not be overlooked.
- India’s compulsion: With China expanding its footprint in India’s backyard, regional states realise New Delhi has little option but to consolidate strategically on the islands.
- Securing maritime borders: In the aftermath of the June 2020 standoff with China in Ladakh, the Indian military has been under growing pressure to forestall Chinese adventurism in the Indian Ocean.
- Higher stakes for India in eastern Indian Ocean: With China moving to expand its presence in India’s neighbourhood, including at Maldives (Feydhoo Finolhu), Pakistan (Gwadar), Sri Lanka (Hambantota), and Bangladesh (at Cox Bazaar where China is said to be constructing a submarine base), the stakes for India in the eastern Indian Ocean have never been higher.
- Intentions are good: Asia’s leaders knew that India’s intentions are good because it is willing to keep its security presence on the strategic islands to a minimum.
Rational behind developing Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI)
- To counter China’s belt and road Initiative: New Delhi also needs to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The manner of China’s development of infrastructure projects in the Bay of Bengal suggests that it seeks both economic leverage and strategic prowess in South Asia.
- Countering China Dual use facilities: By some accounts, China is looking for military access to Chinese-built facilities in the Bay of Bengal. Beijing, reportedly, is on a drive to create ‘dual-use’ facilities that have both commercial and military applications.
What could be the way to counter China in the region
- By expanding military Presence in BOB: One way for India to counter China’s forays in the Bay of Bengal would be to expand Indian military presence in the littorals. The process is already underway
- By turning islands into logistic support facilities for navies: The other way for India to counter China is to develop its island territories in the eastern Indian Ocean and offer military facilities therein for logistics support to navies from friendly Quad countries.
Delicate ecology of the island cannot be ignored
- Environmentalists contend that construction activity on ecologically sensitive islands could lead to a large-scale loss of biodiversity, which could hurt local communities and the islands’ indigenous people.
- New Delhi cannot afford to ignore the ecological implications of infrastructure development on the islands, in particular, the proposal for a container terminal at Campbell Bay on the Great Nicobar Island.
- The project entails the mass culling of forests and could take a toll on the region’s delicate ecological balance.
- New hotels, resorts, and a trans-shipment port could upend decades of conservation efforts.
Conclusion
- The need of the hour is to balance competing requirements: enable development on the islands, while avoiding large-scale environmental damage. As ‘high-wire’ acts go, this is going to be a hard walk for Indian decision-makers.
Mains question
Q. China is moving towards increasing its presence in India’s neighborhood and is challenging India in many ways. Analyze India’s compulsion to develop the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI).
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