Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Linking PHC with UHC, India's G20 presidency and healthcare agenda
Context
- Health needs to be a central agenda for the G20 2023. It has been one of the priority areas for G20 deliberations since 2017, when the first meet of health ministers of G20 countries was organised by the German presidency. The G20 now has health finance in its financial stream and health systems development in the Sherpa stream.
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Background: Prioritizing Health
- An annual G20 meeting of health ministers and a joint health and finance task force reflects the seriousness the subject has gained.
- The Berlin Declaration 2017 of the G20 health ministers provided a composite approach focusing on pandemic preparedness, health system strengthening and tackling antimicrobial resistance.
- The Covid-19 pandemic gave added urgency to pandemic preparedness and the Indonesian presidency in 2022 made it the major focus. The Indian presidency needs to advance these agendas.
Global community engagement to strengthen Health systems
- Universal Health Coverage (UHC): The concept of UHC was born in the 2000s to prevent catastrophic medical expenditures due to secondary and tertiary level hospital services by universalizing health insurance coverage.
- UHC as a strategy to ensure healthcare for all: The UHC has been the big global approach for health systems strengthening since 2010, also adopted in 2015 as the strategy for Sustainable Development Goal-3 on ensuring healthcare for all at all ages.
- Limited impact of UHC: However, the limited impact of this narrow strategy was soon evident, with expenditures on outdoor services becoming catastrophic for poor households and preventing access to necessary healthcare and medicines, while many unnecessary/irrational medical interventions were being undertaken.
What are the new approaches developed to strengthen healthcare system?
- Highlighted the need to prioritise primary healthcare (PHC): In 2018, the Astana Conference organised by WHO and UNICEF put out a declaration stating that primary healthcare (PHC) is essential for fulfilling the UHC objectives.
- Combined UHC- PHC approach: In 2019, the UN General Assembly adopted the combined UHC-PHC approach as a political declaration.
- World bank report on benefits of PHC services during pandemic: The World Bank published a report in 2021, “Walking the Talk: Reimagining Primary Health Care After COVID-19”. The dominant hospital-centred medical system is becoming unaffordable even for the high-income countries, as apparent during the 2008 recession and subsequently.
What is PHC-with-UHC approach?
- It means strengthening primary level care linked to non-medical preventive action (food security and safety, safe water and air, healthy workspaces, and so on)
- It works through whole-of-society and whole-of-government approaches, and extending the “PHC principles” to secondary and tertiary care services.
- This could be the most cost-effective systems design the comprehensive game changer that global health care requires.
What is to be strengthened, what initiatives can be applied and how?
- Making health central to development in all sectors: Health in all policies, one health (linking animal and human health for tackling antimicrobial resistance and zoonotic diseases), planetary health, pandemic preparedness.
- Health systems strengthening: Designing PHC-with-UHC for diverse contexts. Conceptualised as a continuum of care from self-care in households to community services, to primary level para-medical services and first contact with a doctor, services provided as close to homes as possible, affordable and easily deliverable.
- Appropriate technologies to be adopted as a norm: By strengthening health technology assessment, ethics of healthcare, equitable access to pharmaceutical products and vaccines, integrative health systems using plural knowledge systems rationally.
- Health and healthcare from the perspective of the marginalised: Gendered health care needs, Health care of indigenous peoples globally, occupational health, mental health and wellbeing, healthy ageing.
- Easy access to health knowledge for all: decolonization and democratization of health knowledge, with interests and perspectives of low-middle-income countries (LMICs), prevention and patient-centred healthcare.
- India has several pioneering initiatives that can contribute to the PHC-with-UHC discussion:
- National Health mission and dedicated health facilities: Lessons from the National Health Mission for strengthening public health delivery; the HIV-control programme’s successful involvement of affected persons/communities and a complex well-managed service structure.
- Democratized health knowledge: Pluralism of health knowledge systems, each independently supported within the national health system.
- Certified Health personnel: Health personnel such as the ASHAs, mid-level health providers and wellness centres, traditional community healthcare providers with voluntary quality certification;
- R&D and widely acknowledged pharmaceutical capacity: Research designed for validation of traditional systems; pharmaceutical and vaccines production capacity;
- Digital health as an example: Developments in digital health; social insurance schemes and people’s hospital models by civil society.
Conclusion
- What is required is the drafting of PHC-with-UHC (a PHC 2.0) with a broad global consensus and commitment to a more sustainable and people-empowering health system. Pursuing such an agenda would involve much dialogue within countries, regions and globally. India should use its presidency to draft a model policy focusing on primary healthcare that commits to a universal, affordable, inclusive and just healthcare system
Mains Question
Q. What is Primary HealthCare and Universal healthcare integrated approach? What steps are necessary to further strengthen sustainable healthcare system? Discuss how India can contribute to it under its G20 presidency?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Right to Repair
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Food and Consumer Affairs Minister introduced a host of new initiatives, including a right to repair portal.
Right to Repair portal
- On the ‘right to repair’ portal, manufacturers would share the manual of product details with customers so that they could either repair by self, by third parties, rather than depend on original manufacturers.
- Initially, mobile phones, electronics, consumer durables, automobile and farming equipments would be covered.
What is Right to Repair?
- It refers to proposed government legislation that would allow consumers the ability to repair and modify their own consumer products (e.g. electronic, automotive devices).
- The idea behind “right to repair” is in the name: If you own something, you should be able to repair it yourself or take it to a technician of your choice.
- People are pretty used to this concept when it comes to older cars and appliances, but right-to-repair advocates argue that modern tech, especially anything with a computer chip inside, is rarely repairable.
The Right to Repair movement aims for:
- Easy repair: The device should be constructed and designed in a manner that allows easy repairs
- Access to critical components: End users and independent repair providers should be able to access original spare parts and tools (software as well as physical tools) needed to repair the device at fair market conditions
- No technical barriers: Repairs should by design be possible and not hindered by software programming
- Proper communication: The repairability of a device should be clearly communicated by the manufacturer.
How did it came to existence?
- The average consumer purchases an electronic gadget, knowing that it will very quickly become obsolete as its manufacturer releases newer and more amped up version.
- As your device grows older, issues start to crop up — your smartphone may slow down to a point where it is almost unusable, or your gaming console may require one too many hard resets.
- When this happens, more often than not, you are left at the mercy of manufacturers who make repairs inaccessible and an inordinately expensive affair.
Why is such right significant?
- Exorbitant repair price: Often, manufacturers reduce the durability of the product, compelling consumers to either repurchase the product or get it repaired at exorbitant prices affixed by the manufacturers.
- Lifespan enhancement: The goal of the movement is to increase the lifespan of products and to keep them from ending up in landfills.
- Against planned obsolescence: The electronic manufacturers are encouraging such culture so that devices are designed specifically to last a limited amount of time and to be replaced.
- Scarcity of natural resources: Obsolescence leads to immense pressure on the environment and wasted natural resources.
- Mitigating climate change: Manufacturing an electronic device is a highly polluting process. It makes use of polluting sources of energy, such as fossil fuel.
- Boost to repair economy: Right to repair advocates also argue that this will help boost business for small repair shops, which are an important part of local economies.
Issues with obsolete devices
- Unfair trade practice: For manufacturers, either of these options is a win-win case, because high-priced repairs, as well as new sales, mean more profits.
- High cost to consumers: This often led to higher consumer costs or drive consumers to replace devices instead of repairing them.
- Generation of E-waste: The global community is concerned over the continuously growing size of the e-waste stream.
- Recyclability: Up to 95% of raw materials used to produce electronic devices can be recycled, while the vast majority of newly produced devices use little to none recycled material due to the higher cost.
Why do electronic manufacturers oppose this movement?
Large tech companies, including Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Tesla, have been lobbying against the right to repair.
- IPR violations through reverse engineering: Their argument is that opening up their intellectual property to third party repair services.
- Threats to device safety: Amateur repairers could lead to exploitation and impact the safety and security of their devices.
- Personal data security: Tesla, for instance, has fought against right to repair advocacy, stating that such initiatives threaten data security and cyber security.
- Sheer casualization: Tech giant has allowed repairs of its devices only by authorised technicians and not providing spare parts or DIY manuals on how to fix its products.
Right to Repair in India
The ‘right to repair’ is not recognised as a statutory right in India, but certain pronouncements within the antitrust landscape have tacitly recognized the right.
- Necessary consumer right: Monopoly on repair processes infringes the customer’s’ “right to choose” recognised by the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
- Acknowledgment by agencies: Consumer disputes jurisprudence in the country has also partially acknowledged the right to repair.
- Upholding Competition: In Shamsher Kataria v Honda Siel Cars India Ltd (2017), for instance, the Competition Commission of India ruled that restricting the access of independent automobile repair units to spare parts as anti-competitive.
- Part of consumer welfare: The CCI observed that the practice was detrimental to consumer welfare.
- Laws for recycle: The e-waste (management and handling) rules addresses not only to handle the waste in an environmentally friendly manner, but also has laid down rules about its transportation, storage and recycling.
Way forward
- Avoiding blanket waiver: While necessary clauses to maintain the quality of the product can be included, a blanket waiver should be avoided.
- For instance, the quality assurance clause can be incorporated for use of company-recommended spare parts and certified repair shops.
- Making available the repair manual: Making repair manuals available to certified business owners could go a long way in balancing the rights of consumers and manufacturers.
- Sign a non-disclosure agreement to protect IP rights: Manufacturers can sign a non-disclosure agreement to protect the IP with certified repairers/businesses.
- Alloting certification/license: Further, the lack of certification/licensing of repair workers is seen as a reflection of their lack of skills.
- Insert right to repair in Consumer protection Act: The ‘right to repair’ can be said to be implicit in Section 2(9) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
- Reparability parameter: The product liability clause under Section 84 can be amended and expanded to impose product liability concerning various reparability parameters of the product.
- Duration of product liability: The duration of imposing product liability may vary depending on the product and its longevity.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bomb Cyclone
Mains level: Not Much
Bomb cyclone continued to unleash havoc as the death toll due to weather-related incidents in the United States mounted to 34 and has left millions without power.
What is Bomb Cyclone?
- A bomb cyclone is a large, intense mid-latitude storm that has low pressure at its center, weather fronts and an array of associated weather, from blizzards to severe thunderstorms to heavy precipitation.
- It becomes a bomb when its central pressure decreases very quickly—by at least 24 millibars in 24 hours.
- When a cyclone “bombs,” or undergoes bombogenesis, this tells us that it has access to the optimal ingredients for strengthening, such as high amounts of heat, moisture and rising air.
Why is it called a bomb?
- Most cyclones don’t intensify rapidly in this way.
- Bomb cyclones put forecasters on high alert, because they can produce significant harmful impacts.
Its etymology
- The word “bombogenesis” is a combination of cyclogenesis, which describes the formation of a cyclone or storm, and bomb, which is, well, pretty self-explanatory.
- This can happen when a cold air mass collides with a warm air mass, such as air over warm ocean waters.
- The formation of this rapidly strengthening weather system is a process called bombogenesis, which creates what is known as a bomb cyclone.
How does it occur?
- Over the warmer ocean, heat and moisture are abundant.
- But as cool continental air moves overhead and creates a large difference in temperature, the lower atmosphere becomes unstable and buoyant.
- Air rises, cools and condenses, forming clouds and precipitation.
Where does it occur the most?
- The US coast is one of the regions where bombogenesis is most common.
- That’s because storms in the mid-latitudes – a temperate zone north of the tropics that includes the entire continental US – draw their energy from large temperature contrasts.
- Along the US East Coast during winter, there’s a naturally potent thermal contrast between the cool land and the warm Gulf Stream current.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Orans, Sacred grooves
Mains level: Not Much
Oran Bachao Yatras are taking place in Rajasthan for the protection of orans or sacred groves facing the threat of destruction due to the land being allotted for renewable energy infrastructure and high-tension power lines.
What are Orans?
- Orans are Community Conserved Areas protected for their sacred values.
- They include woodlots, pastures, orchards, sacred groves, and habitats usually centered around sources of water such as natural springs, rivulets, or artificially constructed ponds.
- Additionally, there is usually a shrine dedicated to a local deity at the heart of an Oran.
- Their traditional boundaries are based on landmarks or geographical milestones established by indigenous and agro-pastoral communities associated with them.
- Orans are usually defined by a strong community-territory relationship and a well-functioning governance system.
Reasons for the Yatra
- Named after local deities and medieval warriors, orans hold religious and social significance as small forest patches in the middle of the mighty Thar desert.
- Orans also form the natural habitat for India’s most critically endangered bird, the Great Indian Bustard (GIB), a protected species under the Wildlife Protection Act, which is also the State bird of Rajasthan.
- GIBs have died during the last few years because of collision with power lines, making this the most significant threat to the majestic birds.
Back2Basics: 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
- Kovil Kadu or Sarpa Kavu in Tamil Nadu
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Purse seine fishing
Mains level: Not Much
The Centre has told the Supreme Court that a ban imposed by certain coastal States on purse seine fishing, which is known to disadvantage endangered species, is not justified.
Purse seine fishing
- It uses a large vertical net to surround dense shoals of pelagic or midwater fish in the open ocean, and then draws in the edges like tightening the cords of a drawstring purse.
- A vertical net ‘curtain’ is used to surround the school of fish, the bottom of which is then drawn together to enclose the fish, rather like tightening the cords of a drawstring purse.
- It is deployed widely on India’s western coasts,
What is the issue?
- This mode of fishing is prohibited by Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Odisha, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Andaman and Nicobar Islands in their respective territorial waters of up to 12 nautical miles.
- However, states like Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, and West Bengal have not imposed any such ban on purse seine fishing.
Why states are divided over this?
- In some States, it is linked to concerns about the decreasing stock of small, pelagic shoaling fish such as sardines, mackerel, anchovies and trevally on the western coasts.
- The scientific community argues that climatic conditions, including the El Nino phenomenon, are responsible for the declining catch of such fish in the last ten years.
- Fishermen using traditional methods have placed the blame squarely on the rise of purse seine fishing.
- They fear a further fall in the availability of these small fish if the ban is lifted.
How does the Centre see this plan?
- The Fisheries Department of the Union government has recommended the lifting of the ban on purse seine fishing.
- The expert panel has said that this mode of fishing has “per se has not resulted in any serious resource depletion so far, given the available evidence”.
- It recommended purse seiners to fish in territorial waters and the Indian Exclusive Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) subject to certain conditions.
Way ahead
- There should be a national management plan on purse seine fisheries.
- Partial ban in some states may put fishermen at disadvantage in other states.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Appointment of judges of SC and HC's
Mains level: Issues with the appointment of judges of SC and HC's and judicial reforms
Context
- Recently, there has been confrontation between the Centre and judiciary on the interpretation of Article 124 (2) and 217 (1) of the Constitution.
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Provisions related to the appointment of judges to the supreme court and high court
- Article 124 (2): It highlights that every judge of the Supreme Court will be appointed by the president after consultation with such of the judges (in particular, the chief justice) of the Supreme Court and of the high courts in the states as necessary.
- Article 217 (1): Similarly, for high courts, Article 217 (1) highlights that every judge of a high court will be appointed by the president after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, the governor of the state, and the chief justice of the high court.
- Judicial independence and Collegium system: Judicial interpretation in SP Gupta vs Union of India (1981), The Supreme Court Advocates-on Record Association vs Union of India (Second Judges case) (1993) and Article 143(1) vs Unknown (Third Judges Opinion) (1998) has further evolved the principle of judicial independence and led to a collegium system for recommending judges.
- Role of central government: Currently, the Centre can accept or reject recommendations made by the collegium system however, if a recommendation was reiterated, the government was obliged to accept it.
- More recently established consensus has given way to a stalemate, as the Centre stalls recommendations reiterated by the Collegium.
- The Supreme Court pulled up the government for not following timelines laid down in the Second Judges Case.
- The Standing Parliamentary Committee on Law and Personnel has also highlighted its disagreement with the Department of Justice that the time for filling vacancies cannot be indicated.
What will be the impact of this tussle?
- Decline in the capacity of India’s judicial system: The net effect of this historic tussle between the independent judiciary and overweening Centre has been a decline in the capacity of India’s judicial system
- Vacancies in higher judiciary: There were approximately three vacancies (of 34) in the Supreme Court, along with about 381 (of 1,108) vacancies for judges in the high courts.
- In lower judiciary: The lower judiciary had about 5,342 (of 24,631) seats vacant, accounting for 20 per cent of its capacity.
- Impact on judicial efficiency: Such vacancies, particularly in the high courts of Bombay, Punjab & Haryana, Calcutta, Patna and Rajasthan are bound to have an impact on judicial efficiency (with about four crore cases pending, as of August 2022)
A study: Process of appointment of judges in other countries and by political institutions
- In Italy: Here, appointments to the Constitutional Court are made by the president, the legislature and the Supreme Court, with each entity allowed to nominate five judges.
- In US: Supreme Court justices are nominated (for life) by the president and then approved by Senate via a majority vote. Whereas, the state governor appoints state judges based on recommendations provided by a merit commission.
- In Germany: The German Constitutional Court is appointed by the Parliament (each House gets four appointments in each of the Court Senates) with a supermajority vote (2/3). Naturally, this can lead to a partisan judiciary.
- In Iraq: All judges are graduates of a Judicial Institute, with all applicants undergoing written and oral tests, along with an interview with a panel of judges.
- In Japan: The Supreme Court Secretariat controls lower-level judicial appointments, along with their training and promotions.
- Judicial elections to enhance the accountability of judiciary: Judicial elections have also been utilised to enhance the accountability of the judiciary a variety of states in the US using elections for judicial appointments to the State Supreme Courts.
- Judicial councils: Other countries have experimented with judicial councils (often comprising of existing judges, representatives of the Ministry of Justice, members of the bar association, laymen etc)
Appointments through Judicial Commission
- Centres push Judicial Commission: for Recently, the Centre pushed for judicial appointments to be conducted via a Judicial Commission (National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014).
- Supreme court says collegium system open to greater transparency: The Supreme Court struck down the NJAC Act (2014) with a 4:1 majority, while highlighting that it was open to greater transparency in the collegium system in particular, making the collegium more transparent, fixing eligibility criteria for appointing judges and debating whether an empowered secretariat was required to appoint judges.
In this scenario what are suggested reforms?
- Empower secretariat to select and recommend candidates: The Collegium system can continue; however, a secretariat may be empowered to select and recommend candidates, with the Executive continuing to hold power to appoint judges.
- Greater representation of our society in the judiciary: The secretariat could be staffed with current judges, members of the bar association, representatives of the law ministry and laymen and should push for greater representation of our society in the judiciary. There were only three women and two SC judges in the Supreme Court.
- New Court of appeal: Beyond judicial appointments, there is a clear need for having a new Court of Appeal (refer PIL by V Vasanthakumar). The Supreme Court was never intended to be a regular court of appeal against orders in high courts (Bihar Legal Society vs Chief Justice of India, 1986) the Supreme Court should not be hearing bail applications.
- Federal court of Appeal: Instead, as recommended by the Law Commission, we need to have a Federal Court of Appeal, with branches in major metros.
- Transform Supreme court into constitutional court: The Supreme Court should be transformed into a Constitutional Court (via a constitutional amendment) doing this would mean fewer cases (about 50, anecdotally) being kept pending at the highest level.
- Defined retirement age for all judges: There need a push for a defined retirement age, say 65, for all judges, whether at a high court or Supreme Court level post retirement, there should also be a mandatory cooling off period for judges to be nominated to roles in government.
Conclusion
- Judicial independence continues to be important for the health of India’s democracy. A credible and impartial system of appointing judges is necessary to achieve judicial independence. Any appointment must ensure judicial accountability, fostering a judiciary which, at an individual and systemic level, is independent from other branches of government.
Mains Question
Q. What is the process of appointment of Supreme Court and High Court Judges? What is the Government’s position on the appointment of judges? What measures are suggested for judicial appointments?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Context
- Among the various disadvantages we poorly equipped to support people with disabilities about access to parliament. It is time to make the physical and digital interface of parliament and other buildings more disabled-friendly.
What are the common suggestions about disabled friendly parliament?
- Accessibility Committee: To attend to the access needs of the disabled.
- Providing sign language: For interpretation for Parliamentary proceedings.
- Audit of website: Ordering an accessibility audit of Parliament’s websites.
- Disable friendly facilities: In December 2015, the Government of India launched the Accessible India Campaign (AIC) to make the built environment, ICT ecosystem and transport facilities more disabled-friendly.
- Lack of enforcement: A strong enforcement mechanism is unfortunately absent in the AIC, led by people with disabilities and accessibility professionals, to ensure that ambitious milestones are set and pursued to their meaningful conclusion.
Recommendations of report by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy
- Make every building accessible: A report by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, titled “Beyond Reasonable Accommodation” points out, the requirement to make every new building accessible before it is granted an Occupancy Certificate.
- Integration of laws: The relevant provisions of the Harmonised Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility in India, 2021 must be integrated into local bye-laws and state planning laws.
- Sensitivity about compliance: Municipal authorities must have the know-how and sensitivity to gauge compliance with the norms to make the built environment accessible and access to competent accessibility professionals who can provide appropriate inputs at every stage.
- Professions to enforce compliance: The list of empanelled professionals maintained by municipal authorities must also consist of accessibility professionals, and this requirement must be codified in model building bye-laws and the National Building Code.
What parliament can do?
- Accessibility committee: Parliament must set up an accessibility committee urgently that must be tasked with delivering recommendations in a time-bound fashion on making every aspect of the Parliamentary process more disabled-friendly.
- Taking cue from supreme court: The constitution of an Accessibility Committee by the Supreme Court recently may be a good reference point for Parliament.
What can centre and states do?
- Accessibility criteria in procurement: Central and state level procurement laws and policies must incorporate accessibility criteria in public procurement of physical, digital and transport infrastructure.
- Accessible tenders and documents: These must be replicated in agreements between procurement agencies and bidders/contractors. In addition, tender documents must set out applicable accessibility standards.
Conclusion
- Disable people suffers from structural disadvantage at every stage of governance including building infrastructure. Parliament should start from itself to give larger message of about sensitivity towards disabled friendly buildings.
Mains Question
Q. Explain the limitations of accessible India campaign? Suggest the way towards more disable friendly buildings in India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: India-China Border issues, friction points
Context
- A week after the clash in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, convening of the 17th round of India-China corps commander-level talks at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point in eastern Ladakh is a positive development. But unfortunately, it does not inspire confidence about Chinese intentions vis a vis the Line of Actual Control.
- Disengagement at Gogra Hot springs in last round of talks: The last round of talks was held in July, and in September, the government announced that the two sides had finished disengaging at Gogra Hot Springs, as had been agreed in the 16th round.
- Beijing reluctant for further rounds of talks: Beijing appeared reluctant to accede to Delhi’s push for another round,
- No return to the status quo: China signals that there is nothing more to discuss about the situation in eastern Ladakh, and certainly not a return to the status quo that existed before its incursions in April-May 2020.
What is outcome of the latest round of talks and the current status?
- No mutually acceptable resolution on remaining issues: A joint statement that the two sides agreed to keep talking through military and diplomatic channels toward a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest suggests that there was no outcome from this round. It is also not clear if the remaining issues have been agreed upon by both sides.
- India facing an altered status quo: Apart from the fact that India now faces an altered status quo and that the PLA is rapidly building war-like infrastructure on its side, for India, the remaining issues are the presence of Chinese troops in the Depsang plains, and intrusions in the Demchok area.
- Tensions seems manageable but situation is unpredictable: The sector-wise compartmentalisation makes the tensions seem manageable, but the reality appears to be that there is no predicting which part of the 3,500 km of the line will flare up suddenly, as it did recently.
- Situation is very serious: Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar flagged the seriousness of the situation when he told Parliament that the Indian deployment at the LAC is at its highest level.
- Despite the advanced surveillance, no clarity on Army’s preparedness: From the short statement by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, it is unclear how prepared the Army was for the transgression at Tawang, despite the advanced Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance devices that have reportedly been installed in that area.
Why China has opened new front in Tawang?
- Status quo along the boundary not only limited to the Western Sector: China has traditionally been active in areas close to Ladakh given the significance of the Xinjiang-Tibet region in its domestic narrative. However, with its sights on an ageing Dalai Lama, and the issue of his succession, Beijing will want to bring into focus its claims on Tawang, and the rest of Arunachal Pradesh.
- Huge investment in infrastructure in eastern sector: China has invested in infrastructure in the Eastern Sector over many years. This includes rail, road, and air connectivity, better telecommunications, as well as improved capacity to station and supply troops and artillery.
- Centrality of the boundary issue in the India-China relationship: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has repeatedly asserted that it is no longer possible to separate the boundary question from the overall relationship and that peace and tranquillity on the LAC is the key to restoring relations. However, China is likely to keep up the pressure on the ground along the LAC, even as they continue to suggest that the two countries look beyond the differences, much like Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s comments during his March 2022 visit when he claimed that the two sides need to “inject more positive energy” into the relationship.
Way ahead
- Delhi should make a push for talks at the diplomatic level even as it ramps up military preparedness.
- Whatever the facts on the ground and regardless of how the tensions will unfold, the government would be well advised to take the Opposition parties into confidence at the earliest.
- A wide political consensus is what the country needs when confronted with tensions at the borders and it is the government’s task and responsibility to build it.
Conclusion
- Delhi should make a push for talks at the diplomatic level even as it ramps up military preparedness. Whatever the facts on the ground and regardless of how the tensions will unfold, the government should take the Opposition parties into confidence at the earliest. A wide political consensus is what the country needs when confronted with tensions at the borders
Mains Question
Q. China has opened new front in the eastern sector. Even after the commander level talks multiple times, frictions between the two continues at LAC. Discuss.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: POCSO ACt, issues with the age of consent
Context
- The Chief Justice of India’s recently raised the concerns about the age of consent under the POCSO Act. CJI quested parliament to review the age under POCSO act.
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What are the issues related to age of consent?
- Criminalization of romantic relationship: The Madras, Delhi and Meghalaya High Courts have flagged matters concerning criminalisation of romantic relationships between or with an adolescent under POCSO.
- AK v. State Govt of NCT of Delhi: On November 12, the Delhi High Court in AK v. State Govt of NCT of Delhi (order by Justice Jasmeet Singh) stated that the intention of POCSO was to protect children below the age of 18 years from sexual exploitation and not to criminalise romantic relationships between consenting young adults.
- Government not in favour of revision of age: The government told Parliament that it does not have any plan to revise the age of consent.
- Blanket ban on anticipatory bail: The recent criminal law amendment in UP that imposed a blanket ban on granting anticipatory bail to a rape accused rubs salt on the already wounded.
- Criminalization of sexual act: POCSO conflates exploitative sexual practice and general sexual expression by an adolescent, and criminalises both.
- Overlooking the voluntary sexual act: Criminal law has become an instrument to silence or regulate a non-exploitative consensual sexual relationship involving a minor girl, which is voluntary.
- Abuse of POCSO act: The obiter of the court that POCSO has become a tool in the hands of certain sections of society to abuse the process of law is corroborated by other courts too.
- Victimization of girls: The cumulative victimisation of the “consenting” girl also deserves the lawmakers’ attention.
Today’s reality of sexual life among adolescent and mismatch in law
- Increased age of consent: The age of consent has increased from 10 to 12 to 14 to 16 and finally to 18 years by the 2013 amendment, in order to bring it in conformity with the then newly legislated POCSO Act.
- Consent of minor girl is illegal: The law disregards the likelihood of a minor girl engaging in sexual activity voluntarily it thus desexualises her.
- Ignoring the social reality: The law that criminalises adolescent sexuality either ignores social reality or pretends to do so.
- Sexual experience before the age of consent: According to the NFHS-5, for instance, 39 per cent women had their first sexual experience before turning 18. The same survey provides additional evidence of sexual engagement among unmarried adolescent girls by reporting contraception use by 45 per cent of unmarried girls in the age group of 15-19 years.
What should be the way forward?
- Separate procedure for POCSO Act: Need to evolve a separate procedure for children while dealing with POCSO cases.
- Victimization should be avoided: Romantic” lovers in a mutually consensual relationship should not be victims of the abuse of the criminal justice system processes.
Conclusion
- Age of consent is matter of debate and cannot be decided alone by judges and judiciary. Need of an hour is a sexual education in the children and adolescence. We need to fight to taboo about sex and debate on sex.
Mains Question
Q. What are the misuse cases under POCSO act? What are the mismatch between todays POCSO act and social reality of adolescent sex life?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Read the attached story
Mains level: Parliamentary efficiency
Both houses of the Parliament were adjourned sine die, six days ahead of their schedule.
Session of Parliament and Related Terminologies
- During a session, both the Houses meet almost daily barring holidays to transact business be it to discuss a matter of public matters, frame laws, amend laws, place Standing Committee reports and pass financial bills among others.
- The Houses are in session thrice a year: Budget Session (February to May); Monsoon Session (July to September); and Winter Session (November to December).
Terminating the session
- During a session of Parliament, usually, there are two sittings: morning sitting from 11 am to 1 pm and post-lunch sitting from 2 pm to 6 pm.
- The sitting of the Parliament in both the Houses can be terminated only by adjournment, adjournment sine die, prorogation and dissolution (not applicable for Rajya Sabha).
- Technically, a session of the Parliament means the period between the first sitting of a House and its prorogation or dissolution.
- The period between the prorogation of a House and its reassembly in a new session is called a recess.
(1) Adjournment sine die
- Adjournment sine die means terminating a sitting of Parliament for an indefinite period, that is, when the House is adjourned without naming a day for reassembly, it is called adjournment sine die.
- The power of adjournment sine die lies with the presiding officer of the House.
- However, the presiding officer of a House can call a sitting of the House before the date or time to which it has been adjourned or at any time after the House has been adjourned sine die.
(2) Adjournment
- An adjournment results in the suspension of work in a sitting for a specified time, which may be hours, days or weeks.
- In this case, the time of reassembly is specified as an adjournment only terminates a sitting and not a session of the House.
- The power of adjournment lies with the presiding officer of the House.
(3) Prorogation
- The term prorogation means the termination of a session of the House by an order made by the President under Article 85(2)(a) of the Constitution.
- The prorogation terminates both the sitting and session of the House and is usually done within a few days after the House is adjourned sine die by the presiding officer.
- The President issues a notification for the prorogation of the session. However, the president can also prorogue the House while in session.
- It must be noted that all pending notices except those for introducing bills lapse.
(4) Dissolution
- Whenever a dissolution happens, it ends the very life of the existing House and a new House is constituted after the General Elections.
- However, only the Lok Sabha is subject to dissolution as the Rajya Sabha, being a permanent House, is not subject to dissolution. The dissolution of the Lok Sabha may take place in two ways:
- Automatic dissolution: On the expiry of its tenure: five years or the terms as extended during a national emergency.
- Order of President: If the President is authorised by the Council of Ministers, he or she can dissolve Lok Sabha, even before the end of the term. The president may also dissolve Lok Sabha if the Council of Ministers loses confidence and no party is able to form the government. Once the Lok Sabha is dissolved before the completion of its normal tenure, the dissolution is irrevocable.
Impact on legislation process
- When the Lok Sabha is dissolved, all business including bills, motions, resolutions, notices and petitions that are pending before it or its committees lapse.
- Summoning: Summoning is the process of calling all members of the Parliament to meet.
When does a Bill lapse in Indian Parliament?
Depending on the status of the pending legislation, and where it originated, there are certain cases in which the Bill lapses on dissolution of Assembly.
- Bills originated in Lok Sabha
- Any Bill that originated in the Lok Sabha, but could not be passed, lapses.
- A Bill originated and passed by the Lok Sabha but pending in the Rajya Sabha also lapses
- Bills originated in Rajya Sabha
- The Constitution also gives MPs in Rajya Sabha the power to introduce a Bill.
- Therefore a Bill that originated in Rajya Sabha and was passed by it, but remains pending in Lok Sabha also lapses.
- A Bill originated in the Rajya Sabha and returned to that House by the Lok Sabha with amendments and still pending in the Rajya Sabha on the date of the dissolution of Lok Sabha lapses.
When a Bill does not lapse
- Not all Bills, which haven’t yet become law, lapse at the end of the Lok Sabha’s term.
- A Bill pending in the Rajya Sabha, but not passed by the Lok Sabha, does not lapse.
- A Bill passed by both the Houses but pending assent of the President of India, does not lapse.
- A Bill passed by both Houses but returned by the President of India for reconsideration of the Parliament does not lapse.
- Some pending Bills and all pending assurances that are to be examined by the Committee on Government Assurances also does not lapse on the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NFSA, PMGKAY
Mains level: Schemes related to food security
The government discontinued the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and has decided to provide free foodgrains to all 81 crore beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) for one year.
About PMGKAY
- PMGKAY is a food security welfare scheme announced by the GoI in March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
- The program is operated by the Department of Food and Public Distribution under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
- The scale of this welfare scheme makes it the largest food security program in the world.
Targets of the scheme
- To feed the poorest citizens of India by providing grain through the Public Distribution System to all the priority households (ration card holders and those identified by the Antyodaya Anna Yojana scheme).
- PMGKAY provides 5 kg of rice or wheat (according to regional dietary preferences) per person/month and 1 kg of dal to each family holding a ration card.
Success of the scheme
- Pandemic mitigation: It was the first step by the government when pandemic affected India.
- Wide section of beneficiaries: The scheme reached its targeted population feeding almost 80Cr people.
- Support to migrants: It has proven to be more of a safety net to migrant people who had job and livelihood losses.
- Food and Nutrition security: This has also ensured nutrition security to children of the migrant workers.
Limitations of the scheme
- Corruption: The scheme has been affected by widespread corruption, leakages and failure to distribute grain to the intended recipients.
- Leakages: Out of the 79.25 crore beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), only 55 crore have so far received their 5 kg.
- Inaccessibility: Many people were denied their share due to inability to access ration cards.
- Low consumption: Livelihood losses led to decline in aggregate demand and resulted into lowest ever consumption expenditure by the people owing to scarcity of cash.
- Resale of subsidized grains: This in turn led to selling of the free grains obtained in the local markets for cash.
Back2Basics: National Food Security (NFS) Act
- The NFS Act, 2013 aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two-thirds of India’s 1.2 billion people.
- It was signed into law on 12 September 2013, retroactive to 5 July 2013.
- It converts into legal entitlements for existing food security programmes of the GoI.
- It includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme and the Public Distribution System (PDS).
- Further, the NFSA 2013 recognizes maternity entitlements.
- The Midday Meal Scheme and the ICDS are universal in nature whereas the PDS will reach about two-thirds of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas).
- Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily free cereals.
Key provisions of NFSA
- The NFSA provides a legal right to persons belonging to “eligible households” to receive foodgrains at a subsidised price.
- It includes rice at Rs 3/kg, wheat at Rs 2/kg and coarse grain at Rs 1/kg — under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
- These are called central issue prices (CIPs).
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: TULIP Program
Mains level: Not Much
More than 25,000 internship opportunities have been advertised under the TULIP programme so far.
TULIP Program
- TULIP is a portal jointly developed by the Ministry of HRD, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
- It helps reap the benefits of India’s demographic dividend as it is poised to have the largest working-age population in the world in the coming years.
- It helps enhance the value-to-market of India’s graduates and help create a potential talent pool in diverse fields like urban planning, transport engineering, environment, municipal finance etc.
- It furthers the Government’s endeavors to boost community partnership and government-academia-industry-civil society linkages.
Why need such a program?
- India has a substantial pool of technical graduates for whom exposure to real-world project implementation and planning is essential for professional development.
- General education may not reflect the depth of productive knowledge present in society.
- Instead of approaching education as ‘doing by learning,’ our societies need to reimagine education as ‘learning by doing.’
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Joynagar Moa
Mains level: NA
The Joynagar Moa, the popular Bengal sweet got 10 year extension for its Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
Joynagar Moa
- The moa is a popped-rice ball held together with fresh date-palm jaggery, extracted from the beginning of December till the end of February.
- Its manufacture is so synonymous with Joynagar, a settlement on the outskirts of Kolkata, that it earned the Geographical Indication tag of Joynagar Moa in 2015.
How is it made?
- A moa is made with khoi (puffed rice). The best ones are made with khoi from a rice variety known as kanakchur.
- It uses cardamom and Bengal’s legendary nolen gur (a liquid jaggery made from date palms and found only in winter).
Back2Basics: Geographical Indication (GI)
- A GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
- Nodal Agency: Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 w.e.f. September 2003.
- GIs have been defined under Article 22 (1) of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.
- The tag stands valid for 10 years.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Issues with Judicial Infrastructure
Context
- With every new Chief Justice, India’s judicial infrastructure returns to the spotlight. It was Justice S.H. Kapadia who in 2010, first tried to have a systematic plan to examine the conditions of existing infrastructure and realize the future needs of district judiciary.
Attempt at judicial Infrastructure upgrade from Judiciary
- Magistrate infrastructure: We have had Justice T.S. Thakur publicly lament the poor conditions in which magistrates’ function.
- Vacancy in district judiciary: Then Justice Ranjan Gogoi successfully streamlined filling up of vacancies in district judiciary.
- National judicial infrastructure authority: Justice N.V. Ramana initiated a discussion on creation of a national judicial infrastructure authority, which has been rejected.
- Strengthening district judiciary: And now we have Justice D.Y. Chandrachud raising the issue of strengthening the district judiciary.
- Allocation of funds: The Centre has been attempting to improve infrastructure at the district level in a consistent manner by allocating funds.
- Centrally sponsored schemes: Since 1993-94, a centrally sponsored scheme (CSS) of the Union government has tried to address the issue of bringing judicial infrastructure up to par.
- Contribution from states: Through the scheme, the Centre has been earmarking funds with contributions from respective state governments in the ratio of 60:40 (90:10 for North-eastern states and union territories), including monitoring progress of initiated projects.
- No improvement in district courts: Despite the scheme spearheaded by the Ministry of Law and Justice, there hasn’t been any considerable improvement in the physical state of our district courts, leaving successive Chief Justices to lament about the poor state of affairs.
Reasons for non-progress in judicial Infrastructure
- Non-utilization of funds: Most of the funds allocated under the scheme remain unutilised because states do not come forward with their share, leading to lapse of annual budgetary allocation. Sample this: a total of Rs 981.98 crore were sanctioned in 2019-20. Ultimately, only Rs 84.9 crore came to be spent, leaving 91.36% funds unutilised. In 2020-21, of the sanctioned Rs 594.36 crore, Rajasthan emerged on the top by utilising Rs 41.28 crore but again substantial funds lapsed due to non-utilisation.
- No ownership of scheme: There is no single ownership of the scheme. Lack of one coordinating agency prevents its successful execution. The CSS, in its current form, visualises a separate state- and central-level monitoring committees.
- No representation of judiciary in central committees: In the central committee, there is no representation of the judiciary as an institution. So, the ultimate consumer of the scheme is absent from the entire process.
- Lack of planning: Lack of planning for the future also has its casualties. At present, the central scheme does not plan to cater to future requirements. So, there is no discussion on the foreseeable workload of district judiciary in the coming 10-20 years.
- No single agency to implement: The lack of a single agency prevents from realising both the short-term and long-term objectives. Short-term objectives such as constructing courtrooms for the existing judicial strength as opposed to sanctioned strength, record rooms, computer service rooms, etc. suffer in the absence of a single agency that could measure progress of planned initiatives and nudge the stakeholders into acting.
What is the way forward?
- Single dedicated institution: A single permanent body as proposed by Justice Ramana would bring a cohesive approach with ensuring that when states submit action plans for upgrading/establishing judicial infrastructure, they also deposit their share of funds with the authority.
- Working with state government: While the actual work is carried out in partnership with the states, it will ensure that one agency is responsible for mapping out objectives and achieving them.
Conclusion
- Justice is keystone of healthy society and just Nation. India cannot move ahead to its economic prosperity without upgrading its judiciary. Upgrading the judicial infrastructure should be priority for the judiciary as well as government.
Mains Question
Q. Enlist the historical attempt at upgrading judicial infrastructure. Despite so much attempts, what are the major reasons for lack of judicial infrastructure?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: VDA's
Mains level: Virtual Digital Assets (VDA) and Terror Financing
Context
- No Money for Terror conference hosted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs concluded with a commitment from the 93 participating nations to end all financing of terror, including through the use of emerging digital technologies such as VDAs.
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Concerns regarding virtual digital assets
- VDAs for illicit activities: The concerns around the misuse of VDAs for illicit activities require careful legislative responses and forward-looking regulatory guardrails.
- Non reporting and non-transparency: On a fundamental level, these concerns stem from a lack of reporting and transparency norms, and an absence of international consensus on regulatory design.
- Lack of reliable data: The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Deputy Director highlighted the difficulty in regulating VDAs, given the lack of reliable data on VDA transactions.
- Unregulated transactions: This allows bad actors to engage in unchecked transactions and defraud investors, as evinced by one of the (erstwhile) largest VDA exchanges FTX.
India’s role in regulating the VDA
- Leveraging G20 Presidency: As one of the highest-ranked countries in terms of VDA adoption, and now with the G20 presidency, India has a critical role to play in shaping the global regulatory environment.
- Empowering anti-money laundering authorities: In the short term, a viable approach for India is in taking the industry and the investor into confidence by allowing anti-money laundering (AML) authorities visibility over VDA transactions, and the power to impose controls upon them and prosecute in the event of any misuse.
- India should adopt FATF guidelines: There are several international templates to this effect. The Financial Action Task Force Guidelines on Virtual Asset Transactions (FATF Guidelines) are a case in point, which have been adopted by various jurisdictions, including the EU, Japan and Singapore.
- Minimum anti-money laundering standards: The FATF prescribes minimum Anti-money laundering standards that countries should employ to prevent the likelihood of misuse, and the FATF Guidelines prescribe the same for VDA transactions.
- Licensing and reporting of VDAs: The Guidelines are applicable to VDA service providers of member states like India. Key features of the FATF Guidelines include licence/registration requirements and extensive reporting and record-keeping obligations for VDA service providers.
- Travel rule obligations: One such obligation is the Travel Rule, which requires service providers to record the originator and beneficiary’s account details, transaction amount, and purpose of transaction for all wire transfers.
- Verifying identity above certain threshold: Customer due diligence obligations, which include verifying the customer and beneficiary’s identities should be conducted for all transactions exceeding $1,000.
- Obligation on service provider: The FATF Guidelines also require VDA service providers to perform enhanced due diligence obligations (such as corroborating the customer’s identity with a national database or potentially tracing the customer’s IP address to ensure there are no links to illicit activities) when a transaction is with a higher-risk country.
What are India’s current laws to regulate VDA?
- PMLA includes reporting obligation: India’s existing Anti-money laundering framework under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) already applies these regulatory tools over traditional financial institutions. Notably, the PMLA also includes reporting obligations for overseas transactions that fall under the ambit of “suspicious transactions” under the framework.
- PMLA doesn’t apply to VDAs: Currently, the PMLA does not apply to the VDA industry.
- government can bring VDA under PMLA: The government has the power to notify any “designated business or profession” as a reporting entity under the PMLA and can issue a notification that classifies VDA service providers as a designated business.
Conclusion
- With the Digital Data Protection Bill and the Digital India Act already in the pipeline, Indians and digital businesses will soon have a coherent rights and responsibility framework to operate within. The time is ripe to extend regulatory oversight over the VDA industry so as to ensure that tech-innovation flourishes in a responsible, accountable manner.
Mains Question
Q. How virtual digital assets and terror financing are interlinked? What is the role of PMLA act in regulation of VDA in India?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Greenwashing
Mains level: Not Much
Reserve Bank Deputy Governor called for a taxonomy on green finance to avoid the risk of “greenwashing”.
What is ‘Greenwashing’?
- Greenwashing refers to misleading the general public into believing that companies, sovereigns or civic administrators are doing more for the environment than they actually are.
- This may involve making a product or policy seem more environmentally friendly or less damaging than it is in reality.
- The term was coined by environmentalist Jay Westerveld in 1986.
- The phenomenon came into practice as consumers and regulators increasingly sought to explore planet-friendly, recyclable and sustainable ‘green’ products.
- By 2015, 66% of consumers were willing to shell out more for a product that was environmentally sustainable.
How is it done?
- There is the indiscriminate use of the terms ‘net-zero’, ‘net-zero aligned’, ‘eco-friendly’, ‘green’ and ‘ecological’.
- Since there is no compliance mechanism, such practices are rampant.
Why does greenwashing happen?
- Greenwashing is done primarily for a company to either present itself as an ‘environment-friendly’ entity or for profit maximisation.
- It is achieved by introducing a product, catering to the inherent demand for environment-friendly products.
- In certain instances, it is done using the larger idea as a premise to cut down on certain operational logistics and providing consumer essentials.
What does it have to do with the financial sector?
- Ethical investing: Sustainable investing has become increasingly popular among millennials and impact investors concerned with ‘ethical investing’.
- Role of ESG credentials: Financial services providers expect increased scrutiny of a company’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) credentials from regulators, shareholders, customers as well as other stakeholders.
- Transition funding: Financial institutions are expected to fund the transition towards renewable energy and discourage investments in further harnessing of conventional energy sources as coal, oil and gas.
Policy moves in India
- If the financial sector is to respond effectively to the demand for products that endeavour to introduce positive changes into the economy, it is imperative that ‘greenwashing’ is averted.
- In May this year, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) constituted an advisory committee to look into all ESG-related matters.
Key recommendations
- The expert committee recommends that financial institutions immediately discontinue all lending, underwriting and investments in companies wanting to strengthen or expand their coal-related infrastructure.
- As for oil and gas, it recommends the discontinuation of all investments that would involve exploration of new oil and gas fields, expansion of existing reserves and further production.
- Instead, companies should facilitate increased investment in renewable energy and institutions that are aligned to facilitate net zero emissions by 2050.
Way forward
- Companies must work towards reducing emissions across their entire value chain and not limit the endeavor to only one part of the chain.
- They must not invest, through any means, in harnessing fossil fuels or engage in deforestation and other environmentally destructive activities.
- In addition to this, companies cannot compensate for this investment by means of cheap credits, that “often lack integrity”.
- Further, all state and non-state actors must ensure a ‘just transition’ such that livelihoods are not affected.
- The committee also recommends a transition from voluntary disclosures (pertaining to net emissions) to regulatory norms.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Eco-sensitive buffer Zones (ESZs)
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Kerala government has published a forest department map that better reflects the block and plot-wise details of localities that could potentially fall under the Supreme Court-suggested one-km ecologically sensitive buffer zone (ESZ) around forests if imposed.
What are the Eco-sensitive Zones (ESZs)?
- Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) or Ecologically Fragile Areas (EFAs) are areas notified by the MoEFCC around Protected Areas, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.
- The purpose of declaring ESZs is to create some kind of “shock absorbers” to the protected areas by regulating and managing the activities around such areas.
- They also act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to areas involving lesser protection.
How are they demarcated?
- The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 does NOT mention the word “Eco-Sensitive Zones”.
- However, Section 3(2)(v) of the Act, says that Central Government can restrict areas in which any industries, operations or processes or class of industries, operations or processes shall be carried out or shall not, subject to certain safeguards.
- Besides Rule 5(1) of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 states that central government can prohibit or restrict the location of industries and carrying on certain operations or processes on the basis of certain considerations.
- The same criteria have been used by the government to declare No Development Zones (NDZs).
Defining its boundaries
- An ESZ could go up to 10 kilometres around a protected area as provided in the Wildlife Conservation Strategy, 2002.
- Moreover, in the case where sensitive corridors, connectivity and ecologically important patches, crucial for landscape linkage, are beyond 10 km width, these should be included in the ESZs.
- Further, even in the context of a particular Protected Area, the distribution of an area of ESZ and the extent of regulation may not be uniform all around and it could be of variable width and extent.
Activities Permitted and Prohibited
- Permitted: Ongoing agricultural or horticultural practices, rainwater harvesting, organic farming, use of renewable energy sources, and adoption of green technology for all activities.
- Prohibited: Commercial mining, saw mills, industries causing pollution (air, water, soil, noise etc), the establishment of major hydroelectric projects (HEP), commercial use of wood, Tourism activities like hot-air balloons over the National Park, discharge of effluents or any solid waste or production of hazardous substances.
- Under regulation: Felling of trees, the establishment of hotels and resorts, commercial use of natural water, erection of electrical cables, drastic change of agriculture system, e.g. adoption of heavy technology, pesticides etc, widening of roads.
What is the recent SC judgment that has caused an uproar in Kerala?
- On June 3, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court heard a PIL that sought to protect forest lands in the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, but was later expanded to cover the entire country.
- In its judgment, the court while referring to the 2011 guidelines as “reasonable”, directed all states to have a mandatory 1-km ESZ from the demarcated boundaries of every protected area.
- It also stated that no new permanent structure or mining will be permitted within the ESZ.
- If the existing ESZ goes beyond 1-km buffer zone or if any statutory instrument prescribes a higher limit, then such extended boundary shall prevail, the court, as per the Live Law report.
Why are people protesting against it?
- There is a high density of human population near the notified protected areas.
- Farmer’s groups and political parties have been demanding that all human settlements be exempt from the ESZ ruling.
- The total extent of the wildlife sanctuaries in Kerala is eight lakh acres.
- If one-km of ESZ is demarcated from their boundaries, around 4 lakh acres of human settlements, including farmlands, would come within that purview.
Try this PYQ
With reference to ‘Eco-Sensitive Zones’, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- Eco-Sensitive Zones are the areas that are declared under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
- The purpose of the declaration of Eco-Sensitive Zones is to prohibit all kinds of human activities, in those zones except agriculture.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: India-China trade imbalance
Amid demands for snapping trade ties with China for its transgressions on the border, former NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman has opined that cutting trade ties with Beijing would amount to sacrificing India’s potential economic growth.
What is the news?
- Panagariya said both countries can play the trade sanctions game.
- The ability of a $17 trillion economy (China) to inflict injury on a $3 trillion economy (India) is far greater than the reverse.
Why in news?
- The trade deficit, the difference between imports and exports, between India and China touched $51.5 billion during April-October this fiscal.
- The deficit during 2021-22 had jumped to $73.31 billion as compared to $44.03 billion in 2020-21.
A quick backgrounder
- Trade ties began to boom since the early 2000s.
- This was driven largely by India’s imports of Chinese machinery and other equipment.
- It rose up from $3 billion in the year 2000 to $42 billion in 2008, the year China became India’s largest trading partner.
The Hindi-Chini buy buy
- A third of machinery and almost two-fifths of organic chemicals that India purchases from the world come from China.
- Automotive parts and fertilizers are other items where China’s share in India’s import is more than 25 per cent.
- Several of these products are used by Indian manufacturers in the production of finished goods, thus thoroughly integrating China in India’s manufacturing supply chain.
- For instance India sources close to 90 per cent of certain mobile phone parts from China.
India’s export to China
- Even as an export market, China is a major partner for India.
- China is the third-largest destination for Indian shipments.
- At the same time, India only accounts for a little over two percent of China’s total exports, according to the Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO).
Should we worry about this?
- Trade deficits/surpluses are just accounting exercises and having a trade deficit against a country doesn’t make the domestic economy weaker or worse off.
- In this light, India’s trade imbalance with China should not be viewed in isolation.
- For instance, pharmaceuticals that India exports to the world require ingredients that are imported from China.
- Chinese imports of Indian seafood are one area that has recently shown robust growth and carries scope to grow in future.
So, having a trade deficit is good?
- Of course NOT. Running persistent trade deficits across all countries raises two main issues.
- Availability of foreign exchange reserves to “buy” the imports.
- Lack of domestic capacity to produce most efficiently.
Can we ban trade with China?
Ans. Certainly NOT!
- It will hurt the Indian poor the most: This is because the poor are more price-sensitive. For instance, if Chinese TVs were replaced by either costlier Indian TVs or less efficient ones, unlike poor, richer Indians may buy the costlier option.
- It will punish Indian producers and exporters: Several businesses in India import intermediate goods and raw materials, which, in turn, are used to create final goods — both for the domestic Indian market as well as the global market (as Indian exports).
- Pharma sector could be worst hit: For instance, of the nearly $3.6 billion worth of ingredients that Indian drug-makers import to manufacture several essential medicines, China catered to around 68 percent.
- Ban will barely hurt China: According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) data for 2018, 15.3% of India’s imports are from China, and 5.1% of India’s exports go to China.
- Chinese money funds Indian unicorns: India and China have also become increasingly integrated in recent years. Chinese money, for instance, has penetrated India’s technology sector, with companies like Alibaba and Tencent strategically pumping in billions of dollars into Indian startups such as Zomato, Paytm, Big Basket and Ola.
- India will lose policy credibility: It has also been suggested that India should renege on existing contracts with China. This can be detrimental to India’s effort to attract foreign investment.
China is our Frenemy. Here is why.
- The first thing to understand is that turning a border dispute into a trade war is unlikely to solve the border dispute.
- Worse, given India and China’s position in both global trades as well as relative to each other, this trade war will hurt India far more than China.
- Again, these measures will be most poorly timed since the Indian economy is already at its weakest point ever — facing a sharp GDP contraction.
Way forward
- Panagariya suggested to expand trade faster with other trading partners rather than cutting it with Beijing through a blunt instrument such as trade sanctions.
- We should take advantage of India’s excellent growth prospects for the next decade and concentrate on growing the economy bigger as fast as possible.
- Once we are the third largest economy, our sanctions threats are likely to carry greater credibility.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MSP, Cotton
Mains level: Not Much
While cotton farmers in several States have demanded an increase in the minimum support price (MSP) of the crop, the Centre has said that it is watching the cotton production scenario and decide accordingly.
What is MSP?
- The MSP assures the farmers of a fixed price for their crops, well above their production costs.
- MSP, by contrast, is devoid of any legal backing. Access to it, unlike subsidized grains through the PDS, isn’t an entitlement for farmers.
- They cannot demand it as a matter of right. It is only a government policy that is part of administrative decision-making.
- The Centre currently fixes MSPs for 23 farm commodities based on the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) recommendations.
Fixing of MSPs
- The CACP considered various factors while recommending the MSP for a commodity, including the cost of cultivation.
- It also takes into account the supply and demand situation for the commodity; market price trends (domestic and global) and parity vis-à-vis other crops; and implications for consumers (inflation), environment (soil and water use) and terms of trade between agriculture and non-agriculture sectors.
What changed with the 2018 budget?
- The Budget for 2018-19 announced that MSPs would henceforth be fixed at 1.5 times of the production costs for crops as a “pre-determined principle”.
- Simply put, the CACP’s job now was only to estimate production costs for a season and recommend the MSPs by applying the 1.5-times formula.
How was this production cost arrived at?
- The CACP projects three kinds of production cost for every crop, both at the state and all-India average levels.
- ‘A2’ covers all paid-out costs directly incurred by the farmer — in cash and kind — on seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, hired labor, leased-in land, fuel, irrigation, etc.
- ‘A2+FL’ includes A2 plus an imputed value of unpaid family labor.
- ‘C2’ is a more comprehensive cost that factors in rentals and interest forgone on owned land and fixed capital assets, on top of A2+FL.
How much produce can the government procure at MSP?
- The MSP value of the total production of the 23 crops worked out to around Rs 10.78 lakh crore in 2019-20.
- Not all this produce, however, is marketed. Farmers retain part of it for self-consumption, the seed for the next season’s sowing, and also for feeding their animals.
- The marketed surplus ratio for different crops is estimated to range differently for various crops.
- It ranges from below 50% for ragi and 65-70% for bajra (pearl millet) and jawar (sorghum) to 75% for wheat, 80% for paddy, 85% for sugarcane, 90% for most pulses, and 95%-plus for cotton, soybean, etc.
- Taking an average of 75% would yield a number of just over Rs 8 lakh crore.
- This is the MSP value of production that is the marketable surplus — which farmers actually sell.
Nature of MSP
- There is currently no statutory backing for these prices, nor any law mandating their enforcement.
Farmers demand legalization
- Legal entitlement: There is a demand that MSP based on a C2+50% formula should be made a legal entitlement for all agricultural produce.
- Private traders’ responsibility: Some say that most of the cost should be borne by private traders, noting that both middlemen and corporate giants are buying commodities at low rates from farmers.
- Mandatory purchase at MSP: A left-affiliated farm union has suggested a law that simply stipulates that no one — neither the Government nor private players — will be allowed to buy at a rate lower than MSP.
- Surplus payment by the govt.: Other unions have said that if private buyers fail to purchase their crops, the Government must be prepared to buy out the entire surplus at MSP rates.
- Expansion of C2: Farm unions are demanding that C2 must also include capital assets and the rentals and interest forgone on owned land as recommended by the National Commission for Farmers.
Government’s position
- The PM has announced the formation of a committee to make MSP more transparent, as well as to change crop patterns — often determined by MSP and procurement.
- The panel will have representatives from farm groups as well as from the State and Central Governments, along with agricultural scientists and economists.
Back2Basics: Cotton Cultivation in India
- Cotton, a semi-xerophyte, is grown in tropical & sub-tropical conditions.
- A minimum temperature of 15C is required for better germination at field conditions.
- The optimum temperature for vegetative growth is 21-27C & it can tolerate temperature to the extent of 43C but temperature below 21C is detrimental to the crop.
- Cotton is grown on a variety of soils ranging from well-drained deep alluvial soils in the north to black clayey soils of varying depth in central region and in black and mixed black and red soils in south zone.
- It is semi-tolerant to salinity and sensitive to water logging and thus prefers well-drained soils.
Sowing season
- The sowing season of cotton varies considerably from tract to tract and is generally early (April-May) in northern India.
- Sowing is delayed as its proceeds down south (monsoon based in southern zone).
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Uncontrolled re-entry, Liability Convention, 1972
Mains level: Not Much
Many dignitaries have signed an open letter published by the Outer Space Institute (OSI) calling for both national and multilateral efforts to restrict uncontrolled re-entries of Satellites back to earth.
About Open Space Institute (OSI)
- OSI is a conservation organization that seeks to preserve scenic, natural and historic landscapes for public enjoyment, conserve habitats while sustaining community character, and help protect the environment.
- It uses policy initiatives and ground-level activism to help accomplish its goals.
What are the stages of a rocket launch?
- Rockets have multiple stages.
- Once a stage has increased the rocket’s altitude and velocity by a certain amount, the rocket sheds it.
- Some rockets jettison all their larger stages before reaching the destination orbit; a smaller engine then moves the payload to its final orbit.
- Others carry the payload to the orbit, then perform a deorbit manoeuvre to begin their descent.
- In both cases, rocket stages come back down — in controlled or uncontrolled ways.
What is an uncontrolled re-entry?
- It is the phenomenon of rocket parts falling back to earth in unguided fashion once their missions are complete.
- In an uncontrolled re-entry, the rocket stage simply falls.
- Its path down is determined by its shape, angle of descent, air currents and other characteristics.
- It will also disintegrate as it falls.
How many satellites are there in space?
- The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite in 1957.
- Today, there are more than 6,000 satellites in orbit, most of them in low-earth (100-2,000 km) and geostationary (35,786 km) orbits, placed there in more than 5,000 launches.
- The number of rocket launches have been surging with the advent of reusable rocket stages.
Why is this hazardous?
- As the smaller pieces fan out, the potential radius of impact will increase on the ground.
- Some pieces burn up entirely while others don’t.
- But because of the speed at which they’re travelling, debris can be deadly.
- If re-entering stages still hold fuel, atmospheric and terrestrial chemical contamination is another risk.
Why are we discussing this?
- The OSI letter cited examples of parts of a Russian rocket in 2018 and China’s Long March 5B rockets in 2020 and 2022 striking parts of Indonesia, Peru, India and Ivory Coast, among others.
- Many news reports have focused on Chinese transgressions of late, but historically, the US has been the worst offender.
- Parts of a SpaceX Falcon 9 that fell down in Indonesia in 2016 included two “refrigerator-sized fuel tanks”.
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Damage control mechanism for uncontrolled re-entry
- There is no international binding agreement to ensure rocket stages always perform controlled re-entries nor on the technologies with which to do so.
- The Liability Convention, 1972 requires countries to pay for damages, not prevent them.
- These technologies include wing-like attachments, de-orbiting brakes, and extra fuel on the re-entering body, and design changes that minimise debris formation.
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