Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hakku Patra
Mains level: Land rights to tribals
PM has distributed Hakku Patra (land title deeds) to five Lambani (Banjara) tribes, a nomadic Scheduled Caste group, during a launch programme in Karnataka.
What are Hakku Patras?
- A title deed is a property ownership document, and the bearer of the document owns the land.
- The title deeds enable owners to avail of bank loans with the said document.
- They will also be eligible to buy or sell land to which the title deed is granted by the government.
- This Hakku Patra will secure the future of thousands of people living in the “Tandas” (Lambani habitats) in Kalaburagi, Bidar, Yadgiri, Raichur and Vijayapura districts.
Benefits of Hakku Patra
Hakku Patra, like every legal property document, offers a great set of benefits.
- It makes one the legitimate owner of your land or property by giving an up-to-date and official record of who owns the land.
- The individual does not have to research as the government issues the document.
- It is a state-guaranteed document.
- Hakku Patra registration resolves all types of disputes regarding the ownership or rights over the land.
- The document helps in preventing any encroachment via trespassing on the boundaries.
Who are the Banjaras?
- The Banjara, also known as Lambadi, Gour Rajput, Labana, are a historically nomadic trading caste who may have origins in the Mewar region of what is now Rajasthan.
- According to the National Informatics Centre, the name Banjara /Banjari probably had come from two different sources: ‘Banijya’ – trade or ‘Banachara’, the forest dwellers.
- Their principal group’s name Laban/Labana is derived from the Sanskrit word lavanah, meaning salt as they were salt traders.
- Although considered a tribal group given the life they lead, the Banjaras are a key scheduled caste sub-group in Karnataka.
- Despite the community adopting a multitude of languages, Banjara is used throughout India, although in Karnataka the name is altered to Banijagaru.
Questions of a political move
- The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes together make up nearly 24 per cent of the state population, becoming an important group for political parties.
- The expenses incurred for the programme were funded by the state exchequer.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Trademark
Mains level: IP protection in India
The Delhi High Court dismissed a case of trademark infringement brought by the global fast food chain against a Delhi-based restaurant.
What is a trademark?
- A trademark is a symbol, design, word or phrase that is identified with a business.
- When a trademark is registered, its owner can claim “exclusive rights” on its use.
- The Trademark Act, 1999, governs the regime on trademark and its registration.
- The Act guarantees protection for a trademark that is registered with the Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks, also known as the trademark registry.
- A trademark is valid for 10 years, and can be renewed by the owner indefinitely every 10 years.
Violation of trademark
- Using a registered trademark without authorization of the entity that owns the trademark is a violation or infringement of the trademark.
- Using a substantially similar mark for similar goods or services could also amount to infringement.
- In such cases, courts have to determine whether this can cause confusion for consumers between the two.
- There are several ways in which a trademark can be infringed. However, the trademark owner has to show that the trademark has a distinct character-
- Deceptive similarity: The law states that a mark is considered deceptively similar to another mark if it nearly resembles that other mark, confusing the consumer in the process. Such deception can be caused phonetically, structurally or visually.
- Passing off: Say, a brand logo is misspelt in a way that’s not easy for the consumer to discern. The Supreme Court has ruled that passing off is a “species of unfair trade competition or of actionable unfair trading by which one person, through deception, attempts to obtain an economic benefit of the reputation which other has established for himself in a particular trade or business”.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: India's fiscal challenge and options
Context
- Between spending and saving, governments are generally better at the former. High growth comes with the advantage that government revenue expands and gets spent, as is happening this fiscal. But this is also habit-forming. If growth tapers down as is expected in FY 2024 cutting back government spending will be politically rocky just before a general election. Better then, to get selective on spending early on.
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- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took over the hot seat in May 2019. True to character, she resolved to pick up this rolling can by tabling in the FY 2021 budget, an amount of INR 2.64 trillion (1.2 percent of GDP) to pay these overdues.
- India, yet again, in an era of high inflation and high oil import prices. It has taken courage and sagacity to reduce the FD from 9.2 percent (FY 2021—the COVID-19 year) to a targeted 6.4 percent this fiscal.
Challenges to establish a declining trend back towards an FD of 3.5 percent of GDP
- The oil slick of global uncertainty and inflation: Oil price uncertainties, created by the Ukraine standoff, which was partially cushioned via nimble Indian diplomacy resisting the boycott of cheaper Russian oil, has kept imported oil at US$77.7 per barrel in January 2023. But the ongoing opening up of China could firm up oil prices.
- India’s high-debt burden compromises fiscal resilience: Interest payments in FY 2023 (budgeted) at INR 9.4 trillion, are the largest expense outlay bucket, accounting for 43 percent of budgeted Union net revenue receipts, up from 41.7 percent in FY 2021. Defence and domestic security services at 15 percent come next, followed by subsidies (food, fertilizers, and fuel) at 14 percent and inflation-indexed government pensions at 9 percent.
- Infrastructure lags: Infrastructure remains a drag on growth although intercity highways have improved. Multimodal transport solutions remain underdeveloped as do train stations and bus terminals in most towns and rural areas. The competitiveness of major Indian ports in 2018 was ranked 42nd well below China, Malaysia and Thailand- pulled down by low outcomes in infrastructure and turn-around time. The gas grid remains nascent with just 10.1 million connections versus 309 million users for LPG canisters a more volatile substitute for cooking fuel, than piped natural gas.
What is the worrying situation?
- Inflation: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) expects retail inflation, assessed at 5.78 percent (December 2022) to trend downwards in FY 2024. But signals of embedded inflation via core inflation (other than volatile food and fuel) above 6 percent are worrying.
- Disrupted energy supply: A disruption in energy supplies could upset sanguine inflation expectations.
- Taming inflation would increase fiscal crunch: Taming the resulting inflation by reducing taxes on the retail supply of petroleum products would increase the fiscal crunch.
- Interests funded by additional borrowings is risky strategy: High-growth economies can afford to fund by borrowings as can start-ups, which borrow against their future growth prospects. For a large, lower middle-income economy like India, with historically moderate long-term growth rates (4 to 6 percent), it compromises reserve fiscal capacity to respond, through counter-cyclical measures, to economic downturns induced by economic shocks a risk-laden strategy.
What India should do?
- Resume much delayed disinvestment: Resume the much-delayed privatisation and disinvestment of public sector enterprises and government-owned financial sector entities.
- Make Indian railway and autonomous entity: Second, make Indian Railway an autonomously regulated, commercially run entity, providing a surplus to the government rather than looking for budgetary support.
- Encourage public finance outlays: Maximise the economic impact by encouraging public finance outlays to be driven by competitive metrics of allocative efficiency across investment options and program/project implementation models.
Conclusion
- For a new phase of growth, government disintermediation is appropriate. It allows for increased competition and innovation in the private sector, leading to greater efficiency and economic growth. India has momentum. What it needs is for the reins to be lightly held.
Mains question
Q. What obstacles does the Indian economy face as it enters a new era of growth, and what should India do?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Herpetofauna , Intraguild predation
Mains level: Herpetofauna , ecological importance and threats
Context
- The demand for land for food production always results in an uncomfortable trade-off between agricultural expansion and species conservation. One can see an example of this trade-off in paddy fields, whose unique combination of wet and drylands provide ideal habitats for amphibians and reptiles. However, Amphibians and reptiles are bearing the brunt of crop intensification.
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Ecological services provided by herpetofauna
- Herpetofauna: Amphibians and reptiles are cold-blooded animals, together referred to as herpetofauna, provide immense ecological services.
- As biological control agents: Frogs and toads, for instance, act as biological control agents by feeding on crop pests. Several salamanders and tadpoles of frogs help in controlling mosquito and mosquito-borne diseases by feeding on the larvae.
- Efficient pollinators and improves soil quality: They also help improve soil quality and aeration, aid in dispersal of seeds and in pollination. There are almost 40 species of lizards including skinks and geckos that are efficient pollinators.
Threats faced by herpetofauna
- Increased use of pesticides and fertilizers: The diversity and abundance of these herpetofauna are rapidly declining with increased use of pesticides, fertilisers, land conversion, changes in cropping systems and the reduced proportion of natural vegetation.
- Threatened by agriculture and management practices: According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 1,532 species of Anurans (frogs) and 825 species of reptiles in the world are critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable due to agriculture and its management practices.
- Particularly threatened in India: They appear to be particularly threatened in India which has a high amphibian diversity most of them are endemic to the region and, as per the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, had the largest cropland area over the last decade, followed by the US and China.
- Being cold-blooded, amphibians and reptiles have unique physiological demands: They are extremely sensitive to microclimates (with a narrow range of soil humidity, moisture, light flux, acidity, air and soil temperature) and microhabitats (they have small habitats like grass cover and low dispersal range; maximum lifetime dispersal for frogs and toads is 12 km). This makes them particularly susceptible to agricultural intensification. However, the researchers find a distinct difference in the way it affects amphibians and reptiles.
Survey to understand the impact of crop intensification
- To understand the impact of crop intensification on the populations and diversity of herpetofauna, researchers from the University of Calcutta conducted a year-long survey of farm lands in Odisha’s Baleswar district.
- Almost 90 per cent of the 250,550 hectares of cultivable land in the district is under paddy.
Did you know?
- Baleswar district, of Odisha is known as “Rice bowl of the state”.
Comment if any place in your state is recognized as such
Findings of the Survey
- Low diversity in high cropping intensity: The abundance of amphibians was almost half and their diversity was low in areas with high cropping intensity, pesticide application and low natural vegetation when compared with areas where less-intensive farming is practised.
- Amphibians are more exposed to pesticides: The difference is because amphibians are more exposed to pesticide contamination than reptiles as their skin is highly permeable and performs both respiration and water uptake.
- Species are going through an extinction debt: The researchers suggest the species are rather going through an extinction debt wherein there is a lag between the impact of agricultural intensification on them and their response to it.
- Reptiles face a higher threat from conflicts with humans: The real impact of the current intensification of agriculture on reptiles would be felt much later. When compared with amphibians, reptiles like snakes face a higher threat from conflicts with humans. Encroachment of forest areas and misconceptions and myths result in the indiscriminate killing of snakes irrespective of them being venomous or harmless.
- Intraguild predation: The researchers also find that in areas where the diversity of the frog population is lesser, the numbers of beneficial arthropods have reduced due to intraguild predation. If this reduction in populations of both predators continues, it will disrupt the natural system of suppressing crop pest abundance.
What is mean by intraguild predation?
- A phenomenon where more than one species feed on the same prey and therefore competitors feed on each other.
- For example, when one predator, like a lion, hunts and kills another predator, like a hyena, for food.
- It’s when animals that are both hunters, compete against each other for the same prey.
- It is just like how two kids might fight over a candy bar.
- The study shows unless a threshold abundance of frogs is maintained, their impacts will be far from beneficial to agriculture.
- Semi-natural and natural vegetation and buffer strips such as ditches, provide chances to increase numbers of alternate prey, intermediate hosts of target pests and increase the availability of nutritional plant resources.
- Semi-natural patches are beneficial for arthropod communities and can raise their numbers to enhance crop pest regulation.
Conclusion
- To optimize the benefits from existing farmland, the researchers recommend that biodiversity research be holistic so more organisms get targeted ecological services.
Mains question
Q. What are herpetofauna? Highlight the Ecological services provided by herpetofauna and discuss the threats faced by herpetofauna.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: New Eurasia opportunities and challenges for India
Context
- Japan, which invented the contemporary geopolitical idea of the Indo-Pacific, is now well on its way to changing the way we think about the relationship between Asia and Europe. In his swing through Europe last week, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s message was simple, the security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific is indivisible.
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How Japan shaped the idea of Indo-pacific?
- Japan is not alone for Indo-pacific anymore: Building on the ideas of his predecessor, the late Shinzo Abe, Kishida is determined to build strong military partnerships with Europe. Together Japan, South Korea and Australia are bridging the divide between Asia and Europe long seen as separate geopolitical theatres.
- South Korea raising profile in Europe: South Korea, which does not always see eye to eye with Japan, is also joining the party by raising its profile in Europe. for example, Seoul, is selling major weapons platforms in Poland.
- Australia eager to bring Europe in Indo pacific: Australia, which has joined the US and UK in the AUKUS arrangement, is equally eager to bring Europe into the Indo-Pacific.
- Accelerated by Ukraine war: This process has been accelerated by Russia’s war in Ukraine and the alliance between Moscow and Beijing.
The idea of Eurasia
- Many used it as a neutral term: The idea of Eurasia is not new, many used it as a neutral term to describe the vast landmass that connected Europe and Asia.
- Separate political spheres: Despite continental continuity, Europe and Asia emerged as separate political and cultural spheres over the millennia.
- Russia as European and Asian: Russia, which straddles this space, saw itself as both a European and Asian power but had trouble becoming a part of either. When post-Soviet Russia’s effort to integrate with the West soured in the 2000s, it developed Eurasia and Greater Eurasia as new geopolitical constructs.
- Putin’s Eurasian strategy: Consolidating the former Soviet space, restoring influence in Central Europe, building a strong alliance with China, and limiting Western influence in the continental heartland became part of Putin’s Eurasian strategy.
China-Russia alliance
- Altering geopolitical dynamics: Well before Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol turned to Europe, it was Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin who altered the geopolitical dynamic in Eurasia.
- Alliance without limits: Days before he ordered his armies into Ukraine, Putin travelled to Beijing last February to sign an agreement declaring an alliance without limits and no forbidden areas.
- China’s tilt towards Russia: China, which had made a largely successful effort to cultivate Europe since the 1990s, deliberately avoided taking sides in Europe’s conflicts with Russia. But on the eve of the Ukraine war, Xi chose to tilt towards Moscow by blaming NATO for the crisis in Ukraine.
- New kind of Eurasian alliance: Together, Putin and Xi unveiled a Eurasian alliance that they might have hoped would deliver the long-awaited coup de grace to the global hegemony of the West. What it did instead was to not only strengthen the Western alliance in Europe but also provide the basis for a new kind of Eurasia an alliance between China’s East Asian neighbours and Russia’s West European neighbours.
- For India, the rise of Eurasia is making it harder to ride on two boats at the same time: Until now, India could easily hunt with the maritime coalition the Quad in the Indo-Pacific and run at the same time with the continental coalitions led by Russia and China.
- US Europe and Japan on the one hand and China, Russia on the other: The conflict between the US, Europe, and Japan on the one hand and China and Russia on the other is now acute and shows no signs of immediate amelioration.
- India’s security challenge on Himalayan frontier: On the downside, then, India’s mounting security challenges from China on the Himalayan frontier and the tightening embrace between Moscow and Beijing will mean the shadow over India’s continental strategy will become darker in the days ahead.
- Strategic capabilities in partnership: On the upside, the possibilities for strengthening India’s strategic capabilities in partnership with the US and Europe as well as Japan, South Korea and Australia have never been stronger.
Opportunities for India may include
- Economic cooperation: Increased economic cooperation and trade between India and countries in Europe and Asia
- India’s larger role in global affairs: The potential for India to play a larger role in regional and global affairs as a result of increased connectivity and cooperation
- To address security concerns in Indo-Pacific: Opportunities for India to strengthen its ties with Japan and other countries in the region to address security concerns in the Indo-Pacific
Conclusion
- Japan’s strategy of promoting greater connectivity and cooperation between Europe and Asia could present both opportunities and challenges for India in terms of economic cooperation and geopolitical influence. India will have to carefully navigate and balance its relationships with various countries and groups in the region to maximize the opportunities and minimize the challenges.
Mains question
Q. Japan is now well on its way to changing the way we think about the relationship between Asia and Europe. In this backdrop discuss opportunities and challenges for India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 19
Mains level: Freedom of press
While rejecting a closure report filed by the CBI, a Delhi court said there is “no statutory exemption in India to journalists from disclosing their sources to investigating agencies”.
What is the news?
- The CBI had sought to close its investigation on how certain news channels and a newspaper had aired and published reports related to a disproportionate assets case against a leader.
- It had argued that the “documents used by the news channel were forged” but it could not be established who forged the documents.
- This certainly amounts to creation of fake news.
Legal protection for disclosure of Journalistic Sources
Ans. Freedom of Speech and Expression under Article 19
- In India, there is no specific legislation that protects journalists from being asked to disclose their sources.
- Article 19 of the Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of speech and expression to all citizens.
- Investigative agencies can issue notice to anyone, including journalists, to provide information.
- Like any citizen, a journalist can be compelled to give evidence in Court.
- If she does not comply, the journalist can face charges of Contempt of Court.
Freedom of Press
- The fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 includes press freedom.
- This covers an entire process from newsgathering, editorial judgement, publication and distribution of printed matter.
- Press freedom covers all four stages.
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What have courts said on this issue?
- While the Supreme Court broadly recognises the freedom of the press, including the right of journalists to ensure the protection of their sources, various courts have ruled differently on this issue.
- In the Pegasus spyware case (2021), the Court underlined that the protection of journalistic sources is one of the basic conditions for the freedom of the press.
- In 2019, the Supreme Court in a review petition in the Rafale case overruled the Centre’s objections on the petitioner’s claims since they relied on purportedly “stolen” confidential documents.
Is there any legal enforcement?
Ans. No
- Courts have in “public interest asked journalists to disclose their sources. In the absence of a specific law, it is often the discretion of a Court.
- Under the Press Council of India (PCI) Act, of 1978, the Press Council has powers of a civil court to deal with complaints when a newspaper has “offended against the standards of journalistic ethics.”
- However, the Council cannot force a newspaper, news agency, journalist, or editor to reveal their sources during the proceedings.
- The Whistleblower Protection Act, 2014 offers protection to people disclosing acts of corruption, wilful misuse of power, or criminal offences by public servants, in public interest.
Recommendations for a change in law
Ans. Recognition under Indian Evidence Act
- The Law Commission of India in its 93rd Report in 1983 recommended recognising journalistic privilege by amending the Indian Evidence Act.
- In its 185th report on the amendments to the Evidence Act, the Law Commission again suggested this amendment.
Position in other countries
- United Kingdom: The Contempt of Courts Act 1981 creates a presumption in favour of journalists who want to protect the identity of their sources. However, that right is subject to certain conditions in the “interest of justice”.
- United States: Although the First Amendment guaranteeing free speech in the United States specifically mentions the press, the Supreme Court has held that journalists do not have the right to refuse to testify in a federal grand jury proceeding and disclose sources.
- Sweden: The Freedom of the Press Act in Sweden is a broad protection of rights of journalists and even extends to state and municipal employees who might share information with journalists freely. In fact, a journalist who reveals his or her source without consent may be prosecuted at the behest of the source.
- France and Germany: Journalists can refuse to disclose sources in an investigation.
Need for non-disclosure
- Debated issue: The right of journalists to use and protect confidential sources is a debated topic.
- Vitality of larger public interest: Many journalists say that confidential sources are an essential tool in the search to uncover information of great public interest.
- Prevent oppression: It is a reporter’s need and duty to protect the identity of the source of his information or else vital information of concern to the people in a democracy would be suppressed.
Why are we discussing this?
- Media malpractices are on rise: When the public interest is compelling and the disclosure outweighs the public interest then the sources can be revealed.
- Serious allegations and media trial: The court can also require disclosure of the source of the news relates to a public office or public official and serious allegations have been made against him.
- Defamation by media: Also if there is a defamatory article against a person then the Court may compel the journalist to reveal his source.
Why media needs protection for sources?
Where source protection is compromised, the impacts can include:
- Pre-publication exposure of journalistic investigations may trigger cover-ups, intimidation, or destruction of information,
- Revelation of sources’ identities has legal or extra-legal repercussions,
- Sources of information running dry,
- Self-censorship by journalists and citizens.
Conclusion
- Indian law on source disclosure is limited and has mostly been determined by courts on a case-by-case basis.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Export Co-operative Society
Mains level: Not Much
The first consignment expected to be exported by the first-ever National Export Co-operative Society.
Why in news?
- The Union Cabinet on January 11 approved the setting up Multi-State Seed Society, Multi-State Organic Society and Multi State Export Society.
What is National Export Co-operative Society (NECS)?
- The society will have an authorised share capital of ₹2,000 crore with the area of operation all over the country.
- It will be registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002.
- It will have its registered office in Delhi.
- The Society’s registration will be complete in the next few days and the first consignment will be exported in three months.
- It will work as an export house for handicrafts, handlooms, khadi and other products, ensuring enhancement of income of the cooperative member entrepreneurs.
Funding of NECS
- Leading cooperatives like IFFCO, KRIBHCO, NAFED, Amul and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) will be the promoters of the Society.
- They will contribute ₹100 crore each.
Working of NECS
- The Society will be different from the Export Promotion Council under the Ministry of Commerce.
- This Society will provide end-to-end services to the cooperatives.
- It will open foreign bank accounts and complete all the formalities, including necessary permissions for exporting a product.
- The dividends will be shared with the manufacturer instantly and without any brokerage fee.
- The Society will hire consultants in foreign countries who will help expand its footprint across continents.
Why need cooperatives for export promotion?
- Cooperatives contribute 28.80% in fertilizer production, 35% in fertilizer distribution, 30.60% in sugar production and 17.50% in milk in the national economy.
- However, their contribution to exports is negligible.
- Society will benefit the smallest of farmer or artisan who has a good product but does not have access to the right platform.
- Through this Society, they will get access to international market and good returns too.
- Once a product has been tested for international standards, the packaging and export will be done by the Society.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Channapatna Toys
Mains level: NA
Augmented Reality of Channapatna Toys were displayed at First Movers Coalition (FMC) Leadership Meeting of the World Economic Forum.
Channapatna Toys
- Channapatna toys are a particular form of wooden toys (and dolls) that are manufactured in the town of Channapatna in the Ramanagara district of Karnataka.
- This traditional craft is protected as a geographical indication (GI) under the World Trade Organization, administered by the state govt.
- As a result of the popularity of these toys, Channapatna is known as Gombegala Ooru (toy-town) of Karnataka.
- Traditionally, the work involved lacquering the wood of the Wrightia tinctoria tree, colloquially called Aale mara (ivory-wood).
- Their manufacture goes back at least 200 years according to most accounts and it has been traced to the era of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan in the 18th century.
- The toys are laced with vegetable dyes and colours devoid of chemicals and hence they are safe for children.
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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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NEP
Mains level: NEP, ASER survey findings
Context
- The Covid pandemic had caused schools to shut down in March 2020, and India had one of the longest school closures in the world primary schools were closed for almost two years. The impact of the pandemic on the education sector was feared to be twofold learning loss associated with long school closures, and higher dropout rates, especially among older children, due to squeezed family budgets.
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ASER survey during the pandemic
- Assessing the learning losses: Estimates from these three state-level surveys could be used to understand the extent of children’s learning losses. These state level estimates are extremely useful as they are the only ASER estimates of learning we have between 2018 and 2022.
- Rising learning level pre-pandemic: For the country as a whole, learning levels had been rising slowly between 2014 and 2018, after being stagnant for several years. For example, at the all-India level, the proportion of children in Class III who could read a Class II level text (a proxy for grade-level reading) had risen from 23.6 per cent in 2014 to 27.2 per cent in 2018.
- Big fall during pandemic: ASER 2022 shows a big drop in this proportion to 20.5 per cent. This 7-percentage point fall is huge, given how slowly the all-India numbers move and confirms fears of large learning losses caused by the pandemic.
- Higher losses in math: In math also, learning levels had risen slowly between 2014 and 2018. The 2022 estimates show a drop here as well although much smaller than in the case of reading.
Case study of three states- Karnataka Chhattisgarh and West Bengal
- Assess learning levels in three states: Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal in 2021, when schools were still closed or had just reopened. While these are not national estimates, they provide an interim measurement that is more reflective of pandemic-induced learning losses than the estimates for 2022.
- Reading and math losses: Across all three states, there were large learning losses in both reading and math in 2021 in excess of 7 percentage points, except in the case of Std V in West Bengal. The loss in reading is a little higher, though not by much.
- Learning losses was much below 2014 levels: In both reading and math, the 2021 learning levels in these three states fell below their 2014 levels. A year later, ASER 2022 data shows that across all three states, there has been a recovery in both reading and math (except Karnataka in reading and West Bengal in reading in Std V) after schools reopened in 2021-22.
- Recovery still below pandemic: In other words, while the 2022 learning levels were still below or in some cases close to the 2018 levels, comparing 2018 with 2022 hides the dramatic fall in learning levels observed between these two points and the subsequent recovery that has happened in the last year.
- Focus on foundational competency: Another big development during 2020-21 was the introduction of the new National Education Policy (NEP) in 2020. For the first time, there was a big focus on the early years and the importance of foundational competencies.
- Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN): Once schools reopened, states moved quickly and almost all states have made a major push in the area of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) under the NIPUN Bharat mission (National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy). This push is reflected in the ASER 2022 data.
- Directive for NEP Implementation: As part of the survey, ASER field investigators visited one government school in each of the sampled village to record enrolment, attendance and school facilities. This year we also asked whether schools had received any directive from the government to implement FLN activities in the school and whether teachers had been trained on FLN. At the all-India level, 81 per cent schools responded that they had received such a directive and 83 per cent said that at least one teacher in the school had been trained on FLN.
Recovery of learning losses
- Partial recovery in some states: Extrapolating from the experience of the three states for which we have 2021 data, we can assume that other states also experienced large learning losses during the pandemic. However, once schools reopened, states made a concerted effort to build or re-build foundational competencies, which has resulted in a partial and in some cases, a full recovery.
- Earliest open, recovered faster: The extent of the recovery varies across states depending on how long their schools were closed as well as when they initiated learning recovery measures. For instance, Chhattisgarh was one of the earliest states to reopen their primary schools in July 2021, giving them a longer period to work with children, as compared to, for instance, Himachal Pradesh or Maharashtra, where schools reopened much later.
- Remarkable recovery by Chhattisgarh: Taking into account the 2021 figures, the 2022 estimates for Chhattisgarh point to a remarkable recovery, in both reading and math, that is hidden if we just compare 2022 with 2018.
- Lack of data for many states: In the absence of a 2021 measurement for other states, it is difficult to say what the original pandemic-induced learning loss was from which states are aiming to recover.
Conclusion
- As per the ASER survey learning losses of the student have been recovered quickly than expected. NEP looks very promising for better learning outcomes for children and college students. Every state and union territory should implement the NEP in its entirety.
Mains Question
Q. Analyze the learning outcomes and recovery of children based on ASER survey. What is impact of NEP on recovery of learning outcome after pandemic?
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: India's proposed amendments
Context
- India has proposed several amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) that take into account the socio-economic development of states, promote One Health, among other things.
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What are the amendments proposed by India?
- International Health Regulations: The country advocated implementing IHR to be in accordance with (the) common but differentiated responsibilities of the States Parties, taking into consideration their social and economic development.
- Assessing human+ animal health: It also recommended assessing human health in congruence with animal and environment health to promote One Health.
- Public health alert: India also sought a provision for an intermediate public health alert in the event where an outbreak doesn’t yet meet the criteria for a public health emergency of international concern but requires timely mitigating measures.
Impact of COVID 19 on proposed amendments
- Equitable access demand: Drawing on the learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic, India argues for “equitable access to medical countermeasures.”
- Accountability of WHO: India also sought greater accountability from the World Health Organization (WHO) in how the IHR is implemented and whether Member States are complying.
- Reporting to WHA: It proposed the Director-General report all activities under the IHR to the World Health Assembly (WHA), particular instances when Member States did not share information.
Support from other countries
- Some developed and developing countries: Other countries which made submissions included Armenia, Brazil, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Namibia, New Zealand, Russia and Switzerland, among others.
- Support from Arica: Eswatini also made suggestions to the IHR amendments on behalf of the WHO Africa Region.
- Other issues are also raised: It included issues surrounding intellectual property, licensing, transfer of technology and know-how for diversification of production.
- Equitable access to health: Equity has emerged as the common focal point in demands made by developing countries. Equitable access to the health products, international financing mechanisms, strengthening health systems, access and benefit sharing mechanisms and tailoring responsibilities based on a country’s capacity are some of the key features.
- Similar demand by executive board: The WHO’s executive board, in its sixth meeting last January, had noted that IHR amendment “should be limited in scope and address specific and clearly identified issues, challenges, including equity,
- Universal protection from disease: Other demands include, technological or other developments, or gaps that could not effectively be addressed otherwise but are critical to supporting effective implementation and compliance of the International Health Regulations (2005), and their universal application for the protection of all people of the world from the international spread of disease in an equitable manner”.
What are the opposition from developed countries?
- Equity only for pandemic: Amendments proposed by developed countries seem to evade the equity demand. The European Union’s policy, for instance, noted equity principles should only be applicable for pandemic-scale health emergencies.
- Non-pandemic health emergency doesn’t need equity: This terminology, in effect, excludes health emergencies that are not officially declared a pandemic. The argument being that outbreaks at the scale of COVID-19 occur occasionally.
- Pandemic specific capacities cannot be generalized: Capacities developed solely for pandemic response cannot therefore be put in use regularly and this will further result in the deterioration of the capacities as well.
Conclusion
- As per the current suggestions, the new regulations should make developed countries and WHO more responsible towards developing countries, put in place stricter mandates, swift action and regular implementation review by WHO.
Mains Question
Q. What are the amendments suggested by India for WHO? Why there is opposition from developed countries for demand of equity by developing countries?
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ASER 2022
Mains level: Status of schooling in India
Pratham’s Annual Survey of Education Report (ASER) 2022 — the first full-fledged one after the pandemic has now been published.
ASER Survey
- This is an annual survey (published by the education non-profit Pratham) that aims to provide reliable estimates of children’s enrolment and basic learning levels for each district and state in India.
- ASER has been conducted every year since 2005 in all rural districts of India. It is the largest citizen-led survey in India.
- It is also the only annual source of information on children’s learning outcomes available in India.
- The survey is usually done once in two years.
How is the survey conducted?
- ASER tools and procedures are designed by ASER Centre, the research and assessment arm of Pratham.
- The survey itself is coordinated by ASER Centre and facilitated by the Pratham network. It is conducted by close to 30,000 volunteers from partner organizations in each district.
- All kinds of institutions partner with ASER: colleges, universities, NGOs, youth groups, women’s organizations, self-help groups, and others.
- The ASER model has been adapted for use in several countries around the world: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Pakistan, Mali, and Senegal.
Assessment parameters
- Unlike most other large-scale learning assessments, ASER is a household-based rather than school-based survey.
- This design enables all children to be included – those who have never been to school or have dropped out, as well as those who are in government schools, private schools, religious schools or anywhere else.
- In each rural district, 30 villages are sampled. In each village, 20 randomly selected households are surveyed.
- Information on schooling status is collected for all children living in sampled households who are in the age group 3-16.
- Children in the age group 5-16 are tested in basic reading and basic arithmetic. The same test is administered to all children.
- The highest level of reading tested corresponds to what is expected in std 2; in 2012 this test was administered in 16 regional languages.
- In recent years, this has included household size, parental education, and some information on household assets.
Highlights of ASER 2022
The ASER 2022 report, which surveyed 6.99 lakh children aged 3 to 16 across 616 rural districts, however, bears some good news. School-level enrolment continues to grow strong and fewer girls are now out of school.
(1) Enrolment
- India has recorded a 95% enrolment for the last 15 years in the 6-14 age group.
- Despite the pandemic forced school closure, the figure rose from 97.2% in 2018 to 98.4% in 2022.
- Only 1.6% children are now not enrolled.
- There is a clear increase in government school (6-14) enrolment across states — it rose from 65.6% in 2018 to 72.9% in 2022.
- This is contrast to the trend in the 2006-14 period, which marked a steady decline in government school enrolment for the 6-14 age group.
- From 10.3% of 11-14 year old girls not enrolled in schools in 2006, the proportion came down to 4.1% in 2018 and is at 2% in 2022. Save Uttar Pradesh, where it is at 4%, the number is lower across states.
(2) Learning Loss
- The ASER 2022 report says that children’s basic reading ability has dropped to ‘pre2012 levels, reversing the slow improvement achieved in the intervening years’.
- The decline is seen across gender and across both government and private schools and is more acute in lower grades.
- Percentage of children in Class III in govt or private schools who can read at Class II level dropped from 27.3% in 2018 to 20.5% in 2022.
- Class V students who can at least read a Class II level text fell from 50.5% in 2018 to 42.8% in 2022.
- Nationally, 69.6% of Class VIII students can read at least basic text in 2022, falling from 73% in 2018.
(3) Arithmetic abilities
- Students in Class III who are able to at least do subtraction dropped from 28.2% in 2018 to 25.9% in 2022.
- For Class V, students who can do division has also fallen from 27.9% in 2018 to 25.6% in 2022.
- Class VIII has done better with an improvement recorded — proportion of children who can do division has increased from 44.1% in 2018 to 44.7% in 2022.
- ASER says that this increase is driven by improved outcomes among girls as well as among children enrolled in government schools, whereas boys and children enrolled in private schools show a decline over 2018 levels.
(4) Tuition dependency
- Rural India has been reporting an uptick in Class I-VIII paid tuition classes and it has moved up from 26.4% in 2018 to 30.5% in 2022.
- In UP, Bihar, and Jharkhand, the proportion of children taking paid private tuition increased by 8 percentage points.
(5) English proficiency
- ASER recorded English abilities last in 2016 and the trend stays similar till date.
- Children’s ability to read simple English sentences was at 24.7% in 2016 and is found at 24.5% in 2022.
- Class VIII has shown some improvement from 45.3% in 2016 to 46.7% in 2022.
- Children’s basic reading ability has dropped to pre-2012 levels, reversing the slow improvement achieved in the intervening years, while the basic maths skills have declined to 2018 levels nationally.
(6) Schools improvement
- Average teacher attendance increased from 85.4% in 2018 to 87.1% in 2022, while average student attendance persists at 72% as before.
- Textbooks had been distributed to all grades in 90.1% of primary schools and in 84.4% of upper primary schools.
- Fraction of schools with useable girls’ toilets increased from 66.4% in 2018 to 68.4% in 2022.
- There were 76% schools with drinking water facilities compared with 74.85% in 2018, but there are interstate variations.
- In 2022, 68.9% schools had a playground, up slightly from 66.5% in 2018.
Way forward
- In the past 10 years, we’ve seen improvement, but it has been in small bits. So it means that we really need to shake up things.
- It is a critical thing for improving the productivity of the country. Business as usual is not going to work.
- Again, it’s not a new message, but it’s a message that needs to be reiterated.
- There are Anganwadi everywhere and their enrollment has gone up. Integration between the Anganwadi system and the school system is urgently needed because the work starts there.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Calling Name Presentation (CNAP)
Mains level: Caller spams these days
Telecom operators have expressed concerns over user privacy on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) proposal.
Calling Name Presentation (CNAP)
- Under this phones would need to display the name of a caller, by extracting the name of the telecom subscriber from their SIM registration data.
- The feature would provide the called individual with information about the calling party (similar to ‘Truecaller’ and ‘Bharat Caller ID & Anti-Spam’).
- The idea is to ensure that telephone subscribers are able to make an informed choice about incoming calls and curb harassment by unknown or spam callers.
Why need CNAP?
- Securing important calls: Genuine calls should not get unanswered. Hence proper system is solicited.
- Blocking of spammers: Since subscribers are not given the name and identity of the caller, they may choose not to answer them believing it could be commercial communication from unregistered telemarketers.
- Rise of robocalls: There have been rising concerns about robocalls (calls made automatically using IT-enabled systems with a pre-recorded voice), spam calls and fraudulent calls.
What are the proposed models?
The regulator has proposed four models for facilitating the CNAP mechanism-
- TSPs operating CNAP database: The first model involves each telecom service provider (TSP) establishing and operating a CNAP database of its subscribers. Here, the caller’s TSP would have to extract the relevant data from its own database.
- Database sharing: In the second model, the operator of the calling entity shares its CNAP database with the receiver’s operator. The difference here is that the calling operator would permit the receiver’s operator to access its database for the caller’s CNAP data.
- Creating a Centralised database: The onus rests on the receiver’s operator to delve into the centralized database to retrieve and present the caller’s data. This model is similar to a plan envisaged by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in 2018, involving the setting up of a Digital Intelligence Unit at the central level.
- Centralized CNAP database: TSP retains a copy of a synchronized central database operated by a third party. It works this way: the call is facilitated as per the routine procedure, and since the receiver’s operator has access to both the centralized and their own database, the lookup is, therefore, internal.
Issues involved
- Latency: The regulator has said that latency in setting up the call must be ensured and CNAP must be inter-operable. The responsiveness might also suffer when moving from a faster wireless network (4G or 5G) to a comparatively slower one (2G or 3G), or vice-versa.
- Privacy Issue: It is not clear how the CNAP mechanism would balance the caller’s right to remain anonymous, an essential component of the right to privacy. To put it into perspective, an individual may opt to remain anonymous for multiple reasons, for example, whistle-blowers or employees being harassed.
- Gendered impact: The proposal may particularly harm women. The service will display a woman subscriber’s name and data, to every calling party whether or not she consents to it.
- Data sharing without consent: We have to see it in parallel with The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill (2022) which has a clause on deemed consent lacking adequate safeguards including sharing of data with third parties.
- Implementation loopholes: Marketers have figured out newer ways to circumvent the existing framework. Previously, telemarketers were required to be registered as promotional numbers. Now they have started deploying people not necessarily part of the entity’s set-up, but rather “at-home workers”.
Way forward
- Innovative solution: TRAI must build an interface that is user-friendly and in turn, an effective mechanism.
- Spam identification: Active participation from the subscribers would ensure that spammers are rightly identified and are unable to make further calls.
- Digital literacy: The government must also invest in digital literacy, skilling citizen’s to navigate and use the tech better, ensuring they do not share their data indiscriminately and are informed about dangers such as financial fraud and spoofing.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: India's fertilizer subsidy burden
The government is expected to come out with a new fertilizer policy.
What is the news?
- A task force to examine the production and promotion of bio-fertilizer and organic fertilizers has already been set up under the NITI Aayog.
How much fertilizer does India consume?
- Total consumption of fertilizers between April and mid-December 2022 was 40.146 million metric tonnes (mmt), with production of 32.076 mmt and imports of 12.839 mmt.
- The gap between demand and production is met through timely imports.
How is fertilizers availability monitored?
- Some steps undertaken by the government to improve the availability of fertilizers include:
- Assessment of state-wise requirements every month;
- 100% neem coating of urea, which increases nutrient efficiency;
- Monitoring of crop yield and soil health; and
- Online monitoring of the movement of fertilizers through the integrated Fertilizer Monitoring System.
Impact of the current policy
- Heavy subsidies: This has prompted many farmers to use chemical fertilizers like urea, which leads to higher productivity, but affects soil fertility in the long run.
- Excessive and inefficient use of fertilizers: This leads to nutrient losses to the environment and could also result in drinking water contamination and impact human lives as a result of unsafe storage practices, as per a UN report.
- Emission causing: With the subsidy being released directly to companies, technology-inefficient companies are being protected causing carbon emission.
While attempts have been made to reform the fertilizer policy, they had to be rolled back after pressure from various quarters.
Trend in government expenditure
- Food subsidy: The government has spiked spending on food, fertilizer and fuel subsidy by nearly 70%.
- Increased expenditure: For 2023-24, the fertilizer ministry might seek budgetary support of ₹2.5 trillion subsidy – outgo for FY23 has already crossed ₹2 trillion.
- Increased import bill: Russia being a major exporter of liquefied natural gas -critical input for manufacturing of urea – has also led to higher prices.
Steps taken in 2022
- Implementation of DBT: The department of fertilizers disbursed subsidies for urea and nutrient-based subsidy, and implemented direct benefit transfer.
- One Nation One Fertilizers Scheme: It also implemented the ONOF scheme which aims to ensure timely supply of fertilizers.
- Model fertilizer retail outlets: The existing village, block/sub district/taluk and district level fertilizer retail outlets are being converted into model fertilizer retail outlets.
Way forward
- Promoting local fertilizers: Lower duty on imported phosphoric acid to raise the competitiveness of local fertilizer manufactures, and an incentive for promoting organic fertilizers, could be proposed.
- Bio-fertilizer and organic fertilizers: A task force on bio-fertilizer and organic fertilizers has already been set up under NITI Aayog.
- Curbing hefty subsidies: Considering the long-term interests of agriculture and the effects of using inorganic fertilizers, saving a huge amount on account of subsidy support is a step in the right direction.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Coal Index
Mains level: NA
The Ministry of Coal has launched the sixth round of commercial coal mines’ auction for 141 coal mines.
What is the news?
- As per the provisions of the tender document, the Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG) to be submitted for each successfully auctioned coal mine is to be revised annually based on the National Coal Index (NCI).
What is National Coal Index (NCI)?
- Ministry of Coal has started commercial auction of coal mines on revenue share basis.
- In order to arrive at the revenue share based on market prices of coal, one National Coal Index (NCI) is conceptualized.
- The NCI is a price index which reflects the change of price level of coal on a particular month relative to the fixed base year.
- The base year for the NCI is FY 2017-18.
- NCI is a price index combining the prices of coal from all the sales channels- Notified Prices, Auction Prices and Import Prices.
- It is released every month.
Components of NCI
- The concept and design of the Index as well as the Representative Prices have been developed by the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
- NCI is composed of a set of five sub-indices: three for Non-Coking Coal and two for Coking Coal.
- The three sub-indices for Non-Coking Coal are combined to arrive at the Index for Non-Coking Coal and the two sub-indices for Coking Coal are combined to arrive at the Index for Coking Coal.
- Thus, indices are separate for Non-coking and Coking Coal.
- As per the grade of coal pertaining to a mine, the appropriate sub-index is used to arrive at the revenue share.
Implementation of NCI
- The amount of revenue share per tonne of coal produced from auctioned blocks would be arrived at using the NCI by means of a defined formula.
- The Index is meant to encompass all transactions of raw coal in the Indian market.
- This includes coking and non-coking of various grades transacted in the regulated (power and fertilizer) and non-regulated sectors.
- Washed coal and coal products are not included.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Grameen Udyami Scheme
Mains level: Not Much
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship the felicitation program of 200 tribal women under the Grameen Udyami Scheme.
Grameen Udyami Scheme
- It was launched to augment skill training in tribal communities for their inclusive and sustainable growth.
- It is a unique multiskilling project, funded by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) that aims to train tribal students in select states.
- It is implemented under Sansadiya Parisankul Yojana.
- Under the program, 49 ST clusters in 15 states of India have been selected by 40 tribal MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
- Under their leadership, the scheme in respective clusters is being implemented.
- One development associate is appointed by the MPs in each cluster.
Stated objectives
- Increase in Rural/Local Economy
- Enhance employment opportunities
- Reduce forced migration due to lack of local opportunities
- Conservation of natural resources
Scope of the project
- The project is being implemented in six states – Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Gujarat.
Benefits
- Transportation, boarding & lodging during the learning period is provided to candidates
- The training under the project will be conducted in the job roles which are relevant to the local economy.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Brahmaputra and its tributaries
Mains level: Hydrodiplomacy over Brahmaputra River
India has planned to build a buffer reservoir in the proposed Arunachal hydropower project to counter China’s proposed 60,000 MW Medog hydropower project on the Brahmaputra River.
Brahmaputra hydrology: A tool of aggression for China
- China has continued to use the water of river Brahmaputra for its interest and has intentionally created hazardous conditions for downstream states like India and Bangladesh.
- Concerns over China’s proposed 60,000 MW hydropower in Medog, Tibet are influencing the design of a proposed hydropower project in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Siang district.
- Still only in the planning stage, a ‘pre-feasibility report’ on the 11,000 MW project, or more than five times the size of the largest such projects in India – has been submitted.
What is Medog super-dam Project?
- China is planning a mega dam in Tibet able to produce triple the electricity generated by the Three Gorges—the world’s largest power station.
- The structure will span the Brahmaputra River before the waterway leaves the Himalayas and flows into India.
- It is billed as able to produce 300 billion kilowatts of electricity each year and said to be largest dam in the world once completed.
India’s plan: To build buffer reservoir
- The design of the proposed project incorporates a “buffer storage” of 9 billion cubic metres (or about 9 billion tonnes of water) during monsoonal flow.
- This could act as a store of water worth a year’s flow that would normally be available from the Brahmaputra or buffer against sudden releases.
Threats posed by Medog Project
Chinese dams can hold large amounts of water, during times of droughts China could stop the flow of the river, jeopardizing the lives of millions of people in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Bangladesh.
- Reduced flow in the Brahmaputra: The 60,000 MW dam in Medog could reduce the natural flow of water from the Brahmaputra.
- Triggering artificial floods: Away from India during lean patches, it might be used to trigger “artificial floods” in the Brahmaputra basin.
- Degradation of the entire basin: Silt carried by the river would get blocked by dams leading to a fall in the quality of soil and eventual reduction in agricultural productivity.
- Seismic threats: Seismologists consider the Himalayas as most vulnerable to earthquakes and seismic activity.
- Ecological threats: The cumulative impact of these two megaprojects might aggravate ecological degradation, converting lotic ecosystems into lentic ones.
- Water security: Damming Brahmaputra would result in water security in an era of unprecedented shifting climate patterns.
- Catastrophic threat: Any damage to the mega dam, if constructed here, will cause dam breaching and consequent flood havoc in India and Bangladesh.
Why are such issues unaddressed?
- No treaty on water sharing: We do not have any bilateral or multilateral treaty or any other effective and formal instrument of understanding for collaborative management of the Brahmaputra River.
- Hostility over borders: Undemarcated borders are at the core of all hostilities between India and China.
India’s dilemma
- Flood control dichotomy: India’s hydropower projects, while potentially beneficial in controlling flooding from the Brahmaputra in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
- No deterrence to China: This might not necessarily serve as a strategic deterrent to China.
- Resentment to Bangladesh: A large dam in India may help control floods within India but might open fresh disputes over water sharing with Bangladesh downstream.
Way forward
- There must be collaborative management of our shared rivers.
- Hydro-diplomacy should form an important ingredient of Indian foreign policy, especially as India shares river basins with neighbors.
Brahmaputra River
- Origin → Chemayungdung Glacier (Kailash Range, Tibet)
- In Tibet, known as TSANG – PO
- In China, known as YARLUNG ZANBO
- Forms grand canyon in Tibet
- Turns southward near Namcha – Barwa
- Enters Arunachal Pradesh as Dihang River at Sadiya, emerging from the mountains
- Joined by Dibang river from the north & Lohit river from the south → Known as Brahamputra
- Turns at Dhubri to enter into Bangladesh
- After joining Teesta, known as Jamuna in BD
- Joins Ganga & Megna → Merges to BOB.
- Forms many river island of which Majuli is world 2nd largest one
- Major tributaries → Dihang, Lohit, Subansiri, Teesta, Meghna (Barack in Assam), Manas
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Agnipath Scheme, Agniveers
Mains level: Indian Army
The Agnipath scheme for recruitment is a “transformative policy” which will be a “game changer” in strengthening the armed forces, said the Prime Minister.
What is Agnipath Scheme?
- This will be the only form of recruitment of soldiers into the three defence services from now.
- Recruits under the scheme will be known as ‘Agniveers’.
- After completing the four-year service, they can apply for regular employment in the armed forces.
- They may be given priority over others for various jobs in other government departments.
- The move is expected to decrease the average age profile of armed forces personnel from the current 32 to 24-26 years over a period of time.
Working of the scheme
- The process of recruitment will commence in 90 days with a planned intake of 46,000 young men and women this year.
- Enrolment to all three services will be through a centralized online system, with special rallies and campus interviews at recognized technical institutes.
- Recruitment will be carried out on an “All India All Class” basis with the eligibility age ranging from 17.5 to 21, with medical and physical fitness standards in accordance with existing norms.
Payouts of the Agniveers
- The ‘Agniveers’ will receive an annual package of ₹4.76 lakh in the first year to ₹6.92 lakh in the fourth year, apart from risk and hardship and other allowances as applicable.
- Under the ‘Seva Nidhi’ package, they will receive about ₹11.71 lakh, including contribution and interest, on completion of service.
- The recruits will have to contribute 30% of their monthly emoluments to Seva Nidhi, with a matching contribution made by the government.
- There will be no entitlement to gratuity and pension benefits under the scheme.
- However, the ‘Agniveers’ will be provided a non-contributory life insurance cover of ₹48 lakh during their service.
Why are aspirants protesting?
- Contractualisation of armed forces: The foundation of this scheme is a four-year contract.
- Jobs for the majority: States such as Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan, are where the bulk of the Army recruitment takes place.
- Perks and benefits: Many of these people value job stability, which includes retirement benefits and pensions over competitive salaries.
- Uncertainty after end of commission: Most of them will be forced to leave the job within four years, which doesn’t fit into their hopes and aspirations.
- Casualization of Training: It reportedly takes two to three years to train a member of the army, but as a part of the Agnipath, soldiers will only be trained for six months.
- Threats to national security: Defence analysts have allegedly pointed out that the Russian soldiers who were trained for a limited amount of time before they went to war have performed disastrously.
- Conflicts of interest: Apprehensions have been voiced against how the new recruits will be adjusted in the existing system under which most of the Army units are region, caste or class-based.
Reasons behind aspirants’ frustration
- Unemployment: Analysts always cite the crunch of gazetted officers in the Armed forces and there has been no recruitment for the last two years.
- Pandemic impact: Many aspirants lost their chance to join the Armed forces as they are now overage.’
- Unanticipated reforms: In guise of a push for “major defence policy reform”, the scheme is a fuss.
- Coaching mafias: Coaching mafias have played a significant role in sparking and provoking protesters.
Need for the Scheme: Official explanation
- Budgetary efficiency: With the largest volunteer army in the world, paying an increased salary and pension bill, given rising incomes all around, has steadily eroded the capital side of the defence budget.
- Preferential treatment: For job-seekers, the government has already said they will get priority in the Central Armed Police Forces.
- Promotional avenues: One significant advantage of this scheme would be the much lower age profile of the service. It will increase the promotional avenues of the permanent cadre.
- Diverse career options: Once retired, aspirants will be free to pursue other careers, with several departments and governments.
- Selective skilling: Aspirants will get preference, educational credits, skill certificates, to help them rehabilitate in other fields.
- Financial assistance: Those wishing to be entrepreneurs will get a financial package and bank loans and those wishing to study further will be given 12 class equivalent certificate.
Way forward
- Longer contract term: Make the period of the contract for new recruits longer than four years. The present clarification fails to address this issue.
- Continuance of the commission: Relook the 25 per cent re-enlistment at the end of the contractual period. Ideally, it should be over 50 per cent retention for long-term posts.
- Policy commitment for reabsorption: For those leaving after their short service, do obtain a binding commitment from CAPFs, states’ police forces and other organisations that they are willing to absorb this trained military manpower.
- Gradual shift in recruitment policy: Continue with existing regular enrolment, in reduced numbers, and gradually shift to the Tour of Duty once it stabilizes after five to ten years.
Conclusion
- A nation should never compromise with the personnel who make up the fighting sinews of its armed forces.
- The best way to prevent such an impression is to look upon them not as a burden to the exchequer, but as rough diamonds, to be cut and polished to their maximum capabilities and then deployed in the defence of the nation.
- A diamond is forever, our future men and women in uniform too deserve to serve to their maximum for the betterment of the nation and their own lives.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UNSC 1267
Mains level: Global terrorist designations
The ISIL and Al Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council (UNSC) has placed Abdul Rehman Makki, a fundraiser and key planner of the Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), on its sanctions list.
Blacklisting Maki: Under UNSC 1267 list
- The UNSC resolution 1267 was adopted unanimously on 15 October 1999.
- It came to force in 1999, and strengthened after the September, 2001 attacks.
- It is now known as the Da’esh and Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee.
What is UNSC 1267 committee?
- It comprises all permanent and non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
- The 1267 list of terrorists is a global list, with a UNSC stamp.
- It is one of the most important and active UN subsidiary bodies working on efforts to combat terrorism, particularly in relation to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
- It discusses UN efforts to limit the movement of terrorists, especially those related to travel bans, the freezing of assets and arms embargoes for terrorism.
How is the blacklisting done?
(1) Submission of Proposal
- Any member state can submit a proposal for listing an individual, group, or entity.
- The proposal must include acts or activities indicating the proposed individual/group/entity had participated in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities linked to the said organizations.
(2) Actual decision
- Decisions on listing and de-listing are adopted by consensus.
- The proposal is sent to all the members, and if no member objects within five working days, the proposal is adopted.
- An “objection” means rejection for the proposal.
(3) Putting and resolving ‘Technical Holds’
- Any member of the Committee may also put a “technical hold” on the proposal and ask for more information from the proposing member state.
- During this time, other members may also place their own holds.
- The matter remains on the “pending” list of the Committee.
- Pending issues must be resolved in six months, but the member state that has placed the hold may ask for an additional three months.
- At the end of this period, if an objection is not placed, the matter is considered approved.
How China supports Terror in Pakistan?
- China has exposed its double standards on the issue of terrorism for consistently stopping the listing of Pakistan-based terrorists.
- This time, Beijing has argued that the blacklisting is in fact a “recognition” of Pakistan’s record of fighting terrorism.
Here is a timeline of how China disrupts the global efforts against terrorism:
- 2009: After the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, India moved an independent terror designation proposal against Masood Azhar but China blocked the move.
- 2016: After seven years, India proposes listing of Masood Azhar as a global terrorist and is supported by the US, the UK and France. China blocks the move again.
- 2017: The trio moves a third proposal only to be blocked by China again.
- 2019: After the attacks on the CRPF personnel in J-K’s Pulwama, India calls 25 envoys of different countries to highlight the role Islamabad plays in funding, promoting and strengthening global terrorism. India moves the fourth proposal demanding Masood Azhar’s listing. China lifted its technical hold.
- June 2022: China blocked a proposal by India and the US to list Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki as a ‘Global Terrorist’
- August 2022: China blocks India-US joint proposal to list Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) deputy chief Abdul Rauf Azhar as UNSC designated terrorist.
Why China shields Pak-based terrorists?
- Rewarding Pakistan: China rewards Pakistan to keep India engaged in regional battles and internal conflicts.
- Oppressing the Uighurs: The quid pro quo is that Pakistan does not utter a word against Uighur Muslim oppression by China in restive Xinjiang province.
Conclusion
- China’s actions expose its double speak and double standards when it comes to the international community’s shared battle against terrorism.
- This clearly depicts its care for its vassal state Pakistan.
Back2Basics: United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
- The UNSC is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security.
- Its powers include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action through Security Council resolutions.
- It is the only UN body with the authority to issue binding resolutions to member states.
- The Security Council consists of fifteen members. Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, and the United States—serve as the body’s five permanent members (P5).
- These permanent members can veto any substantive Security Council resolution, including those on the admission of new member states or candidates for Secretary-General.
- The Security Council also has 10 non-permanent members, elected on a regional basis to serve two-year terms. The body’s presidency rotates monthly among its members.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Unified Payment Interface (UPI)
Mains level: Digital banking in India
The National Payments Corp. of India (NPCI) has allowed Indians abroad to use fast payments network UPI, if their domestic bank accounts are linked to their foreign mobile numbers.
What is UPI?
- UPI is an instant real-time payment system developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) facilitating inter-bank transactions.
- The interface is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India and works by instantly transferring funds between two bank accounts on a mobile platform.
What exactly has NPCI allowed on UPI?
- NPCI issued a circular that paved the way for wider adoption of homegrown payments platform UPI.
- So far, only Indian phone numbers were allowed on UPI, leaving out non-resident bank accounts linked to their phone numbers abroad.
- In the first phase, phone numbers from 10 countries including Singapore, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, the US, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and the UK have been allowed to be used on UPI.
- NPCI said it could extend this to other nations as well.
How will it benefit Indians abroad?
- Once the systems are in place, non-resident Indians will be able to transact using UPI, irrespective of whether they are in India or abroad.
- To use UPI, non-residents need to have either a non-resident external (NRE) account or a non-resident ordinary (NRO) account in India.
- It would, of course, be more useful when account holders visit India, given the scale of UPI merchant infrastructure in India.
- While abroad, they can use UPI to transfer funds to families in India and use it on e-commerce portals that allow such payments.
What are the prerequisites for this facility?
- NPCI has asked banks to onboard only those accounts that meet the Foreign Exchange Management Act guidelines and instructions issued by the departments of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
- Apart, the remitter, as well as beneficiary banks, will have to ensure they comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and combating of financial terrorism (CFT) checks.
Does it help the plan to take UPI global?
- NPCI has been attempting to make UPI a global phenomenon and the idea to tap NRIs is a step towards that.
- 10 countries are just to begin with and the list will expand in future.
- NPCI has been trying to push homegrown payment systems in other countries through NPCI International Payments Ltd, a subsidiary it set up in 2020.
- It has already tied up with payment system operators in Nepal, UAE, France, UK and others to allow UPI usage there.
- There is also a plan to link UPI with Singapore’s Paynow.
How will it help the UPI ecosystem?
- UPI is almost synonymous with digital payments in India, clocking over ₹12.8 trillion worth of transactions in December.
- After a slow start in 2016, UPI payments have grown at a rapid pace. Given there are over 13.5 million NRIs, the availability of UPI is expected to raise transaction volumes.
- Industry experts said that just like resident Indians do not have to pay for UPI, it will also be available to NRIs at no extra cost.
- That said, it might be off to a slow start as the acceptance infrastructure abroad is still being developed.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Solitary Waves, Mars
Mains level: Not Much
In a first-of-its-kind discovery, a team of Indian scientists from the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG) reported the first evidence of the presence of solitary waves around Mars.
Mars
- Of the largest Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, being larger than only Mercury.
- In English, Mars carries the name of the Roman god of war and is often referred to as the “Red Planet”.
- The latter refers to the effect of the iron oxide prevalent on Mars’s surface, which gives it a reddish appearance distinctive among the astronomical bodies visible to the naked eye.
- Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, with surface features reminiscent of the impact craters of the Moon and the valleys, deserts and polar ice caps of Earth.
- The days and seasons are comparable to those of Earth, because the rotational period, as well as the tilt of the rotational axis relative to the ecliptic plane, is similar.
- Mars is the site of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano and highest known mountain on any planet in the Solar System, and of Valles Marineris, one canyons in the Solar System.
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What are Solitary Waves?
- Solitary waves are distinct electric field fluctuations (bipolar or monopolar) that follow constant amplitude-phase relations.
- Their shape and size are less affected during their propagation.
- Solitary waves are known to be responsible for the plasma energization and its transport in Earth’s magnetosphere.
Unveiling the undercover solitary waves
- Earth is a giant magnetic entity, wrapped in a magnetosphere generated by the motion of molten iron in its core.
- This magnetosphere casts a protective layer around our home planet, shielding us from the solar winds coughed towards us by the Sun.
- But unlike Earth, Mars lacks a robust intrinsic magnetic field, which effectively allows the high-speed solar wind to interact directly with the Martian atmosphere.
- This interaction suggests that even with a weak and flimsy magnetosphere, the frequent occurrences of solitary waves on Mars remain a possibility.
Why this is a significant feat for India?
- Despite several missions to Mars, their presence has never been detected — until now.
- However, Indian Scientists have successfully identified and reported the first-ever solitary waves detected on Mars.
- They arrived at this result by analyzing about 450 solitary wave pulses observed by the Langmuir Probe and Waves instrument on NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft.
Decoding the data
- Their analysis revealed distinct electric field fluctuations, which lasted for about 0.2-1.7 milliseconds.
- Such signals were predominant during dawn or between afternoon to dusk at an altitude of 1000-3500 km from Mars’ surface.
- Further investigation is needed to determine exactly why these waves are dominant during a fixed time of the day.
Significance of such waves on Mars
- These pulses are dominantly seen in the dawn and afternoon dusk sectors at an altitude of 1000–3500 km around Mars.
- Researchers are further exploring their role in the particle dynamics in the Martian magnetosphere and whether such waves play any role in the loss of atmospheric ions on Mars.
- The study of these waves is crucial as they directly control particle energization, plasma loss, transport, etc., through wave-particle interactions.
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