Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Uranium contamination, causes and effects
Mains level: Groundwater pollution
Context
- The most recent report on the state of groundwater released by the Central Groundwater Board. It revealed that the twelve Indian states have uranium levels beyond permissible limits in their groundwater. Uranium concentrations in the country’s shallow groundwater range from 0-532 parts per billion (ppb), according to the document titled Groundwater yearbook 2021-2022 released in January, 2023.
What is a Safe level of uranium in groundwater?
- The safe levels for uranium in groundwater in India are 30 ppb as prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
- The safe level of 30 µg/L is established to minimize the risk of these health effects. However, it should be noted that long-term exposure to even low levels of uranium can also cause health problems.
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Findings of the report
- No presence in Kerala: Uranium concentration is found to be within safe limits in 13 states and none of the samples collected from Kerala had its presence.
- Punjab worse affected: Punjab is the worst-affected state in terms of the percentage of wells found to have uranium concentration of more than 30 ppb, the safe level. Nearly 29 per cent, or about three in every 10 wells tested in Punjab, is contaminated with uranium. Uranium presence in Punjab’s groundwater is found to be 17.7 times more than the safe limit prescribed by WHO. The concentration of the element was also highest in the state, with 532 ppb.
- Haryana stands second: Haryana is the second state in terms of uranium prevalence in groundwater. The state also recorded the second-highest concentration of uranium in the country, with 518 ppb or 17.3 times the WHO-prescribed safe limit.
- Uttar Pradesh third largest in terms of uranium concentration: The state was the third-highest in terms of uranium concentration, with 532 ppb or 7.9 times more than the safe limit. For example, 9.2 per cent of the samples from Uttar Pradesh had a high concentration of uranium.
- Localised pockets of other states: Uranium concentration was found to be higher than the threshold level in localised pockets of seven other states Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Odisha, Telangana and Bihar.
Uranium: A toxic element
- Uranium is a nephrotoxic element, which means people dependent on groundwater containing the element are at a higher risk of impaired renal function and kidney disease.
- Exposure to uranium may also lead to other adverse health impacts, including bone toxicity and problems such as neurological effects, reproductive and developmental effects, and immune system effects.
- Ingestion of large amounts of uranium can lead to immediate health effects such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea. Inhalation of uranium dust or fumes can cause lung irritation and damage, including lung cancer.
Causes of contamination
- Geogenic plus anthropogenic: Geogenic processes are responsible for uranium contamination, but the overexploitation of groundwater can also be a reason for it.
- High concentration largely due to natural uranium content: High levels of uranium are largely due to natural uranium content in aquifer rocks, oxidation state and groundwater chemistry, noted researchers from Duke University.
- High bicarbonate levels: Extreme bicarbonate levels were also found at the sites with high uranium levels. Bicarbonates help to bring the uranium out of the source rocks and is a reason for the high occurrence of the element, said Rachel Coyte, the lead author of the study.
- Human-made causes too be behind this: Groundwater-table decline, nitrate pollution and over-exploitation of groundwater from irrigation further exacerbate uranium mobilisation, said the study.
- Overexploitation of groundwater: Overexploitation of groundwater resources is likely to be one of the reasons for uranium and other geogenic contaminants, including arsenic and fluoride, according to the BARC study published in 2021.
Reverse osmosis could be a probable solution
- Reverse osmosis (RO) is a way to purify water.
- It uses a special membrane to filter out impurities, such as minerals and other dissolved contaminants, including toxic elements such as uranium.
- The water is forced through the membrane by applying pressure, leaving behind the impurities and creating clean, purified water on the other side.
- The impurities are removed by the membrane and the clean water is collected.
- BARC has conducted studies on the removal of uranium from drinking water using a hybrid membrane technique.
- Field studies are also being carried out in a few districts of Punjab based on RO technique at a village level to provide potable water, stated the BARC researchers.
Conclusion
- Uranium contamination has been attributed to geogenic processes coupled with the overexploitation of groundwater in the country. This assessment of uranium contamination in groundwater across India highlights the need for an urgent response. Reverse osmosis (RO) is one of the latest membrane-based technologies used in water purification systems to remove uranium could be a solution.
Mains question
Q. Almost half of India’s states have uranium levels in their groundwater above permissible limits. Highlight the causes and effects of uranium contamination in groundwater.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Capital Expenditure
Mains level: Significance of Capex
A sharp 61.2% sequential rise in capital expenditure (capex) by the Central and State governments lifted fresh investment plans announced in the third quarter (Q3) of 2022-23 to ₹7.1 lakh crore, even though private sector investments dropped 41% from ₹6.31 lakh crore in Q2 to ₹3.71 lakh crore.
What is Capital Expenditure (CAPEX)?
- Capital expenditure refers to investments in upgrading existing or building new physical assets by the government or private businesses.
- As businesses expand, capex has a multiplier effect on the economy, creating demand and unleashing animal spirits.
Types of CAPEX
Many different types of assets can attribute long-term value to a company. Therefore, there are generalized types of purchases that may be considered CAPEX.
- Buildings may be used for office space, manufacturing of goods, storage of inventory, or other purposes.
- Land may be used for further development. Accounting treatment may different for land specifically held as a speculative long-term investment.
- Equipment and machinery may be used to manufacture goods and convert raw materials into final products for sale.
- Computers or servers may be used to support the operational aspects of a company including the logistics, reporting, and communication of operations. Software may also be treated as CapEx in certain circumstances.
- Vehicles may be used to transport goods, pick up clients, or used by staff for business purposes.
- Patents may hold long-term value should the right to own an idea come to fruition through product development.
Why need CAPEX?
- Asset creation: Capex is generally made to acquire fixed assets with a useful life of more than one accounting period.
- Infra upgrade: It may sometimes add value to an asset by incurring upgrading and maintenance expenditures, thereby increasing the shell life of an investment.
- Business sustainability: CAPEX increases the profit earning capacity of the business in the long term.
India’s Capital spending
- India’s budgets have seen an increase in allocations for the infrastructure segment, essentially roads and railways.
- In the last Budget, FM announced a big jump in the government’s planned capex.
- In 2022-23, the government will have a capex spend of ₹7.5 lakh crore (even more if we add grants-in-aid for capital assets including MGNREGA) — a spike of 27% over the estimates for the previous year (2021-22).
- Also, the government has ambitious plans to exponentially ramp up spending on expressways, logistics parks, metro systems and housing — much of this work will be sourced out to private contractors.
Challenges of Capital Expenditure
The following are the challenges faced due to CAPEX –
- Substantial funds: Normally, huge funds are required for processing a capital expenditure, and the availability of funds may be an issue. Therefore, organizations must wisely make capex decisions.
- Long term burden on exchequer: The amount of Capex is charged as an expense in more than one accounting period.
- Irreversible: Once a CAPEX is incurred, the decision cannot be changed easily. Reversing the capex decision may prove to be significantly costlier for any entity.
- Uncertainty: It becomes difficult to foresight expenses that may occur in the future. CAPEX involves huge costs and results that may be extended to the future. Hence, characterizing the exact decision regarding CAPEX is uncertain, which affects future expenses.
- Measurement Issue: The cost and benefits of CAPEX are challenging to identify and measure
- Temporal Spread: Decisions made regarding CAPEX are consistent over a long time, and investments it includes are called long-term investments. These long-term investments create problems in getting the exact discount rates and maintaining their equivalence in the coming period.
Why India focuses on CAPEX?
- Demand push: A thrust on capex eases supply-chain bottlenecks and revives demand.
- Job creation: So, while capex adds to the productive capacities of the economy, boosting long-term growth, it also spurs job creation and consumption.
Way forward
- Timely implementation: Emphasis must also be provided on timely implementation of projects within the earmarked outlay by strengthening monitoring, redressal mechanisms and processes for controlling project delays.
- Project management: The solution lies in optimising project management processes of all the key stakeholders, including implementation agencies, state governments, vendors and others.
- Ensuring quality control: This would also help in ensuring quality control, which, in turn, will result in capital assets providing benefits over a longer term following the multiplier effect.
- Revenue saving: The government should also aim to cut down on inefficient revenue expenditure and focus on creating a balanced and stable virtuous cycle, which can have positive knock-on effects over the long term.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Freedom of speech and reasonable restrictions
Mains level: Free speech vs. Hate speech
The Supreme Court has said the “buck ultimately stops with the government” to clamp down on hate speech and hate crimes, as they are offenses committed on society.
What is ‘Hate Speech’?
- There is no specific legal definition of ‘hate speech’.
- The Law Commission of India, in its 267th Report, says: “Hate speech generally is an incitement to hatred primarily against a group of persons defined in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief and the like …
- Thus, hate speech is any word written or spoken, signs, visible representations within the hearing or sight of a person with the intention to cause fear or alarm, or incitement to violence.”
- In general, hate speech is considered a limitation on free speech that seeks to prevent or bar speech that exposes a person or a group or section of society to hate, violence, ridicule or indignity.
Attributes of Hate Speech
Hate Speech has three important attributes:
- Hate speech can be conveyed through any form of expression, including images, cartoons, memes, objects, gestures and symbols and it can be disseminated offline or online.
- Hate speech is “discriminatory” (biased, bigoted or intolerant) or “pejorative” (prejudiced, contemptuous or demeaning) of an individual or group.
- Hate speech calls out real or perceived “identity factors” of an individual or a group, including: “religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender,” but also characteristics such as language, economic or social origin, disability, health status, or sexual orientation, among many others.
How is it treated in Indian law?
- Provisions in law criminalize speeches, writings, actions, signs and representations that foment violence and spread disharmony between communities and groups and these are understood to refer to ‘hate speech’.
- Sections 153A and 505 of the Indian Penal Code are generally taken to be the main penal provisions that deal with inflammatory speeches and expressions that seek to punish ‘hate speech’.
[I] Section 153A:
- Promotion of enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony’, is an offence punishable with three years’ imprisonment.
[II] Section 505:
- 505(1): Statements conducing to public mischief– The statement, publication, report or rumour that is penalized under Section 505(1) should be one that promotes mutiny by the armed forces, or causes such fear or alarm that people are induced to commit an offence against the state or public tranquillity. This attracts a jail term of up to three years.
- 505(2): It is an offence to make statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes.
- 505(3): Same offence will attract up to a five-year jail term if it takes place in a place of worship, or in any assembly engaged in religious worship or religious ceremonies.
Some Supreme Court Judgements
1.Rangila Rasool case
- Rangila Rasool was a tract brought out by a Hindu publisher — that had made disparaging remarks about the Prophet’s private life.
- Cases against the first pamphlet, filed under Section 153A, were dismissed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which examined the question whether targeting religious figures is different from targeting religions.
- This debate in interpretation prompted the colonial government to enact Section 295A with a wider scope to address these issues.
2. Ramji Lal Modi v State of Uttar Pradesh
- The constitutionality of Section 295A was challenged.
- The Supreme Court upheld the law on the grounds that it was brought in to preserve “public order”.
- Public order is an exemption to the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression and the right to religion recognised by the Constitution.
3. Ramlal Puri v State of Madhya Pradesh
- In 1973, the Supreme Court said the test to be applied is whether the speech in question offends the “ordinary man of common sense” and not the “hypersensitive man”.
- However, these determinations are made by the court and the distinction can often be vague and vary from one judge to the other.
4.Baragur Ramachandrappa v State of Karnataka:
- A 2007 decision of the Supreme Court, “a pragmatic approach” was invoked in interpreting Section 295A.
- The state government had issued a notification banning Dharmakaarana, a Kannada novel on the ground that it was hate speech, invoking a gamut of provisions including Section 295A.
Why curb hate speeches?
- Creates social divide: Individuals believe in stereotypes that are ingrained in their minds and these stereotypes lead them to believe that a class or group of persons are inferior to them and as such cannot have the same rights as them.
- Threat to peaceful co-existence: The stubbornness to stick to a particular ideology without caring for the right to co-exist peacefully adds further fuel to the fire of hate speech.
Issues in regulating hate speech
- Powers to State: Almost every regulation of speech, no matter how well-intentioned, increases the power of the state.
- Hate speeches are Political: The issue is fundamentally political and we should not pretend that fine legal distinctions will solve the issue.
- Legal complications: An over-reliance on legal instruments to solve fundamental social and political problems often backfires.
- Misuse of Laws: Lower conviction rates for these provisions indicate that the process where a police officer can arrest without a warrant is often the punishment.
- Violation of free speech: Critics have pointed out that these laws are intended for the state to step in and restore “public order” rather than protect free speech.
- Vague terms in the law: The broad, vague terms in the laws are often invoked in its misuse.
- Old-aged Laws: Section 295A lie in the communally charged atmosphere of North India in the 1920s.
Suggestions made by Law Commission
In its 267th report, the Law Commission of India proposed including the following two provisions:
- Section 153C covers crimes committed when someone threatens someone with remarks meant to incite fear, hatred, or violence based on someone’s race, caste, religion, sex, gender identity, or other characteristics.
- Section 505A should be included and have provisions that make inciting fear, alarm, or violence a crime.
Suggestions for Changes in IPC:
Viswanathan Committee 2019:
- It proposed inserting Sections 153 C (b) and Section 505 A in the IPC for incitement to commit an offence on grounds of religion, race, caste or community, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, place of birth, residence, language, disability or tribe.
- It proposed punishment of up to two years along with Rs. 5,000 fine.
Bezbaruah Committee 2014:
- It proposed amendment to Section 153 C IPC (promoting or attempting to promote acts prejudicial to human dignity), punishable by five years and fine or both and Section 509 A IPC (word, gesture or act intended to insult member of a particular race), punishable by three years or fine or both.
Way forward
- Subjects like hate speeches become a complex issue to deal with, in a country like India which is very diverse, as it was very difficult to differentiate between free and hate speech.
- There are many factors that should be considered while restraining speeches like strong opinions, offensive comments towards certain communities, the effect on values like dignity, liberty and equality.
- We all have to work together and communicate efficiently for our country to be a healthy place to live in.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Merger of Sikkim
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Supreme Court in a judgment, held that exclusion of Sikkimese women who marry non-Sikkimese men after April 1, 2008 from exemptions under the Income Tax Act is unconstitutional and amounts to gender discrimination.
What is the news?
- The top court’s verdict came on appeal filed by the Association of Old Settlers of Sikkim and others seeking striking down of Section 10(26AAA) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
- More particularly, the definition of “Sikkimese” in Section 10 (26AAA) to the extent it excludes Indians who have settled in Sikkim prior to the merger of Sikkim with India on April 26, 1975.
The story of Sikkim
- Sikkim witnessed 333 years monarchical rule of Namgyal dynasty under whose reign there many invasions, foreign interference, accession and annexation.
- On 28th March, 1861 Sikkim became a formal protectorate of the British Government and on 16th May, 1975 it became the 22nd state of the Indian Union.
- In erstwhile Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim, no legal rights were conferred to Sikkimese women.
- However, after Sikkim’s merger with India such Regulations relating to Sikkim citizenship have become futile and non-operational.
How women rights in Sikkim are different from that of mainstream India?
The status of rights conferred to Sikkimese women is different from that of women in India. Certain conditionality were imposed upon their property or inheritance right such as the following:
- Immovable property inherited, gifted or purchased by women married to non-locals cannot be transferred and registered in their names.
- Immovable property of a Sikkimese woman cannot be transferred or registered to her legal heirs if her husband is non-Sikkimese.
- Mandatory requirement for Sikkimese women to submit an “unmarried certificate in all government procedures”.
- Identity of women is to be based on the identity of not one, but two men. A Sikkimese woman will be considered Sikkimese only if both, her father and husband are also Sikkimese
Issues with such regulations
- Unconstitutional: The discrimination is based on gender, which is wholly violative of Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution.
- Gendered bias: It is to be noted that there is no disqualification for a Sikkim man, who marries a non-Sikkimese after April 1, 2008.
- Associating identity to marriage: A woman is not a chattel and has an identity of her own, and the mere factum of being married ought not to take away that identity,” Justice Shah wrote.
- No legal basis: Sikkim has become a part of India and all Sikkim Subjects and all Sikkimese domiciled in the territory of Sikkim have become Indian citizens.
Note: Article 14 relates to equality before law, while Article 15 forbids discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, and Article 21 provides for right to life and personal liberty.
Way ahead
- Legal reforms: The centre shall make an amendment to Explanation to Section 10 (26AAA) of IT Act, 1961, so as to suitably include a clause to extend the exemption from payment of income tax to all Indian citizens domiciled in Sikkim on or before April 26, 1975.
- Ensure parity: The reason for such a direction is to save the explanation from unconstitutionality and to ensure parity in the facts and circumstances of the case.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ganga Vilas
Mains level: River tourism
Prime Minister has flagged off the world’s longest river cruise – MV Ganga Vilas – and inaugurated the tent city at Varanasi.
About Ganga Vilas
- MV Ganga Vilas is the first indigenously made cruise vessel to be made in India.
- The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is the coordinator of this ship tourism project.
- The cruise has three decks, 18 suites on board with a capacity of 36 tourists, with all the modern amenities.
- It will cover a distance of 3,200 km in roughly 51 days reaching Assam’s Dibrugarh through Bangladesh.
Destinations covered
- Set to sail from Varanasi, the cruise ship, MV Ganga Vilas, will cover 3,200 km over 51 days, crossing 27 river systems and several states before ending its journey at Dibrugarh.
- The voyage is packed with visits to 50 tourist spots, including World Heritage spots, national parks, river ghats, and major cities like Patna in Bihar, Sahibganj in Jharkhand, Kolkata in West Bengal, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Guwahati in Assam.
- It will make pit-stops to cover the famous Ganga Arti in Varanasi, the Buddhist site of Sarnath; and even Majuli, the largest river island in Assam.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Digital technologies in Agriculture, value chain and sustainability challenge
Context
- The world’s population will grow to 10 billion by 2050; agricultural land has halved in the last 50 years; 20-40% of crop yield is lost to pests and disease and another 10-25% is lost post-harvest. Take into account geo-political factors like the Ukraine war in account, and food security is a big problem facing mankind. In all this, digital technologies may be the answer to ills in agriculture; vitally, they can help achieve sustainability if we overcome challenges.
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Agriculture’s digital drive
- Use of modern technology: Farming is witnessing the use of modern technology for higher productivity and profitability. Today, farmers use digital tools for farm management, financial services, market services, information and much else.
- Smart agriculture use of AI and IOT: ‘Smart agriculture’ uses software for remote sensing, apart from big data, the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI). IoT in agriculture comprises sensors, drones and computer imaging integrated with analytical tools to generate actionable insights.
- Use of data and ML: Predictive analytics allows quick decision-making based on information drawn from data mining, data modelling and machine learning (ML).
- Digital adoption of Supply chain: Digital adoption can add value across the entire farm-to-fork (F2F) supply chain, covering the journey from planting to harvesting (of fruits, vegetables, grains, etc) till it arrives on one’s plate. This journey’s stakeholders include farm suppliers, farmers, food processors, traders, retailers and finally end consumers.
- Precision farming: Precision farming helps raise crop yields while minimizing the use of resources. It measures and analyses the needs of different fields and crops to aid waste management, reduce production costs, make optimal use of water and minimize environmental impacts.
The challenges of digital adoption in the Farm to Fork (F2F) supply chain
- Risks concentrated on farmer: For example, all risk is concentrated on the farmer, who is encumbered by the vagaries of weather, selection of profitable products, poor access to crop insurance, etc. We need to provide more value to the farmer in compensation for that burden.
- Trust deficit in the overall functioning of the F2F model: Over time, decision-making in food production, crop marketing, transport, etc, has got heavily concentrated in the hands of large agricultural entities or producers. While production has risen, the democratization of decision-making has suffered.
- Digital inequalities: The sector’s digital transformation is characterized by digital inequalities between large and small farmers, or between high- and low-income countries.
- Challenges in the supplier ecosystem: A fertilizer or agriculture equipment manufacturer may want to help farmers but is handicapped in creating the right ecosystem to provide a holistic solution.
- Capital expenditure a major challenge: Subsistence farmers cannot afford capital expenditure, and other farmers have financial constraints too. This is a major challenge at the farm level.
What binds these supply chain components together?
- Sustainability: which refers to practices that ensure long-term increased farm production and higher income while protecting the environment. Farmers apply inputs to only those parts of the field that need it, improving product quality, reducing input cost, increasing productivity and ensuring environmental sustainability.
- Evolving digital ecosystem: India’s evolving digital ecosystem and high-speed internet are making it possible for agritech startups to utilize AI/ML models.
- Precision techniques: Companies using precision techniques are helping farmers increase yields substantially.
- No middlemen: Due to a rise in online agritech platforms, farmers can now sell their products directly without any middlemen involved and thereby increase their incomes. This also helps create trust and transparency between farmers and consumers.
- Digital access to the market: In India, rising internet use and smartphone penetration has changed the face of agriculture in significant ways already, especially how small and medium farmers operate. It is helping with direct access to markets, thus allowing farmers to retain a higher proportion of the value created.
- While there is large scope for using digital technologies for agriculture in India, various problems must be overcome.
- As of now, the use of farming technology among India’s farmers is low.
- Productivity is also low, given small landholdings and significant overcrowding, which also contributes to our low level of mechanization.
- The absence of agricultural marketing makes farmers depend on local traders and middlemen to sell their farm produce, which is sold at very low prices.
Government Initiatives towards Digital Agriculture:
- AgriStack: The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has planned to create ‘AgriStack’ – a collection of technology-based interventions in agriculture. It will create a unified platform for farmers to provide them end-to-end services across the agriculture food value chain.
- Digital Agriculture Mission: This has been initiated for 2021 -2025 by the government for projects based on new technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain, remote sensing and GIS technology, use of drones and robots, etc.
- Unified Farmer Service Platform (UFSP): UFSP is a combination of Core Infrastructure, Data, Applications, and Tools that enable seamless interoperability of various public and private IT systems in the agriculture ecosystem across the country. UFSP is envisaged to play the following role:
- Act as a central agency in the Agri ecosystem (like UPI in the e Payments)
- Enables Registration of the Service Providers (public and private) and the Farmer Services.
- Enforces various rules and validations required during the service delivery process.
- Acts as a Repository of all the applicable standards, API’s (Application Programming Interface) and formats.
- Act as a medium of data exchange amongst various schemes and services to enable comprehensive delivery of services to the farmer.
- National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture (NeGP-A): A Centrally Sponsored Scheme, it was initially launched in 2010-11 in 7 pilot States, which aims to achieve rapid development in India through the use of ICT for timely access to agriculture-related information to the farmers.
- In 2014-15, the scheme was further extended for all the remaining States and 2 UTs.
- Other Digital Initiatives: Kisan Call Centres, Kisan Suvidha App, Agri Market App, Soil Health Card (SHC) Portal, etc.
Way forward
- The digital revolution is touching every sphere of life and hence it is high time to bring agriculture in its ambit.
- The MoUs to rope in the private sector can help in
- quicker modernisation of Farms,
- easier access to various schemes and
- subject matter knowledge.
- Such practices must be studied in depth via pilot projects and extended to whole India if found successful.
| Other Schemes for Farmers
National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture (NeGPA):
- It was initially launched in seven selected States in the last quarter of 2010-11.
- This Scheme has subsequently been extended to the 2nd Phase to cover all the States and 2 UTs from 2014-15.
- Aim:
- To achieve rapid development in India through use of Information & Communication Technology (ICT).
- It will provide timely access to agriculture related information for the farmers.
- The possible components for modern management of agriculture are
- Remote Sensing
- Geographical Information System
- Data Analytics
- Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning and
- Internet of Things.
- Under this initiative, one Stop Window-Farmers Portal (www.farmer.gov.in) has been developed for dissemination of information like.
- seeds variety,
- Storage Godown,
- Pests and plant diseases,
- Best Agricultural Practices,
- Watershed,
- Mandi details etc.
- SMS/mKisan Portal (www.mkisan.gov.in) has also been developed.
- It will send advisories on various crop related matters to the registered farmers through SMSs.
- In mkisan. more than 5 crores farmers are registered for receiving crop advisories through SMS.
- Various mobile applications including KisanSuvidha have also been developed.
- They facilitate dissemination of information to farmers on the critical parameters viz.,
- Weather, Market Prices,
- Plant Protection,
- Agro-advisory,
- Extreme Weather Alerts,
- Input Dealers ( of Seed, Pesticide, Fertilizer, Farm Machinery),
- Soil Health Card,
- Cold Storage & Godowns,
- Veterinary Centre & Diagnostic labs,
- Crop Insurance Premium Calculator
- This app launched in 2016, has more than 13 lakh downloads.
Strengthening/Promoting Agricultural Information System (AGRISNET):
- It is the scheme for strengthening the IT infrastructure of the Department and its offices.
- Fund allocated under the scheme is also utilized for making payment to the vendor for sending SMS through mkisan portal.
|
Source: PIB
Conclusion
- Digital technology in agriculture is designed to support innovation and sustainable farm practices. To ensure its success, all changes must be holistic in their benefits.
Mains question
Q. Digital technologies are highly changing the face of agriculture and thereby farm to fork (F2F) supply chain. Discuss and also highlight the challenges in F2F supply chain.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: India-Egypt bilateral ties
Context
- The decision to invite President Abdel Fattah al Sisi of Egypt as the Chief Guest on Republic Day is an important gesture and should go a long way in imparting fresh momentum to India’s ties with the largest country in the Arab world.
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What makes Egypt a pivotal player?
- With a population of almost 110 million, a location that straddles Africa and Asia, a standing army that is the largest in the region, a capital that hosts the League of Arab States and a diplomatic presence that punches above its weight in global affairs, Egypt is a pivotal player.
- Close relationship immediately after Independence: It is a country with which India enjoyed an exceptionally close relationship in the first couple of decades after our independence.
- Shipping route: The Sumed pipeline runs from Ain Sukhna on the Red Sea coast to Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean coast in Egypt. It is an important sea route.
- Shared vision of NAM: The personal equation between PM Nehru and President Nasser was legendary and the two also became the stalwarts of the non-aligned movement during the Cold War of the 1960s.
- Joint fighter project: At the political level, the two countries were close enough for India to send clandestine arms shipments to Egypt during the Suez crisis in 1956 and contemplate nuclear cooperation and a joint fighter project in the 1960s.
- Indian literature in Egypt: It was a time when Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore were household names and their works were translated into Arabic by leading figures of Arab literature.
A drift for almost 30 years
- The two countries drifted apart Particularly during President Hosni Mubarak’s long innings from 1981 to 2011.
- According to diplomatic folklore, an apparently minor protocol gaffe over seating arrangements during the New Delhi NAM summit in 1983 was seen as a personal affront and it took all of 25 years before Mubarak could be persuaded to return to India in November 2008.
Growing ties and willingness to work together
- Egypt showed its intent to work together: President Sisi came into power in 2014 and Egypt again showed its intent, first through his participation in the India-Africa Forum Summit in Delhi in 2015 and again through a state visit in 2016.
- Back-to-back visits by India and emphasis on defence cooperation: Defence cooperation is clearly one of the themes and high-level exchanges over the last two years led to Desert Warrior, the first-ever joint tactical exercise by the air force of the two countries, with IAF sending five Mirage 2000 fighters and a refuelling aircraft to El Berigat Airbase in Egypt.
- Egyptian interest in India’s Tejas and Dhruv: The Egyptians have also shown some interest in India’s Tejas fighter jets and Dhruv light attack helicopters, although this is still at a fairly preliminary stage.
- Cooperation to counter hostilities: Equally important is the behind-the-scenes support provided by them in countering hostile moves by Pakistan at forums like the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and by refraining from making any adverse comment during the Nupur Sharma affair.
- Mutual goodwill: Both countries also demonstrated mutual goodwill by helping each other at crucial times over the last two years.
- Remdesivir supplied by Egypt to India: When India was hit hard by the second wave of COVID-19, Egypt responded by dispatching three plane loads of medical supplies and providing 300,000 doses of Remdesivir in May 2021.
- India reciprocated by supplying wheat: India reciprocated a year later when Egypt, the world’s largest importer of wheat, was facing a dire situation following the abrupt halt in wheat shipments from Ukraine. The Indian response also paved the way for Egypt to visit India’s wheat growing areas and register India for regular wheat exports to the country.
- Bilateral trade is well below the potential but it is growing: Bolstered by these tailwinds, bilateral trade has grown by almost 75 percent last year to touch US$ 7 billion, although this is well below the potential, given the size of the two economies. But it is Egypt’s emerging investment scenario that offers a more interesting opportunity.
Current status of Egypt’s economy and India’s investment
- Egypt’s economy is struggling: Growth in the non-oil sector has been anaemic, foreign exchange reserves have dwindled and the Egyptian pound has been in free fall, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) administering a bitter dose of medicine to fix some of the problems.
- Economic and administrative reforms: After several abortive starts and forced by the gravity of the economic crisis, the Egyptian government finally seems to be getting serious about implementing both economic and administrative reforms
- Ease of doing business is welcomed by India: Indian companies have invested in Egypt and by and large, they have done well. Indian companies are positive in their feedback, with some saying quite candidly that after years of apathy, they are finally being heard and action is being taken to make ease of doing business a reality.
- Plan to develop Suez Canal Economic zone into global manufacturing hub: The ambitious plans to develop the Suez Canal Economic Zone into a global manufacturing hub are now gathering critical mass. Gurgaon-based ReNew Power seems to be the first off the blocks from India and has signed an agreement to set up a Green Hydrogen facility. It is clearly driven by attractive tax incentives, cheap and abundant land, 365 days of sun to produce the solar energy needed for the electrolysers, and the strategic location that makes it easy to access the European markets.
Way ahead to further improve the ties
- For India, a deeper economic engagement with Egypt therefore acquires an additional strategic imperative.
- While Egypt clearly needs to do more to market itself as an investment destination in India, it is also important for industry bodies like CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM to take a more pro-active approach.
- ReNew Power has shown the way but it will need a joint government-industry initiative to acquire the scale needed to make an impact.
Conclusion
- For now, there are clear indications that India under Prime Minister Modi and Egypt under President Sisi may finally be moving towards achieving some of the potential in bilateral ties that has remained unfulfilled for the last four decades.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 141
Mains level: Doctrine of Precedence
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar questioned the landmark 1973 Kesavananda Bharati case verdict that gave the basic structure doctrine, saying it set a bad precedent and if any authority questions Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution, it would be difficult to say ‘we are a democratic nation’.
What did the SC say?
- Vice-President’s public criticism of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) judgment may be seen as comments by a high constitutional authority against “the law of the land” (Art. 141).
- That is, as long as the NJAC judgment, which upholds the collegium system of judicial appointments, exists, the court is bound to comply with the verdict.
- The Parliament is free to bring a new law on judicial appointments, possibly through a constitutional amendment, but that too would be subject to judicial review.
What is Article 141?
- Article 141 provides that the law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding on all courts within the territory of India.
- The law declared has to be construed as a principle of law that emanates from a judgment, or an interpretation of law or judgment by the Supreme Court, upon which, the case is decided.
- This article forms the basis of Doctrine of Precedent in India.
What has the VP accused the judiciary of?
- Dilution of Parliamentary Sovereignty: The Vice-President had remarked that judicial review, as was done in the case of the NJAC law, diluted parliamentary sovereignty. He had used terms like “one-upmanship”.
- Curb on Legislature: The Vice-President had said he did not “subscribe” to the landmark Kesavananda Bharati judgment of 1973 which limited the Parliament’s power under Article 368 to amend the Constitution.
- Disregard to the mandate of people: Dhankhar said no institution can wield power or authority to neutralise the mandate of people.
Notes for Aspirants
A classic observation in this regard was made by Chief Justice Patanjali Shastri in State of Madras versus V.G. Row (1952). Justice Shastri’s words were reproduced by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar in his lead opinion for the Constitution Bench in the NJAC case in October 2015.
(1) Actual nature of Judicial Review
- Justice Shastri said judicial review was undertaken by the courts “not out of any desire to tilt at legislative authority in a crusader’s spirit, but in discharge of a duty plainly laid down upon them by the Constitution”.
- The Kesavananda Bharati verdict (1973) had made it clear that judicial review is not a means to usurp parliamentary sovereignty.
- It is a “system of checks and balances” to ensure constitutional functionaries do not exceed their limits.
(2) Limitations to Article 368
- Article 368 postulates only a ‘procedure’ for amendment of the Constitution.
- The same could not be treated as a ‘power’ vested in the Parliament to amend the Constitution so as to alter the ‘core’ of the Constitution, which has also been described as the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution.
Back2Basics: Doctrine of Precedent
- Any judicial system’s structure places a high priority on the notion of precedent.
- It suggests that a judgement made by a court at the top of the judicial food chain binds courts below it.
- According to Article 141 of the Indian Constitution, all lower courts must abide by the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the law.
- Similar to this, a State’s High Court’s decision is binding on all Lower Courts within that state, and a division bench of a State High Court’s ruling is binding on the Justices sitting singly in that High court.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Religious and linguistic minorities
Mains level: Not Much
The Delhi government has suggested that the Centre can grant “migrated minority” status to Hindus who have moved to the national capital from places like Jammu and Kashmir or Ladakh where they are a religious minority.
What is the news?
- The suggestion by the Delhi government is part of a compilation of views collected by the Centre from 24 States.
- It studies whether religious and linguistic minority communities should be identified and notified by the Union or the respective States.
- It is part of an affidavit submitted by the Centre in the Supreme Court.
Who are the Minorities?
- Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jain and Zorastrians (Parsis) have been notified as minority communities under Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
- As per the Census 2011, the percentage of minorities in the country is about 19.3% of the total population of the country.
- The population of Muslims are 14.2%; Christians 2.3%; Sikhs 1.7%, Buddhists 0.7%, Jain 0.4% and Parsis 0.006%.
- Minority Concentration Districts (MCD), Minority Concentration Blocks and Minority Concentration Towns, have been identified on the basis of both population data and backwardness parameters of Census 2001 of these areas.
Defining Minorities
- The Constitution recognizes Religious minorities in India and Linguistic minorities in India through Article 29 and Article 30.
- But Minority is not defined in the Constitution.
- Currently, the Linguistic minorities in India are identified on a state-wise basis thus determined by the state government whereas Religious minorities in India are determined by the Central Government.
- The Parliament has the legislative powers and the Centre has the executive competence to notify a community as a minority under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act of 1992.
Article 29: It provides that any section of the citizens residing in any part of India having a distinct language, script, or culture of its own, shall have the rights of minorities in India to conserve the same. Article 29 is applied to both minorities (religious minorities in India and Linguistic minorities in India) and also the majority. It also includes – rights of minorities in India to agitate for the protection of language.
Article 30: All minorities shall have the rights of minorities in India to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. Article 30 recognises only Religious minorities in India and Linguistic minorities in India (not the majority). It includes the rights of minorities in India to impart education to their children in their own language.
Article 350-B: Originally, the Constitution of India did not make any provision with respect to the Special Officer for Linguistic minorities in India. However, the 7th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1956 inserted Article 350-B in the Constitution. It provides for a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities appointed by the President of India. It would be the duty of the Special Officer to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for linguistic minorities under the Constitution.
Various states on Minorities
- Maharashtra has notified ‘Jews’ as a minority community within the State.
- Again, Karnataka notified Urdu, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, Tulu, Lambadi, Hindi, Konkani and Gujarati as minority languages within the State.
Why in news?
- The Centre was responding to a petition filed stating that the followers of Judaism, Baha’ism and Hinduism — who are the real minorities in Ladakh, Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Kashmir, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab and Manipur.
- They however cannot establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
- The Centre said the allegation was “not correct”.
- The government’s affidavit explained that Parliament and State legislatures have concurrent powers to enact laws to provide for the protection of minorities and their interests.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Basmati Rice
Mains level: Not Much
In a bid to promote the business around basmati rice, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) notified standards for basmati rice. They will be enforced from August 1, 2023.
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
- The FSSAI is an autonomous body established under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India.
- It has been established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which is a consolidating statute related to food safety and regulation in India.
- It is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety.
- It is headed by a non-executive Chairperson, appointed by the Central Government, either holding or has held the position of not below the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.
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Basmati Rice
- Basmati, pronounced is a variety of long, slender-grained aromatic rice which is traditionally grown in India, Pakistan, and Nepal.
- As of 2019, India accounted for 65% of the international trade in basmati rice, while Pakistan accounted for the remaining 35%.
- Many countries use domestically grown basmati rice crops; however, basmati is geographically exclusive to certain districts of India and Pakistan.
- India accounts for over 70% of the world’s basmati rice production.
- The areas which have a geographical indication are in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Western Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
What are the standards set out by FSSAI?
- Fragrance: Basmati has the characteristic fragrance identified with this variety and is free from artificial fragrances and colouring.
- Grain size: The authority has also set standards on parameters such as average size of grains and their elongation ratio after cooking.
- Vital contents: It has set the maximum limits for moisture, amylose content, uric acid, damaged grains and presence of non-basmati rice.
- Varieties included: The standards are applicable to brown basmati rice, milled basmati rice, parboiled brown basmati rice and milled parboiled basmati rice.
Economics of Basmati
- Basmati rice is exported out of India and had an annual forex earning of Rs 25,053 crore during 2021-22.
- India accounts for two-thirds of the global supply of basmati rice.
Significance of the move
- FSSAI hopes that the standards would protect consumer interest and ensure the quality of basmati rice.
- In 2020, India’s application for a geographical indication tag recognised in the European Union market was put on hold after Pakistan opposed the move.
- Before this, in 1997, Texas-based Company RiceTec developed American basmati varieties and patented them.
- These were introduced in the international market as ‘Kasmati’ and ‘Texmati’.
- However, the patent was contested in the year 2000 by the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India’s premier science and industry organisation, saying the term ‘basmati’ could be used only for rice grown in India and Pakistan.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Local Bubble
Mains level: Not Much
Researchers have generated a 3D magnetic map of the giant cosmic cavity called Local Bubble that surrounds the solar system could reveal the universe’s secrets, including questions about the origins of stars.
What is the Local Bubble?
- The Local Bubble is a 1,000-light-year-wide cavity or a super-bubble.
- It is a relative cavity in the interstellar medium (ISM) of the Orion Arm in the Milky Way.
- Local Bubble is thought to have originated from supernovae roughly 14 million years ago. Supernova is a cosmic explosion occurring when stars meet their end.
- Space is full of these super-bubbles that trigger the formation of new stars and planets and influence the overall shapes of galaxies.
How are they formed?
- Super-bubbles are comparable to holes in Swiss cheese. Supernova explosions blow holes in the cheese. New stars form around these holes.
- However, mechanisms powering the formation and expansion of the Local Bubble are not well-understood.
- Further, there is little information on how magnetic fields likely impact the bubble and local star formation.
- Max Planck has provided information on the magnetic alignment of cosmic dust. This alignment can indicate the orientation of the magnetic field acting on the dust particles.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Gangasagar Festival
Mains level: Not Much
Lakhs of pilgrims are descending on Sagar Island in the southernmost tip of West Bengal for the annual Gangasagar Mela, being held between January 12 and 14, to celebrate Makar Sankranti.
What is Gangasagar Mela?
- Every year during Gangasagar mela, devotees from all over the country gather at the confluence of the Ganga and the Bay of Bengal to take a sacred dip during Makar Sankranti (mid-January).
- The mela is said to be India’s second largest pilgrimage gathering after the Kumbh Mela.
- Gangasagar, the largest and the oldest living tradition in Bengal, has been mentioned in Indian epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, putting its existence as early as 400 BCE.
- Legends suggest that the first Kapil Muni’s temple was constructed by Queen Satyabhama in 430 AD, and the present idol was established by Swami Ramanand in 1437, marking the beginning of a pilgrimage that remains timeless till today.
About Sagar Island
- Sagar Island is an island in the Ganges delta, lying on the Continental Shelf of Bay of Bengal about 100 km (54 nautical miles) south of Kolkata.
- This island forms the Sagar CD Block in the Kakdwip subdivision of South 24 Parganas district in the Indian State of West Bengal.
- Although Sagar Island is a part of the Sundarbans, it does not have any tiger habitation or mangrove forests or small river tributaries as is characteristic of the overall Sundarban delta.
- This island is a place of Hindu pilgrimage.
- Every year on the day of Makar Sankranti (14 January), hundreds of thousands of Hindus gather to take a holy dip at the confluence of river Ganges and Bay of Bengal and offer prayers (puja) in the Kapil Muni Temple.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Haj Pilgrimage
Mains level: Promoting religious tourism
The Union Minister for Minority Affairs has done away with the discretionary Haj quota for pilgrims, in keeping with Prime Minister’s resolve to end VIP culture in the country.
About Haj Pilgrimage
- The holy Haj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims.
- It is considered to be a mandatory religious duty for all adult Muslims physically and financially capable of doing so.
- The rites of pilgrimage are performed over five to six days, in Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar.
How is it managed?
- For the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the pilgrimage poses a massive logistical challenge.
- Housing, feeding and facilitating safe pilgrimages for millions of pilgrims who descend upon Mecca from across the world during a brief period of time is difficult, to say the least.
- Thus, Saudi Arabia allots country-wise quotas which determine the total number of pilgrims who can make a journey from a particular country.
- These quotas are broadly allotted on the basis of the number of Muslims a country houses. However, the quotas are also major diplomatic issues.
- Every year, countries lobby Saudi Arabia for more slots. After a Covid-19-related lull, the pilgrimage will resume at its full scale in 2023.
How India manages this?
- India signed the Haj 2023 bilateral agreement with Saudi Arabia.
- According to the agreement, a total of 1,75,025 Indian Haj pilgrims will be able to perform Haj, reportedly the highest in history.
- This quota allotted to India is then further distributed by the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Haj Committee of India (HCoI) to various stakeholders.
- According to the 2018-22 policy document, 70 per cent of India’s total quota goes to the HCoI and 30 per cent goes to private operators.
Distribution of Quotas
- Out of the total number of slots with the HCoI, 500 are held under the Government discretionary quota whereas the rest are distributed to different states on the basis of their Muslim population.
- A draw of lots is conducted in each state to determine who makes the journey in case the number of applicants exceed the number of slots available.
What are the haj discretionary quotas?
- The “Government discretionary quota” is further divided in two, 200 seats are with the Haj Committee itself and 300 are with people holding important offices at the Centre. These include,
- 100 with the President
- 75 with the Prime Minister
- 75 with the Vice President
- 50 with the Minister of Minority Affairs
- As per the old policy, these seats could be allocated to individuals who applied for the pilgrimage through normal means but were unsuccessful in getting a slot for the pilgrimage.
- This quota has now been abolished with these seats being added back to the general pool.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Marine Plastic pollution
Mains level: Marine Plastic pollution, reasons and initiatives by Government
Context
- India generates 55 million tonnes of municipal waste, of which only 37 per cent is treated, according to the Central Pollution Control Board. Only 60 per cent of the total collected plastic waste is recycled, while the fate of the remaining 40 per cent is not accounted.
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Geographical location and trade of India
- Huge coastline: India has a coastline spanning 7,517 kilometres. It is spread across eight states and borders a 2.02 million square kilometre of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
- Large coastal population: India’s eight coastal states house a population of 420 million. Of this, about 330 million live on or within 150 km of a coast. Three in four metro cities of the country are located on the coast. Coastal districts are home to nearly 14.2 per cent of the country’s total population.
- High trade waters and oceans: Around 95 per cent of India’s trade by volume and 68 per cent by value is executed through waterways.
- Rapid urbanization and changing lifestyle: Growing population, rapid urbanisation, shifting consumption pattern and changing lifestyles have resulted in the mismanagement of plastic waste, leading to the accumulation of municipal solid waste.
- Most plastic through land-based source: Most of these items, especially plastic items, contribute significantly to the growing burden of marine debris. Land-based sources account for most of the plastic in the water.
- Unfiltered waste carried by rivers: Unaccounted waste from urban agglomerations is carried by river systems to oceans for final dumping.
- High percentage of dumping of garbage: The country’s coastline contributes to its ecological richness, biodiversity and economy. Every year, thousands of tonnes of garbage, composed of plastics, glass, metals, sanitary products, clothes, etc., are dumped into it. However, plastics contribute a major portion of about 60 per cent of the total marine debris that reaches the oceans.
Initiatives by Government
- Beach clean-up initiatives: The Ministry of Earth Sciences, through its attached office National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), has undertaken beach clean-up initiatives, awareness programmes and beach litter quantification studies at regular intervals.
- Scientific study on marine pollution: Many studies have been conducted across coastal states and U Territories Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep. NCCR has initiated monitoring of the temporal and spatial distribution of marine litter along the Indian coasts and adjacent seas in 2018, 2019 and 2021.
- Swachh Sagar, Surakshit Sagar campaign: An average of 0.98 metric tonnes of trash per km stretch of coastline, averaging a weight concentration of 0.012 kilograms per metre square, accumulated along the Indian coastline, noted Swachh Sagar, Surakshit Sagar campaign, 2022.
- Attempt by TREE foundation: Attempts made by some organisations in rescuing marine species from the debris are worth mentioning. TREE Foundation, a Chennai-based non-profit, has been incessantly working on this. Their efforts on this front have shed light on the magnitude of the problem of ghost nets.
- Stakeholders approach: Over the last 20 years, through a multi-disciplinary approach involving people from all sections of society particularly unemployed youth from artisanal fishing communities, the foundation has saved and released more than 3,101,000 Olive Ridley turtles.
What should be the way forward?
- National Marine litter Policy of India: The National Marine litter Policy of India, announced in 2018, should be formulated.
- Plastic distribution study: Marine litter and microplastics distribution and characterization study should be conducted across the Indian coast.
- Coastal city forum: A forum of coastal cities should be created for ensuring cross-learning ecosystem and to build a synergetic association of urban local bodies and local administration located on the coast.
- Long term vision plan: A long-term vision plan should be developed for promoting partnerships among coastal towns, cities and urban administration for the reduction of marine litter and the creation of sustainable waste management ecosystems. Initiatives like a multi-stakeholder approach that will recognize knowledge, expertise, technology, research, capacity building and advocacy as key drivers to safeguard life below water can be beneficial.
- Awareness campaign: Regular beach clean-up and awareness programmes should be conducted instead of annual ones.
- Effective ban: Many states claim Single Use Plastic above 50 microns is banned, but on the ground, the ban is not effective. Steps can be taken to execute such legislations.
Conclusion
- Marine plastic pollution is killing the marine ecosystem, animals, plants and corals etc. apart from ocean trade land based plastic generation should be priorities while managing the marine pollution. Present approach of governments across the world is less than sufficient to tackle marine pollution.
Mains Question
Q. What are some of the initiatives to tackle the marine pollution in India? suggest the way forward to handle the menace of marine pollution.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: BIMSTEC
Mains level: Read the attached story
Context
- While the efficacy of multilateral cooperation is often questioned amidst the compelling the politics of force and global power politics, the world simply does not yet have any other alternative to structured cooperation. Much like the progress and relevance of multilateral cooperation, the fate of BIMSTEC too needs to contextualized in a world order that demands action and resolve.
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What is BIMSTEC?
- The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation: (BIMSTEC) is an international organisation of seven South Asian and Southeast Asian nations, housing 1.73 billion people and having a combined gross domestic product of US$4.4 trillion (2022).
- Members: The BIMSTEC member states Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand are among the countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal.
- Poor connectivity and resources: On the one hand, the geographical limits of BIMSTEC suffer from poor intra-regional connectivity which is fundamental to enhancing economic engagement; on the other, the grouping itself is beleaguered by the lack of an institutional structure, operational blueprint, and financial resources.
- New found interest: The BIMSTEC has indeed shown intent in recent years with member nations taking the first steps since the organisation’s inception towards according the latter agency, mobility, and funds.
- Most recent activities: These include the adoption of a charter that accords the grouping a legal status; a reduction in the number of priority areas from 14 to seven pillars thereby allowing for more focused engagement, the signing of memorandums on technology transfer, diplomatic training and a master plan on connectivity all of which are of import to the grouping’s future as aspirational countries in a region that has already become the gravitational centre of global geopolitics.
- Outcome of economic and political stability: The ‘renewed interest’ after remaining dormant for over two decades is attributed to the economic and political stability and growth that member states (barring Myanmar) have witnessed together with the world’s interest being directed towards the opportunities and Indo-Pacific and an increasingly hostile China.
- BIMSTEC has lot of ground to cover: As a regional organisation, the BIMSTEC is, on paper, well-positioned to gear shared efforts towards the harnessing of economic, natural, and labour potential of member nations.
Understanding the Multilateral cooperation/Multilateralism
- Hybrid rather than binary affairs: An assessment of multilateralism has to move away from binary understandings of world architectures. They are in essence, hybrid affairs, combining universal aspirations such as human rights with a more prosaic system of managed competition. This format is here to stay.
- Achieving common objectives through collective strengths: Multilateral organisations help as facilitators of regional objectives by pooling the strengths of members for advancement, as lobbying entities for regional aspirations and demands on the global stage functions which form the core purpose of these groupings. But multilateralism also suffers from its own set of drawbacks.
- Political disagreements: Perhaps the biggest limitations of multilateral engagement are ineffectiveness and becoming unwieldy as they comprise several member countries in terms of certain types of decision-making, particularly, those which are political.
- This is particularly true of large regional or global organisations, with ASEAN being the exception that proves the rule.
- Mini-laterals: To mitigate this challenge, smaller and more focused undertakings began in recent years in the form of mini-lateral engagement to enable smaller, and more ‘like-minded’ nations to band together for function-based cooperation.
- BBIN as an example: In the South Asian region, an example of mini-lateral engagement is the BBIN sub-regional framework which has, however, because of the operational complexities, continued to struggle.
What should be the way forward?
- Addressing the illegal migration: Multilateral forums also allow for united articulations of challenges unique to particular regions. Among the BIMSTEC’s common challenges are irregular migration, environmental degradation, transnational crimes, terrorism and insurgencies and drug trafficking, the efforts towards the mitigation of many of which, particularly the issue of migration and climate action, need the involvement of the world’s major powers.
- Support through G20 presidency: India’s G20 presidency in 2023 offers a unique opportunity to leverage New Delhi’s enhanced position in global politics to usher support for BIMSTEC’s necessities and objectives.
- Intent is stronger than hurdles: The success of groupings be it large or small rests on intent shown by members regardless of operational, financial, political or institutional constraints.
- Finance, institutions and structure: A grouping that comprised members from what is frequently referred to as the least integrated region in the world, without sufficient financing, and devoid of institutional structures to guide its operations, there has been much to be concerned about regarding BIMSTEC. And yet, because the grouping has demonstrated intent, so far, BIMSTEC’s promise holds more sway than its impediments.
Conclusion
- BIMSTEC have suffered from lack of funding, dedicated institution and proper structuring of the grouping. Hopefully new mini-laterals (BBIN) will revive the BIMSTEC in much objective stronger and successful way. India should take the lead in revival of this multilateral forum.
Mains Question
Q. Analyze the present status of BIMSTEC. What are the weaknesses of BIMSTEC and suggest way forward?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Kesavanananda Bharati Case, NJAC
Mains level: Collegium system, NJAC
The Vice-President while addressing the 83rd Conference of Presiding Officers said that the Kesavananda Bharati case judgment of 1973 set a bad precedent by seeking to establish judicial supremacy.
Kesavananda Bharati Case (1973)
- The Kesavananda Bharati judgement, was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court that outlined the basic structure doctrine of the Indian Constitution.
- The case is also known as the Fundamental Rights Case.
- The SC in a 7-6 decision asserted its right to strike down amendments to the constitution that were in violation of the fundamental architecture of the constitution.
- The Court asserted through the Basic Structure doctrine that the constitution possesses a basic structure of constitutional principles and values.
- Key outcomes were:
- Judicial Review: The Court partially cemented the prior precedent Golaknath v. State of Punjab, which held that constitutional amendments through Article 368 were subject to fundamental rights review, but only if they could affect the ‘basic structure of the Constitution’.
- Exceptions to Judicial Review: At the same time, the Court also upheld the constitutionality of the first provision of Article 31-C, which implied that amendments seeking to implement the Directive Principles, which do not affect the ‘Basic Structure,’ shall not be subjected to judicial review.
Why are we discussing it now?
Ans. Centre vs. Judiciary Tussle
- The doctrine forms the basis of power of the Indian judiciary to review and override amendments to the Constitution of India enacted by the Parliament.
- Since few days, Judiciary and Executive are at loggerheads.
- In political sphere, there is a greater resentment against the SC verdict striking down the NJAC Act.
- Comments over appointment/transfer of judges in non-transparent manner has become a very common.
National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC)
- The NJAC was a body that was proposed to make appointments of Chief Justices, Supreme Court judges, and High Court judges in a more transparent manner as compared to the existing collegium system.
- It sought to replace the Collegium System.
- It was proposed via the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014.
- The bill was passed by both the houses; Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and also received the President’s assent.
- The commission was established by the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2014.
- The Act proposed that the members of NJAC would be composed of members from the legislative, judicial, and civil society.
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Reasons behind VP’s harsh comments
Ans. Parliamentary Supremacy (Mandate of the People) overpowers Basic Structure
- VP said that in a democratic society, “the basic” of any “basic structure” has to be the supremacy of the mandate of the people.
- Thus the primacy and sovereignty of Parliament and legislature is inviolable.
- He said all constitutional institutions — judiciary, executive and legislature— are required to remain confined to their respective domains and conform to the highest standards of propriety and decorum.
- He said the power of Parliament to amend the Constitution and deal with legislation should not be subject to any other authority.
Conclusion
- After analyzing both NJAC and the collegium system, it can be inferred that neither of the methods is complete and both lack certain aspects.
- Many former judges and legal experts are supporting the NJAC.
- However, legal jurists are divided on NJAC, with some supporting it while others calling for amendments to the Act.
- It is quite evident that neither the collegium system nor the NJAC is accurate; both have some shortcomings.
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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 Centre has named its new free foodgrain scheme under the National Food Security Act, 2013, as ‘Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)’.
PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana
- PM had approved the new integrated food security scheme for providing free foodgrains for a year beginning January 1, 2023 to beneficiaries under the NFSA –
- Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)
- Primary Household (PHH)
How is it different from earlier scheme?
- The difference between the two schemes is that about 81 crore NFSA beneficiaries were entitled to get free of cost 5 kg foodgrain per person in a month over and above their monthly entitlements.
- However, they were required to pay the subsidised rate of foodgrains (Rs 3 per kg rice, Rs 2 per kg wheat and Rs 1 per kg coarse grains) to purchase the quantity for which they were entitled–35 kg per Antyoday Anna Yojana Household and 5kg per person to a Priority Household in a month.
- In the new scheme, the government has done away with the subsided prices and is providing foodgrains free of cost for a year.
- Now the additional quantity, which was available during the Covid pandemic, will not be provided to these beneficiaries.
- They will receive as much quantity of foodgrains, for which they are entitled under the NFSA.
Implementation strategy
- For effective and uniform implementation of NFSA 2013, PMGKAY will subsume the two subsidy schemes of Department of Food & Public Distribution –
- Food Subsidy to FCI and
- Food Subsidy for decentralized procurement states dealing with procurement, allocation and delivery of free foodgrains to the states under NFSA
National Food Security (NFS) Act
- The NFS Act, of 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 the existing food security program 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 subsidized 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: VSHORAD Missiles
Mains level: Man portable missiles and their significance
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) is set to procure the Very Short Range Air Defence System or VSHORAD (IR Homing) missile system.
VSHORAD Missile System
- Meant to kill low altitude aerial threats at short ranges, VSHORADS is a man portable Air Defence System (MANPAD).
- It is designed and developed indigenously by DRDO’s Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad, in collaboration with other DRDO laboratories and Indian Industry Partners.
- The missile is propelled by a dual thrust solid motor—incorporates many novel technologies including miniaturised Reaction Control System (RCS) and integrated avionics, which were successfully proven during the tests conducted last year.
- The DRDO has designed the missile and its launcher in a way to ensure easy portability.
Unique features
- Being man portable and lightweight compared to the other missile systems in the Army’s armoury, it can be deployed in the mountains close to the LAC at a short notice.
- Others like the Akash Short Range Surface to Air Missile System are heavier with a theatre air defence umbrella.
- They are perceived to be the best option for mountain warfare since they can be deployed quickly in rugged terrain.
Significance of the missile
- The development comes amid the ongoing military standoff with China at the LAC in eastern Ladakh and reports of air violations by China along the LAC last year.
- India has been in talks with Russia since 2018 to procure the Igla-S air defence missiles at a cost of $1.5 billion under the VSHORAD programme in a bid to replace the Russian Igla-M systems.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Japan's national security strategy, India- Japan relations
Context
- Japan’s National Security Strategy released in December is a remarkable document. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s assertive rise, and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK-North Korea) provocations are listed as key developments creating for Japan the most severe and complex security environment since the end of the Second World War.
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What are Japan’s new concerns?
- Chinese increasing military power: Unconstrained by bilateral or multilateral agreements, Chinese military power is noted as growing exponentially. In less than a decade, the Chinese nuclear arsenal would match numbers currently held by the US and Russia. Expectations are low that the US would have the will or the capacity to bring China to the arms control table.
- DPRK is riding a runaway proliferation train: Having shaken off all the limits to its nuclear programme it pretended to accept during the Trump Administration, its nuclear programme is perhaps now unstoppable.
- The inadequacy of its current defence posture and its military alliance with the US: As underlined by the document, extended deterrence including nuclear weapons is the cornerstone of the US-Japan alliance. Its success until now allowed Japan the luxury of its three nuclear no’s policy no production, possession, or introduction of nuclear weapons on its territory.
What worries Japan in its future adequacy and the options
- The stated option: The National Security Strategy calls for Japan to strengthen the deterrence and response capabilities of its alliance with the US, including extended deterrence by the US, backed by its full range of capabilities, including nuclear.
- Possibility trends of nuclear-sharing by Japan: The unstated part is the possibility of nuclear-sharing by Japan. If implemented, this may be new to Asia but is a long-standing US practice with its key NATO allies in Europe. US willingness to share nuclear-powered submarines with Australia as part of AUKUS is an indicator of possible trends.
- Possibility of Japan itself acquiring nuclear weapons: The document makes no reference to this. But there are references to the US – in Japan’s view the world’s greatest comprehensive power finding it increasingly difficult to maintain a free and open international order. Behind Japanese politeness, the message is clear.
- Strategic autonomy in Japanese style: Significantly, the document adds that Japan would seek to strengthen its defence capabilities to the point at which Japan is able to take primary responsibility for its defence, without excluding support from the US.
- If Japan goes nuclear, India should welcome the decision: In our separate ways, India and Japan privileged nuclear disarmament as a priority. But there comes a time when this national preference must be subordinated to the demands of national security.
- Understanding the reason: India reached this conclusion reluctantly but with good reason in 1998. If Japan were to reach the same conclusion, it too would have good reason to do so.
- Ensuring self-defence capabilities and Upholding the sovereignty: Its technological capabilities are not in doubt. It is for Japan to exercise its inherent and inalienable right of ensuring the necessary means of self-defence. Thinking the unthinkable in terms of changing policy is an attribute of sovereignty, not its negation.
Way ahead
- Japan’s turn towards an explicit nuclear option will come, if at all, not out of choice but out of necessity.
- Its strategic predicament, laid bare by the document, is compounded by the lack of easy answers, a predicament that India should view with sympathy and understanding of a fellow Asian country.
- Japan is also a strong supporter of the NPT, and its derivative non-proliferation regime but it is also painfully aware that the NPT does precious little to constrain China, nor for that matter DPRK.
- The gap between Japan’s security needs in a nuclearized world and its non-nuclear public sentiment was papered over in the past by US extended deterrence. It looks less likely that will be the case in the future.
Conclusion
- A multipolar Indo-Pacific can be truly multipolar only if Japan is assured of national defence through the means of its choosing. As a strategic partner and friend, we must keep faith that Japan will make the right decision at the right time.
Mains question
Q. Recently Japan released its National security strategy. In this backdrop discuss what concerns Japan and how India should view this development?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Office of Governor in the state and related provisions
Mains level: Issues with role of Governor in the state, The case of Governor's activism
Context
- Governor of Tamil Nadu left the assembly session of house while chief minister was point out that governor skip the certain portion of the speech which he was suppose to read. This has again raised the questions over powers and functions of governor.
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History about powers of governor and assembly address
- Non-interference of Governors under British: A good governor must stay above politics and manifestly be seen as impartial and fair. In 1937, when the Congress won elections in seven provinces, it took office on the condition that the British governors would not interfere in the functioning of its ministries and refrain from exercising “discretion and special powers”.
- Special powers under the constitution: However, after Independence, India conferred the same special powers on governors.
- Yogender Singh Handa v. State of Rajasthan (1967): In 1967, Rajasthan Governor Sampuranand skip a part the speech. In Yogender Singh Handa v. State of Rajasthan (1967), the Rajasthan High Court held that some portion read by the governor was good enough to deem the whole address as read.
- Governor Padmaja Naidu case: On February 8, 1965, when her request for “silence, silence, permit me to address” was ignored, West Bengal Governor Padmaja Naidu left the assembly without delivering the ceremonial address. The Speaker took the chair and announced that the governor had been pleased to make her speech and lay a copy of her speech on the table of the House.
- Integral part of assembly: The governor is an integral part of the legislative assembly. He calls its sessions and he dissolves the House.
- Right to address first session of the house: Under Article 176(2(b), he has the right to address the first session of the House. This address is an integral part of constitutional symbolism and has huge significance.
- Powers of cabinet, not Governor’s: The Constitution gives no discretion to governors in the matter of convening the session of the assembly. Parliamentary democracy being the basic structure of our Constitution, this is the prerogative of the Cabinet though Article 174 does say that the governor from time to time summons the assembly to meet at such time and place “he thinks fit”.
- Nabam Rebia (2016) case: Governors have no business to question the purpose of convening the sessions of the House. A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court in Nabam Rebia (2016) had observed that the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, J P Rajkhowa, who advanced the session of the assembly without the advice of the chief minister, had exceeded his jurisdiction as he had no discretion in convening the assembly session.
Legality of governor skipping the mandatory speech to assembly
- Governor cannot decline to give a speech: Justice B N Banerjee of the Calcutta High Court in Andul Gafoor Habibullah v. Speaker, West Bengal Assembly (1966) held that the governor cannot decline to deliver his address and refuse to fulfil his constitutional duty.
- Failure to address is irregularity not legality: The address under Article 176 is mandatory. However, the HC held that when the governor fails to deliver his address under Article 176 and walks out of the House after laying down the address on the table of the House, this is mere irregularity, not illegality.
- Non-judiciable in court: It cannot be questioned under Article 212, wherein the validity of the House proceedings cannot be challenged on the ground of mere irregularity in the procedure. The petitioner’s claim, in this case, was that since the House did not start its proceedings with the customary address by the governor, it has vitiated the proceedings of the House.
Implications: If governor refuses/fails to deliver assembly address?
- Possibility of constitutional crisis: Governors editing/deleting the speech may indeed create a constitutional crisis. The chief minister may refuse to defend the address in his response at the end of the debate on the governor’s address and with the chief minister commanding a majority, the House may reject the resolution on the governor’s speech.
- CM may need to resign: When the governor’s/president’s address faces such a defeat, it is considered a no-confidence motion and the chief minister or the prime minister as the case may be, needs to resign.
- Resignation over irregularity: Such a resignation for something that the government did not include in the ceremonial address but the governor had said on its own would not only be grossly unjust and unethical but absolutely undemocratic.
- Past precedence of resignation: Chief Minister Gurnam Singh of Punjab in 1967 had resigned when the governor’s address was defeated on the floor of the House. UP CM C B Gupta too had to resign in similar circumstances when a resolution thanking the governor was defeated in the UP assembly. Thus, the governor has no discretion in editing the address.
Conclusion
- Governor is neither a decorative emblem nor a glorified cipher. His powers are limited but he has an important constitutional role to play in the governance of the state and in strengthening federalism. He is the head of the state and all chief ministers, including the Tamil Nadu chief minister, must remember it. All governors too must remain true to their oath of preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution.
Mains Question
Q. What are the functions of the Governor with respect to addressing the assembly of the state? What may be the implications of the Governor skipping the address to assembly?
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