Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Budget
Mains level: Budget, proposals for Urban planning and urban reforms, sustainable cities
Context
- Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2023-24. It has been marked by areas of continuity over the past three years. However, we should not overlook the missed opportunities for more fundamental reforms while celebrating continuity.
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Areas of focus
- Some areas like the continued boost in capital expenditure have received wide attention. Others, such as the reform of urban development and planning processes have received less.
- As India grows, the quality of urbanisation will determine the quality of economic growth, and vice versa.
- From this perspective, the continued focus on improving urban infrastructure and land-use efficiency is welcome.
Proposals related to urban planning and urbanization
- Urban planning reforms and efficient land use: Cities will be encouraged to undertake urban planning reforms, adopting practices that use land more efficiently, creating resources for urban infrastructure, making urban land affordable, and improving inclusivity.
- Infrastructure financing: Cities will be incentivized to ring-fence user charges on infrastructure and undertake property tax governance reforms so that they are creditworthy enough to issue municipal bonds.
- Infrastructure Development fund for Tier 2 and 3 cities: A fund will be created by using shortfalls in priority sector lending to create infrastructure in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Rs 10,000 crore is the expected amount to be made available for this fund. States will be expected to adopt user charges to access these resources.
- Improving sewage and waste management: Proposals on improvements in infrastructure for handling sewage and managing waste.
- The 2021-22 budget focused on providing urban infrastructure public transport, waste management and universal water supply.
- In 2020-21, the budget, like this year, proposed improvements in sewage treatment and waste management to do away with manual cleaning.
- It proposed tax concessions to encourage overseas borrowing for specified municipal bonds. In 2019, the government announced, and then formulated a model tenancy law to promote rental housing.
What more can be done?
- Shift towards market-oriented reforms in urban planning and development:
- States and city administrators have themselves come around to the benefits of market-oriented reforms, obviating some of the necessity for the Centre to champion them. This could be driven by the emergence of cities as engines of growth, the resultant commodification of urban land markets and, therefore, the increasing focus on land-use efficiency.
- Greater openness to new ideas of urban planning could also be driven intellectually by changes in the outlooks of professionals in the field urban planners, architects and administrators who are increasingly able to work directly with state and municipal governments.
- Lack of Political Significance for Urban Governance Reforms:
- It could be that while cities are increasingly economically significant, they are not yet significant enough politically for politicians to look at urban governance issues more seriously.
- While the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution devolved many powers to local governments, state governments continue to hold most of the aces. This could change rapidly in the future as India transitions from rural to urban.
Conclusion
- While urban governance systems are improving, India’s cities are still plagued by issues that need fundamental changes. Our building by-laws, restrictions on land use and zoning still create inefficiencies and make our cities unaffordable, dirty and polluted. The government’s steps to increase capacity building and to create expert committees to propose reforms in these areas is commendable. However, the pace of these proposals is inadequate and need to prioritised to meet urban India’s challenges.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Menstruation a biological process
Mains level: Menstrual leave policy debate
Context
- Menstrual leave is a workplace policy that allows female employees to take time off from work during their menstrual cycle due to physical discomfort or pain. This policy has been a topic of debate, with some arguing that it is necessary to accommodate the needs of women during their period, while others argue that it creates discrimination and reinforces gender stereotypes.
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Background
- Recently, Kerala government announced that the state government will grant menstrual leave for female students in all state universities under the Department of Higher Education.
- The declaration occurred shortly after the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) announced the decision, in response to a request by the students’ union, to grant menstruation leave to all of its female students.
Menstrual leave and the debate
- Widespread conversation in recent years: The adoption of voluntary menstrual leave policies by some companies in recent years has led to a widespread conversation on periods in India.
- Termed as Special leave for women: When the Bihar government implemented a period leave policy in 1992, it was termed special leave for women due to the stigma attached to the word menstruation.
- Normalising conversation: The recent initiative by employers to provide period leave has been discussed and debated in the public sphere, thereby normalising the conversation around menstruation to an extent.
Who are menstruators?
- Menstruators is an inclusive term refers to individuals who have female reproductive anatomy and experience menstrual periods.
- It includes, women, trans men, and non-binary persons as well.
- This biological process also decouples menstruation from womanhood.
Arguments in favour
- Biological process comes with physical pain: Though menstruation is a biological process, it is accompanied by cramps, nausea, back and muscle pains, headaches, etc.
- Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): Additionally, these can take a debilitating form amongst menstruating people who suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis.
- For instance: In India, 20 per cent of menstruators have PCOS and approximately 25 million suffer from endometriosis. The intensity of pain can vary for individuals for a variety of reasons.
- Acknowledges the reality: For many menstruators, it is a biological process intertwined with medical symptoms. Mandatory period leave is an affirmative action policy that acknowledges this reality.
- Kerala governments announcement is a welcome step: The Kerala government’s announcement to grant menstrual leave to all female students of state universities is a welcome move that takes the discourse a step further into educational institutions.
- It should be replicated across universities and schools in India: This will also help reduce the drop-out rates of female students from government schools in rural India caused by the lack of clean toilets, running water, sanitary pads, etc.
Arguments against
- Fear of bias in hiring: The major opposition to a menstrual leave policy is the fear of bias in hiring due to the financial costs to employers. Discriminatory hiring has been a cause of concern in many countries.
- Probable decline in women labour force participation: It is often equated to the decline in the labour force participation of women following the introduction of mandatory paid maternity leave.
- Medicalising normal biological process: Period leave is often seen as medicalising a normal biological process.
Did you know?
“Female sugarcane cutters surgically remove their uteri to secure work”
- A widely accepted menstrual health framework can also ameliorate the conditions of female workers in the unorganised sector.
- In Maharashtra’s Beed district, contractors in the sugarcane industry do not hire anyone who menstruates.
- More than 10,000 female sugarcane cutters have had to surgically remove their uteri to secure work.
- Most of them are in their twenties and thirties, and now experience various post-surgery health complications. Such exploitation is a human rights violation.
Way ahead
- Need to bridge the gaps: The path to equality does not lie in inaction due to fear of further discrimination. What is needed is a holistic outlook aimed at bridging existing gaps.
- Comprehensive and inclusive approach is must: The implementation of menstrual leave should be based on a comprehensive and inclusive approach that takes into account the needs and rights of all employees, regardless of gender.
- Mandatory self-care leaves as an alternative: Employers should be made to introduce a mandatory self-care leave as an alternative to period leaves for those who cannot avail of the latter. Employees should be able to utilise their self-care leave as they deem fit. This will reduce burnout and increase productivity.
- Self-care leave will also destigmatise menstruation: The names menstrual leave and self-care leave will also destigmatise menstruation and self-care respectively. Further, employers should be made to implement a stringent diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) framework.
- Safeguards menstruators in unorganized sector: A formal menstrual leave policy in the organized sector can act as a catalyst in safeguarding menstruators in the unorganized sector too.
Conclusion
- Menstrual health is a public health issue. Considering the sizable population of menstruators in India who face stigma, period leave cannot be dismissed anymore as a foreign concept. It is a pivotal step in ensuring proper reproductive health equity in India.
Mains question.
Q. The topic of Menstrual leave is in the headlines for some time now. Anaalyse the dabate
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Section 33 (7) of the RPA, 1951
Mains level: Not Much
The Supreme Court has refused to set aside a provision in the election law that allows candidates to contest polls from two constituencies simultaneously.
What is the issue?
- The petition had sought the court to declare Section 33(7) of the Representation of People Act invalid and ultra vires.
- Like one-person-one-vote, one-candidate-one-constituency is the dictum of democracy, argued the petition.
What did the SC say?
- This is a policy matter and an issue concerning political democracy.
- It is for the Parliament to take a call, CJI observed.
Provision for contesting polls from two constituency
- Under section 33 (7) of the RPA, 1951, a person is allowed to contest polls, whether a general election, more than one by-elections or biennial elections, from a maximum of two seats.
- Before this law, candidates could run in any number of constituencies.
- If candidates win both seats, they must vacate one within 10 days, triggering a by-election, as stated under section 70 of the Act.
- Under the Constitution, an individual cannot simultaneously be a member of either House of Parliament (or a state legislature), or both Parliament and a state legislature, or represent more than one seat in a House.
Issues with two polls provision
- Issues with twin victories: There have been cases where a person contests election from two constituencies, and wins from both. In such a situation he vacates the seat in one of the two constituencies.
- Expenses of bye-election: The consequence is that a by-election would be required from one constituency involving avoidable expenditure on the conduct of that bye-election.
ECI supports one-candidate-one-constituency
- The Election Commission had, in an affidavit in 2018, supported the petition.
- It had informed the Supreme Court that it had proposed an amendment to Section 33(7) in July 2004.
Way ahead
- Heavy election deposits: A candidate should deposit an amount of ₹5 lakh for contesting in two constituencies in an Assembly election or ₹10 lakh in a general election.
- Recurring election expenses: The amount would be used to cover the expenses for a by-election in the eventuality that he or she was victorious in both constituencies and had to relinquish one.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Additional surveillance mechanism (ASM)
Mains level: Not Much
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) placed very famous enterprises of business tycoons under the additional surveillance mechanism (ASM).
Why in news?
- The Adani Group has shed $108 billion in market value since Hindenburg Research accused it of stock manipulation and accounting fraud.
What is Additional Surveillance Mechanism (ASM)?
- 2018 saw the establishment of the Additional Surveillance Measure (ASM), a measure by SEBI and recognised stock exchanges to control the incredibly volatile stocks on the Indian stock market.
- ASM in the stock market functions as a control measure for speculative trading to safeguard the interests of retail investors and keep them out of potentially dangerous trading situations.
- There are two parts of additional margins:
- Long-term ASM
- Short-term ASM
What is ASM list in the stock market?
- ASM list means a collection of securities currently under observation owing to variables like price volatility, volume variation, etc.
- Investors are alerted to unexpected price movement by stocks that have been shortlisted for the ASM list.
- These equities are subject to various trading restrictions to halt any speculation.
- The regulations that apply to stocks on the ASM list are more stringent.
- They are prohibited from being pledged and using intraday leverages like bracket and cover orders, among others.
How does it work?
- For instance, the stock will be moved to a 5% price band the day it joins the ASM list; from then on, it may only move 5% up or down from the previous day’s closing level.
- As a result of this limit violation, the stock can no longer trade on the market once this limit is violated.
- In addition, the investor ought to have 100% margin money to trade the stock as of the fifth day.
- The selected securities will be monitored further, based on predetermined criteria and transferred into Trade to Trade settlement once the criterion is met.
Criteria to determine ASM list stocks
The following criteria are used to select stocks for inclusion in ASM and were mutually decided upon by SEBI and Exchanges:
- Close-to-Close Price Variation
- Market Capitalisation
- Volume Variation
- Delivery Percentage
- High Low Variation
- Client Concentration
- of Unique PANs
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Red Sanders
Mains level: Not Much
The CITES trade database has recorded 28 incidents of Red Sanders confiscation, seizure, and specimen from the wild being exported from India.
Red Sanders
- The species, Pterocarpus santalinus, is an Indian endemic tree species, with a restricted geographical range in the Eastern Ghats.
- It is a very slow-growing tree species that attains maturity in natural forests after 25-40 years.
- It is endemic to a distinct tract of forests in Andhra Pradesh.
- It is mainly found in Chittoor, Kadapa, Nandhyal, Nellore, Prakasam districts of Andhra Pradesh.
- It was classified as ‘near threatened’ in 2018 and has now joined the ‘endangered’ list once again in 2021.
- It is listed under Appendix II of CITES and is banned from international trade.
Legal protection in India
- The Union Environment Ministry had decided to keep Red Sanders (red sandalwood) OUT of the Schedule VI of Wild Life Protection Act, 1972, arguing that this would discourage the cultivation of the rare plant species.
- Schedule VI regulates and restricts the cultivation, possession, and sale of a rare plant species.
Threats to this specie
- Red Sanders are known for their rich hue and therapeutic properties, are high in demand across Asia, particularly in China and Japan.
- They are used in cosmetics and medicinal products as well as for making furniture, woodcraft and musical instruments.
- Its popularity can be gauged from the fact that a tonne of Red Sanders costs anything between Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore in the international market.
Try this question from CSP 2016:
Q.With reference to ‘Red Sanders’, sometimes seen in the news, consider the following statements:
- It is a tree species found in a part of South India.
- It is one of the most important trees in the tropical rain forest areas of South India.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Post your answers here.
Back2Basics: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)
- CITES stands for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
- It is as an international agreement aimed at ensuring “that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival”.
- It was drafted after a resolution was adopted at a meeting of the members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 1963.
- It entered into force on July 1, 1975, and now has 183 parties.
- The Convention is legally binding on the Parties in the sense that they are committed to implementing it; however, it does not take the place of national laws.
- India is a signatory to and has also ratified CITES convention in 1976.
CITES Appendices
- CITES works by subjecting international trade in specimens of selected species to certain controls.
- All import, export, re-exports and introduction from the sea of species covered by the convention has to be authorized through a licensing system.
- It has three appendices:
- Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction. Trade-in specimens of these species are permitted only in exceptional circumstances.
- Appendix II provides a lower level of protection.
- Appendix III contains species that are protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling trade.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Lab grown diamonds
Mains level: Not Much
During her Budget speech, Finance Minister announced the government’s move to focus on lab-grown diamonds (LGDs).
What did the FM announce?
- Customs duty on the seeds used in lab-grown diamond manufacturing will be reduced, announced the finance minister.
- She also announced a grant to IITs to facilitate the growth of LGDs in India.
What are Lab-Grown Diamonds (LGD)?
- Lab-grown diamonds are diamonds that are produced using specific technology which mimics the geological processes that grow natural diamonds.
- They are not the same as “diamond simulants” – LGDs are chemically, physically and optically diamond and thus are difficult to identify as “lab-grown.”
- While materials such as Moissanite, Cubic Zirconia (CZ), White Sapphire, YAG, etc. are “diamond simulants” that simply attempt to “look” like a diamond.
- LGDs have basic properties similar to natural diamonds, including their optical dispersion, which provide them the signature diamond sheen.
- They lack the sparkle and durability of a diamond and are thus easily identifiable.
- However, differentiating between an LGD and an Earth Mined Diamond is hard, with advanced equipment required for the purpose.
How are LGDs produced?
There are multiple ways in which LGDs can be produced.
- High pressure, high temperature (HPHT) method: This method requires extremely high pressure, high temperature presses that can produce up to 730,000 psi of pressure under extremely high temperatures (at least 1500 Celsius). Usually graphite is used as the “diamond seed” and when subjected to these extreme conditions, the relatively inexpensive form of carbon turns into one of the most expensive carbon forms.
- Other processes: These include “Chemical Vapor Deposition” (CVD) and explosive formation that creates what are known as “detonation nano-diamonds”.
What are LGDs used for?
(1) Production
- For instance, LGDs are most often used for industrial purposes, in machines and tools. Their hardness and extra strength make them ideal for use as cutters.
- Furthermore, pure synthetic diamonds have high thermal conductivity, but negligible electrical conductivity.
(2) Electronics industry
- This combination is invaluable for electronics where such diamonds can be used as a heat spreader for high-power laser diodes, laser arrays and high-power transistors.
(3) Jewelleries
- Lastly, as the Earth’s reserves of natural diamonds are depleted, LGDs are slowly replacing the prized gemstone in the jewellery industry.
- Crucially, like natural diamonds, LGDs undergo similar processes of polishing and cutting that are required to provide diamonds their characteristic lustre.
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