Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: QR coin vending
Mains level: Not Much
To improve the distribution of coins among members of the public, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is preparing a pilot project on QR code-based Coin Vending Machine (QCVM) in collaboration with a few leading banks.
QR code-based Coin Vending Machine (QCVM)
- The QCVM is a cashless coin dispensation machine which would dispense coins against a debit to the customer’s bank account using Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
- Unlike cash-based traditional Coin Vending Machine, the QCVM would eliminate the need for physical tendering of banknotes and their authentication.
- Customers will also have the option to withdraw coins in the required quantity and denominations in QCVMs.
When will it be launched?
- The pilot project is planned to be initially rolled out at 19 locations in 12 cities across the country.
- Machines will be installed at public places such as railway stations, shopping malls, marketplaces to enhance ease and accessibility.
- Based on the learnings from the pilot tests, guidelines would be issued to banks to promote better distribution of coins using QCVMs.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sarna Religion
Mains level: Tribal assertiveness
West Bengal Assembly has tabled a motion to recognize Sarna Religion of the tribals and have a Sarna Code.
Sarna Religion
- The followers of Sarna faith believe pray to nature.
- The holy grail of the faith is “Jal (water), Jungle (forest), Zameen (land)” and its followers pray to the trees and hills while believing in protecting the forest areas.
- Jharkhand has 32 tribal groups of which eight are from Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups.
- While many follow Hindu religion, some have converted to Christianity — this has become one of the planks of demanding a separate code “to save religious identity”— as various tribal organisations put it.
Demand for Sarna Code
- Tribal groups in the region have long demanded the Sarna code, a separate religious classification in the census, recognising their status as independent religious communities.
- It is believed that 50 lakhs tribal in the entire country put their religion as ‘Sarna’ in the 2011 census, although it was not a code.
- The resolution will seek a special column for followers of the Sarna religion in the Census, 2021.
- At present, they are not classified as a separate entity.
Politics around the tribe
- Many of the tribals who follow this faith have later converted to Christianity—the state has more than 4% Christians most of whom are tribals.
- Some who still follow the Sarna faith believe the converted tribals are taking the benefits of reservation as a minority, as well as the benefits, are given to Schedule Tribes.
- They also believe that benefits should be given specifically to them and not to those who have converted.
What sense does a separate code make?
- The protection of their language and history is an important aspect of tribals.
- Between 1871 and 1951, the tribals had a different code. However, it was changed around 1961-62.
- Experts argue that when today the entire world is focusing on reducing pollution and protecting the environment, it is prudent that Sarna becomes a religious code as the soul of this religion is to protect nature and the environment.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Read the attached story
Mains level: Creamy Layer clause in OBCs reservation
The existing income limit for determining the non-creamy layer (NCL) among Other Backward Classes (OBC) is considered sufficient and hence there is no proposal currently to revise the said income limit, informed the Centre.
What is Non-Creamy Layer in OBCs?
- Creamy Layer is a concept that sets a threshold within which OBC reservation benefits are applicable.
- While there is a 27% quota for OBCs in government jobs and higher educational institutions, those falling within the “creamy layer” cannot get the benefits of this quota.
Basis of Creamy Layer
- It is based on the recommendation of the Second Backward Classes Commission (Mandal Commission).
- The government in 1990 had notified 27% reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBCs) in vacancies in civil posts and services that are to be filled on direct recruitment.
- After this was challenged, the Supreme Court in the Indira Sawhney case (1992) upheld 27% reservation for OBCs, subject to exclusion of the creamy layer.
How is it determined?
- Following the order in Indra Sawhney, an expert committee headed by Justice (retired) R N Prasad was constituted for fixing the criteria for determining the creamy layer.
- In 1993, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) listed out various categories of people of certain rank/status/income whose children cannot avail the benefit of OBC reservation.
- For those not in government, the current threshold is an income of Rs 8 lakh per year.
- For children of government employees, the threshold is based on their parents’ rank and not income.
- For instance, an individual is considered to fall within the creamy layer if either of his or her parents is in a constitutional post; if either parent has been directly recruited in Group-A; or if both parents are in Group-B services.
- If the parents enter Group-A through promotion before the age of 40, their children will be in the creamy layer.
- Children of a Colonel or higher-ranked officer in the Army, and children of officers of similar ranks in the Navy and Air Force, too, come under the creamy layer.
- Income from salaries or agricultural land is not clubbed while determining the creamy layer (2004).
What is happening now?
- Many communities have raised questions about the pending proposal for revising the criteria.
- They have asked whether the provision of a creamy layer for government services only for OBC candidates is rational and justified.
- The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) has consistently maintained from as early as 2011 that the income limit should be raised to at least ₹10 lakh.
Has it ever been revised?
- Other than the income limit, the current definition of the creamy layer remains the same as the DoPT had spelled out in 1993 and 2004.
- The income limit has been revised over the years.
- No other orders for the definition of the creamy layer have been issued.
- While the DoPT had stipulated that it would be revised every three years, the first revision since 1993 (Rs 1 lakh per year) happened only in 2004 (Rs 2.50 lakh), 2008 (Rs 4.50 lakh), 2013 (Rs 6 lakh), and 2017 (Rs 8 lakh).
- It is now more than five years since the last revision.
What is the current NCL limit?
- Currently, an annual income of both parents of ₹8 lakh or more excludes OBCs from availing reservation.
- It puts them in the creamy layer category, leaving benefits only for those earning less than that.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CAR T-Cell Cancer Therapy
Mains level: Not Much
The new CAR T-Cell Immunotherapy holds promise for Ovarian Cancer patients over other forms of treatment.
What are CAR T-cells?
- Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies represent a quantum leap in the sophistication of cancer treatment.
- Unlike chemotherapy or immunotherapy, which require mass-produced injectable or oral medication, CAR T-cell therapies use a patient’s own cells.
- They are modified in the laboratory to activate T-cells, a component of immune cells, to attack tumours.
- These modified cells are then infused back into the patient’s bloodstream after conditioning them to multiply more effectively.
- The cells are even more specific than targeted agents and directly activate the patient’s immune system against cancer, making the treatment more clinically effective.
- This is why they’re called ‘living drugs’.
How does the therapy work?
- In CAR T-cell therapy, the patient’s blood is drawn to harvest T-cells which are immune cells that play a major role in destroying tumour cells.
- Researchers modify these cells in the laboratory so that they express specific proteins on their surface, known as chimeric antigen receptors (CAR).
- They have an affinity for proteins on the surface of tumour cells.
- This modification in the cellular structure allows CAR T-cells to effectively bind to the tumour and destroy it.
- The final step in the tumour’s destruction involves its clearance by the patient’s immune system.
Where is it used?
- As of today, CAR T-cell therapy has been approved for leukaemias (cancers arising from the cells that produce white blood cells) and lymphomas (arising from the lymphatic system).
- These cancers occur through the unregulated reproduction of a single clone of cells, that is, following the cancerous transformation of a single type of cell, it produces millions of identical copies.
- As a result, the target for CAR T-cells is consistent and reliable.
- CAR T-cell therapy is also used among patients with cancers that have returned after an initial successful treatment or which haven’t responded to previous combinations of chemotherapy or immunotherapy.
- Its response rate is variable. In certain kinds of leukaemias and lymphomas, the efficacy is as high as 90%, whereas in other types of cancers it is significantly lower.
How widespread is its use?
- The complexity of preparing CAR T-cells has been a major barrier to their use.
- The first clinical trial showing they were effective was published almost a decade ago; the first indigenously developed therapy in India was successfully performed only in 2022.
- The technical and human resources required to administer this therapy are also considerable.
- Treatments in the US cost more than a million dollars.
- Trials are underway in India, with companies looking to indigenously manufacture CAR T-cells at a fraction of the cost.
- The preliminary results have been encouraging.
What are conventional cancer therapies?
- The three major forms of treatment for any cancer are surgery (removing the cancer), radiotherapy (delivering ionising radiation to the tumour), and systemic therapy (chemotherapy- administering medicines that act on the tumour only).
- Surgery and radiotherapy have been refined significantly over time whereas advances in systemic therapy have been unparalleled.
- A new development on this front, currently holding the attention of many researchers worldwide, is the CAR T-cell therapy.
Will this therapy be expensive in India as well?
- In India, introducing any new therapy faces the twin challenges of cost and value.
- Critics argue that developing facilities in India may be redundant and/or inappropriate as even when it becomes cheaper, CAR T-cell therapy will be unaffordable to most Indians.
- Those who are affluent and require the therapy currently receive it abroad anyway.
- While this is true, it may be the right answer to the wrong question.
- Having access to a global standard of care is every patient’s right; how it can be made more affordable can be the next step.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PACS
Mains level: Rural banking mechanisms
The Union Budget has announced Rs 2,516 crore for computerization of 63,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) over the next five years.
Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS)
- PACS are village level cooperative credit societies that serve as the last link in a three-tier cooperative credit structure headed by the State Cooperative Banks (SCB) at the state level.
- Credit from the SCBs is transferred to the district central cooperative banks, or DCCBs, that operate at the district level.
- The DCCBs work with PACS, which deal directly with farmers.
- Since these are cooperative bodies, individual farmers are members of the PACS, and office-bearers are elected from within them.
- A village can have multiple PACS.
What is its lending mechanism?
- PACS are involved in short term lending — or what is known as crop loan.
- At the start of the cropping cycle, farmers avail credit to finance their requirement of seeds, fertilisers etc.
- Banks extend this credit at 7 per cent interest, of which 3 per cent is subsidised by the Centre, and 2 per cent by the state government.
- Effectively, farmers avail the crop loans at 2 per cent interest only.
NPAs with PACS
- NABARD’s annual report of 2021-22 shows that 59.6 per cent of the loans were extended to the small and marginal farmers.
- A report published by the Reserve Bank of India on December 27, 2022 put the number of PACS at 1.02 lakh.
- At the end of March 2021, only 47,297 of them were in profit.
- The same report said PACS had reported lending worth Rs 1,43,044 crore and NPAs of Rs 72,550 crore. Maharashtra has 20,897 PACS of which 11,326 are in losses.
Why are PACS attractive?
- The attraction of the PACS lies in the last mile connectivity they offer.
- For farmers, timely access to capital is necessary at the start of their agricultural activities.
- PACS have the capacity to extend credit with minimal paperwork within a short time.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: White Label ATM
Mains level: Financial inclusion
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the validity of authorization issued to Vakrangee to setup, own and operate White Label ATMs in India.
What is White Label ATM?
- Usually ATMs are managed by banks. But White Label ATMs are owned and operated by non-banking entities.
- ATMs operated under this business model allow customers to use them for banking transactions regardless of the bank they have an account with.
- RBI approved the operation and inclusion of WLA ATM by non-banking organisations under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act of 2007.
- It was introduced to expand India’s ATM network, especially in semi-urban and rural areas.
How does it work?
- White Label ATM companies work with banking networks to enable bank customers to use banking services like withdrawing funds, paying bills and depositing cash.
- White Label ATM (WLA) operators’ charge card-issuing bank fees to provide this facility to the bank’s clients.
- The transaction process in White Label ATM operators consists of a lending bank, a sponsor bank that handles settlements and an ATM network provider.
- The Sponsor bank provides the cash facility for the White ATM.
Significance of WLA: Financial Inclusion
- Financial inclusion is concerned with the availability of financial services and adequate financing to low-income individuals and other vulnerable segments of society.
- ATMs promote financial inclusion and provide customers with various banking services at any location and time.
White Label ATM Operators in India
- Non-banks set up and operate White ATMs as per the rules laid down by RBI for using ‘other bank’ ATMs.
- These ATMs accept all domestic debit cards and offer the first five or three transactions per month free of cost, depending on the location.
- Below mentioned are some examples of companies that operate white label ATMs:
- Indicash – India’s largest White Label ATM network responsible for ‘uberisation of ATMs.’
- India1 Payments (BTI Payments Pvt. Ltd.)
- Hitachi Payment Services Pvt. Ltd.
- Tata Communications Payment Solutions Ltd.
- Vakrangee Limited
Benefits of White Label ATMs
There are many benefits of White Label ATMs:
- Customers benefit from White Label ATMs since they eliminate the need to visit a bank branch on a regular basis
- ATMs are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including holidays
- Banks benefit from this because they do not have to maintain a huge staff/office (compared to a system without ATMs). It lowers their branch-operational costs
- Financial inclusion of rural, semi-urban, and low-income people
- It allowed ATM cards to be issued by any bank that can be used at White Label ATMs
- WLA atm also provides mobile recharge, energy bill payments, and other value-added services
Limitations of White Label ATMs
There are also a few limitations of White Label ATMs:
- The issue of unsuccessful transactions is a key source of concern. In the event of a dispute, the dispute resolution method will include three entities, namely the WLA operator, the WLA operator’s sponsor bank, and the customer’s bank.
- Customers will be discouraged by the cost issue, as they will be obliged to pay a price to use the White Label ATMs, as only a limited number of free transactions are permitted on the WLAs
- White label ATMs’ financial viability is questioned because of their low interchange charge and hefty operational expenses
- If there is a bank-managed ATM in the same area as a WLA ATM, the White Label ATMs may not be able to generate a profit
Differences Between Brown Label and White Label ATMs
The differences between Brown Label ATM and White Label ATMs are:
| Brown Label ATM |
White Label ATM |
| Brown Label ATMs have their hardware and ATM machine leased by a service provider |
Non-banking entities own and operate ATMs |
| The sponsor bank’s brand name appears on the Brown label ATM |
There is no bank logo on a white label ATM machine |
| The RBI is not directly involved. These outsourcing firms are bound by contracts with their respective banks |
The RBI is directly involved as white label companies must obtain a license or permission from the RBI in order to conduct business |
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bard, ChatGPT, AI
Mains level: AI, Machine Learning
Google has finally decided to answer the challenge and threat posed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI and its AI chatbot- ChatGPT.
What is Bard, when can I access it?
- Google’s Bard is functioned on LaMDA, the firm’s Language Model for Dialogue Applications system, and has been in development for several years.
- It is what Sunder Pichai termed an “experimental conversational AI service”.
- Google will be opening it up to trusted testers ahead of making it more widely available to the public in the coming weeks.
- It is not yet publicly available.
What is Bard based on?
- Bard is built on Transformer technology—which is also the backbone of ChatGPT and other AI bots.
- Transformer technology was pioneered by Google and made open-source in 2017.
- Transformer technology is a neural network architecture, which is capable of making predictions based on inputs and is primarily used in natural language processing and computer vision technology.
- Previously, a Google engineer claimed LaMDA was a ‘sentient’ being with consciousness.
How does it work?
- Bard draws on information from the web to provide fresh, high-quality responses.
- In short, it will give in-depth, conversational and essay-style answers just like ChatGPT does right now.
- It requires significantly less computing power, enabling us to scale to more users, allowing for more feedback.
A user will be able to ask Bard to explain new discoveries from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to a 9-year-old, or learn more about the best strikers in football right now, and then get drills to build your skills.
|
What about its computing power?
- Remember running these models also requires significant computing power.
- For instance, ChatGPT is powered by Microsoft’s Azure Cloud services.
- This also explains why the service often runs into errors at times, because too many people are accessing it.
Key difference between ChatGPT and Google’s Bard
- It appears that to take on ChatGPT, Google has an ace up its sleeve: the ability to draw information from the Internet.
- Bard draws on information from the web to provide fresh, high-quality responses.
- ChatGPT has impressed with its ability to respond to complex queries — though with varying degrees of accuracy — but its biggest shortcoming perhaps is that it cannot access real-time information from the Internet.
- ChatGPT’s language model was trained on a vast dataset to generate text based on the input, and the dataset, at the moment, only includes information until 2021.
Is Bard better than ChatGPT?
- Bard looks like a limited rollout right now.
- Google is looking for a lot of feedback at the moment around Bard, so it is hard to say whether it can answer more questions than ChatGPT.
- Google has also not made clear the amount of knowledge that Bard possesses.
- For instance, with ChatGPT, we know its knowledge is limited to events till 2021.
- Of course, it is based on LaMDA, which has been in the news for a while now.
Why has Google announced Bard right now?
- Bard comes as Microsoft is preparing to announce an integration of ChatGPT into its Bing Search engine.
- Google might have invented the ‘Transformer’ technology, but it is now being seen as a latecomer to the AI revolution.
- ChatGPT in many ways is being called the end of Google Search, given that conversational AI can give long, essay style and sometimes elegant answers to a user’s queries.
- Of course, not all of these are correct, but then AI is capable of correcting itself as well and learning from mistakes.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Global geopolitical struggle and India's foreign policy
Context
- On 1 February, a high-altitude balloon of Chinese origin was spotted over the US state of Montana, which also houses one of the country’s three active nuclear missile silos. on 4 February, US forces shot down the balloon over the country’s South Carolina coast and are now proceeding to collect some of the debris.
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Balloons for surveillance
- Balloons could prove much cheaper and loiter for extended periods, providing continuous surveillance over targets, unlike satellites based on orbital motion.
How The US responded?
- Initial assessment: The US government officially described it as a surveillance balloon with no immediate military or physical threat but was quick to go back on its initial assessment.
- Incident as a part of Chinese larger troubling pattern: An American view describes the Chinese balloon incident as part of a larger, more troubling pattern.
- China claims as it was civilian airship and unintentionally flown: Despite Chinese claims that the balloon was a harmless civilian airship that had unintentionally flown into US airspace, Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelled his much-anticipated diplomatic visit to Beijing.
- Issue is a matter of violation of sovereignty: The US has said that the balloon issue is a matter of violation of sovereignty, and, as of 4 February, there are reports of another balloon being spotted over South America that China has admitted is also theirs.
Similar experiments
- US utilising high-altitude balloons: Not just China, the US has also experimented with utilising high-altitude balloons in space for a long time. In July 2022, NASA tested an aerial robotic balloon that would work in tandem with an orbiter to carry out scientific measurements of Venus.
- UK demonstrated in 2022: In August 2022, the UK selected an American company to demonstrate an uncrewed platform for stratospheric communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). The need was for manoeuvrable, long-duration missions capable of locating targets anywhere on earth.
Global geopolitical struggle
- Default mode but with different players: The event if viewed from a historical perspective, the world is back to its default mode, only this time, it has a different set of actors.
- It involves various forms of power, primarily shaped by technology: Notably, there exist also nuclear weapons in the hands of nine powers, unlike during the Cold War era, when the number was confined to five.
- Economic and technological integration is much greater than ever before: Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, attempts at desegregating economic and technological fields have not just continued but also gained momentum.
- Camps led by the US and China: Global cooperation is in short supply and is being morphed into a coalition-building exercise ensconced in primarily two camps led by the US and China.
- Benefited from lower cost supplies from China and Russia: Economically, it has maintained trade with China and benefited from lower-cost energy supplies from Russia.
- India’s tilt towards west: After China’s aggression on the northern borders, India has tilted to the West, especially in the maritime and technological arenas.
- Increasingly polarised world challenging India’s foreign policy: But as global tensions grow and confrontations increase, India could find itself under pressure to take sides even when its interests are not under contention. Therefore, there is a need to articulate a foreign policy paper on India’s alignment posture in a world that is becoming increasingly polarised.
- This policy must foster partnerships based on context and not on blocs: India could join hands with the US and its allies in seeking an open and rules-based Indo-Pacific order. It could even partner with China on climate change if there is a congruence of interests.
- Challenge is to avoid being dragged in war: In grand strategic terms, India’s challenge is to avoid being dragged into a World War that must be considered a growing possibility.
India as peacemaker
- Exploring the role of a peace broker
- What could be at the back of the Indian strategic mind is to play the role of a peace broker and explore every possibility to make it count.
- This is important because the state of relations between the US and China does not seem to have many prospects for a return to dialogue that can facilitate consensus on bilateral, multilateral and global issues.
- It is a possibility reflected in the inability of the United Nations to intervene, as the major parties involved are themselves in contention for the position of the stronger superpower.
- India may be getting into a position to make a peacebuilding attempt:
- A report by a US-based business intelligence consulting firm corroborates this asserts that India may be getting into a position to make a peacebuilding attempt
- According to this survey, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is among the world’s most popular global leaders. With a 78 per cent approval rating, Modi is far ahead of other contenders.
Conclusion
- It is high time that Indian strategists explore the feasibility of making India a peacemaker. It is a difficult and challenging task that may seem impossible. But there is no reason not to try, as the Prime Minister and the posture of the nation has both internal and external popularity on its side.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Read the attached article
Context
- More than half of the population worldwide lives in cities, making urban centres critical to socioeconomic growth and development. However, rampant urbanisation has led to unequal distribution of resources and a lopsided development approach that ignores the specific needs of women. Despite projections of two-thirds of the population living in cities by 2050, urban development remains exclusive of women’s perspectives and needs.
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Gender inequality in cities
- Primary reason: One of the primary reasons behind gender inequality in cities is that modern cities are planned mainly by men and for men, thus sidelining the needs of women.
- Designed assuming that the role of women is confined to household: The cities have been traditionally designed on the premise that a woman’s role is primarily confined to the household, barring their need to access the immediate neighbourhood.
- Patriarchal approach has taken away the Fundamental rights: This patriarchal approach, while shaping the power dynamics between men and women, has also taken away the fundamental right of women to live and thrive in a safe and inclusive outdoor environment.
- Women one of the most vulnerable groups in society: Women, one of the most vulnerable groups in society, face violence in physical and cyber mode, making it difficult for them to access opportunities that come with urbanisation.
- For instance: Due to poorly lit streets and a lack of women-friendly mobility systems, women cannot actively participate in the workforce. Only 27 percent of women participate in the workforce in India as compared to 79 percent of men.
- Male dominated nature of job opportunities available in the cities: Most of them are male-dominated, such as the platform economy jobs of delivery agents and those at vast construction sites, leaving less space for women to intervene.
- Women professionals are burdened with dual work responsibilities: Moreover, with an increase in the number of households in cities, women are devoting most of their time to home and caring work, thus, leaving less time for them to do a job. In this scenario, women professionals are burdened with dual work roles, impacting their physical and mental well-being.
- Discouraged drop outs: Furthermore, the social tendency to discourage urban women from working after marriage has generated a trend of ‘discouraged drop-outs’, leaving them out of the workforce.
- Role in urban planning and governance is abysmally low: Women’s participation in urban planning and governance has been abysmally low. Women hold only 10 percent of the highest ranks globally in architecture and urban planning offices. With women left out of city planning institutions, city planners ignore the needs of women and the challenges they face.
Do you know: The concept of a 15-minute city?
- The concept of a 15-minute city, i.e., where everything needed will be available within a walkable distance of 15 minutes, is attracting the interest of planners even in India.
- However, for stray examples such as Magarpatta, a city in Pune, the concept has failed to move beyond rhetoric.
Focus areas of development
- City society intervention is a prerequisite: The intervention of civil society and policymakers on specific parameters can help build gender-responsive cities that accommodate the concerns of all citizens.
- Building safer cities: Better street lighting, women-friendly transport systems, and behavioural change programmes that help people understand that the onus of safety is not on women but on society as a whole will surely improve women’s access to safer cities.
- For instance: Building technology systems such as the Safetipin app helps women map safe areas and take necessary actions in emergencies by collating a list of important contacts, GPS tracking and so on, thus, trying to make streets safer.
- Changing the attitude and mindset of society at large: Counselling sessions for men, sensitising them about how women feel if a certain social behaviour is practised, can trigger an eventual change in their mindset towards women’s needs.
- Building gender-inclusive jobs: Data suggests that 10 percent increase in women’s workforce participation rate can add US$ 770 million, approximately 18 percent, to India’s GDP. Teaching men to shoulder family responsibilities, making workspaces women-friendly, promoting women to leadership positions, and diversifying the availability of jobs can go a long way in improving the situation.
- Role of women in urban governance: Having women at the top can have a domino effect in society, making other women aspirational of the positions they can reach and the impact they can create.
- For example: Cities like Athena, Bogota, Nairobi, Dakar, and San Francisco that have had female leadership have witnessed greater socio-economic and sustainable development.
- Developing gender-sensitive infrastructure: Globally, one in three women do not have access to safe toilets. Building toilets for women and places to breastfeed and baby changing stations improves the turnout of women on the streets. Improving access to clean water will also improve overall health for women as globally.
Way ahead
- Need a paradigm shift in approaches to policymaking: Including more women in decision-making roles to identify shared concerns and build integrated solutions will need a paradigm shift in approaches to policymaking. This calls for a policy focus on optimum resource allocation and equitable distribution, ensuring easy, safe, and affordable access to all.
- Feminist approach in policymaking: Policymakers need to adopt a feminist approach to urban development.
- Feminist urbanism: Feminist urbanism seeks to understand and integrate the concerns of women and other gender and sexual minorities across caste, class, age differences, disabilities, etc.
- Developing cities on the lines of feminist urbanism: Creating a city on the lines of feminist urbanism refers to constructing compact and mixed-use neighbourhoods, inclusive streets focusing on pedestrian needs and building other critical urban infrastructure.
Conclusion
- Building global partnerships to aid gender mainstreaming in urban spaces can prove fruitful. India has a chance to further this cause as it assumes the G20 presidency. The Urban 20 grouping can bring urban policymakers from the -20 nations to deliberate on women’s rights and evolve gender-inclusive development processes to help cities attain the 2030 agenda for sustainable development holistically.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Budget highlights
Mains level: Budget and the rural economy
Context
- Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2023-24. Union budgets can be understood in two ways. The first is as a standard accounting exercise of the government’s revenues and expenditures. It is this second aspect that provides insight into the government’s assessment of the challenges facing the economy and ways to overcome them.
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First aspect: standard accounting exercise of the government’s revenues and expenditures
- Projections are less reliable: Over the years, this has ceased to be a good metric with governments failing to spend what is announced in the budget. While the practice of off-budget entries is now no longer relevant, even revenue projections are much less reliable.
- Budget a comprehensive document: However, the budget continues to remain relevant as the most important and perhaps the only comprehensive economic document of the government.
Second aspect: Government’s assessment of the economic challenges and ways to overcome
- Premature to conclude: While the fog of the pandemic has disappeared and the associated supply bottlenecks have eased, it is premature to conclude that the economy has fully recovered.
- Per capita income is low: Per capita incomes in real terms in 2021-22 are still below the 2018-19 levels and the overall growth between 2016-17 and 2021-22 is at its lowest level of 3.7 per cent for any five-year period in the last four decades.
The pandemic effect:
- Economic slowdown: The fact that the economy was slowing down before the pandemic makes it clear that Covid only exacerbated the already fragile economic situation.
- Energy towards managing the pandemic: The structural factors that led to the slowdown remain, as in the last three years the government’s efforts were directed towards managing the pandemic.
- Decline in demand: The most important of these is the decline in demand, both for consumption and investment. Private consumption accounts for almost 60 per cent of the economy and this engine of growth has failed to fire.
- The distress is far more serious in rural areas: Rural wages have stagnated for almost a decade now. Farmers’ incomes have either declined or, at best, stagnated in the last five years.
- Withdrawal of expenditure: What has been done is the withdrawal of expenditure on almost every head that mattered for rural economic recovery. With spiraling inflation and even the cushion of free foodgrains having been withdrawn, rural areas are likely to face an uncertain situation.
- The budget for the agricultural sector is lower than the allocation last year: In real terms, the budget has declined by 10 per cent at a time when the agricultural sector is going through its worst crisis. The rise in input costs for both energy and fertilisers is likely to get worse with the withdrawal of the fertiliser subsidy.
- Declined allocation of cash transfer: Even the nominal cash transfer that was provided as part of the PM-Kisan has seen a decline in allocation. But then, this budget is no different from others in the last five years.
- Actual investment in agriculture is declined: Public investment in agriculture declined by 0.6 per cent per annum between 2016-17 and 2020-21, the last year for which data is available. This is a period when the agrarian economy has suffered its worst crisis of profitability.
- Declined budget for non-farm sector: The non-farm sector is now greater in terms of its contribution to the rural economy but has seen a decline in budget allocations.
- For instance: The budget for the Ministry of Rural Development is 13 per cent lower than the revised expenditure last year. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) has seen its budget decline in the revised estimates for 2022-23. This is the lowest amount allocated in the last five years compared to actual expenditure on the scheme.
- Only Hosing scheme has seen an increase: The only scheme that has seen an increase in allocation is the rural housing scheme, from an actual spending of Rs 48,422 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 54,487 crore.
Supply-side interventions in demand constrained economy
- Preference for supply-side interventions: The government’s preference for supply-side interventions even when there is excess capacity in a demand-constrained economy. It is this understanding that is reflected in an almost one-third increase in allocation for investment. A bulk of this is in railways and roads a much-needed boost to the infrastructure sector.
- Private sector needs to accompany: But given the small share of public investment, it is unlikely to be sufficient unless it is accompanied by the private sector increasing its investment. Unfortunately, the private sector neither responding to rising public investment nor tax subsidies, as were given in 2019.
- Overall impact: This will have a negligible impact on employment and domestic demand given the low employment elasticity of these investments. Regardless, the increase in investments is welcome.
Conclusion
- The problem with this budget is not accounting but economic policy. This was the last full budget in which government could undertake serious steps to revive the economy. That required prioritising allocations towards reviving consumption demand, spurring private investment and protecting people from the vulnerabilities of high inflation and a slowing economy.
Mains Question
Q. Discuss the impact of pandemic on Indian economy. Highlight governments supply side interventions in demand constrained economy.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Earthquakes, Tectonic Plates
Mains level: Read the attached story
More than 4000 people died and several hundred were injured after a major earthquake of magnitude 7.8 hit south-central Turkey and Northwest Syria.
What is an Earthquake?
- An earthquake is an intense shaking of the ground caused by movement under the earth’s surface.
- It happens when two blocks of the earth suddenly slip past one another.
- This releases stored-up ‘elastic strain’ energy in the form of seismic waves, which spreads through the earth and cause the shaking of the ground.
What exactly causes Earthquakes?
- As we know, the earth’s outermost surface, crust, is fragmented into tectonic plates.
- The edges of the plates are called plate boundaries, which are made up of faults.
- The tectonic plates constantly move at a slow pace, sliding past one another and bumping into each other.
- As the edges of the plates are quite rough, they get stuck with one another while the rest of the plate keeps moving.
- Earthquake occurs when the plate has moved far enough and the edges unstick on one of the faults.
- The location below the earth’s surface where the earthquake starts is called the hypocenter, and the location directly above it on the surface of the earth is called the epicentre.
How prone is Turkey to Earthquakes?
- Turkey and Syria lie in a seismically active region
- The region where the earthquake has struck lies along a well-known seismic fault line called the Anatolia tectonic block that runs through northern, central, and eastern Turkey.
- It is a seismically active zone — though not as active as, say, the Himalayan region which is one of the most dangerous regions in the world from the perspective of earthquakes.
What makes Turkey a hotbed of seismic activity?
- Turkey is frequently shaken by earthquakes. In 2020 itself, it recorded almost 33,000 earthquakes in the region.
- Turkey is located on the Anatolian tectonic plate, which is wedged between the Eurasian and African plates.
- On the north side, the minor Arabian plate further restricts movement.
- One fault line — the North Anatolian fault (NAF) line, the meeting point of the Eurasian and Anatolian tectonic plates — is known to be “particularly devastating”.
- Then there is the East Anatolian fault line, the tectonic boundary between the Anatolian Plate and the northward-moving Arabian Plate.
- It runs 650 kilometers from eastern Turkey and into the Mediterranean.
- In addition to this, the Aegean Sea Plate, located in the eastern Mediterranean Sea under southern Greece and western Turkey, is also a source of seismic activity in the region.
Where was the earthquake epicentered?
- The centre of the earthquake was centred about 33 km from Gaziantep, around 18 km deep.
- Its effect was felt across West Asia, Northern Africa and South Eastern Europe with residents of Lebanon, Cyprus, Greece, Israel and Egypt also reporting tremors.
Aftermath: Many Aftershocks hits the region
- Aftershocks are a sequence of earthquakes that happen after a larger mainshock on a fault.
- Aftershocks occur near the fault zone where the mainshock rupture occurred and are part of the “readjustment process” after the main slip on the fault.
- While they become less frequent with time, although they can continue for days, weeks, months, or even years for a very large mainshock.
Can earthquakes be predicted?
- An accurate prediction of an earthquake requires some sort of a precursory signal from within the earth that indicates a big quake is on the way.
- Moreover, the signal must occur only before large earthquakes so that it doesn’t indicate every small movement within the earth’s surface.
- Currently, there is no equipment to find such precursors, even if they exist.
India offers assistance
- India is among the 45 countries, which have so far offered assistance to Turkey.
- It’s sending search and rescue teams of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) and medical teams along with relief material to the West Asian nation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NISAR
Mains level: Not Much
An earth-observation satellite NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) jointly developed by NASA and ISRO is all set to be shipped to India later this month for a possible launch in September.
What is NISAR?
- NISAR has been built by space agencies of the US and India under a partnership agreement signed in 2014.
- The 2,800 kilograms satellite consists of both L-band and S-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instruments, which makes it a dual-frequency imaging radar satellite.
- While NASA has provided the L-band radar, GPS, a high-capacity solid-state recorder to store data, and a payload data subsystem, ISRO has provided the S-band radar, the GSLV launch system and spacecraft.
- Another important component of the satellite is its large 39-foot stationary antenna reflector.
- Made of a gold-plated wire mesh, the reflector will be used to focus the radar signals emitted and received by the upward-facing feed on the instrument structure.
What is the mission?
- Once launched into space, NISAR will observe subtle changes in Earth’s surfaces, helping researchers better understand the causes and consequences of such phenomena.
- It will spot warning signs of natural disasters, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and landslides.
- The satellite will also measure groundwater levels, track flow rates of glaciers and ice sheets, and monitor the planet’s forest and agricultural regions, which can improve our understanding of carbon exchange.
- By using synthetic aperture radar (SAR), NISAR will produce high-resolution images.
- SAR is capable of penetrating clouds and can collect data day and night regardless of the weather conditions.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ASI
Mains level: Not Much
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has decided to form a special committee to trace and certify 24 protected monuments that have gone “missing”.
Why in news?
- PMO has in a report last month said there was an urgent need to “rationalise” the list of monuments of national importance.
Sites in news
- Barakhamba Cemetery temple ruins, Mirzapur (UP) dating to 1000 AD
- Kos Minars – one at Faridabad’s Mujesar and
- Inchla Wali Gumti at Mubarakpur Kotla in the capital
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)
- Founded by Alexander Cunningham, who is also revered as the “Father of Indian Archaeology”
- He was the protege of James Prinsep.
- It was Lord Canning who helped pass a statute for ASI’s establishment in 1861.
- Post-Independence, it is a Statutory body that now works under Ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains act (AMASR Act), 1958.
- It works as an attached Office of the Ministry of Culture.
- ASI has 3678 protected monuments and Archaeology sites of National Importance + 29 cultural under the World Heritage List by UNESCO.
Initiatives by ASI
- Museums
- ASI’s museums are customarily located right next to the sites that their inventories are associated with “so that they may be studied amid their natural surroundings and not lose focus by being transported”.
- A dedicated Museums Branch maintains a total of 44 museums spread across the country.
- Publications by ASI
- Epigraphia Indica
- Ancient India
- Indian Archaeology: A Review (Annually)
- Library
- Central Archaeological Library in the National Archives building in Janpath, New Delhi
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Yuva Sangam
Mains level: Not Much
The Union Ministry of Education has launched the “Yuva Sangam” registration portal.
Yuva Sangam
- The Yuva Sangam is an initiative of Hon’ble Prime Minister to build close ties between the youth of North East Region and rest of India under the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.
- Yuva Sangam embodies the philosophy of our rich culture, our glorious history and ancient heritage.
- Youth between the ages of 18 and 30 will take part in this program.
- Over 20000 youth will travel across India and gain a unique opportunity of cross cultural learning.
- Through the course of the program, students will interact with each other in the areas of language, literature, cuisine, festivals, cultural events and tourism.
- They will get a first-hand experience of living in a completely different geographical and cultural scenario.
Significance of the program
- The program will give an opportunity to see, know, and understand India and do something for the country.
- This is yet another initiative of PM Modi for cementing the bond between the northeast and the rest of India.
- Yuva Sangam will celebrate India`s diversity, rejuvenate the spirit of oneness and highlight the strength of India`s democracy as envisioned by the PM.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GAC's
Mains level: Digital governance in India
Context
- Indian digital governance recently witnessed multiple developments in its appellate mechanisms. In December 2022, Google appealed two of the most significant antitrust decisions that the Competition Commission of India (CCI), issued on the functioning of digital markets. GAC’s capacity to handle complaints needs to be increased.
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Background: The Google case of anti-competitive contracts
- In October 2022, CCI found Google anti-competitive in its Android licensing contracts and app store policies in two separate orders.
- The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), an authority for company law, competition law, and insolvency law matters, will hear Google’s appeals from 15-17 February.
- Simultaneously, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) recently announced the formation of three Grievance Appellate Committees to enforce the accountability of online intermediaries.
What is the grievance appellate committee (GAC)?
- Based on IT Act: The Centre established three Grievance Appellate Committees based on the recently amended Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules 2021).
- Three GAC’s: The Centre has announced three different GACs led by the IT, Home Affairs, and Information and Broadcasting ministries.
- Composition: The committee is styled as a three-member council out of which one member will be a government officer (holding the post ex officio) while the other two members will be independent representatives.
- Complaint within 30 days: Users can file a complaint against the order of the grievance officer within 30 days.
- Online dispute resolution: The GAC is required to adopt an online dispute resolution mechanism which will make it more accessible to the users.
- Three pillars of regulatory framework: Regulatory frameworks stand on three pillars. These include a governing law, an empowered regulator and a fair appeals mechanism.
- An appellate mechanism is a critical part: An appellate mechanism is a critical part of this framework because it ensures an opportunity to remedy inappropriate application of governing laws. Therefore, if the framework is incapacitated, there will be an unfair application of law, which defeats the purpose of the legislation.
- Appellate bodies are essential tools for digital markets: Appellate bodies operate under a specialised mandate, which allows them to adapt their processes to the unique facets of a case. They are an essential tool for digital markets, which tend to be more complex than first meets the eye.
- For instance: Google allows Android users to bypass the Play Store and directly install apps from the internet known as sideloading. But when they do so, Google issues disclaimers about associated security risks linked to downloads from unknown sources. The CCI’s order on Android calls such disclaimers anti-competitive because they reinforce Google’s monopoly over app distribution.
Are GACs well equipped to deal with grievances?
- Not well equipped to deal with the user grievances: The recently formed Grievance Appellate Committees do not seem equipped to deal with the barrage of user grievances linked to online intermediary services.
- For instance: In October 2022, Facebook received 703 complaints, Twitter 723 and WhatsApp 701. WhatsApp then banned 2.3 million accounts. And this does not even account for all other types of online intermediation, such as e-commerce intermediaries.
- Multiple steps to arrive at a decision while the online is accessible instantly: Online content is accessible by millions instantly, and the longer unlawful content is accessible, the greater the harm to affected parties. Accordingly, a 30-day disposal period for the appeals to the GAC has been mandated. However, any dispute resolution process involves multiple steps.
- Prolonged dispute resolution: The principles of natural justice also require the originator of the disputed content to be heard. Therefore, when they’re implicated along with intermediaries and complainants, it prolongs the dispute resolution process.
- GAC’s may struggle to substantially resolve the grievances in time: The Centre has announced three different GACs led by the IT, Home Affairs, and Information and Broadcasting ministries. However, the sheer volume of online user content suggests that GACs may struggle to substantially resolve these grievances in time.
Conclusion
- Effective appeals mechanisms form an integral part of the digital governance toolkit. India has a progressive adjudicatory system that recognises the need for specialised appellate mechanisms, but its potential requires actualisation. The appellate mechanism must be strengthened for any technology policy reforms to succeed.
Mains question
Q. Briefly explain what is the grievance appellate committee (GAC)? Are GACs well equipped to deal with grievances? Discuss
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: wealth tax
Mains level: Tax reforms and wealth tax In India
Context
- There is a good reason we do not tax wealth directly. Actually, there are many good reasons. But that’s not stopping some states from giving it a try. There are much more effective options for targeting wealthy people for tax revenue that are better for the economy. Some the US is already doing, such as state property taxes, federal capital gains taxes and estate taxes on inheritances.
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What is wealth tax?
- Wealth tax is a direct tax unlike the goods and services tax or value-added tax, can take several forms, such as property tax, inheritance or gift tax and capital gains tax.
- It aims to reduce the inequalities of wealth.
- It is based on the market value of assets owned by a taxpayer and charged on the net wealth of super rich individuals.
Why in news?
- The new bills this week by California and Washington propose taxing their richest residents 1% to 1.5% each year.
- Four other states including New York and Illinois propose taxing unrealized capital gains, or taxing wealth based on how much it grew in the last year whether or not you sold any assets.
Crafting good tax policy starts with a question: How much will it distort economic behaviour?
- Creates distortions: Many economists say that wealth taxes create the most distortions, followed by income and consumption taxes.
- Wealth taxes discourage saving and investment: A 1% or 2% wealth tax may sound small, but it’s very large compared with current tax rates. Since it’s levied each year, it’s better compared to current taxes on realized capital income. These plans drastically reduce the return on risky investment, and rewarding risk is important for economic growth.
- Unrealized capital gains, are much harder to measure: Income is relatively easy to measure. Your employer sends you money that is well documented and has an objective value. Overall wealth, especially unrealized capital gains, are much harder to measure.
- Mostly rich people hold Wealth in assets: Very rich people also tend to hold a lot of their wealth in assets that aren’t publicly traded, either in private equity, in their own businesses, fine art, gold bars or other possessions.
- Hard to implement effectively: Most jurisdictions have abandoned wealth taxes. They are very hard to implement at the federal level, let alone by states with fewer resources to collect and assess data on wealth holdings.
- Example of Switzerland: A possible model is Switzerland, where individual cantons have their own wealth tax, but the tax accounts for a trivial share of tax revenue.
- A wealth tax is a bad policy based on the economics and feasibility: Collecting it will require tremendous resources that states don’t have and it won’t produce the revenue they’re counting on.
- Abolished wealth tax: The government abolished wealth tax as announced in the budget 2015. In its place, the government decided to increase the surcharge levied on the ‘super rich’ class by 2% to 12%. (Super rich are persons with incomes of Rs.1 crore or higher and companies that earn Rs.10 crores or higher).
- Abolished to simplify tax structure and discourage tax evasion: The abolition was a move to do away with high costs of collection and also to simplify the existing tax structure thereby discouraging tax evasion.
- No wealth tax at present: India presently does not have any wealth tax i.e., a tax levied on one’s entire property in all forms. It did not impose a one-time ‘solidarity tax’ on wealth in post-covid budgets that could have generated resources for essential public investment.
Way ahead
- Promising that a few wealthy people can pick up the public tab is bad economics.
- States would be better off making their consumption taxes larger and more progressive.
- They can tax luxury goods like designer clothes, private jet travel or second homes heavily.
- Governments can better enforce our existing wealth taxes by eliminating loopholes in capital gains and estate levies.
Conclusion
- Wealth taxes will continue to be in the conversation as states and the federal government need more revenue and are reluctant to raise taxes on anyone who earns more than $400,000 a year. Many economists say that wealth taxes create the most distortions, followed by income and consumption taxes. Wealth taxes need to studied not only from the lens of fiscal challenges that the states face but also market economies and probable distortions.
Mains question
Q. What is wealth tax? Highlight the present status of Wealth tax in India. It is said that Wealth tax distorts economic behaviour. Discuss in the context of States in the US proposes taxing the rich.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hydropower projects and locations, and Micro hydro systems,
Mains level: Hydropower Projects in fragile Himalayan region and alternatives
Context
- The crisis unfolding in Joshimath for over a month has led to conversations on the relevance of hydropower in the Himalayan region. Two years ago, a glacier burst led to question marks over the Rishiganga hydroelectric project in Uttarakhand.
What is hydropower
- Hydropower generates electricity from the natural flow of water without releasing any emissions or pollutants. It also does not rely on fossil fuels. Therefore, it is often considered green energy.
Hydropower Projects in Himalayan region
- The Himalaya are a major water source for much of South Asia: Most countries in the region, including India, China, Nepal, Bhutan, and Pakistan, have built or are planning to build hydropower projects in the Himalaya.
- Hydropower one of the key renewable energy sources of India: In India, the government has identified hydropower as a key renewable energy source. Many hydropower projects are under construction or in the planning stages in the Indian Himalaya, including the Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project in Arunachal Pradesh and the Teesta Low Dam Hydroelectric Project in Sikkim.
- Nepal has also identified hydropower as a major source of energy: Nepal has many hydropower projects in the planning and development stages, including the Arun III Hydroelectric Project and the West Seti Hydroelectric Project.
- Main source of revenue for Bhutan: In Bhutan, hydropower is the main source of revenue, and the government has set a target to export surplus electricity to India. The country has built several hydropower projects, including the Chukha Hydropower Project and the Tala Hydropower Project.
Concerns about the potential conflicts over water resources in the region
- Fragile ecosystem of Himalaya already under stress: The Himalaya is a fragile ecosystem and home to a diverse range of flora and fauna. It is already threatened by deforestation, overgrazing, and construction activities that harm the environment and local communities that depend on it.
- Construction of dams can disrupt the characteristics of river flow: The construction of dams can disrupt the flow of rivers, leading to changes in water temperature and chemistry. It can also cause erosion, landslides, and sedimentation which can have a negative impact on the local environment.
- Construction disrupts well-being of the local population: Dams also disrupt the migration patterns of fish and other aquatic species and impact the local wildlife, particularly if the dam’s construction leads to habitat loss. Large-scale hydroelectric dams displace local communities, affecting their livelihoods and cultural heritage and impacting the overall well-being of the local population.
Micro hydro systems as an alternative to hydropower
- Micro hydro system of 100 kilowatts (kW): It is a small-scale hydroelectric power generation system that typically generates up to 100 kilowatts (kW) of electricity.
- Applications: These systems use the energy of falling water to turn a turbine, which, in turn, generates electricity. They can be used for various applications, including powering homes, businesses, and small communities.
- Less expensive and smaller environmental footprint: They are typically less expensive to build and maintain than large hydroelectric dams and have a smaller environmental footprint.
- Can be located at inaccessible areas: They can be located even in inaccessible areas where it is difficult to transmit electricity from larger power stations, and they can provide a reliable source of energy to communities that are not connected to the grid.
- Two types : Micro hydro systems can be classified into two main types i.e., run-of-river and storage systems. 1. Run-of-river systems use the natural flow of water in a stream or river to generate electricity. 2. In contrast, storage systems use a reservoir to store water and release it as needed to generate electricity.
Conclusion
- The environmental impact of hydropower can vary depending on projects and the ways in which they are implemented. Micro hydro systems can be tailored to minimize the ecosystem’s negative impact and provide sustainable energy solutions. However, it also can have some impact on the environment and local communities. A detailed assessment should be carried out to evaluate the potential impact before proceeding with the project.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mangroves
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Union Budget for 2023-24 announced an initiative for mangrove plantation along the coastline and on saltpan lands, under MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes).
MISHTI
- MISHTI is a new programme that will facilitate mangrove plantation along India’s coastline and on salt pan lands.
- This new programme will aim at intensive afforestation of coastal mangrove forests.
Implementation strategy
- The Budget states that MISHTI will be implemented through convergence between-
- MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme),
- CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) Fund and other sources.
What are Mangroves?
- Mangroves are salt-tolerant plant communities found in tropical and subtropical intertidal regions.
- They are important refuges of coastal biodiversity and also act as bio-shields against extreme climatic events.
- With the threat of climate change and frequent tropical storms looming large, planting more mangroves is a welcome development for India which has a coastline of about 7,500 km.
Mangroves in India
- India has about 4,992 sq km (0.49 million hectares) of mangroves, according to the Indian State of Forest Report (IFSR) 2021.
- Mangroves in India are distributed across nine States and three UTs with West Bengal having the highest mangrove cover of 2,114 sq km.
- The IFSR report also points out that there has been an increase in the mangrove cover from 4,046 sq km in 1987 to 4,992 sq km in 2021.
Why protect mangroves?
- Infrastructure projects — industrial expansion, shifting coastlines, coastal erosion and storms, have resulted in a significant decrease in mangrove habitats.
- Between 2010 and 2020, around 600 sq km of mangroves were lost of which more than 62% was due to direct human impacts, the Global Mangrove Alliance said in its 2022 report.
Importance of mangroves
- Biodiversity: Mangrove forests — consisting of trees and shrub that live in intertidal water in coastal areas — host diverse marine life.
- Fishing grounds: They also support a rich food web, with molluscs and algae-filled substrate acting as a breeding ground for small fish, mud crabs and shrimps, thus providing a livelihood to local artisanal fishers.
- Carbon sinks: Equally importantly, they act as effective carbon stores, holding up to four times the amount of carbon as other forested ecosystems.
- Cyclone buffers: When Cyclone Amphan struck West Bengal in May, its effects were largely mitigated by the Sundarbans flanking its coasts along the Bay of Bengal.
Threats to Mangroves
- Anthropogenic activities: They are a major threat to the mangroves. Urbanization, industrialization and the accompanying discharge of industrial effluents, domestic sewage and pesticide residues from agricultural lands threaten these fragile ecosystems.
- Saltpan and aquaculture: This causes huge damage to the mangroves. Shrimp farming alone destroyed 35,000 hectares of mangroves worldwide.
- Destruction for farming: 40% of mangroves on the west coast has been converted into farmlands and other settlements in just 3 decades.
- Sea-level rise: This is another challenge to these mangroves- especially on the Bay of Bengal coast.
What lies ahead?
- A contract-based one-time plantation under MGNREGS and CAMPA alone may not work unless the local communities take ownership of the forests.
- Discharge of untreated domestic and industrial effluents into the rivers should be immediately stopped.
- The natural inter-tidal flow along the coast should be conserved.
Try this PYQ:
Q. Which one of the following is the correct sequence of ecosystems in the order of decreasing productivity?
(a) Oceans, lakes, grasslands, mangroves
(b) Mangroves, oceans, grasslands, lakes
(c) Mangroves, grasslands, lakes, oceans
(d) Oceans, mangroves, lakes, grasslands
Post your answers here.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Supreme Court of India
Mains level: Not Much
The Supreme Court of India is hosting its celebration of the 73rd anniversary of its establishment today.
Why in news?
- This year’s event is being aired on social media platforms and will witness Singapore’s Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, who is of Indian origin, as the chief guest.
When was the Supreme Court founded?
- On January 28, 1950, two days after India became a sovereign democratic republic, the Supreme Court of India came into being.
- The first CJI of India was H. J. Kania.
- The inauguration took place in the Chamber of Princes in the Parliament building which was the home to the Federal Court of India for 12 years preceding the Supreme Court’s establishment.
- The Parliament House was to be the home of the Supreme Court for years that were to follow until the court acquired its own present building with lofty domes and its signature spacious colonnaded verandas in 1958.
History of established
- In 1861, the Indian High Courts Act 1861 was enacted to create high courts for various provinces and abolished Supreme Courts at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay and also the sadar adalats in presidency towns in their respective regions.
- These new high courts had the distinction of being the highest courts for all cases till the creation of the Federal Court of India under the Government of India Act 1935.
- The Federal Court had jurisdiction to solve disputes between provinces and federal states and hear appeals against judgment of the high courts.
Premise of the Supreme Court
- In 1958, when the court shifted its premises, the building was shaped to project the image of scales of justice, in the central wing.
- In 1979, two new wings – the East wing and the West wing – were added to the complex. In all, there are 19 Courtrooms in the various wings of the building.
- The Chief Justice’s Court is the largest of the Courts located at the Centre of the Central Wing.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: North Star
Mains level: Features of parliamentary democracy
Vice President said Parliament is the “North Star” of democracy, “a place of discussion and deliberation to realize the aspirations and dreams of the people”.
What is North Star?
- North Star is a metaphor to refer to something constant/permanent that leads and provides direction.
- Polaris, also known as the North Star or the Pole Star, is a very bright star (around 2500 times more luminous than our sun) placed less than 1° away from the north celestial pole.
- Its position and brightness have made humans use it for navigation since late antiquity.
- It is a part of the constellation Ursa Minor and is around 323 light-years away from Earth.
How it helps navigation?
- It stands almost motionless in the night sky, with all the stars of the northern sky appearing to rotate around it.
- This makes it an excellent fixed point from which to draw measurements for celestial navigation.
- Simply the elevation of the star above the horizon gives the approximate latitude of the observer and in the northern hemisphere, if you can see Polaris you can always tell which way is north.
- Upon crossing the equator to the South, the North Star is lost over the horizon and hence stops being a useful navigational aid.
When the North Star was first used to navigate?
- Polaris seems to have been first charted by the Roman mathematician and astronomer Ptolemy, who lived from about 85 to 165 B.C.
- While there does exist some evidence pointing at how the star was used for navigation in late antiquity, it is during the ‘Age of Exploration’ that it becomes such a central part of human history.
- Christopher Columbus, on his first trans-Atlantic voyage of 1492, “had to correct (his ship’s bearings) for the circle described by the pole star about the pole”, wrote his son in his biography.
- As European colonizers set sail for exotic locations across the world, the North Star became an ever-so-important feature.
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