Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GST council
Mains level: Paper 2- GST council's role in federal structure of India
Context
The Supreme Court of India recently ruled that “The recommendations of the GST Council are not binding on either the Union or the States…”.
About GST Council
- The GST Council is a federal body that aims to bring together states and the Centre on a common platform for the nationwide rollout of the indirect tax reform.
- Article 279 (1) of the amended Indian Constitution states that the GST Council has to be constituted by the President within 60 days of the commencement of the Article 279A.
- According to the article, the GST Council will be a joint forum for the Centre and the States. It consists of the following members:
- 1] The Union Finance Minister will be the Chairperson.
- 2] As a member, the Union Minister of State will be in charge of Revenue of Finance.
- 3] The Minister in charge of finance or taxation or any other Minister nominated by each State government, as members.
- The Council has to function as a platform to bring the Union and State governments together.
- As a mark of cooperative federalism, the Council shall, unanimously or through a majority of 75% of weighted votes, decide on all matters pertaining to GST and recommend such decisions to the Union and State governments.
- Article 279A (4) specifies that the Council will make recommendations to the Union and the States on the important issues related to GST, such as the goods and services will be subject or exempted from the Goods and Services Tax.
- Article 246A confers simultaneous or concurrent powers on Parliament and the state legislatures to make laws relating to GST.
- This article is in sharp contrast to the constitutional scheme that prevailed till 2017.
Background of the case
- In Union of India Anr. vs Mohit Minerals Pvt. Ltd., the Supreme Court of India on May 19, 2022 ruled on a petition relating to the levy of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) on ocean freight paid by the foreign seller to a foreign shipping company.
- Mohit Minerals had filed a writ petition before the Gujarat High Court challenging notifications levying IGST on the ground that customs duty is levied on the component of ocean freight and the levy of IGST on the freight element in the course of transportation would amount to double taxation.
- GST is paid by the supplier, but if the shipping line is located in a non-taxable territory, then GST is payable by the importer, the recipient of service.
- Ocean freight is a method of transport by which goods and cargo is transported by ships through shipping lines.
Important aspects of the judgement
- Power to legislate simultaneously: Article 246A gives powers to the Union and State governments simultaneously to legislate on the GST.
- In other words, the two tiers of the Indian Union can simultaneously legislate on matters of the GST (except the IGST, which is in the legislative domain of the Union government).
- In this case, the Government of India had argued that “Neither can Article 279A override Article 246A nor can Article 246A be made subject to Article 279A.”
- However, cooperative federalism is to operate through the GST Council to bring in harmony and alignment in matters pertaining to the GST from both governments.
- Given this background, the Union government had almost delegated the powers to create laws under the GST Act Section 5(1) to the GST Council.
- Persuasive value only: The Supreme Court of India adjudicated that the GST Council’s recommendations are non-qualified and the simultaneous legislating powers of the Union and State governments give only persuasive value to the Council’s recommendations.
- The power of the recommendations rests on the practice of cooperative federalism and collaborative decision-making in the Council.
Issues with voting rights in GST council
- Inbalance in voting rights: The Union government holds one-third weight for its votes and all States have two-thirds of the weight for their votes.
- This gives automatic veto power to the Union government because a resolution can be passed with at least three-fourths of the weighted votes.
- This imbalance in the voting rights between the Union and State governments, makes democratic decision-making difficult.
- Equal weight to all states creates political problems: Though all the States are not equal in terms of tax capacity, everyone has equal weight for their votes.
- This creates another political problem as the smaller States with lesser economic stakes can be easily influenced by interest groups.
- Debate on political lines: The debates in the GST Council will be on political lines rather than on the economics of taxation.
- When the States governed by Opposition parties are vocal on counter-points, the States governed by the same party at the Union government are mute spectators.
Way forward
- Work in a harmonised manner: The Supreme Court has recorded, “Since the Constitution does not envisage a repugnance provision to resolve inconsistencies between the Central and State laws on GST, the GST Council must ideally function, as provided by Article 279A(6) in a harmonised manner to reach a workable fiscal model through cooperation and collaboration.”
- Cooperative federalism: The nuanced understanding of cooperative federalism shows that there is no space for one-upmanship in either of the two tiers of the Indian federal government and particularly for the Union government under a quasi-federal Constitution.
Conclusion
Given the lopsided power structure favouring the Union government in the GST Council, it is against the spirit of democracy and federalism that the finances of governments can be left to such bodies.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Passive Funds
Mains level: Not Much
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) recently issued a circular on passive funds covering matters related to transparency, liquidity and operational aspects of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and index funds.
What are Passive Funds?
- A passive fund is an investment vehicle that tracks a market index, or a specific market segment, to determine what to invest in.
- Unlike with an active fund, the fund manager does not decide what securities the fund takes on.
- This normally makes passive funds cheaper to invest in than active funds, which require the fund manager to spend time researching and analysing opportunities to invest in.
- Tracker funds, such as ETFs (exchange traded funds) and index funds fall under the banner of passive funds.
What is a passive ELSS scheme?
- Passive funds mimic an underlying index. By contrast active funds are actively managed by fund managers.
- The SEBI has now introduced a passive equity-linked saving schemes (ELSS) category, which will give taxpayers another investment option to avail of tax benefits.
- According to the circular, the passive ELSS scheme will be based on any index comprising equity shares from the top 250 companies in terms of market capitalization.
- Beginning 1 July, a fund house will be able to either have an active ELSS scheme or a passive ELSS scheme, but not both.
What are the norms for debt ETFs?
- Passive debt funds are now divided into three categories:
- Corporate debt funds with exposure to corporate bonds
- G-Sec funds investing in government securities, and
- Hybrid funds where allocation is a combination of corporate bonds and government securities
- Currently, debt funds in the passive category invest only in AAA-rated instruments.
- The Sebi circular introduces norms for each debt fund category, including portfolio exposure limits to each sector, the issuer (based on rating) and group.
- Application of these provisions should help mitigate concentration risk in debt ETFs/ index funds.
What about tracking error?
- As per Sebi’s circular, passive funds must disclose ‘tracking error’ and ‘tracking difference’ in their monthly fact sheets.
- These metrics indicate how different the performance of the fund is compared to its underlying index—an effort to keep investors better informed.
- The circular specifies limits for tracking error and tracking difference, which passive funds must follow.
What is the mandate on disclosing NAVs?
- Because of poor liquidity for ETFs in the secondary market in India, ETF prices could differ widely from the net asset value (NAV) of the fund.
- The NAV of the fund represents the value of the underlying asset of the ETF.
- The Sebi circular mandates disclosure of NAV (indicative) on a continuous basis throughout the day on the stock exchange.
- While the practice is already in existence, Sebi rules institutionalize it.
- Checking the NAV can help one avoid making a transaction at a significant premium or discount.
Can one execute ETF transactions directly?
- Investors can buy or sell units of ETFs only on stock exchanges.
- But, large buy or sell transactions can also be directly placed with the fund house.
- Sebi now says orders greater than ₹25 crore alone can be placed for redemption or subscription directly with the asset management company (AMC).
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not-for-Profit Company
Mains level: Corruption and money laundering
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi following a trial court order in a tax assessment case of his not-for-profit company.
What is the case?
- A case alleged cheating and misappropriation of funds on part of the leaders in acquiring the newspaper.
- The alleged persons acquired it through a Section 25 company — in which they have 86% stake.
What is a Section 25 company?
- It is defined under the Companies Act, 1956.
- It is a not-for-profit charitable company.
- It is formed with the sole object of promoting commerce, art, science, religion, charity, or any other useful object.
- It intends to apply its profits, if any, or other income in promoting its objects, and to prohibit the payment of any dividend to its members
- Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013 includes other objects such as sports, education, research, social welfare and protection of the environment among others.
Fiscal activities allowed
- While it could be a public or a private company, a Section 25 company is prohibited from payment of any dividend to its members.
- Section 25 states that by its constitution the company is required/ intends to apply its profits, if any, or other income in promoting its objects and is prohibited from paying any dividend to its members.
What are prominent examples of such companies?
- According to details available with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, a large number of companies have been formed under the Section.
- Among these are Reliance Foundation, Reliance Research Institute, Azim Premji Foundation, Coca Cola India Foundation, and Amazon Academic Foundation.
Why are such companies formed?
- Most people looking to form a charitable entity go for forming a company under Section 25, now Section 8, rather than a Trust structure.
- This is because most foreign donors like to contribute to a company rather than Trust because they are more transparent and provide more disclosures.
- If a company has to be converted into a not-for-profit company, they can’t be converted into a Trust, however, they can be converted into a Section 25/ Section 8 company.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Rajya Sabha
Mains level: Functioning of Rajya Sabha
Ahead of Rajya Sabha elections in four states, various parties have accommodated legislators from at least three states in resorts, away from potential poaching by rival parties.
Do you know?
- Only two UTs elect members to the Rajya Sabha, not all.
- Polling is held only if the number of candidates exceeds the number of vacancies.
- Independent members can also be elected etc.
Read this newscard for all such interesting facts which can be directly asked in the prelims.
Rajya Sabha Polls
- A third of MPs in the Rajya Sabha (which is a permanent House and is not subject to dissolution), from each State, retire once in two years and polls are held to fill up the vacancies.
- Only elected members of the State Legislative Assemblies can vote in a Rajya Sabha election.
- The legislators send a batch of new members to the Upper House every two years for a six-year term.
- In addition, vacancies that arise due to resignation, death or disqualification are filled up through by-polls after which those elected serve out the remainder of their predecessors’ term.
Composition of Rajya Sabha
- A bloc of MPs belonging to one or more parties can elect a member of their choice if they have the requisite numbers.
- This is to avoid the principle of majority, which would mean that only candidates put up by ruling parties in the respective States will be elected.
- The Delhi and Puducherry Assemblies elect members to the Rajya Sabha to represent the two UTs.
What is the election process?
- Polling for a Rajya Sabha election will be held only if the number of candidates exceeds the number of vacancies.
- Since the strength of each party in the Assembly is known, it is not difficult to estimate the number of seats a party would win in the Rajya Sabha poll.
- In many states, parties avoid a contest by fielding candidates only in respect to their strength. Where an extra candidate enters the fray, voting becomes necessary.
- Candidates fielded by political parties have to be proposed by at least 10 members of the Assembly or 10% of the party’s strength in the House, whichever is less.
- For independents, there should be 10 proposers, all of whom should be members of the Assembly.
Voting procedure
- Voting is by single transferable vote, as the election is held on the principle of proportional representation.
- A single transferable vote means electors can vote for any number of candidates in order of their preference.
- A candidate requires a specified number of first preference votes to win. Each first choice vote has a value of 100 in the first round.
- To qualify, a candidate needs one point more than the quotient obtained by dividing the total value of the number of seats for which elections are taking place plus one.
Example: If there are four seats and 180 MLAs voting, the qualifying number will be 180/5= 36 votes or value of 3,600.
Why do not the Rajya Sabha polls have a secret ballot?
- The Rajya Sabha polls have a system of the open ballot, but it is a limited form of openness.
- As a measure to check rampant cross-voting, which was taken to mean that the vote had been purchased by corrupt means.
- There is a system of each party MLA showing his or her marked ballots to the party’s authorised agent (called Whip), before they are put into the ballot box.
- Showing a marked ballot to anyone other than one’s own party’s authorised agent will render the vote invalid.
- Not showing the ballot to the authorised agent will also mean that the vote cannot be counted.
- And independent candidates are barred from showing their ballots to anyone.
Is there any NOTA option in voting?
- The ECI issued two circulars, on January 24, 2014, and November 12, 2015, giving Rajya Sabha members the option to press the NOTA button in the Upper House polls.
- However, in 2018, the Supreme Court struck down the provision, holding that the ‘none of the above’ option is only for general elections.
- It cannot be applied to indirect elections based on proportional representation.
Does cross-voting attract disqualification?
- The Supreme Court, while declining to interfere with the open ballot system, ruled that not voting for the party candidate will not attract disqualification under the anti-defection law.
- As voters, MLAs retain their freedom to vote for a candidate of their choice.
- However, the Court observed that since the party would know who voted against its own candidate, it is free to take disciplinary action against the legislator concerned.
Can a legislator vote without taking oath as a member of the Assembly?
- While taking oath as a member is for anyone to function as a legislator, the Supreme Court has ruled that a member can vote in a Rajya Sabha election even before taking oath as a legislator.
- It ruled that voting at the Rajya Sabha polls, being a non-legislative activity, can be performed without taking the oath.
- A person becomes a member as soon as the list of elected members is notified by the ECI, it said.
- Further, a member can also propose a candidate before taking the oath.
Try this PYQ:
Q. Consider the following statements:
- The Rajya Sabha has no power either to reject or to amend a Money Bill.
- The Rajya Sabha cannot vote on the Demands for Grants.
- The Rajya Sabha cannot discuss the Annual Financial Statement.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) Only 1
(c) 2 and 3 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Post your answers here.
Also read
[Sansad TV] Perspective – Rajya Sabha: The Upper House
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)
Mains level: Office of the CDS
Setting the stage for appointment of the next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the government has amended Service Rules of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
The post of CDS has also been lying vacant since the demise of Late. Gen. Bipin Rawat.
What is the update in rules?
- The govt has allowed retired Service Chiefs and three-star officers eligible for consideration for the country’s top military post.
- However, with an age limit that the retired officer should not have attained 62 years on the date of appointment.
- Retired Service chiefs are largely ruled out, especially so for the present consideration.
Office of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)
- The CDS is a high military office that oversees and coordinates the working of the three Services, and offers seamless tri-service views and single-point advice to the Executive.
- On long-term it provides for defence planning and management, including manpower, equipment and strategy, and above all, “joint manship” in operations.
- In most democracies, the CDS is seen as being above inter-Service rivalries and the immediate operational preoccupations of the individual military chiefs.
- The role of the CDS becomes critical in times of conflict.
Duties and Functions of the CDS
The Ministry of Defence has outlined various functions and duties for the post of CDS:
- To head the Department of Military Affairs in Ministry of Defence and function as its Secretary.
- To act as the Principal Military Advisor to Raksha Mantri on all Tri-Service matters.
- To function as the Permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee
- To administer the Tri-Service organizations/agencies/commands.
- To be a member of Defence Acquisition Council chaired by Raksha Mantri.
- To function as the Military Advisor to the Nuclear Command Authority.
- To bring about jointness in operation, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance, etc of the three Services.
- To implement Five-Year Defence Capital Acquisition Plan and Two-Year roll-on Annual Acquisition Plans, as a follow up of Integrated Capability Development Plan.
- To bring about reforms in the functioning of three Services with the aim to augment combat capabilities of the Armed Forces by reducing wasteful expenditure.
Why need CDS?
- Tri-services coordination: The creation of the CDS will eventually lead to the formation of tri-service theatre commands intended to create vertical integration of the three forces.
- Single-point military advisory: The CDS will be a single-point military adviser to the government and synergise long term planning, procurements, training and logistics of the three Services.
- Efforts saving: This is expected to save money by avoiding duplication between the Services, at a time of shrinking capital expenditure within the defence budget.
- Military diplomacy: This is today supporting conventional diplomacy. That can’t be done by different Services.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Green Jobs
Mains level: Green Economy
At an event to mark World Environment Day recently, PM mentioned India’s efforts to create ‘green jobs’.
What are ‘Green Jobs’?
- ‘Green jobs’ refer to a class of jobs that directly have a positive impact on the planet, and contribute to the overall environmental welfare.
- Jobs involving renewable energy, conservation of resources, ensuring energy efficient means are categorised under the same.
- In all, they are aimed at reducing the negative environmental impact of economic sectors and furthering the process of creating a low-carbon economy.
- The idea behind a low-carbon economy or decarbonisation is fairly simple — it is about maintaining a sustainable economy.
India and ‘green jobs’
- The Skill Council for Green Jobs was launched by the Union government on October 1, 2015.
- Aligned to the National Skill Development Missions, it was set up to be a not-for-profit, independent, industry-led initiative.
Why need Green Jobs?
- The UNEP’s 2019 Emissions Gap report dictates that it is essential for greenhouse gas emissions to reduce by 7.6% per annum between the years 2020 to 2030.
- This is necessary to reach the target that was set during the Paris Agreement.
- Failing to meet the same would consequently result in a failure to effectively combat global warming.
- Consequently, a decarbonized economy plays a key role in ensuring a greener, safer, healthier and more sustainable planet to inhabit.
Way forward
- According to the ILO, India moving to a green economy by the next decade would alone create about 3 million jobs in the renewable energy sector.
- The renewable energy sector created about 47,000 new jobs in 2017 accounting for a 12% increase in just the span of a year.
- For India ‘green jobs’ can prove immensely useful to the country with sectors like renewable energy, waste management, green transport and urban farming.
- An integrated, systematic approach is crucial to ensuring this.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: State Food Safety Index (SFSI)
Mains level: Food safety
Tamil Nadu topped the State Food Safety Index (SFSI) this year.
Food safety has been in news this year quite frequent. Do make a note of following – Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), Red Octagon, Eat Right Movement, Food Safety Mitra etc.
State Food Safety Index (SFSI)
- FSSAI has developed State Food Safety Index to measure the performance of states on various parameters of Food Safety.
- This index is based on the performance of State/ UT on five significant parameters set by the Health Ministry, namely
- Human Resources and Institutional Data
- Compliance
- Food Testing – Infrastructure and Surveillance
- Training & Capacity Building and
- Consumer Empowerment
- The Index is a dynamic quantitative and qualitative benchmarking model that provides an objective framework for evaluating food safety across all States/UTs.
Highlights of the 2022 Report
- Tamil Nadu is followed by Gujarat and Maharashtra. Among the smaller States, Goa stood first, followed by Manipur and Sikkim.
- Among the Union Territories, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh secured the first, second and third ranks.
Back2Basics: Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
- The FSSAI is an autonomous body established under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India.
- It has been established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which is a consolidating statute related to food safety and regulation in India.
- It is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety.
- It is headed by a non-executive Chairperson, appointed by the Central Government, either holding or has held the position of not below the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mela Kheerbhawani
Mains level: NA
Kashmiri Hindus, locally known as Pandits, will celebrate the Zyestha Ashtami at the Mata Kheerbhawani temple at Tulmulla in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal.
Kheerbhawani Temple
- The temple is dedicated to the goddess Ragnya Devi.
- The festival, known as Mela Kheerbhawani, is the largest gathering of Hindus in Kashmir after the annual Amarnath Yatra.
- Situated 30 km from Srinagar city, it is one of the most sacred pilgrimage sites for Kashmiri Hindus.
- The temple gets its name from kheer, or milk and rice pudding that pilgrims pour into the spring inside the temple complex as an offering to the goddess.
- Hundreds of local Muslims, too, traditionally join the celebrations.
Legend of the festival
- Legend has it that the water of the temple’s spring changes colour from white to red and black.
- The colour of the water is said to predict the impending future.
- If it changes to black, it is seen as inauspicious or an impending disaster.
- Kashmiri Pandits say that the water had turned black before they were forced to flee Kashmir during the militancy of 1990.
Tap to read more about:
Festivals, Dances, Theatre, Literature, Art in News
Try this PYQ:
Q.Consider the following pairs:
Traditions- Communities
- Chaliha Sahib Festival- Sindhis
- Nanda Raj Jaat Yatra- Gonds
- Wari-Warkari- Santhals
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 3
(d) None of the above
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Creation of All India Services
Mains level: Paper 2- Civil Service reforms
Context
Recently, two IAS officers were the subject of widespread public derision for misuse of power. A week later, the media and the public feted those who had successfully cracked the UPSC examination in order to become bureaucrats of the future.
About Indian Administrative Service
- Civil Services refer to the career civil servants who are the permanent executive branch of the Republic of India.
- The modern Indian Administrative Service was created under Article 312(2) in part XIV of the Constitution of India, and the All-India Services Act, 1951.
- It is the backbone of the administrative machinery of the country.
- As India is a parliamentary democracy, the ultimate responsibility for running the administration rests with the people’s elected representatives.
- The elected executive decides the policy and it is civil servants, who serve at the pleasure of the President of India, implement it.
- Article 311 of the Constitution protects Civil Servants from politically motivated vindictive action.
What makes civil services favourable in India
- Most countries in the world have a cadre of professional civil servants but nowhere are new entrants to the system of government celebrated like in India.
- Colonial legacy: The fact is that, 75 years after independence and 30 years after liberalisation, there is still an overhang of the all-powerful, all-pervasive state.
- There are good reasons for a favourable view of the civil services.
- Merit based selection: For one, candidates are selected on merit based on an open examination and interview.
- Job security: Then there is the job security that comes with gaining entry.
- Unless a civil servant does an extraordinary wrong, she has a job for life, and steady, time-bound promotions which ensure that everyone retires at the top irrespective of performance.
Issues with public perception
- However, in the perceived strengths of the civil services lie its weaknesses.
- Single exam: The single UPSC examination is treated as gospel.
- But merit and competence cannot be judged by a single exam.
- Permanence is a problem: The permanence of the job is a problem too.
- Punishment for over-reach or misuse of power is a transfer, either from a weightier ministry to a lighter one or from high-profile capitals to geographically remote ones.
- A system of limited accountability: The result is that all civil servants, never mind their ability or competence, operate in a system of limited accountability with few incentives to perform and plenty of opportunities to use and abuse their powers.
Way forward
- Placing civil servant at par with other professions: The civil services system needs to be brought down from its pedestal and placed at par with every other profession like elsewhere in the world.
- This will not happen via political diktat. It requires the weight of public opinion.
- Broaden the selection criteria: The system must be manned by capable, competent individuals. This cannot be decided on the basis of one exam.
- Remove the job permanency: The underperforming officers need to be separated which cannot happen when the job is for life.
- It may sound radical for India’s civil services but that is the way the rest of India and the world function, including the UK from where we inherited the structure.
Conclusion
If we can make these changes in the civil services, India will get the government it needs for the 21st century.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)
Mains level: Paper 2- Opportunities and challenges for BIMSTEC
Context
After 25 years, BIMSTEC can do much better as a grouping, addressing shortcomings in trade and connectivity.
About BIMSTEC
- BIST-EC in 1997: The 1997 Bangkok Declaration led to creation of the grouping of Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand with the acronym, BIST-EC.
- BIMSTEC: Three countries-Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar joined BIST-EC later to make it the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
- At the grouping’s birth, the world was different; it was stamped by America’s ‘unipolar moment’.
- India and Thailand joined hands to start an experiment of infusing a part of South Asia with the economic and institutional dynamism that defined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
- But BIMSTEC found the burdens of South Asia too heavy to carry, and so it grew slowly.
- The grouping has succeeded in rejuvenating itself.
- Instrument of regional cooperation and integration: Since its Kathmandu summit in 2018, it is viewed as an instrument of regional cooperation and integration, not just of sub-regional cooperation.
New opportunities in the changed geopolitical context
- In the third decade of the 21st century, the strategic contestation between the United States and China defines the region’s geopolitics and geo-economics, creating new tensions and opportunities.
- Deepening linkage between South Asia and Southeast Asia: In this Indo-Pacific century, the Bay of Bengal Community (BOBC) has the potential to play a pivotal role, deepening linkages between South Asia and Southeast Asia.
- Collaboration with IPEF: It should accelerate the region’s economic development by collaborating with the newly minted Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF).
- New synergy should be created between BIMSTEC and the IPEF.
- While all member-states are equal, three have a special responsibility: Bangladesh as the host of the BIMSTEC Secretariat; Thailand as the representative of Southeast Asia; and India as the largest state in South Asia.
Key achievements of BIMSTEC
- Charter: It has crafted a new Charter for itself, spelling out the grouping’s vision, functions of its constituent parts, and has secured a legal personality.
- Sectors of cooperation reduced to 7: It has prioritised the sectors of cooperation, reducing them from the unwieldy 14 to the more manageable seven, with each member-state serving as the lead country for the assigned sector.
- Strengthened Secretariat: It has, finally, taken measures to strengthen the Secretariat.
- Combating terrorism: The grouping has also registered progress in combating terrorism, forging security cooperation, and creating mechanisms and practices for the better management of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
- Held regular summits: Unlike the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, post-2014, BIMSTEC has continued to hold its summits and meetings of Foreign Ministers.
- Unlike the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) which held only one summit since its establishment in 1997, BIMSTEC has succeeded in holding five summits so far; it has now resolved to hold regular summits once in two years.
- Sectoral cooperation: Institutions such as an Energy Centre and the Centre on Weather and Climate are in place to push sectoral cooperation forward.
Challenges
- No progress on FTA yet: A major failure relates to the continuing inability to produce a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) 18 years after the signing of the Framework Agreement.
- Lack of connectivity: The other disappointment is connectivity — in infrastructure (roads, railways, air, river, and coastal shipping links), energy, the digital and financial domain, and institutions that bring people closer together for trade, tourism and cultural exchanges.
- Only limited progress has been achieved so far, despite the adoption of the Master Plan for Connectivity supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
- Much of the connectivity established recently is the outcome of bilateral initiatives taken by India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan to strengthen transport links.
- No progress on Blue Economy: The grouping has talked about the Blue Economy but is yet to begin any work on it.
- Business chambers and corporate leaders are yet to be engaged fully with the activities of BIMSTEC.
Conclusion
If BIMSTEC is truly committed to its stated goals, it must recreate the spirit of working in unison.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Act East Policy
Context
The military takeover in Myanmar on February 1, 2021 and its aftermath have seen an adverse impact on India’s Act East policy.
What happened in Myanmar?
- The 2021 coup occurred in the aftermath of the general election on 8 November 2020, in which the NLD won 396 out of 476 seats in parliament, an even larger margin of victory than in the 2015 election. The military’s proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, won only 33 seats. The Army claimed the results of the election were rigged and did not acknowledge the results.
- On February 3 2021, Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest under charges for breaking COVID-19 laws. Additional charges included importing and using radio and communication devices from her security team which is prohibited in Myanmar and require clearances from intelligence agencies.
- Aung San Suu Kyi received an additional criminal charge for violating the National Disaster Act on 16 February, and two additional charges for violating communications laws and an intent to incite public unrest on 1 March.
Events of the Myanmar Coup
- By March 31st 2021, at least 520 civilians have been killed by military or police forces and at least 3070 pope. At least three members from the NLD have died in police custody
- About 400 elected parliament members were placed under house arrest. Following the coup, the NLD arranged for the MPs to remain housed in the complex until 6 February.
- When the Myanmar ambassador to the United Nations, Kyaw Moe Tun, condemned the coup by the military, he was fired from his post the following day.
- Civil resistance efforts have emerged within the country, in opposition to the. Numerous acts of civil disobedience labour strokes, military boycott campaign, and formal recognition of the election results by elected officials
- Since the onset of the coup, residents in urban centres such as Yangon staged cacerolazos, striking pots and pans in unison every evening as a symbolic act to drive away evil, as a method of expressing their opposition to the coup.
India’s stance regarding the Myanmar Coup
- Ever since the protests started, there have been reports of defections from the Myanmar Police Force. On March 11, 2021, 11 officers crossed the India-Myanmar border into the state of Mizoram with their families. The Myanmar government reached out to India to extradite them, with the Indian government replying that they would make a decision regarding that matter.
- The Assam Rifles were given orders to tighten security along the India–Myanmar border. From 10 March, the border has been closed after 48 nationals from Myanmar have crossed it.
- Officially, the Indian government has expressed its deepest concern regarding the developing situation in Myanmar. While supporting a smooth and transitional process towards democracy, it is also concerned that the instability in Myanmar may affect the northeastern states.
Look East Policy
- In order to recover from the loss of the strategic partner -USSR (end of the Cold war 1991), India sought to build up a relationship with the USA and allies of the USA in Southeast Asia.
- In this pursuit, former Prime minister of India P V Narasimha Rao launched Look East policy in 1992, to give a strategic push to India’s engagement with the South-East Asia region, to bolster its standing as a regional power and a counterweight to the strategic influence of the People’s Republic of China.
Difference Between Look East and Act East:
Look East:
- Look East policy focused on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries + Economic Integration.
- India became a dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1996 and summit level partner in 2002.
- In 2012 the relationship got up-graded into a Strategic Partnership.
- The time when India launched the Look East Policy in 1992, India’s trade with ASEAN was USD 2 billion. After signing the Free Trade Agreement in 2010 with ASEAN, the trade has grown to USD 72 billion (2017-18).
- India is also an active participant in several regional forums like the East Asia Summit (EAS), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) etc.
Act East:
Act East Policy focused on ASEAN countries + Economic Integration + East Asian countries + Security cooperation.
Prime minister of India highlighted 4C’s of Act East Policy.
- Culture
- Commerce
- Connectivity
- Capacity building
- Security is an important dimension of India’s Act East Policy.
- In the context of growing Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, securing freedom of navigation and India’s own role in the Indian Ocean is a key feature of Act East Policy.
- In pursuance of this, India has been engaged under the narrative of Indo-pacific and informal grouping called Quad.
Impact on Act East policy
- With the present dispensation in Myanmar, the Act East policy is going nowhere.
- Impact on outreach: This has not only stymied New Delhi’s initiatives in terms of land outreach towards the vibrant economies of South East Asia, but has retarded development in the Northeast.
- Pragmatism demands that an ambitious policy that had fired the aspirations of the Northeast does not become a casualty to the inertia of policymakers.
- There seems to be a full-bodied recalibration exercise among insurgent groups operating from the Sagaing Division and Chin State in Myanmar.
- In the north, the ULFA which was until recently in a submissive mood and had declared three back-to-back unilateral ceasefires has suddenly turned belligerent.
- Need for a relook at Act East policy: In this background, a fresh look needs to be taken at both the furtherance of the Act East policy and the security matrix that governs the Northeast.
Suggestions
1] Opening a new axis of land-sea connectivity
- Promoting trade and commerce: Favourable bilateral relations with Bangladesh offer an opportunity for opening a new axis of land-sea connectivity for promoting trade and commerce with Southeast Asia.
- Upgrade land routes: There is a need to upgrade the multitude of land routes to the seaports of Mongla and Chittagong in Bangladesh, from Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.
- The key land linkages from the Northeast are — Agartala via Akhaura, Dawki (Meghalaya) via Tamabil, Sutarkandi (Assam), and Srimantapur (Tripura) via Bibir Bazar.
- Exploit shared river connectivity: In addition, there is a need to use inland water transport (IWT) to exploit the shared river connectivity of the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers.
2] Continued engagement with Myanmar
- The land gateway to South East Asia does not seem likely in the near future.
- But there should be no dilution in our initiatives to ensure that peace and stability return to Myanmar at the earliest.
- For this, there is a need for continued engagement, both formal and informal, with the warring factions in Myanmar.
3] Develop appropriate infrastructure
- Appropriate infrastructure such as container depots, cold storage facilities and seamless highways will have to be developed on a war footing.
- Indian manufactured goods will have to be transported to the rail/roadheads in the Northeast like Guwahati for ready access to the seaports of Bangladesh.
4] Integrated defence zones
- To make ineffective the strike capability of the insurgent groups there is a need to create “integrated defence zones”.
- These should be jointly manned by the Tatmadaw (Myanmar army) and the Indian Army/Assam Rifles
- To enthuse dynamism and empower the Assam Rifles, there is a need to retain its current structure of being officered by the Indian Army, as it ensures systemic command and control.
- This force needs to be mandated to undertake intelligence operations for greater transparency of the events within Myanmar and further the national strategy.
Conclusion
The Act East policy is intertwined with India’s Northeast policy. Let not the dismal scenario of Myanmar impede our vision for the actualisation of our ambitious Act East to go East, as alternates exist. To that end, there is a need to ensure the continued economic development of Northeastern states.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper- India-Pakistan relation
Context
An official delegation from Pakistan was in New Delhi recently to hold talks with its Indian counterparts under the aegis of the Indus Water Treaty.
Positive developments in the relations
- Starting from February, India has been sending through Pakistan consignments of wheat, via the World Food Programme, to the Taliban-run Afghanistan.
- Evidently, channels of communication between the two governments are working and open hostility has subsided, if not vanished completely.
- China factor: The change has been driven by realist considerations that surfaced during the Ladakh border crisis on the Line of Actual Control with China in the summer of 2020.
- The recent change of government in Pakistan, including Imran Khan’s removal, is seen as a positive in New Delhi.
- The official Indian establishment has had close ties with both the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party that are now part of the government.
Countering the collusive military threat from China and Pakistan
- The border crisis in Ladakh raised the spectre of a collusive military threat between China and Pakistan.
- Such a challenge cannot be effectively dealt with by the military alone and would need all the instruments of the state — diplomatic, economic, informational, and military — to act in concert.
- To prevent such a situation, India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval opened backchannel talks with Pakistan.
Way ahead
- There are some low-hanging fruits which can be plucked the moment a political go-ahead is given.
- These include a deal on the Sir Creek dispute, an agreement for revival of bilateral trade, return of High Commissioners to the missions in Delhi and Islamabad, and build-up of diplomatic missions to their full strength.
- Demilitarisation of the Siachen glacier is still seen to be off the table as the Indian proposal is believed to be unacceptable to the Pakistan Army.
- A window of opportunity would possibly open in Pakistan after the next elections, which are scheduled next year but could be held earlier.
Conclusion
India must shift course from the belligerence it has displayed and profited from earlier in favour of proper diplomatic and political engagement with Pakistan.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- India's approach in dealing with the Taliban
Context
It is good that India has extended humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan at this time through international agencies and not let its unhappiness with the Taliban’s policies come in the way.
India’s recent engagement with Afghanistan
- Recently, the Ministry of External Affairs announced that a team led by J P Singh, Joint Secretary (PAI) “is currently on a visit to Kabul to oversee the delivery operations of our humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan”.
- The MEA clearly implied that this engagement should be seen only in the limited context of assistance to the Afghan people
- The continuance of humanitarian assistance can be only one, though an important, segment of interaction; other aspects, especially security issues and later, connectivity and investments, as Afghanistan stabilises, have to be part of the dialogue with the Taliban.
Why Afghanistan matters to India’s security
- Afghanistan impacts India’s security.
- It has, in the past, provided space to al Qaeda with which the Taliban had a special relationship.
- Afghanistan has an ISIS presence too.
- Of special concern to India are the Taliban’s ties with the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.
- A recent United Nations report has emphasised that the Taliban’s connections with these groups have not been severed.
So, what should be India’s approach toward the Taliban?
- It is argued that both “principle and pragmatism” demand that India should not do business with the Taliban.
- However, Pakistan has continued to sponsor terror and yet India has continued to engage it and has maintained a diplomatic presence in Islamabad.
- India cannot argue that the diplomatic door must be kept open for Pakistan because it’s a neighbour while it can be shut on the Taliban because Afghanistan directly impacts Indian security.
- Engagement with Taliban: An engagement with the Taliban would at least give an opportunity to convey Indian concerns directly and encourage those elements within the group who wish to open up its diplomatic choices.
- Exploit contradiction: Far from being a monolith, the Taliban has significant tribal and regional contradictions.
- Therefore, India should not leave the Afghan arena entirely to Pakistan and China because of the social manifestation of Taliban theology.
- The Taliban is here to stay and for India, there is no alternative but to deal with it even while repeating, if it wishes, the mantra of inclusive government.
- India should also maintain contacts with the leaders of the ousted Republic, especially as the Taliban itself wants them to return to the country.
Conclusion
All in all, the sooner India establishes a permanent presence in Kabul the better for the pursuit of national interests in the external sphere. This is not an exercise in evangelism but the cold and undeterred pursuit of interests.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ASHA program
Mains level: Paper 2- Strengthening ASHA
Context
India’s one million Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) volunteers have received World Health Organization’s Global Health Leaders Awards 2022.
Background of the ASHA program
- In 1975, a WHO monograph titled ‘Health by the people’ and then in 1978, an international conference on primary health care in Alma Ata (in the then USSR and now in Kazakhstan), gave emphasis for countries recruiting community health workers to strengthen primary health-care services that were participatory and people centric.
- Soon after, many countries launched community health worker programmes under different names.
- India launched the ASHA programme in 2005-06 as part of the National Rural Health Mission.
- The biggest inspiration for designing the ASHA programme came from the Mitanin (meaning ‘a female friend’ in Chhattisgarhi) initiative of Chhattisgarh, which had started in May 2002.
- The core of the ASHA programme has been an intention to build the capacity of community members in taking care of their own health and being partners in health services.
- Each of these women-only volunteers work with a population of nearly 1,000 people in rural and 2,000 people in urban areas, with flexibility for local adjustments.
A well thought through and deliberated program
- The ASHA programme was well thought through and deliberated with public health specialists and community-based organisations from the beginning.
- 1] Key village stakeholders selected: The ASHA selection involved key village stakeholders to ensure community ownership for the initiatives and forge a partnership.
- 2] Ensure familiarity: ASHAs coming from the same village where they worked had an aim to ensure familiarity, better community connect and acceptance.
- 3] Community’s representative: The idea of having activists in their name was to reflect that they were/are the community’s representative in the health system, and not the lowest-rung government functionary in the community.
- 4] Avoiding the slow process of government recruitment: Calling them volunteers was partly to avoid a painfully slow process for government recruitment and to allow an opportunity to implement performance-based incentives in the hope that this approach would bring about some accountability.
Contribution of ASHA
- It is important to note that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, ASHAs have made extraordinary contributions towards enabling increased access to primary health-care services; i.e. maternal and child health including immunisation and treatment for hypertension, diabetes and tuberculosis, etc., for both rural and urban populations, with special focus on difficult-to-reach habitations.
- Over the years, ASHAs have played an outstanding role in making India polio free, increasing routine immunisation coverage; reducing maternal mortality; improving new-born survival and in greater access to treatment for common illnesses.
Challenges
- Linkages with AWW and ANM: When newly-appointed ASHAs struggled to find their way and coordinate things within villages and with the health system, their linkage with two existing health and nutrition system functionaries — Anganwadi workers (AWW) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) as well as with panchayat representatives and influential community members at the village level — was facilitated.
- This resulted in an all-women partnership, or A-A-A: ASHA, AWW and ANM, of three frontline functionaries at the village level, that worked together to facilitate health and nutrition service delivery to the community.
- No fixed salary to ASHAs: Among the A-A-A, ASHAs are the only ones who do not have a fixed salary; they do not have opportunity for career progression.
- These issues have resulted in dissatisfaction, regular agitations and protests by ASHAs in many States of India.
Way forward
- The global recognition for ASHAs should be used as an opportunity to review the programme afresh, from a solution perspective.
- 1] Higher remuneration: Indian States need to develop mechanisms for higher remuneration for ASHAs.
- 2] Avenues for career progression: It is time that in-built institutional mechanisms are created for capacity-building and avenues for career progression for ASHAs to move to other cadres such as ANM, public health nurse and community health officers are opened.
- 3] Extend the benefits of social sector services: Extending the benefits of social sector services including health insurance (for ASHAs and their families) should be considered.
- 4] Independent and external review: While the ASHA programme has benefitted from many internal and regular reviews by the Government, an independent and external review of the programme needs to be given urgent and priority consideration.
- 5] Regularisation of temporary posts: There are arguments for the regularisation of many temporary posts in the National Health Mission and making ASHAs permanent government employees.
Conclusion
The WHO award for ASHA volunteers is a proud moment and also a recognition of every health functionary working for the poor and the underserved in India. It is a reminder and an opportunity to further strengthen the ASHA programme for a stronger and community-oriented primary health-care system.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Gulf Cooperation Council
Mains level: Indian diaspora in Gulf
India has hit out at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) over its statement condemning the comments made by two Indian leaders in retaliation to the insults on Hindu deities.
The spread of religious hatred should be condemned in any form.
But do you think that the onus of secularism has been bestowed only on a particular religious community?
It is often observed that the other community is free to make blasphemous comments on various deities in guise of the exercise of their freedom of speech!
What is the news?
- The remark had triggered outrage in the Islamic world.
- Qatar and Kuwait summoned India’s Ambassadors and handed over to them protest notes.
- India has categorically rejected and condemned the controversial remarks.
Why is Gulf outraging?
- Barring the Jewish state of Israel, the 10 other countries of the Gulf region — Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Jordan and Yemen — together account for one-fifth of the world’s Muslim population.
- They are among the strongest voices of the Muslim world.
Gulf countries and India
- India has enjoyed centuries of good relations with countries like Iran, while smaller gas-rich nation Qatar is one of India’s closest allies in the region.
- India shares good relations with most of the countries in the Gulf.
- The two most important reasons for the relationship are oil and gas, and trade.
- Two additional reasons are the huge number of Indians who work in the Gulf countries, and the remittance they send back home.
How much trade does India do with countries in this region?
- The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) substantial oil and gas reserves are of utmost importance for India’s energy needs.
- The GCC includes UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.
- It has emerged as a major trading partner of India and has vast potential as India’s investment partner for the future.
(1) UAE
- The UAE was India’s third largest trading partner in 2021-2022, and second largest for both exports ($28 billion) and imports ($45 billion) when these are counted individually.
- In terms of total trade volume, the UAE ($72.9 billion) was behind the United States ($1.19 trillion) and China ($1.15 trillion).
- The UAE accounted for 6.6% of India’s total exports and 7.3% of imports in the last financial year, up 68.4% since the previous year when international trade was impacted by the pandemic.
(2) Saudi Arabia
- At a total volume of $42.9 billion in 2021-22, Saudi Arabia was India’s fourth largest trading partner.
- While exports were low at $8.76 billion (2.07% of India’s total exports), imports from Saudi Arabia were the fourth largest at $34.1 billion (7%), up 50% from the previous year.
- Most of it was crude oil.
(3) Iraq
- It was India’s fifth largest trading partner in 2021-22 at $34.3 billion.
(4) Qatar
- The total trade was $15 billion, accounting for just 1.4% of India’s total trade, but the country is India’s most important supplier of natural gas.
- Qatar accounts for 41% of India’s total natural gas imports.
- The UAE accounts for another 11%.
How much oil does India import?
- More than 84% of India’s petroleum demand, which included crude oil and petroleum products, was met with imports.
- The share of Persian Gulf countries in India’s crude imports has remained at around 60% over the last 15 years.
- India sourced crude oil from 42 countries in 2021-22, up from 27 countries in 2006-07. Hence the sources are now more diversified.
- In 2021-2022, the largest exporter of oil to India was Iraq, whose share has gone up from 9% in 2009-2010 to 22%.
- Saudi Arabia has accounted for 17-18% of India’s oil imports for over a decade. Kuwait and UAE remain major oil exporters to India.
- Iran used to be the second largest oil exporter to India in 2009-2010, its share went down to less than 1% in 2020-21, due to US sanctions.
Why Gulf matters?
Ans. Huge remittances
- More than 13.46 million Indian citizens work abroad. If Persons of Indian Origin are added, this number goes up to over 32 million.
- Counting only the 13.4 million non-resident Indians (NRIs), the Gulf has the largest numbers.
- The UAE (3.42 million), Saudi Arabia (2.6 million) and Kuwait (1.03 million) together account for over half of all NRIs.
- In terms of remittances from abroad, India was the largest recipient in 2020 at $83.15 billion, according to World Bank data.
- This was nearly twice the remittances to the next highest recipient, Mexico, at $42.9 billion.
- The UAE accounted for 26.9%, Saudi Arabia for 11.6%, Qatar for 6.4%, Kuwait for 5.5% and Oman for 3%.
- Beyond the GCC, remittances from the US accounted for 22.9%, second only to the UAE.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bad Banks
Mains level: Bad Banks in India
The finance ministry said the Rs 6,000-crore National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL) or bad bank is expected to take over the first set of non-performing accounts of banks next month.
What is a Bad Bank?
- A bad bank conveys the impression that it will function as a bank but has bad assets to start with.
- Technically, it is an asset reconstruction company (ARC) or an asset management company that takes over the bad loans of commercial banks, manages them and finally recovers the money over a period of time.
- Such a bank is not involved in lending and taking deposits, but helps commercial banks clean up their balance sheets and resolve bad loans.
- The takeover of bad loans is normally below the book value of the loan and the bad bank tries to recover as much as possible subsequently.
Bad Banks to be established
- The NARCL-IDRCL structure is the new bad bank.
- The National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL) has already been incorporated under the Companies Act.
- It will acquire stressed assets worth about Rs 2 lakh crore from various commercial banks in different phases.
- Another entity — India Debt Resolution Company Ltd (IDRCL), which has also been set up — will then try to sell the stressed assets in the market.
How will the NARCL-IDRCL work?
- The NARCL will first purchase bad loans from banks.
- It will pay 15% of the agreed price in cash and the remaining 85% will be in the form of “Security Receipts”.
- When the assets are sold, with the help of IDRCL, , the commercial banks will be paid back the rest.
- If the bad bank is unable to sell the bad loan, or has to sell it at a loss, then the government guarantee will be invoked.
- The difference between what the commercial bank was supposed to get and what the bad bank was able to raise will be paid from the Rs 30,600 crore that has been provided by the government.
Will a bad bank resolve matters?
- From the perspective of a commercial bank saddled with high NPA levels, it will help.
- That’s because such a bank will get rid of all its toxic assets, which were eating up its profits, in one quick move.
- When the recovery money is paid back, it will further improve the bank’s position.
- Meanwhile, it can start lending again.
Why do we need a bad bank?
- The idea gained currency during Rajan’s tenure as RBI Governor.
- The RBI had then initiated an asset quality review (AQR) of banks and found that several banks had suppressed or hidden bad loans to show a healthy balance sheet.
- However, the idea remained on paper amid lack of consensus on the efficacy of such an institution.
- ARCs have not made any impact in resolving bad loans due to many procedural issues.
- While commercial banks resume lending, the so-called bad bank, or a bank of bad loans, would try to sell these “assets” in the market.
Good about the bad banks
- The problem of NPAs continues in the banking sector, especially among the weaker banks.
- The bad bank concept is in some ways similar to an ARC but is funded by the government initially, with banks and other investors co-investing in due course.
- The presence of the government is seen as a means to speed up the clean-up process.
- Many other countries had set up institutional mechanisms such as the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP) in the US to deal with a problem of stress in the financial system.
Back2Basics: NARCL
- NARCL has been incorporated under the Companies Act and has applied to Reserve Bank of India for license as an Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC).
- NARCL has been set up by banks to aggregate and consolidate stressed assets for their subsequent resolution.
- Public Sector Banks will maintain 51% ownership in NARCL.
- The NARCL will acquire assets by making an offer to the lead bank.
- Once NARCL’s offer is accepted, then, IDRCL will be engaged for management and value addition.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: No-Confidence Vote
Mains level: Not Much
British Prime Minister will face a no-confidence vote that could oust him from power.
What is No-Confidence Vote?
- If the government has to demonstrate its strength on the floor of the House, it can have a motion of confidence.
- However, the opposition parties (or any member) can move a motion expressing want of confidence (no confidence) in the Council of Ministers.
- The procedure is laid down under Rule 198 of the rules of procedure and conduct of the business of the Lok Sabha.
- A no-confidence motion need not set out any grounds on which it is based.
- Even when grounds are mentioned in the notice and read out in the House, they do not form part of the no-confidence motion.
Its procedure
- A no-confidence motion can be moved by any member of the House.
- It can be moved only in the Lok Sabha and not Rajya Sabha.
- Rule 198 of the Rules of Procedure and conduct of Lok Sabha specifies the procedure for moving a no-confidence motion.
- The member has to give written notice of the motion before 10 am which will be read out by the Speaker in the House.
- A minimum of 50 members have to accept the motion and accordingly, the Speaker will announce the date for discussion for the motion.
- The allotted date has to be within 10 days from the day the motion is accepted. Otherwise, the motion fails and the member who moved the motion will be informed about it.
- If the government is not able to prove its majority in the House, then the government of the day has to resign.
How is the voting done?
These are the modes by which voting can be conducted:
- Voice vote: In a voice vote, the legislators respond orally.
- Division vote: In case of a division vote, voting is done using electronic gadgets, slips or in a ballot box.
- Ballot vote: The ballot box is usually a secret vote – just like how people vote during state or parliamentary elections.
What happens if there is a tie?
- Following the vote, the person who has the majority will be allowed to form the government.
- In case there is a tie, the speaker can cast his vote.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Consider the following statements regarding a No-Confidence Motion in India:
- There is no mention of a No-Confidence Motion in the Constitution of India.
- A Motion of No-Confidence can be introduced in the Lok Sabha only.
Which of the statements given above is / are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Post your answers here.
Back2Basics: What is a Trust-Vote?
- A confidence motion or a trust vote is a procedure for the government to prove its majority in the House.
- A trust vote can take place by way of a motion of confidence which is moved by the government or brought by the opposition.
- It is a motion normally proposed by the Prime Minister to test the majority in the Lok Sabha.
- Such an exercise normally takes place when a new government is set to be formed.
- Any party will first have to prove its majority on the floor of the House before taking over.
- A trust vote can also be brought about if a government resigns and another party stakes a claim to form the government.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Kabir, Bhakti Movement
Mains level: NA
President Kovind inaugurated the Sant Kabir Academy and Research Centre Swadesh Darshan Yojana and paid tribute to the Bhakti saint, Kabir at Maghar, his resting place in Uttar Pradesh.
Kabir and the Bhakti Movement
- The Bhakti movement, which began in the 7th century in South India, had begun to spread across north India in the 14th and the 15th centuries.
- The movement was characterized by popular poet-saints who sang devotional songs to God in vernacular languages.
- Most of the preaching were meant for abolishing the Varna system and promoting Hindu-Muslim unity.
- They emphasized an intense emotional attachment with God.
Who was Sant Kabir?
- One school within the Bhakti movement was the Nirguni tradition and Sant Kabir was a prominent member of it.
- In this tradition, God was understood to be a universal and formless being.
- Many of the saints of the Bhakti movement came from the ranks of the lower to middle artisanal classes.
- Kabir was an alleged ‘low caste’ weaver (Julaha), Raidas was a leather worker and Dadu a cotton carder.
- Their radical dissent against orthodoxy and rejection of caste made these poet-saints extremely popular among the masses and their ideology of egalitarianism spread across India.
His life
- He was born in Varanasi and lived between the years 1398 and 1448, or till the year 1518 according to popular belief.
- He was from a community of ‘lower caste’ weavers of the Julaha caste, a group that had recently converted to Islam.
- He learned the art of weaving, likely studied meditative and devotional practices under the guidance of a Hindu guru and grew to become an eminent teacher and poet-singer.
- Kabir’s beliefs were deeply radical, and he was known for his intense and outspoken voice which he used to attack the dominant religions and entrenched caste systems of the time.
- He composed his verses orally and is generally assumed to be illiterate.
His literary works
- Kabir’s compositions can be classified into three literary forms – dohas (short two liners), ramanas (rhymed 4 liners), sung compositions of varying length, known as padas (verses) and sabdas (words).
- There are myriad legendary accounts on the other hand, for which there exists less of a factual historical basis.
Kabir’s critique of religion and caste
- Kabir is in modern times portrayed as a figure that synthesized Islam and Hinduism.
- While he did borrow elements from different traditions, he very forcefully proclaimed his independence from them.
- He did not only target the rituals and practices of both Hinduism and Islam, but also dismissed the sacred authority of their religious books, the Vedas and the Quran.
- He even combined Allah and Ram in his poems.
- He sought to eradicate caste distinctions and attempted to create an egalitarian society, by stressing the notion that a Bhakt (devotee) was neither a Brahmin nor an ‘untouchable’ but just a Bhakt.
Kabir’s legacy
- Kabir’s own humble origins and his radical message of egalitarianism fostered a community of his followers called the Kabir Panth.
- A sect in northern and central India, many of their members are from the Dalit community.
- All regard Kabir as their guru and treat the Bijak as their holy scripture.
- The Bijak contains works attributed to Kabir and is argued by historians to have been written in the 17th century.
- Several of Kabir’s verses and songs form a vital part of the Guru Granth Sahib.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2019:
Q.Consider the following statements:
1.Saint Nimbarka was a contemporary of Akbar.
2.Saint Kabir was greatly influenced by Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Read the attached story
Mains level: NA
Ten antiquities (sculptures) retrieved from Australia and the United States were handed over to the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Some of the returned antiquities, and how they had gone missing:
(1) Dvarapala:
- Retrieved in 2020 from Australia, this stone sculpture belongs to the Vijayanagar dynasty dating to the 15th-16th century.
- He is holding a gada in one hand and has another leg raised up to the level of his knee.
- The sculpture was burgled from Moondreeswaramudayar Temple, Tiruneveli in1994.
(2) Nataraja:
- Retrieved in 2021 from the US, this image of Nataraja, a depiction of Shiva, in his divine cosmic dance form, is in tribhanga posture, standing on the lotus pedestal.
- It is dateable to the 11th-12th century. Possibly, ananda tandava or the Dance of Bliss is portrayed here.
- The sculpture was burgled from the strong room of Punnainallur Arulmigu Mariyamman Temple, Thanjavur, in 2018.
(3) Kankalamurti:
- Retrieved in 2021 from the US, Kankalamurti is depicted as a fearsome aspect of Lord Shiva and Bhairava.
- The sculpture is four-armed, holding ayudhas such as damaru and trishula in the upper hands and a bowl and a trefoil shaped object, as a treat for the playful fawn, in the lower right hand.
- The idol is dateable to the 12th-13th century, and was stolen from Narasinganadhar Swamy Temple, Tirunelveli in 1985.
(4) Nandikeshvara:
- Retrieved in 2021 from the US, this bronze image of Nandikeshvara is dateable to the 13th century.
- It is shown standing in tribhanga posture with folded arms, holding an axe and a fawn in the upper arms, with his forearms in namaskara mudra.
- This sculpture was stolen from Narasinganadhar Swamy Temple, Tirunelveli, in 1985.
(5) Four-armed Vishnu:
- Retrieved in 2021 from the US, dateable to the 11th century, and belonging to the later Chola period.
- The sculpture has Lord Vishnu standing on a padma pedestal holding attributes such as shankha and chakra in two hands; while the lower right hand is in abhaya mudra.
- It was stolen from Arulmigu Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Ariyalur, in 2008.
(6) Goddess Parvati:
- Retrieved in 2021 from the US, the image depicts a Chola-period sculpture dateable to the 11th century.
- She is shown holding a lotus in the left hand whereas the right is hanging down near her kati.
- This sculpture was also stolen from Arulmigu Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Ariyalur in 2008.
(7) Standing child Sambandar:
- Retrieved in 2022 from Australia. Sambandar, the popular 7th-century child saint, is one of the Muvar, the three principal saints of South India.
- The sculpture is dateable to the 11th century.
- The legend goes that after receiving a bowl of milk from Goddess Uma, the infant Sambandar devoted his life to composing hymns in praise of Lord Shiva.
- The sculpture displays the saint’s childlike quality, while also empowering him with the maturity and authority of a spiritual leader.
- It was stolen from Sayavaneeswarar Temple, Nagapattinam, between 1965 and 1975.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Malnutrition challenge
Context
The country’s response to its burden of malnutrition and growing anaemia has to be practical and innovative.
What is malnutrition?
- Malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients.
- The term malnutrition covers 2 broad groups of conditions.
- One is ‘undernutrition’—which includes stunting (low height for age), wasting (low weight for height), underweight (low weight for age) and micronutrient deficiencies or insufficiencies (a lack of important vitamins and minerals).
- The other is overweight, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer).
What are the root causes of malnutrition in India?
The following three deficits are the root cause of malnutrition in India.
1) Dietary deficit
- There is a large dietary deficit among at least 40 per cent of our population of all age groups, shown in— the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau’s Third Repeat Survey (2012), NFHS 4, 2015-16, the NNMB Technical Report Number 27, 2017.
- Our current interventions are not being able to bridge this protein-calorie-micronutrient deficit.
- The NHHS-4 and NFHS-5 surveys reveal an acute dietary deficit among infants below two years, and considerable stunting and wasting of infants below six months.
- Unless this maternal/infant dietary deficit is addressed, we will not see rapid improvement in our nutritional indicators.
2) Information deficit at household level
- We do not have a national IEC (information, education and communication) programme that reaches targeted households to bring about the required behavioural change regarding some basic but critical facts.
- For example, IEC tells about the importance of balanced diets in low-income household budgets, proper maternal, child and adolescent nutrition and healthcare.
3) Inequitable market conditions
- The largest deficit, which is a major cause of dietary deficiency and India’s chronic malnutrition, pertains to inequitable market conditions.
- Such market conditions deny affordable and energy-fortified food to children, adolescents and adults in lower-income families.
- The market has stacks of expensive fortified energy food and beverages for higher income groups, but nothing affordable for low-income groups.
The vicious cycle of malnutrition
- Link with mother: A child’s nutritional status is directly linked to their mother.
- Poor nutrition among pregnant women affects the nutritional status of the child and has a greater chance to affect future generations.
- Impact on studies: Undernourished children are at risk of under-performing in studies and have limited job prospects.
- Impact on development of the country: This vicious cycle restrains the development of the country, whose workforce, affected mentally and physically, has reduced work capacity.
Marginal improvement on Stunting and Wasting
- The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) has shown marginal improvement in different nutrition indicators, indicating that the pace of progress is slow.
- This is despite declining rates of poverty, increased self-sufficiency in food production, and the implementation of a range of government programmes.
- Children in several States are more undernourished now than they were five years ago.
- Increased stunting in some states: Stunting is defined as low height-for-age.
- While there was some reduction in stunting rates (35.5% from 38.4% in NFHS-4) 13 States or Union Territories have seen an increase in stunted children since NFHS-4.
- This includes Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Kerala.
- Wasting remains stagnant: Wasting is defined as low weight-for-height.
- Malnutrition trends across NFHS surveys show that wasting, the most visible and life-threatening form of malnutrition, has either risen or has remained stagnant over the years.
Prevalence of anaemia in India
- What is it? Anaemia is defined as the condition in which the number of red blood cells or the haemoglobin concentration within them is lower than normal.
- Consequences: Anaemia has major consequences in terms of human health and development.
- It reduces the work capacity of individuals, in turn impacting the economy and overall national growth.
- Developing countries lose up to 4.05% in GDP per annum due to iron deficiency anaemia; India loses up to 1.18% of GDP annually.
- The NFHS-5 survey indicates that more than 57% of women (15-49 years) and over 67% children (six-59 months) suffer from anaemia.
Way forward
1] Increase investment:
- There is a greater need now to increase investment in women and children’s health and nutrition to ensure their sustainable development and improved quality of life.
- Saksham Anganwadi and the Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment (POSHAN) 2.0 programme have seen only a marginal increase in budgetary allocation this year (₹20,263 crore from ₹20,105 crore in 2021-22).
- Additionally, 32% of funds released under POSHAN Abhiyaan to States and Union Territories have not been utilised.
2] Adopt outcome oriented approach on the nutrition programme
- India must adopt an outcome-oriented approach on nutrition programmes.
- It is crucial that parliamentarians begin monitoring needs and interventions in their constituencies and raise awareness on the issues, impact, and solutions to address the challenges at the local level.
- Direct engagement: There has to be direct engagement with nutritionally vulnerable groups and ensuring last-mile delivery of key nutrition services and interventions.
- This will ensure greater awareness and proper planning and implementation of programmes.
- This can then be replicated at the district and national levels.
3] Increase awareness and mother’s education
- With basic education and general awareness, every individual is informed, takes initiatives at the personal level and can become an agent of change.
- Various studies highlight a strong link between mothers’ education and improved access and compliance with nutrition interventions among children.
4] Monitoring
- There should be a process to monitor and evaluate programmes and address systemic and on the ground challenges.
- A new or existing committee or the relevant standing committees meet and deliberate over effective policy decisions, monitor the implementation of schemes, and review nutritional status across States.
Conclusion
We must ensure our young population has a competitive advantage; nutrition and health are foundational to that outcome.
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