Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: AB- Health Infrastructure Mission
Mains level: Not Much
PM has launched the Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (AB-HIM), one of the largest pan-India schemes for strengthening healthcare infrastructure.
AB- Health Infrastructure Mission
- AB-HIM is being rolled out as India’s largest scheme to scale up health infrastructure.
- It is aimed at ensuring a robust public health infrastructure in both urban and rural areas, capable of responding to public health emergencies or disease outbreaks.
Key features
- Health and Wellness Centres: In a bid to increase accessibility it will provide support to 17,788 rural HWC in 10 ‘high focus’ states and establish 11,024 urban HWC across the country.
- Exclusive Critical Care Hospital Blocks: It will ensure access to critical care services in all districts of the country with over five lakh population through ‘Exclusive Critical Care Hospital Blocks’.
- Integrated public health labs: will also be set up in all districts, giving people access to “a full range of diagnostic services” through a network of laboratories across the country.
- Disease surveillance system: The mission also aims to establish an IT-enabled disease surveillance system through a network of surveillance laboratories at block, district, regional and national levels.
- Integrated Health Information Portal: All the public health labs will be connected through this Portal, which will be expanded to all states and UTs, the PMO said.
Why is the scheme significant?
- India has long been in need of a ubiquitous healthcare system.
- A 2019 study has highlighted how access to public health care remained elusive to those living on the margins.
- The study found that 70 per cent of the locations have public healthcare services.
- However, availability was less in rural areas (65 per cent) compared to urban areas (87 per cent).
- In 45 per cent of the surveyed locations, people could access healthcare services by walking, whereas in 43 per cent of the locations they needed to use transport.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mullaperiyar Dam
Mains level: Interstate water disputes
The Supreme Court has directed the Supervisory Committee to take an immediate and firm decision on the maximum water level that can be maintained at Mullaperiyar dam amidst torrential rains in Kerala.
What is the news?
- A report by United Nations has stated that the Mullaperiyar dam, situated in a seismically active area, faces the risk of failure.
- Earlier this year, the Supreme Court warned the TN Chief Secretary against the failure to give information on the rule curve for dam which decides the discharge of excess water.
Mullaperiyar Dam
- It is a masonry gravity dam on the Periyar River in Kerala.
- It is located on the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats in Thekkady, Idukki District.
- It was constructed between 1887 and 1895 by John Pennycuick and also reached in an agreement to divert water eastwards to the Madras Presidency area.
- It has a height of 53.6 m (176 ft) from the foundation, and a length of 365.7 m (1,200 ft).
Operational issue
- The dam is located in Kerala but is operated and maintained by Tamil Nadu.
- The catchment area of the Mullaperiyar Dam itself lies entirely in Kerala and thus not an inter-State river.
- In November 2014, the water level hit 142 feet for first time in 35 years.
- The reservoir again hit the maximum limit of 142 feet in August 2018, following incessant rains in the state of Kerala.
- Indeed, the tendency to store water to almost the full level of reservoirs is becoming a norm among water managers across States.
The dispute: Control and safety of the dam
- Supreme court judgment came in February 2006, has allowed Tamil Nadu to raise the level of the dam to 152 ft (46 m) after strengthening it.
- Responding to it, the Mullaperiyar dam was declared an ‘endangered’ scheduled dam by the Kerala Government under the disputed Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2006.
- For Tamil Nadu, the Mullaperiyar dam and the diverted Periyar waters act as a lifeline for Theni, Madurai, Sivaganga, Dindigul and Ramnad districts.
- Tamil Nadu has insisted on exercising the unfettered colonial rights to control the dam and its waters, based on the 1886 lease agreement.
Rule of Curve issue
- A rule curve or rule level specifies the storage or empty space to be maintained in a reservoir during different times of the year.
- It decides the fluctuating storage levels in a reservoir.
- The gate opening schedule of a dam is based on the rule curve. It is part of the “core safety” mechanism in a dam.
- The TN government often blames Kerala for delaying the finalization of the rule curve.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: White dwarf
Mains level: Not Much
Using the Hubble Space telescope and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers have identified several white dwarfs over the years.
Where is this white dwarf?
- A white dwarf is what stars like the Sun become after they have exhausted their nuclear fuel.
- Near the end of its nuclear burning stage, this type of star expels most of its outer material, creating a planetary nebula.
- Only the hot core of the star remains. This core becomes a very hot white dwarf, with a temperature exceeding 100,000 Kelvin.
- Unless it is accreting matter from a nearby star, the white dwarf cools down over the next billion years or so.
Limits for white dwarf
- White Dwarf is half the size of our Sun and has a surface gravity 100,000 times that of Earth.
- There is a limit on the amount of mass a white dwarf can have.
- Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar discovered this limit to be 4 times the mass of the Sun. This is appropriately known as the “Chandrasekhar Limit.”
Observing white dwarf
- Many nearby, young white dwarfs have been detected as sources of soft, or lower-energy, X-rays.
- Recently, soft X-ray and extreme ultraviolet observations have become a powerful tool in the study the composition and structure of the thin atmosphere of these stars.
What is TESS?
- The researchers observed this phenomenon using Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).
- TESS is a space telescope in NASA’s Explorer program, designed to search for extrasolar planets using the transit method.
- The primary mission objective for TESS is to survey the brightest stars near the Earth for transiting exoplanets over a two-year period.
- The TESS project will use an array of wide-field cameras to perform an all-sky survey. It will scan nearby stars for exoplanets.
How does white dwarf ‘switch on and off’?
- In these types of systems, the donor star orbit around the white dwarf keeps feeding the accretion disk.
- As the accretion disk material slowly sinks closer towards the white dwarf it generally becomes brighter.
- It is known that in some systems the donor stars stop feeding the disk.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Floating Rate Bonds
Mains level: Not Much
The Government of India has announced the Sale (Re-issue) of Floating Rate Bonds, 2028’.
What are Bonds?
- Bonds are investment securities where an investor lends money to a company or a government for a set period of time, in exchange for regular interest payments.
- Generally, bonds come with a fixed coupon or interest rate. For example, you can buy a bond of Rs 10,000 with a coupon rate of 5%.
- Once the bond reaches maturity, the bond issuer returns the investor’s money.
- Fixed income is a term often used to describe bonds, since your investment earns fixed payments over the life of the bond.
Why are bonds launched?
- Companies sell bonds to finance ongoing operations, new projects or acquisitions.
- Governments sell bonds for funding purposes, and also to supplement revenue from taxes.
What are Floating Rate Bonds?
- A floating rate bond is a debt instrument that does not have a fixed coupon rate, but its interest rate fluctuates based on the benchmark the bond is drawn.
- Benchmarks are market instruments that influence the overall economy.
- For example, repo rate or reverse repo rate can be set as benchmarks for a floating rate bond.
How do floating rate bonds work?
- Floating rate bonds make up a significant part of the Indian bond market and are majorly issued by the government.
- For example, the RBI issued a floating rate bond in 2020 with interest payable every six months. After six months, the interest rate is re-fixed by the RBI.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Issues with paddy cultivation
Mains level: Paper 3- Pathway to switch from paddy to maize cultivation
Context
As per the latest Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) of agricultural households conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO), an average Indian farmer earned Rs 10,218 per month in 2018-19 (July-June).
SAS analysis: Variation across the states and cause of concern for Punjab
- Across states, the highest income was received by a farming household in Meghalaya (Rs 29,348) followed by Punjab (Rs 26,701), Haryana (Rs 22,841), Arunachal Pradesh (19,225) and Jammu and Kashmir (Rs 18,918).
- While the lowest income levels were in West Bengal (Rs 6,762), Odisha (Rs 5,112) and Jharkhand (Rs 4,895).
- But this is not a fair comparison as holding sizes vary widely across states.
- After normalising these incomes of agri-households by their holding sizes, as in the SAS, Punjab’s ranking on per hectare income falls from 2nd to 11th and Haryana goes down from 3rd to 15th (see figure).
- The states that would do well on this score are Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.
- In these states, people earn their income from cultivating fruits and vegetables, spices, and livestock.
- These are high value in nature, not linked to MSPs, and market and demand-driven.
- As per the SAS, the average operated area per holding for Punjab is 1.44 ha (we have used that in the figure), but the Census gives a much higher value of 3.62 ha of average operational holding.
- If we normalise incomes of agri-households using Census values of average holding sizes, Punjab’s rank would go further down to 21st (household monthly income Rs 7,376) out of 28 states.
How can farmers in Punjab and Haryana augment their incomes with more sustainable agriculture?
1) Swith from paddy to maize
- Punjab’s former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had approached the Centre with an idea to create a fund of around Rs 25,000 crore to help farmers switch from paddy to maize.
- The Centre should give this idea a serious thought with the following modifications:
- One, the fund should be under a five-year plan to shift at least a million hectares of paddy area (out of a total of 3.1 million hectares of paddy area in Punjab) to maize.
- Two, the corpus should have equal contributions from the Centre and state.
- Three, since Punjab wants that farmers be given MSP for maize, an agency, the Maize Corporation of Punjab (MCP), should be created to buy maize from farmers at MSP.
- Four, this agency should enter into contracts with ethanol companies, and much of this maize can be used to produce ethanol as the poultry and starch industries will not be able to absorb this surplus in maize once a million hectares of paddy area shifts to maize.
- Fifth, maize productivity must be as competitive as that of paddy in Punjab and the best seeds should be used for that purpose.
- This is to ensure that ethanol from maize is produced in a globally competitive manner.
- The GoI’s policy for 20 per cent blending of ethanol in petrol should come in handy for this purpose.
2) Diversification
- Other parts of the diversification strategy have to be along the lines of increasing the area under fruits and vegetables, and a more focused policy to build efficient value chains in not just fruits and vegetables but also livestock and fisheries.
- They are more nutritious and the SAS data shows that their profitability is much higher in these enterprises than in crop cultivation, especially cereals.
- The sector needs to be backed by proper processing, grading and packaging infrastructure to tap its full potential.
Benefits of switching to maize from paddy
- Punjab will arrest its depleting water table as maize needs less than one-fifth the water that paddy does for irrigation.
- Also, Punjab will save much on the power subsidy to agriculture, which was budgeted at Rs 8,275 crore in the FY2020-21 budget, as paddy irrigation consumes much of the power subsidy.
- This saving subsidy resulting from the switch from paddy to maize can be used to fund a part of the state’s contribution to the Maize Corporation of Punjab.
- This could result in a win-win situation for all — farmers, the Government of Punjab and the country — as there will be lesser methane emissions and less stubble burning.
- Moreover, ethanol will also reduce GHG emissions in vehicular pollution.
Consider the question “Switching from paddy cultivation to maize can help the Punjab farmers deal with the several issues. In light of this, explain the issues with paddy cultivation and suggest the way forward.”
Conclusion
Their income on a per hectare basis needs to increase more sustainably, protecting the state’s land, water and air from further degradation, and producing more nutritious food. Punjab can then shine again on the nutritional security front with sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Medical Commission
Mains level: Paper 2- More LGBTQIA+ affirmative curriculum
Context
The National Medical Commission (NMC), the body responsible for regulating medical education in India, released an advisory regarding the LGBTQIA+ community and the necessary changes in the competencies of its competency-based medical education (CBME) curriculum.
Exclusion of LGBTQIA+ community in medication
- Medical education in India has focussed only on the binary of male and female, heterosexuality and cis-gendered lives, while excluding homosexuality and gender non-binary and transgender issues.
- This results in the exclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community.
- Even with the release of the competency-based medical curriculum in August 2019, the curriculum continues to include a queerphobic syllabus.
About the NMC notification
- The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 mandates governments to take measures for the “review of medical curriculum and research for doctors to address their [transgender] specific health issues,” but no action has been taken since then.
- In June 2021, in response to a case filed by a queer couple, the Madras High Court laid down a set of guidelines and directed the NMC to ban queerphobic practices such as conversion therapy which aims to forcibly change the sexual orientation of a person.
- In its notification, the NMC has advised medical colleges to teach gender in a way that is not derogatory to the queer community.
- The authors of medical textbooks have also been asked to amend the books to remove any harmful contents regarding virginity and the queer community.
Issues with the NMC notification
- While the NMC advisory title mentions necessary changes in the competencies of its CBME curriculum, there are no specifications on what these changes are.
- At the same time, the CBME curriculum itself mentions queerphobic things that are to be taught to students.
- Certain acts are called as sexual offences even though the Supreme Court has read down Section 377.
- Also, the competencies which will make a future Indian doctor respectful and empathetic in treating a queer patient are missing.
Way forward
- The NMC must start by recognising the flaws in its own CBME curriculum and explicitly state the changes required.
- Specific guidelines on how to make healthcare queer-affirmative are needed.
- The directive also needs to specify changes across several subjects and not just forensic medicine and psychiatry.
- For this, there needs to be a participatory stakeholder consultation towards the development of a queer-affirmative curriculum.
- Finally, there needs to be clarity on what the NMC plans to do for tackling queerphobia in the current set of health professionals.
Consider the question “The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 mandates governments to take measures for the review of the medical curriculum. In light of this, discuss the changes needed in the medical curriculum regarding the LGBTQIA+ community.”
Conclusion
Without these changes, equitable access to healthcare for queer persons will remain a faraway dream.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: G7
Mains level: Digital Trade Principles
The Group of Seven wealthy nations agreed on a joint set of principles to govern cross-border data use and digital trade.
What are the Digital Trade Principles?
- Open digital markets: Digital and telecommunications markets should be competitive, transparent, fair, and accessible to international trade and investment.
- Cross-border data flows: To harness the opportunities of the digital economy and support the trade of goods and services, data should be able to flow freely across borders with trust.
- Safeguards for workers, consumers, and businesses: Labour protections must be in place for workers who are directly engaged in or support digital trade, providing decent conditions of work.
- Digital trading systems: To cut red tape and enable more businesses to trade, governments and industries should drive forward the digitization of trade-related documents.
- Fair and inclusive global governance: Common rules for digital trade should be agreed and upheld at the World Trade Organization.
About Group of Seven
- The G-7 or ‘Group of Seven’ includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
- It is an intergovernmental organization that was formed in 1975 by the top economies of the time as an informal forum to discuss pressing world issues.
- Initially, it was formed as an effort by the US and its allies to discuss economic issues.
- The G-7 forum now discusses several challenges such as oil prices and many pressing issues such as financial crises, terrorism, arms control, and drug trafficking.
- It does not have a formal constitution or a fixed headquarters. The decisions taken by leaders during annual summits are non-binding.
- Canada joined the group in 1976, and the European Union began attending in 1977.
Evolution of the G-7
- When it started in 1975—with six members, Canada joining a year later—it represented about 70% of the world economy.
- And it was a cosy club for tackling issues such as the response to oil shocks.
- Now it accounts for about 40% of global gdp.
- Since the global financial crisis of 2007-09 it has sometimes been overshadowed by the broader g20.
- The G-7 became the G-8 in 1997 when Russia was invited to join.
- In 2014, Russia was debarred after it took over Crimea.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ZBNF
Mains level: Promotion of Organic Farming
Women farmers in the hill State of Himachal Pradesh are gradually turning to non-chemical, low cost “natural farming”, under the Prakritik Kheti Khushhal Yojana (PK3Y).
Prakritik Kheti Khushhal Yojana
- Launched in 2018, the State’s PK3Y is promoting the climate resilient Subhash Palekar Natural Farming (SPNF), also called ‘Zero Budget Natural Farming’.
- Over 1.5 lakh farmers have been trained in natural farming in the State so far, with substantial numbers of women participants.
About Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)?
- ZBNF is a set of farming methods, and also a grassroots peasant movement, which has spread to various states in India.
- Subhash Palekar perfected it during the 1990s at his farm in Amravati district in Maharashtra’s drought-prone Vidarbha region.
- According to the “zero budget” concept, farmers won’t have to spend any money on fertilisers and other agricultural inputs.
- Over 98% of the nutrients that crops require — carbon dioxide, nitrogen, water, solar energy — are already present in nature.
- The remaining 1.5-2% are taken from the soil, after microorganisms convert them from “non-
Four Wheels of ZBNF
The “four wheels” of ZBNF are ‘Jiwamrita’, ‘Bijamrita’, ‘Mulching’ and ‘Waaphasa’.
- Jiwamrita is a fermented mixture of cow dung and urine (of desi breeds), jaggery, pulses flour, water and soil from the farm bund.
- This isn’t a fertiliser, but just a source of some 500 crore micro-organisms that can convert all the necessary “non-available” nutrients into “available” form.
- Bijamrita is a mix of desi cow dung and urine, water, bund soil and lime that is used as a seed treatment solution prior to sowing.
- Mulching, or covering the plants with a layer of dried straw or fallen leaves, is meant to conserve soil moisture and keep the temperature around the roots at 25-32 degrees Celsius, which allows the microorganisms to do their job.
- Waaphasa, or providing water to maintain the required moisture-air balance, also achieves the same objective.
Astra’s of ZBNF against pest attacks
- ZBNF advocates the use of special ‘Agniastra’, ‘Bramhastra’ and ‘Neemastra’ concoctions.
- They are based on cow urine and dung, plus pulp from leaves of neem, white datura, papaya, guava and pomegranates — for controlling pest and disease attacks.
Is it organic farming?
- ZBNF uses farmyard manure or vermicompost.
However, not all farmers are convinced about ZBNF. Why?
- Cost of labour: The cost of labour for collection of dung and urine, apart from the other inputs used in preparation of Jiwamrita, Neemastra or Bramhastra is quit higher.
- Bovine cost: Keeping cows is also a cost that has to be accounted for. Farmers cannot afford to keep desi cows that yield very little milk.
- Vulnerability to pest attacks: ZBNF is scarcely practiced. The crop grown would be vulnerable to attacks by insects and pests have already become pest-immune.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hybrid immunity
Mains level: Not Much
A study has shown that a combination of natural infection with a single dose of vaccine provides greater immunity than either natural infection without vaccination or full vaccination in individuals.
What is the new study?
- People without prior infection but fully vaccinated with the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine showed a decline in neutralising antibodies over a period of three to seven months.
- But the decline was much less in vaccinated people with prior infection.
- People with hybrid immunity had a higher and more durable neutralising antibody response.
- The hybrid immunity offers stronger protection than just infection or full vaccination alone.
What is Hybrid Immunity?
- It is natural immunity from an infection combined with the immunity provided by the vaccine.
- The immunological advantage from hybrid immunity arises mostly from memory B cells.
What are memory B cells?
- In immunology, a memory B cell (MBC) is a type of B lymphocyte that forms part of the adaptive immune system.
- B lymphocytes are the cells of the immune system that make antibodies to invade pathogens like viruses.
- They form memory cells that remember the same pathogen for faster antibody production in future infections.
How do they assist hybrid immunity?
- While the bulk of antibodies after infection or vaccination decline after a short while, the memory B cells get triggered on subsequent infection or vaccination.
- The memory B cells triggered by infection and those triggered by vaccination have different responses to viruses.
- Infection and vaccination expose the spike protein to the immune system in vastly different ways.
- After full vaccination, antibodies produced by natural infection continued to grow in potency and their breadth against variants for a year after infection.
- Unlike after vaccination, the memory B cells formed after natural infection are more likely to make antibodies that block immune-evading variants.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Banni Buffalo, IVF
Mains level: Not Much
With the birth of first IVF calf of a Buffalo breed namely Banni in the country, India’s Ovum Pick-Up (OPU) – IVF work has reached to next level.
Banni Buffalo
- Banni buffaloes are also known as “Kutchi” or “Kundi”.
- The breeding tract includes the Banni area of Kutchchh district of Gujarat.
- The breed is maintained mostly by Maldharis under locally adapted typical extensive production system in its breeding tract.
What makes them unique?
- Banni buffaloes are trained to graze on Banni grassland during night and brought to the villages in the morning for milking.
- This traditional system of buffalo rearing has been adapted to avoid the heat stress and high temperature of the day.
- It has unique qualities of adaptation such as the ability to survive water scarcity conditions, to cover long distances during periods of drought and disease resistance.
Indigenous buffalo breeds in India
| S. No. |
Breed |
Breeding state |
| 1 |
Banni |
Gujarat |
| 2 |
Bargur |
Tamil Nadu |
| 3 |
Bhadawari |
Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh |
| 4 |
Chhattisgarhi |
Chhattisgarh |
| 5 |
Chilika |
Odisha |
| 6 |
Gojri |
Himachal Pradesh and Punjab |
| 7 |
Jaffarabadi |
Gujarat |
| 8 |
Kalahandi |
Odisha |
| 9 |
Luit (Swamp) |
Assam |
| 10 |
Marathwadi |
Maharashtra |
| 11 |
Mehsana |
Gujarat |
| 12 |
Murrah |
Haryana and Delhi |
| 13 |
Nagpuri |
Maharashtra |
| 14 |
Nili Ravi |
Punjab |
| 15 |
Pandharpuri |
Maharashtra |
| 16 |
Surti |
Gujarat |
| 17 |
Toda |
Tamil Nadu |
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Back2Basics: In-vitro fertilization (IVF)
- IVF is a type of assisted reproductive technology used for infertility treatment and gestational surrogacy.
- A fertilised egg may be implanted into a surrogate’s uterus, and the resulting child is genetically unrelated to the surrogate.
- Some countries have banned or otherwise regulate the availability of IVF treatment, giving rise to fertility tourism.
- Restrictions on the availability of IVF include costs and age, in order for a woman to carry a healthy pregnancy to term.
- IVF is generally not used until less invasive or expensive options have failed or been determined unlikely to work.
IVF process
- IVF is a process of fertilization where an egg is combined with sperm outside the body, in vitro (“in glass”).
- The process involves monitoring and stimulating a female ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) from the female ovaries and letting sperm fertilise them in a liquid in a laboratory.
- After the fertilised egg (zygote) undergoes embryo culture for 2–6 days, it is implanted in the same or another female uterus, with the intention of establishing a successful pregnancy.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ATUFS
Mains level: Textile sector of India
Union Minister of Textiles has reviewed the Amended Technology Up-gradation Fund Scheme (ATUFS) to ease of doing business, bolstering exports & fuelling employment.
What is ATUFS?
- The Ministry of Textiles had introduced Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) in 1999.
- It is a credit linked subsidy scheme intended for modernization and technology up-gradation of the Indian textile industry.
- It aims at promoting ease of doing business, generating employment and promoting exports. Since then, the scheme has been implemented in different versions.
- The ongoing ATUFS has been approved in 2016 and implemented through web based iTUFS platform.
- Capital Investment Subsidy is provided to benchmarked machinery installed by the industry after physical verification.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: HELE power plants
Mains level: Paper 3- Clean energy transition plan
Context
India has a long way to go in providing electricity security to its people since its per capita electricity consumption is still only a third of the global average.
Ensuring energy security and role of coal
- Energy security warrants the uninterrupted supply of energy at affordable prices.
- Thanks to the Electricity Act of 2003, the installed coal-fired thermal power plant (TPP) generation capacity in India more than doubled from 94 GW to 192 GW between March 2011 and 2017.
- This sharp increase in the installed capacity has enabled the government to increase per capita electricity consumption by 37% while reducing peak demand deficit from 9.8% (2010-11) to 1.6% (2016-17).
- TPPs contributed 71% of the 1,382 billion units (BU) of electricity generated by utilities in India during FY 2020-21 though they accounted for only 55% of the total installed generation capacity of 382 GW (as of March 2021).
- Coal, therefore, plays a vital role in India’s ongoing efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7, which is “to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”.
Renewable energy utilisation issue and implications for consumers
- While variable renewable energy (VRE) sources (primarily, wind and solar) account for 24.7% of the total installed generation capacity, as of March 2021, they contributed 10.7% of the electricity generated by utilities during FY 2020-21.
- However, the ramp-up of VRE generation capacity without commensurate growth in electricity demand has resulted in lower utilisation of TPPs whose fixed costs must be paid by the distribution companies (DISCOMs) and passed through to the final consumer.
- The current level of VRE in the national power grid is increasing the cost of power procurement for DISCOMs, leading to tariff increases for electricity consumers.
- Therefore, India must implement a plan to increase energy efficiency and reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and airborne pollutants from TPPs without making power unaffordable to industries that need low-cost 24×7 power to compete in the global market.
Way forward: time-bound transition plan
- Phasing out: The plan should involve the progressive retirement of TPPs(unit size 210 MW and below) based on key performance parameters such as efficiency, specific coal consumption, technological obsolescence, and age.
- Increasing utilisation: The resulting shortfall in baseload electricity generation can be made up by increasing the utilisation of existing High-Efficiency-Low-Emission (HELE) TPPs that are currently under-utilised to accommodate VRE and commissioning the 47 government-owned TPPs.
- In addition, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is also constructing 11 nuclear power plants with a total generation capacity of 8,700 MW that will supply 24×7 power without any CO2 emissions.
- The combined thermal (220 GW) and nuclear (15 GW) capacity of 235 GW can meet the baseload requirement (80% of peak demand) during the evening peak in FY 2029-30 without expensive battery storage.
- The optimal utilisation of existing and under-construction HELE TPPs with faster-ramping capabilities and lower technical minimums also facilitates VRE integration.
- Since HELE TPPs minimise emissions of particulate matter (PM), SO2, and NO2, the transition plan offers operational, economic, and environmental benefits including avoidance of sustenance Capex and FGD costs in the 211 obsolete TPPs to be retired besides savings in specific coal consumption and water requirement leading to reductions in electricity tariffs and PM pollution.
Conclusion
The implementation of transition plan will enable India to safeguard its energy security and ensure efficient grid operations with lower water consumption, PM pollution, and CO2 emissions.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Internal democracy in political parties
Context
It is obvious that institutional intermediaries in a representative democracy must themselves be democratic. However, beyond the rhetoric, internal democracy in a political party is less straightforward.
How democratic accountability in a political party is different from that in a country
- Democratic accountability in a political party is qualitatively different from that in a country.
- A political party is a collaborative platform to capture state power to achieve a certain vision for society.
- In a country, there are sharp differences between citizens on the vision and values themselves and the role of democracy is not just to create a framework to negotiate conflict but to ensure that the state is representative of the largest section of the electorate through periodic elections.
- Thus, while democracy at the level of the country is a bottom-up opportunity to change direction altogether, democratic accountability in a political party exists within an ideological framework.
Is internal elections for party leadership a solution?
- Subversion of internal institutional process: Proponents underestimate the ability of existing repositories of power to subvert internal institutional processes to consolidate power and maintain the status quo.
- Independence of lower level: the assumption that the lower levels would be independent and hold the higher levels of leadership to account glosses over the many ways power asserts itself.
- Independence and quality of electorate: The outcome of internal elections is contingent on the independence and quality of the electorate.
- In indirect elections (through delegates), the electorate would likely mirror the existing balance of power.
- In direct elections, there is a concern of ideological dilution and/or capture through opportunistic membership.
- It is evident that internal elections may factionalise power but cannot establish normative accountability, which extends to all members of the party along three interconnected axes of ideology, organisation and competence.
- Normative accountability is thus rooted in a dynamic context and is necessarily a deliberative process.
Democratic functioning in political parties is not an end in itself
- Unlike for the state, democracy is not an end in itself for a political party.
- The highest possible attainment of individual well-being and individual self-will through a democratic state is an end in itself.
- The purpose of a political party is the acquisition of state power.
- Democratic functioning may be an ideological imperative, operational choice, or legitimising tactic but it is not an end in itself for a political party.
Way forward
- Instead of looking at internal party processes, one way to decentralise power is by getting rid of the anti-defection law.
- The need to canvass votes in the legislature will create room for negotiation in the party organisation too.
- Most importantly, this reform will impose a similar burden on all political parties and may create space to change the overall political culture.
Consider the question “Lack of internal democratic functioning in the political parties has bearing on the overall political functioning of the country. Examine the factors responsible for its lack in India and suggest measures to encourage it.”
Conclusion
The role of democracy is not just to create a framework to negotiate conflict but to ensure that the state is representative of the largest section of the electorate through periodic elections.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Regulation of Gig Economy
Since the pandemic, there is a growing concern about the pay-out and job-securities of the delivery persons and other gig workers of the e-commerce companies.
E-com boom in India
- E-commerce in India is a nascent industry that is probably less than 13 years old.
- In this short period, it has captured the collective imagination of the nation.
- The covid-19 crisis has accelerated its adoption, and even die-hard fans of shopping at a physical store have switched to shopping online.
Various issues faced by the gig workers
- Harsh working conditions
- Quality of work and the temporary nature of engagement
- Absence of a social security net
- Long hours
- Delayed pay-outs
- Pressure to maximize speed of delivery (at the risk of road accidents)
E-coms under scanner
The bigger an industry gets, and the more successful it is perceived to be, the more responsible and thoughtful it needs to be in everything it does.
- Fairness in employment: Some of the concerns are fair and call for introspection on the part of e-commerce companies.
- Premature regulation: There is a rising demand for regulation of the gig economy created by them.
Significance of e-commerce sector
Anyone complaining about the quality of jobs being created by the e-commerce industry probably needs to spend some time understanding the history of job creation in India.
An attractive sector for India’s ‘jobs problem’
- Ample workforce: India is a demographically youthful nation, and every year between 17 and 20 million people look for jobs.
- Attractive sector: This includes around 5 million people who are abandoning highly exploitative and less remunerative farm jobs every year to find employment in other sectors, mostly in the nearest urban districts.
- Limited success of service sector: The IT and business process outsourcing industry has less than 200,000 jobs a year during its 25 years of existence. This is just a minuscule 1% of the total number of jobs that need to be created.
Data justifying un-steady flow of income
- According to CSO, only about 17% of India’s workers are regular wage earners and less than 23% of Indian households have a regular wage earner.
- In other words, 77% of our households did not have a steady flow of income.
- Self-employed (46%) and casual labour (33%) together account for nearly 80% of the workforce and claimed to earn less than ₹10,000 per month.
- These are the realities that cannot be ignored.
E-commerce: A game-changer
- The new-age platforms have done is nothing short of a miracle both in terms of creating jobs as well as paying a fair wage.
- It can be well established that it has provided a better remedy for unemployment in India.
Why do e-marketplaces matter?
- Failure of Skills: Neither skill nor knowledge is enough to ensure one generates income.
- Technology dependency and free market: Efficient marketplace which are enabled by technology, matters.
- Common platform: A startup such as the Urban Company is an example of a technology-powered marketplace for common services such as plumbing, carpentry, beauty, and house-cleaning, among others.
- Single marketplace: They brought consumers and suppliers of services (based on skills) on a common platform and made the whole process of matching demand and supply pretty seamless.
Benefits offered
- Decent pay: A consumer of a service is willing to pay more for better quality of service if there is a consistent and reliable process of evaluating the capability of service providers.
- Self-employment: Most of these workers are always self-employed and even with these platforms, they operate in a gig mode which isn’t structurally different.
- Better livelihood: Youth from rural India had been joining the Ola and Uber platforms in large numbers, many of whom were either unemployed or heavily under-employed.
- No skill-compulsion: When skilling is voluntary and driven by a free market mechanism, the outcomes are magical.
- Industrializing the services: These platforms did ‘industrialize’ the services—industrialization allowed effortless consumption and created structured mechanisms to scale services and service capabilities.
- New consumption pattern: The technology enabled markets resulted in ‘new consumption’ which, in turn, led to creation of more goods and service providers.
Way forward
- As far as the e-commerce industry is concerned, there are several obvious lessons that can contribute towards its growth, going ahead.
- Also it is not fair to paint the entire industry as exploitative or be unduly critical of the gig model which is actually a very good model.
- Many of the gig workers themselves would be reluctant to take up full time and fixed salaried jobs. Pushing for premature regulation could be lethal.
- And finally, it is unrealistic to expect the e-commerce industry to create jobs that are probably as well paying like the IT industry.
Conclusion
- Creating high-paying jobs was never easy and will never be easy.
- Nor is it realistic that everyone, or even a majority of the 20 million, will be employed in high-paying jobs.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CBI
Mains level: Issues with CBI
The Union Government has told the Supreme Court West Bengal state govt does not have any “absolute” power to keep the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from investigating crimes inside the State.
What is the issue?
- A case of post-poll violence was transferred to the CBI by the Calcutta High Court.
- Hence the State Police is under a cloud.
- In a response to this, the West Bengal had filed a suit against the Union of India under Article 131 of the Constitution.
What is Article 131 of Indian Constitution?
- Article 131 states talks about the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court on matters subject to the provisions of Constitution between the Government of India and one or more States.
- Thus, the Article allows a state to file a suit in the Supreme Court in case of any dispute that it may have with the central government, invoking the court’s “original jurisdiction”.
Why WB challenged the Union govt?
- The State has challenged the CBI’s jurisdiction to register FIRs and conduct investigations in the State in myriad cases.
- West Bengal said it had withdrawn “general consent” to the CBI way back in 2018.
- The State said the CBI’s actions were a direct attack on the federal structure of governance.
What is this ‘General Consent’ about?
- Unlike the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is governed by its own NIA Act and has jurisdiction across the country, the CBI is governed by the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.
- This makes consent of a state government mandatory for conducting an investigation in that state.
- Hence the CBI has jurisdiction only over central government departments and employees.
- However, it can investigate a case involving state government employees or a violent crime in a given state only with the consent of state government.
Arguments made by Centre
- The Centre said that the CBI was an autonomous body not controlled by the Union Government.
- Hence the suit was misplaced and should be dismissed.
Back2Basics:
Central Bureau of Investigation: Composition, Functions
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Global Agricultural Productivity Report, 2021
Mains level: Agricultural Productivity
Global agricultural productivity (GAP) is not growing as fast as the demand for food, amid the impact of climate change, according to a new report.
GAP Report
- The GAP Report is released by Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
- It urges the acceleration of productivity growth from smallholders to large-scale farmers to meet consumers’ needs and address current and future threats to human and environmental well-being.
Key indicator: Total factor productivity (TFP)
- In agriculture, productivity is measured as Total Factor Productivity or TFP.
- An increase in TFP growth indicates that more crops, livestock, and aquaculture products were produced with the same amount (or less) land, labor, fertilizer, machinery, feed, and livestock.
- TFP grows when producers increase output using improved technologies and practices, such as advanced seed varieties, precision mechanization, efficient nutrient and water management techniques, and improved animal care practices.
- Using agricultural inputs efficiently to generate more output reduces agriculture’s environmental impact and lowers costs for producers and consumers.
Highlights of the report
- Total factor productivity (TFP) is growing at an annual rate of 1.36 per cent (2020-2019).
- This is below the annual target of 1.73 per cent growth to sustainably meet the needs of consumers for food and bioenergy in 2050.
- Climate change has already reduced productivity growth globally by 21 per cent since 1961, the report said.
- In the drier regions of Africa and Latin America, climate change has slowed productivity growth by as much as 34 per cent.
- The report noted that middle-income countries including India, China, Brazil and erstwhile Soviet republics continued to have strong TFP growth rates.
Agricultural productivity in India
- India has seen strong TFP and output growth this century.
- The most recent data shows an average annual TFP growth rate of 2.81 per cent and output growth of 3.17 per cent (2010–2019).
Key recommendations
- The report urged accelerating investments in agricultural R&D to increase and preserve productivity gains, especially for small farmers.
- It identified six strategies and policies that would create sustainable agricultural growth at all scales of production:
- Invest in agricultural research and development
- Embrace science-and-information-based technologies
- Improve infrastructure for transportation, information and finance
- Cultivate partnerships for sustainable agriculture, economic growth and improved nutrition
- Expand and improve local, regional and global trade
- Reduce post-harvest loss and food waste
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ramappa Temple, UNESCO Heritage sites
Mains level: Ancient temple architecture
The Union Minister for Culture, Tourism has unveiled the UNESCO World Heritage Listing plaque at Ramappa – Kakatiya Rudreshwara Temple in Palampet.
Rudreswara Temple
- The Rudreswara temple was constructed in 1213 AD during the reign of the Kakatiya Empire by Recharla Rudra, a general of Kakatiya king Ganapati Deva.
- It is also known as the Ramappa temple, after the sculptor who executed the work in the temple for 40 years.
- The main temple is flanked by the collapsed structures of the Kateshwarayya and Kameshwarayya temples in Palampet, about 220 km from Hyderabad.
- An inscription dates the temple to 1135 Samvat-Saka on the eighth day of Magha (January 12, 1214).
- It is India’s 39th UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Total 40 in number after Dholavira).
Its architecture
- The temple complexes of Kakatiyas have a distinct style, technology, and decoration exhibiting the influence of the Kakatiyan sculptor.
- The temple stands on a 6 feet high star-shaped platform with walls, pillars, and ceilings adorned with intricate carvings that attest to the unique skill of the Kakatiyan sculptors.
- The foundation is built with the “sandbox technique”, the flooring is granite, and the pillars are basalt.
- The lower part of the temple is red sandstone while the white gopuram is built with light bricks that reportedly float on water.
- European merchants and travelers were mesmerized by the beauty of the temple and one such traveler had remarked that the temple was the “brightest star in the galaxy of medieval temples of the Deccan”.
Surviving through ages
- According to the temple priest, some of the iconography on the temple was damaged during the invasion of Malik Kafur in 1310.
- Treasure hunters vandalized the rest.
- But the biggest test for the temple was an earthquake in the 17th century (one of the biggest was that of 7.7-8.2-magnitude on June 16, 1819).
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Which one of the following was a very important seaport in the Kakatiya kingdom? (CSP 2017)
(a) Kakinada
(b) Motupalli
(c) Machilipatnam (Masulipatnam)
(d) Nelluru
Post your answers here.
Back2Basics: UNESCO World Heritage Sites
- A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area, selected by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for having cultural, historical, scientific, or other forms of significance, which is legally protected by international treaties.
- The sites are judged to be important for the collective and preservative interests of humanity.
- To be selected, a WHS must be an already-classified landmark, unique in some respect as a geographically and historically identifiable place having special cultural or physical significance (such as an ancient ruin or historical structure, building, city, complex, desert, forest, island, lake, monument, mountain, or wilderness area).
- It may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humanity, and serve as evidence of our intellectual history on the planet.
- The sites are intended for practical conservation for posterity, which otherwise would be subject to risk from human or animal trespassing, unmonitored/uncontrolled/unrestricted access, or threat from local administrative negligence.
- The list is maintained by the international World Heritage Program administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 “states parties” that are elected by their General Assembly.
UNESCO World Heritage Committee
- The World Heritage Committee selects the sites to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger.
- It monitors the state of conservation of the World Heritage properties, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund, and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties.
- It is composed of 21 states parties that are elected by the General Assembly of States Parties for a four-year term.
- India is NOT a member of this Committee.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CAPF, ITBP
Mains level: Paper 3- Issues faced by the police and paramilitary forces
Context
In memory of these and other colleagues killed, all the police forces of the State and Centre observe October 21 as Police Commemoration Day.
Casualties among the police forces
- As the CRPF is deployed in the highly disturbed areas of Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast and the Left-Wing Extremist-affected States, the highest casualties (82) were seen in this force.
- The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), which guards the border from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh at forbidding heights, lost 54 of its personnel.
- The Border Security Force lost 47 personnel.
- Among the State Police forces, Chhattisgarh, which is combating the Maoist menace, lost the most personnel (32) followed by J&K (17) and Karnataka (17).
Neglect of the police and paramilitary personnels
- They get paid low salaries, have a poor quality of life and are often deprived of basic facilities.
- The morale of the paramilitary personnel is not of the desired level.
- Those who cleared recruitment exams in 2003 but joined the force in 2004 or later are not eligible for pension under the old norms.
- Canteen and medical facilities are dismal.
- Items sold through the Central Police Canteens are not exempted from GST.
- There are notable variations in the ex-gratia amounts given to the next of kin of the police who are killed.
- The Centre and the States need to bring about uniformity in the amount paid.
- Care should be taken to ensure that the next of kin are not deprived of a decent living.
- Payments from the public exchequer need to be made judiciously.
Conclusion
It is high time the government takes note of the grievances of the police and paramilitary personnel and not let their sacrifices go in vain.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GATT
Mains level: Paper 3- Rising trade protectionism
Context
India’s efforts for deepening India’s trade ties with several countries could be scuttled by rising trade protectionism at home.
Increasing protectionism by India
- Increase in average tariffs: As Arvind Panagariya has argued, the simple average of India’s tariffs that stood at 8.9 per cent in 2010-11 has increased by almost 25 per cent to 11.1 per cent in 2020-21.
- These increases in tariff rates have reversed the political consensus on tariff liberalisation that India followed since 1991.
- Initiator of anti-dumping measures: India is the highest initiator of anti-dumping measures aimed at shielding domestic industry from import competition.
- According to the WTO, from 2015 to 2019, India initiated 233 anti-dumping investigations, which is a sharp increase from 82 initiations between 2011 and 2014 (June).
- The anti-dumping initiations by India from 1995 (when the WTO was established) till 2020 stand at 1,071.
- Expanding the scope of Article 11(2)(f): India recently amended Section 11(2)(f) of the Customs Act of 1962, giving the government the power to ban the import or export of any good (not just gold and silver, as this provision applied earlier) if it is necessary to prevent injury to the economy.
- Expanding the scope of Article 11(2)(f) to cover any good is inconsistent with India’s WTO obligations.
- WTO allows countries to impose restrictions on imports in case of injury to domestic industry, not to the “economy”.
- Restrictive rules of origin: Finance Minister in her budget speech of 2020 said that undue claims of FTA benefits pose a threat to the domestic industry.
- Subsequently, India amended the rules of origin requirement under the Customs Act.
- Rules of origin determine the national source of a product.
- This helps in deciding whether to apply a preferential tariff rate (if the product originates from India’s FTA partner country) or to apply the most favoured nation rate (if the product originates from a non-FTA country).
- But India has imposed onerous burdens on importers to ensure compliance with the rules of origin requirement.
- The intent appears to be to dissuade importers from importing goods from India’s FTA partners.
- Impact of vocal for local: The clarion call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be “vocal for local” is creating an ecosystem where imports are looked at with disdain, upsetting competitive opportunities and trading partners.
What are the implications?
- Protectionist steps are justified on the ground that they would help domestic companies grow into viable competitors.
- But the fact is that protectionism does not benefit the domestic economy.
- It rather encourages inefficiency of domestic manufacturers.
- It is likely to hurt exports, make domestic goods costlier and reduce benefits to consumers from increased competition.
- So in the long term, protectionism is likely to have only a negative effect on industry’s ability to compete globally.
- For India to reap the benefits of the summits and partnerships like Quad, there needs to be a fundamental shift in policy.
- Amore pragmatic approach in line with the recent initiatives to reverse the retrospective tax legislation and provide support to the flailing telecom sector must be expanded.
Conclusion
India can’t maximise its interests at the expense of others. Its experiment with trade protectionism in the decades before 1991 was disastrous. We should recall Winston Churchill’s warning: “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.”
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 19
Mains level: Farmers protests and related issues
The Supreme Court has said farmers protesting at Delhi borders against the three farms laws have the right to agitate but they cannot block roads indefinitely.
For students with Sociology optional, can someone list the differences between- Dissent, Protest, Agitation and Movement?
What is Protest?
- When a group, community, or even a person goes up to protest, it is usually to showcase their disapproval or demur against any action, policy, statement, etc of state or government or any organization.
- Mostly the flow of protest is driven through political waves that also demonstrate the collective organization of people to make the government or state address their issues and take steps to overcome them.
Issues with ongoing protest in Delhi
- The question as to the absolute nature of the right to protest is not even a question in the true sense here.
- We have seen the vandalism protest at Red Fort last year.
- Hence the rights mentioned above are subject to reasonable restrictions under 19 (2) and 19 (3) on grounds such as sovereignty and integrity of India, and public order.
Right to Protest in India
- The right to protest is the manifestation of three FRs:
- Right to Freedom of Assembly
- Right to Freedom of Association and
- Right to Freedom of Speech
- The Constitution of India provides the right of freedom, given in Article 19 with the view of guaranteeing individual rights that were considered vital by the framers of the constitution.
- The Right to protest peacefully is enshrined in Article 19(1) (a) guarantees the freedom of speech and expression; Article 19(1) (b) assures citizens the right to assemble peaceably and without arms.
In detail: Article 19(1)
It states that All citizens shall have the right:
- (a) to freedom of speech and expression;
- (b) to assemble peaceably and without arms;
- (c) to form associations or unions;
- (d) to move freely throughout the territory of India;
- (e) to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India; and
- (f) omitted
- (g) to practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business
Do you know?
Right to Internet is a fundamental right and is an essential part of freedom of speech and expression. One might get confused if it is an FR under Article 21.
Reasonable restrictions do exist in practice
- Fundamental rights do not live in isolation. The right of the protester has to be balanced with the right of the commuter. They have to co-exist in mutual respect.
- Article 19(2) imposes reasonable restrictions on this.
- The court held it was entirely the responsibility of the administration to prevent encroachments in public spaces.
Conclusion
- Democracy and dissent go hand in hand, but then the demonstrations expressing dissent have to be in designated places alone.
- The present case was not even one of the protests taking place in an undesignated area but was a blockage of a public way which caused grave inconvenience to commuters.
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