Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NEET Quota row
Mains level: Significance of the Judgment, New definition of Merit
The Supreme Court has pronounced its decision upholding the constitutional validity of providing 27% quota to Other Backward Classes (OBC) in NEET All India Quota (AIQ) seats for UG and PG medical courses.
What is the issue?
- The petitioners, several NEET aspirants, had argued that since the top court had limited reservation to 50% in the Indira Sawhney judgment, the government should have first applied to the court before tinkering with the quota calculations.
- The court further confirmed that there was no need for the Centre to have got the prior consent of the Supreme Court before introducing OBC quota in the AIQ seats under NEET.
- The court reasoned that material affluence of certain individual members of a socially backward group or ‘creamy layer’ could not be used against the entire group to deny it the benefits of reservation.
What is the background of this case?
- The government introduced OBC/EWS quota before the counselling of NEET counselling.
- The candidates applying for NEET PG were not provided any information on the distribution of the seat matrix.
- Such information is provided by the counselling authority only after the counselling session is to begin.
Key observations of the Apex Court
- The SC has held that reservation is not at odds with merit.
- It observed that ‘merit’ could not be narrowed to the limit of success in open competitive exams.
- Merit of a person is a sum total of “lived experiences” and his or her struggle to overcome cultural and social setbacks, observed the SC.
Why is this a landmark judgment?
- Merit cannot be reduced to narrow definitions of performance in an open competitive examination, which only provides formal equality of opportunities , said the SC.
- Current competencies are assessed by competent examinations but are not reflective of excellence, capability and potential of an individual.
Major justifications for Reservations
- Exams did not reflect how social, economic and cultural advantages that accrued to certain classes contributed to their success in them, the court noted.
- Examinations are not a proxy for merit.
- Merit should be socially contextualized and re-conceptualized.
- Reservation is not at odds with merit but furthers its distributive impact, Justice Chandrachud observed.
Constitutionality of the decision
- The court held that the power of the State governments to provide reservations under Article 15 (4) and (5) of the Constitution was not an “exception” to Article 15 (1).
- It enshrines the mandate that “the State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, and place of birth or any of them”.
- The court held that the power of the State government to craft reservations for the OBC amplified the principle of “substantive equality” manifested through Article 15 (1).
Implications: Victory for States
- In a significant victory for States such as Tamil Nadu, the court confirmed their power to make “special provisions” and provide reservations in educational admissions, whether in aided or unaided institutions.
- TN provides government jobs for the advancement of “any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the SCs and STs”.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various articles mentioned in news
Mains level: Reservations for OBCs
The latest order in Rahul Ramesh Wagh v. State of Maharashtra &Ors makes it mandatory that the principles laid down by the Supreme Court for providing reservation to OBCs in local bodies shall be followed across the country.
Let us understand the Case
- Maharashtra had constituted a Commission to ascertain the backwardness of OBCs in June 2021.
- But without waiting for an empirical report, an ordinance was promulgated to amend the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads Act, Panchayat Samitis Act and the Maharashtra Village Panchayat Act.
- They were aimed to conduct local body elections with OBC reservation.
- This was struck down by the Supreme Court.
The latest case arose out of the challenge made to the ordinance promulgated on the teeth of the Supreme Court judgments by the Governor of Maharashtra to conduct the local body elections by providing 27% reservation to OBCs.
What did the SC observe now?
- Reservation to OBCs in local body elections without empirical base can no more be sustainable in law.
- The latest order in RR Wagh v. State of Maharashtra & others makes it mandatory that the principles laid down by the Supreme Court for providing reservation to OBCs in local bodies shall be scrupulously followed across the country.
Which principles is the apex court talking about?
- A five-judge Constitution Bench in the K. Krishnamurthy (Dr.) v. Union of India (2010) judgment said that barriers to political participation are not the same as barriers to education and employment.
- Though reservation to local bodies is permissible, the top court declared that the same is subject to three conditions:
- to set up a dedicated Commission to conduct empirical inquiry into the nature of the backwardness in local bodies
- to specify the proportion of reservation required to be provisioned local body-wise
- such reservation shall not exceed aggregate of 50% cap of the total seats reserved for SCs/STs/OBCs taken together
- This is famously referred as ‘Triplet Test’.
Major takeaways of K. Krishnamurthy Case
In this case, the Supreme Court had interpreted Article 243D(6) and Article 243T(6), which permit reservation by enactment of law for backward classes in local bodies respectively.
- It held that barriers to political participation are not the same as that of the barriers that limit access to education and employment.
- However, for creating a level playing field, reservation may be desirable as mandated by the aforementioned conditions.
- Above articles provide a separate constitutional basis for reservation, as distinct from what are conceived under Article 15 (4) and Article 16 (4) which form the basis for reservation in education and employment.
Reception of the Krishnamurthy Judgment
- The Indian political class usually displays apathy to the law declared by the courts as contrary to the enacted law.
- The 2010 judgment was not acted upon and the constitutionality of the enacted reservation was challenged.
- This resulted in the 2021 judgment of a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court.
What can be concluded from the aspirant’s perspective?
- Maharashtra Legislative Assembly passed a resolution to stall the local body elections in the wake of the judicial interference.
- Elections, undoubtedly, must be held on time.
- Since Judiciary does not usually interfere into Elections, States often seek to bypass the OBC reservation issues.
Conclusion
- Had the governments stuck to the law as mandated by Article 141 of the Constitution, this quandary wouldn’t have arisen.
- Much of the judiciary’s time could have been saved.
- Rule of law is not just a set of letters, but it has to be followed in spirit.
Back2Basics: Article 141 of the Constitution
- It stipulates that the law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding on all Courts within the territory of India.
- Thus, the general principles laid down, by the Supreme Court are binding on each individual including those who are not a party to an order.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Read the attached story
Mains level: Hurdles in 5G Rollout
Air India said Boeing had cleared its B777 aircraft for flights to the US following concerns that the 5G roll-out there could interfere with critical aircraft functions.
What is 5G Technology?
- 5G or fifth generation is the latest upgrade in the long-term evolution (LTE) mobile broadband networks.
- It’s a unified platform which is much more capable than previous mobile services with more capacity, lower latency, faster data delivery rate and better utilization of spectrum.
How can 5G affect flight safety?
- Airlines take off and land using auto-pilot systems, which use data from radar altimeters to determine the altitude of the aircraft.
- Altimeters emit radio waves at 4.2-4.3 Gigahertz (GHz) frequency, which could interfere with a 5G band called C-Band, which lies between 3.7-4.4 GHz.
- This interference can mess up the data. That’s the safety concern. Radio altimeters are used at airports and other low-altitude locations.
- A different kind of altimeter, called pressure altimeter, is used for high altitude areas.
- Not using auto-pilot would lead to more fuel consumption and higher costs for airlines.
What happens to Air India’s operations?
- While scheduled international flights, to and from India, remain suspended due to the pandemic, Air India operates flights to the US under an air bubble agreement.
- These routes are served by the airline’s wide-body fleet of Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 planes.
- The roll out of 5G is expected to primarily impact the operations of Boeing 777 and 747.
Can this impact India’s 5G roll-out?
- India’s 5G auctions are expected to include spectrum bands of 3.3GHz -3.6GHz, which means the C-Band may not be operational, at least in the near future.
- Plus, aircraft equipment is manufactured globally, with certain standards.
- The FAA tests will likely lead to standards for altimeters and applied internationally.
- For aircraft makers, altimeters are key equipment. But they’re bought off-the-rack instead being designed in-house.
- Once a standard is known, it can be implemented in all aircraft.
Also read
[Burning Issue] 5G Technology
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Anti-Microbial Resistance
Mains level: Overdose of anti-biotics
The Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) report published in The Lancet provides the most comprehensive estimate of the global impact of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) so far.
What is AMR?
- Antimicrobial resistance (AMR or AR) is the ability of a microbe to resist the effects of medication that once could successfully treat the microbe
- Antibiotic resistance occurs naturally, but misuse of antibiotics in humans and animals is accelerating the process.
- A growing number of infections – such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorrhoea, and salmonellosis – are becoming harder to treat as the antibiotics used to treat them become less effective.
- It leads to higher medical costs, prolonged hospital stays, and increased mortality.
How does it occur?
- Antibiotics are medicines used to prevent and treat bacterial infections.
- Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in response to the use of these medicines.
- Bacteria, not humans or animals, become antibiotic-resistant.
- These bacteria may infect humans and animals, and the infections they cause are harder to treat than those caused by non-resistant bacteria.
What did the GRAM report find?
- AMR is a leading cause of death globally, higher than HIV/AIDS or malaria.
- As many as 4.95 million deaths may be associated with bacterial AMR in 2019.
- Lower respiratory tract infections accounted for more than 1.5 million deaths associated with resistance in 2019, making it the most common infectious syndrome.
The six leading pathogens for deaths associated with resistance were:
- Escherichia coli (E. Coli)
- Staphylococcus aureus
- Klebsiella pneumonia
- Streptococcus pneumonia
- Acinetobacter baumannii
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
What are the implications of this study?
- Common infections such as lower respiratory tract infections, bloodstream infections, and intra-abdominal infections are now killing hundreds of thousands of people every.
- This includes historically treatable illnesses, such as pneumonia, hospital-acquired infections, and foodborne ailments.
Way forward
- Doctors recommend greater action to monitor and control infections, globally, nationally and within individual hospitals.
- Access to vaccines, clean water and sanitation ought to be expanded.
- The use of antibiotics unrelated to treating human disease, such as in food and animal production must be “optimised” and finally they recommend being “more thoughtful”.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sammakka-Sarakka Jatara
Mains level: Not Much
Medaram, a tiny village in Telangana’s tribal heartland of Mulugu district, is getting ready to host the Sammakka-Sarakka jatara, billed as the country’s biggest tribal fair.
Sammakka-Sarakka Jatara
- The mega four-day jatara, scheduled to begin on February 16 in Medaram. It takes place once in two years.
- It is perhaps the only tribal fair devoted to pay tribute to tribal warriors who made supreme sacrifices defending the rights of aboriginal tribal people.
- It symbolises the traditions and heritage of the Koya tribal people.
- The sacred site in Medaram and its surrounding Jampanna vagu, named after tribal martyr Jampanna, son of Sammakka, comes alive with lakhs of devotees during the four-day jatara.
Why do tribals come to Medaram?
- This festival commemorates a tribal revolt led by Sammakka and Saralamma, a mother-daughter duo, against levy of taxes on tribal people during drought conditions by the then Kakatiya rulers in the 12th century.
- Tribals (and others) flock to Medaram during the jatara not just from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh but also from as far as Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
- Sammakka and Saralamma are revered by devotees as tribal goddesses, and devotees make offerings to propitiate them to bestow health and wealth.
- All the rituals at the jatara site are held in tune with tribal traditions under the aegis of tribal priests.
Features of the celebrations
- One of the striking features of the tribal fair is the offering of jaggery to the tribal goddess at the altars (bamboo poles).
- It encompasses common features of tribal fairs – die-hard devotees going into a trance, the sacrifice of fowls and goats, besides pulsating traditional drum beats accompanying folk songs.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tamiraparani Civilization
Mains level: Ancient Indian Civilizations
A reconnaissance survey in the sea off the coast of Korkai in Thoothukudi district where Tamiraparani River joins the sea, which finds mention in Sangam literature, will be undertaken by the Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department.
About Tamiraparani River
- The Thamirabarani or Tamraparni or Porunai is a perennial river that originates from the Agastyarkoodam peak of the Pothigai hills of the Western Ghats.
- It flows through the Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts of the Tamil Nadu state of southern India into the Gulf of Mannar.
- It was called the Tamraparni River in the pre-classical period, a name it lent to the island of Sri Lanka.
- The old Tamil name of the river is Porunai.
Its history
- Its many name derivations of Tan Porunai include Tampraparani, Tamirabarni, Tamiravaruni.
- Tan Porunai nathi finds mention by classical Tamil poets in ancient Sangam Tamil literature Purananuru.
- Recognised as a holy river in Sanskrit literature Puranas, Mahabharata and Ramayana, the river was famed in the Early Pandyan Kingdom for its pearl and conch fisheries and trade.
- The movement of people, including the faithful, trade merchants and toddy tapers from Tamraparni river to northwestern Sri Lanka led to the shared appellation of the name for the closely connected region.
- One important historical document on the river is the treatise Tamraparni Mahatmyam.
- It has many ancient temples along its banks. A hamlet known as Appankoil is located on the northern side of the river.
Back2Basics: Keeladi Civilization
- The Keeladi tale began to unravel in March 2015 when first round of excavation was undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
- It unearthed antiquities providing crucial evidence to understanding the missing links of the Iron Age [12th century BCE to 6th century BCE] to the Early Historic Period [6th century BCE to 4th century BCE].
- Further excavations threw up strong clues about the existence of a Tamil Civilization that had trade links with other regions in the country and abroad.
- This civilization has been described by Tamil poets belonging to the Sangam period.
- Results of carbon dating of a few artifacts traced their existence to 2nd century BCE (the Sangam period).
Key findings in excavations
- These included brick structures, terracotta ring wells, fallen roofing with tiles, golden ornaments, broken parts of copper objects, iron implements, terracotta chess pieces, ear ornaments, spindle whorls, figurines.
- It also had black and redware, rouletted ware and a few pieces of Arretine ware, besides beads made of glass, terracotta and semi-precious stones.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NATO
Mains level: Paper 2- Disruption in Central Asia and role of Russia
Context
Vladimir Putin, who annexed Crimea in 2014 has now mobilised some 100,000 troops on the Ukraine border.
How insecurity and history plays role in Russia’s actions
- Russia, the world’s largest country by land mass, lacks natural borders except the Arctic Ocean in the north and the Pacific in the far east.
- Its vast land borders stretch from northern Europe to Central and north east Asia.
- The country’s heartland that runs from St. Petersburg through Moscow to the Volga region lies on plains and is vulnerable to attacks.
- In the last two centuries, Russia saw two devastating invasions from the west — the 1812 attack by Napoleonic France and the 1941 attack by Nazi Germany.
- After the Second World War, Russia re-established its control over the rim land in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which it hoped would protect its heartland.
- But the disintegration of the Soviet Union threw its security calculations into disarray, deepening its historical insecurity.
NATO’s expansion after disintegration of the Soviet Union
- When the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia lost over three million square kilometres of sovereign territory.
- In the last months of the Soviet Union, the West promised that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would not “expand an inch to the east”.
- The United States and the United Kingdom repeated the pledge after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
- But despite the promises, NATO continued expansion.
- In March 1999, in the first enlargement since the end of the Cold War, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland (all were members of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact) joined NATO.
- Five years later, seven more countries — including the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, all of which share borders with Russia — were taken into the alliance.
- Russia felt threatened but was not able to respond.
- But in 2008, when the U.S. promised membership to Georgia and Ukraine in the Bucharest summit, Russia, which was coming out of the post-Soviet retreat, responded forcefully.
How Russia see NATO expansion as threat to its dominance on Black Sea
- Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania, all Black Sea basin countries, are NATO members.
- Ukraine and Georgia are the other countries that share the Black Sea coast, besides Russia.
- Russia was already feeling squeezed on the Black Sea front, its gateway to the Mediterranean Sea.
- If Ukraine and Georgia also join NATO, Russia fears that its dominance over the Black Sea would come to an end.
- So, in 2008, Mr. Putin sent troops to Georgia over the separatist conflict in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
- In 2014, when the Kremlin-friendly regime of Ukraine was toppled by pro-western protesters, he moved to annex the Crimean peninsula, expanding Russia’s Black Sea coast, thereby protecting its fleet based in Sevastopol in Crimea.
Restoring the rim land
- In recent years, Mr. Putin has tried to turn every crisis in the former Soviet region into a geopolitical opportunity.
- South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the self-proclaimed republics that broke away from Georgia, are controlled by Russia-backed forces.
- In 2020, when protests erupted in Belarus after a controversial presidential election, Mr. Putin sent assistance to the country to restore order.
- In the same year, Russia sent thousands of “peacekeepers” to end the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
- Earlier this year, Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, with Mr. Putin’s backing, manufactured a migrant crisis on the Polish border of the European Union.
- This month, when violent unrest broke out in Kazakhstan, the largest and wealthiest country in Central Asia, its leader turned to Russia for help.
How do geopolitical circumstances favour Russia?
- The U.S.’s ignominious withdrawal from Afghanistan has left the Central Asian republics deeper in the Russian embrace.
- Europe is very much dependent on Russian gas, which limits its response.
- For years, the West, the winner of the Cold War, discounted Mr. Putin.
- Having failed to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan, NATO is unlikely to pick a war with Russia over Ukraine.
Conclusion
By destabilising Georgia and Ukraine and re-establishing Russia’s hold in Belarus, Caucasus and Central Asia, Moscow has effectively stalled NATO’s further expansion into its backyard.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PLI scheme
Mains level: Paper 3- Lessons from the success of mobile manufacturing
Context
The mobile phones and room air conditioners (RAC) sectors in recent times have shown us the formulae for expansion of the manufacturing sector and growing exports.
How did India expand its mobile manufacturing base?
- We were one of the largest consumers of mobile phones in 2014.
- In 2014-15, our mobile phone imports exceeded $8 billion.
- Our electronics imports were threatening to exceed our oil imports.
- Steps taken by govt: The government took many steps like 100 per cent automatic FDI,
- levy of import duties to protect local manufacturers,
- the Phased Manufacturing Plan (PMP),
- manufacturing clusters (EMC 2.0) and
- the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
- They have attracted investments, created lakhs of jobs, and have moved us from being a net importer to a net exporter.
- Our mobile phone manufacturing value has jumped more than eight times from Rs 0.27 trillion in 2013-14 to Rs 2.2 trillion in 2020-21.
- We have surpassed the US and South Korea to become the second-largest manufacturer globally.
Steps need to be taken
- Our mobile phone exports are primarily limited to feature phones and low-value smartphones.
- India must aim for a significant increase in exports from the current $4 billion.
- China exports $200 billion, and Vietnam exports $60 billion worth of mobile phones.
- The PLI scheme aims to achieve the same by allocating incentives of Rs 410 billion for the mobile phone category over the next five years.
- Low value addition: Our value addition in mobile phone manufacturing is currently limited to 15-20 per cent versus more than 40 per cent in China.
- The scheme for promoting the manufacturing of electronic components and semiconductors (SPECS) is a step in the right direction.
- We must focus on setting up a fabrication plant to manufacture semiconductor chips to facilitate complete vertical integration.
The Room AC sector story
- We imported RACs worth Rs 41 billion in 2017-18.
- The government initiated multiple measures such as the PMP scheme, banning the import of refrigerant-filled ACs, increasing the import duty on RACs and critical components, and the PLI scheme.
- From 2017-18, RAC imports have declined by 56 per cent to Rs 18 billion in 2020-21.
- Our import of RACs has shifted from China to an FTA country like Thailand, where import duty isn’t applicable.
- A judicious mix of protection (levy of import duty/banning of finished goods) and incentives (PMP, PLI scheme, 100 per cent FDI) has developed local manufacturing, created jobs, and turned a trade surplus.
Way forward
- We missed the manufacturing/export bus in the 1980s.
- We did excel in services like software to become back office to the world. With China+1 becoming a geopolitical imperative, it is an opportune time for us to expand the manufacturing sector and improve our export market share.
- To achieve our true potential we need close coordination and seamless working between central, state, and local governments, the rule of law, improvements in infrastructure, especially logistics and flexible labour laws.
Conclusion
Many of our peers are ahead of us in ease of doing business, but none of them has a large domestic market like us. The automobile and generic pharma sector in the past and the mobile phone/RAC sectors recently have shown that we know the formulae.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendment
Mains level: Paper 2- Strengthening local governments
Context
The “State Finances, Study of Budgets of 2021-22” report, correctly identify the role of the city governments in meeting the challenges the pandemic has thrown up, the report also points to the draining of resources.
What the RBI report says about the role of local governments
- The report highlights the frontline role played by the third-tier governments by implementing containment strategies, healthcare.
- Due to this, their finances have come under severe strain, forcing them to cut down expenditures and mobilise funding from various sources.
- Need for functional autonomy: The RBI further commented that the functional autonomy of civic bodies must increase and their governance structure strengthened.
- Empowering financially: This could happen by ‘empowering them financially through higher resource availability.
- The RBI did echo the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission report on local bodies that emphasised city governance structures and financial empowerment.
- Limited coverage of property tax: The RBI report also highlights the limited coverage of property tax and its failure in shoring up municipal corporation revenues.
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data show that India has the lowest property tax collection rate in the world — i.e., property tax to GDP ratio.
Issues faced by city governments
- During the pandemic, while leaders from the Prime Minister to Chief Ministers to District Magistrate were seen taking a call on disaster mitigation strategies, city mayors were found missing.
- The old approach of treating cities as adjuncts of State governments continues to dominate the policy paradigm.
- The general approach towards urban empowerment has remained piecemeal in India.
- The first intervention to understand ‘the urban’ (though there are references in the Five Year plans) and plan with a pan-Indian vision took place in the 1980s when the National Commission On Urbanisation was formed with Charles Correa as its chairperson.
- Another important intervention was in the first half of the 1990s with the Constitution 73rd and 74th Amendments.
- The latter refers to urban reforms — empowering urban local bodies to perform 18 functions listed in the 12th Schedule.
- However, there is no mention of financial empowerment.
- The only exception to the rule has been the people’s plan model of Kerala where 40% of the State’s plan budget was for local bodies (directly) with a transfer of important subjects such as planning, etc.
How to achieve functional autonomy for city government
- This should happen with three F’s: the transfer of ‘functions, finances and functionaries’ to city governments.
- There are nearly 5,000 statutory towns and an equal number of census towns in India.
- Nearly 35% of the population lives in urban centres.
- And, nearly two-thirds of the country’s GDP stems from cities and almost 90% of government revenue flows from urban centres.
- Before value-added tax and other centralised taxation systems, one of the major earnings of cities used to be from octroi.
- But this source of revenue collection was taken away by the State and the central governments.
- Instead, finance commissions recommended grants to urban local bodies based on a formula of demographic profile.
- In such a situation, it is difficult for the towns to sustain their ability to perform their bare minimum functions, especially with the latest Pay Commission recommendations.
- This has resulted in burdening people more with taxes and further privatisation/outsourcing of the services of the municipalities.
- The often-cited example is how cities in the Scandinavian countries manage their functions well — from city planning to mobility to waste management.
- But the truth is that a chunk of the income tax from citizens is given to city governments.
- A committee formed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to review the 74th constitutional amendment recommended that 10% of income tax collected from the cities was to be given back to them as a direct revenue grant from the central government.
Way forward
- 1] Cities must be treated as important centres of governance, where democratic decentralisation can bring in amazing results.
- There will be transparency and adequate participation of the people.
- 2] Cities should not be considered as entrepreneurship spaces where the sole driving force is to make them competitive to attract investments.
- 3] The resources required for quantitative and qualitative data must be immediately provided to the cities to ensure a disaster risk reduction plan keeping vulnerable communities in mind.
- 4] A piecemeal approach such as the concept of ‘smart cities’ must be shunned altogether.
- This approach further widens the gap between different sets of people.
- 5] Leadership in the cities must be elected for a term of five years.
- Likewise, the third F, i.e., functionaries, must be transferred to the cities with a permanent cadre.
Consider the question “The functional autonomy of civic bodies must be increased and their governance structure strengthened. This could happen by ‘empowering them financially through higher resource availability’. Comment.”
Conclusion
Thus, in this exercise by the RBI, the good part is that there has least been a mention of cities, with local bodies as important centres of governance.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NCSK
Mains level: Manual scavenging in India
The Union Cabinet has approved a three-year extension of the tenure of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) that was set to end on March 31.
About National Commission for Safai Karamcharis
- The commission was set up in 1993 under the NCSK Act 1993 for a period of three years, which has been extended since then.
- The NCSK Act is however ceased to have effect from February 29, 2004.
- After that, the tenure of the NCSK has been extended as a non-statutory body from time to time through resolutions.
Why was NCSK set up?
- The commission helps in coming up with programmes for the welfare of sanitation workers.
- It also monitors the implementation of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
- Till December 31, 2021, 58,098 manual scavengers had been identified.
Need for eliminating Manual Scavenging
- Undignified life (all the 6 Fundamental Rights are compromised, directly or indirectly).
- It directly perpetuates castism.
- Modern, Secular India has no place for such “professions”.
- It no way suits India’s rising global profile – ‘super power’ aspirations.
- Women are mostly disprivileged since most manual scavengers are dalit women.
What else needs to be done?
- Though the government has taken many steps for the upliftment of the safai karamcharis, the deprivation suffered by them in socio-economic and educational terms is still far from being eliminated.
- Although manual scavenging has been almost eradicated, sporadic instances of their deaths do occur.
Way forward
- There is a continued need to monitor the various interventions and initiatives of the government for welfare of safai Karamcharis.
- The govt must strive to achieve the goal of complete mechanization of sewer/septic tanks cleaning in the country and rehabilitation of manual scavengers.
Try this question from CSP 2016:
Q.’Rashtriya Garima Abhiyaan’ is a national campaign to:
(a) rehabilitate the homeless and destitute persons and provide them with suitable sources of livelihood
(b) release the sex workers from their practice and provide them with alternative sources of livelihood
(c) eradicate the practice of manual scavenging and rehabilitate the manual scavengers
(d) release the bonded labourers from their bondage and rehabilitate them
Post your answers here:
Also try this question from our AWE initiative:
Manual scavenging has been called as a worst surviving symbol of untouchability. Critically discuss the measures taken by Government to eradicate this practice? (250 W)
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Active Volcanoes in Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’
Mains level: Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’
The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano which massively erupted lies along the Pacific ‘Ring of fire’, and is just over 60 kilometers from the island nation of Tonga.
What is the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’?
- The Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ or Pacific rim, or the Circum-Pacific Belt, is an area along the Pacific Ocean that is characterized by active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.
- Volcanic arcs and oceanic trenches partly encircling the Pacific Basin form the so-called Ring of Fire.
- It is home to about 75 per cent of the world’s volcanoes – more than 450 volcanoes.
- Also, about 90 per cent of the world’s earthquakes occur here.
Its spread
- Its length is over 40,000 kilometres and traces from New Zealand clockwise in an almost circular arc covering Tonga, Kermadec Islands, Indonesia.
- It is moving up to the Philippines, Japan, and stretching eastward to the Aleutian Islands, then southward along the western coast of North America and South America.
Seismic activity of the region
- The area is along several tectonic plates including the Pacific plate, Philippine Plate, Juan de Fuca plate, Cocos plate, Nazca plate, and North American plate.
- The movement of these plates or tectonic activity makes the area witness abundant earthquakes and tsunamis every year.
- Along much of the Ring, tectonic plates move towards each other creating subduction zones.
- One plate gets pushed down or is subducted by the other plate.
- This is a very slow process – a movement of just one or two inches per year.
- As this subduction happens, rocks melt, become magma and move to Earth’s surface and cause volcanic activity.
What has happened in recent eruption in Tonga?
- In the case of Tonga, the Pacific Plate was pushed down below the Indo-Australian Plate and Tonga plate, causing the molten rock to rise above and form the chain of volcanoes.
- Subduction zones are also where most of the violent earthquakes on the planet occur.
- The December 26, 2004 earthquake occurred along the subduction zone where the Indian Plate was subducted beneath the Burma plate.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Nusantara
Mains level: NA
Indonesia passed a bill replacing its capital Jakarta with East Kalimantan, situated to the east of Borneo island. The new capital city of the country will be called Nusantara.
About Nusantara
- The New State Capital Law Bill has been drafted by a special committee set up by Widodo’s government and makes Nusantara, also called IKN, the capital of the Republic of Indonesia.
- The transfer of the status of Jakarta as Indonesia’s capital to Nusantara, where 256,142 hectares of land has been set aside for the project, will take place in the “first semester” of 2024.
- East Kalimantan, where the new capital will be, as per the bill is said to have a world-city vision.
- It will be designed and managed with the objective of becoming a sustainable city in the world.
Why is Indonesia changing its capital city?
- The new location is very strategic – it’s in the centre of Indonesia and close to urban areas.
- The burden Jakarta is holding right now is too heavy as the centre of governance, business, finance, trade and services.
- Jakarta is also infamous for being the worlds’ first sinking capital city due to rising sea levels.
- The city’s pollution levels are so bad that it has been ranking as one of the most polluted cities in the world for years.
- Another important reason to shift the capital from Java island to Borneo island has been the growing inequality – financial and otherwise.
Where is East Kalimantan?
- East Kalimantan is 2,300 kilometres from Jakarta on the eastern side of Borneo island, shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
- The new capital will be located in the North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara regions.
- East Kalimantan is an area with immense water resources and habitable terrain.
- East Kalimantan is rich in flora and fauna.
Why Nusantara?
- Nusantara is an old Javanese term that means ‘archipelago’.
- Nusantara has historical, sociological, and philosophical aspects attached to the name.
- The name would represent Indonesia as a whole and would show the potential of the nation.
What are the other countries that have changed capitals?
- Indonesia is not the first country to change its capital city.
- There has been a long list of countries that have changed their capitals for various reasons. Brazil changed its capital city from Rio De Janerio to Brasilia, a more centrally-located city, in 1960.
- In 1991, Nigeria hanged the country’s capital from Lagos to Abuja.
- Kazakhstan moved its capital city from Almaty, which is still its commercial centre, to Nur-Sultan in 1997.
- Myanmar changed its capital from Rangoon to Naypyidaw in 2005.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Chintamani Padya Natakam
Mains level: Not Much
The Andhra Pradesh government has brought the curtains down on the popular Telugu play ‘Chintamani Padya Natakam’, which has enthralled people for almost 100 years.
Chintamani Padya Natakam
- It is a stage play penned by social reformer, writer and poet Kallakuri Narayana Rao about 100 years ago.
- In the play, the writer explains how people neglect their families by falling prey to certain social evils.
- It was aimed to create awareness on the Devadasi system and how the flesh trade was ruining many families at that particular period.
- Subbisetty, Chintamani, Bilvamangaludu, Bhavani Shankaram, and Srihari are some of the characters in the play.
Its performance
- The play is named after the main character, Chintamani, a woman born into a family involved in the flesh trade.
- The play focuses on how she attained salvation after repentance.
- Subbi Shetty, a character in the play, loses his wealth to Chintamani and his character is utilised in a way that engages the audience.
- Chintamani play is popular across the state. It has been performed at thousands of places.
- The play continues to engage the audience even today and has become a must stage play in villages during Dasara celebrations.
Why it got banned?
- Began as a social sermon, this play has been increasingly going vulgar.
- Subbi Shetty, who resembles a person of a transgender community, is used to portray the social group in a bad way.
- Obscene dialogues are added to the play in the name of creativity.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Swamp Deer
Mains level: NA
The population of the vulnerable eastern swamp deer, extinct elsewhere in South Asia, has dipped (from 907 in 2018 to 868 in 2020 ) in the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.
Swamp Deer
- The swamp deer also called as barasingha is a deer species distributed in the Indian subcontinent.
- Populations in northern and central India are fragmented, and two isolated populations occur in southwestern Nepal.
- It has been locally extinct in Pakistan and Bangladesh, and its presence is uncertain in Bhutan.
- In Assamese, barasingha is called dolhorina; dol meaning swamp.
Note: Swamp deers do occur in the Kanha National Park of Madhya Pradesh, in two localities in Assam, and in only 6 localities in Uttar Pradesh.
Conservation status
- IUCN Red List: Endangered
- CITES: Appendix I
- Wildlife Protection Act of 1972: Schedule I
Try this PYQ:
Q. Consider the following fauna of India:
- Gharial
- Leatherback turtle
- Swamp deer
Which of the above is/are endangered?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 1, 2 and 3
(d) None
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Miss Kerala
Mains level: Illicit trade of exotic species
A section of aquarists and ornamental fish breeders are surprised that the Denison barb (Miss Kerala), a native freshwater fish species commonly found in parts of Karnataka and Kerala, has been included in Schedule I of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1982 (amendment bill).
Miss Kerala
- Miss Kerala is also known as Denison barb, red-line torpedo barb and roseline shark.
- Its scientific name is Sahyadria denisonii.
- The fish is featured with red and black stripes on its body.
- It is found in the States of Kerala and Karnataka.
- It has been listed on the IUCN Redlist as Vulnerable, in 2010.
- This species is known to inhabit fast-flowing hill streams and is often found in rocky pools with thick vegetation along river banks.
Why included in Schedule I of WPA?
- Ironically, its beauty is the biggest threat to its survival, as it is highly sought-after in the international aquarium trade, constituting 60 – 65% of the total live ornamental fish exported from India.
- Its numbers are also decreasing owing to habitat degradation due to deforestation, mining, agriculture, urban expansion and hydro-electric projects.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- How can budget address the issues of informal sector
Context
We need to insure the most vulnerable against shocks such as Covid, but even more, we need to create good job opportunities for the unskilled. What can the budget do?
Impact on informal economy
- The last two quarters have seen a substantive recovery in the Indian economy.
- Corporate profitability of our largest firms has hit a new record this year.
- So have GST collections, another indicator of the formal economy, with an average monthly collection of Rs 1.2 trillion in the second and third quarters.
- The glass though is half full, the informal economy was particularly badly hit by Covid and its associated lockdowns.
- Small enterprises, retail, hospitality, and construction were all hammered.
- These were our main source of recent employment growth.
- Agricultural employment has risen in the last year-and-a-half, while manufacturing and services employment has fallen — this is the opposite of development.
- Informal service sector jobs may not seem like great jobs to us, but they are greatly prized relative to eking out a marginal existence in agriculture.
- We need to insure the most vulnerable against such shocks, but even more, we need to create good job opportunities for the unskilled, equip people at all levels to participate more fully in the modern economy, and systemically promote wider policies of inclusion.
What can the budget do?
- Create good jobs for unskilled: The way it can do so directly is through accelerating spending on infrastructure.
- The National Infrastructure Pipeline has identified a good set of projects.
- The government should be complimented for its intention and ambition; what we need now is implementation.
- Labour-intensive manufacturing: Most countries developed by putting millions to work in labour-intensive manufacturing.
- We do not have the huge firms in export-oriented labour-intensive sectors that employ millions in China, Vietnam, and Bangladesh.
- Bangladesh has thrived by putting millions to work in manufacturing.
- A booming garment sector employs 4.4 million.
- As 80 per cent of those employed in garment factories are women, Bangladesh has twice the female labour force participation ratio of India.
- Implement labour laws: In June and September 2020, the government passed four labour laws.
- These laws have since been left dormant.
- The budget should announce a time frame for implementation, notification by the Union government and then by the states.
- Investment in education and skilling: India has among the least skilled workforces in the world.
- Under 5 per cent of our workforce is formally skilled, compared to 96 per cent in South Korea, 75 per cent in Germany and 52 per cent in the US.
- That is why the work of the National Skills Development Corporation is so important.
- Can the budget specify it as an independent entity controlled and run by the private sector that is then held accountable for delivering on our skilling targets.
- Education is even more important, especially primary education.
- Pratham’s education reports make for sobering reading.
- The New Education Policy has a proposal that every second standard child should be able to read and do arithmetic at the second standard level as a foundation for further education.
- This welcome initiative must receive greater dedication and focus from both government and industry.
- School education is a state subject, so the Union budget can at best incentivise states to do the right things, say by linking the flow of additional funds to those that demonstrate improved second standard learning outcomes.
- As a part of CSR, many companies work actively with schools.
- Education is already the largest single area for CSR spending, accounting for one-third of the Rs 9,000 crore spent by the top 100 companies.
Conclusion
Other policies for economic inclusion must go beyond social inclusion. These include measures like reducing tariffs to benefit millions of consumers instead of thousands of firms. Industrial policies that help all firms such as the ease of doing business, instead of incentivising a selected few.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ICJ
Mains level: Paper 2- Genocide prevention issue
Context
Incendiary speeches at a religious assembly include calls for the genocide of Muslims in India and can be seen as part of an ongoing pattern of targeting minorities.
Background of the convention against genocide
- India’s role: India has signed and ratified the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948.
- In 1946, Cuba, India and Panama co-sponsored General Assembly Resolution 96(I), which affirmed genocide as a ‘crime under international law’.
- As a result of this resolution, a convention on the prohibition of genocide was drafted, which was passed by the General Assembly in 1948 and came into effect in 1951, with more than 150 states party to the convention presently.
- Legal obligation: Legal obligations on states that are party to the convention include:
- the obligation not to commit genocide,
- to prevent genocide, and to punish genocide(Article I),
- to enact legislation to give effect to the provisions of the convention (Article V);
- to provide for effective penalties for those found guilty of criminal conduct (Article V); and
- the obligation to try those charged with genocide in a competent tribunal (Article VI).
No legislation enacted by India
- Since signing the Genocide Convention and ratifying it, to date India has not enacted any legislation in accordance with Article VI of the Genocide Convention.
- At the outset, India is in violation of its international obligation to criminalise genocide within its domestic law per Articles V, VI and VII, and to take all means to ensure the prevention of genocide.
- Indian domestic law shows that there are no comparable provisions for the prosecution of any mass crimes, least of all genocide.
- Indian Penal Code provisions relating to rioting, unlawful assembly and ‘promoting enmity between different groups’ do not embody the basic elements of the crime of genocide, which is against a collectivity or a group, with the specific intent to cause its destruction.
- These also do not pertain to another key aspect of the Genocide Convention – that of prevention, and creating the conditions in which such hate speech and other associated acts are not allowed to flourish.
Significance of the Gambia’s proceedings before the ICJ against Myanmar
- The Gambia has initiated proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Myanmar on the basis of the Convention.
- The ICJ, relying on a previous case of Belgium v. Senegal, stated, “It follows that any State party to the Genocide Convention, and not only a specially affected State, may invoke the responsibility of another State party with a view to ascertaining the alleged failure to comply with its obligations erga omnes partes, and to bring that failure to an end.”
Conclusion
It is more imperative than ever that international legal protections against genocide are incorporated in domestic legislation. Furthermore, the fact that India has international legal obligations under the Genocide Convention which it is not adhering to must be rectified.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: WEF and its various reports
Mains level: Read the attached story
PM Modi has made a special address ahead of the theme-setting World Economic Forum (WEF) Agenda on the ‘State of the World’ at Davos.
About World Economic Forum (WEF)
- WEF is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland.
- It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab.
- The foundation, which is mostly funded by its 1,000 member companies – typically global enterprises with more than five billion US dollars in turnover – as well as public subsidies.
- It aims at improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas.
Major reports released:
- Engaging Tomorrow Consumer Report
- Inclusive growth & Development Report
- Environmental Performance Index
- Global Competitive Index
- Global Energy Architecture Performance Index Report
- Global Gender Gap Report
- Global Information Technology Report
- Human Capital Report
- Inclusive growth & Development Report
- Global Risk Report
- Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report by WEF
Important agenda: Davos meeting
- The WEF is mostly known for its annual meeting at the end of January in Davos, a mountain resort in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland.
- The meeting brings together some 3,000 paying members and selected participants – among which are investors, business leaders, political leaders, economists, celebrities and journalists.
Why is WEF important?
- Common platform: The WEF summit brings together the who’s-who of the political and corporate world, including heads of state, policymakers, top executives, industrialists, media personalities, and technocrats.
- Influence global decision-making: Deliberations at the WEF influence public sector and corporate decision-making.
- Discusses global challenges: It especially emphasizes on the issues of global importance such as poverty, social challenges, climate change, and global economic recovery.
- Brings in all stakeholders: The heady mix of economic, corporate, and political leadership provides an ideal opportunity for finding solutions to global challenges that may emerge from time to time.
What are the main initiatives?
- Agenda 2022 will see the launch of other WEF initiatives meant for:
- Accelerating the mission to net-zero emissions
- Economic opportunity of nature-positive solutions
- Cyber resilience
Criticisms of WEF
- WEF has been criticized for being more of a networking hub than a nebula of intellect or a forum to find effective solutions to global issues.
- It is also criticized for the lack of representation from varied sections of the civil society and for falling short of delivering effective solutions.
Way forward
- WEF sees large-scale participation of top industry, business leaders, civil society, and international organizations every year.
- This collaboration is necessary for addressing global concerns such as climate change and pandemic management.
- It is one of such few platform, that provides an opportunity for collaboration through comprehensive dialogue.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Conflict-ridden towns in news
Mains level: Extremism across the world
A suspected drone attack on Monday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of UAE, caused multiple explosions in which three Indians were reportedly killed.
Who is behind the attack?
- The Shia Houthi rebels of Yemen have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Who are the Houthis?
- The roots of the Houthi movement can be traced to “Believing Youth” (Muntada al-Shahabal-Mu’min).
- It is a Zaydi revivalist group founded by Hussein al-Houthi and his father, Badr al-Din al-Houthi, in the early 1990s.
- Badr al-Din was an influential Zaydi cleric in northern Yemen.
- This group is inspired by the Iranian revolution of 1979 and the rise of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in the 1980s.
- Badr al-Din and his sons started building vast social and religious networks among the Zaydis of Yemen, who make up roughly one-third of the Sunni-majority country’s population.
What led to the Houthis’ rise?
- When protests broke out in Yemen in 2011 as part of the Arab Spring protests that felled Tunisian and Egyptian dictators.
- The Houthis, now confident from their military victories and the support they enjoyed in Sadah, backed the agitation.
Why did Saudi Arabia attack Yemen?
- The rapid rise of the Houthis in Yemen set off alarm bells in Riyadh which saw them as Iranian proxies.
- Saudi Arabia, under Mohammed Bin Salman, started a military campaign in March 2015, hoping for a quick victory against the Houthis.
- But the Houthis had dug in, refusing to leave despite Saudi Arabia’s aerial blitzkrieg.
- With no effective allies on the ground and no way-out plan, the Saudi-led campaign went on with no tangible result.
- In the past six years, the Houthis have launched multiple attacks on Saudi cities from northern Yemen in retaliation for Saudi air strikes.
Not a one-way proxy war
- There are serious allegations against both the Saudis and the Houthis in the war.
- While the Saudi bombings caused a large number of civilian deaths, the Houthis were accused, by rights groups and Governments, of preventing aid, deploying forces in densely populated areas.
- Houthis have been using excessive force against civilians and peaceful protesters.
Why did the Houthis target the UAE?
- This is not the first time the Houthis attacked the UAE. In 2018, when the UAE-backed forces were making advances in Yemen, the Houthis claimed attacks against the Emirates.
- They stayed focussed entirely on Saudi Arabia and Saudi-backed forces inside Yemen.
Try this PYQ:
Consider the following pairs:
Towns sometimes mentioned in news: Countries
- Aleppo: Syria
- Kirkuk: Yemen
- Mosul: Palestine
- Mazar-i-sharif: Afghanistan
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1 and 4 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 3 and 4 only
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Smog Tower
Mains level: Effectiveness of smog towers
Some researchers in New Delhi have observed paradoxical phenomena near the smog towers. The air closest to the tower should be cleanest, but the device recorded the opposite in several instances.
What are Smog Towers?
- Smog towers are structures designed to work as large-scale air purifiers. They are fitted with multiple layers of air filters and fans at the base to suck the air.
- After the polluted air enters the smog tower, it is purified by multiple layers before being re-circulated into the atmosphere.
Structure of the Delhi smog tower
- The structure is 24 m high, about as much as an 8-storey building — an 18-metre concrete tower, topped by a 6-metre-high canopy. At its base are 40 fans, 10 on each side.
- Each fan can discharge 25 cubic metres per second of air, adding up to 1,000 cubic metres per second for the tower as a whole. Inside the tower in two layers are 5,000 filters.
- The filters and fans have been imported from the United States.
How does it work?
- The tower uses a ‘downdraft air cleaning system’ developed by the University of Minnesota.
- Polluted air is sucked in at a height of 24 m, and filtered air is released at the bottom of the tower, at a height of about 10 m from the ground.
- When the fans at the bottom of the tower operate, the negative pressure created sucks in air from the top.
- The ‘macro’ layer in the filter traps particles of 10 microns and larger, while the ‘micro’ layer filters smaller particles of around 0.3 microns.
- The downdraft method is different from the system used in China, where a tower uses an ‘updraft’ system — air is sucked in from near the ground, and is propelled upwards by heating and convection.
- Filtered air is released at the top of the tower.
Likely impact
- Computational fluid dynamics modelling suggests the tower could have an impact on the air quality up to 1 km from the tower.
- The actual impact will also determine how the tower functions under different weather conditions, and how levels of PM2.5 vary with the flow of air.
Issues with smog towers
- Many experts say that the smog towers are not a viable method to clean city’s air.
- The government had talked about 80% pollution reduction at inlet and outlet of the tower but never mentioned about the effect of distance from the tower.
- Instead of spending ₹40 crore on two towers, the government could have spent the funds on several other options such as replacing the small and polluting industrial boilers or chimneys etc.
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