Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Healthcare scenario in urban areas
The report on ‘Health Care Equity in Urban India’ exploring health vulnerabilities and inequalities in cities in India was recently released.
About the report
- The report is released recently by Azim Premji University in collaboration with 17 regional NGOs across India.
- It notes that a third of India’s people now live in urban areas, with this segment seeing rapid growth from about 18% (1960) to 28.53% (2001) to 34% (in 2019).
- The study draws insights from data collected through detailed interactions with civil society organizations in major cities and towns.
- This also included an analysis of the National Family and Health Surveys (NHFS), the Census of India, and inputs from State-level health officials on the provision of health care.
- It also looks at the availability, accessibility, and cost of healthcare facilities, and possibilities in future-proofing services in the next decade.
Key highlights of the report
- Urban poverty on rise: Close to 30% of people living in urban areas are poor.
- Declining life expectancy: Life expectancy among the poorest is lower by 9.1 years and 6.2 years among men and women, respectively, compared to the richest in urban areas.
- Chaotic health governance: The report, besides finding disproportionate disease burden on the poor, also pointed to a chaotic urban health governance.
- Multiplicity and non-coordination: The multiplicity of healthcare providers both within and outside the government without coordination challenges to urban health governance.
- Lack of political attention: Urban healthcare has received relatively less research and policy attention.
Major recommendations
The report calls for:
- Strengthening community participation and governance
- Building a comprehensive and dynamic database on the health and nutrition status, including co-morbidities of the diverse, vulnerable populations
- Strengthening healthcare provisioning through the National Urban Health Mission, especially for primary healthcare services
- Putting in place policy measures to reduce the financial burden of the poor
- A better mechanism for coordinated public healthcare services and better governed private healthcare institutions
Conclusion
- As urbanization is happening rapidly, the number of the urban poor is only expected to increase.
- A well-functioning, better coordinated, and governed health care system is crucial at this point.
- The pandemic has brought to attention the need for a robust and resourced healthcare system.
- Addressing this will benefit the most vulnerable and offer critical services to city dwellers across income groups.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Semiconductor, Rare earth elements
Mains level: Semiconductor industry
Chips or processors power every possible product on the market from high-end cars to washing machines. There is a worldwide shortage of semiconductor chips.
What are Semiconductors?
- A semiconductor sits between a conductor and an insulator and is commonly used in the development of electronic chips, computing components, and devices.
- It’s generally created using silicon, germanium, or other pure elements.
- Semiconductors are created by adding impurities to the element.
Giants of global chip industry
- Semiconductor manufacturing is now dominated by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in Taiwan and Samsung Electronics in South Korea.
- American chipmaker Intel now plans to spend $20 billion to build two new chip factories in Chandler, Arizona.
- These new fabs will also manufacture chips designed by Amazon, Qualcomm, and other customers.
Why is there a semiconductor shortage?
- During the pandemic, manufacturing came to a standstill impacting the supply chains of products that need one or more of these.
- As the automotive sector almost shut down last year, chip makers shifted capacity to cater to increased demand for electronics items such as cell phones and laptops.
- Since orders for advanced chips are placed well in advance, manufacturers have not yet been able to come back to pre-pandemic production schedules to cater to all sectors.
- The automotive chips are of medium-level complexity, compared to the really small and extremely complicated ones on smartphones and personal computers.
- Building something this small, featuring billions of transistors is an expensive process.
Has India missed the bus in setting up chip factories?
- There is a lot of risks involved in setting up a chip plant.
- Past initiatives to set up chip manufacturing units in the country never took off due to lack of long-term vision, lack of government incentives, and poor planning.
- Now the government is keen to promote manufacturing and has even proposed tax incentives under Production Linked Incentive Scheme.
- Things are progressing slowly, but the recent announcement of Tata Group entering semiconductor manufacturing is being seen positively.
How is the chip crisis playing out in geopolitics?
- The global chip crisis and geopolitical tensions with China have shifted focus back on semiconductors.
- The US, which was once a leader in chip manufacturing, wants the crown back.
- The protectionist US is looking to bring manufacturing back to America and reduce its dependency on a handful of chipmakers mostly concentrated in Taiwan and South Korea.
- China’s renewed aggression on Taiwan is also being seen in light of the chip crisis.
Impact
- The crisis is expected to cost the global automotive industry $210 billion in revenue in 2021.
- The global semiconductor shortage has affected many industries for more than a year and because of that, they are either forced to pay more for products or being asked to wait a little more.
- The consumption of integrated circuits in products is ever increasing and a large manufacturing sector for these kinds of integrated circuits are a part of the supply chain.
- The shortage has affected smartphones, personal computers, game consoles, automobiles, and medical devices.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Majuli Island
Mains level: Not Much
Soil erosion, coupled with changing climatic conditions, has been writing a cruel destiny for the inhabitants of Majuli in Assam, the largest river island in the world.
About Majuli Island
- Majuli is a riverine island in the Brahmaputra River, Assam and in 2016 it became the first island to be made a district in India.
- Majuli has shrunk as the river surrounding it has grown.
- It had an area of 880 square kilometers (340 sq mi) at the beginning of the 20th century but having lost significantly to erosion it covers 553 square kilometers as at 2014.
- It is the abode of the Assamese neo-Vaishnavite culture.
Its formation
- The island is formed by the Brahmaputra River in the south and the Kherkutia Xuti, an anabranch of the Brahmaputra, joined by the Subansiri River in the north.
- It was formed due to course changes by the river Brahmaputra and its tributaries, mainly the Lohit.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Issues with India's taxation policies
Context
To develop their renewable energy capacities poor countries may well have to help themselves to make the transition that society urgently needs. One source of funding could well be the well-off citizens of India, who are getting richer and richer.
Growing inequality in India
- A 2018 Oxfam report revealed that 10 per cent of the richest Indians garnered 77.4 per cent of the nation’s wealth.
- In fact, according to the report, 58 per cent of India’s wealth was in the hands of one per cent of the country’s population.
- The combined income of this handful of people in 2017 was almost as much as India’s budget that year.
- In 2017, the fortune of India’s 100 richest tycoons leaped by 26 per cent.
- According to Crédit Suisse, the number of dollar millionaires in India has jumped from 34,000 in 2000 to 7,59,000 in 2019 — in other words, the country has one of “the world’s fastest-growing population of millionaires”.
- The average wealth of these millionaires has increased by 74 per cent over this period.
Issues with taxation policies
- The taxation policy of the government, instead of making the exchequer benefit from this trend, has actively strengthened the trend of growing millionaires.
- Replacing wealth tax by increasing income tax: The government replaced the wealth tax by an income tax increase of two per cent for households that earned more than 10 million rupees annually.
- Corporate tax was reduced: The corporate tax was lowered, for existing companies from 30 per cent to 22 per cent, and for manufacturing firms incorporated after October 1, 2019 that started operations before March 31, 2023, from 25 to 15 per cent — the biggest reduction in 28 years.
- Increase in income tax exemptions: In the 2019-20 budget, the income tax exemption limit jumped from Rs 2,00,000 to 2,50,000 and the tax rate for incomes up to Rs 5 lakh was reduced from 10 to 5 per cent.
Impact of pro-rich taxation policy
- Deprives the state of resources: This taxation policy deprived the state of important resources.
- Increase in indirect taxes: To (partly) compensate for the decline of direct taxes, the government has increased indirect taxes, unfairly so, because they affect all Indians irrespective of their income.
- The share of indirect taxes in the state’s fiscal resources has increased to reach 50 per cent of total taxes in 2018.
- Taxes on petroleum products are a case in point.
High taxes on petroleum products
- About two-thirds of the cost of a litre of petrol now goes towards taxes.
- The tax collected on petrol and diesel has increased by 459 per cent in the past seven years — from Rs 52,537 crore in 2013 to Rs 2.13 lakh crore in 2019-2020.
- Given that petrol is a less elastic good, people are bound to consume it even at higher prices.
- This also explains why the government sees fuel sale in India as a safe “revenue collection” medium.
- In 2018-19, excise duty on petroleum products alone accounted for roughly 24 per cent of the indirect tax revenue.
Consider the question “India’s taxation policies are criticised for being pro-rich. In the context of this, discuss the issues with the taxation system and suggest the measure to deal with these issues.”
Conclusion
The government’s taxation policy will probably continue to prevail depriving the exchequer of some of the resources it needs for dealing with issues as important as climate change.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Economic and political implications of repeal of farm laws
Context
In a surprise move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the government will repeal the farm laws in the Winter Session of Parliament.
Economic impact
- Agri-growth rate to remain constant: The agri-GDP growth has been 3.5 per cent per annum in the last seven years.
- One expects this trend to continue — there might be minor changes in the agri-GDP depending on rainfall patterns.
- Cropping pattern to remain skewed: Cropping patterns will remain skewed in favour of rice and wheat, with the granaries of the Food Corporation of India bulging with stocks of grain.
- Increase in food subsidy: The food subsidy will keep bloating and there will be large leakages.
- Environmental impact: The groundwater table in the north-western states will keep receding and methane and nitrous oxide will keep polluting the environment.
Suggestion on increasing farmers income
- Average agri-household income: The latest Situation Assessment Survey of the NSO reveals that the income of an average agri-household in India was only Rs 10,218 per month in 2018-19.
- This is not a very happy situation and all out measures need to be taken to increase rural incomes in a sustained manner.
- How to increase farmers income: Given that the average holding size stands at just 0.9 ha (2018-19), and has been shrinking over the years.
- Efficient functioning value chain: Unless one goes for high-value agriculture — and, that’s where one needs efficient functioning value chains from farm to fork by the infusion of private investments in logistics, storage, processing, e-commerce, and digital technologies — the incomes of farmers cannot be increased significantly.
- Reforms: This sector needs reforms, both in the marketing of outputs as well as inputs, including land lease markets and direct benefit transfer of all input subsidies — fertilisers, power, credit and farm machinery.
Implications
- Demand for legal status to MSP could strengthen: Farmer leaders are already asking for the legal guarantee of MSPs for 23 agri-commodities.
- Their demand could increase to include a larger basket of commodities.
- Demand for privatisation: There could be demands to block the privatisation reforms of public sector enterprises — Air India, for instance — or to scuttle any other reform for that matter.
- The net result is likely to be slowing down the economic reforms that are desperately needed to propel growth.
Consider the question “The latest Situation Assessment Survey of the NSO reveal the low average agri-household income in India. All out measures need to be taken to increase rural incomes in a sustained manner. In the context of this, suggest the measures to increase the farmers’ income and challenges in it.
Conclusion
The most important lesson from the repeal of the farm laws is that the process of economic reforms has to be more consultative, more transparent and better communicated to the potential beneficiaries. It is this inclusiveness that lies at the heart of democratic functioning of India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Farm laws, Essential commodities
Mains level: Farmers protests and related issues
The Prime Minister has announced the withdrawal of the contentious farm laws.
Daniel Q. Gillion, author of The Political Power of Protest, and a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, says to be successful, a protest must be impossible to ignore.
What were the farm laws that have been repealed?
- Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020: It was aimed at allowing trade in agricultural produce outside the existing APMC mandis
- Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020: It seeks to provide a framework for contract farming;
- Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020: It was aimed at removing commodities such as cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potato from the list of essential commodities.
Why were these reforms sought?
- APMC reforms: There has been a long-pending demand for reforms in agricultural marketing, a subject that comes under the purview of state governments.
- Long pending stagnation: It was in this backdrop that the present government went for reforms in the sector by passing these laws.
In what circumstances were the laws passed?
- Ordinance route: The government initially cleared them as ordinances in June 2020, there were token protests with the country’s attention gripped by the first wave of Covid-19.
- Without consultation and haste: In Parliament, there was no thorough scrutiny of the Bills by a parliamentary panel. The government dismissed these demands and pushed the legislation through.
- Opposition disregard: The Opposition benches were suspended for a week for their “disorderly conduct” while protesting against the rushed passage of the laws.
Beginning of the protests
The protests gained momentum when the Centre pushed the Bills in Parliament in the Monsoon Session.
- Fear over private mandis: Farmers feared that the existing APMC mandis where they sell their products would be shut down once private players started trading in agri-produce outside the mandi premises.
- Non-guarantee over MSP: Once the APMC mandi system became redundant, procurement based on minimum support prices (MSP) too would come to an end.
After sporadic protests against the farm laws, including a nationwide road blockade, the farmers’ unions in Punjab and Haryana gave a call for a ‘Delhi Chalo’ movement.
How protests could sustain for so long?
- Unity: The leaders of farmers’ unions were very strategic in their approach to the protest and decided to work together very early in the agitation.
- Finances: The protest sites at the Delhi border needed a steady injection of resources to keep going. Aware of this need, the unions had begun making monthly collections.
- People: The unions behind the farm stir are well-organized machinery with committees at the level of villages, blocks, and districts.
- Communication: Social media has been central to the scale of this agitation.
- Engagement: The unions kept the stakeholders engaged by ensuring that there was never a dull moment in this agitation.
In practical terms, what was the status of the three laws until the repeal?
- The farm laws were in force for only 221 days — June 5, 2020, when the ordinances were promulgated to January 12, 2021, when the Supreme Court stayed their implementation.
- The Supreme Court stayed the implementation of the three laws on January 12 this year.
- Since the stay, the laws have been suspended.
- The government has used old provisions of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 to impose stock limits, having amended the Act through one of the three farm laws.
Reasons for the repeal
There are contrasting suggestions about the timing of the decision to announce the repeal.
- Forthcoming elections: There are crucial Assembly elections early next year in five states, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
- Public appeasement: The PM sought to announce this on Guru Nanak Jayanti probably in a move to appease a community, to which a significant segment of protesting farmers from Punjab belongs.
- Rising anxiety among Public: There was a risk that anxiety among the protesters could lead to tensions as there had been many deaths since the protests began.
- Fury over year-long protests: The protest had created a ruckus on the streets of capital due to continuous blockades even after the intervention of Supreme Court.
- Rising political differences: Given that it took the government a year to realise the socio-political costs, the repeal also signals a weakened political feedback mechanism within the party.
Significance of the repeal
- Restores faith in the govt: In the immediate term, the repeal exposes the government to charges of being on the wrong path and against popular sentiments, notwithstanding its claims to the contrary.
- Dedication over farmers’ cause: The govt moves were increasingly perceived as being not in tune with the needs of rural farming communities.
- Political stewardship: The PM was clearly balancing his political posture that has thrived on the image of strong and decisive leadership.
Implications of the repeal
- CAA standpoint: Although the anti-CAA protests were called off, almost two years on, the Home Ministry has not yet framed the rules for implementation of the CAA.
- Statehood for J&K: There is no such unanimity over Article 370. Most of these parties have largely been united for the restoration of statehood to J&K, and early elections.
An analysis of the enactment-repeal conundrum
(1) Reforms are must
- There may be some deficiencies in the exact design and mechanism of the reforms proposed in the three farm laws.
- However, most advocates of agricultural reform would agree that they were in the right direction.
(2) Reforms don’t occur overnight
- These laws could be a great example for passionate reforms. However, Legislative tapasya (penance) is all about listening to outer world (i.e the farmers), not inner self.
- It requires listening to those for whose benefit laws and policies are crafted. It can’t be a meditation in isolation and implementation as a divine ordeal.
(3) Answerability and consultation matters
- That the government chose to push these reforms through its own set of consultations left many stakeholders feeling left out, and created a backlash.
- The repeal underlines that any future attempts to reform the rural agricultural economy would require a much wider consultation.
(4) Success lies in the acceptance of reforms
- The better design of reforms ensures wider acceptance.
- The repeal would leave the government hesitant about pursuing these reforms in stealth mode again.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PESA, FIfth Schedule
Mains level: Tribal autonomy and self-government issues
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has celebrated the 25th year of the inauguration of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act 1996 (PESA)’ as a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
What is PESA?
- The PESA is a law enacted by the govt. for ensuring self-governance through traditional Gram Sabhas for people living in the Scheduled Areas of India.
- Scheduled Areas are areas identified by the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of India.
What are Scheduled Areas?
- “Scheduled Areas” mean the Scheduled Areas as referred to in Clause (1) of Article 244 of the Constitution.
- They are found in ten states of India which have predominant population of tribal communities.
- At present, Scheduled Areas have been declared in the States of AP (including Telangana), Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, MP, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan.
Powers granted to Gram Sabha/Panchayats
- Land acquisition: To be consulted on matters of land acquisition and resettlement.
- Mining licencing: Grant prospecting license for mining lease for minor minerals and concessions for such activities.
- Water Bodies: Planning and management of minor water bodies.
- Regulation of Liquor: The power to enforce prohibition or to regulate or restrict the sale and consumption of any intoxicant.
- Minor Forest Produces: The ownership of MFPs
- Land reforms: The power to prevent alienation of land and to restore any unlawfully alienated land of a scheduled tribe.
- Village Markets: The power to manage village markets.
- Money Lending: The power to exercise control over money lending to scheduled tribes.
Role of Governor in Implementation of PESA
(1) Report as sought by the President:
- As per para 3 of the Fifth Schedule, the Governor therein is required to make a report to the President regarding the administration of the Scheduled Areas.
- The Attorney General had advised the Home Ministry that the role of the governor in sending this report is discretionary.
(2) Applicability of certain laws:
- An even more significant role of the Governor in scheduled areas arises out of the powers inherent in sub-para (1) of Para 5 of the Fifth Schedule.
- Governor may direct that any particular Act of Parliament or of the Legislature of the State shall not apply to a Scheduled Area or any part thereof in the State or shall apply to a Scheduled Area.
(3) Modification of laws:
- The regulation-making powers of the Area is bound neither by the advice of the Tribes Advisory Council or the assent of the President.
- The provision lays down the responsibility on the Governor to ensure that laws that are contrary to the interests of Scheduled Areas may be suitably modified.
Why was PESA enacted?
- Filling the constitutional vacuum: These Areas were not covered by the 73rd Constitutional Amendment or Panchayati Raj Act of the Indian Constitution as provided in Part IX of the Constitution.
- Self-governance: PESA sought to enable the Panchayats at appropriate levels and Gram Sabhas to implement a system of self-governance.
- Customary regulation: It includes a number of issues such as customary resources, minor forest produce, minor minerals, minor water bodies, selection of beneficiaries, sanction of projects, and control over local institutions.
Significance of PESA
- Tribal autonomy: PESA was seen as a panacea for many of these vulnerabilities where the tribal communities in such Scheduled Areas were to decide by themselves the pace and priorities of their development.
- Tribal way of development: PESA was viewed as a positive development for tribal communities in Scheduled Areas that had earlier suffered tremendously from engagement with modern development processes.
- Sustainable access to forests: The loss of access to forest, land, and other community resources had increased their vulnerability.
- Easing of tribal distress: Rampant land acquisition and displacement due to development projects had led to large-scale distress in tribal communities living in Scheduled Areas.
Issues with PESA
- Dilution of the role of Tribal Advisory Councils: PESA mandates Tribal Advisory Councils to oversee tribal affairs and also gives extrajudicial, extra-constitutional powers to the Governors.
- Politicization: The councils, with the CM as their chairperson, have evolved into a non-assertive institution amid the machinations of upper-class politics.
- Non-involvement: The Governors, in order to have friendly relations with the Chief Ministers, have desisted from getting involved in tribal matters.
- Lack of coordination at Centre: Two different ministries, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, have an overlapping influence and they function almost without any coordination.
- Lack of operationalization: In most of the state the enabling rules are not in place more than eight years after the adoption of the Act suggests the reluctance to operationalize the PESA mandate.
- Ignoring the spirit of PESA: The state legislations have omitted some of the fundamental principles without which the spirit of PESA can never be realised.
- Ambiguous definitions: No legal definition of the terms like minor water bodies, minor minerals etc. exist in the statute books.
Related question in CS Mains:
Q. What are the two major legal initiatives by the State since Independence addressing discrimination against Scheduled Tribes (STs)? (2017, 150W)
—
Also try answering this PYQ:
In the areas covered under the Panchayat (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, what is the role/power of Gram Sabha?
- Gram Sabha has the power to prevent alienation of land in the Scheduled Areas.
- Gram Sabha has the ownership of minor forest produce.
- Recommendation of Gram Sabha is required for granting prospecting license or mining lease for any mineral in the Scheduled Areas.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) Only 1
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Post your answers here:
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Articles mentioned in the newscard
Mains level: Uniform Civil Code
Stating that the Uniform Civil Code “is a necessity and mandatorily required today,” the Allahabad High Court has called upon the Central Government to forthwith initiate the process for its implementation.
What is a Uniform Civil Code?
- A Uniform Civil Code is one that would provide for one law for the entire country, applicable to all religious communities in their personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption etc.
- Article 44, one of the directive principles of the Constitution lays down that the state shall endeavour to secure a Uniform Civil Code for the citizens throughout the territory of India.
- These, as defined in Article 37, are not justiciable (not enforceable by any court) but the principles laid down therein are fundamental in governance.
Why need UCC?
- UCC would provide equal status to all citizens
- It would promote gender parity in Indian society.
- UCC would accommodate the aspirations of the young population who imbibe liberal ideology.
- Its implementation would thus support the national integration.
Issues with UCC
- There are practical difficulties due to religious and cultural diversity in India.
- The UCC is often perceived by the minorities as an encroachment on religious freedom.
- It is often regarded as interference of the state in personal matters of the minorities.
- Experts often argue that the time is not ripe for Indian society to embrace such UCC.
Greater role for State
- Fundamental rights are enforceable in a court of law.
- While Article 44 uses the words “state shall endeavour”, other Articles in the ‘Directive Principles’ chapter use words such as “in particular strive”; “shall in particular direct its policy”; “shall be obligation of the state” etc.
- Article 43 mentions “state shall endeavour by suitable legislation” while the phrase “by suitable legislation” is absent in Article 44.
- All this implies that the duty of the state is greater in other directive principles than in Article 44.
What are more important — fundamental rights or directive principles?
- There is no doubt that fundamental rights are more important.
- The Supreme Court held in Minerva Mills (1980): Indian Constitution is founded on the bed-rock of the balance between Parts III (Fundamental Rights) and IV (Directive Principles).
- To give absolute primacy to one over the other is to disturb the harmony of the Constitution.
- Article 31C inserted by the 42nd Amendment in 1976, however, lays down that if a law is made to implement any directive principle, it cannot be challenged on the ground of being violative of the FRs under Articles 14 and 19.
Does India not already have a uniform code in civil matters?
- Indian laws do follow a uniform code in most civil matters – Indian Contract Act, Civil Procedure Code, Sale of Goods Act, Transfer of Property Act, Partnership Act, Evidence Act etc.
- States, however, have made hundreds of amendments and therefore in certain matters, there is diversity even under these secular civil laws.
- Recently, several states refused to be governed by the uniform Motor Vehicles Act, 2019.
What about personal laws?
- If the framers of the Constitution had intended to have a Uniform Civil Code, they would have given exclusive jurisdiction to Parliament in respect of personal laws, by including this subject in the Union List.
- But “personal laws” are mentioned in the Concurrent List.
- Last year, the Law Commission concluded that a Uniform Civil Code is neither feasible nor desirable.
Is there one common personal law for any religious community governing all its members?
- All Hindus of the country are not governed by one law, nor are all Muslims or all Christians.
- Not only British legal traditions, even those of the Portuguese and the French remain operative in some parts.
- In Jammu and Kashmir until August 5, 2019, local Hindu law statutes differed from central enactments.
- The Shariat Act of 1937 was extended to J&K a few years ago but has now been repealed.
Various customary laws
- Muslims of Kashmir were governed by a customary law, which in many ways was at variance with Muslim Personal Law in the rest of the country and was, in fact, closer to Hindu law.
- Even on registration of marriage among Muslims, laws differ from place to place. It was compulsory in J&K (1981 Act), and is optional in Bengal, Bihar (both under 1876 Act), Assam (1935 Act) and Odisha (1949 Act).
- In the Northeast, there are more than 200 tribes with their own varied customary laws.
- The Constitution itself protects local customs in Nagaland. Similar protections are enjoyed by Meghalaya and Mizoram.
- Even reformed Hindu law, in spite of codification, protects customary practices.
How does the idea of a Uniform Civil Code relate to the fundamental right to religion?
- Article 25 lays down an individual’s fundamental right to religion;
- Article 26(b) upholds the right of each religious denomination or any section thereof to “manage its own affairs in matters of religion”;
- Article 29 defines the right to conserve distinctive culture.
- An individual’s freedom of religion under Article 25 is subject to “public order, health, morality” and other provisions relating to FRs, but a group’s freedom under Article 26 has not been subjected to other fundamental rights
- In the Constituent Assembly, there was division on the issue of putting UCC in the fundamental rights chapter. The matter was settled by a vote.
- By a 5:4 majority, the fundamental rights sub-committee headed by Sardar Patel held that the provision was outside the scope of FRs and therefore the UCC was made less important than freedom of religion.
Minority opinion in the Constituent Assembly
- Some members sought to immunize Muslim Personal Law from state regulation.
- Mohammed Ismail, who thrice tried unsuccessfully to get Muslim Personal Law exempted from Article 44, said a secular state should not interfere with the personal law of people.
- B Pocker Saheb said he had received representations against a common civil code from various organisations, including Hindu organisations.
- Hussain Imam questioned whether there could ever be uniformity of personal laws in a diverse country like India.
- B R Ambedkar said “no government can use its provisions in a way that would force the Muslims to revolt”.
- Alladi Krishnaswami, who was in favour of a UCC, conceded that it would be unwise to enact UCC ignoring strong opposition from any community.
- Gender justice was never discussed in these debates.
How did the debate on a common code for Hindus play out?
- In June 1948, Rajendra Prasad, President of the Constituent Assembly, warned Nehru that to introduce “basic changes” in personal law was to impose “progressive ideas” of a “microscopic minority” on the Hindu community as a whole.
- Others opposed to reforms in Hindu law included Sardar Patel, Pattabhi Sitaramayya, M A Ayyangar, M M Malaviya and Kailash Nath Katju.
- When the debate on the Hindu Code Bill took place in December 1949, 23 of 28 speakers opposed it.
- On September 15, 1951, President Prasad threatened to use his powers of returning the Bill to Parliament or vetoing it. Ambedkar eventually had to resign.
- Nehru agreed to the trifurcation of the Code into separate Acts and diluted several provisions.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- COP26 achievements and failures
Context
Glasgow’s success was that it finished building the scaffolding for climate action initiated through the Paris Agreement. But true success depends on whether countries are receptive to these nudges.
What were the Glasgow climate meeting’s (COP26) successes and failures?
- Strengthened Paris Agreement mechanism: Glasgow strengthened the Paris Agreement mechanism of eliciting pledges from countries and ratcheting them up over time.
- It requested countries to update and strengthen 2030 emission targets in their NDCs by the end of 2022, earlier than previously expected.
- Success at Glasgow was explicitly defined around ‘keeping 1.5 degrees alive’ through such pledges.
- There are two problems with this interpretation.
- First, the Paris, and Glasgow, approach focusing on target-setting gives insufficient importance to the challenge of implementing those targets.
- A focus on shorter term targets and their implementation — which India to its credit has been highlighting — will be important.
- Second, by calling on countries to strengthen targets to align with the Paris Agreement objectives without explicitly considering that countries have different roles and responsibilities in doing so risks side-stepping, again, the long-standing issue of climate equity.
Phase-down clause for thermal power and implications for India
- Phasing down coal power: A specific high profile clause calls for the ‘phase down of unabated coal power and phase out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies’.
- It was the Indian Minister who read out an amendment modifying ‘phase-out’ to ‘phase-down’ for coal.
- India’s concerns: India’s real concerns included not precluding subsidies for social purposes, such as for cooking gas; querying whether from an equity point of view, all countries should be asked to limit coal use at the same time; and noting the lack of mention of oil and gas.
- A positive for all from environmental point of view: From an environmental point of view, more explicit discussion of coal, but ideally all fossil fuels, is a positive, including for India.
- Concerns on developmental view: From a developmental view, however, India is concerned that explicit mention of coal constrains us in our choice of fuel.
- Way out for India: A possible way out is for India to explicitly seek global support for an accelerated transition away from coal, an approach taken by South Africa.
Challenges and achievements at COP26
[A] Measures for adaptations
- Adaptation has long been neglected in global negotiations, reflecting a global power imbalance that places less weight on the concerns of vulnerable nations.
- In this context, it was a partial win that Glasgow set up an explicit two year work programme for a ‘global goal’ on adaptation.
- No development on agenda of loss and damage: The important complementary agenda of ‘loss and damage’ – compensating for unavoidable impacts that go beyond adaptation — received at most lip service.
- Even though there was discussion of a specific mechanism, backed by funding, to the dismay of small, vulnerable nations, only a ‘dialogue’ was established.
[B] Climate finance commitment issue not addressed
- Commitment on climate finance not met: Climate finance promised to be the central issue of COP26, with considerable frustration from developing countries that the decade-long commitment of $100 billion had not been met.
- Glasgow did no more than establish a work programme on post-2025 financing and continue tracking progress on the $100 billion.
- The exception was a call to double adaptation finance by 2025.
- Mobilising private finance: Former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney indicated that companies committed to net zero initiatives could marshal a scarcely believable $130 trillion, suggesting growing efforts to mobilise private finance.
- Developing countries have long insisted that publicly funded climate finance is a right devolving from the ‘polluter pays’ principle rather than aid.
[C] Paris rulebook
- Completion of two elements of Paris Rulebook: There were two particularly important elements of what is called the ‘Paris Rulebook’ that were completed in Glasgow.
- Transparency framework: First, the transparency framework was completed, which includes reporting rules and formats for emissions, progress on pledges and finance contributions.
- Rules for carbon market: The second key was completion of agreed rules for carbon markets, the complexities of which had stymied agreement for four years.
- Rules were put in place to limit the scope for ‘double-counting’ of credits by more than one country.
Way forward for India
- The real determinant of success or failure rests on national politics and popular support for climate change within countries — how countries use the scaffolding.
- For India, these politics are complex because they revolve around simultaneously balancing concerns over whether our policy space will be limited by inequities embedded in the global mitigation efforts, and our own interests as a vulnerable country in enhancing and accelerating climate action.
- A balanced view requires consideration of both objectives.
Consider the question “Why climate finance continues to be a contentious issue in the negotiations over climate change? Suggest the way to balance the concerns over development with the efforts at climate action.”
Conclusion
The meeting hit many, but not all, of its procedural benchmarks by building scaffolding for the future. But the real determinant of success or failure rests on national politics and popular support for climate change within countries.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- UHC and challenges
Context
NITI Aayog recently published a road map document entitled “Health Insurance for India’s Missing Middle”.
About missing middle and provision in the NITI Aayog report
- The Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), aims to extend hospitalisation cover of up to ₹5 lakh per family per annum to a poor and vulnerable population of nearly 50 crore people.
- Left out segment: Covering the left out segment of the population, commonly termed the ‘missing middle’ sandwiched between the poor and the affluent, has been discussed by the Government recently.
- Towards this, NITI Aayog recently published a road map document entitled “Health Insurance for India’s Missing Middle”.
- Primary role for private commercial health insurer: The report proposes voluntary, contributory health insurance dispensed mainly by private commercial health insurers as the prime instrument for extending health insurance to the ‘missing middle’.
Issues with the provision in the NITI Aayog report
- Narrow coverage: Government subsidies, if any at all, will be reserved for the very poor within the ‘missing middle’ and only at a later stage of development of voluntary contributory insurance.
- This is a major swerve from the vision espoused by the high-level expert group on UHC a decade ago, which was sceptical about such a health insurance model.
- No country has ever achieved UHC by relying predominantly on private sources of financing health care.
- Contributory insurance not best way: Evidence shows that in developing countries such as India, with a gargantuan informal sector, contributory health insurance is not the best way forward and can be replete with problems.
- Issues with low premium model: For hospitalisation insurance, the report proposes a model similar to the Arogya Sanjeevani scheme, albeit with lower projected premiums of around ₹4,000-₹6,000 per family per annum.
- This model is a little different from commercial private insurance, except for somewhat lower premiums.
- Low premiums are achieved by reducing administrative costs of insurers through an array of measures, including private use of government infrastructure.
- This model is vulnerable to nearly every vice that characterises conventional private insurance.
- Insufficient measures to deal with adverse selection: The report suggests enrolment in groups as a means to counter adverse selection.
- The prevailing per capita expenditure on hospital care is used to reflect affordability of hospital insurance, and thereby, a possible willingness to pay for insurance.
- Both these notions are likely to be far-fetched in practice, and the model is likely to be characterised by widespread adverse selection notwithstanding.
- OPD insurance on a subscription basis: The report proposes an OPD insurance with an insured sum of ₹5,000 per family per annum, and again uses average per capita OPD spending to justify the ability to pay.
- However, the OPD insurance is envisaged on a subscription basis, which means that insured families would need to pay nearly the entire insured sum in advance to obtain the benefits.
- Clearly, this route is unlikely to result in any significant reduction of out-of-pocket expenditure on OPD care.
- Role of government:The NITI report defies the universally accepted logic that UHC invariably entails a strong and overarching role for the Government in health care, particularly in developing countries.
Consider the question “What are the challenges in achieving universal health coverage? What are the issues with private sources financing health care to achieve UHC?”
Conclusion
The National Health Policy 2017 envisaged increasing public health spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2025. Let us not contradict ourselves so early and at this crucial juncture of an unprecedented pandemic.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Cryptocurrencies and Legal Tender Currency
Mains level: Need for Cryptocurrencies regulation
With cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin gaining popularity among citizens, the Centre has been compelled to take a stance on the legal status of cryptocurrencies.
Background
- The Union Government is said to be considering a proposal to tax cryptocurrency transactions in the country.
- The move would bring cryptocurrency trading, which has till date happened outside the ambit of the law, into the formal economy.
Defying RBI ban
- RBI has been vehemently opposed to the idea of legalizing cryptocurrencies.
- It had banned financial institutions such as banks from facilitating transactions involving cryptocurrencies back in 2018.
- The RBI’s order was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2020, and this led to a tremendous surge in cryptocurrency transactions through exchanges.
Why did RBI propose a ban?
- Financial stability: The RBI has characterized private cryptocurrencies as a threat to financial stability.
- Threat to the sovereignty of Rupee: It perceives cryptocurrencies rise as a threat to the sovereignty of the rupee.
- Beyond regulatory scope: The widespread acceptance of cryptocurrencies could interfere with the ability of the RBI to conduct monetary policy effectively.
- Digital currency in the pipeline: It should be noted that RBI and other central banks are also looking to come up with digital versions of their own currencies.
- Competition of currencies: The rupee or central bank digital currencies may not be able to outcompete cryptocurrencies just because they are digital.
Legislative opinion on Cryptocurrencies
- Not in favour of ban: This week, a Parliamentary Standing Committee recommended that cryptocurrencies be regulated rather than banned.
- Making a legal framework: The Government is also expected to table a bill that clarifies its position on cryptocurrencies in Parliament next year.
- Taxing cryptocurrencies: There is a proposal to classify cryptocurrency exchanges as e-commerce platforms and tax them under the GST framework comes.
Why has the Government chosen to regulate rather than ban cryptocurrencies?
- Popularity amongst Public: The growing popularity of cryptocurrencies among citizens may have played a role in the Government opting for regulation over an outright ban.
- Lack of evident threat: There is no clear evidence of the misuse of cryptocurrencies and their risks.
- Boosting with policy: The Union govt may also not want to kill the nascent cryptocurrency industry which many believe can be a hub for financial innovation.
- Revenue generation: Fiscal revenues can be adversely impacted by the increased tax evasion opportunities that crypto-currencies can facilitate.
- Capitalizing the market: The govt wants to capitalise on the recent surge in the usage of cryptocurrencies to tax them and shore up its revenues.
- Financial innovation: Blockchain technology has multiple uses beyond just facilitating cryptocurrency transactions.
Issues with the ban
- Brain-Drain: Ban of cryptocurrencies is most likely to result in an exodus of both talent and business from India, similar to what happened after the RBI’s 2018 ban.
- Capital inflows will be restricted: If cryptos begin to get mined onshore, they will induce capital inflows.
- Killing financial innovation: A ban will deprive India, its entrepreneurs and citizens of a transformative technology that is being rapidly adopted across the world.
Other generic concerns:
- Safety (cyber-attacks and fraud)
- Financial integrity (money laundering and evasion of capital controls)
- Energy usage (outsized energy needs to mine cryptos)
Way forward
- Thus it can be inferred that cryptocurrency is better classified as an asset rather than as a currency, in order to gain acceptance and avoid a ban.
Conclusion
- There is no doubt that the acceptance of cryptocurrencies by the Government is likely to be limited.
- While cryptocurrencies may be accepted as speculative assets, it is highly unlikely that they will be accepted as full-fledged currencies competing against the rupee.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Digital lending in India
Mains level: Need for regulation of Digital Lending
A Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Working Group (WG) on digital lending has recommended separate legislation to oversee such lending as well as a nodal agency to vet the Digital Lending Apps.
Digital Lending
- Digital lending is the process of availing credit online.
- Its increased popularity amongst new-age lenders can be attributed to expanding smartphone penetration, credit range flexibility, and speedy online transactions.
Significance of Digital Lending
India has a huge growth potential when it comes to the Digital Lending landscape:
- Alternate source of finance: Digital lending is mostly preferred by those who are generally not able to avail any credit through the formal sources of finance, like banks.
- Lender of the last resort: Digital lending is mostly preferred by those who are generally not able to avail any credit through the formal sources of finance, like banks.
- Financial inclusion: Digital lending is a powerful tool that can be used for financial inclusion.
- Cost-efficient lending: With new innovations underway, digital lending offers much better products to the masses at a much faster rate which is even more cost-efficient.
- Exception for red-tapism: Online lending has played a pivotal role in evading cumbersome red-tapism usually involved while availing loans offline in a traditional setting.
- Preference by MSMEs: The online lending platforms have gained massive popularity among MSMEs post-Covid as they were unable to secure finance through traditional lending.
- Easy onboarding: The quick turnaround time and onboarding, easy KYC, as well as disbursement within minutes have attracted the cash-crunched MSMEs towards these digital routes to secure credit.
Issues with Digital Lending
- No business model: There are many gaps that are existent in this model of digital lending like any new business operation.
- High interest: Unauthorised lenders provided credit to customers without any collateral and at exorbitant rates coupled with unachievable deadlines to pay off these humongous debts.
- Coercing and harassment for recovery: Resultantly, borrowers were coerced by the lenders to recollect when they were unable to pay off these debts. We see many cases of suicides due to such harassment.
Key recommendations by RBI
- Self-Regulation: RBI has mooted a Self-Regulatory Organisation for participants in the digital lending ecosystem.
- Developing a Baseline Technology: Development of certain baseline technology standards and compliance with those standards as a pre-condition for offering digital lending solutions.
- Direct loan disbursement: Disbursement of loans directly into the bank accounts of borrowers; disbursement and servicing of loans only through bank accounts of the digital lenders.
- Data collection: With the prior and explicit consent of borrowers with verifiable audit trails.
- Standardized code of conduct: for recovery to be framed by the proposed SRO in consultation with RBI.
Way forward
- There is a growing need for regulation in this space or unauthorized players like pointed out above will keep popping up.
- Stringent provisions must be formulated which can be enforceable legally.
- Regulation must be enforced in this industry soon to ensure consumer trust remains unfettered.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Anti-defection law
Mains level: Issues with the role of Speaker in defection cases
The All-India Presiding Officers’ Conference (AIPOC) ended with the delegates failing to reach a consensus on whether the Speaker’s powers under the anti-defection law should be limited.
What is Anti-defection Law?
- The Anti-Defection Law under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution punishes MPs/ MLAs for defecting from their party by taking away their membership of the legislature.
- It gives the Speaker of the legislature the power to decide the outcome of defection proceedings.
- It was added to the Constitution through the Fifty-Second (Amendment) Act, 1985 when Rajiv Gandhi was PM.
- The law applies to both Parliament and state assemblies.
Cases considered under the anti-defection law
The law covers three scenarios with respect to shifting of political parties by an MP or an MLA.
(1) Voluntary give-up
- The first is when a member elected on the ticket of a political party “voluntarily gives up” membership of such a party or votes in the House against the wishes of the party.
- Such persons lose his seat.
(2) Independent members
- When a legislator who has won his or her seat as an independent candidate joins a political party after the election.
- In both these instances, the legislator loses the seat in the legislature on changing (or joining) a party.
(3) Nominated MPs
- In their case, the law gives them six months to join a political party, after being nominated.
- If they join a party after such time, they stand to lose their seat in the House.
Powers to disqualification
- Under the anti-defection law, the power to decide the disqualification of an MP or MLA rests with the presiding officer of the legislature.
- The law does not specify a time frame in which such a decision has to be made.
- As a result, Speakers of legislatures have sometimes acted very quickly or have delayed the decision for years — and have been accused of political bias in both situations.
Significant role of the Speaker/Presiding Officer
- Pandit Nehru had referred to the Speaker as “the symbol of the nation’s freedom and liberty” and emphasized that Speakers should be men of “outstanding ability and impartiality”.
- Several judgments on the anti-defection law have been rendered by the Supreme Court.
- A common factor that shows up in these rulings is the blatant, partisan conduct of speakers in state assemblies.
Reasons for Speakers’ bias
- The Speaker continues to belong to a particular political party.
- The electoral system and conventions in India have ‘not been developed to ensure protection to the office, there are cogent reasons for Speakers to retain party membership.
- It would be unrealistic to expect a speaker to completely abjure all party considerations while functioning.
- There are structural issues regarding the manner of appointment of the Speaker and her tenure in office.
Way forward
- Parliament may seriously consider a Constitutional amendment to bring in a permanent Tribunal for dealing with defection cases.
- It is suggested that a scheme should be brought wherein Speakers should renounce all political affiliations, membership, and activity once they have been elected.
- We can learn from the UK model. In practice, once elected, the Speaker gives up all-partisan affiliation, as in other Parliaments of British tradition.
- He/she remains in office until retirement, even though the majority may change and does not express any political views during debates.
Conclusion
- Impartiality, fairness, and autonomy in decision-making are the hallmarks of a robust institution.
- It is the freedom from interference and pressures which provide the necessary atmosphere where one can work with an absolute commitment to the cause of neutrality as a constitutional value.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Shale Gas and Oil, Fracking processes
Mains level: Shale gas potential of India
Cairn Oil & Gas has announced that it is partnering US-based Halliburton to start shale exploration in the Lower Barmer Hill formation, Western Rajasthan.
What is Shale oil?
- Shale oil is an unconventional oil produced from oil shale rock fragments by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution.
- These processes convert the organic matter within the rock (kerogen) into synthetic oil and gas.
- The refined products can be used for the same purposes as those derived from crude oil.
How does it differ from conventional crude oil?
- The key difference between shale oil and conventional crude is that the former, also called ‘tight oil’, is found in smaller batches, and deeper than conventional crude deposits.
- Its extraction requires creation of fractures in oil and gas rich shale to release hydrocarbons through a process called hydraulic fracking.
What is fracking?
- Fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside.
- Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well.
- The process can be carried out vertically or, more commonly, by drilling horizontally to the rock layer, which can create new pathways to release gas or used to extend existing channels.
- The term fracking refers to how the rock is fractured apart by the high-pressure mixture.
Shale production in the world
- Russia and the US are among the largest shale oil producers in the world.
- With a surge in shale oil production in the US, it has played a key role in turning the country from an importer of crude to a net exporter in 2019.
Shale reserves in India
- As per the US EIA 2015 report, India has got technically recoverable shale gas of 96 trillion cubic feet.
- The recoverable reserves are identified in Cambay, Krishna – Godavari, Cauvery, Damodar Valley, Upper Assam, Pranahita – Godavari, Rajasthan and Vindhya Basins.
- The ONGC has drilled the first exploratory shale gas well in Jambusar near Vadodara, Gujarat, in Cambay basin during October 2013.
What are the prospects of shale oil exploration in India?
- Currently, there is no large-scale commercial production of shale oil and gas in India.
- Shale oil and gas exploration faces several challenges other than environmental concerns around massive water requirements for fracking and potential for ground water contamination.
- State-owned ONGC had, in 2013, started exploration and, by the end of FY21, assessed shale oil and gas potential in 25 nomination blocks.
- But it has reduced investments over the past few years after only getting limited success in shale exploration efforts.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Competition Commission of India (CCI), Cartelization
Mains level: Not Much
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has slapped certain penalties on paper manufacturing companies from agricultural waste and recycled wastepaper against Cartelization.
What is a Cartel?
- According to CCI, a “Cartel includes an association of producers, sellers, distributors, traders or service providers who, by agreement amongst themselves, limit, control or attempt to control the production, distribution, sale or price of, or, trade in goods or provision of services”.
- The International Competition Network, which is a global body dedicated to enforcing competition law, has a simpler definition.
- The three common components of a cartel are:
- an agreement
- between competitors
- to restrict competition
What is Cartelization?
- Cartelization is when enterprises collude to fix prices, indulge in bid rigging, or share customers, etc.
- But when prices are controlled by the government under a law, that is not cartelization.
- The Competition Act contains strong provisions against cartels.
- It also has the leniency provision to incentivise a party to a cartel to break away and report to the Commission, and thereby expect total or partial leniency.
- This has proved a highly effective tool against cartels worldwide.
- Cartels almost invariably involve secret conspiracies.
How do they work?
- According to ICN, four categories of conduct are commonly identified across jurisdictions (countries). These are:
- price-fixing
- output restrictions
- market allocation and
- bid-rigging
- In sum, participants in hard-core cartels agree to insulate themselves from the rigours of a competitive marketplace, substituting cooperation for competition.
How do cartels hurt?
- While it may be difficult to accurately quantify the ill-effects of cartels, they not only directly hurt the consumers but also, indirectly, undermine overall economic efficiency and innovations.
- A successful cartel raises the price above the competitive level and reduces output.
- Consumers choose either not to pay the higher price for some or all of the cartelized product that they desire, thus forgoing the product, or they pay the cartel price and thereby unknowingly transfer wealth to the cartel operators.
Are there provisions in the Competition Act against monopolistic prices?
- There are provisions in the Competition Act against abuse of dominance.
- One of the abuses is when a dominant enterprise “directly or indirectly imposes unfair or discriminatory prices” in purchase or sale of goods or services.
- Thus, excessive pricing by a dominant enterprise could, in certain conditions, be regarded as an abuse and, therefore, subject to investigation by the Competition Commission if it were fully functional.
- However, it should be understood that where pricing is a result of normal supply and demand, the Competition Commission may have no role.
How might cartels be worse than monopolies?
- It is generally well understood that monopolies are bad for both individual consumer interest as well as the society at large.
- That’s because a monopolist completely dominates the concerned market and, more often than not, abuses this dominance either in the form of charging higher than warranted prices or by providing lower than the warranted quality of the good or service in question.
How to stop the spread of cartelization?
- Cartels are not easy to detect and identify.
- As such, experts often suggest providing a strong deterrence to those cartels that are found guilty of being one.
- Typically this takes the form of a monetary penalty that exceeds the gains amassed by the cartel.
- However, it must also be pointed out that it is not always easy to ascertain the exact gains from cartelization.
- In fact, the threat of stringent penalties can be used in conjunction with providing leniency — as was done in the beer case.
Back2Basics: Competition Commission of India (CCI)
- The CCI is the chief national competition regulator in India.
- It is a statutory body within the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
- It is responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002 in order to promote competition and prevent activities that have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Jagannath Temple and its architecture
Mains level: Temple architecture of India
Odisha CM will lay the foundation stone of the much-awaited Puri Heritage Corridor.
Puri Heritage Corridor Project
- Conceived in 2016, the Puri Heritage Corridor Project was unveiled in December 2019 to transform the holy town of Puri into an international place of heritage.
- The project includes redeveloping major portions of the holy town and in the vicinity of the temple for visitors and tourists.
About Jagannath Temple
- The Jagannath Temple is an important Vaishnavite temple dedicated to Jagannath, a form of Sri Krishna in Puri in Odisha.
- The present temple was rebuilt from the 10th century onwards, on the site of an earlier temple, and begun by Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva, the first king of the Eastern Ganga dynasty.
- The Puri temple is famous for its annual Ratha Yatra, or chariot festival, in which the three principal deities are pulled on huge and elaborately decorated temple cars.
Its architecture
- With its sculptural richness and fluidity of the Oriya style of temple architecture, it is one of the most magnificent monuments of India.
- The huge temple complex covers an area of over 400,000 square feet and is surrounded by a high fortified wall.
- This 20 feet high wall is known as Meghanada Pacheri.
- Another wall known as kurma bedha surrounds the main temple.
The temple has four distinct sectional structures, namely:
- Deula, Vimana or Garba griha (Sanctum sanctorum) where the triad deities are lodged on the ratnavedi (Throne of Pearls). In Rekha Deula style;
- Mukhashala (Frontal porch);
- Nata mandir/Natamandapa, which is also known as the Jagamohan (Audience Hall/Dancing Hall), and
- Bhoga Mandapa (Offerings Hall)
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Formalisation and its challenges
Context
A recent study by SBI has reported that the Indian economy witnessed accelerated formalisation under the distressed conditions of the pandemic and the lockdown last year. The study estimates that the share of the informal economy has fallen to a mere one-fifth of GDP — a figure comparable to many advanced economies.
Understanding informality
- ILO definition: The ILO’s globally accepted framework for definitions is as follows: Informal sector enterprises are defined as private unincorporated enterprises owned by individuals (or households) that are not constituted as separate legal entities independently of their owners.
- They are not registered under specific national legislation (such as Factories’ or Commercial Acts).
- Definition of a formal worker in India: Formal workers in India, on the other hand, are defined as those having access to at least one social security benefit such as a provident fund or healthcare benefits.
What explains the decline of informal sector in GDP
- Significance of informal sector: In 2017-18, as per the latest official statistics, India’s informal sector accounted for approximately 52 per cent of its GDP, employing 82 per cent of the total workforce.
- These ratios have broadly remained unchanged over the last decade.
- Most affected due to pandemic: As the informal (unorganised) sector bore much of the brunt of the economic contraction during 2020-21, a decline in its share in GDP is unsurprising.
- Lack of financial strength: The sector had neither the financial strength nor the technical wherewithal to face the Covid shock.
- Inadequate policy support: Additionally, policy support, mostly supply-side measures, was mainly focused on firms in the formal sector, with the informal sector left to fend for itself.
Issues with decline
- Undeniably, the informal sector’s share in GDP is likely to have shrunk due to the Covid shock.
- However, alarmingly, the purported decline in the informal sector’s share in GDP has not been accompanied by an expected reduction in its employment share.
- Data from the official annual Period Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2017-18 and 2019-20, where the latter includes the period of the Covid shock from April to June 2020, shows that the employment share in non-agricultural informal enterprises has increased from 68 per cent in 2017-18 to 69.5 per cent in 2019-20.
- These figures do not include the agricultural sector, where employment is almost entirely in the informal sector.
- The increasing share of the formal sector in terms of GDP but declining share in employment only widens the schism (or dualism) between the two sectors.
- The increasing share of the formal sector in terms of GDP but declining share in employment only widens the schism (or dualism) between the two sectors.
Implications
- Impact on investment and growth: The lack of remunerative jobs for the vast majority of Indian consumers implies that eventually the lack of growth in demand will adversely impact investment and economic growth.
- After all, a mere 17-18 per cent of the workforce in the organised sector cannot sustain growth of the economy in the long run.
- Squeezing out informal enterprises: The increase in the formal sector’s share in GDP due to Covid-19 is a result of large, formal enterprises squeezing out informal enterprises.
- It is important to note here that the increase in formalisation is not a consequence of micro and small informal firms transitioning to formality.
Increasing productivity: A way forward to formalisation
- Promoting formalisation: Over the last five years, the economy has officially witnessed a significant drive towards formalisation.
- Multiple reasons for avoiding formalisation: It is crucial to recognise that firms exist in the informal sector for various reasons and not simply to evade regulations and taxation.
- Significance of productivity: Many own account enterprises and MSMEs cannot afford to survive in the formal sector due to their low productivity.
- It is essential to view the process of formalisation as a development strategy that requires stepping up investment in physical and human capital to boost productivity and the extension of social security benefits for all workers, not just a registration strategy on myriad portals.
Consider the question “Informal sector has been affected disproportionately in the wake of the pandemic. What are the implications of this for the economy? Suggest the way forward for the formalisation.”
Conclusion
The informal sector will come back to life as much of it represents the survival efforts of the working poor. Celebrating formalisation based on the misery and devastation of poor informal workers (and their meagre productive assets) is not just misplaced but also callous.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- A collaborative tech vision for India, UAE, ISRAEL and the US
Context
Last month’s meeting between the foreign ministers of India, the US, Israel, and the UAE has set foreign policy circles in India abuzz with talks of the potential emergence of another quadrilateral grouping or as analysts term it, a “new Quad”.
Significance of the new Quad meeting
- Collaboration in various areas: The grouping discussed technology collaboration along with the joint infrastructure projects in transportation, enhancing political and economic cooperation and maritime security matters.
- Forum for economic cooperation: They have agreed to set up an international forum for economic cooperation.
- Collaboration on technology: Amongst all the issues discussed, the technology dimension of this partnership promises a far greater potential for collaboration.
- The four countries are uniquely placed to shape an innovation-based partnership, which can conjoin the technology hubs of Silicon Valley, Dubai, Tel Aviv, and Bengaluru.
- Such potential collaboration can benefit from the existing robust cooperation between these countries.
- Collaboration in fintech: The agreement between Start-Up Nation Central, an Israeli non-profit that connects the tech ecosystem, and Dubai International Financial Centre, the UAE’s financial hub, will create regulatory sandboxes and accelerators for start-ups and provide them with market access opportunities.
- India and the US have been separately working with the two countries on multiple projects.
New Quad’s technology cooperation
- Tech-based collaboration: Given the synergies in the innovation and startup sector, it is logical that the “new Quad” works towards tech-based collaboration.
- The agenda for the new Quad’s technology cooperation can begin by selecting three technologies — quantum science, blockchain, and 3D printing.
- Collaboration in quantum technology: Israel and the US, too, have made research on quantum technology a priority by allocating $91 million and $1.2 billion respectively to this sector.
- India is also fast catching up through its National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications and joining hands with countries like France to work on this technology.
- Collaboration in the blockchain: in blockchain, India and the UAE can leverage the American and Israeli expertise in cyber and cryptography to craft customised applications for use in banking, fintech and trade financing.
- Collaboration in 3-D printing: In 3D printing, which promises to transform the manufacturing process radically, Israel has taken the lead in manufacturing about 40 per cent of 3D printers worldwide.
- India, in contrast, has been slow in getting onto the 3D printing bandwagon. But it can certainly benefit from the expertise of the US, Israel and the UAE.
- Opportunity for India: From the Indian perspective, such partnerships can leverage Silicon Valley’s venture capital funding, Tel Aviv’s close-knit organic linkages between start-ups, industry, and academia, and UAE’s funding and focus on innovation.
- To this mix, Bengaluru — and potentially Hyderabad — can add opportunities for scaling up and manufacturing.
- The startup community in the US, Israel and the UAE have already reached an advanced research and development stage providing an opportunity for India to build expertise and offer the scale to the development and applications of these technologies.
Way forward
- Security cooperation: The collaborative and customisation possibilities offered by these technologies and their dual-use nature offers the potential to give a technological edge to the four countries’ militaries.
- This, in turn, can add the security cooperation element to the grouping’s agenda.
- Broaden the base: If the four countries plug their innovation ecosystems in this collaboration to shortlist, fund and develop technologies, it will also help to broaden the base of cooperation for this grouping, rather than restrict it to the government-to-government domain.
- Government push will be the essential catalyst to unlock this space for cooperation through seed-funding, academic collaborations, industrial partnerships and MoUs.
- China factor: By collaborating with Russia, and domestic flagship initiatives like “Made in China 2025”, Beijing has pursued emerging technologies and successfully reduced the capability gap with Washington.
- These developments make it imperative for the US, Israel, UAE, and India to strengthen their newly established cooperation.
Conclusion
Each country with its unique advantage in the field of science and technology, innovation and start-ups can make a significant contribution to advance shared technological goals.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: India-Maldives relations
The Government of Maldives has said that it “strongly rejects attempts to spread false information” criticizing its ties with India, its “closest ally and trusted neighbor”.
The India-Out Campaign
- Maldivian protesters recently demanded the Solih administration to ‘stop selling national assets to foreigners’, implying India.
- ‘India Out’ campaign in Maldives had started sometime last year as on-ground protests in the Maldives and later widely spread across social media platforms under the same hashtag.
- It is not related to people-to-people conflict (Indian diaspora) but is discontent on close relationship between Maldivian government & India.
Causes for the anti-India sentiments
- Political instability: The anti-India sentiment is nearly a decade old and can be traced back to when Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom became president in 2013. He used anti-India sentiments for his political mobilization and started tilting China.
- Controversy over helicopter gift: Two Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters (ALF) that were given by India to the Maldives for ocean search-and-rescue operations. Opposition tried to portray this as military presence in the country.
- Confidential agreements: Most agreements being signed between the Ibrahim Solih government and India are backdoor and has not been publicly discussed in the Maldives Parliament.
- Alleged interference in domestic politics: India being a big neighbour, there are unsubstantiated perceptions & allegations on Indian Diplomats stationed in Maldives interfering in Domestic affairs.
India-Maldives Relations: A backgrounder
- India and Maldives are neighbors sharing a maritime border.
- Both nations established diplomatic relations after the independence of Maldives from British rule in 1966.
- India was one of the first nations to recognize Maldives’ independence.
- Since then, India and Maldives have developed close strategic, military, economic and cultural relations.
- Maldivians generally regard Indians and India as a friend and trusted neighbor in the field economic, social and political.
Restoration of ties
- Ibrahim Mohamed Solih who became President in 2018 has restored Maldives close ties with India.
Major irritants in ties
- Political Instability: India’s major concern has been the impact of political instability in the neighborhood on its security and development.
- Increasing radicalization: In the past decade or so, the number of Maldivians drawn towards terrorist groups like the Islamic State (IS) and Pakistan-based jihadist groups has been increasing.
- Inclination towards terror: Radicalism in the island nation has increased the possibility of Pakistan based terror groups using remote Maldivian islands as a launch pad for terror attacks against India and Indian interests.
- Chinese affinity: China’s strategic footprint in India’s neighborhood has increased. The Maldives has emerged as an important ‘pearl’ in China’s “String of Pearls” construct in South Asia.
Recent gestures by India
[1] 2014 Malé drinking-water crisis
- In the wake of a drinking water crisis in Malé in December 2014, following collapse of the island’s only water treatment plant, Maldives urged India for immediate help.
- India came to rescue by sending its heavy lift transporters like C-17 Globemaster III, Il-76 carrying bottled water.
[2] 2020 Covid-19 crisis
- During the COVID-19 crisis of 2020, India extended help to Maldives in the form of financial, material and logistical support.
- Also, the IAF airlifted 6.2 tonnes of essential medicines and hospital consumables to Maldives, as part of ‘Operation Sanjeevani’.
[3] Greater Male Connectivity Project
- India has recently announced the signing of a $500-million infrastructure project for the construction of the Greater Malé Connectivity Project (GMCP).
- This infrastructure project, the largest-ever by India in the Maldives, involves the construction of a 6.74-km-long bridge and causeway link.
Why is Maldives significant for India?
- Increasing maritime cooperation: As maritime economic activity in the Indian Ocean has risen dramatically in recent decades, the geopolitical competition too in the Indian Ocean has intensified.
- Toll Gate in Indian Ocean: It is situated at the hub of commercial sea-lanes running through the Indian Ocean. More than 97% of India’s international trade by volume and 75% by value passes through the region.
- Naval cooperation: Maldives is an important partner in India’s role as the net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region.
- Important SAARC member: Besides, Maldives is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC).
- People To People Contact: There is a significant population of Maldivian students in India. They are aided by a liberal visa-free regime extended by India. There is also medical tourism.
- Major destination for Tourists: Tourism is the mainstay of the Maldivian economy. The country is now a major tourist destination for some Indians and a job destination for others.
Conclusion
- There is a significant Indian diaspora in the Maldives. Innumerable Indians work across the hospitality, education, and health-care sectors of the Maldives economy.
- India must use its Diaspora more extensively for strengthening its relations.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF)
Mains level: Not Much
The Union Cabinet has approved the provisioning of mobile services in over 7,000 uncovered villages through the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).
What do you mean by Universal Service?
- In the modern world, universal service refers to having a phone and affordable phone service in every home.
- It means, providing telecommunication service with access to a defined minimum service of specified quality to all users everywhere at an affordable price.
- In 1837, the concept was rolled on by Rowland Hill, a British educator and tax reformer, which included uniform rates across the UK and prepayment by sender via postage stamps.
What is USOF?
- The Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) was formed by an Act of Parliament, was established in April 2002 under the Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act 2003.
- It aims to provide financial support for the provision of telecom services in commercially unviable rural and remote areas of the country.
- It is an attached office of the Department of Telecom, and is headed by the administrator, who is appointed by the central government.
Scope of the USOF
- Initially, the USOF was established with the fundamental objective of providing access to ‘basic’ telecom services to people in rural and remote areas at affordable and reasonable prices.
- Subsequently, the scope was widened.
- Now it aims to provide subsidy support for enabling access to all types of telecom services, including mobile services, broadband connectivity and the creation of infrastructure in rural and remote areas.
Funding of the USOF
- The resources for the implementation of USO are raised by way of collecting a Universal Service Levy (USL), which is 5 percent of the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of Telecom Service Providers.
Nature of the fund
- USOF is a non-lapsable Fund.
- The Levy amount is credited to the Consolidated Fund of India.
- The fund is made available to USOF after due appropriation by the Parliament.
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