Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ordnance Factory Board (OFB)
Mains level: Defence manufacturing in India
Addressing a long-pending reform, the Union Cabinet has approved a plan to corporatize the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).
Ordnance Factory Board (OFB)
- OFB consisting of the Indian Ordnance Factories is a government agency under the control of the department of defence production (DDP).
- It is engaged in research, development, production, testing, marketing and logistics of a product range in the areas of air, land and sea systems.
- OFB comprises 41 ordnance factories, nine training institutes, three regional marketing centres and four regional controllers of safety, which are spread all across the country.
Why are OFBs significant?
- OFB is the world’s largest government-operated production organization and the oldest organization in India.
- It has a total workforce of about 80,000.
- It is often called the “Fourth Arm of Defence” and the “Force Behind the Armed Forces” of India.
- OFB is the 35th largest defence equipment manufacturer in the world, 2nd largest in Asia, and the largest in India.
Why corporatization?
- Once implemented, the OFB, the establishment of which was accepted by the British in 1775, will cease to exist.
- It is a major decision in terms of national security and also make the country self-sufficient in defence manufacturing as repeatedly emphasized by PM.
- This move would allow these companies autonomy and help improve accountability and efficiency.
- This restructuring is aimed at transforming the ordnance factories into productive and profitable assets, deepening specialization in the product range, enhancing competitiveness, improving quality and achieving cost efficiency.
Adhering to past recommendations
- There have been several recommendations by high-level committees in the past for corporatising it to improve efficiency and accountability.
What about employees?
- All employees of the OFB (Group A, B and C) belonging to the production units would be transferred to the corporate entities on deemed deputation.
- The pension liabilities of the retirees and existing employees would continue to be borne by the government.
How would this be accomplished?
- The 41 factories would be subsumed into seven corporate entities based on the type of manufacturing.
- The ammunition and explosives group would be mainly engaged in producing ammunition of various calibre and explosives, with huge potential to grow exponentially.
- Similarly, the vehicles group would mainly engage in producing defence mobility and combat vehicles such as tanks, trawls, infantry and mine protected vehicles.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Social media content issue
Twitter has reportedly lost the coveted “safe harbour” immunity in India after failing to appoint statutory officers on time, as mandated by the new Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021.
What is the news?
- With this, the social media giant becomes the only American platform to have lost the protective shield – granted under Section 79 of the IT Act.
- Its rival platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp remain protected.
- The new development could mean that Twitter’s senior executives that include its India managing director, face legal actions under relevant IPC for ‘unlawful’ activities on the platform – even if conducted by users.
Why such a move?
- Earlier this week, Twitter said it appointed an interim Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), and the details of the officer were not yet shared with the government.
- The company also posted job openings for a Nodal Officer and Resident Grievance Officer – the two key positions mandated by the central government’s IT Rules, 2021.
What is safe harbour protection?
- According to Section 79 of IT Act, 2000, “an intermediary shall not be liable for any third party information, data, or communication link made available or hosted by him,” therefore providing Safe Harbour protection.
- To put it simply, the law notes that intermediaries such as Twitter or your Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are not liable to punishment if third parties (users) misuse the infrastructure, in this case, the platform.
- However, the protection is guaranteed only when the intermediary does not ‘initiate the transmission,’ ‘select the receiver of the transmission,’ and ‘modify the information contained in the transmission.’
- It means that as long as the platform acts just as the medium to carry out messages from users A to user B, that is, without interfering in any manner, it will be safe from any legal prosecution.
Inception of the concept
- In its original form, the IT Act 2000 provided little or no Safe Harbour protection to internet intermediaries as the definition of the intermediary was restricted.
- However, things began changing in 2004, in a case where a student posted an obscene clip for sale.
- The student and the CEO of that company were both held later for letting pornographic material circulate online.
- The CEO challenged the proceedings against him, contending that he could not be personally held liable for the listing and that the MMS was transferred directly between the seller and buyer without the intervention of the website.
- The executive was acquitted, the case eventually resulted in the addition of Section 79 in the IT Act to provide immunity to intermediaries.
Why has Twitter lost the protection?
- Over the years, social media platforms have evolved and often tend to act as gatekeepers.
- For instance, Twitter banning Donald Trump and adding “manipulated media” label on select posts have been questioned by excerpts.
- In other words, an intermediary’s ability to “modify the information contained in the transmission,” opens rooms for revision of the law, experts believe.
- Hence, the government introduced the IT Rules 2021 in December last year and implemented it in May 2021.
- As per the new order, all social media platforms with more than 50 lakh (five million) users will need to appoint a Chief Compliance Officer, a Nodal Contact Person, and a Resident Grievance Officer from India to smoothen the grievance mechanism for citizens.
- The officers will need to acknowledge queries with 24 hours and resolve them in 15 days from the date of receipt.
What can happen next?
- Once a company loses the Safe Harbour protection, technically, officials are liable to punishment if a post even by a third user violates local laws.
- The new IT Rules 2021 do not mention any ban for non-compliance.
- But with an estimated 1.75 crore users in India, Twitter would likely fill key positions soon to comply with the new norms laid by the government.
- As mentioned, the company already appointed an interim Chief Compliance Officer earlier.
- This, according to the government, means that the protection under Section 79 of the Information Technology (IT) Act, accorded to Twitter for being a social media intermediary, now stands withdrawn.
How does this impact Twitter?
- If someone puts out any content on Twitter that leads to some form of violence, or violates any Indian law with respect to content, not only the person that has put out the tweet will be held responsible.
- Even Twitter will be legally liable for the content as it no longer has the protection.
Is there something else that can happen subsequently?
- In the longer run, there is also the theoretical possibility that Twitter might be subjected to the 26 per cent cap of direct foreign investment in media and publishing.
- This in turn means that the platform may be forced to look for an Indian buyer for the remaining 74 per cent stake.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Annual Review of State Laws
Mains level: Not Much
The COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown had a huge impact on the working of the state legislatures in India. The PRS Legislative Research’s “Annual review of state laws 2020” shows that the productivity and efficacy of State legislatures are poor.
Annual Review of State Laws
- This report focuses on the legislative work performed by states in the calendar year 2020.
- It is based on data compiled from state legislature websites and state gazettes.
- It covers 19 state legislatures, including the union territory of Delhi, which together accounts for 90% of the population of the country.
Highlights of the report
(1) Sittings of states
- Compared with its average number of sitting days of 32 from 2016 to 2019, the Karnataka legislature, which is bicameral, met on 31 days last year, the highest for any State in 2020.
- The southern State was followed by Rajasthan (29 days) and Himachal Pradesh (25 days). For comparison, Parliament met for 33 days last year.
- In 2020, the average number of sitting days for the 19 States was 18, which was 11 less than the four-year (2016-19) average of 29.
- Kerala, which had the distinction of remaining at the top in the four years with an average of 53 days, had only 20 days of sittings of the legislature last year.
(2) Number of bills
- As for the number of Bills passed last year, Karnataka again topped the list with 61 Bills, followed by Tamil Nadu (42) and Uttar Pradesh (37). For this purpose, Appropriation Bills were excluded.
- Among poor performers under this category, Delhi passed only one Bill; West Bengal passed two Bills and Kerala three Bills.
(3) Time taken for passing bills
- On the duration of time taken to pass Bills, the previous year saw 59% of the Bills being passed by the legislature of the States on the day of introduction.
- A further 14% was adopted within a day of being introduced.
- Only 9% of the Bills were passed more than five days after introduction, some of which were referred to committees for further examination.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Deep Ocean Mission
Mains level: Various aspects of DOM
The Union Cabinet has approved the long-pending Deep Ocean Mission since 2018.
Deep Ocean Mission (DOM)
- Nodal Agency: Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES)
- The mission proposes to explore the deep ocean similar to the space exploration started by ISRO.
- Underwater robotics and ‘manned’ submersibles are key components of the Mission which will help India harness various living and non-living (water, mineral and energy) resources from the seabed and deep water.
- The tasks that will be undertaken over this period include deep-sea mining, survey, energy exploration and offshore-based desalination.
- These technological developments are funded under an umbrella scheme of the government – called Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Resources Modelling and Science (O-SMART).
Six major components
(1) Development of Technologies for Deep Sea Mining, and Manned Submersible:
- A manned submersible will be developed to carry three people to a depth of 6000 metres in the ocean with suite of scientific sensors and tools.
- Only a very few countries have acquired this capability.
- An Integrated Mining System will be also developed for mining Polymetallic Nodules from 6000 m depth in the central Indian Ocean.
(2) Development of Ocean Climate Change Advisory Services:
- A suite of observations and models will be developed to understand and provide future projections of important climate variables on seasonal to decadal time scales under this proof of concept component.
- This component will support the Blue Economy priority area of coastal tourism.
(3) Technological innovations for exploration and conservation of deep-sea biodiversity:
- Bio-prospecting of deep-sea flora and fauna including microbes and studies on sustainable utilization of deep-sea bio-resources will be the main focus.
- This component will support the Blue Economy priority area of Marine Fisheries and allied services.
(4) Deep Ocean Survey and Exploration:
- The primary objective of this component is to explore and identify potential sites of multi-metal Hydrothermal Sulphides mineralization along the Indian Ocean mid-oceanic ridges.
- This component will additionally support the Blue Economy priority area of deep-sea exploration of ocean resources.
(5) Energy and freshwater from the Ocean:
- Studies and detailed engineering design for offshore Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) powered desalination plant are envisaged in this proof of concept proposal.
- This component will support the Blue Economy priority area of offshore energy development.
(6) Advanced Marine Station for Ocean Biology:
- This component is aimed at the development of human capacity and enterprise in ocean biology and engineering.
- This component will translate research into the industrial application and product development through on-site business incubator facilities.
- This component will support the Blue Economy priority area of Marine Biology, Blue trade and Blue manufacturing.
Why need such a mission?
- Oceans, which cover 70 per cent of the globe, remain a key part of our life. About 95 percent of the Deep Ocean remains unexplored.
- For India, with its three sides surrounded by the oceans and around 30 per cent of the country’s population living in coastal areas.
- The ocean is a major economic factor supporting fisheries and aquaculture, tourism, livelihoods and blue trade.
- Oceans are also a storehouse of food, energy, minerals, medicines, modulator of weather and climate and underpin life on Earth.
Pre-requisites to this mission
- India has been allotted a site of 75,000 square kilometres in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) by the UN International Sea Bed Authority for the exploitation of polymetallic nodules (PMN).
Hunt for PMNs
- These are rocks scattered on the seabed containing iron, manganese, nickel and cobalt.
- Being able to lay hands on a fraction of that reserve can meet the energy requirement of India for the next 100 years.
- It has been estimated that 380 million metric tonnes of polymetallic nodules are available at the bottom of the seas in the Central Indian Ocean.
- India’s Exclusive Economic Zone spreads over 2.2 million square kilometers.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) Scheme
Mains level: Fertilizer subsidies in India
The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for fixation of Nutrient Based Subsidy Rates for P&K Fertilizers for the year 2021-22.
Key Points
About Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP):
- DAP is the second most commonly used fertiliser in India after urea.
- Farmers normally apply this fertiliser just before or at the beginning of sowing, as it is high in phosphorus (P) that stimulates root development.
- DAP (46% P, 18% Nitrogen) is the preferred source of Phosphorus for farmers. This is similar to urea, which is their preferred nitrogenous fertiliser containing 46% N.
About Subsidy Scheme for Fertilisers:
-
- Under the current scheme, the MRP of Urea is fixed but the subsidy can vary while MRP of DAP is decontrolled (i.e subsidy is fixed but the MRP can vary).
- All Non-Urea based fertilisers are regulated under Nutrient Based Subsidy Scheme.
About Nutrient-Based Subsidy (NBS) Regime:
-
- Under the NBS regime – fertilizers are provided to the farmers at the subsidized rates based on the nutrients (N, P, K & S) contained in these fertilizers.
- Also, the fertilizers which are fortified with secondary and micronutrients such as molybdenum (Mo) and zinc are given additional subsidy.
- The subsidy on Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilizers is announced by the Government on an annual basis for each nutrient on a per kg basis – which are determined taking into account the international and domestic prices of P&K fertilizers, exchange rate, inventory level in the country etc.
- NBS policy intends to increase the consumption of P&K fertilizers so that optimum balance (N:P:K= 4:2:1) of NPK fertilization is achieved.
- This would improve soil health and as a result the yield from the crops would increase, resulting in enhanced income to the farmers.
- Also, as the government expects rational use of fertilizers, this would also ease off the burden of fertilizer subsidy.
- It is being implemented from April 2010 by the Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers.
Issues Related to NBS:
1.Imbalance in Price of Fertilisers:
- Urea is left-out in the scheme and hence it remains under price control as NBS has been implemented only in other fertilizers.
- There is an imbalance as the price of fertilizers (other than urea) — which were decontrolled have gone up from 2.5 to four times during the 2010-2020 decade.
- However, since 2010, the price of urea has increased only by 11%. This has led to farmers using more urea than before, which has further worsened fertilizer imbalance.
2.Costs on Economy and Environment :
Fertilizer subsidy is the second-biggest subsidy after food subsidy, the NBS policy is not only damaging the fiscal health of the economy but also proving detrimental to the soil health of the country.
3.Black Marketing :
- Subsidised urea is getting diverted to bulk buyers/traders or even non-agricultural users such as plywood and animal feed makers.
- It is being smuggled to neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal.
Implications of Increasing the Subsidy on DAP :
- As farmers will start sowing operations for Kharif Crops, it is highly important for them to get the fertilisers at subsidised rate so as to keep inflation at check.
- Politically, too, to turn down the farmer protests, during the time of the Covid’s second wave, is the last thing the government would want.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Equalisation levy
Mains level: Paper 3- Global minimum tax and issues involve
The article deals with the issue of global minimum tax and how it matters to India in the changing digital landscape where data is the new oil.
Two pillars of global taxation reforms endorsed
- In the just-concluded G7 summit in the UK, the leaders endorsed the global taxation reforms premised on two pillars.
- One, that the multinational companies with at least a 10 per cent profit margin pay tax in countries where they operate and that would be 20 per cent of any profit above the 10 per cent margin.
- Two, a global minimum tax rate that envisages that multinational companies pay a tax of at least 15 per cent in each country they operate.
How companies monetise data
- The concept of tax on electronic transmission of data across borders was expressly prohibited under multiple WTO declarations.
- However, in the changed digital landscape, multinational corporations are mining big data, which has economic value, but not paying their fair share of taxes.
- Many of these tech firms provide their product for free to users, and based on user engagements, create a detailed profile of the user that would be used to sell ad space to the clients.
Efforts to find solution to tax avoidance
- The Union government had rightly introduced an equalisation levy at 2 per cent, targeted at non-resident e-commerce operators with a turnover greater than Rs 2 crore in the Union budget of 2020.
- India had an equalisation levy since 2016, initially at 6 per cent on specified services like online advertisement or provision of digital advertising space and was levied on non-resident firms, deducted by the payer.
- In the case of the amended equalisation levy, the responsibility lay with the operator and was applicable to earnings that have been made by selling advertisements based on the data collected within the country.
- The member-states of the OECD have been trying to find a solution to tax avoidance by multinational corporations under the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project since 2015.
- OECD had built a model around two pillars on which the G7 position has been announced.
Way forward for India
- India has to stand its ground.
- With the largest user base for Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube, India will not be adequately compensated by the above two steps in global minimum tax.
- The government must also pass the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 quickly so that provisions for data localisation, requiring Indian data to be stored and processed in the country are in place.
- This could be the ideal way to force tech firms to correctly evaluate the revenue generated from our sovereign data and thus tax it.
Consider the question “As the world moves towards the global taxation reforms, what are the factors India needs to consider? Also, mention the previous efforts made to find the solution to tax avoidance by the multinational companies.”
Conclusion
India must negotiate hard to come to an equitable position on the global tax and avoid as it harbours the largest user base of the social media companies.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Electoral bond and issues related to it
Mains level: Paper 2- Issues with electoral bond
The article highlights the issues with the political funding through electoral bonds.
Changes made for the electoral bond and issues with them
- Earlier, only profit-making domestic companies could contribute to political parties; now loss-making companies can too.
- Earlier, foreign companies or companies where the controlling stake was held by a foreign company couldn’t contribute; now they can.
- India’s political parties could theoretically be fully funded by a foreign company operating in India or by a foreign entity through a shell company.
- Only the ruling party via the State Bank of India (SBI) has a full account of all donations being made via electoral bonds, to itself and to Opposition parties.
Issues in the Supreme Court verdict
- In March 2021, the Supreme Court refused to stay the sale of electoral bonds before the West Bengal elections.
- Instead, the judgment listed several documents which supposedly establish a paper trail on donations and do some ‘match the following’.
- This is impractical and plainly incorrect.
- The Right to Information (RTI) Act of 2005 enables easier access to information held by public authorities.
- Suggesting a “match the following” is incorrect for three reasons.
1) Full scale of registered entities in unknown
- If we set aside individual donors and focus just on registered entities, we will find that the full scale of registered entities is unknown.
- According to back-of-the-envelope calculations, there are close to 25 lakh potential donors comprising just companies and firms.
- This includes about 12.6 lakh active private limited companies as of January 31, 2021.
- Firms, unlike companies, have no regulatory mandate to submit their annual reports except for filing their annual tax returns, since their functioning is regulated by Acts other than the Companies Act of 2013.
2) No disclosure by companies about donation to political parties
- Even if registered companies filed annual financial statements, many do not disclose political donations.
- Conveniently, the Finance Bill of 2017 amended Section 182 of the Companies Act of 2013 to remove the requirement for declaring disaggregated donations to political parties.
- Even if registered companies filed annual financial statements, many do not disclose political donations.
3) Political parties do not need to disclose their donor
- Crucially, political parties do not need to disclose their electoral bond donors either.
- Strictly speaking, political parties are not even supposed to know their electoral bond donors.
- The only requirement is the annual audit reports with a total of all donations received via electoral bonds.
- These reports are submitted with great delays.
- Even if these reports are submitted on time, there is no way to match a donation of a company to that received by a political party as only aggregate amounts are available.
Implications
- Electoral bonds give political power to companies, wealthy individual donors, and foreign entities, thus diluting the universal franchise of one voter-one vote.
- Every vote is not equally valuable if companies can influence policies through hidden donations.
- The winner of this arrangement is the ruling party, whether at the Centre or in a State, and the loser is the average voter.
Way forward
- Companies and political parties could exercise moral leadership and voluntarily disclose the identity of recipients and donors, as the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha recently did.
Conclusion
Opacity in political funding goes against the basic tenets of democracy. What we need is a system of political funding which is transparent and fair.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: What are cryptocurrencies
Mains level: Paper 3- Regulating cryptocurrencies
As India struggles to come up with an appropriate approach towards cryptocurrencies, the growing trend of the adoption of cryptocurrencies across the world offers a lesson.
Rising global trend of embracing cryptocurrencies
- El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender.
- The U.K. has classified cryptocurrency as property.
- The U.K. has sought to regulate the functioning of crypto-businesses while still imposing some restrictions to protect the interests of investors.
- On the other hand, while there is no exact legal classification of cryptocurrency in Singapore, there is now a legal framework for cryptocurrency trading.
- In the U.S., the open approach taken by the authorities has resulted in the trade in cryptocurrency being both taxed and appropriately regulated.
India’s approach
- Between 2013 and 2018, the government’s response to the rise of virtual currencies was cautionary, alerting users to the potential risks posed by cryptocurrency transactions.
- Instead of developing a regulatory framework to address these issues, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in April 2018, effectively imposed a ban on cryptocurrency trading.
- This ban was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2020.
- The court reasoned that there were alternative regulatory measures short of an outright ban through which the RBI could have achieved its objective of curbing the risks associated with cryptocurrency trading.
- India’s next move lies in the draft Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021.
- The draft Bill proposes to criminalise all private cryptocurrencies while also laying down the regulatory framework for an RBI-backed digital currency.
What should be India’s approach?
- The global regulatory attitude towards cryptocurrencies offers valuable insights into the alternative ways to achieve balanced regulation.
- In India, the absence of an existing legal classification of cryptocurrency should not be the impetus to prohibit its use.
- The government should use this as an opportunity to allow private individuals the freedom to harness a powerful new technology with appropriate regulatory standards.
Consider the question “As India finds itself at a crossroads of prohibition and regulation in its tryst with cryptocurrencies, globally, the inclination towards permissive regulation recognises the freedom of choice given to people. In light of this, examine the advantages and concerns with the cryptocurrencies and suggest the approach India should adopt towards the cryptocurrencies.”
Conclusion
Regulations to avoid the pitfall and not the outright ban is the right way towards the cryptocurrencies.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: G7
Mains level: Open Societies Pact
India has signed off on a joint statement by G-7 and guest countries on “open societies” that reaffirm and encourage the values of “freedom of expression, both online and offline, as a freedom that safeguards democracy and helps people live free from fear and oppression”.
What is the Open Societies Pact?
- The ‘Open Societies Statement’ was adopted at the end of an outreach session titled ‘Building Back Together—Open Societies and Economies’, where PM Modi was invited as a lead speaker.
- The joint statement was signed by the G-7 countries, and India, South Korea, Australia and South Africa, with host British Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling them “Democracies 11”.
- It refers to “politically motivated internet shutdowns” as one of the threats to freedom and democracy.
- It affirms “human rights for all, both online and offline, as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other HR instruments, and opposition to any form of discrimination, so that everyone can participate fully and equally in society”.
Why needs such a pact?
- Democracy and freedom were a part of India’s civilizational ethos”.
- However, the common concern is that open societies are particularly vulnerable to disinformation and cyber-attacks.
Impact of the pact
- While the statement is directed at China and Russia, India has been under scrutiny over Internet curbs in Jammu and Kashmir.
- Moreover, the center is locked in a face-off over its new IT rules with tech giants such as Twitter, which described a police search at its offices in India last month as a “potential threat to freedom of expression”.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Silverline Project
Mains level: Not Much
Last week, the Kerala cabinet gave the green light to begin acquiring land for SilverLine, its flagship semi high-speed railway project.
What is the SilverLine project?
- The SilverLine Project entails building a semi high-speed railway corridor through the state linking its southern end and state capital Thiruvananthapuram with its northern end of Kasaragod.
- It is billed as one of the biggest infrastructure enterprises being pushed by the ruling Left government.
- The line is proposed to be 529.45 km long, covering 11 districts through 11 stations.
- When the project is realized, one can travel from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram in less than four hours on trains traveling at 200 km/hr.
- The current travel time on the existing Indian Railways network is 12 hours.
- The project is executed by the Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL), a joint venture between the Kerala government and the Union Ministry of Railways.
What was the need for the project?
- It has long been argued by urban policy experts that the existing railway infrastructure in the state cannot meet the demands of the future.
- Most trains run with an average speed of 45 km/hr due to a lot of curves and bends on the existing stretch.
- The government claims the SilverLine project is the need of the hour as it can take a significant load of traffic off the existing railway stretch and make travel easier and faster for commuters.
- This will in turn reduce the congestion on roads and help reduce accidents and fatalities.
Issues with the Project
- The unofficial deadline for the project is 2025 but many would say it’s not a realistic target, given the laborious nature of land acquisition in a highly densely populated state like Kerala.
- Acquiring land, especially from private players, in urban areas remains the key challenge for the project.
- There’s also significant opposition to the project by environmentalists citing potential damage to the state’s ecosystem in the path of the proposed route.
- They fear irreversible impact to the state’s rivers, paddy fields, and wetlands, triggering floods and landslides in the future.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Precision Iodine Value Analyzer
Mains level: Not Much
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Scientific Instruments Organization (CSIR-CSIO) has developed and transferred the technology of Precision Iodine Value Analyzer (PIVA).
What is Precision Iodine Value Analyzer?
- It is an instrument for the measurement of the degree of unsaturation (iodine value) in vegetable oils.
- This indigenous food testing equipment was recognized by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on World Food Safety Day on June 7, 2021.
- It has applications in oil extraction units, quality control and assurance labs, food regulatory authorities, soaps and cosmetics, bakeries, meat industry, paint industry, biodiesel analysis, and charcoal industry.
- It is also useful in determining adulteration in edible oils and fats.
Measuring iodine value
- Iodine value is conventionally determined using manual titration and a few analytical instruments based on automated titration.
- However, these methods take a longer time to analyze, are costly, and use toxic chemicals.
- Researchers at CSIR-CSIO developed a rapid analysis technique that takes just three minutes to carry out the same analysis.
- Currently, PIVA has been calibrated and tested for coconut, sunflower, mustard, palm, rice bran, soybean, groundnut, olive oil, and ghee.
- This new development is a part of the ongoing effort to strengthen the food testing capabilities by introducing quick and advanced food testing kits.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Rice Bran Oil
Mains level: Health risks posed by Edible oils
The Department of Food and Public Distribution today E-launched “NAFED Fortified Rice Bran Oil”.
Rice Bran Oil
- Rice bran oil is the oil extracted from the hard outer brown layer of rice called chaff (rice husk).
- It is known for its high smoke point of 232 °C (450 °F) and mild flavor, making it suitable for high-temperature cooking methods such as stir-frying and deep-frying.
- It is popular as a cooking oil in the Indian subcontinent.
- It has a composition similar to that of peanut oil, with 38% monounsaturated, 37% polyunsaturated, and 25% saturated fatty acids.
- It is generally safe for consumption for most people when used in moderate amounts. However excessive usage of rice bran oil can lead to stomach discomfort.
What is NAFED oil?
- Rice Bran oil from NAFED will be fortified and it will be ensured that it will contain additional nutrients and vitamins.
- This Rice bran oil will be marketed by NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd).
- According to the FSSAI, fortified oil can help a person fulfill 25-30% of the recommended dietary intake for vitamins A and D.
- NAFED Fortified Rice Bran Oil will be available at all NAFED Stores and also on various online platforms.
Benefits of the NAFED oil
- This initiative will significantly reduce the country’s consumption dependence on imported edible oil in the future.
- This will provide opportunities for Indian edible oil manufacturers further, and also will give an impetus to the Aatmnirbhar Bharat initiative.
- It will provide easy access to NAFED branded high-quality rice bran oil, which will also give a boost to the indigenous oil manufacturing industry.
Health benefits of rice bran oil
- Rice Bran oil has multiple health benefits, including lowering cholesterol levels due to its low trans-fat content and high monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat contents.
- It also acts as a booster and reduces the risk of cancer due to the high amount of Vitamin E it contains.
- This oil is recommended by The American Heart Association and the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the best substitutes for other edible oils.
About NAFED
- NAFED is an apex organization under the Ministry of Agriculture that deals with marketing cooperatives for agricultural produce in India.
- It is registered under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act.
- It was set up with the object to promote Cooperative marketing of agricultural produce to benefit the farmers.
- Agricultural farmers are the main members of NAFED, who have the authority to say in the form of members of the General Body in the working of NAFED.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- India-China relations after Galwan valley clash
What happened in Galwan?
- The Indian and Chinese armies are engaged in the standoff in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie in eastern Ladakh.
- A sizable number of Chinese Army personnel even transgressed into the Indian side of the de-facto border in several areas including Pangong Tso.
- The actions on the northern bank of Pangong Tso are not just for territorial gains on land, but enhanced domination of the resource-rich lake.
- The stand-off at Ladakh’s Galwan Valley has escalated in June 2020 due to the infrastructure projects that India has undertaken in the recent years. India is building a strategic road through the Galwan Valley – close to China – connecting the region to an airstrip.
- China is opposed to any Indian construction in the area. In 1962, a stand-off in the Galwan area was one of the biggest flashpoints of the 1962 war.
- The border, or Line of Actual Control, is not demarcated, and China and India have differing ideas of where it should be located, leading to regular border “transgressions.” Often these don’t escalate tensions; a serious border standoff like the current one is less frequent, though this is the fourth since 2013.
- Both countries’ troops have patrolled this region for decades, as the contested 2,200-mile border is a long-standing subject of competing claims and tensions, including a brief war in 1962.
- Reasons: The violent clash happened when the Chinese side departed from the consensus to respect the LAC and attempted to unilaterally change the status quo.
- It is part of China’s ‘nibble and negotiate policy’. Their aim is to ensure that India does not build infrastructure along the LAC. It is their way of attaining a political goal with military might, while gaining more territory in the process.
The current situation in Ladakh
- With a continued deployment of 50,000-60,000 soldiers, the Indian Army has been able to hold the line to prevent any further ingress by the PLA.
- There has been no progress in talks after the disengagement at Pangong lake and Kailash range in February.
- Outside of Ladakh, the Indian Army remains in an alert mode all along the LAC to prevent any Chinese misadventure but the bigger change has been its reorientation of certain forces from Pakistan border towards the China border.
- The Ladakh crisis has also exposed India’s military weakness to tackle a collusive threat from China and Pakistan.
External balancing
- To deal with the threat of combined China and Pakistan, the Government opened backchannel talks with Pakistan which led to the reiteration of the ceasefire on the Line of Control.
- The Ladakh crisis has also led the Government to relook external partnerships, particularly with the United States.
- The U.S. military officials have earlier spoken of the intelligence and logistics support provided to the Indian forces in Ladakh.
- The military importance of the Quad remains moot, with India reportedly refusing to do joint naval patrolling with the U.S. in the South China Sea, the two treaty allies of the U.S., Japan and Australia, also refused.
Challenges for India
- India attempts to counter the growing Chinese influence in the neighbourhood have faltered, exacerbated by the mishandling of the second wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
- With the widening power gap between New Delhi and Beijing, the challenge is as much economic as it is geopolitical.
- Despite the border crisis and the Indian restrictions on Chinese technology companies, China displaced the U.S. to be India’s biggest trade partner in 2020-21, up to nearly 13% of India’s total trade compared to 10.4% a year ago.
- For the past few decades, Indian planners operated on the premise that their diplomats will be able to manage the Chinese problem without it developing into a full-blown military crisis.
- Militarily, Chinese incursions in Ladakh have shown that the idea of deterrence has failed.
- India has learnt that it can no longer have simultaneous competition and cooperation with China.
- A new reset in bilateral ties, àla the early 1990s, is difficult because China is now in a different league, competing with the U.S.
Conclusion
The events of the past one year have significantly altered India’s thinking towards China. The relationship is at the crossroads now. The choices made will have a significant impact on the future of global geopolitics.
B2BASICS
Line of Actual Control
- Demarcation Line: The Line of Actual Control (LAC) is the demarcation that separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory.
- LAC is different from the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan:
- The LoC emerged from the 1948 ceasefire line negotiated by the United Nations (UN) after the Kashmir War.
- It was designated as the LoC in 1972, following the Shimla Agreement between the two countries. It is delineated on a map signed by the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of both armies and has the international sanctity of a legal agreement.
- The LAC, in contrast, is only a concept – it is not agreed upon by the two countries, neither delineated on a map or demarcated on the ground.
- Length of the LAC: India considers the LAC to be 3,488 km long, while the Chinese consider it to be only around 2,000 km.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: G-7
Mains level: Paper 2- Opportunity for India to institutionalise its relations with the West
The article highlights the significance of the recent G-7 summit for India.
India’s engagement with the West
- Two important messages emerge from India’s participation in G-7 with the members of the G-7 and three other invited guests — Australia, South Africa and South Korea.
- First is that India is a “natural ally” of the G-7 and its partners.
- The other is the emphasis on shared democratic values that bind India with the West.
- The two ideas are certainly not new to India’s foreign policy, but they acquire special importance at the current juncture.
- In the last few years, India embarked on an expansive engagement with Europe.
- This G-7 summit can be seen as the beginning of an institutionalisation of India’s cooperation with the West.
What makes this G-7 Summit different from the past Summits?
- China factor: After the 2008 financial crisis, the more representative G-20, which includes China, Russia, India and many others, seemed to supersede the G-7.
- But amidst the growing sense that China has gamed the global economic order to America’s disadvantage, there has been renewed interest in like-minded coalitions like the G-7.
- Widening the base of G-7: There is also the recognition of the case for widening the base of institutions like the G-7 beyond the geographic West to include large democracies like India.
- Coalition of democracies: The case for a “coalition of democracies” was certainly gaining ground over the last two decades within American academia and the political class.
- But economic globalisation and the absence of great power rivalry meant there was no compelling policy urgency to construct an “alliance of democracies”.
- That condition has altered radically in the last few years amidst the growing US tensions with China and Russia.
Dealing with the challenges presented by China
- U.S. President Biden declared his main objective as rallying democracies to meet the great challenges of our time, especially those presented by China.
- G-7 summit has responded to Biden’s call in the following forms:
- 1) By offering the outline of a potential alternative to China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative.
- 2)By calling for a reorientation of global supply chains away from China.
- 3) By demanding a fresh inquiry into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic in China.
- 4) By reprimanding Beijing policies in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
- 5) By raising concerns about the conflict across the Taiwan Strait.
- However, there is a strong view that the door must be kept open for engagement with China on issues like climate change while calling out its unacceptable policies.
India’s relations with China: New context for engagement with West
- The rupture in the US engagement with China coincides with the rapid deterioration in India’s relations with China.
- This also sets up a new context for India’s partnership with the West.
- If the Indo-Pacific provides a regional basis for India’s engagement with the US and Europe, mitigating climate change and the management of the Covid-19 pandemic provides a global template for India’s engagement with the West.
Way forward
- The case for renewal and reform of democratic institutions is urgent in both the US and India.
- So is the need for sustained consultations between India and its Western partners on a range of new challenges presented by digital technologies, including radicalisation, disinformation, electoral interference, cyber-attacks and the role of large social media companies.
- The statement on open societies provides a sound basis for such an engagement.
Conclusion
India must begin institutionalisation of its relationship with the West and increase its engagement on various common issues including the China challenge.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Debate over 50% cap of reservations
The Supreme Court last month quashed Maharashtra’s review petition challenging its earlier verdict that scrapped a quota for OBCs in the state’s local bodies, triggering a war of words between the ruling and opposition parties.
What is the OBC reservation in local bodies?
- The Maharashtra government set up a 27 percent quota in local bodies for OBCs in 1994.
- The 27 percent reservation was applicable to all urban (Municipal Corporations, Councils and Nagar Panchayat) and rural bodies (Zilla Parishad, Panchayat Samiti and Gram Panchayat) across the state.
- In Maharashtra, the OBCs include the Denotified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category.
- This quota for OBCs increased their representation in rural and urban local bodies.
What is the history of the demand for an OBC census in Maharashtra?
- As per the Mandal Commission report, the last caste-wise census was conducted in 1931 and it was later discontinued.
- Based on the data from the 1931 census, the Mandal commission worked out the OBC population to be 52 per cent and recommended a 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in view of the SC judgment limiting reservation up to 50 per cent.
- There was already a 22.5 per cent reservation for SC and ST categories.
- The Mandal Commission report recommended 27 per cent reservation in government jobs and promotions along with others.
- The report gave momentum to OBC leaders and the community’s demand for a caste-wise census of OBC.
Need for a caste-wise census
- The 2011 census included data about the socio-economic caste census but has not released the data citing the errors in it.
- In 2018, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls the following year, the Centre announced that OBC enumeration will be done in the 2021 census.
- But this promise could not be tested with the onset of the pandemic and the indefinite delay in population enumeration.
- OBC leaders fear the OBC enumeration may never actually happen.
How did the matter reach the SC?
- The quota was exceeding the 50 per cent limit which is contrary to SC 2010 judgment of K Krishna Murthy (Dr.) and Ors. vs. Union of India and others.
- The court granted the status quo and the elections were delayed.
- On March 4 this year, The SC read it down in stating that it may be invoked only upon complying with the triple conditions before notifying the seats reserved for OBC category in the concerned local bodies.
- The triple conditions included setting up “a dedicated Commission to conduct a contemporaneous rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of the backwardness qua local bodies, within the State”.
- This was to specify the proportion of reservations required to be provisioned local body-wise in light of recommendations of the commission.
- It also stated that such reservation, in any case, shall not exceed the aggregate of 50 per cent of the total seats reserved in favour of SCs, STs and OBCs taken together.
- The apex court observed the reservation for OBCs is only “statutory”, to be provided by the state legislations, unlike the “constitutional” reservation regarding SCs/STs which is linked to the proportion of the population.
What do OBC leaders say now?
- There has been a mixed response from the OBC leaders to the SC verdict, with some welcoming it while others lamenting on losing reservation.
- Some say it will pave the way for conducting the OBC census in the state.
- So far, there was no data about the OBC population and our demand for the OBC census for the last 30 years have fallen on deaf ears.
- With this SC order, the state has to conduct the census now.
- Else, there will be no OBC reservation in the local bodies polls and the ruling parties will have to pay a huge price for it.
What lies ahead?
- The SC judgment is applicable to the elections of all local bodies — rural and urban.
- As per a statement from the CM’s office, the SC verdict is likely to impact around 56,000 seats in all local bodies in the state.
- This includes polls pending due to Covid and the upcoming elections.
- So, the state election commission will consult with the state government whenever the local bodies’ polls are held and will decide on the OBC reservation as per the SC order.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: OMSS Scheme
Mains level: Schemes related to food security
The Centre has informed the Supreme Court regarding the purchase of grains by the States and the UTs under the Open Market Sales Scheme (OMSS) in 2021-2022 while debunking apprehensions that those without ration cards may be left to die.
Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS)
- OMSS refers to the selling of food grains by the government/government agencies at predetermined prices in the open market from time to time.
- This scheme aims to enhance the supply of grains especially during the lean season and thereby to moderate the general open market prices, especially in the deficit regions.
- The Food Corporation of India (FCI) on the instructions from the Government, sells wheat and rice in the open market from time to time.
- This enhances the supply of wheat and rice especially during the lean season and moderates the open market prices, especially in the deficit regions.
Components of the scheme
The present form of OMSS comprises 3 schemes as under:
- Sale of wheat to bulk consumers/private traders through e-auction.
- Sale of wheat to bulk consumers/private traders through e-auction by dedicated movement.
- Sale of Raw Rice Grade ‘A’ to bulk consumers/private traders through e-auction.
Selling through a transparent process
- For transparency in operations, the Corporation has switched over to e-auction for sale under Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic).
- The FCI conducts a weekly auction to conduct this scheme in the open market using the platform of commodity exchange NCDEX (National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Limited).
- The State Governments/ Union Territory Administrations are also allowed to participate in the e-auction if they require wheat and rice outside TPDS & OWS.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.The economic cost of food grains to the Food Corporation of India is Minimum Support Price and bonus (if any) paid to the farmers plus:
(a) Transportation cost only
(b) Interest cost only
(c) Procurement incidentals and distribution cost
(d) Procurement incidentals and charges for godowns
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: New Shephard
Mains level: Space tourism
Last week, Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos’s space company called Blue Origin concluded the online auction for the first seat on New Shephard, a rocket system meant to take tourists to space.
What is New Shephard?
- New Shephard has been named after astronaut Alan Shephard – the first American to go to space – and offers flights to space over 100 km above the Earth and accommodation for payloads.
- Essentially, it is a rocket system that has been designed to take astronauts and research payloads past the Karman line – the internationally recognized boundary of space.
- The idea is to provide easier and more cost-effective access to space meant for purposes such as academic research, corporate technology development, and entrepreneurial ventures among others.
- Apart from its academic and research-oriented goal, New Shephard will also allow space tourists to experience microgravity by taking them 100 km above the Earth.
Its components
- The rocket system consists of two parts, the cabin or capsule, and the rocket or the booster.
- The cabin can accommodate experiments from small Mini Payloads up to 100 kg.
- As per Blue Origin, the Mini Payloads provide easier space access to students, who are part of educational institutions that are developing their own space programs.
- Further, the cabin is designed for six people and sits atop a 60 feet tall rocket and separates from it before crossing the Karman line, after which both vehicles fall back to the Earth.
- All the six seats in the capsule are meant for passengers, each of whom gets their own window seat. The capsule is fully autonomous and does not require a pilot.
How does it work?
- The system is a fully reusable, vertical takeoff and vertical landing space vehicle that accelerates for about 2.5 minutes before the engine cuts off.
- After separating from the booster, the capsule free falls in space, while the booster performs an autonomously controlled vertical landing back to Earth.
- The capsule, on the other hand, lands back with the help of parachutes.
A boost for space tourism
- Space tourism seeks to give laypeople the ability to go to space for recreational, leisure, or business purposes.
- The idea is to make space more accessible to those individuals who are not astronauts and want to go to space for non-scientific purposes.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Eight Schedule Languages
Mains level: Not Much
Various organizations have initiated a Twitter campaign demanding official language status to Tulu in Karnataka and Kerala and received an overwhelming response.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Consider the following languages:
- Gujarati
- Kannada
- Telugu
Which of the above has/have been declared as ‘Classical Language / Languages’ by the Government?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Who all speak Tulu in India now and what is its history?
- Tulu is a Dravidian language spoken mainly in two coastal districts Dakshina Kannada and Udupi of Karnataka and Kasaragod district of Kerala.
- As per the 2011 Census report, there are 18,46,427 Tulu-speaking people in India. Some scholars suggest Tulu is among the earliest Dravidian languages with a history of 2000 years.
- Robert Caldwell (1814-1891), in his book, A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages, called Tulu “one of the most highly developed languages of the Dravidian family”.
So what exactly is the demand by Tulu speakers?
- The Tulu speakers, mainly in Karnataka and Kerala, have been requesting the governments to give it official language status and include it in the eighth schedule to the Constitution.
- Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri are the 22 languages presently in the eighth schedule.
Tulu art, culture and cinema
- Tulu has a rich oral literature tradition with folk-song forms like paddana, and traditional folk theatre yakshagana.
- Tulu also has an active tradition of cinema with around 5 to 7 Tulu language movies produced a year.
- Tulu films are being screened every day in Mangaluru and Udupi in at least one theatre.
What is the present status of Tulu?
- According to Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy president Dayananda G Kathalsar,
- People who speak Tulu are confined to the above-mentioned regions of Karnataka and Kerala, informally known as Tulu Nadu.
- At present, Tulu is not an official language in the country.
- Efforts are being made to include Tulu in the eighth schedule of the Constitution.
- If included in the eighth schedule, Tulu would get recognition from the Sahitya Akademi.
Back2Basics: Eighth Schedule to the Indian Constitution
- The Eighth Schedule lists the official languages of the Republic of India.
- At the time when the Constitution was enacted, inclusion in this list meant that the language was entitled to representation on the Official Languages Commission.
- This language would be one of the bases that would be drawn upon to enrich Hindi and English, the official languages of the Union.
- The list has since, however, acquired further significance.
- In addition, a candidate appearing in an examination conducted for public service is entitled to use any of these languages as the medium in which he or she answers the paper.
- As per Articles 344(1) and 351 of the Indian Constitution, the eighth schedule includes the recognition of the 22 languages.
‘Classical’ languages in India
Currently, six languages enjoy the ‘Classical’ status: Tamil (declared in 2004), Sanskrit (2005), Kannada (2008), Telugu (2008), Malayalam (2013), and Odia (2014).
How are they classified?
According to information provided by the Ministry of Culture in the Rajya Sabha in February 2014, the guidelines for declaring a language as ‘Classical’ are:
- High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1500-2000 years;
- A body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers;
- The literary tradition be original and not borrowed from another speech community;
- The classical language and literature being distinct from modern, there may also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or its offshoots.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Southern Ocean
Mains level: NA
The National Geographic magazine has recognized the ‘Southern Ocean’ as the world’s fifth ocean June 8, 2021 hoping others will soon follow suit.
Answer this PYQ from CSP 2019 in the comment box:
Q.The most important fishing grounds of the world are found in the regions where:
(a) warm and cold atmospheric currents meet
(b) rivers drain out large amounts of freshwater into the sea
(c) warm and cold oceanic currents meet
(d) continental shelf is undulating
Southern Ocean
- The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica.
- As such, it is regarded as the second-smallest of the five principal oceanic divisions: smaller than the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans but larger than the Arctic Ocean.
- Over the past 30 years, the Southern Ocean has been subject to rapid climate change, which has led to changes in the marine ecosystem.
What has NatGeo attempted?
- The magazine says the Southern Ocean is the only ocean ‘to touch three other oceans and to completely embrace a continent rather than being embraced by them’.
- Its northern limit is a latitude of 60 degrees south.
- It is also defined by its Antarctic Circumpolar Current that was formed 34 million years ago. The current flows from west to east around Antarctica.
- The Southern Ocean is home to large populations of whales, penguins, and seals.
Why such a move?
- Usually, the magazine has followed the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) on marine names, it said in an article notifying the change.
- The IHO too had recognized ‘Southern Ocean’ as a distinct body of water surrounding Antarctica in 1937 but had repealed the same in 1953.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Northern Limit of Monsoon (NLM)
Mains level: Indian Monsoon
The Northern Limit of Monsoon (NLM) continues to pass through Diu, Surat, Nandurbar, Bhopal, Nowgong, Hamirpur, Barabanki, Bareilly, Saharanpur, Ambala & Amritsar.
Try this question from CS Mains 2017:
Q.What characteristics can be assigned to monsoon climate that succeeds in feeding more than 50 percent of the won population residing in Monsoon Asia?
What is the Northern Limit of Monsoon?
- NLM, is the northernmost boundary of India up to which monsoon rains have advanced on any given day.
- So, it is a way of tracking the progress of monsoon clouds as they move over India’s landmass.
- The India Meteorological Department (IMD) adds that the monsoon “advances northwards, usually in surges, and covers the entire country around July 15″.
What are the Eastern and Western Arms?
- It is the mountains of southern India that split the south-western winds, giving the Indian monsoon its ‘two arms.
- The western arm of the monsoon is deflected northwards, by the Western Ghats, to (Mumbai) and then on to Pakistan.
- The eastern arm travels up through the Bay of Bengal to (Kolkata) and Assam and is deflected north-westwards by the Himalayas.
Also refer this link:
Explain the formation of Indian monsoons. Highlight the link between monsoons and India’s cropping pattern. (15 marks)
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