Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Project Sampoorna
Mains level: Innovative measures against malnutrition
Project Sampoorna’s success in reducing child malnutrition is a model that can be easily implemented anywhere.
What is Project Sampoorna?
- Project Sampoorna has been implemented in the Bongaigaon district of Assam.
- It aims to target Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM).
- It was launched to target the mothers of SAM/ MAM children with the tagline being ‘Empowered Mothers, Healthy Children’.
- It was based on the success of the community-based COVID-19 management model (Project Mili Juli).
Key features of the project
- Under this project, the mother of a healthy child of an Anganwadi Centre was paired with the target mother and they would be Buddy Mothers.
- They were usually neighbours and shared similar socioeconomic backgrounds.
- They were given diet charts to indicate the daily food intake of their children and would have discussions on all Tuesdays at the Anganwadi centres.
- 100 millilitres of milk and an egg on alternate days for the children for the first 3 months were provided so that their mothers could stabilise themselves in the newly found jobs.
- Children who had not improved were checked and treated by doctors under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK).
Success of the project
- This project has prevented at least 1,200 children from becoming malnourished over the last year.
- National Nutrition Mission and the State government recognised this project in the ‘Innovation Category’.
- The mothers were enrolled in Self Help Groups (SHGs) under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) and were thus working.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Global Drug Policy Index
Mains level: Not Much
The first-ever Global Drug Policy Index was recently inaugurated.
Global Drug Policy Index
- It is released by the Harm Reduction Consortium, ranks Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, the UK and Australia as the five leading countries on humane and health-driven drug policies.
- It is a data-driven global analysis of drug policies and their implementation.
- It is composed of 75 indicators running across five broad dimensions of drug policy:
- Criminal justice
- Extreme responses
- Health and harm reduction
- Access to internationally controlled medicines and
- Development
Highlights of the 2021 ranking
- The five lowest-ranking countries are Brazil, Uganda, Indonesia, Kenya, and Mexico.
- Norway, despite topping the Index, only managed a score of 74/100.
- And the median score across all 30 countries and dimensions is just 48/100.
India’s performance
- India’s rank is 18 out of 30 countries
- It has an overall score of 46/100.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: LEADS Index
Mains level: Not Much
The Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) 2021 Index Rankings has been recently released.
About LEADS
- The LEADS index was launched in 2018 by the Commerce and Industry Ministry and Deloitte.
- It ranks states on the score of their logistics services and efficiency that are indicative of economic growth.
- States are ranked based on quality and capacity of key infrastructure such as road, rail and warehousing as well as on operational ease of logistics.
Highlights of the 2021 report
- India’s logistics costs account for 13-14 per cent of GDP, compared to 7-8 per cent in developed countries.
- Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab have emerged as the top performers in the LEADS 2021 index respectively.
- West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Assam were ranked 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st respectively.
- North Eastern States, and J&K and Ladakh have been considered a separate group for LEADS rankings.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI)
Mains level: Not Much
The 17th edition of the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2021 was released recently.
It’s a very rare feat that India has performed so better in any climate-related index. We can use this data to highlight India’s dedicated efforts for Paris Agreement.
About CCPI
- The CCPI is an independent monitoring tool for tracking countries’ climate protection performance. It has been published annually since 2005.
- It is compiled by Germanwatch, the New Climate Institute, and the Climate Action Network.
- It evaluates 57 countries and the European Union, which together generate 90%+ of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Parameters of the index
- The CCPI looks at four categories, with 14 indicators: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (40% of the overall score), Renewable Energy (20%), Energy Use (20%), and Climate Policy (20%).
- The CCPI’s unique climate policy section evaluates countries’ progress in implementing policies working towards achieving the Paris Agreement goals.
Highlights of the 2021 report
- The first three ranks of the overall rankings were kept empty because no country had performed well enough in all index categories to achieve an overall very high rating.
- The 2021 report places Sweden on top, while countries such as Morocco and the UK are also ranked high.
- The bottom-ranked country, the United States, therefore, was placed at 61.
Low performers
- Iran and Russia are ranked the lowest in this category.
- Overall, Australia, South Korea and Russia are among the lowest performing countries along with Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia.
- China is ranked 33 overall and has an overall rating of “low”.
India’s performance
- In the overall rankings, India is at number 10 with a score of 63.98.
- It is a high performer except in the renewable energy category, in which it is ranked “medium”.
- The report says that India is benefiting from its relatively low per-capita emissions.
- In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, Sweden, Egypt, Chile and the UK are in the top 7. India is ranked 12.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Leonid Meteor Shower
Mains level: Not Much
The annual Leonid’s Meteor Shower has begun.
Try this question from CSP 2014:
Q.What is a coma, in the content of astronomy?
(a) Bright half of material on the comet
(b) Long tail of dust
(c) Two asteroids orbiting each other
(d) Two planets orbiting each other
Post your answers here.
What is Leonid Meteor Shower?
- Meteor showers are named after the constellation they appear to be coming from.
- The Leonids originate from the constellation Leo the Lion– the groups of stars that form a lion’s mane.
- They emerge from the comet Tempel-Tuttle, which requires 33 years to revolve once around the Sun.
- These meteors are bright and among the fastest moving– travelling at speeds of 71 km per second.
- During this year’s showers, peaks of around 10 to 15 meteors are expected to be seen every hour.
- The Leonid showers include fireballs– bright and large meteors than can last longer than average meteors, and “earthgazers”– meteors which appear close to the horizon with colourful and long tails.
What is a meteor shower?
- On its journey around the Sun, the Earth passes through large swathes of cosmic debris.
- The debris is essentially the remnants of comets — great frigid chunks of matter that leave behind dirty trails of rocks and ice that linger long after the comets themselves have passed.
- As the Earth wades through this cloud of comet waste, the bits of debris create what appears from the ground to be a fireworks display in the sky — known as a meteor shower.
- Several meteor showers can be seen around the year. According to NASA, over 30 meteor showers occur annually and are observable from the Earth.
Back2Basics:
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Froth Formation
Mains level: Not Much
The visuals of devotees taking a dip in the froth-filled waters of the Yamuna River sent chills down the spine of the residents of Delhi.
What is Froth Formation?
- This is a phenomenon that takes place on many lakes and streams.
- Foam bubbles are produced when organic matter decomposes.
- These foam-producing molecules have one end that repels water and another that attracts water and they work to reduce the surface tension on the surface of the water.
- These foam bubbles are lighter than water, so they float on the surface as a thin film that gradually accumulates.
What causes the froth?
- The presence of phosphates and surfactants in untreated sewage from Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh is a major reason behind frothing.
- While these two components comprise of 1 per cent, the remaining 99 percent is air and water.
What are the sources of pollution that cause foam formation?
- Untreated sewage may contain soap-detergent particles.
- The other sources are industrial effluents, organic matter from decomposing vegetation, and the presence of filamentous bacteria.
- The pollution from the sugar and paper industries in Uttar Pradesh also causes pollution in the Yamuna.
What are its health hazards?
- Short-term exposure can lead to skin irritation and allergies.
- If ingested, these chemicals may cause gastrointestinal problems and diseases like typhoid.
- Long-term exposure to heavy metals in industrial pollutants can cause neurological issues and hormonal imbalances.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Non-refoulment principle
Mains level: Paper 2- Usage of international law for furthering national security interests
Context
Military experts, international relations academics, and practitioners like retired diplomats dominate the debates on global security in India. International lawyers are largely absent in these debates despite security issues being placed within the framework of international law.
Using international law to further security interests
In recent times, several examples demonstrate India’s failure to use an international law-friendly vocabulary to articulate its security interests.
- First, India struck the terror camps in Pakistan in February 2019, after the Pulwama attack India did not invoke the right to self-defence; rather, it relied on a contested doctrine of ‘non-military pre-emptive action’.
- Second, after the Pulwama attack, India decided to suspend the most favoured nation (MFN) status of Pakistan.
- Under international law contained in the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade, countries can deviate from their MFN obligations on grounds of national security.
- Instead of suspending the MFN obligation towards Pakistan along these lines, India used Section 8A(1) of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, to increase customs duties on all Pakistani products to 200%.
- The notification on this decision did not even mention ‘national security’.
- Third, India wishes to deport the Rohingya refugees who, it argues, pose a security threat.
- India’s argument to justify this deportation is that it is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention.
- This is a weak argument since India is bound by the principle of non-refoulment.
- National security is one of the exceptions to the non-refoulment principle in international refugee law.
- If India wishes to deport the Rohingya, it should develop a case on these lines showing how they constitute a national security threat.
- Fourth, to put pressure on the Taliban regime to serve India’s interest, India has rarely used international law.
- India could have made a case for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) using its implied powers under international law to temporarily suspend Afghanistan from SAARC’s membership.
Reasons for international law remaining at the margins
- First, there is marginal involvement of international lawyers in foreign policymaking.
- The Legal and Treaties Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, which advises the government on international law matters, is both understaffed and largely ignored on policy matters.
- Second, apart from the External Affairs Ministry, there are several other Ministries like Commerce and Finance that also deal with different facets of international law.
- They have negligible expertise in international law.
- Third, there has been systemic neglect of the study of international law.
- Fourth, many of the outstanding international law scholars that India has produced prefer to converse with domain experts only.
Way forward
- If India wishes to emerge as a global power, it has to make use of ‘lawfare’ i.e., use law as a weapon of national security.
- To mainstream international law in foreign policymaking, India should invest massively in building its capacity on international law.
Conclusion
Notwithstanding the central role that international law plays in security matters, India has failed to fully appreciate the usage of international law to advance its national security interests.
Back2Basics: Non-refoulement principle
- The principle of non-refoulement constitutes the cornerstone of international refugee protection.
- It is enshrined in Article 33 of the 1951 Convention, which is also binding on States Party to the 1967 Protocol.
- Article 33(1) of the 1951 Convention provides:
“No Contracting State shall expel or return (“refouler”) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his [or her] life or freedom would be threatened on account of his [or her] race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.”
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Integrated approach to Eurasia
Context
Delhi’s Indo-Pacific strategy has acquired political and institutional traction, thanks to intensive Indian diplomacy in recent years. It must now devote similar energy to the development of a “Eurasian” policy.
Need for Eurasian strategy and challenges
- This week’s consultations in Delhi on the crisis in Afghanistan among the region’s top security policymakers is part of developing a Eurasian strategy.
- National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has invited his counterparts from Pakistan, Iran, Central Asia, Russia, and China to join this discussion on Wednesday.
- Pakistan has declined to join.
- Pakistan’s reluctance to engage with India on Afghanistan reveals Delhi’s persisting problem with Islamabad in shaping a new Eurasian strategy.
- But it also reinforces the urgency of an Indian strategy to deal with Eurasia.
Factors shaping India’s Eurasian policy
- The most important development in Eurasia today is the dramatic rise of China and its growing strategic assertiveness, expanding economic power and rising political influence.
- Beijing’s muscular approach to the long and disputed border with Bhutan and India, its quest for a security presence in Tajikistan, the active search for a larger role in Afghanistan, and a greater say in the affairs of the broader sub-Himalayan region are only one part of the story.
- Physical proximity multiplies China’s economic impact on the inner Asian regions.
- These leverages, in turn, were reinforced by a deepening alliance with Russia that straddles the Eurasian heartland. Russia’s intractable disputes with Europe and America have increased Moscow’s reliance on Beijing.
- Amidst mounting challenges from China in the Indo-Pacific maritime domain, Washington has begun to rethink its strategic commitments to Eurasia.
- Whether defined as “burden-sharing” in Washington or “strategic autonomy” in Brussels, Europe must necessarily take on a larger regional Eurasian security role.
- More broadly, regional powers are going to reshape Eurasia.
What should be India’s approach to Eurasia
- Like the Indo-Pacific, Eurasia is new to India’s strategic discourse.
- To be sure, there are references to India’s ancient civilisational links with Eurasia.
- While there are many elements to an Indian strategy towards Eurasia, three of them stand out.
- Put Europe back into India’s continental calculus: As India now steps up its engagement with Europe, the time has come for it to begin a strategic conversation with Brussels on Eurasian security.
- This will be a natural complement to the fledgling engagement between India and Europe on the Indo-Pacific.
- India’s Eurasian policy must necessarily involve greater engagement with both the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
- Intensify the dialogue on Eurasian security with Russia: While Indo-Russian differences on the Indo-Pacific, the Quad, China, and the Taliban are real, Delhi and Moscow have good reasons to narrow their differences on Afghanistan and widen cooperation on continental Eurasian security.
- Indian collaboration with both Persia and Arabia: If Persia’s location makes it critical for the future of Afghanistan and Central Asia, the religious influence of Arabia and the weight of the Gulf capital are quite consequential in the region.
- India’s partnerships with Persia and Arabia are also critical in overcoming Turkey’s alliance with Pakistan that is hostile to Delhi.
Challenges
- Contradictions: India will surely encounter many contradictions in each of the three areas — between and among America, Europe, Russia, China, Iran, and the Arab Gulf.
- As in the Indo-Pacific, so in Eurasia, Delhi should not let these contradictions hold India back.
Consider the question ” Eurasia involves the recalibration of India’s continental strategy. India has certainly dealt with Eurasia’s constituent spaces separately over the decades. What Delhi now needs is an integrated approach to Eurasia. In the context of this, examine the challenges in India’s engagement with Eurasia and suggest the elements that should form part of India’s strategy towards Eurasia.”
Conclusion
The current flux in Eurasian geopolitics will lessen some of the current contradictions and generate some new antinomies in the days ahead. The key for India lies in greater strategic activism that opens opportunities in all directions in Eurasia.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Gati Shakti plan
Mains level: Paper 2- Gati Shakti plan's impact beyond border
Context
The Gati Shakti National Master Plan will have an important economic multiplier effect at home, it must also be leveraged to have an external impact by aligning it with India’s regional and global connectivity efforts.
Main components of the Gati Shakti National Master Plan
- The Gati Shakti plan has three main components, all focused on domestic coordination.
- Increase information sharing: The plan seeks to increase information sharing with a new technology platform between various ministries at the Union and state levels.
- Reduce logistics’ costs: It focuses on giving impetus to multi-modal transportation to reduce logistics’ costs and strengthen last-mile connectivity in India’s hinterland or border regions.
- Analytical tool: The third component includes an analytical decision-making tool to disseminate project-related information and prioritise key infrastructure projects.
- This aims to ensure transparency and time-bound commitments to investors.
How Gati Shakti Plan can strengthen India’s economic ties with its neighbours
- The plan will automatically generate positive effects to deepen India’s economic ties with Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, as well as with Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean region.
- India’s investment in roads, ports, inland waterways or new customs procedures generate positive externalities for these neighbours, who are keen to access the growing Indian consumer market.
- Any reduction in India’s domestic logistics costs brings immediate benefits to the northern neighbour, given that 98 per cent of Nepal’s total trade transits through India and about 65 per cent of Nepal’s trade is with India.
- In 2019, trade between Bhutan and Bangladesh was eased through a new multimodal road and waterway link via Assam.
- The new cargo ferry service with the Maldives, launched last year, has lowered the costs of trade for the island state.
- And under the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation Programme, India’s investments in multimodal connectivity on the eastern coast is reconnecting India with the Bay of Bengal and Southeast Asia through integrated rail, port and shipping systems.
- Whether it is the alignment of a cross-border railway, the location of a border check post, or the digital system chosen for customs and immigration processes, India’s connectivity investments at home will have limited effects unless they are coordinated with those of its neighbours and other regional partners.
- While India recently joined the Transports Internationaux Routiers (TIR) convention, which facilitates cross-border customs procedures, none of its neighbouring countries in the east has signed on to it.
Suggestions for Gati Shakti Plan to have maximum external effect
- First, India will have to deepen bilateral consultations with its neighbours to gauge their connectivity strategies and priorities.
- Given political and security sensitivities, India will require diplomatic skills to reassure its neighbours and adapt to their pace and political economy context.
- A second way is for India to work through regional institutions and platforms. SAARC’s ambitious regional integration plans of the 2000s are now defunct, so Delhi has shifted its geo-economic orientation eastwards.
- The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) has got new momentum, but there is also progress on the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) Initiative.
- Finally, India can also boost the Gati Shakti plan’s external impact by cooperating more closely with global players who are keen to support its strategic imperative to give the Indo-Pacific an economic connectivity dimension.
- This includes the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, but also Japan, the US, Australia, EU and ASEAN.
Conclusion
Gati Shakti plan must also leveraged to have an external impact by aligning it with India’s regional and global connectivity efforts.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Net-Zero
Mains level: Roadmap for net-zero targets
India has joined a high-profile group of countries pledging for net-zero target by 2070.
What does Net-Zero mean?
- Net-zero, which is also referred to as carbon-neutrality, does not mean that a country would bring down its emissions to zero.
- That would be gross-zero, which means reaching a state where there are no emissions at all, a scenario hard to comprehend.
- Therefore, net-zero is a state in which a country’s emissions are compensated by absorption and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
What’s the difference between gross zero and net-zero?
- Gross zero would mean stopping all emissions, which isn’t realistically attainable across all sectors of our lives and industry.
- Even with best efforts to reduce them, there will still be some emissions.
- Net-zero looks at emissions overall, allowing for the removal of any unavoidable emissions, such as those from aviation or manufacturing.
- Removing greenhouse gases could be via nature, as trees take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, or through new technology or changing industrial processes.
What is carbon negativity?
- It is even possible for a country to have negative emissions if the absorption and removal exceed the actual emissions.
- *Bhutan has negative emissions because it absorbs more than it emits.
What is the outlook for India’s emissions?
- Analysis of India’s growth path points to rising GDP per capita, with a rise in carbon emissions in the short term, primarily from energy.
- There is pressure from absolute increase in population and consumption, but population growth is slowing.
India’s major emission sources
- In terms of sectoral GHG emissions, data from 2016 show that electricity and heat account for the highest share (1.11 billion tonnes).
- It is followed by agriculture (704.16 million tonnes), manufacturing and construction (533.8 million tonnes), transport (265.3 million tonnes), industry (130.61 million tonnes).
- Land-use change and forestry (126.43 million tonnes) is also a major source.
- Other fuel use (119.04 million tonnes), buildings (109.2 million tonnes), waste (80.98 million tonnes), fugitive emissions (54.95 million tonnes) accounts for major urban sources.
- Aviation and shipping (20.4 million tonnes) accounts for the least source of emission.
Immediate interventions that can be made
- Legal mechanism: India needs to create a legal mandate for climate impact assessment of all activities.
- Investment: This can facilitate investment by dedicated green funds.
- Wholistic participation: Public sector institutions promoted by the government, co-operatives and even market mechanisms will participate.
- Renewable energy: The 500 GW renewables target needs a major boost, such as channeling more national and international climate funding into decentralized solar power.
- Hydrogen economy: Another emerging sector is green hydrogen production because of its potential as a clean fuel. India has a National Hydrogen Mission now in place.
- Waste Management: India’s urban solid waste management will need to modernise to curb methane emissions from unscientific landfills.
- Stored carbon mitigation: Preventing the release of stored carbon in the environment, such as trees and soil, has to be a net zero priority.
Role of developed countries
- India’s argument is that it has historically been one of the lowest emitters of GHGs.
- The impetus has to come from the developed economies that had the benefit of carbon-intensive development since the Industrial Revolution.
Way forward
- These plans need a political consensus and support from State governments.
- Net-zero will involve industrial renewal using green innovation, green economy support and supply chains yielding new jobs.
- It also needs low carbon technologies, zero-emission vehicles, and renewed cities promoting walking and cycling.
- The industry will need to make highly energy-efficient goods that last longer, and consumers should be given a legal right to repair goods they buy.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: India's quest for Afghan Peace
India is hosting the National Security Advisors (NSAs) level ‘Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan’ this week.
About the dialogue
- It will be headed by NSA Ajit Doval.
- It aims to organise a conference of regional stakeholders and important powers on the country’s current situation and the future outlook.
- Invitations are sent to Afghanistan’s neighbours such as Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, and other key players including Russia, and China.
Pakistan’s response
- Not surprisingly, Pakistan has denounced India’s invitation. China too followed Pakistan’s footsteps.
- Had Pakistan consented to come, it would have been the first high-level visit to India from Pakistan since 2016.
- Pakistani position reflects its mindset on Afghanistan, where it has played a conspiring role.
- It reflects its mindset of viewing Afghanistan as its protectorate.
Response from the other countries
- India’s invitation has seen an overwhelming response.
- Central Asian countries as well as Russia and Iran have confirmed participation.
Significance of the dialogue
- This will be the first time that all Central Asian countries, and not just Afghanistan’s immediate neighbours, would be participating in this format.
- The enthusiastic response is a manifestation of the importance attached to India’s role in regional efforts to promote peace and security in Afghanistan.
- If peace is established in Afghanistan, it could become a major trading hub as a corridor of connectivity in the heart of Asia.
When you are not at the table, you are on the menu… this conference is India’s attempt to set the table, be on the table, and decide the agenda.
India’s motive for the conference
- This is India’s attempt to secure for itself a seat at the table to decide the future course of action on Afghanistan.
- It underlines the need to actively engage with the world to protect India’s security interests.
- Until the fall of Kabul, India had not engaged with the Taliban through publicly-announced official channels.
India’s expectations form Taliban Govt
- Taliban should not allow safe havens for terror on its soil.
- The administration should be inclusive, and the rights of minorities, women, and children must be protected.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Freedom of Air
Mains level: Not Much
A flight from Srinagar to Sharjah had to avoid flying over Pakistan after the country denied permission to use its airspace for the said flight. With this refusal, Pakistan has violated the first freedom of air.
Freedom of Air
- Following the Chicago Convention in 1944, the signatories decided to set rules that would act as fundamental building blocks to international commercial aviation.
- As a part of these rules, initially, six ‘freedoms of air’ were decided.
- These freedoms or rights still operate within the ambit of multilateral and bilateral treaties.
- It allows to grant airlines of a particular country the privilege to use and/or land in another country’s airspace.
‘Freedoms’ accorded
- Flying over a foreign country without landing
- Refuel or carry out maintenance in a foreign country without embarking or disembarking passengers or cargo
- Fly from the home country and land in a foreign country
- Fly from a foreign country and land in the home country
- Fly from the home country to a foreign country, stopping in another foreign country on the way
- Fly from a foreign country to another foreign country, stopping in the home country on the way
- Fly from a foreign country to another foreign country, without stopping in the home country
- Fly from the home country to a foreign country, then on to another destination within the same foreign country
- Fly internally within a foreign country
Why did Pakistan deny use of its airspace?
- There has been no official explanation given by Pakistan authorities.
- Indian has approached Pakistan to raise the issue of the refusal to use its airspace for the said flight.
- Notably, other Indian airlines flying to west Asia from airports such as Delhi, Lucknow, etc have not been barred from using Pakistan airspace.
- This also raises the concern of Pakistan violating the first freedom of air.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Financial inclusion in India
India is now ahead of China in financial inclusion metrics, with mobile and Internet banking transactions rising to 13,615 per 1,000 adults in 2020 from 183 in 2015.
What does one mean by Financial Inclusion?
- Financial inclusion is defined as the availability and equality of opportunities to access financial services.
- It refers to a process by which individuals and businesses can access appropriate, affordable, and timely financial products and services.
- These include banking, loan, equity and insurance products etc.
Key highlights of the Report
- Boosted by PM Jan-Dhan Yojana, the number of bank branches per 100,000 adults in India rose to 14.7 in 2020 from 13.6 in 2015.
- It is higher than Germany, China and South Africa.
- Data shows that states with higher Jan-Dhan accounts balances have seen a perceptible decline in crime.
How did India achieve financial inclusion?
- Financial inclusion policies have a multiplier effect on economic growth, reducing poverty and income inequality, while also being conducive for financial stability.
- India has stolen a march in financial inclusion with the initiation of PMJDY accounts since 2014.
- It was enabled by a robust digital infrastructure and also careful recalibration of bank branches and thereby using the BC model judiciously.
- Such financial inclusion has also been enabled by use of digital payments.
What is the BC Model?
- The report highlighted that the Banking Correspondent (BC) model in India is enabled to provide a defined range of banking services at low cost.
- The new branch authorisation policy of 2017 –recognises BCs that provide banking services for a minimum of 4-hours per day and for at least 5-days a week as banking outlets.
- The BCs are enabled to provide a defined range of banking services at low cost and hence are instrumental in promoting financial inclusion.
- This has progressively done away the need to set up brick and mortar branches.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UCCN
Mains level: Not Much
The UNESCO has picked up Srinagar among 49 cities as part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) under the Crafts and Folk Arts category.
What is UCCN?
- UCCN created in 2004, is a network of cities that are thriving, active centers of cultural activities in their respective countries.
- These cities can be from all continents with different income levels or with different levels of populations.
- UCCN believes that these cities are working towards a common mission by placing creativity at the core of their urban development plans to make the region resilient, safe, inclusive and sustainable.
- Ministry of Culture is the nodal Ministry of the Government of India for all matters in UNESCO relating to culture.
Objective of UCCN
- Placing creativity and the creative economy at the core of their urban development plans to make cities safe, resilient, inclusive and sustainable, in line with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
The 7 categories for recognition under UCCN are as follows:
- Crafts and Folk Arts
- Design
- Film
- Gastronomy (food)
- Music
- Media Arts
- Literature
Previously, 3 Indian cities were recognized as members of UCCN namely-
- Jaipur-Crafts and Folk Arts (2015)
- Varanasi-Creative city of Music (2015)
- Chennai-Creative city of Music (2017)
- Mumbai-Film (2019)
- Hyderabad- Gastronomy (2019)
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: RIMPAC
Mains level: Paper 2- AUKUS
Context
The trilateral security agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States (AUKUS) continues to be in the news.
Implications for ASEAN
- There is also the matter of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) disunity over the emergence of AUKUS.
- While AUKUS is clearly an attempt by the U.S. to bolster regional security, including securing Australia’s seaborne trade, any sudden accretion in Australia’s naval capabilities is bound to cause unease in the region.
- Even though Australia has denied that AUKUS is a defence alliance, this hardly prevents China from exploiting ASEAN’s concerns at having to face a Hobson’s choice amidst worsening U.S.-China regional rivalry.
- AUKUS is based on a shared commitment of its three members to deepening diplomatic, security and defence cooperation in the Indo-Pacific to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
- Even though this has not been stated explicitly, the rise of China, particularly its rapid militarisation and aggressive behaviour, is undoubtedly the trigger.
Relations of AUKUS members with China
- The AUKUS joint statement clearly acknowledges that trilateral defence ties are decades old, and that AUKUS aims to further joint capabilities and interoperability.
- For three nations, their relations with China have recently been marked by contretemps.
- Australia, especially, had for years subordinated its strategic assessment of China to transactional commercial interests.
- Much to China’s chagrin, its policy of deliberately targeting Australian exports has not yielded the desired results.
- Instead of kow-towing, the plucky Australian character has led Canberra to favour a fundamental overhaul of its China policy.
- The transfer of sensitive submarine technology by the U.S. to the U.K. is a sui generis arrangement based on their long-standing Mutual Defence Agreement of 1958.
- Elements in the broader agenda provide opportunities to the U.S., the U.K. and Australia to engage the regional countries.
AUKUS engagement with regional countries
- All three nations will also play a major role in U.S.-led programmes such as Build Back Better World, Blue Dot Network and Clean Network, to meet the challenge of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
- The Quad and AUKUS are distinct, yet complementary. Neither diminishes the other.
- Whereas the Quad initiatives straddle the Indian and the Pacific Oceans, a Pacific-centric orientation for AUKUS has advantages.
- Such a strategy could potentially strengthen Japan’s security as well as that of Taiwan in the face of China’s mounting bellicosity.
- Shifting AUKUS’s fulcrum to the Pacific Ocean could reassure ASEAN nations.
- It could also inure AUKUS to any insidious insinuation that accretion in the number of nuclear submarines plying the Indo-Pacific might upset the balance of power in the Indian Ocean.
Conclusion
There are limited options in the economic arena with China already having emerged as a global economic powerhouse. AUKUS, though, provides an opportunity to the U.S. to place proxy submarine forces to limit China’s forays, especially in the Pacific Ocean.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Issue of misuse of UAPA
Context
In Thwaha Fasal vs Union of India, the Court has acted in its introspective jurisdiction and deconstructed the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) with a great sense of legal realism. This paves the way for a formidable judicial authority against blatant misuse of this law.
Background of the case
- In this case from Kerala, there are three accused.
- The police registered the case and later the investigation was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
- During the investigation, some materials containing radical literature were found, which included a book on caste issues in India and a translation of the dissent notes written by Rosa Luxemburg to Lenin.
- Thus, the provisions of the UAPA were invoked.
- After initial rejection of the pleas, the trial judge granted bail to both the accused in September 2020.
- The Supreme Court was emphatic and liberal when it said that mere association with a terrorist organisation is not sufficient to attract the offences alleged.
- Unless and until the association and the support were “with intention of furthering the activities of a terrorist organisation”, offence under Section 38 or Section 39 is not made out, said the Court.
Issues with UAPA
- Section 43D(5) of the UAPA says that for many of the offences under the Act, bail should not be granted, if “on perusal of the case diary or the report (of the investigation), there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation is prima facie true”.
- Thus, the Act prompts the Court to consider the version of the prosecution alone while deciding the question of bail.
- Unlike the Criminal Procedure Code, the UAPA, by virtue of the proviso to Section 43D(2), permits keeping a person in prison for up to 180 days, without even filing a charge sheet.
- Prevents examination of the facts: The statute prevents a comprehensive examination of the facts of the case on the one hand, and prolongs the trial indefinitely by keeping the accused in prison on the other.
- Instead of presumption of innocence, the UAPA holds presumption of guilt of the accused.
- In Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, the Court said that by virtue of Section 43D(5) of UAPA, the burden is on the accused to show that the prosecution case is not prima facie true.
- The proposition in Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali is that the bail court should not even investigate deeply into the materials and evidence and should consider the bail plea, primarily based on the nature of allegations, for, according to the Court, Section 43D(5) prohibits a thorough and deeper examination.
- The top court has now altered this terrible legal landscape.
Key takeaways from the judgement
- The text of the laws sometimes poses immense challenge to the courts by limiting the space for judicial discretion and adjudication.
- The courts usually adopt two mutually contradictory methods in dealing with such tough provisions.
- One is to read and apply the provision literally and mechanically which has the effect of curtailing the individual freedom as intended by the makers of the law.
- In contrast to this approach, there could be a constitutional reading of the statute, which perceives the issues in a human rights angle and tries to mitigate the rigour of the content of the law.
Conclusion
The judgment should be invoked to release other political prisoners in the country who have been denied bail either due to the harshness of the law or due to the follies in understanding the law or both.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Greater global cooperation
Context
Our thinking about the international system is focussed on a new era of great power competition. An assertive China is seeking to refashion the international order and exercise greater regional hegemony.
Refashioning the international order
- Recently, Secretary Antony Blinken outlined the US approach to China: “Competitive when it should be, collaborative when it can be, and adversarial when it must be.”
- This pretty much describes the approach of every country in the world to this geopolitical moment.
- The big question is whether the competitive and adversarial dynamics are now so deep that the space for “collaboration” is diminishing fast.
- There is now bipartisan consensus in the US that China needs to be contained; just as China is convinced that the US will not only not tolerate China’s further rise.
Great power competition between the US and China
- Two dynamics were supposed to counteract the risks of great power competition.
- Global economic interdependence: The first was global economic interdependence.
- Global trade has rebounded to its pre-pandemic levels.
- The logic of interdependence is now under severe ideological stress.
- Interdependence has not led to greater convergence on political values or a more open global political order.
- Common challenges fostering global cooperation: The second dynamic counteracting competition was the idea that common challenges like climate change, the pandemic and the risks posed by technology will foster greater global cooperation.
- All the global crises that should have been occasions for global cooperation have become the sites for intensifying global competition.
Climate and global health: Indicator of lack of global cooperation
- It is hard to convince anyone that most countries of the world were willing to treat the pandemic as a global public health crisis.
- The shift in the climate change discourse is about intensifying technological competition and maintaining national economic supremacy, rather than solving a global problem.
- It is not entirely clear that all the innovations induced by this competitive dynamic will, in fact, limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
- It also leaves the question of a modicum of justice in the international order entirely unresolved.
- We have also learnt over the last couple of decades that the international system, and all global public goods, including security, can be made extremely vulnerable even by small groups carrying a sense of grievance.
- So, the distribution of technology, finance, and developmental space will matter.
- India, in the context of what other countries are doing, takes a very well-judged stance at the international level.
- But it is difficult not to wonder whether a country that lets its citizens breathe the foulest air, and cannot get its head around a solvable problem of stubble burning, can project seriousness.
- So, climate and global public health, rather than acting as a spur to global cooperation are going to be symptoms of a deep pathology.
Global risks and declining multilateral institutions
- Areas where global risks are increasing include-Cyber threats, the possible risks of unregulated technology, whether in artificial intelligence or biological research, competition in space, a renewed competition in nuclear weapons and an intensifying arms race.
- In not a single one of these areas is there a serious prospect of any country thinking outside of an adversarial nationalist frame.
- The old multilateral system was undergirded by, and partially an instrument for, US power.
- The term multilateral has also been deeply damaged by a cynical use, where it simply refers to a group of countries rather than a single or a couple of countries acting together.
- It is high time the term be used only in a context where there is agreement on global rules or an architecture to genuinely solve a global public goods problem.
- These may still reflect power differentials, but at least they are oriented to problem-solving at a global level.
- In this sense, one would be hard-pressed to find any genuinely multilateral institutions left.
Consider the question “What are the challenge facing global order in the present context? Suggest the measures to preserve the global order aimed towards greater global cooperation.”
Conclusion
The real choice for the world is not just navigating between China and the United States. It is fundamentally between an orientation that is committed to global problem-solving rather than just preserving national supremacy.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Poverty estimates in India
Mains level: Poverty in India
Poverty in India had increased between 2012 and 2020.
What is Poverty?
- Fundamentally, the concept of poverty is associated with socially perceived deprivation with respect to basic human needs (Tendulkar, 2009).
- This is a crucial definition to consider since the Tendulkar committee’s estimation method is the last officially recognized method for arriving at poverty numbers in India.
A relative term
- If you think about it for a moment, poverty is a “relative” concept.
- Poverty is essentially about how you are “relative” to those in your surroundings.
- For example, with Rs 1,000 in your pocket, you may be “rich” if those around you have no more than Rs 100 with them.
- But, in another setting, say around those who have no less than Rs 10,000 with them, you will come across as “poor”.
- As such, as long as there are variations in the income and/or wealth levels in a society, there will be “poverty”.
What is abject poverty?
- Apart from the relative nature of poverty, there is such a thing as abject poverty.
- It typically refers to a state where a person is unable to meet its most basic needs such as eating the minimum amount of food to stay alive.
What is a Poverty Line?
- From the point of view of policymaking, poverty levels typically refer to some level of income or expenditure below which one can reasonably argue that someone is poorer than the rest of the society.
- The whole point of the bulk of policymaking is to improve the living standards of the poorest in the country.
- But to design policies, one must first know what the target group is, how much does it earn (or spend, since robust data on income is not easily available).
- This is done by choosing a “poverty line” — or a level of income or consumption expenditure that divides the population between the poor and non-poor.
Why define a Poverty Line?
The purpose behind choosing a poverty line is two-fold.
(A) To accurately design policies for the poor
- Doing so allows you to target your policies towards the two poorest people in the country.
- Often such policies are redistributive in nature — such as giving subsidised food grains or providing some kind of social security like MGNREGA.
- In an ideal world a government would have the resources to help everyone in the economy but in reality, even the government’s works within some financial or budgetary constraints.
(B) To assess the success or failure of government policies over time
- Over time the overall GDP doubles but the income of the general public falls.
- Hence the government would know that its policies are not bearing fruit.
Poverty Estimation in India
- Planning Commission Expert Group (1962): It formulated the separate poverty lines for rural and urban areas at ₹20 and ₹25 per capita per year respectively.
- VM Dandekar and N Rath (1971): They made the first systematic assessment, based on National Sample Survey (NSS) data. They suggested providing 2250 calories per day in both rural and urban areas.
- YK Alagh Committee (1979): It constructed a poverty line for rural and urban areas on the basis of nutritional requirements and related consumption expenditure.
- Lakdawala Committee (1993): It suggested that consumption expenditure should be calculated based on calorie consumption as earlier. State specific poverty lines should be constructed. It asked for discontinuation of scaling of poverty estimates based on National Accounts Statistics.
- Tendulkar Committee (2009): The current official measures of poverty are based on the Tendulkar poverty line, fixed at daily expenditure of ₹27.2 in rural areas and ₹33.3 in urban areas is criticised by many for being too low.
What has happened in India’s fight against poverty?
- There are two ways to assess India’s performance.
- One is to look at the headcount ratio of poverty which is the percentage of India’s population that was designated to be below the poverty line
- The other variable to look at is the absolute number of poor people in the country
- If one looks at the headcount ratio then India made rapid strides since 1973.
- Even though India is home to possibly the largest number of poor people in the world, there has been no official update on India’s poverty levels since.
Who oversees the Poverty Level?
- Poverty levels are updated by using the Consumer Expenditure Survey, which is conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO) once every five years.
- The last such survey was conducted in 2017-18.
- That survey reportedly showed that for the first time in four decades consumer expenditure in India had fallen.
What are the latest findings?
- Poverty levels, as well as the absolute number of poor, had risen between 2011-12 and 2017-18.
- The government claimed that the survey suffered from “data quality” issues.
- The next round of the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) was supposed to be conducted in 2021.
Causes of rise in Poverty
- GDP growth decline: It is a fact that India’s GDP growth rate had registered a secular deceleration between the start of 2017 and 2020.
- Jobless growth: The second and related factor is the unprecedented rise in joblessness.
- Wages decline: Millions were pulled out of poverty between 2004 and 2011 due to sharp rise in non-farm employment and associated wages. But for many of those workers, real wages have either fallen or stagnated.
- Pandemic impact: Covid induced lockdown sent millions of workers back to villages, seeking MGNREGA work at minimum wages.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Turmeric
Mains level: Not Much
Turmeric (Curcuma longa), native to India, has been studied extensively for its effects against viral diseases in recent decades, but the COVID-19 pandemic has renewed interest.
About Turmeric
- Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is used as a condiment, dye, drug and cosmetic in addition to its use in religious ceremonies.
- India is a leading producer and exporter of turmeric in the world.
- The top five turmeric-producing states of India in 2020-21 are Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
Climate and Soil
- Turmeric can be grown in diverse tropical conditions from sea level to 1500 m above sea level.
- It requires a temperature range of 20-35 C with an annual rainfall of 1500 mm or more, under rainfed or irrigated conditions.
- Though it can be grown on different types of soils, it thrives best in well-drained sandy or clay loam soils with a pH range of 4.5-7.5 with good organic status.
Varieties
- A number of cultivars are available in the country and are known mostly by the name of locality where they are cultivated.
- Some of the popular cultivars are Duggirala, Tekkurpet, Sugandham, Amalapuram, Erode local, Salem, Alleppey, Moovattupuzha and Lakdong.
Preparation of land
- The land is prepared with the receipt of early monsoon showers.
- The soil is brought to a fine tilth by giving about four deep ploughings.
- Planting is also done by forming ridges and furrows.
Plantation
- Whole or split mother and finger rhizomes are used for planting and well-developed healthy and disease-free rhizomes are to be selected.
Why turmeric?
- Post pandemic, turmeric is one of the fastest-growing dietary supplements.
- The global curcumin market, valued at $58.4 million in 2019, is expected to witness a growth of 12.7 percent by 2027.
- As the world’s largest producer, consumer and exporter of turmeric, India stands to gain from this.
Global standing
- India produces 78 per cent of the world’s turmeric.
- The country’s turmeric production saw a near consistent growth since Independence till 2010-11 after which it started fluctuating.
- The pandemic has given a boost to the crop, with the production witnessing a rise of 23 per cent.
- Though the production and export of turmeric has risen, farmers have not benefitted from its pricing.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2020:
With reference to the current trends in the cultivation of sugarcane in India, consider the following statements:
- A substantial saving in seed material is made when ‘bud chip settlings are raised in a nursery and transplanted in the main field.
- When direct planting of setts is done, the germination percentage is better with single-budded setts as compared to setts with many buds.
- If bad weather conditions prevail when setts are directly planted, single-budded setts have better survival as compared to large setts.
- Sugarcane can be cultivated using settlings prepared from tissue culture.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 1 and 4 only
(d) 2,3 and 4 only
Post your answers here.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Species Extinction
Mains level: Mass Extinction
A paper published recently has come up with a new reason behind the first mass extinction, also known as the Late Ordovician mass extinction.
Species Extinction
- Extinction is a part of life, and animals and plants disappear all the time. About 98% of all the organisms that have ever existed on our planet are now extinct.
- When a species goes extinct, its role in the ecosystem is usually filled by new species, or other existing ones.
What is Mass Extinction?
- Earth’s ‘normal’ extinction rate is often thought to be somewhere between 0.1 and 1 species per 10,000 species per 100 years.
- This is known as the background rate of extinction.
- A mass extinction event is when species vanish much faster than they are replaced.
- This is usually defined as about 75% of the world’s species being lost in a ‘short’ amount of geological time – less than 2.8 million years.
How many mass extinctions have there been?
Five great mass extinctions have changed the face of life on Earth. We know what caused some of them, but others remain a mystery:
[I] Ordovician-Silurian ME
- It occurred 443 million years ago and wiped out approximately 85% of all species.
- Scientists think it was caused by temperatures plummeting and huge glaciers forming, which caused sea levels to drop dramatically.
- This was followed by a period of rapid warming. Many small marine creatures died out.
[II] Devonian ME
- It took place 374 million years ago and killed about three-quarters of the world’s species, most of which were marine invertebrates that lived at the bottom of the sea.
- This was a period of many environmental changes, including global warming and cooling, a rise and fall of sea levels and a reduction in oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
- We don’t know exactly what triggered the extinction event.
[III] Permian ME
- It happened 250 million years ago, was the largest and most devastating event of the five.
- Also known as the Great Dying, it eradicated more than 95% of all species, including most of the vertebrates which had begun to evolve by this time.
- Some scientists think Earth was hit by a large asteroid which filled the air with dust particles that blocked out the Sun and caused acid rain.
- Others think there was a large volcanic explosion that increased carbon dioxide and made the oceans toxic.
[IV] Triassic ME
- It took place 200 million years ago, eliminating about 80% of Earth’s species, including many types of dinosaurs.
- This was probably caused by colossal geological activity that increased carbon dioxide levels and global temperatures, as well as ocean acidification.
[V] Cretaceous ME
- It occurred 65 million years ago, killing 78% of all species, including the remaining non-avian dinosaurs.
- This was most likely caused by an asteroid hitting the Earth in what is now Mexico, potentially compounded by ongoing flood volcanism in what is now India.
What caused first ME?
- The cooling climate likely changed the ocean circulation pattern.
- This caused a disruption in the flow of oxygen-rich water from the shallow seas to deeper oceans, leading to a mass extinction of marine creatures.
- Ordovician Sea has familiar groups like clams and snails and sponges.
- Many other groups are now very reduced in diversity or entirely extinct like trilobites, brachiopods, and crinoids.
The sixth mass extinction
- We are currently experiencing a sixth mass extinction as the result of human-induced climate change.
- There have been several theories behind each mass extinction and with advances in new technologies, researchers have been uncovering more intricate details about these events.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2018
The term “sixth mass extinction/sixth extinction” is often mentioned in the news in the context of the discussion of:
(a) Widespread monoculture Practices agriculture and large-scale commercial farming with indiscriminate use of chemicals in many parts of the world that may result in the loss of good native ecosystems.
(b) Fears of a possible collision of a meteorite with the Earth in the near future in the manner it happened 65million years ago that caused the mass extinction of many species including those of dinosaurs.
(c) Large scale cultivation of genetically modified crops in many parts of the world and promoting their cultivation in other Parts of the world may cause the disappearance of good native crop plants and the loss of food biodiversity.
(d) Mankind’s over-exploitation/misuse of natural resources, fragmentation/loss, natural habitats, destruction of ecosystems, pollution and global climate change.
Post your answers here.
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