Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: General conent
Mains level: Paper 2- Reforms in CBI
Context
The Central government’s decision to give a five-year tenure to heads of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has drawn a lot of flak.
Background
- Apex court’s directive giving a mandatory two-year tenure to the Director of the CBI was a fallout of the Hawala scandal.
- Prior to that, the government was arbitrary and capricious in choosing the Director.
- It was not rare to see temporary appointments given to favour some individuals.
- Seniority was often ignored in appointments and Directors were removed frequently.
Why tenure matters
- Short tenure: A two-year tenure for a CBI head is too short for any officer to make an impact on the organisation.
- Longer provides the much-needed continuity that a Director needs in an outfit charged with the task of conducting highly sensitive investigations, which sometimes impinge on the longevity and stability of a democratically elected government.
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation chief in the U.S. gets a 10-year term.
Suggestions
- Need to avoid government interference: Any blatantly dishonest interference in the working of the organisation is bound to raise the hackles of those who believe in and carry out straightforward investigations.
- The government will therefore have to show enormous restraint in its interactions with the head of the CBI.
- Balancing accountability with autonomy: Of course, as a measure of accountability, the Director will have to keep the government informed of all major administrative decisions.
- He or she should inform the executive but not take orders from it.
- Need for CBI Act: Successive chiefs have suggested the drafting of a CBI Act to ensure that the organisation is not dependent on the State governments, many of which have withdrawn consent for the CBI to function in that State.
- Eight States — West Bengal, Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Mizoram — have withdrawn the general consent.
- The CBI should be made to derive its authority for launching investigations from its own statute instead of depending on the Criminal Procedure Code, which makes the CBI a police organisation.
Issue with ordinance
- The only problem with the latest ordinance is that, at the end of the mandatory two-year tenure, the government will have to issue orders granting one-year extensions at a time.
- The rule about three annual extensions can be misused by a tendentious government.
- It may be construed as a reward for ‘good behaviour’, which is a euphemism for an obliging Director.
Consider the question “What are the challenges facing Central Bureau of Investigation? Suggest the measures to make the organisation more effective.”
Conclusion
We will have to wait for a few years to gauge the impact of the change in tenure rules. It is preposterous to probe the intentions of this major move.
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Back2Basics: General Consent
- A “general consent” is normally given by states to help the CBI in seamless investigation of cases of corruption against central government employees in their states.
- Almost all states have traditionally given such consent, in the absence of which the CBI would have to apply to the state government in every case, and before taking even small actions.
- Section 6 of The DSPE Act (“Consent of State Government to exercise of powers and jurisdiction”) says: “Nothing contained in section 5 (“Extension of powers and jurisdiction of special police establishment to other areas”) shall be deemed to enable any member of the Delhi Special Police Establishment to exercise powers and jurisdiction in any area in a State, not being a Union territory or railway area, without the consent of the Government of that State.”
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Return of Taliban in Afghanistan and implications for India-Pakistan relations
Context
In a rather unfriendly neighbourhood, New Delhi’s attempts at forming a regional consensus to stabilise Afghanistan, albeit wise and timely, will only achieve limited success thanks to the China-Pakistan coalition and its interests at play in and over Afghanistan.
Role played by China and Pakistan in Afghanistan and its implications for India
- China’s long-term vision for Afghanistan revolves around the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project of which Afghanistan has been a part since May 2016.
- The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is also viewed as a key component within the larger Chinese BRI project and Afghanistan could eventually become part of CPEC if and when the Taliban regime stabilises itself in the country.
- Role of Pakistan in keeping India away from Afghanistan: While Pakistan lobbies the international community to help prevent Afghanistan slide into further turmoil, it is determined to keep India as far away from Kabul as possible.
- Pakistan has always been deeply suspicious of growing India-Afghanistan relations no matter who was/is in charge in Kabul.
- Implications for India: It is likely that the more India gets close to the Taliban, the more the Pakistani side will increase the ‘attacks’ in Jammu and Kashmir.
- By maintaining ties with the Taliban and convening the regional security meeting in New Delhi, India has indicated that this is an acceptable risk.
- Regional Security Dialogue: The recently-held Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan was an important initiative to help Afghanistan stabilise, the reality is that the two countries that are key to stabilising Afghanistan — China and Pakistan — decided to stay away from it.
- Scope for other powers: Russia or the Central Asian states have neither the ability nor the desire to pursue a role in Afghanistan autonomous from the larger Chinese or Pakistani designs there.
The dilemma facing the international community
- Taliban and Pakistan refer to the U.S.-led coalition as ‘colonisers’ who just vacated the Afghan territory; and in the same breath, they seek assistance from those very ‘former colonisers’.
- But perhaps what might bother the West the most is that if they stabilise the country, they would still be called former colonisers, and Pakistan and China will benefit out of it geopolitically, making it, in that sense, a thankless job for the West.
- So the question before the western leaders is how to offer structured incentives to the Taliban, and when.
The dilemma facing India
- To engage the Taliban or not: The first one was to decide whether to engage the Taliban or not.
- The successive governments in Afghanistan, including the current Taliban regime, have sought relations with India which has upset Pakistan.
- The Taliban want India to engage and help the country stabilise, but Pakistan resents that.
- Catch-22 situation for India: If the Taliban regime is stabilised in Kabul without India’s assistance to the country, the more it is likely to do Pakistan’s bidding vis-à-vis India.
- On the other hand, the more India helps the Taliban-led Afghanistan, the more Pakistan will up the ante in Kashmir.
- This is a catch-22 situation that India finds itself in.
- And yet, India has little choice but to engage the Taliban.
How Taliban victory led to change in Pakistan’s Kashmir policy
- The earlier Pakistani willingness to be conciliatory towards India on Kashmir before and in the run-up to the Taliban takeover of Kabul in August 2021 seems to have disappeared for now.
- This is at least partly due to the Pakistani triumphalism about the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
- Since then, violence data show that the backchannel understanding is withering away with violence in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) spiking along all three indicators albeit gradually.
- Sentiments from across the border also indicate that the earlier Pakistani stand that it would accept the Indian decision to withdraw the special status to Kashmir in lieu of New Delhi restoring Statehood to Kashmir and allowing political activity in the State has now change.
- It now demands that India fully reverts to the pre-August 5, 2019 position on Kashmir.
Way forward
- No possibility of cooperation with China and Pak: Any possibility of India-Pakistan cooperation in Afghanistan would be very hard to achieve.
- Beijing will play along; so will Iran and the Central Asian countries, for the most part.
- Coordinate with other powers: For India, the options are to coordinate its Afghan policy with Moscow, Washington and the various western capitals while steadfastly engaging the Taliban.
Consider the question “Return of Taliban in Afghanistan and consequential geopolitical changes in the region are bound to have implications for India-Pakistan relation. Comment.”
Conclusion
India’s advances to court the Taliban and attempts to evolve a regional consensus on Afghanistan might deteriorate India-Pakistan relations and pose challenges for India in Kashmir.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Emission intensity
Mains level: Paper 3- Decarbonising the Indian economy
Context
The announcement of enhanced targets for climate action by India, particularly for achieving net-zero emissions by 2070, has highlighted the importance of long-term planning for decarbonising the economy.
Why do we need a decarbonizing strategy
- The Government of India has responded to rapid reductions in the cost of renewable energy (RE) based power, with dramatic enhancements in the targets for RE.
- With this approach, India has done well and is on a path to fulfilling its Paris Agreement commitments for 2030.
- However, the road ahead will be challenging, and therefore, a coordinated strategy for decarbonising the economy efficiently and effectively will be required.
Strategy for decarbonising the economy
- Factoring in the changes: By 2070, there will be many changes in technology, environmental conditions, and the economy.
- The planning horizon of about 50 years will need to be broken up into shorter periods so that new knowledge about emerging technologies can be incorporated into plans.
- Monitoring of the progress: Plans will need to be monitored so that the course can be corrected to respond to any unforeseen problems.
- Five years, as the UK has used, seems like a reasonable “Goldilocks ideal.”
- An autonomous and technically credible agency, like the Climate Change Committee (CCC) in the UK, should be set up.
Decarbonising the power sector
- Biggest source of GHG: The power sector is the biggest source of GHG emissions and also the easiest one to decarbonise.
- Reducing emission intensity is a good overarching objective; increased use of RE or non-fossil-fuel generation is a means to that end.
- The four 2030 targets: Non-fossil fuel generating capacity to be 500 GW, RE capacity to be 50 per cent of all generation capacity, reduction in emission intensity by 45 per cent, and avoidance of GHG emissions by 1 billion tonnes — are inter-related.
Suggestions to decarbonise the power sector
- Set emission intensity targets: Setting permissible emission intensity in terms of grammes of carbon dioxide equivalent per kWh of electricity sold, would be a good option for targets in the power sector.
- Single emission-related objective: In order to decarbonise the power sector, it would be best to have a single emissions-related objective so that an optimal strategy can be developed to achieve the objective at the lowest cost.
- Avoid separate targets: Currently there is a profusion of separate targets for almost every resource used to generate electricity.
- For example, there are separate renewable purchase obligations (RPOs) for solar, non-solar RE, and hydropower.
- Such an approach reduces the flexibility of distribution companies to select resources to meet their loads, resulting in a non-optimal resource mix, and a higher cost of electricity.
- Reconsider RPO: RPOs are usually imposed to support nascent technologies, and because RE is now competitive on costs with conventional generation, the need for RPOs should be reconsidered.
- The use of emission intensity targets is a better approach.
Consider the question “Why power sector holds the key to decarbonising the Indian economy? Suggest the strategy India should follow to decarbonise the power sector.”
Conclusion
The use of five-year interim targets for permissible emission intensity and the establishment of an autonomous and credible agency to advise the government on targets and policies and to monitor progress will greatly facilitate an effective, economic, and smooth transition to decarbonisation of the power sector first, and the Indian economy later by 2070.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CBI
Mains level: Issues over CBI
The Centre has told the Supreme Court that the CBI was an “autonomous body” and it had no “control” over the investigative agency.
Background
- The submission in the top court comes two days after the promulgation of an ordinance extending the tenures of the CBI Director and the Enforcement Directorate chief.
- Attorney-General K was objecting to a suit filed by the West Bengal Government over the use of CBI.
West Bengal vs. CBI
- West Bengal has challenged the CBI’s jurisdiction to register FIRs and conduct investigations in the State in some cases.
- The State had withdrawn its “general consent” to the CBI way back in 2018.
About CBI
- The Bureau of Investigation traces its origins to the Delhi Special Police Establishment, a Central Government Police force, which was set up in 1941 by the Government of India.
- It then aimed to investigate bribery and corruption in transactions with the War and Supply Department of India.
- It then had its headquarters in Lahore.
- After the end of the war, there was a continued need for a central governmental agency to investigate bribery and corruption by central-government employees.
- The DSPE acquired its popular current name, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), through a Home Ministry resolution dated in 1963.
Mandate of the CBI
- The CBI is the main investigating agency of the GoI.
- It is not a statutory body; it derives its powers from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946.
- Its important role is to prevent corruption and maintain integrity in administration.
- It works under the supervision of the CVC (Central Vigilance Commission) in matters pertaining to the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
- The CBI is also India’s official representative with the INTERPOL.
Cases to investigate
- Cases connected to infringement of economic and fiscal laws
- Crimes of a serious nature that have national and international ramifications
- Coordination with the activities of the various state police forces and anti-corruption agencies.
- It can also take up any case of public importance and investigate it
- Maintaining crime statistics and disseminating criminal information.
Issues with CBI
- Caged parrot: The Supreme Court has criticised the CBI by calling it a “caged parrot speaking in its master’s voice”.
- Political interference: It has often been used by the government of the day to cover up wrongdoing, keep coalition allies in line and political opponents at bay.
- Investigation delay: It has been accused of enormous delays in concluding investigations due to political inertia.
- Loss of Credibility: CBI has been criticised for its mismanagement of several cases involving prominent politicians and mishandling of several sensitive cases like Bofors scandal, Bhopal gas tragedy.
- Lack of Accountability: CBI is exempted from the provisions of the Right to Information Act, thus, lacking public accountability.
- Acute shortage of personnel: A major cause of the shortfall is the government’s sheer mismanagement of CBI’s workforce.
- Limited Powers: The powers and jurisdiction of members of the CBI for investigation are subject to the consent of the State Govt., thus limiting the extent of investigation by CBI.
- Restricted Access: Prior approval of Central Government to conduct inquiry or investigation on the employees of the Central Government is a big obstacle in combating corruption at higher levels of bureaucracy.
Way Forward
- Need for autonomy: As long as the government of the day has the power to transfer and post officials of its choice in the CBI, the investigating agency will not enjoy autonomy and will be unable to investigate cases freely.
- A new CBI Act should be promulgated that ensures the autonomy of CBI while at the same time improving the quality of supervision.
- Selection of director/ Officers: To ensure that the CBI is a robust, independent and credible investigation agency, there is an urgent need to work out a much more transparent mechanism for selection and induction of officers on deputation.
- Lokpal scrutiny: The Lokpal Act already calls for a three-member committee made up of the PM, the leader of the opposition and the CJI to select the director.
- Bifurcation of Cadre: CBI should be bifurcated into an Anti-Corruption Body and a National Crime Bureau.
- Develop own cadre: One of the demands that have been before Supreme Court, and in line with international best practices, is for the CBI to develop its own dedicated cadre of officers.
- Annual social audit should be carried out by ten reputed, knowledgeable persons with background of law, justice, public affairs and administration and the audit report should be placed before the parliament.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Duare Ration Scheme, PDS
Mains level: Not Much
West Bengal CM has launched an ambitious “Duare Ration” Scheme.
Duare Ration Scheme
- The Scheme aims for providing food grains under the public distribution system (PDS) at the doorstep for the entire population of the State.
- It aims to unload the person carrying huge chunk of food grains manually.
- Vehicles will carry ration in a particular street or lane and employees of ration dealers will make the food grains available to the people near their residence.
Key arrangements
- The state govt would provide around 21,000 ration dealers with the financial assistance of ₹1 lakh each to purchase vehicles for delivering ration to people in this manner.
- It also announced financial assistance to ration dealers to hire additional staff to make the scheme a success.
Back2Basics: Public Distribution System
- The PDS is an Indian food Security System established under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution.
- PDS evolved as a system of management of scarcity through the distribution of food grains at affordable prices.
- PDS is operated under the joint responsibility of the Central and State Governments.
- The Central Government, through the Food Corporation of India (FCI), has assumed the responsibility for procurement, storage, transportation, and bulk allocation of food grains to the State Governments.
- The operational responsibilities including allocation within the State, identification of eligible families, issue of Ration Cards and supervision of the functioning of Fair Price Shops (FPSs) etc., rest with the State Governments.
- Under the PDS, presently the commodities namely wheat, rice, sugar and kerosene are being allocated to the States/UTs for distribution. Some States/UTs also distribute additional items of mass consumption through the PDS outlets such as pulses, edible oils, iodized salt, spices, etc.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Taproot upgrade in Bitcoins
Mains level: Cryptocurrencies regulation in India
Bitcoin went through a major upgrade that enables its blockchain to execute more complex transactions, potentially widening the virtual currency’s use cases and making it a little more competitive with Ethereum for processing smart contracts.
What is the new upgrade?
- The enhancement, called Taproot, is the most significant change to the bitcoin protocol since the SegWit (Segregated Witness) block capacity change in 2017.
- SegWit effectively increased the number of transactions that could fit into a block by pulling data on signatures from bitcoin transactions.
- Smart contracts are self-executing transactions whose results depend on pre-programmed inputs.
What is Taproot?
- The Taproot upgrade consists of three separate upgrade proposals.
- However, at its core, the upgrade introduces a new digital signature scheme called “Schnorr” that will help bitcoin transactions become more efficient and more private.
- Schnorr can also be leveraged to let bitcoin users execute more complex smart contracts.
When was Taproot officially activated?
- Taproot was officially activated on block 709,632.
- Blockchains settle transactions in batches or blocks.
- Each block can contain only a certain number of transactions.
What is its impact on Bitcoin?
- The biggest impact would be the bitcoin network’s ability to process more smart contracts, similar to what Ethereum does.
- Bitcoin has historically been much more limited in processing smart contracts compared with Ethereum.
- Taproot increases privacy by obscuring what type of transaction is being executed.
What are the other enhancements?
- The Schnorr signatures can make more complex transactions on the bitcoin protocol, such as those from wallets that require multiple signatures, look like just any other transaction.
- This makes transactions more private and more secure.
- Bitcoin transactions will also become more data-efficient, optimizing block capacity and leading to lower transaction fees.
What does Taproot mean for investors?
- Large-scale upgrades have paved the way for the next phase of innovation in the bitcoin network.
- The last major upgrade in 2017 helped launch the Lightning Network, which facilitated much faster and cheaper bitcoin payments than before.
- Taproot to lead to a similar wave of innovation in bitcoin centered around smart contracts.
Also read:
Cryptocurrency
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Best Tourism Villages Initiative
Mains level: Bhoodan Movement
Pochampally village in Telangana is set to be named as one of the best Tourism Villages by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.
Best Tourism Villages Initiative
- The Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO Pilot initiative aims to award those villages which are outstanding examples of rural destinations and showcase good practices in line with its specified nine evaluation areas.
- It also aims to support villages to enhance their rural tourism potential through training and access to opportunities for improvement.
Key objectives
- Reduce regional inequalities in income and development
- Fight rural depopulation
- Progress gender equality and women’s and youth empowerment
- Enhance education and skills development
About Pochampally
- Pochampally, 50 Kms from Hyderabad, is a town in Nalgonda district of Telangana.
- It is often referred to as the Silk City of India for the exquisite sarees that are woven through a unique style called Ikat.
- It is also known as Bhoodan Pochampally to commemorate the Bhoodan Movement that was launched by Acharya Vinobha Bhave from this village on April 18th, 1951.
- Currently, a two-room Vinobha Bhave Mandir exists within the village which was earlier the place where Vinobha Bhave resided during his visit to the village.
What is Pochampally Ikat?
- Ikat is a Malaysian, Indonesian word that means “Tie and Dye”.
- For this style, Pochampally Ikat, received a Geographical Indicator (GI Status) in 2004.
- Ikat involves the process of wrapping (or tying) and dyeing sections of bundled yarn to a predetermined colour pattern before they are woven.
- The dye penetrates into exposed sections while the wrapped section remains undyed.
- This pattern formed by the yarn in this process is woven into fabric.
Back2Basics: Bhoodan Movement
- The Bhoodan movement (Land Gift movement), also known as the Bloodless Revolution, was a voluntary land reform movement.
- It was initiated by Vinoba Bhave, a staunch Gandhian in 1951 at Pochampally village, which is now in Telangana, and known as Bhoodan Pochampally.
- The movement attempted to persuade wealthy landowners to voluntarily give a percentage of their land to landless people.
- Philosophically, Bhave was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s Sarvodaya movement and Gram Swarajya.
- Landless laborers were given small plots that they could settle and grow their crops on.
- Bhoodan Acts were passed that stated that the beneficiary had no right to sell the land or use it for non-agricultural purposes or for forestry.
Try this PYQ:
Q. With reference to land reforms in independent India, which one of the following statements is correct?
(a) The ceiling laws were aimed at family holdings and not individual holdings
(b) The major aim of land reforms was providing agricultural land to all the landless
(c) It resulted in cultivation of cash crops as a predominant form of cultivation
(d) Land reforms permitted no exemptions to the ceiling limits
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: DILRMP
Mains level: Land records management
Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj has recently held a workshop on Digital India Land Record Modernization Programme (DILRMP).
About DILRMP
- The DILRMP was previously known as the National Land Record Modernization Programme (NLRMP).
- It was launched in 2008 with the purpose to digitize and modernizing land records and developing a centralized land record management system.
- The DILRMP is the amalgamation of two projects:
- Computerization of Land Records (CLR)
- Strengthening of Revenue Administration and Updating of Land Records (SRA & ULR)
- The district will be taken as the unit of implementation, where all activities under the programme will converge.
Components of DILRMP
The DILRMP has 3 major components
- Computerization of land record
- Survey/re-survey
- Computerization of Registration
Key features: Unique Land Parcel Identification Numbers
- It is just like the Aadhar Number of land parcels.
- A unique ID based on Geo-coordinates of the parcels is generated and assigned to the plots.
- This has been introduced to share the computerized digital land record data among different States/Sectors and a uniform system of assigning a unique ID to the land parcel across the country.
Benefits offered
The citizen is expected to benefit from DILRMP in one or more of the following ways;
- Real-time land ownership records will be available to the citizen
- Property owners will have free access to their records without any compromise in regard to the confidentiality of the information
- Abolition of stamp papers and payment of stamp duty and registration fees through banks, etc. will also reduce interface with the Registration machinery
- These records will be tamper-proof
- This method will permit e-linkages to credit facilities
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: AUKUS
Mains level: Paper 2- EU's role in Indo-Pacific
Context
Speedy development of the Quad comprising Australia, Japan, India and the U.S.; the emergence of AUKUS comprising Australia, the U.K. and the U.S.; and other alignments raise the question: where does Europe stand in relation to this churning?
Significance of EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy
- Europe’s Asia connect is old, strong and multi-layered.
- Since 2018, countries such as France, the Netherlands, Germany and the U.K. announced their specific policies towards the Indo-Pacific.
- The announcement by the Council of the European Union of its initial policy conclusions in April, followed by the unveiling of the EU strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific on September 16, are notable.
- Focus on security and development: The policy document also says cooperation will be strengthened in sustainable and inclusive prosperity, green transition, ocean governance, digital governance and partnerships, connectivity, security and defence, and human security.
Way forward for EU
- Support France: The EU’s security and defence capabilities are quite limited, as compared to the U.S. and China.
- To obviate an imbalance in favour of economic links, EU will need to give adequate space and support to France which has sizeable assets and linkages with the Indo-Pacific.
- Coordination with UK: EU also must forge strategic coordination with the U.K. as the latter prepares to expand its role in Asia as part of its ‘Global Britain’ strategy.
- Leverage economic power: As a major economic power, the EU has an excellent chance of success in its trade negotiations with Australia, Indonesia and New Zealand; economic partnership agreement with the East African Community; and in forging fisheries agreements and green alliances.
- To achieve all this and more, EU must increase its readiness to share its financial resources and new technologies with partners.
- Internally coordinated approach:Many states view China as a great economic opportunity, but others are acutely conscious of the full contours of the China challenge.
- Russia next door is the more traditional threat. It is increasingly on China’s side.
- Hence, the EU should find it easy to cooperate with the Quad.
- AUKUS, endeavours by a part of the western alliance to bolster naval and technological facilities to deal with China should be welcome.
Way forward for India
- India’s pivotal position in the region necessitates a closer India-EU partnership.
- Early conclusion of an ambitious and comprehensive trade agreement and a standalone investment protection agreement will be major steps.
- Cooperation in Industry 4.0 technologies is desirable.
- Consolidating and upgrading defence ties with France, Germany and the U.K. should also remain a significant priority.
Conclusion
The EU can create a vantage position for itself in the Indo-Pacific by being more candid with itself, more assertive with China, and more cooperative with India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Lapis Lazuli corridor
Mains level: Paper 2- India-Turkey relations
Context
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been playing internationalist card for national benefit. India, which has been worried about Erdogan’s Islamist politics, must now begin to pay attention to another political idea from the Turkish president — promoting pan-Turkism.
Impact of political ideas on global politics
- Internationalism based on religion, region or secular ideologies has always run headlong into resistance from sectarianism and nationalism.
- Yet, these ideas have a profound impact on global politics.
- Calls for regionalism and internationalism as well as religious and ethnic solidarity often end up as instruments for the pursuit of national interest.
The rise of pan-Turkism
- Foundation of OTS: The international symbol of solidarity among peoples of Turkic ethnicity has been the Council of Turkic States, formed in 2009 by Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
- At a summit of the Council’s leaders last week in Istanbul, it was announced that the forum has been elevated to an “Organisation of Turkic States”.
- Hungary, which has a long history of association with Turkic people, and Turkmenistan have observer status.
- At least a dozen other countries have apparently shown interest in getting observer status.
- Implications: There is no escaping the fact that Turkey is determined to rewrite the geopolitics of Eurasia.
- The rise of pan-Turkism is bound to have important consequences for Afghanistan, the Caucasus, Central Asia and, more broadly, India’s Eurasian neighbourhood.
Rise of Turkey in Central Asia
- Soft power initiatives: Over the last three decades, a number of soft power initiatives — in education, culture, and religion — have raised Turkey’s profile in Central Asia and generated new bonds with the region’s elites.
- Military power: It is in the domains of hard power — commercial and military — that Turkey’s progress has been impressive.
- Turkey has stunned much of the world with its military power projection into the region.
- That Kazakhstan, a member of the Russia-led regional security bloc, is moving towards strategic cooperation with Turkey, a member of US-led NATO, points to the thickening pan-Turkic bonds in a rapidly changing regional order.
- The dominance of economy and trade: Nearly 5,000 Turkish companies work in Central Asia. Turkish annual trade with the region is around $10 billion.
- This could change as Turkey strengthens connectivity with Central Asia through the Caucasus.
- For the Central Asian states, living under the shadow of Chinese economic power and Russian military power, Turkey offers a chance for economic diversification and greater strategic autonomy.
- Connectivity: Turkey has also made impressive progress in building transportation corridors to Central Asia and beyond, to China, Georgia and Azerbaijan.
- The so-called Lapis Lazuli Corridor now connects Turkey to Afghanistan via Turkmenistan.
What should be India’s approach towards Turkey?
- Pan-Turkism is a good reason for India to explore a more purposeful engagement with Turkey.
- Issues: There is no denying that the current differences between Delhi and Ankara over Kashmir, Pakistan and Afghanistan are real and serious.
- Need for dialogue: The current political divergence only reinforces the case for a sustained dialogue between the two governments and the strategic communities of the two countries.
- Lessons for India: Turkey’s own geopolitics offers valuable lessons on how to deal with Ankara.
- That Turkey is a NATO member has not stopped Erdogan from a strategic liaison with Russian.
- Purchase of advanced weapons like S-400 missiles from Moscow does not stop Erdogan from meddling in Russia’s Central Asian backyard.
- Criticism of China’s repression of Turkic Uighurs in Xinjiang — that was once called “Eastern Turkestan” — goes hand-in-hand with deep economic collaboration with Beijing.
- What does this policy tell India? One, Erdogan’s enduring enthusiasm for Pakistan does not preclude Turkey from doing business — economic and strategic — with India.
- Limiting Turkish hegemony: Erdogan’s ambitions have offended many countries in Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Caucasus.
- Many of them are eager to expand strategic cooperation with India in limiting Turkish hegemony.
- This opens a range of new opportunities for Indian foreign and security policy in Eurasia.
- Imperative to engage: Sceptics will point to the fact that Erdogan’s time is running out.
- That does not, however, alter the Indian imperative to engage with Turkey.
Consider the question “Turkey’s influence in Eurasian region is expanding. In this context examine the issues that adds friction between India and Turkey and suggest the approach India should adopt in dealing with Turkey.”
Conclusion
Independent India has struggled to develop good relations with Turkey over the decades. A hard-headed approach in Delhi today, however, might open new possibilities with Ankara and in Turkey’s Eurasian periphery.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Digital currencies
Mains level: Paper 3- CBDC and challenges
Context
Recently, Nigeria joined the Bahamas and five islands in the East Caribbean as the only economies to have introduced central bank digital currency (CBDC). This is a shortlist, but one that is likely to be supplemented.
Benefits of CBDC
- Desire to make domestic payments systems and cross-border remittances cheaper, faster and more efficient, and deepen financial inclusion, represent key areas of priority for most other emerging market and development economies (EMDEs).
- Between 2019 and 2021, the last three surveys conducted by the Bank for International Settlements showed that the primary drivers for central banks of EMDEs to study CBDCs were domestic payments efficiency, financial inclusion and payments safety.
Design features of CBDCs
- In theory, the potential of CBDCs are only limited by their design and the capabilities of the central bank issuing it, but their appropriateness and form also depend on the state of the domestic banking and payments industry.
- Ultimately, CBDCs must be seen as a means to an end.
- A particular CBDC could, for example, be account-based or tokenised, may be distributed directly by the central bank or through intermediaries, may be interest-bearing (even the possibility of a negative interest has been considered), may be programmable, may offer limited pseudonymity to its holders (similar to, but not to the extent of, cash) and so on.
- Whether it may be one or the other depends on what its country requires it to be.
Challenges
- An economy that adopts an interest-bearing CBDC could make the interest rate on CBDCs the main tool of monetary policy transmission domestically (assuming a high degree of substitution of fiat and fiat-like currency).
- On the other hand, as former RBI Governor D Subbarao recently warned, rendering an Indian CBDC as an interest-bearing instrument could pose an existential threat to the banking system by eroding its critical role as intermediaries in the economy.
- If CBDCs compete with bank deposits and facilitate a reduction of bank-held deposits, banks stand to lose out on an important and stable source of funding.
- Banks may respond by increasing deposit rates, but this would necessitate a higher lending rate to preserve margins, and dampen lending activities.
- The resultant shrinking of balance sheets will lead to a more pronounced disintermediation role for financial institutions, which could have long-term effects on financial stability, and facilitate easier bank runs.
- The introduction of CBDCs would require central banks to maintain much larger balance sheets, even in non-crisis times.
- They would need to replace the lost funding (because of migration of deposits) by lending potentially huge sums to financial institutions, while purchasing correspondingly huge amounts of government and possibly private securities.
- CBDCs could also have implications for the state from seigniorage as the cost of printing, storing, transporting and distributing currency can be reduced.
Conclusion
Recent comments by RBI officials have focussed on the desirability of introducing CBDCs. But the path to a “Digital Rupee” is not clear.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Digital connectivity and social sector of India
A recent survey released seeks to analyze the COVID-impact on digital connectivity in the context of healthcare, education, and work.
About the Survey
- LIRNEasia, an Asia Pacific think tank focussed on digital policy, tied up with the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).
- They took part in a global study funded by the Canada’s International Development Centre to assess the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 .
- They sought to analyse access to services, with a focus on digital technologies in healthcare, education and work.
Highlights of the Survey:
[A] Internet Access and Use
(1) Internet users
- The survey found that 47% of the population are Internet users, a significant jump from the 19% who were identified as Internet users in late 2017.
- At least 5 crores have already become new Internet users in 2021.
(2) Gender and internet
- Men still use the Internet more than women.
- There is a 37% gender gap among users, although this is half of the 57% gap present four years ago.
(3) Rural-urban Gap
- The rural-urban gap has dropped from 48% in 2017 to just 20% now as more rural residents come online.
(4) Education
- Among those with college education, 89% are Internet users, compared to 60% of those who completed secondary school.
- Only 23% of those who dropped out of school after Class 8, and 9% of those without any education, are able to use the Internet.
Major inferences drawn
- Among non-users, lack of awareness is still the biggest hurdle.
- The percentage of non-users who said they do not know what the Internet is dropped from 82% to 49% over the last four years.
- Increasingly, lack of access to devices and lack of skills are the reason why people do not go online.
Loopholes in Remote Education
- 80% of school-age children in the country had no access to remote education at all during the 18 months of lockdown.
- This happened even though 64% of households actually had Internet
- Situation was worse for those homes without Internet connections, where only 8% of children received any sort of remote education.
[B] Internet connectivity
- Apart from not having any devices, poor 3G/4G signal and high data cost were listed as the biggest hurdles.
- Even among the 20% who received education, only half had access to live online classes which required a good Internet connection and exclusive use of a device.
- Most depended on recorded lessons and WhatsApp messages which could be sent to a parent’s phone and downloaded at leisure.
- Others were able to have more direct contact with teachers via phone calls or physical visits.
Worst consequences: Dropouts
- Nationwide, 38% of households said at least one child had dropped out of school completely due to COVID-19.
- The situation was significantly worse among those from lower socio-economic classes, or where the head of the household had lower education levels.
[C] Internet access and healthcare
- About 15% required healthcare access for non-COVID related purposes during the most severe national and State lockdown.
- Of the 14% who required ongoing treatment for chronic conditions, over a third missed at least one appointment due to the lockdown.
- Telemedicine and online doctor consultations surged during these times, but only 38% said they were able to access such services.
- With regard to COVID-19, about 40% of respondents depended on television channels for advice as their most trusted source.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Global illegal migrants crisis
Thousands of migrants have flocked to Belarus’ border with Poland, hoping to get to Western Europe.
Background of the crisis
- Belarus was rocked by months of massive protests following the August 2020 election that gave authoritarian President Lukashenko a sixth term in office.
- The opposition and the West rejected the result.
- Belarusian authorities responded to the demonstrations with a fierce crackdown that saw more than 35,000 people arrested and thousands beaten by police.
- The European Union and the US reacted by imposing sanctions on Lukashenko’s government.
Immediate trigger
- The restrictions were toughened after an incident when a passenger jet flying from Greece to Lithuania was diverted by Belarus to Minsk, where authorities arrested a dissident journalist.
- The EU called it air piracy and barred Belarusian carriers from its skies.
- It cut imports of the country’s top commodities, including petroleum products and potash, an ingredient in fertilizer.
Infused by migration
- The EU sanctions deprived Lukashenko government of funds needed to contain flows of migrants.
- Planes carrying migrants from Iraq, Syria and other countries began arriving in Belarus, and they soon headed for the borders with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
Rising tensions
- Belarus is estimated to host between 5,000 and 20,000 migrants from the Middle East and Africa.
- Many have run out of money and grown increasingly desperate as the winter approaches.
- Belarusian residents are uneasy about their presence, raising pressure on the authorities to act.
Reservations by EU
- The EU accused Lukashenko of using the migrants as pawns in a “hybrid attack” against the 27-nation bloc in retaliation for the sanctions.
- Lukashenko denies the flow of migrants and said the EU is violating migrants’ rights by denying them safe passage.
What has been the response by EU countries?
- Lithuania introduced a state of emergency to deal with small groups of migrants and strengthen its border with Belarus.
- It set up tent camps to accommodate the growing number of migrants.
- Polish authorities prevented hundreds of attempts by migrants to cross reporting many deaths.
- The EU has made a strong show of solidarity with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
What is Russia’s role?
- Belarus has received strong support from its main ally, Russia, which has helped rise Lukashenko’s government with loans and political support.
- Russia considers the migrant flows resulting from the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Western-backed Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa.
- It challenged the EU to offer financial assistance to Belarus to deal with the influx.
- At the same time, the Kremlin angrily rejected Poland’s claim that Russia bears responsibility for the crisis.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), IAEA
Mains level: Nuclear disarmament
Iran has invited the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for talks after the UN official expressed concern over a lack of contact with Iranian authorities.
What is IAEA?
- The IAEA is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons.
- As the preeminent nuclear watchdog under the UN, the IAEA is entrusted with the task of upholding the principles of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1970.
- It was established as an autonomous organization on July 29, 1957, at the height of the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
- Though established independently of the UN through its own international treaty, the agency reports to both the UN General Assembly and the UNSC.
IAEA Missions
The IAEA is generally described as having three main missions:
- Peaceful uses: Promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy by its member states,
- Safeguards: Implementing safeguards to verify that nuclear energy is not used for military purposes, and
- Nuclear safety: Promoting high standards for nuclear safety
What are its safeguards?
- Safeguards are activities by which the IAEA can verify that a State is living up to its international commitments not to use nuclear programs for nuclear weapons purposes.
- Safeguards are based on assessments of the correctness and completeness of a State’s declared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities.
- Verification measures include on-site inspections, visits, and ongoing monitoring and evaluation.
Basically, two sets of measures are carried out in accordance with the type of safeguards agreements in force with a State.
- Verifying state reports of declared nuclear material and activities.
- Verifying the non-diversion of declared nuclear material and providing assurances as to the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in a State.
Try this question from CSP 2020:
Q.In India, why are some nuclear reactors kept under “IAEA Safeguards” while others are not?
(a) Some use Uranium and others use thorium.
(b) Some use imported uranium and others use domestic supplies.
(c) Some are operated by foreign enterprises and others are operated by domestic enterprises.
(d) Some are State- owned and others are privately-owned.
Post your answers here.
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Back2Basics: Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
- The NPT is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
- The Treaty represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States.
- Opened for signature in 1968, the Treaty entered into force in 1970.
- India is one of the only five countries that either did not sign the NPT or signed but withdrew, thus becoming part of a list that includes Pakistan, Israel, North Korea, and South Sudan.
- India always considered the NPT as discriminatory and had refused to sign it.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Kartarpur Corridor, R Ravi
Mains level: Pilgrim tourism and diplomacy
The government is considering reopening the Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara corridor to Pakistan this week for Gurpurab or Prakash Parv.
Kartarpur Corridor
- The Kartarpur corridor connects the Darbar Sahib Gurdwara in Narowal district of Pakistan with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in India’s Punjab province.
- The name Kartarpur means “Place of God”.
- The first guru of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, founded Kartarpur in 1504 AD on the right bank of the Ravi River.
Inception of the project
- The Kartarpur Corridor was first proposed in early 1999 by then PMs Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif as part of the Delhi–Lahore Bus diplomacy.
- The project is now compared to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, as it could help in easing tensions between the two countries.
Conditions for the pilgrimage (from Indian side)
- Only Indians resident or overseas citizens can travel by corridor, Pakistanis cannot.
- Children or aged persons of all ages can register to apply.
- After 15 days of travel by corridor another registration can be done for second visit.
- Registration can only be done online at a mentioned website of Indian Government
About Guru Nanak
- Guru Nanak Dev (1469-1539) also referred to as Baba Nanak was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus.
- He advocated the ‘Nirguna’ form of Bhakti. He rejected sacrifices, ritual baths, image worship, austerities and the scriptures of both Hindus and Muslims.
- He appointed one of his disciples, Angad, to succeed him as the preceptor (guru), and this practice was followed for nearly 200 years.
- The fifth preceptor, Guru Arjan, compiled his hymns along with those of his four successors and also other religious poets, like Baba Farid, Ravidas, and Kabir, in the Adi Granth Sahib.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Creating safe digital spaces
Context
Various reports have indicated increased incidence of cyberbullying and online child sexual exploitation by adults.
Tackling cyberbullying
- School closures as a response to the COVID-19 lockdowns have led to an unprecedented rise in unsupervised screen time for children and young people, which in turn exposed them to a greater risk of online violence.
- In India, an estimated 71 million children aged 5-11 years access the Internet on the devices of their family members, constituting about 14% of the country’s active Internet user base of over 500 million
- There is growing scientific evidence which suggests that cyberbullying has negative consequences on the education, health and well-being of children and young people.
- Published in 2019 and drawing on data from 144 countries, UNESCO’s report ‘Behind the numbers: Ending school violence and bullying’ highlighted the extent of the problem, with almost one in three students worldwide reporting being bullied at least once in the preceding month.
- Therefore, cyberbullying prevention interventions should aim at tackling all types of bullying and victimisation experiences at the same time, as opposed to each in silo.
Cyberbullying prevention interventions
- Although online violence is not limited to school premises, the education system plays a crucial role in addressing online safety.
- To prevent and counter cyberbullying, the information booklet brought out by UNESCO in partnership with NCERT on Safe Online Learning in Times of COVID-19 can be a useful reference.
- Effective interventions also require gender-sensitive and targeted approaches that respond to needs of learners who are most likely to be the victims of online violence.
- Concerted efforts must be made to provide children and young people with the knowledge and skills to identify online violence so that they can protect themselves from its different forms, whether perpetrated by peers or adults.
- Teachers also play a critical role by teaching students about online safety, and thus supporting parental involvement.
Conclusion
It is imperative that digital and social media platforms are free of cyberbullying, if learners have to access quality education. More importantly, confidential reporting and redress services must be established.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- COP26 achievements and disappointments
Context
The Glasgow Climate Pact was adopted on Saturday and, as was to be expected, it is a mixed bag of modest achievements and disappointed expectations.
Transition away from fossil fuel
- The Pact is the first clear recognition of the need to transition away from fossil fuels, though the focus was on giving up coal-based power altogether.
- India introduced an amendment at the last moment to replace this phrase with “phase down” and this played negatively with both the advanced as well as a large constituency of developing countries.
- This amendment reportedly came as a result of consultations among India, China, the UK and the US.
- As the largest producer and consumer of coal and coal-based thermal power, it is understandable that China would prefer a gradual reduction rather than total elimination.
- India may have had similar concerns.
Recognition of Adaptation
- There is a welcome recognition of the importance of Adaptation and there is a commitment to double the current finance available for this to developing countries.
- Since this amount is currently only $15 billion, doubling will mean $ 30 billion.
- This remains grossly inadequate.
- According to UNEP, adaptation costs for developing countries are currently estimated at $70 billion annually and will rise to an estimated $130-300 billion annually by 2030.
- A start is being made in formulating an adaptation plan and this puts the issue firmly on the Climate agenda, balancing the overwhelming focus hitherto on mitigation.
Disappointment on the issue of finance
- The Paris Agreement target of $100 billion per annum between 2005-2020 was never met with the shortfall being more than half, according to some calculations.
- There is now a renewed commitment to delivering on this pledge in the 2020-2025 period and there is a promise of an enhanced flow thereafter.
- But in a post-pandemic global economic slowdown, it is unlikely these promises will be met.
- In any event, it is unlikely that India will get even a small slice of the pie.
- The same applies to the issue of compensation for loss and damage for developing countries who have suffered as a result of climate change for which they have not been responsible.
Initiatives on methane and deforestation
- Two important plurilateral outcomes could potentially develop into more substantial measures.
- The most important is an agreement among 100 countries to cut methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.
- India is not a part of this group.
- Cutting methane emissions, which is generated mainly by livestock, is certainly useful but there is a much bigger methane emergency around the corner as the earth’s permafrost areas in Siberia, Greenland and the Arctic littoral begin to melt due to global warming that has already taken place and will continue to take place in the coming years.
- Another group of 100 countries has agreed to begin to reverse deforestation by 2030.
- India did not join the group due to concerns over a clause on possible trade measures related to forest products.
Implications of US-China Joint Declaration on Climate Change for India
- Declaration was a departure for China, which had held that bilateral cooperation on climate change could not be insulated from other aspects of their relations.
- The declaration implies a shift in China’s hardline position.
- It appears both countries are moving towards a less confrontational, more cooperative relationship overall.
- This will have geopolitical implications, including for India, which may find its room for manoeuvre shrinking.
Conclusion
As in the past, the can has been kicked down the road, except that the climate road is fast approaching a dead-end. What provides a glimmer of light is the incredible and passionate advocacy of urgent action by young people across the world. This is putting enormous pressure on governments and leaders and if sustained, may become irresistible.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Glasgow Agreement
Mains level: Success and failures of Glasgow COP
The Glasgow Agreement was finally adopted after a last-minute intervention by India to water down language on “phasing out” coal to merely “phasing down”.
Glasgow Agreement
- The Glasgow meeting was the 26th session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP26.
- These meetings are held every year to construct a global response to climate change.
- Each of these meetings produce a set of decisions which are given different names.
- In the current case, this has been called the Glasgow Climate Pact.
- Earlier, these meetings have also delivered two treaty-like international agreements, the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and the Paris Agreement in 2015.
What was achieved?
[1] Mitigation:
- The Glasgow agreement has emphasised that stronger action in the current decade was most critical to achieving the 1.5-degree target.
- Accordingly, it has asked/decided:
- To strengthen their 2030 climate action plans, or NDCs (nationally-determined contributions), by next year
- Establish a work programme to urgently scale-up mitigation ambition and implementation
- To convene an annual meeting of ministers to raise ambition of 2030 climate actions
- Annual synthesis report on what countries were doing
- To convene a meeting of world leaders in 2023 to scale-up ambition of climate action
- Countries to make efforts to reduce usage of coal as a source of fuel, and abolish “inefficient” subsidies on fossil fuels
- Phase-down of coal, and phase-out of fossil fuels. This is the first time that coal has been explicitly mentioned in any COP decision.
[2] Adaptation:
- Most of the countries, especially the smaller and poorer ones, and the small island states, consider adaptation to be the most important component of climate action.
- They have been demanding that at least half of all climate finance should be directed towards adaptation efforts.
- As such, the Glasgow Climate Pact has:
- Asked the developed countries to at least double the money being provided for adaptation by 2025 from the 2019 levels.
- Created a two-year work programme to define a global goal on adaptation.
[3] Finance:
- Every climate action has financial implications. It is now estimated that trillions of dollars are required every year to fund all the actions necessary to achieve the climate targets.
- Developed countries are under an obligation, due to their historical responsibility in emitting greenhouse gases.
- They need to provide finance and technology to the developing nations to help them deal with climate change.
- In 2009, developed countries had promised to mobilise at least $100 billion every year from 2020.
- The 2020 deadline has long passed but the $100 billion promise has not been fulfilled.
- The developed nations have now said that they will arrange this amount by 2023.
[4] Accounting earlier failures
The pact has:
- Expressed “deep regrets” over the failure of the developed countries to deliver on their $100 billion promise.
- It has asked them to arrange this money urgently and in every year till 2025
- Initiated discussions on setting the new target for climate finance, beyond $100 billion for the post-2025 period
- Asked the developed countries to provide transparent information about the money they plan to provide
[5] Loss and Damage:
The frequency of climate disasters has been rising rapidly, and many of these caused largescale devastation.
- There is no institutional mechanism to compensate these nations for the losses, or provide them help in the form of relief and rehabilitation.
- The loss and damage provision in the Paris Agreement seeks to address that.
- Thanks to a push from many nations, substantive discussions on loss and damage could take place in Glasgow.
- One of the earlier drafts included a provision for setting up of a facility to coordinate loss and damage activities.
[6] Carbon Markets:
- Carbon markets facilitate the trading of emission reductions.
- They are considered a very important and effective instrument to reduce overall emissions.
- A carbon market existed under Kyoto Protocol but is no longer there because the Protocol itself expired last year.
- Developing countries like India, China or Brazil have large amounts of carbon credits left over because of the lack of demand as many countries abandoned their emission reduction targets.
- The Glasgow Pact has offered some reprieve to the developing nations.
- It has allowed these carbon credits to be used in meeting countries’ first NDC targets.
Parallel Processes announced
A lot of substantial action in Glasgow happened in parallel processes that were not a part of the official COP discussions.
- India announced a Panchamrita (a mixture of five elements) of climate actions.
- Brazil would advance its net-zero target year from 2060 to 2050.
- China promised to come out with a detailed roadmap for its commitment to let emissions peak in 2030, and also for its 2060 net-zero target. Israel announced a net zero target for 2050.
- Over 100 countries pledged to reduce methane emissions by at least 30 per cent from present levels by 2030.
- Another set of over 100 countries promised to arrest and reverse deforestation by 2030.
- Over 30 countries signed on to a declaration promising to work towards a transition to 100 percent zero-emission cars by the year 2040, at least in the leading car markets of the world.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: S-400 Triumf system
Mains level: India's assertion for Strategic Autonomy
The arrival of the $5.4-billion Russian long-range surface-to-air missile defence shield “S-400” is expected next month, which is likely to generate more international headlines.
About S-400
- The S-400 is known as Russia’s most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system, capable of destroying hostile strategic bombers, jets, missiles and drones at a range of 380-km.
US reservations against S-400 purchase
- The US has made it clear that the delivery of the five S-400 systems is considered a “significant transaction”.
- Such deals are considered under its Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) of 2017.
- It could trigger sanctions against Indian officials and the Government.
About CAATSA
- The CAATSA is designed to ensure that no country is able to increase military engagement with Iran, North Korea and Russia without facing deterrent punitive action from the US.
- The sanctions are unilateral, and not part of any United Nations decision, and therefore no country is bound to accept them.
- Section 231 says the President shall impose no fewer than five different sanctions on any Government that enters into a significant defence or intelligence deal with Russia.
- Section 235 lists 12 options, including stopping credit lines from US and international banks such as the IMF, blocking sales of licensed goods and technology, banning banks, manufacturers and suppliers, property transactions and even financial and visa sanctions on specific officials.
- However, the law also empowers the President to waiver sanctions or delay them if the waiver is in the US’s “vital national security interests”.
Has the US used CAATSA before for S-400 sales?
- The US has already placed sanctions on China and Turkey for purchase of the S-400.
- The sanctions included denial of export licences, ban on foreign exchange transactions, blocking of all property and interests in property within the US jurisdiction and a visa ban.
Types of sanctions laid
- In 2020, the US sanctioned its NATO partner Turkey, which it had warned about CAATSA sanctions for years, besides cancelling a deal to sell Ankara F-35 jets.
- The sanctions on Turkey’s main defence procurement agency, also included a ban on licences and loans, and blocking of credit and visas to related officials.
Likely impacts after India’s purchase
- The Biden administration has no firm indication on where it leans on India’s case.
- However, several senators (US parliamentarians) have called upon the Biden administration to consider a special waiver for India.
- This is on account of India’s importance as a defence partner, and as a strategic partner on US concerns over China and in the Quad.
- Other US leaders thinks that giving a waiver to India would be the wrong signal for others seeking to go ahead with similar deals.
Why is the S-400 deal so important to India?
- Security paradigm: S-400 is very important for India’s national security considerations due to the threats from China, Pakistan and now Afghanistan.
- Air defence capability: The system will also offset the air defence capability gaps due to the IAF’s dwindling fighter squadron strength.
- Russian legacy: Integrating the S-400 will be much easier as India has a large number of legacy Russian air defence systems.
- Strategic autonomy: For both political as well as operational reasons, the deal is at a point of no return.
Conclusion
- The deal is a way for the Government to assert its strategic autonomy.
- India had earlier agreed to stop buying Iranian oil over the threat of sanctions in 2019, a move that caused India both financial and reputational damage.
- Not giving in to the US’s unilateral sanctions would be one way to restore some of that.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, RBI Retail Direct Scheme
Mains level: Not Much
The RBI has announced proposals for the Retail Direct Scheme for investors in government securities and the Integrated Ombudsman Scheme.
What is the Retail Direct Scheme?
- Under the scheme, small investors can buy or sell government securities (G-Secs), or bonds, directly without an intermediary like a mutual fund.
- It is similar to placing funds in debt instruments such as fixed deposits in banks.
- However, the same tax rules apply to income from G-Secs.
Benefits of RDS
- With the government being the borrower, there is a sovereign guarantee for the funds and hence zero risk of default.
- Also, government securities may offer better interest rates than bank fixed deposits, depending on prevailing interest rate trends.
- For example, the latest yield on the benchmark 10-year government securities is 6.366%.
How can individuals access G-Sec offerings?
- Investors wishing to open a Retail Direct Gilt account directly with the RBI can do so through an online portal set up for the purpose of the scheme.
- Once the account is activated with the aid of a password sent to the user’s mobile phone, investors will be permitted to buy securities either in the primary market or in the secondary market.
- The minimum amount for a bid is ₹10,000 and in multiples of ₹10,000 thereafter. Payments may be made through Net banking or the UPI platform.
Why was it necessary to introduce this scheme?
- Broader investor base: The scheme would help broaden the investor base and provide retail investors with enhanced access to the government securities market — both primary and secondary.
- Institutional investment: Accessing retail investors could free up room for companies to bring funds from institutional investors which may otherwise have been cornered by the government.
- Diverse borrowing for government: This scheme would facilitate smooth completion of the Government borrowing programme in 2021-22.
- Structural reform: It is a major structural reform placing India among select few countries which have similar facilities.
Why is the RBI setting up an Integrated Ombudsman?
- Prior to the introduction of this scheme, the RBI had three different ombudsman schemes to aid dispute resolution with respect to banks, NBFCs, and non-bank pre-paid payment issuers (PPIs).
- They were operated by the RBI through 22 ombudsman offices.
- The RBI would now appoint the Ombudsman and a Deputy Ombudsman for three years.
- Complaints may be made either physically to the Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre or the RBI’s offices; or electronically through the regulator’s complaint management system.
Back2Basics: Government Securities
- These are debt instruments issued by the government to borrow money.
- The two key categories are:
- Treasury bills (T-Bills) – short-term instruments which mature in 91 days, 182 days, or 364 days, and
- Dated securities – long-term instruments, which mature anywhere between 5 years and 40 years
- T-Bills are issued only by the central government, and the interest on them is determined by market forces.
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