Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Eurasian Economic Union
Mains level: Paper 2- Multipolar world
Four middle powers: India, Japan, China and Turkey anchor the world to multipolarity. The article deals with this issue.
New cold war
- In respect of three crucial relationships, namely China, Russia and Iran, Mr. Biden is following in the footsteps of his predecessor.
- Mr. Biden has also extended his firm backing for the “Indo-Pacific” and the associated alignment — the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad for short.
- The U.S. continues to view China as its principal adversary on the world stage and that it will use the Quad to challenge China in the Indo-Pacific.
- The U.S.’s hostility for Russia goes back to the latter’s war with Ukraine and the occupation of Crimea in 2014, followed by allegations of Russian cyber-interference in the U.S. presidential elections of 2016.
- U.S. animosity has encouraged China and Russia to solidify their relations.
- The two countries have agreed to harmonise their visions under the Eurasian Economic Union sponsored by Russia and China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
- This idea has now been subsumed under the ‘Greater Eurasian Partnership’ to which both are committed.
- Thus, the new Cold War is now being reflected in a new geopolitical binary — the Indo-Pacific versus Eurasia.
How middle powers can play an important role
- Four nations, Japan, Iran, Turkey and India, which, as “middle powers”, have the capacity to project power regionally, build alliances, and support (or disrupt) the strategies
- But all four seems to be already aligned.
- Japan and India are part of the Quad and have substantial security ties with the U.S.
- Iran has found strategic comfort with the Sino-Russian alliance.
- Turkey, a NATO member, has found its interests better-served by Russia and China rather than the U.S. and its European allies.
- So, why the uncertainty? The main reason is that, despite the allure, the four nations are not yet prepared to join immutable alliances.
Why the middle powers are reluctant to join alliances
1) India’s China concerns
- India has been expanding defence ties with the U.S. since 2016, by massive defence purchases and agreements on inter-operability and intelligence-sharing and frequent military exercises, as also the elevation of the Quad to ministerial level.
- This might have signalled to China that India was now irreversibly in the U.S. camp.
- But China has a point: while the Quad has made India a valuable partner for the U.S. in the west Pacific, neither the U.S. nor the Quad can address the challenges it faces at its 3,500-kilometre land border with China.
- Moreover, the U.S.’s intrusive approach on human rights issues ensures that India will need to manage its ties with China largely through its own efforts while retaining Russia as its defence partner.
2) Sino-Japan relations
- Japan has an ongoing territorial dispute with China relating to the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
- But there is more to Sino-Japanese relations: in 2019, 24% of Japanese imports came from China, while 19% of its exports went to China, affirming the adage.
3) Why Iran is reluctant
- The crippling sanctions on Iran and the frequent threats of regime change make it a natural ally of the Sino-Russian axis.
- However, its strategic culture eschews long-term security alignments.
4) Why Turkey is reluctant to join
- Turkey is steady distancing from its western partners and increasing geopolitical, military and economic alignment with Russia and China.
- But Turkey still wishes to keep its ties with the U.S. intact and retain the freedom to make choices.
- Its “New Asia” initiative involves the strengthening of east-west logistical and economic connectivity backed by western powers and China.
Consider the question “What are the factors India need to consider as it deepens its involvement in the Quad?”
Conclusion
As the clouds of the new Cold War gathers over the world, these four nations could find salvation in “strategic autonomy” — defined by flexible partnerships, with freedom to shape alliances to suit specific interests at different times.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pre-pack in IBC
Mains level: Paper 3- Pre-packs for MSME in IBC
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was amended recently taking into account its creditor centric approach.
Introducing pre-packs for MSMEs
- IBC was amended last week, through an ordinance.
- The amendment sought to address a structural weakness in India’s resolution architecture by introducing the concept of pre-packs for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
- The pre-packaged framework involves a privately negotiated contract between the promoters of a financially distressed firm and its financial creditors to restructure the company’s obligations.
- This contract is negotiated within the IBC architecture but before the commencement of insolvency proceedings.
- Once accepted by creditors, the plan must be presented to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for approval.
How this framework is different from the existing framework
- A firm’s promoters could have submitted a resolution plan even after it enters the insolvency proceedings, subject to restrictions imposed under Section 29A which clarifies all those who are ineligible for submitting the resolution plan.
- So, the difference in the new framework essentially boils down to the following.
1) Control of the firm
- Under the IBC, upon the initiation of insolvency proceedings, control of a firm is taken away from promoters, and a resolution professional is appointed.
- Now, during the restructuring, the promoter, through the pre-pack, retains control over the firm.
- So effectively, we have transitioned from a “creditor-in-control” model of resolution to a “debtor-in-control” model of restructuring.
- This amendment, which creates a framework for restructuring, without the promoter losing control over the firm, addresses a lacuna in the IBC.
2) Issue of price discovery
- In this arrangement, the is an absence of an open bidding process, such as during the resolution phase.
- This might raise questions over price discovery, especially if value maximisation for creditors is the yardstick to measure the efficacy of IBC.
- This marks a fundamental change in the IBC framework.
Why the changes were needed
- The IBC, while it has strengthened the position of the creditors, had swung to an extreme.
- The resolution architecture as it stood prior to this amendment was perceived as being too creditor-centric.
- Wresting control from the “errant” promoter, comes with its own set of consequences.
- The notion that all business failure is due to the connivance of promoters needs to be reconsidered.
- Firms may be unable to pay their obligations simply because the economic cycle has turned.
- Or projects have not materialised as expected.
- Of the 2,422 cases closed since IBC came into being, 46.5 per cent of the firms have gone into liquidation, while a resolution plan has been accepted in only 13.1 per cent of the cases.
- This indicates liquidation bias.
- At a time when there aren’t enough buyers in the economy, the IBC process would lead to significant value destruction.
How it will benefit both creditor and promotors
- Promoters get to hold on to their firms, and exit the process with more manageable obligations, making this an attractive proposition.
- For creditors, considering the liquidation bias in IBC, as long as the value of the restructured obligation is greater than the liquidation value it makes sense to choose this option.
- Moreover, this entire process remains outside the restructuring framework of the central bank.
- And, considering that the pre-packs encompass all financial creditors, as opposed to RBI’s restructuring schemes which deal only with banks.
- This takes into account the concerns of other financial creditors as well.
Consider the question “How far IBC has succeeded in improving the insolvency regime in India? How the concepts of pre-packs is different from the previous system?
Conclusion
This approach will help clarify issues, bring about greater certainty to the process. And, once the creases are ironed out, it will create a permanent mechanism for restructuring debts.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: State of World Population Report 2021
Mains level: Womens' right issues
The United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) flagship State of World Population Report 2021 titled ‘My Body is My Own’ was recently launched.
State of World Population Report 2021
- The State of World Population report is UNFPA’s annual flagship publication.
- It has been published yearly since 1978.
- It highlights emerging issues in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights, bringing them into the mainstream and exploring the challenges and opportunities they present for international development.
Key findings of the 2021 report
This is the first time a UN report has focused on bodily autonomy, defined as the power and agency to make choices about your body without fear of violence or having someone else decide for you.
- The report measures both women’s power to make their own decisions about their bodies and the extent to which countries’ laws support or interfere with a woman’s right to make these decisions.
- The data show a strong link between decision-making power and higher levels of education.
The report shows that in countries where data are available:
- Only 55 per cent of women are fully empowered to make choices over health care, contraception and the ability to say yes or no to sex.
- Only 71 per cent of countries guarantee access to overall maternity care.
- Only 75 per cent of countries legally ensure full, equal access to contraception.
- Only about 80 per cent of countries have laws supporting sexual health and well-being.
- Only about 56 per cent of countries have laws and policies supporting comprehensive sexuality education.
In essence, hundreds of millions of women and girls do not own their own bodies. Their lives are governed by others.
The report also documents many other ways that the bodily autonomy of women, men, girls and boys is violated, revealing that:
- Twenty countries or territories have “marry-your-rapist” laws, where a man can escape criminal prosecution if he marries the woman or girl he has raped.
- Forty-three countries have no legislation addressing the issue of marital rape (rape by a spouse).
- More than 30 countries restrict women’s right to move around outside the home.
- Girls and boys with disabilities are nearly three times more likely to be subjected to sexual violence, with girls at the greatest risk.
Solutions: the power to say yes, the right to say no
- The report shows how efforts to address abuses can lead to further violations of bodily autonomy.
- For example, to prosecute a case of rape, a criminal justice system might require a survivor to undergo an invasive so-called virginity test.
- Real solutions, the report finds, must take into account the needs and experiences of those affected.
Indian scenario
- In India, according to NFHS-4 (2015-2016), only about 12% of currently married women (15-49 years of age) independently make decisions about their own healthcare, while 63% decide in consultation with their spouse.
- For a quarter of women (23%), it is the spouse that mainly takes decisions about healthcare.
- Only 8% of currently married women (15-49 years) take decisions on the use of contraception independently, while 83% decide jointly with their spouse.
- Information provided to women about the use of contraception is also limited — only 47% of women using a contraceptive were informed about the side effects of the method, and 54% of women were provided information about other contraceptives.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NPS
Mains level: Various pension schemes in India
The National Pension System (NPS) will no longer compel investors to convert 40% of their accumulated retirement corpus into an annuity.
An annuity is a long-term investment that is issued by an insurance company and is designed to help protect you from the risk of outliving your income. Through annuitisation, your purchase payments (what you contribute) are converted into periodic payments that can last for life.
Why such a move?
- Poor yields on annuities and high inflation are translating into negative returns.
- Since annuities are taxable, deducting the tax and factoring in inflation means annuities are yielding negative returns.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Who among the following can join the National Pension System (NPS)?
(a) Resident Indian citizens only
(b) Persons of age from 21 to 55 only
(c) All-State Government employees joining the services after the date of notification by the respective State Governments
(d) All Central Governments Employees including those of Armed Forces joining the services on or after 1st April 2004
National Pension Scheme (NPS)
- NPS is a government-sponsored pension scheme. It was launched in January 2004 for government employees.
- It was extended to all citizens of Indian on a voluntary basis from May 2009 and to corporates in December 2011 and to Non-Resident Indians in October 2015.
- PFRDA is the statutory authority established by an enactment of the Parliament, to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the NPS and pension schemes to which this Act applies.
- The scheme allows subscribers to contribute regularly in a pension account during their working life.
- On retirement, subscribers can withdraw a part of the corpus in a lump sum and use the remaining corpus to buy an annuity to secure a regular income after retirement.
Who can join NPS?
- Any Indian citizen between 18 and 60 years can join NPS.
- The only condition is that the person must comply with know your customer (KYC) norms.
- An NRI can join NPS. However, the account will be closed if there is a change in the citizenship status of the NRI.
- Now, any Indian citizen, resident or non-resident and OCIs are eligible to join NPS till the age of 65 years.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Azhdarchid pterosaurs
Mains level: Not Much
Azhdarchid pterosaurs, the giant reptiles that flew in the skies nearly 65 million years ago, had necks longer than that of a giraffe (i.e. more than 6fts).
What are pterosaurs?
- Pterosaurs are reptiles that are close cousins of dinosaurs, the first animals after insects to evolve powered flight.
- Some pterosaurs were as large as an F-16 fighter jet, while others were as small as a paper aeroplane.
- Pterosaurs went extinct about 65-66 million years ago (end of the Cretaceous period) and while they did not leave any of their descendants behind.
- One reason for this is that few pterosaurs lived in places where fossils tend to form, because of which their bones are preserved poorly.
Revise the geological timescale from your NCERT textbook.
Azhdarchid pterosaurs
- They are one type of pterosaur and one of the distinguishing characteristics about them is how big they were, especially their long necks.
- Some of these pterosaurs were the largest animals to have flown in the sky, with wingspans greater than 30 feet.
- The name azhdarchid, as per a blog on Scientific American comes from Azhdarcho, a Central Asian form named by Russian ornithologist and palaeontologist in 1984.
What have the researchers found?
- Researchers involved in this study were curious about how the reptile’s long neck functioned and how it was able to support the pterosaur’s body, allowing them to capture and eat heavy prey animals.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NIXI
Mains level: Not Much
The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) has inaugurated three path-breaking initiatives for the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI).
What is NIXI?
National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) is a not-for-profit organization (section 8 of the Companies Act 2013) working since 2003 for spreading the internet infrastructure to the citizens of India through the following activities:
- Internet Exchanges through which the internet data is exchanged amongst ISP’s, Data Centers and CDNs.
- .IN Registry, managing and operation of .IN country-code domain and .भारत IDN domain for India.
- IRINN, managing and operating Internet protocol (IPv4/IPv6).
Which are the three new initiatives?
(1) IPv6 Expert Panel (IP Guru) (https://nixi.in):
- IP Guru is a group to extend support to all the Indian entities who are finding it technically challenging to migrate and adopt IPv6.
- In addition to this, the IPv6 expert group will help in identifying & hiring an agency that will help end customer by providing necessary technical support to adopt IPv6.
- This panel will guide all such Indian entities and help in increasing IPv6 adoption.
Note: An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two main functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing.
(2) NIXI Academy (https://training.nixi.in):
- NIXI Academy is created to educate technical/non-technical people in India to learn and relearn technologies like IPv6 which are normally not taught in Educational Institutes.
- NIXI academy comprises an IPv6 training portal which is developed with the help of various technical experts in order to provide mass training to the community.
- The easy-to-use platform helps network operators and educators understand networking best practices, principles and techniques; manage Internet resources better; and use appropriate Internet technologies more effectively.
(3) NIXI-IP-INDEX (https://ipv6.nixi.in):
- NIXI has developed an IPv6 index portal for the Internet community.
- NIXI-IP-INDEX portal will showcase the IPv6 adoption rate in India and across the world.
- It can be used to compare the IPv6 Indian adoption rate with other economies in the world.
- NIXI will populate this portal with web adoption in IPv6, IPv6 traffic etc. in the coming days.
- This portal will motivate organisations to adopt IPv6, provide inputs for planning by technical organisations and research by academicians.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UNCLOS
Mains level: Paper 2- Understanding the rights of the coastal state under UNCLOS
The explains the issues involved in the recent incident in which US position on freedom of navigation under UNCLOS differed from India’s.
Different positions
- On April 7, the U.S.’s 7th Fleet Destroyer conducted a ‘Freedom of Navigation Operation’ inside India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
- This exercise was conducted without requesting India’s consent.
- Moreover, the U.S. 7th Fleet noted in its press release that India’s requirement of prior consent is “inconsistent with international law”.
- However, India asserted that the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) “does not authorize other States to carry out in the Exclusive Economic Zone and on the continental shelf, military exercises or manoeuvres, in particular those involving the use of weapons or explosives, without the consent of the coastal state”.
- The question is, can countries carry out military exercises in another country’s EEZ and if yes, subject to what conditions?
UNCLOS Provisions for EEZ
- UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) binds all its signatories and customary international law binds all states, subject to exceptions like the doctrine of persistent objector.
- As per the UNCLOS, EEZ is an area adjacent to the territorial waters of a coastal state.
- Under UNCLOS, a sovereign coastal state has rights and duties relating to management of natural resources; establishment and use of artificial islands, installations and structures; marine scientific research; and protection of the marine environment.
- India is a party to the UNCLOS while the U.S. is not.
- Article 87 provides for freedom of the high seas under which all states have the freedom of navigation.
- Apart from that, states enjoy the freedom of overflight and of the laying of submarine cables and pipelines as well as other internationally lawful uses of the sea.
- However, the freedom of navigation is subject to the conditions laid down under the UNCLOS and other rules of international law.
- In addition to it, Article 58 (3) stipulates another qualification: “In exercising their rights and performing their duties under this Convention in the exclusive economic zone, States shall have due regard to the rights and duties of the coastal State and shall comply with the laws and regulations adopted by the coastal State…”.
So, what laws and regulation are adopted by India under Article 58 (3) of UNCLOS
- The relevant Indian law in this regard is the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and Other Maritime Zones of India Act, 1976.
- Section 7 sub-section 9 of this Act recognises the freedom of navigation of the ships of all States but makes them subject to the exercise of rights by India within the zone.
- Article 310 of the UNCLOS does permit states to make declarations in order to explain the relationship between the Convention and their own laws.
- The declaration by India in 1995 also states that India “understands that the provisions of the Convention do not authorize other States to carry out in the exclusive economic zone and on the continental shelf military exercises or manoeuvres.
Way forward
- Non-consensual military activities that hinder the lawful enjoyment of rights of coastal states need not be permissible.
- Also, a coastal state is naturally concerned about military exercises and manoeuvres posing a risk to its coastal communities, its installations or artificial islands, as well as the marine environment.
- Thus, any state which wishes to conduct such exercises must do so only in consultation with the coastal state since the coastal state is the best judge of its EEZ.
- Both India and the U.S. should negotiate such concerns for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Consider the question “What are the rights of coastal state on its Exclusive Economic Zone under UNCLOS? “
Conclusion
On a conjoint reading of Articles 58, 87 and 310, it can be argued that freedom of navigation cannot be read in an absolute and isolated manner.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Second wave of covid
The article suggests ways to deal with the second wave of Covid in India.
What explains the bigger second wave
- The size of any epidemic is a function of three things:
- 1) The size of the pool of the susceptible population.
- 2) The pattern of contact between the members of the population (frequency, mix, closeness and duration).
- 3) Probability of spread during that contact (infectiousness of the agent).
Let us have a look at these 3 factors in the current context
- As many people have already been infected in the first wave, the pool of susceptibles should be smaller.
- Serosurveys also support this as they found that about 25 per cent of people had already been infected nationally.
- However, this is an average and hides significant variations by state, age and place of residence.
- Populations with lower seroprevalence become the potential pool for the second wave.
- Given India’s large population base, the actual number of people are sufficiently large to enable multiple waves till we achieve a more even spread of protected people.
- The persistence of protectiveness of antibodies of those already infected and their cross-protectiveness to newer strains is not well established.
- Vaccination would reduce the pool of susceptibles.
- However, the current level of vaccination coverage is not sufficient to make a significant difference to this wave, given the fact that we are already riding it.
- It is a good strategy to prevent the next wave, if we can achieve substantial coverage with it.
- Vaccination also prevents severe disease, and hence reduces the death toll.
- With the removal of most restrictions, the probability of contact between individuals has risen sharply.
Way forward
- What can and should be avoided are super-spreader events like a crowded park, the Kumbh mela, election rallies, etc.
- A much stronger community engagement with a robust communication strategy and lesser emphasis on “criminalising” inappropriate behaviour is required.
- A nuanced communication campaign is the need of the hour and is conspicuous by its complete absence.
- What is urgently needed is a robust evidence-based communication campaign.
- Such a campaign would involve proactive serial assessment of the community perceptions and concerns, testing and refining messages through an evolving campaign.
- A district-specific strategy of “test, trace, treat” along with containment measures (isolation and quarantine) is still the best way to deal with the situation.
- We also need to put a stop to political bickering; it erodes public trust and confidence.
Conclusion
Dealing with the second wave should be based on the experience drawn from dealing with the first wave and complemented by a better communication strategy.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hallmark
Mains level: Not Much
The Centre will go ahead with its plan to mandate hallmarking of gold jewellery from June 1. The plan had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Note: Gold hallmarking is a purity certification and is voluntary at present.
What is Hallmark Gold?
- The process of certifying the purity and fineness of gold is called hallmarking.
- Bureau of Indian Standards, the National Standards Body of India, is responsible for hallmarking gold as well as silver jewellery under the BIS Act.
- If you see the BIS hallmark on the gold jewellery/gold coin, it means it conforms to a set of standards laid by the BIS. Hallmarking gives consumers assurance regarding the purity of the gold they bought.
- That is, if you are buying hallmarked 18K gold jewellery, it will actually mean that 18/24 parts are gold and the rest is alloy.
Here are the four components one must look at the time of buying gold (they are mentioned in the laser engraving of a hallmark seal):
- BIS Hallmark: Indicates that its purity is verified in one of its licensed laboratories
- Purity in carat and fineness (corresponding to given caratage KT)
- 22K916 (91.6% Purity)
- 18K750 (75% Purity)
- 14K585 (58.5% Purity)
- Assaying & Hallmarking Centre’s mark
- Jeweler’s unique identification mark
Try this PYQ from CSP 2017:
Q. Consider the following statements:
1. The Standard Mark of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is mandatory for automotive tyres and tubes.
2. AGMARK is a quality Certification Mark issued by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Why such a move now?
- As per the new rules, if jewellery or an artefact made of 14-, 18- or 22-carat gold is sold without the BIS hallmark, the jeweller could be penalized five times the cost of the object or imprisoned for up to one year.
- About 40% of gold jewellery is sold with a hallmark.
- Mandatory hallmarking would protect the public against lower caratage and ensure consumers did not get cheated while buying gold ornaments and got the purity as marked on the ornaments.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN)
Mains level: Not Much
An apex body of Naga tribes has asked the Nagaland government not to be hasty with the exercise to prepare the Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN), seen as a variant of Assam’s National Register of Citizens.
Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN)
- The Government of Nagaland has decided to set up a Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) with the aim of preventing fake indigenous inhabitants’ certificates.
- The RIIN will be the master list of all indigenous inhabitants of the state.
How will the list be prepared?
- The RIIN list will be based on “an extensive survey”.
- It will involve official records of indigenous residents from rural and (urban) wards and would be prepared under the supervision of the district administration.
- The preparation of the list will start from July 10, 2019, and the whole process will be completed within 60 days from the start.
- Designated teams of surveyors will be formed within seven days from the date of publication of the notification, and thereafter these teams will be sent across each village and ward.
- The database will note each family’s original residence, current residence as well as the concerned Aadhaar
What is the review procedure?
- Respondents will be given an opportunity to make their case before the authorities.
- Eventually, respective Dy. Commissioners will adjudicate on the claims and objections based on official records and the evidence produced.
- This process will be completed before December 10, 2019.
Unique identity through Indigenous Inhabitant Certificate
- Based on the adjudication and verification, a list of indigenous inhabitants will be finalised and each person will be given a unique ID.
- The final list or the RIIN will be created and its copies will be placed in all villages and ward.
- Electronic copies of the list will also be stored in the State Data Centre. A mechanism or electronic and SMS-based authentication will be put in place.
- All indigenous inhabitants of the state would be issued a barcoded and numbered Indigenous Inhabitant Certificate.
- The process will be conducted across Nagaland and will be done as part of the online system of Inner Line Permit (ILP), which is already in force in Nagaland.
Back2Basics: Inner Line Permit (ILP)
- ILP is an official travel document required by Indian citizens residing outside certain “protected” states while entering them.
- The ILP is issued by the Govt. of India and is obligatory for all those who reside outside the protected states.
- With the ILP, the government aims to regulate movement to certain areas located near the international border of India.
- ILP’s origin dates back to the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873, which protected the British Crown’s interest in tea, oil and elephant trade.
- It prohibited “British subjects” or Indians from entering these protected areas.
- After Independence, in 1950, the word “British subjects” was replaced by Citizens of India and the focus of the ban on free movement was explained as a bid to protect tribal cultures in northeastern India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Chief Election Commissioner
Mains level: Not Much
The President has appointed Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra to take over as Chief Election Commissioner.
Chief Election Commissioner
- The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India heads the Election Commission of India.
- The ECI is a body constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections to the national and state legislatures and of President and Vice-President.
- This power of the Election Commission of India is derived from Article 324 of the Constitution of India.
- CEC of India is usually a member of the Indian Civil Service and mostly (not necessarily) from the Indian Administrative Service.
His/ Her Removal
- It is very difficult to remove the authority of the Chief Election Commissioner once appointed by the president.
- The two-thirds of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha need to present and vote against him for disorderly conduct or improper actions.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indian Rhino Vision 2020
Mains level: Not Much
The ambitious Indian Rhino Vision 2020 (IRV 2020) came to a close with the release of two rhinos — an adult male and a female — in Assam’s Manas National Park transported from Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary about 185 km east.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Recently there was a proposal to translocate some of the lions from their natural habitat in Gujarat to which one of the following sites?
(a) Corbett National Park
(b) Kuno Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary
(c) Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary
(d) Sariska National Park
What is IRV 2020?
- In 2005, conservationists, alongside the Bodoland Territorial Council and the Government of Assam, came together to develop a long-term strategy to manage the species.
- Their vision was ambitious; to build a 3,000-strong wild population of Greater one-horned rhinos by 2020, spread across seven sites in the state of Assam.
- Thus the “Indian Rhino Vision 2020” (IRV2020) was born.
Success of the IRV
- Designed in 2005, the IRV2020 is believed to have achieved its target of attaining a population of 3,000 rhinos in Assam.
- But the plan to spread the Rhinoceros unicornis across four protected areas beyond Kaziranga National Park, Orang National Park and Pobitora could not materialise.
- Assam had at least five rhino-bearing areas till the 1980s.
- Manas, in focus for the near-extinction of the pygmy hog, lost the World Heritage Site tag it received in 1985 along with Kaziranga from the UNESCO.
- The translocated rhinos helped Manas National Park get back its World Heritage Site status in 2011.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NLS1 Galaxy
Mains level: Black holes and gravitation waves
Astronomers have discovered a new active galaxy identified as the farthest gamma-ray emitting galaxy that has so far been stumbled upon. This active galaxy called the Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxy.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Recently, scientists observed the merger of giant ‘blackholes’ billions of light-years away from the Earth. What is the significance of this observation?
(a) ‘Higgs boson particles’ were detected.
(b) ‘Gravitational waves’ were detected.
(c) Possibility of inter-galactic space travel through ‘wormhole’ was confirmed.
(d) It enabled scientists to understand ‘singularity’.
NLS1 Galaxy
- Indian scientists have studied around 25,000 luminous Active galactic nuclei (AGN) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS).
- They identified it as a gamma-ray emitting NLS1 galaxy, which is a rare entity in space.
- It is about 31 billion light-years away, opens up avenues to explore more such gamma-ray emitting galaxies that wait to meet us.
What makes it intriguing?
- Ever since 1929, when Edwin Hubble discovered that the Universe is expanding, it has been known that most other galaxies are moving away from us.
- Light from these galaxies is shifted to longer (and this means redder) wavelengths – in other words, it is red-shifted.
- Scientists have been trying to trace such red-shifted galaxies to understand the early Universe.
- Powerful relativistic jets, or sources of particles in the Universe travelling nearly at speed to light, are usually produced by AGN powered by large black holes and hosted in a giant elliptical galaxy.
Why NLS1 is unique?
- NLS1s are a unique class of AGN that are powered by the black hole of low mass and hosted in a spiral galaxy.
- As of today, gamma-ray emission has been detected in about a dozen NLS1 galaxies, which are a separate class of AGN identified four decades ago.
- All of them are at redshifts lesser than one, and no method was present to date to find NLS1 at redshifts larger than one.
- This discovery opens up a new way to find gamma-ray emitting NLS1 galaxies in the early Universe.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: E-SANTA
Mains level: Aquaculture in India
Union Commerce and Industry Ministry has inaugurated E-SANTA, an electronic marketplace providing a platform to connect aqua farmers and buyers.
Note:
Aquaculture also known as aquafarming is the farming of fish, crustaceans, mollusks, aquatic plants, algae, and other organisms. It involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish.
Mariculture commonly known as marine farming refers to aquaculture practiced in marine environments and in underwater habitats, opposed to in freshwater.
E-SANTA
- The term e-SANTA was coined for the web portal, meaning Electronic Solution for Augmenting NaCSA farmers’ Trade-in Aquaculture.
- It will enable the farmers to get a better price and the exporters to directly purchase quality products from the farmers enhancing traceability, a key factor in international trade.
- National Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture (NaCSA) is an extension arm of Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
- It will raise income, lifestyle, self-reliance, quality levels, traceability, and provide new options for our aqua farmers.
- The platform will change the traditional way of carrying out business from a word of mouth basis to become more formalized & legally binding.
E-SANTA will RAISE the lives & income of farmers by:
- Reducing Risk
- Awareness of Products & Markets
- Increase in Income
- Shielding Against Wrong Practice
- Ease of Processes
Its’ utility
- E-SANTA is a Digital Bridge to end the market divide and will act as an alternative marketing tool between farmers & buyers by eliminating middlemen.
- It will revolutionize traditional aqua farming by providing cashless, contactless and paperless electronic trade platform between farmers and exporters.
- It can become a tool to advertise collectively the kind of products the buyers, fishermen & fish producing organisations are harvesting.
How does it work?
- E-SANTA is a completely paperless and end-to-end electronic trade platform between Farmers and exporters.
- The farmers have the freedom to list their products and quote their price while the exporters have the freedom to list their requirements and also to choose the products based on their requirements.
- This enables the farmers and buyers to have greater control over the trade and enables them to make informed decisions.
- The platform provides a detailed specification of each product listing and it is backed by an end to end electronic payment system with NaCSA as an Escrow agent.
- After crop listing and online negotiation, a deal is struck, advance payment is made and an estimated invoice is generated.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MANAS Platform
Mains level: Not Much
The MANAS App to promote wellbeing across age groups was recently launched.
Name, acronym and the purpose; thats all. The rest of the theory is of less importance.
MANAS Platform
- MANAS is an acronym for Mental Health and Normalcy Augmentation System.
- It is a comprehensive, scalable, and national digital wellbeing platform and an app developed to augment the mental well-being of Indian citizens.
- MANAS was initiated by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and jointly executed by NIMHANS Bengaluru, AFMC Pune and C-DAC Bengaluru.
- It was endorsed as a national program by the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).
- It integrates the health and wellness efforts of various government ministries, scientifically validated indigenous tools with gamified interfaces developed/researched by various national bodies and research institutions.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Monkeydactyl
Mains level: Evolution of natural history
Researchers have described a pterosaur species with opposable thumbs, which could likely be the earliest-known instance of the limb.
Monkeydactyl
- The pterosaur species were reptiles, close cousins of dinosaurs and the first animals after insects to evolve powered flight.
- They evolved into various species; while some were as large as an F-16 fighter jet, others were as small as paper aeroplanes.
- The new pterosaur fossil was discovered in the Tiaojishan Formation of Liaoning, China, and is thought to be 160 million years old.
- It has now been described by an international team of researchers from China, Brazil, the UK, Denmark and Japan, and has been named Kunpengopterus antipollicatus, also dubbed “Monkeydactyl”.
What has the team found?
- “Antipollicatus” in ancient Greek means “opposite thumbs”, and it was attached to the name because the researchers’ findings could be the first discovery of a pterosaur with an opposed thumb.
- Researchers suggested that K. antipollicatus could have used its hand for grasping, which is likely an adaptation for arboreal life.
What makes it special?
- Opposability of the thumb enables the species to “simultaneously flex, abduct and medially rotate the thumb” in a way that one is able to bring the tip of the thumb to touch the tips of the other fingers.
- Along with humans, some ancient monkeys and apes also had opposable thumbs. Humans, however, have a relatively long and distally placed thumb, and larger thumb muscles.
- This means that humans’ tip-to-tip precision grip when holding smaller objects is superior to non-human primates.
- This is the reason that humans are able to hold a pen, unscrew an earring stopper, or put a thread through a needle hole.
- The grasping hands of primates developed as a result of their life in the trees — an opposable thumb made it easier for the common ancestor of all primates to cling on to tree branches.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Some species of plants are insectivorous. Why?
(a) Their growth in shady and dark places does not allow them to undertake sufficient photosynthesis and thus they depend on insects for nutrition
(b) They are adapted to grow in nitrogen deficient soils and thus depend on insects for sufficient nitrogenous nutrition
(c) They cannot synthesize certain vitamins themselves and depend on the insects digested by them
(d) They have remained in that particular stage of evolution as living fossils, a link between autotrophs and heterotrophs
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill 2020
Mains level: Paper 2- NCAHP Bill 2020
The article highlights the key aspects of NCAHP Bill 2020 which recognises the allied healthcare professionals and seeks to regulate and set the standards of education.
Regulating allied health professions
- The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2020 (NCAHP) was passed by Parliament in March.
- Global evidence demonstrates the vital role of allied professionals in the delivery of healthcare services.
- They are the first to recognise the problems of the patients and serve as safety nets.
- Their awareness of patient care accountability adds tremendous value to the healthcare team in both the public and private sectors.
- The passage of this Bill has the potential to overhaul the entire allied health workforce by establishing institutes of excellence and regulating the scope of practice by focusing on task shifting and task-re distribution.
What the Bill provides for
- This legislation provides for regulation and maintenance of standards of education and services by allied and healthcare professionals and the maintenance of a central register of such professionals.
- It recognises over 50 professions such as physiotherapists, optometrists, nutritionists, medical laboratory professionals, radiotherapy technology professionals, which had hitherto lacked a comprehensive regulatory mechanism.
- This Bill classifies allied professionals using the International System of Classification of Occupations (ISCO code).
- This facilitates global mobility and enables better opportunities for such professionals.
- The Act aims to establish a central statutory body as a National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions.
- The Bill has the provision for state councils to execute major functions through autonomous boards.
Shift in perception and policy in healthcare delivery
- There has been a paradigm shift in perception, policy, and programmatic interventions in healthcare delivery in India since 2017.
- In the past, curative healthcare received substantially greater attention than preventive and promotive aspects.
- Ayushman Bharat as a programmatic intervention, with its two pillars of Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), operationalised certain critical recommendations of the National Health Policy, 2017, emphasising wellness in healthcare.
- With PMJAY, the neediest are protected from catastrophic expenditure and India took the first step towards delivering comprehensive primary healthcare with HWCs.
Conclusion
Caring for patients with mental conditions, the elderly, those in need of palliative services, and enabling professional services for lifestyle change related to physical activity and diets, all require a trained, allied health workforce. The NCAHP is not only timely but critical to this changing paradigm.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Reviving BIMSTEC
More than two decades after its formation, BIMSTEC still remains a work in progress. And it has many obstacles to overcome. The article highlights challenges and progress made so far.
Background of BIMSTEC
- The foreign ministers of BIMSTEC (the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) met virtually on April 1.
- It was established as a grouping of four nations — India, Thailand, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka — through the Bangkok Declaration of 1997 to promote rapid economic development.
- BIMSTEC was expanded later to include three more countries — Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan.
- It moved at a leisurely pace during its first 20 years with only three summits held and a record of modest achievements.
Growing significance
- BIMSTEC suddenly received special attention when India chose to treat it as a more practical instrument for regional cooperation over a faltering SAARC.
- The BIMSTEC Leaders’ Retreat, followed by their Outreach Summit with the BRICS leaders in Goa in October 2016, drew considerable international limelight to the low-profile regional grouping.
- At the fourth leaders’ summit in Kathmandu in 2018, a plan for institutional reform and renewal that would encompass economic and security cooperation was devised.
- It took the important decision to craft a charter to provide BIMSTEC with a more formal and stronger foundation.
- The shared goal now is to head towards “a Peaceful, Prosperous and Sustainable Bay of Bengal Region”.
Why the recent summit is important
- In the recent virtual summit, the foreign ministers cleared the draft for the BIMSTEC charter.
- They endorsed the rationalisation of sectors and sub-sectors of activity, with each member-state serving as a lead for the assigned areas of special interest.
- The ministers also conveyed their support for the Master Plan for Transport Connectivity.
- Preparations have been completed for the signing of three agreements:
- 1) Mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.
- 2) Cooperation between diplomatic academies.
- 3) The establishment of a technology transfer facility in Colombo.
Lack of progress on trade
- In the recent deliberation, there was no reference to the lack of progress on the trade and economic dossier.
- A January 2018 study by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry had suggested that BIMSTEC urgently needed a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement to be a real game-changer.
- Ideally, it should cover trade in goods, services and investment; promote regulatory harmonisation; adopt policies that develop regional value chains, and eliminate non-tariff barriers.
- Also lacking was an effort to enthuse and engage the vibrant business communities of these seven countries.
- Over 20 rounds of negotiations to operationalise the BIMSTEC Free Trade Area Framework Agreement, signed in 2004, are yet to bear fruit.
Achievements
- Much has been achieved in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief and security, including counterterrorism, cybersecurity, and coastal security cooperation.
- India has led through constant focus and follow-up.
- While national business chambers are yet to be optimally engaged with the BIMSTEC project, the academic and strategic community has shown ample enthusiasm through the BIMSTEC Network of Policy Think Tanks and other fora.
Challenges
- A strong BIMSTEC presupposes cordial and tension-free bilateral relations among all its member-states.
- However, there has been tensions in India-Nepal, India-Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh-Myanmar ties in recent years.
- Second, uncertainties over SAARC hovers, complicating matters. Both Kathmandu and Colombo want the SAARC summit revived, even as they cooperate within BIMSTEC, with diluted zeal.
- Third, China’s decisive intrusion in the South-Southeast Asian space has cast dark shadows.
- Finally, the military coup in Myanmar and the continuation of popular resistance resulting in a protracted impasse have produced a new set of challenges.
Consider the question “What are the challenges BIMSTEC faces in emerging as an alternative to the SAARC? What are its achievements?”
Conclusion
The grouping needs to reinvent itself, possibly even rename itself as ‘The Bay of Bengal Community’. It should consider holding regular annual summits. Only then will its leaders convince the region about their strong commitment to the new vision they have for this unique platform linking South Asia and Southeast Asia.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Economic recovery and challenges posed by second covid wave
The article highlights the challenges posed by the second wave of covid and how aggressive vaccination could help dealing with the issue.
Severe second covid wave in India
- India’s daily new cases have surged past 1,50,000, much above the first peak.
- In India’s first wave, the increase from 50,000 to about 1,00,000 cases took about 50 days; in the second wave, it’s taken just 13.
- To start with, the second wave was more concentrated, with Maharashtra accounting for 60 per cent of cases.
- While the top five states still account for about 65 per cent of cases, the reproduction (R) factor in almost 10 states is estimated to be two or higher, creating risks for a wider and more rapid spread, if unaddressed.
Lessons from the first wave
- Policymakers, businesses and households have all learnt from the first wave and with the private sector better adapted to “live with the virus”.
- Therefore, the economic costs should hopefully not be comparable to the first wave. Yet, they may not be trivial either.
- The five states that account for 65 per cent of new cases also account for almost 36 per cent of GDP.
- As virus cases have grown and restrictions have been imposed, retail and recreational mobility across these five states, is down 10 per cent since mid-March.
- Labour market surveys have also begun to show discernable impacts on both participation and unemployment rates.
Implications of unequal recovery for developing countries
- The IMF projects India’s FY22 growth at 12.5 per cent, this would still leave India about 8-9 per cent below the level of output that was projected pre-pandemic for the end of 2021-22.
- The challenge for emerging markets is that, given the quantum of fiscal and monetary space expended in combating the first wave, space to respond to subsequent waves will be constrained.
- Owing to the fiscal support and pace of vaccinations the US will be the only large economy, apart from China, to surpass its pre-pandemic path.
- This, resulted in increased US yields, tightened global financial conditions, induced dollar strength and triggered
- All this makes it harder for emerging economies to respond expansively to domestic shocks.
- In effect, the heterogeneity of the recovery across developed and emerging markets is imposing policy constraints on the latter which, ironically, will simply compound the economic divergence.
Challenges for India
- India’s fiscal space to respond to a second wave appears constrained due to the following two factors:
- 1) In India’s case, consolidated public debt will approach 90 per cent of GDP.
- 2) The consolidated public sector borrowing requirements are budgeted above 11 per cent of GDP in FY22.
- The dependence on budgeted asset sales has only increased, both as a hedge to tax revenues that could be impacted from a second wave, and as a means of protecting expenditures.
- It will be equally crucial to leaving enough space for higher MGNREGA demand and other safety nets on account of a second wave, even while protecting capital expenditures — which generate large multiplier effects on the economy.
- Similarly, monetary policy is already very accommodative, and with core inflation sticky and elevated, global deflationary pressures entrenched, there are natural limits to the degree of more monetary accommodation.
Aggressive vaccination is the key
- Israel, the UK and the US have all demonstrated how aggressive vaccinations can bend the COVID-curve.
- Therefore, the Indian government’s decision to approve a third vaccine and fast-track emergency approval for foreign-produced vaccines is unambiguously positive.
- On the demand side, of an estimated 100-110 million population of seniors (60-plus) in India, only about 40 million have taken the vaccine over the last six weeks, suggesting a reluctance to get vaccinated.
- But, in fact, it’s crucial to ensure the vulnerable — those whose probability of hospitalisation is the highest — are fully vaccinated to reduce pressure on the health infrastructure.
Consider the question “What are the challenges posed to the developing countries by heterogeneity of recovery across the developed and developing countries?
Conclusion
Vaccinations should be construed as simultaneously delivering both a positive demand and supply shock (for the economy), and a negative demand shock (for health infrastructure), thereby providing the best chance to decisively break the trade-offs between lives and livelihoods that bedevilled emerging markets all of last year.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: RCEP
Mains level: Paper 2- India-Pakistan relations and its impact on the region
India-Pakistan relations weigh down heavily on the SAARC. This affects the economic development of the region. The highlight opportunity for India and Pakistan to separate politics from economics.
Economic integration
- There is a growing, but unstated, realisation that neither India nor Pakistan can wrest parts of Kashmir that each controls from the other.
- A fair peace between India and Pakistan is not just good for the two states but for all the nations constituting the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
- While SAARC has facilitated limited collaborations among its members, it has remained a victim of India-Pakistan posturing.
- World Bank publication titled ‘A Glass Half Full’ conclude that there is explosive value to be derived from South Asian economic integration.
- An economically transformed and integrated South Asian region could advantageously link up with China’s Belt and Road Initiative and even join the RCEP.
Important role of India
- Collectively with a population of slightly over 1.9 billion, South Asia has a GDP (PPP) of $12 trillion.
- However, India’s enjoys an overwhelming ‘size imbalance’ in South Asia.
- The shares of India in the total land area, population, and real GDP of South Asia in 2016 are 62%, 75%, and 83%, respectively.
- The two other big countries in South Asia are Pakistan and Bangladesh with shares in regional GDP of only 7.6% and 5.6%, respectively.
- Given its size and heft, only India can take the lead in transforming a grossly under-performing region like South Asia.
Consider the question “How India-Pakistan relations affects the potential of SAARC? Examine the role both countries can play in the prosperity of the region through economic integration.”
Conclusion
This is the moment for India to think big and act big. But for that to happen, India needs to view peace with Pakistan not as a bilateral matter, but as essential and urgent, all the while viewing it as a chance of a lifetime, to dramatically transform South Asia for the better, no less.
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