Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Malaria
Mains level: Non-communicable diseases burden on India
Recently, El Salvador and China were declared malaria-free by the WHO.
What is Malaria?
- Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite called plasmodium vivax, p. filarium.
- The parasite is spread to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes.
- People who have malaria usually feel very sick with a high fever and shaking chills.
- While the disease is uncommon in temperate climates, malaria is still common in tropical and subtropical countries.
How many countries have successfully eliminated malaria?
- Since 1900, 127 countries have registered malaria elimination. This is definitely not an easy task.
- It needs proper planning and a strategic action plan based on the local situations.
- All these countries followed the existing tools and strategies to achieve the malaria elimination goal.
- The main focus was on surveillance.
How did China eliminate malaria?
- China followed some specific strategies, namely strong surveillance following the â1-3-7âsystem: malaria diagnosis within 1 day, 3 days for case investigation and by day 7 for public health responses.
- Molecular Malaria Surveillance for drug resistance and genome-based approaches to distinguish between indigenous and imported cases was conducted.
- All borders to the neighboring countries were thoroughly screened to prevent the entry of unwanted malaria into the country.
What is the current scenario of malaria in India?
- As per the Global Malaria Report 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO) India shared 2% of the total global malaria cases in 2019.
- India has a great history of malaria control.
- The highest incidence of malaria occurred in the 1950s, with an estimated 75 million cases with 0.8 million deaths per year.
- The launch of National Malaria Control Programme in 1953 and the National Malaria Eradication Programme in 1958 made it possible to bring down malaria cases to 100,000 with no reported deaths by 1961.
- This is a great achievement been made so far.
Unexpected resurgence
- But from a nearing stage of elimination, malaria resurged to approximately 6.4 million cases in 1976.
- Since then, confirmed cases have decreased to 1.6 million cases, approximately 1100 deaths in 2009 to less than 0.4 million cases and below 80 deaths in 2019.
- India accounted for 88% of malaria cases and 86% of all malaria deaths in the WHO South-East Asia Region in 2019.
- It is the only country outside Africa among the worldâs 11 `high burden to high impactâ countries.
Road ahead for India
Collaboration:
- India is a signatory to National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME) 2016-2030 aiming for malaria elimination by 2030.
- This framework has been outlined with a vision to eliminate the disease from the country which would contribute to improved health with quality of life and poverty alleviation.
- China collaborated with Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA for Molecular Malaria Surveillance.
- In India, there are very dedicated expert scientists who can take up such assignments.
Diagnosis:
- India stands at a very crucial stage. The present challenge is the detection of asymptomatic cases in most endemic areas.
- Molecular Malaria Surveillance must be used to find out the drug-resistant variants and genetic-relatedness studies to find out the imported or indigenous cases.
- The surveillance must be strengthened and using smart digital surveillance devices would be an important step. Real-time and organic surveillance is needed even in remote areas.
Monitoring:
- The results of each malaria case can be registered in a central dashboard at the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, as it is done for COVID-19 cases by Indian Council of Medical Research.
- All intervention activities must strictly be monitored.
- Vector biology, site of an actual vector mosquito bite, host shifting behaviour, feeding time, feeding behaviour and insecticide resistance studies need to be carried out to support the elimination efforts.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Speaker and Dy Speaker
Mains level: Parliament and State legislatures
The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly has been without a Speaker for most of this year.
Election of Speakers
- The Constitution specifies offices like those of the President, Vice President, Chief Justice of India, and Comptroller and Auditor General of India, as well as Speakers and Deputy Speakers.
- Article 93 for Lok Sabha and Article 178 for state Assemblies state that these Houses âshall, as soon as may beâ, choose two of its members to be Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
- In Lok Sabha and state legislatures, the President/Governor sets a date for the election of the Speaker.
- It is the Speaker who decides the date for the election of the Deputy Speaker.
- The legislators of the respective Houses vote to elect one among themselves to these offices.
- The Constitution provides that the office of the Speaker should never be empty.
- So, he/she continues in office until the beginning of the next House, except in the event of death or resignation.
Ruling party or Opposition?
- Usually, the Speaker comes from the ruling party.
- In the case of the Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, the position has varied over the years.
- Until the fourth Lok Sabha, the Congress held both the Speaker and Deputy Speakers positions.
- In the fifth Lok Sabha, whose term was extended due to the Emergency, an independent member, Shri G G Swell, was elected the Deputy Speaker.
- The tradition for the post of the Deputy Speaker going to the Opposition party started during the term of Prime Minister Morarji Desaiâs government.
- The first time the Deputy Speakerâs position went to the opposition was during the term of Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao.
Their roles
- According to the book Practice and Procedure of Parliament, published by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the Speaker is âthe principal spokesman of the House, he represents its collective voice and is its sole representative to the outside worldâ.
- The Speaker presides over the House proceedings and joint sittings of the two Houses of Parliament.
- It is the Speakerâs decision that determines whether a Bill is a Money Bill and therefore outside of the purview of the other House.
- The Deputy Speaker is independent of the Speaker, not subordinate to him, as both are elected from among the members of the House.
Why need Dy Speaker?
- The Deputy Speaker ensures the continuity of the Speakers office by acting as the Speaker when the office becomes vacant.
- In addition, when a resolution for removal of the Speaker is up for discussion, the Constitution specifies that the Deputy Speaker presides over the proceedings of the House.
Issue over time limit for election
- The Constitution neither sets a time limit nor specifies the process for these elections.
- It leaves it to the legislatures to decide how to hold these elections.
- Haryana and Uttar Pradesh specify a time frame for holding the election to the Speaker and Deputy Speakerâs offices.
- In Haryana, the election of the Speaker has to take place as soon as possible after the election.
- Uttar Pradesh has a 15-day limit for an election to the Speakerâs post if it falls vacant during the term of the Assembly.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Consider the following statements:
- The Speakers of the Legislative Assembly shall vacate his/her office if he/she ceases to be a member of the Assembly
- Whenever the legislative assembly is dissolved, the speaker shall vacate his/her office immediately.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (CSP 2013)
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Black Sea mapping
Mains level: India-Georgia ties
After a long-standing request of Georgia, External Affairs Minister handed over the holy relics of 17th century Georgian Queen St. Ketevan nearly 16 years after they were found in Goa.
Who was St. Ketevan?
- Queen Ketevan was a 17th century Georgian Queen.
- From Kakheti, a kingdom in eastern Georgia, she was tortured and killed in 1624 in Shiraz during the rule of the Safavid dynasty.
- Portuguese missionaries were said to have carried the relics to Goa in 1627.
- In 2005, after years of research and study of medieval Portuguese records, the relics were found at the St. Augustine Church in Old Goa.
Importance of Georgia for India
- Georgia a strategically important country situated at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia.
- Relations between Georgia and India date back to ancient times.
- The Panchatantra influenced Georgian folk legends. During the medieval period, Georgian missionaries, travelers, and traders visited India.
- Some Georgians served in the courts of Mughal emperors, and a few rose to the rank of governor.
- India was among the first countries to officially recognize Georgia, doing so on 26 December 1991.
- India is a net exporter to Georgia.
- The main commodities exported by India to Georgia are cereals, nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances, pharmaceuticals, electrical machinery and equipment, aluminium and aluminium articles.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Consider the following pairs:
| Sea |
Bordering Country |
| 1. |
Adriatic Sea |
Albania |
| 2. |
Black Sea |
Croatia |
| 3. |
Caspian Sea |
Kazakhstan |
| 4. |
Mediterranean Sea |
Morocco |
| 5. |
Red Sea |
Syria |
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched? (CSP 2019)
(a) 1, 2 and 4 only
(b) 1, 3 and 4 only
(c) 2 and 5 only
(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mekedatu Project
Mains level: Inter-state river disputes
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are again at the crossroads against the Mekedatu dam project in the Cauvery River Basin.
What is the Mekedatu Project?
- Mekedatu, meaning goatâs leap, is a deep gorge situated at the confluence of the rivers Cauvery and Arkavathi, about 100 km from Bengaluru, at the Kanakapura taluk in Karnatakaâs Ramanagara district.
- In 2013, then Karnataka announced the construction of a multi-purpose balancing reservoir project.
- The project aimed to alleviate the drinking water problems of the Bengaluru and Ramanagara districts.
- It was also expected to generate hydroelectricity to meet the power needs of the state.
Issues with the project
- Soon after the project was announced TN has objected over granting of permission or environmental clearance.
- Explaining the potential for damage to the lower riparian state of TN, it said that the project was in violation of the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.
- It stated that the project will affect the natural flow of the river Cauvery considerably and will severely affect the irrigation in TN.
What do the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and the Supreme Court say?
- The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, in its final order on February 2007, made allocations to all the riparian States â Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, apart from the Union Territory of Puducherry.
- It also stipulated âtentative monthly deliveries during a normal yearâ to be made available by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu.
- Aggrieved over the final order for different reasons, the States had appealed to the Supreme Court.
- In February 2018, the court, in its judgment, revised the water allocation and increased the share of Karnataka by 14.75 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) at the cost of Tamil Nadu.
- The enhanced quantum comprised 4.75 tmc ft for meeting drinking water and domestic requirements of Bengaluru and surrounding areas.
What is Karnataka planning?
- Encouraged by the Supreme Court verdict, Karnataka, which sees the order as an endorsement of its stand, has set out to pursue the Mekedatu project.
- Originally proposed as a hydropower project, the revised Mekedatu dam project has more than one purpose to serve.
- A hydropower plant of nearly 400 MW has also been proposed.
- The Karnataka government has argued that the proposed reservoir will regulate the flow to Tamil Nadu on a monthly basis, as stipulated by the Tribunal and the Supreme Court.
- This is why Karnataka has contended that the project will not affect the interests of Tamil Nadu farmers.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Next-generation DNA sequencing
Mains level: Not Much
The 2020 Millennium Technology Prize has been awarded to Shankar Balasubramanian and David Klenerman, for their development of revolutionary Next-generation DNA sequencing techniques.
About Millennium Technology Prize
- The Millennium Technology Prize is one of the world’s largest technology prizes.
- It is awarded once every two years by Technology Academy Finland, an independent fund established by Finnish industry and the Finnish state in partnership.
What is next-generation DNA sequencing?
- Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a massively parallel sequencing technology that offers ultra-high throughput, scalability, and speed.
- The technology is used to determine the order of nucleotides in entire genomes or targeted regions of DNA or RNA.
- These technologies allow for sequencing of DNA and RNA much more quickly and cheaply than the previously used sequencing.
- NGS has revolutionized the biological sciences, allowing labs to perform a wide variety of applications and study biological systems at a level never before possible.
- More than a million base pairs can be sequenced, which translates to hundreds of genes or even the whole genome of an organism.
- This is made possible by simultaneously sequencing hundreds of pieces of DNA at the same time.
What is sequencing, btw?
- DNA (or RNA, in some viruses), the genetic material of life forms, is made of four bases (A, T, G and C; with U replacing T in the case of RNA).
- A chromosome is the duplex of a long linear chain of these â and in the DNA sequence is information â the blueprint of life.
- Life famously can replicate, and DNA replicates when an enzyme, DNA polymerase, synthesises a complementary strand using an existing DNA strand as the template.
- The breakthrough idea of Balasubramanian and Klenerman was to sequence DNA (or RNA) using this process of strand synthesis.
- They cleverly modified their ATGC bases so that each shone with a different colour.
- When copied, the âcolouredâ copy of DNA could be deciphered from the colours alone, using miniature optical and electronic devices.
What about the cost of all this sequencing?
- When the Human Genome Project delivered the first, near-complete sequence of our genome, the cost was estimated to have been 3 billion dollars.
- As all our chromosomes together have 3 billion base pairs, it becomes an easy calculation â One dollar per sequenced base.
- By the year 2020, NGS technologies has pushed the price for sequencing to a few thousands of rupees.
Back2Basics:
What is the Human Genome Project?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Kesaria Stupa
Mains level: Not Much
The world-famous Kesaria Buddha stupa in east Champaran district of Bihar is waterlogged following floods in some parts of the district after heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of river Gandak in neighbouring Nepal.
Kesaria Stupa
- The Kesaria stupa, located about 110 km from the State capital Patna, has a circumference of almost 400 feet and stands at a height of about 104 feet.
- The first construction of the nationally protected stupa is dated to the 3rd century BCE.
- It is regarded as the largest Buddhist stupa in the world and has been drawing tourists from across several Buddhist countries.
- The sputaâs exploration had started in the early 19th century after its discovery led by Colonel Mackenzie in 1814.
- Later, it was excavated by General Cunningham in 1861-62 and in 1998 an ASI team led by archaeologist K.K. Muhammad had excavated the site properly.
- The original Kesaria stupa is said to date back to the time of emperor Ashoka (circa 250 BCE) as the remains of an Ashokan pillar was discovered there.
In the accounts of foreign travellers
- The stupa mound may even have been inaugurated during the Buddha’s time, as it corresponds in many respects to the description of the stupa erected by the Licchavis of Vaishali to house the alms bowl the Buddha has given them.
- Interestingly, Chinese travellers Fa-Hien (5th century CE) and Hiuen Tsang (7th century CE), who travelled to India, also mention this stupa and the legend of Buddha and the Licchavis, in their records.
- While Fa-Hien talks of a pillar erected at the site, Hiuen Tsang mentions the stupa itself.
Try answering this question from CS Mains 2016:
Q.Early Buddhist Stupa-art, while depicting folk motifs and narratives successfully expounds Buddhist ideals. Elucidate.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Flora of Sikkim
Mains level: NA
Sikkim, the smallest State with less than 1% of Indiaâs landmass, is home to 27% of all flowering plants found in the country, reveals a recent publication by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI).
Flora of Sikkim
- Flora of Sikkim â A Pictorial Guide lists 4,912 naturally occurring flowering plants in the tiny Himalayan State.
- The total number of naturally occurring flowering plants in the country is about 18,004 species, and with 4,912 species, the diversity of flowering plants in Sikkim, spread over an area of 7,096 sq. km. is very unique.
Why is Sikkim a host to such large biodiversity?
- Sikkim is a part of the Kanchenjunga biosphere landscape, has different altitudinal ecosystems, which provide opportunities for herbs and trees to grow and thrive.
- The State also borders China, Bhutan and Nepal, and the Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal.
- From subalpine vegetation to the temperate to the tropical, the State has different kinds of vegetation, and that is the reason for such a diversity of flora.
- The elevation also varies between 300 to 8,598 metres above mean sea level, the apex being the top of Mt. Kanchenjunga (8,586 metres).
Contribution by the Public
- The people of Sikkim have a unique bond with nature and trees.
- As per the Sikkim Forest Tree (Amity & Reverence) Rules, 2017 the State government allows any person to associate with trees standing on his or her private land or on any public land by entering into a Mith/Mit or Mitini relationship.
- The notification encouraged people to adopt a tree âas if it was his or her own child in which case the tree shall be called an adopted treeâ.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Which one of the following National Parks lies completely in the temperate alpine zone?
(a) Manas National Park
(b) Namdapha National Park
(c) Neora Valley National Park
(d) Valley of Flowers National Park
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Lemru Elephant Reserve
Mains level: Man-Animal Conflict
The proposed Lemru Elephant Reserve in Chhattisgarh, in the pipeline for 20 years, has become the subject of yet another controversy over the reduction of its size.
Lemru Elephant Reserve
- The proposal for the reserve, in Korba district, was passed unanimously by the Assembly in 2005 and got central approval in 2007.
- Lemru is one of two elephant reserves planned to prevent human-animal conflict in the region, with elephants moving into Chhattisgarh from Odisha and Jharkhand.
- Its area was then proposed to be 450 sq km.
Why does the government want to reduce the size of the reserve?
- The area proposed under the reserve is part of the Hasdeo Aranya forests, a very diverse biozone that is also rich in coal deposits.
- Of 22 coal blocks in the area, seven have already been allotted with mines running in three, and in the process of being established in the other four.
- Under the âNo-Go Areaâ policy from the UPA area, the entire area was considered out of bounds for mines, but in 2020, five coal blocks from the region were put on the auction list.
Why is the reserve important?
- North Chhattisgarh alone is home to over 240 elephants.
- Elephants in Chhattisgarh are relatively new; they started moving into undivided Madhya Pradesh in 1990.
- Since these animals were relatively new, the human-animal conflict started once elephants started straying into inhabited areas, looking for food.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Issues with school education in India
Context
Proportion of children attending the government schools has been on the decline. This has several implications.
Issues with school education in India
- A quality, free and regular school education represents our most potent infrastructure of opportunity, a fundamental duty of the state.
- Meritocracy represents the idea that people should advance based on their talents and efforts.
- But Indiaâs meritocracy is sabotaged by flailing government schools.
- The proportion of Indiaâs children attending a government school has now declined to 45 per cent.
- This number is 85 per cent in America, 90 per cent in England, and 95 per cent in Japan.
- Indiaâs 100 per cent plus school enrolment masks challenges; a huge dropout ratio and poor learning outcomes.
- We have too many schools and 4 lakh have less than 50 students (70 per cent of schools in Rajasthan, Karnataka, J&K, and Uttarakhand).
- China has similar total student numbers with 30 per cent of our school numbers.
It is not Government Vs. Private schools
- Demand for better government schools is not an argument against private schools.
- Because, without this market response to demand, the post-1947 policy errors in primary education would have been catastrophic for Indiaâs human capital.
Way forward
- We need the difficult reforms of governance, performance management, and English instruction.
- Governance must shift from control of resources to learning outcomes; learning design, responsiveness, teacher management, community relationships, integrity, fair decision making, and financial sustainability.
- Performance management, currently equated with teacher attendance, needs evaluation of scores, skills, competence and classroom management. Scores need continuous assessments or end-of-year exams.
- The new world of work redefines employability to include the 3Rs of reading, writing, and arithmetic and a fourth R of relationships.
- Indiaâs farm to non-farm transition is not happening to factories but to sales and customer services which need 4R competency and English awareness.
- English instruction is about bilingualism, higher education pathways, and employability.
- Employment outcomes are 50 per cent higher for kids with English familiarity because of higher geographic mobility, sector mobility, role eligibility, and entrance exam ease.
- Indiaâs constitution wrote Education Policy into Lists I (Centre), II (State), and III (concurrent jurisdiction); this fragmentation needs revisiting because it tends to concentrate decisions that should be made locally in Delhi or state capitals.
Conclusion
Government needs urgent measure to addreess the issues which has bearing on its future.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Shah Bano Case, Article 44
Mains level: Need for UCC
Favouring the introduction of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), the Delhi High Court has said the Indian youth need not be forced to struggle with issues arising due to conflicts in various personal laws in relation to marriage and divorce.
Why did the HC promote this idea?
- The modern Indian society was gradually becoming homogenous, the traditional barriers of religion, community and caste are slowly dissipating said the Delhi HC.
- The youth of India is often forced to struggle with issues arising due to conflicts in various personal laws, especially in relation to marriage and divorce.
Shah Bano reference
- In the Shah Bano case, the apex court had said that a common civil code would help the cause of national integration by removing disparate loyalties to laws having conflicting ideologies.
- It had also observed that the State was charged with the duty of securing UCC for the citizens of the country.
What is a Uniform Civil Code?
- A UCC is one that would provide for one law for the entire country, applicable to all religious communities in their personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption etc.
- Article 44, one of the directive principles of the Constitution lays down that the state shall endeavour to secure a UCC for the citizens throughout the territory of India.
- These, as defined in Article 37, are not justiciable (not enforceable by any court) but the principles laid down therein are fundamental in governance.
Why need UCC?
- UCC would provide equal status to all citizens
- It would promote gender parity in Indian society.
- UCC would accommodate the aspirations of the young population who imbibe liberal ideology.
- Its implementation would thus support the national integration.
Issues with UCC
- There are practical difficulties due to religious and cultural diversity in India.
- The UCC is often perceived by the minorities as an encroachment on religious freedom.
- It is often regarded as interference of the state in personal matters of the minorities.
- Experts often argue that the time is not ripe for Indian society to embrace such UCC.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Delimitation of constituencies
Mains level: Jammu and Kashmir after reorganization
The Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission has completed its consultation with various and stated that it would base its final report on the 2011 Census to add at least seven more seats to the 83-member Assembly of the erstwhile state.
Agenda for delimitation
- Delimitation will be conducted on the basis of the 2011 census report. This assumes significance because the last delimitation exercise was conducted 26 years ago in 1995, and that too was based on the census of 1981.
- Apart from the demographics indicated in the Census, the commission will also take into account practicality, geographical compatibility, topography, physical features, means of communication and convenience available.
- Twenty-four seats that are reserved for Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) would not be delimited in this process. This further makes the delimitation exercise relevant because some political parties argue, that this freeze has created inequity for the Jammu region.
- The commission will also specify the number of seats to be reserved for the SC and the ST communities in the UT. This is important because despite having a sizeable tribal population, no seats had ever been reserved in the past for the Scheduled Tribes in Jammu and Kashmir.
- A draft report will be prepared and put in the public domain for consensus and feedback. Only after the fresh comments, the final draft will be prepared.
What is Delimitation and why is it needed?
- Delimitation is the act of redrawing boundaries of an Assembly or Lok Sabha seat to represent changes in population over time.
- This exercise is carried out by a Delimitation Commission, whose orders have the force of law and cannot be questioned before any court.
- The objective is to redraw boundaries (based on the data of the last Census) in a way so that the population of all seats, as far as practicable, be the same throughout the State.
- Aside from changing the limits of a constituency, the process may result in a change in the number of seats in a state.
How often has delimitation been carried out in J&K?
- Delimitation exercises in J&K in the past have been slightly different from those in the rest of the country because of the regionâs special status â which was scrapped by the Centre in August 2019.
- Until then, the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats in J&K was governed by the Constitution of India, but the delimitation of the stateâs Assembly was governed by the J&K Constitution and J&K Representation of the People Act, 1957.
- Assembly seats in J&K were delimited in 1963, 1973 and 1995.
- The last exercise was conducted by the Justice (retired) K K Gupta Commission when the state was under Presidentâs Rule and was based on the 1981 census, which formed the basis of the state elections in 1996.
- There was no census in the state in 1991 and no Delimitation Commission was set up by the state government after the 2001 census as the J&K Assembly passed a law putting a freeze until 2026.
Why is it in the news again?
- After the abrogation of J&Kâs special status in 2019, the delimitation of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in the newly-created UT would be as per the provisions of the Indian Constitution.
- On March 6, 2020, the government set up the Delimitation Commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, which was tasked with winding up delimitation in J&K in a year.
- As per the J&K Reorganization Bill, the number of Assembly seats in J&K would increase from 107 to 114, which is expected to benefit the Jammu region.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)
Mains level: Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)
Fearing any surge in coronavirus cases in the national capital, which is witnessing a decline in cases of infection, the Delhi government has chalked out the ‘Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).’
Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)
- In 2014, when a study by the WHO found that Delhi was the most polluted city in the world, panic spread in the Centre and the state government.
- Approved by the Supreme Court in 2016, the plan was formulated after several meetings that the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) held with state government and experts.
- The result was a plan that institutionalized measures to be taken when air quality deteriorates.
- GRAP also works as an emergency measure.
- It includes strict measures such as a ban on the entry of heavy vehicles, the odd-even road rationing restrictions, and a halt of construction work â each of which is likely to be impractical at a time when the pandemic has exacted heavy economic costs and public transport has been seen as an infection risk.
For covid purposes
- This time, it was decided to notify the GRAP that will âobjectively and transparentlyâ ensure an âinstitutional and automaticâ response with regards to enforcement measures, lockdowns and unlock activities.
- The plan was prepared in comparison with ascent data of the four waves at specific positivity rates of 0.5%, 1%, 2% and 5% and also considered on the basis of the earlier four waves.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Avicennia marina
Mains level: Mangroves and their significance
Scientists at the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) have reported for the first time a reference-grade whole genome sequence of a highly salt-tolerant and salt-secreting true-mangrove species Avicennia Marina.
Avicennia marina
- Avicennia marina is one of the most prominent mangroves species found in all mangrove formations in India.
- It is a salt-secreting and extraordinarily salt-tolerant mangrove species that grows optimally in 75% seawater and tolerates >250% seawater.
- It is among the rare plant species, which can excrete 40% of the salt through the salt glands in the leaves, besides its extraordinary capacity to exclude salt entry to the roots.
Why in news?
- The A. marina genome assembled in this study is nearly complete and can be considered as a reference-grade genome reported so far for any mangrove species globally and the first report from India.
- This study assumes significance as agriculture productivity globally is affected due to abiotic stress factors such as limited water availability and salinization of soil and water.
Its significance
- Availability of water is a signiďŹcant challenge to crop production in dryland areas, accounting for ~40 per cent of the worldâs total land area.
- Salinity is prevalent in ~900 million hectares globally (with an estimated 6.73 million ha in India), and it is estimated to cause an annual loss of 27 billion USD.
- The genomic resources generated in the study will pave the way for researchers to study the potential of the identified genes for developing drought and salinity tolerant varieties of important crop species.
- This is particularly important for the coastal region as India has 7,500m of coastline and two major island systems.
Try these PYQs:
Q.Which one of the following is the correct sequence of ecosystems in the order of decreasing productivity? (CSP 2013)
(a) Oceans, lakes, grasslands, mangroves
(b) Mangroves, oceans, grasslands, lakes
(c) Mangroves, grasslands, lakes, oceans
(d) Oceans, mangroves, lakes, grasslands
Q.The 2004 Tsunami made people realize that mangroves can serve as a reliable safety hedge against coastal calamities. How do mangroves function as a safety hedge? (CSP 2011)
(a) The mangrove swamps separate the human settlements from the sea by a wide zone in which people neither live nor venture out
(b) The mangroves provide both food and medicines which people are in need of after any natural disaster
(c) The mangrove trees are tall with dense canopies and serve as an excellent shelter during a cyclone or tsunami
(d) The mangrove trees do not get uprooted by storms and tides because of their extensive roots.
Back2Basics: Mangroves
- A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water.
- Mangroves occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics, mainly between latitudes 30° N and 30° S, with the greatest mangrove area within 5° of the equator.
- Mangroves are salt-tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to live in harsh coastal conditions.
- They contain a complex salt filtration system and complex root system to cope with salt water immersion and wave action.
- They are adapted to the low-oxygen conditions of waterlogged mud.
- They are a unique group of species found in marshy intertidal estuarine regions and survive a high degree of salinity through several adaptive mechanisms.
- They form a link between marine and terrestrial ecosystems, protect shorelines, provide habitat for a diverse array of terrestrial organisms.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: India Industrial Land Bank (IILB)
Mains level: Not Much
The GIS Enabled Land Bank is gaining immense popularity.
Try to answer this question in short:
Q.Discuss the benefits of digitizing land records in India.
India Industrial Land Bank (IILB)
- The IILB is a GIS-based portal with all industrial infrastructure-related information such as connectivity, infra, natural resources and terrain, plot-level information on vacant plots, line of activity, and contact details.
- It was launched by the Ministry for Commerce and Industry in 2020.
- Currently, the IILB has approximately 4000 industrial parks mapped across an area of 5.5 lakh hectares of land, serving as a decision support system for investors scouting for land remotely.
- The system has been integrated with industry-based GIS systems of 17 states to have details on the portal updated on a real-time basis and will achieve pan-India integration by December 2021.
- In the previous quarter (Apr â Jun 2021) total users were 13,610 out of which 12,996 were unique users with total page views of approximately 1.3 lakh.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Reforms in institutions and role of civil society
Context
In the wake of the second wave of Covid, our failure as a country to hold our government accountable is evident. Civil society perhaps also needs to re-examine its role.
What constitutes civil society
- Indiaâs civil society has many actors:
- Grassroots organisations that connect to the last mile and provide essential services.
- Think tanks and academic institutions that churn out new policy ideas and generate evidence.
- Advocacy organisations that amplify and build support for causes.
- Large impact funds and philanthropists who decide how these organisations get funded.
Challenges faced by civil society
- Government have significantly curtailed the kind of activities that civil society actors can engage in.
- Philanthropists and donor organisations often find themselves unable to support initiatives that strengthen Indiaâs democracy and its accountability mechanisms, for fear of retribution.
- By ignoring the politics around policy and focussing disproportionately on technocratic solutions, civil society has also missed the wood for the trees.
How civil society can play role in reforms of democratic institutions
- In the absence of a strong push from civil society, our democratic institutions have no intrinsic incentive to reform.
- There is a need to re-examine parliamentary rules that are heavily tilted in favour of the sitting government, strengthen the judiciary, bolster federalism and the independent media, while creating transparency in decision making within the executive.
- Civil society has an important and irreplaceable role to play here.
- Civil society organisations too need to broaden their agenda to include issues that strengthen Indiaâs institutions while collaborating to present a strong unified voice that demands more transparency and accountability in all areas and levels of policymaking.
- This involves taking more fights to the courts on transgressions by the government, building public opinion about expectations from a well-functioning democracy and creating tools and fora that help citizens engage with policymaking more readily.
Conclusion
To not see the strengthening of institutions and the deepening of checks and balances as important areas of work is our collective failure, one we must address immediately.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems and the National Intelligence Grid
Mains level: Paper 2- Need for a coordinated database of fugitives
Context
India lacks a domestic tracking system for fugitives. That makes it easier for them to evade the criminal justice system.
Challenges at investigation and prosecution level
- Central agencies have developed reasonable expertise in investigation and prosecution because they are focussed only on investigation and prosecution work.
- On the other hand, State police forces (except specialised wings) are engaged in law-and-order work as well as investigations.
- The bulk of the investigation and prosecution work happens at police stations in the States.
- There is a tendency to close investigations once the accused have absconded.
- Some police stations do initiate proceedings for attachment of property and declaration of the accused as proclaimed offenders, but the number of cases where coordinated efforts are made to pursue fugitives â domestically or internationally â are hardly documented.
No system for tracking criminals domestically
- Through Interpol Notices and the sharing of immigration databases of different countries, there exists a system of tracking criminals worldwide.
- However, there is no coordinated system or database for tracking criminals or wanted persons domestically in India.
- In the absence of such a system, it is relatively easy for criminals from one police station/jurisdiction to melt into the population in any other area, almost undetected.
Way forward
- The creation of a nationwide database of wanted persons, which could be accessible for police agencies, the public and others is needed.
- A nation-wide system of âWanted Persons Noticesâ, similar to Interpol Notices, is required, to help track fugitives domestically.
- The Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems and the National Intelligence Grid are efforts in the right direction/
- Countries like the U.S. have functional inter-State extradition and fugitive tracking systems.
- India needs to set up such dedicated âfugitive tracking unitsâ.
- There needs to be enhanced integration between immigration agencies, State police agencies, Interpol-New Delhi, the External Affairs Ministry and Home Ministry and central investigation agencies.
- Sharing India’s âwantedâ database or providing access to it to foreign embassies on a reciprocal basis or through treaties or arrangements would also be helpful.
- Signing of more bilateral and multilateral conventions on criminal matters would help plug legal infirmities.
- Signing bilateral agreements on cooperation in policing matters would also help.
- All relevant legal processes and requirements should be incorporated into one consolidated law on international cooperation.
- The entire gamut of activities pertaining to fugitives, from investigation to extradition, needs to be incorporated into a specialised set-up.
Conclusion
In the absence of a coordinated database, criminals can go undetected. What we need is a watertight system that would deter criminals from hoodwinking the law.
Back2Basics: Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS)
- CCTNS aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing the efficiency and effective policing at all levels and especially at the Police Station level.
- It aism at adoption of principles of e-Governance, and creation of a nationwide networked infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled state of- the-art tracking system around “investigation of crime and detection of criminals” in real time.
- It is is a critical requirement in the context of the present day internal security scenario.
- The scope of CCTNS spans all 35 States and Union Territories and covers all Police Stations (15,000+ in number) and all Higher Police Offices (6,000+ in number) in the country.
- The CCTNS project includes vertical connectivity of police units (linking police units at various levels within the States – police stations, district police offices, state headquarters, SCRB and other police formations â and States, through state headquarters and SCRB, to NCRB at GOI level) as well as horizontal connectivity, linking police functions at State and Central level to external entities.
National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID)
- First conceptualised in 2009, NATGRID seeks to become the one-stop destination for security and intelligence agencies to access database related to immigration entry and exit, banking and telephone details of a suspect on a âsecured platformâ.
- All State police are mandated to file First Information Reports (FIR) in the CCTNS.
- It is only a repository and the data pertaining to FIRs of a particular police station are a State subject.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 124 and Article 214
Mains level: Paper 2- Collegium system
Context
Judiciary is being challenged, from within and outside. It must shield itself from further erosion of its independence and competence by scrupulously following the law, as declared by the Supreme Court (SC) itself.
How the Collegium helped to secure the independence of judiciary
- In 1993, the SC held the following:
- The process of appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court and the High Courts is an integrated âparticipatory consultative processâ.
- The process aims at selecting the best and most suitable persons available for appointment.
- The Collegium consists of the CJI and the four senior-most judges of the SC and high courts.
- It was devised to ensure that the opinion of the Chief Justice of India is not merely his individual opinion, but an opinion formed collectively by a body of men at the apex level in the judiciary.
- By judicial interpretation, the Supreme Court re-interpreting Article 124 and 214 of the Constitution empowered the judiciary to make appointments to the higher judiciary to secure the rule of law.
Threat to the judicial independence
- The framers of the Constitution were alive to the likely erosion of judicial independence.
- On May 23, 1949, K T Shah stated that the Judiciary, which is the main bulwark of civil liberties, should be completely separate from and independent of the Executive, whether by direct or by indirect influence.
- In 2016, the Supreme Court struck down a constitutional amendment for creating the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC).
- The SC strongly disapproved of any role for the political executive in the final selection and appointment of judges.
- The SC said that âreciprocity and feelings of payback to the political executiveâ would be disastrous to the independence of the judiciary.
Consider the question “How the Collegium system helped the Judiciary secure its independence? What are the issues with it?”
Conclusion
The selection of deserving judges is essential to ensure the independence of the judiciary. The Collegium must do its best in this task.
Back2Basics: About the National Judicial Appointments Commission
- The NJAC or National Judicial Appointments Commission sought to change the system, where judges would have been appointed by a commission where the legislative and the executive would have had a role.
- The NJAC was supposed to comprise of the Chief Justice of India (Chairperson, ex-officio), two other senior judges of the Supreme Court, The Union Minister of Law and Justice, ex-officio and two eminent persons, to be appointed by the Chief Justice of India, Prime Minister of India, and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
- The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 13 August 2014 and by the Rajya Sabha on 14 August 2014, and became an Act.
- The NJAC replaced the collegium system for the appointment of judges.
- The NJAC Bill and the Constitutional Amendment Bill, was ratified by 16 of the state legislatures in India, and the President gave his assent on 31 December 2014.
- The NJAC Act became effective from April 13, 2015.
- The NJAC enjoyed support from the Supreme Court Bar Association and many legal luminaries but was also challenged by some lawyer associations and groups before the Supreme Court of India through Writ Petitions.
- A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court referred the matter to a Constitution Bench that heard different arguments for over a month.
- Â Finally, on October 16, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court declared the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act and the NJAC Act 2014 “unconstitutional and void”.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) Schemes
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Centre has decided to allow state-run market yards to access financing facilities through its Agricultural Infrastructure Fund to calm the fears of protesting farmers that such market yards are being weakened.
Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) Schemes
- It is a Central Sector Scheme meant for setting up storage and processing facilities, which will help farmers, get higher prices for their crops.
- The Union Cabinet approved this scheme in July 2020 for a period of 10 years.
- It will support farmers, PACS, FPOs, Agri-entrepreneurs, etc. in building community farming assets and post-harvest agriculture infrastructure.
- These assets will enable farmers to get greater value for their produce as they will be able to store and sell at higher prices, reduce wastage and increase processing and value addition.
   Note the following things about AIF:
   1) It is a Central Sector Scheme
   2) Duration of the scheme
   3)Target beneficiaries
What exactly is the AIF?
- The AIF is a medium â long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and credit guarantee.
- Under the scheme, Rs. 1 Lakh Crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans with an interest subvention of 3% per annum.
- It will provide credit guarantee coverage under Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) for loans up to Rs. 2 Crore.
Target beneficiaries
The beneficiaries will include farmers:
- PACS, Marketing Cooperative Societies, FPOs, SHGs, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Startups, and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Projects
What are the new changes?
- The Union Cabinet decided to extend the AIF to State agencies and Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs), as well as federations of cooperative organizations, Farmers Producers Organizations and self-help groups.
- They will now be eligible for interest subvention for loans up to âš2 crores, with APMCs allowed to access separate loans for different kinds of infrastructure projects to build cold storage, silos, sorting, grading and assaying units in their market yards.
- The scheme has also been extended to 2032-33.
Why such a move?
- The modifications in the Scheme will help to achieve a multiplier effect in generating investments while ensuring that the benefits reach small and marginal farmers.
- The APMC markets are set up to provide market linkages and create an ecosystem of post-harvest public infrastructure open to all farmers.
- This is also proof that APMC will not end as the farmers’ concern since the three farm laws.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tele Law Scheme
Mains level: Pendency issue in Indian Judiciary
The Law Ministry recently commemorated an event to mark the coverage of more than nine lakh beneficiaries of the governmentâs tele-law scheme, using common service centres (CSCs) to provide justice across the country.
Tele-Law Scheme
- The concept of Tele-Law is to facilitate the delivery of legal advice through a panel of lawyers stationed at the State Legal Services Authorities (SALSA) and CSC.
- Tele-Law means the use of communications and information technology for the delivery of legal information and advice.
- The project initiates to connect citizens with lawyers through video conferencing facilities by the Para-Legal Volunteers stationed at identified 50,000 CSCs.
- This e-interaction between lawyers and people would be through the video-conferencing infrastructure available at the CSCs.
Features of the program
- Under this programme, smart technology of video conferencing, telephone/instant calling facilities available at the vast network of CSC.
- It enables anyone to seek legal advice without wasting precious time and money.
- The service is free for those who are eligible for free legal Aid as mentioned under Section 12 of the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987.
- For all others, a nominal fee is charged.
Back2Basics: Free legal aid in India
- Article 21 of the Constitution of India states, âNo person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by lawâ.
- Hence ensuring legal aid to everyone is necessary for ensuring substantive equality.
- Article 39A of the Constitution of India provides for free legal aid to the poor and weaker sections of the society, to promote justice on the basis of equal opportunity.
- Articles 14 and 22(1) also make it obligatory for the State to ensure equality before the law and a legal system that promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity to all.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Methanogens on saturn's moon
Mains level: Hunt for extra-terrestrial life
NASAâs Cassini spacecraft has detected an unusually high concentration of methane, along with carbon dioxide and dihydrogen, in the moons of Saturn by flying through their plumes.
What is the new observation?
- The spacecraft has found that Titan has methane in its atmosphere and Enceladus has a liquid ocean with erupting plumes of gas and water.
Are there methane-producing organisms on Earth?
- Most of the methane on Earth has a biological origin.
- Microorganisms called methanogens are capable of generating methane as a metabolic byproduct.
- They do not require oxygen to live and are widely distributed in nature.
- They are found in swamps, dead organic matter, and even in the human gut.
- They are known to survive in high temperatures and simulation studies have shown that they can live in Martian conditions.
- Methanogens have been widely studied to understand if they can be a contributor to global warming.
Could there be methanogens on Enceladus?
- We cannot conclude that life exists in the Enceladus ocean.
- It is the probability that Enceladusâ hydrothermal vents could be habitable to Earth-like microorganisms.
- There can be life hypotheses.
What other processes could have produced the methane?
- Methane could be formed by the chemical breakdown of organic matter present in Enceladusâ core.
- Hydrothermal processes could help the formation of carbon dioxide and methane.
- On Earth, hydrothermal vents on seafloors are known to release methane, but this happens at a very slow rate.
- This hypothesis is plausible but only if Enceladus was formed through the accretion of organic-rich material from comets.
- The results suggest that methane production from hydrothermal vents is not sufficient to explain the high methane concentration detected by Cassini in the plumes.
- An additional amount of methane produced via biological methanogenesis could match Cassiniâs observations.
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