Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various provisions of labour code
Mains level: Paper 2- Labour code reforms
The article highlights the key provision of the labour code and how it will help in removing the various hurdles faced by the key stakeholders.
Increase in the threshold for closure/lay-off and its impact
- The Industrial Relations Code 2020 increased the threshold for retrenchment/closure or lay-off without requiring government approval, from 100 to 300 workers.
- This will help in addressing the matter of expansion of the firms.
- In 2014, Rajasthan had increased the threshold of taking prior permission of the government before retrenchment.
- The reform has helped firms to set up larger operations in Rajasthan, and the same amendment was followed by 15 states.
Fixed Term Employment(FTE): Ensuring flexibility and tackling exploitation
- In many jobs employees are required for a few months such as infrastructure projects, textiles and garments, food and agro-processing, etc.
- However, the contractual employment workforce is quite often exploited with respect to wages, social security, and working conditions as well as welfare facilities.
- Fixed Term Employment is an intervention to enable the hiring of employees directly instead of hiring through contractors, which will ensure flexibility.
- For employees, all statutory entitlements and service conditions equivalent to those of a regular employee have now been made applicable.
- The Code on Industrial Relations also extends the benefit of gratuity even for an FTE contract of one year, which is five years in the case of regular employees.
Strengthening the formal economy
- The inclusion of the gig and platform workers in the Social Security Code 2020 is a step towards strengthening the formal economy.
- The provision for insurance coverage has been extended to plantation workers, and free annual health check-ups and a bipartite safety committee has been introduced for establishments such as factories, mines and plantation sectors in place of hazardous factories.
- The ESIC and EPFO requirements will now apply to establishments employing less than 10 and 20 workers respectively on a volunteer basis.
Ensuring female labour force participation
- Falling women’s workforce participation in India has been a matter of concern for a long time.
- Female labour force participation is a driver of growth and, therefore, participation rates indicate the potential for a country to grow more rapidly.
- The new Code ensures the employment of women in night shifts for all types of work.
Expansions of the provisions for migrant workers
- The Occupational Health, Safety & Working Conditions Code expands the definition of a migrant worker.
- The expanded definition includes workers who would be directly employed by the employer besides those employed through a contractor.
- Also a migrant, who comes on his own to the destination state, can declare himself a migrant worker by registering on an electronic portal.
- Registration on the portal has been simplified and there is no requirement of any other document except Aadhaar.
- For de-licencing/de-registration, it is mandated to notify registering officers about the closure of their establishment and certify payment of dues to all employed workers.
- This will ensure that workers will not be exploited even during the closure of the concerned establishment.
Other provisions
- The introduction of a concept of conducting web-based inspections can be seen as an attempt of matching corporate needs in the digital world.
- The provision for a 14-day notice period before strikes and lockdowns would allow both workers and employers to attempt resolving the issues.
- The codes also promote lifelong learning mechanism to match the evolving skill sets required for technology and process changes through the introduction of a reskilling fund.
Consider the question “What are the various provision added in the three labour code and how it will help revive the economy and tackle barriers in the expansion of firms?”
Conclusion
The reform measures address basic needs — to revive the economy and tackle barriers in the expansion of firms. Moreover, they promote the employment of women as well as reskilling of the workforce for the deployment of migrants.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Quad countries
Mains level: Paper 2- Non-alignment and Quad
The article analyses the basics of India’s foreign policy and its implications for the Quad.
Context
- There is confusion on what the Quad is and its future in India’s international relations.
- Sustaining that confusion is the proposition that India is abandoning non-alignment in favour of a military alliance with the US in order to counter the China threat.
4 Question on Quad’s future and India’s role
1) What is the nature of alliance?
- Alliances involve written commitments to come to the defence of the other against a third party.
- Working of alliance varies according to the distribution of power within the members of an alliance and the changing nature of the external threat.
- Alliances come in multiple shapes and forms — they could be bilateral or multilateral, formal or informal and for the long-term or near term.
- Alliances feature in India’s ancient strategic wisdom and contemporary domestic politics in India.
- Yet, when it comes to India’s foreign policy, alliances are seen as a taboo.
- Part of the problem is that India’s image of alliances is frozen in the moment when India became independent.
- After the Second World War, a newly independent India did not want to be tied down by alliances of the Cold War.
- That notion is seen as central to Indian worldview.
2) Does India forge alliances?
- Contrary to conventional wisdom, India has experimented with alliances of different kinds.
- During the First World War, some nationalists aligned with Imperial Germany to set up the first Indian government-in-exile in Kabul.
- In the Second World War, Subhas Chandra Bose joined forces with Imperial Japan to set up a provisional government.
- Policy of non-alignment among the great powers also did not rule out alliances in a different context.
- For example, when Bhutan, Nepal and Sikkim turned to Delhi for protection amidst Maoist China’s advance into Tibet during 1949-50, Nehru signed security treaties with them.
- India turned to the US for military support to cope with the Chinese aggression in 1962.
- Indira Gandhi signed a security cooperation agreement with the Soviet Union in 1971 to cope with the crisis in East Pakistan.
- Then, as now, there was much anxiety in Delhi about India abandoning non-alignment.
- India does do alliances but the question is when, under what conditions and on what terms.
3) Is the US offering India an alliance against China?
- The current political discourse in Washington is hostile to alliance-making.
- President Donald Trump does not miss an opportunity to trash US alliances.
- In any case, formal commitments do not always translate into reality during times of war.
- Even within the long-standing US military alliances with Japan and the Philippines, there is much legal quibbling over what exactly is the US’s obligation against, say, Chinese aggression.
- In case of the Quad, it is quite clear that Washington is not offering a military alliance, nor is Delhi asking for one.
- Because it knows India has to fight its own wars.
- Both countries, however, are interested in building issue-based coalitions in pursuit of shared interests.
4) Instrumental nature of alliance
- Agreements for security cooperation are made in a specific context and against a particular threat.
- When those circumstances change, security treaties are not worth the paper they are written.
- Consider India’s security treaties with Nepal, Bangladesh and Russia.
- The 1950 Treaty was designed to protect Nepal against the Chinese threat.
- Now, Nepali communists have long argued that the Treaty is a symbol of Indian hegemony.
- India’s 1972 security treaty with Bangladesh did not survive the 1975 assassination of the nation’s founder, Mujibur Rahman.
- India’s own enthusiasm for the 1971 treaty with Moscow waned within a decade.
- Today Beijing is Moscow’s strongest international partner, a reality that has a bearing on India’s strategic partnership with Russia.
What India can learn from China about alliances
- Mao aligned with the Soviet Union after in 1949 and fought the Korean War against the US during 1950-53.
- He broke from Russia in the early 1960s and moved closer to the US in the 1970s.
- Mao, who denounced US alliances in Asia, was happy to justify them if they were directed at Russia.
- He also welcomed Washington’s alliance with Tokyo as a useful means to prevent the return of Japanese nationalism and militarism.
- Having benefited from the partnership with the US, China is trying to push America out of Asia and establish its own regional primacy.
- Delhi could learn from Beijing in not letting the theological debates about alliances cloud its judgements about the extraordinary economic and security challenges India confronts today.
Conclusion
The infructuous obsession with non-alignment diverts Delhi’s policy attention away from the urgent task of rapidly expanding India’s national capabilities in partnership with like-minded partners.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: List 2 and List 3 of the Constitution
Mains level: Paper 2- Legal challenges Agri Acts 2020 could face
Farm Acts passed by the Parliament could face the legal hurdle in the court when challenged on its constitutional basis. This article explains the issue.
Background
- Recently, Parliament passed three acts related to agriculture. These Acts are-
- 1) The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020.
- 2) The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020.
- 3) The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
- This has led to the question: Does the Union government have the authority to legislate on what are rightfully the affairs of States?
Why agriculture is considered as States’ prerogative
- Agriculture is a State subject in the Constitution, listed as Entry 14 in the State List (List II).
- Entry 26 in the State List refers to “trade and commerce within the State”.
- Entry 27 in the State List refers to “production, supply and distribution of goods”.
- Entry 28 refers to “markets and fairs”.
- For these reasons, intra-State marketing in agriculture was always considered a legislative prerogative of States.
What was the legal basis used by the Parliament to pass the Farm Acts
- The central government invoked Entry 33 in the Concurrent List (List III).
- Entry 26 and 27 in List II are listed as “subject to the provisions of Entry 33 of List III”.
Entry 33 in List III: Trade and commerce in, and the production, supply and distribution of, — (a) the products of any industry where the control of such industry by the Union is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest, and imported goods of the same kind as such products; (b) foodstuffs, including edible oilseeds and oils; (c) cattle fodder, including oilcakes and other concentrates; (d) raw cotton, whether ginned or unginned, and cotton seed; and (e) raw jute.
Historical background of “Entry 33” of Concurrent List
- Entry 33, in its present form, was inserted in List III through the Constitution (Third Amendment) Act, 1954 after heated constitutional debates.
- The contention of the dissent was the following:
- As per Article 369 in the original version of the Constitution, the responsibility of agricultural trade and commerce within a State was temporarily entrusted to the Union government for a period of five years beginning from 1950.
- The 1954 Amendment attempted to change this into a permanent feature in the Constitution.
- According to dissident “if matters enumerated in Article 369 in were placed in List III, State autonomy would be rendered illusory and State powers and rights would be progressively pulverised…”.
- While another dissident argued that “passage of the Bill would transform the Indian Constitution into a “unitary Constitution” instead of a “federal Constitution” and reduce “all the States’ powers into municipal powers”.
- Notwithstanding the strong dissenting voices, the Bill was passed.
Let’s look into the related Supreme Court Judgments
- In many of its judgments after 1954, the Supreme Court of India has upheld the legislative powers of States in intra-State agricultural marketing.
- Most notable was the ruling of the five-judge Constitution Bench in I.T.C. Limited vs. Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) and Others, 2002.
- The Tobacco Board Act, 1975 had brought the development of the tobacco industry under the Centre.
- However, Bihar’s APMC Act continued to list tobacco as an agricultural produce.
- In this case, the question was if the APMC in Monghyr could charge a levy on ITC for the purchase of unprocessed tobacco leaves from growers.
- An earlier judgment had held that the State APMC Act will be repugnant to the Central Act, and hence was ultra vires.
- But the Constitution Bench upheld the validity of the State APMC Act, and ruled that market fees can be charged from ITC under the State APMC Act.
Consider the question “Examine the validity of legal basis used by the Parliament to pass the Farm Acts. Why it could face the legal challenge?”
Conclusion
It was unwise on the part of the Centre to use Entry 33 in List III to push the Farm Bills. Such adventurism weakens the spirit of federal cooperation that India needs in this hour of crisis. Second, agriculture is exclusively a State subject.
Back2Basics: Read more about 3 Agricultural Acts passed by the Parliament here-
[Burning Issue] Agricultural Reform Bills, 2020
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Asset Reconstruction Company
Mains level: https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/insolvency-law-ibc-corporate-debt-resolution-bankruptcy-code-nirmala-sitharaman-6704399/
The article argues for the greater role to Asset Reconstruction Companies by allowing them to invest in the equity [shares] of the distressed companies.
Context
- In a recently released paper “Indian Banks: A time to reform” Viral Acharya and Raghuram Rajan argued for a greater role for Asset Reconstruction Companies.
- They argue that when there are fewer bids in a bankruptcy auction, the value on loans is better realised if read an asset reconstruction company takes over the borrower and places the firm under new management.
Current limits on the role of ARC
- The RBI limited the role of ARC to participation in resolutions under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) only by partnering with an equity investor, which is the resolution applicant.
- If the application succeeds, the equity investor would acquire the shares, while the ARC trust would acquire the debt.
Background of the ARCs
- Some stakeholders are asking for extending the role of ARCs by allowing direct invest in the equity of distressed companies through IBC resolution just like private equity funds.
- The RBI doesn’t appear to favour such an extended role for ARCs.
- This is due to the uninspiring performance of the Asset Reconstruction Companies in the past.
- At the time of the Asian Financial Crisis, India’s non-performing assets stood at a whopping 14.4 per cent.
- It was in this context that the Narasimham Committee (1998) recommended setting up an ARC specifically for purchasing NPAs from banks and financial institutions.
- Subsequently, the SARFAESI Act, 2002 created the legal framework for establishing multiple private ARCs.
- This policy achieved only modest success.
- The maximum average recovery by ARCs as a percentage of total bank claims stood at 21.5 per cent in 2010.
- Since then, it has steadily declined and reached 2.3 per cent in 2018.
- This low recovery could be the result of collateral disposal rather than genuine business turnarounds [i.e. operating the business and turning it profitable].
Need for extending the role of ARCs
- In 2002, India lacked an effective bankruptcy system.
- There was no market for corporate control of distressed firms.
- ARCs were originally designed for this peculiar institutional ecosystem.
- They were required to hand over the distressed business back to the original promoter once they had generated enough value to repay the debt.
- Consequently, ARCs had little incentive to turn around distressed businesses.
- This situation completely changed in 2016 as the IBC seeks to maximise the value of distressed businesses through a market for corporate control.
- ARCs should be able to fully participate in this market and attempt successful turnarounds by acquiring strategic control over distressed businesses.
- In a solvent company, shareholders have stronger incentives than creditors to maximise enterprise value.
- This is because an increase in enterprise value automatically increases the value of its equity.
- In contrast, creditors do not benefit from increases in enterprise value beyond their individual claims.
- If ARCs could hold more equity instead of debt in the resolved company, they would also have a stronger incentive to take strategic control to ensure successful turnaround.
Way forward
- The law should enable ARCs to invest in a distressed company’s equity, whether by infusing fresh capital or by converting debt into equity.
- Effectively, an ARC should act more like a private equity fund, as Acharya and Rajan suggested.
- This in turn would make the market for corporate control under IBC deeper and more liquid, improving ex-ante recovery rates for banks.
Consider the question “What are Asset Reconstruction Companies? How allowing the ARCs to invest in equity of distressed companies under IBC help successful turnaround of the distressed business?”
Conclusion
- If only ARCs are allowed to directly participate in IBC resolutions by infusing equity, they could emerge as the most efficient vehicle for turning around distressed Indian businesses.
Back2Basics: Difference between debt and equity
- Debt market and equity market are two broad categories of investment available in the general investment milieu.
- Equity markets trade in shares or stocks of the company listed on the stock exchanges.
- A stock in a company indicates a unit in the ownership of the company.
- As shareholders, you become part owners of the company.
- The largest shareholder, with 50% or more shares, becomes the owner of the company.
- Equity markets are riskier than debt markets.
- Debt is a form of borrowed capital.
- The central or state governments raise money from the market by issuing government securities or bonds.
- In effect, the government is borrowing money from you and will pay interest to you at regular intervals.
- The principal amount is returned on maturity.
- In the same way, a company raises money from the market by selling debt market securities such as corporate bonds.
- The debt market is made up of bonds issued by government authorities and companies.
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The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has failed to iron out differences between some States and the Centre over the plan to get States to borrow from the market to meet the shortfall in compensation cess collections this year.
Try this question from CSP 2018:
Q.Consider the following items:
- Cereal grains hulled
- Chicken eggs cooked
- Fish processed and canned
- Newspapers containing advertising material
Which of the above items is/are exempt under GST (Goods and Services Tax)?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1, 2 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
About GST Council
- The GST Council is a federal body that aims to bring together states and the Centre on a common platform for the nationwide rollout of the indirect tax reform.
- It is an apex member committee to modify, reconcile or to procure any law or regulation based on the context of goods and services tax in India.
- The GST Council dictates tax rate, tax exemption, the due date of forms, tax laws, and tax deadlines, keeping in mind special rates and provisions for some states.
- The predominant responsibility of the GST Council is to ensure to have one uniform tax rate for goods and services across the nation.
How is the GST Council structured?
- The GST is governed by the GST Council. Article 279 (1) of the amended Indian Constitution states that the GST Council has to be constituted by the President within 60 days of the commencement of the Article 279A.
- According to the article, the GST Council will be a joint forum for the Centre and the States. It consists of the following members:
- The Union Finance Minister will be the Chairperson
- As a member, the Union Minister of State will be in charge of Revenue of Finance
- The Minister in charge of finance or taxation or any other Minister nominated by each State government, as members.
Terms of reference
- Article 279A (4) specifies that the Council will make recommendations to the Union and the States on the important issues related to GST, such as the goods and services will be subject or exempted from the Goods and Services Tax.
- They lay down GST laws, principles that govern the following:
- Place of Supply
- Threshold limits
- GST rates on goods and services
- Special rates for raising additional resources during a natural calamity or disaster
- Special GST rates for certain States
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hepatitis
Mains level: Not Much
Americans Harvey J Alter and Charles M Rice, and British scientist Michael Houghton were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology on Monday for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which one of the following statements is not correct? (CSP 2019)
(a) Hepatitis B virus is transmitted much like HIV.
(b) Hepatitis B. unlike Hepatitis C, does not have a vaccine.
(c) Globally, the number of people infected with Hepatitis B and C viruses arc several times more than those infected with HIV.
(d) Some of those infected with Hepatitis B and C viruses do not show the symptoms for many years.
Hepatitis C Virus
- Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a bloodborne virus and causes liver diseases. It refers to an inflammatory condition of the liver.
- The novel virus caused several deaths in the 1960s and 1970s — but remained unknown until its discovery in the late 1980s.
What are other Hepatitis Viruses?
- Before the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus, two other viruses were known to cause hepatitis in patients.
- The Hepatitis A virus was known to spread mainly through contaminated food and water and caused a relatively milder form of liver inflammation.
- Hepatitis B, discovered in the 1960s, was known to transmit mainly through infected blood and caused a more serious form of the disease.
- Incidentally, the discovery of the Hepatitis B virus too was rewarded with a Nobel Prize in Medicine, given to Baruch Blumberg in 1976. There are vaccines available for this disease now.
How Hepatitis C came to observation?
- The discovery and identification of the Hepatitis B virus facilitated the development of a diagnostic test to detect its presence in blood.
- Thereafter, only blood sanitized from this virus would be given to patients, but it was observed that even this sanitized blood was able to prevent only 20% of the blood-borne hepatitis cases.
- It was then that the search for the new virus began.
How is Hepatitis C treated?
- Presently there is no vaccine available for HCV. However, it can be treated with antiviral medication.
- Hepatitis A and B are preventable by vaccine.
Back2Basics:
In news: Nobel Prize
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tax Sheltering
Mains level: Not Much
This newscard is an excerpt from an original article published in TH.
We can expect a statement based question comparing Tax Shelters and Tax Heavens.
What is a Tax Shelter?
- A tax shelter is a financial vehicle that an individual can use to help them lower their tax obligation and, thus, keep more of their money.
- It is a legal way for individuals to “stash” their money and avoid getting it taxed.
- A tax shelter is entirely different from a tax haven because the latter exists outside the country and its legality can, at times, be questionable.
- A tax shelter, on the other hand, is entirely legal and keeps all monies within an individual’s home country.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ketogenic Diet
Mains level: Not Much
Ketogenic or Keto Diet is popularly followed as a weight loss diet across the world.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Regular intake of fresh fruits and vegetables is recommended in the diet since they are a good source of antioxidants. How do antioxidants help a person maintain health and promote longevity? (CSP 2014)
(a) They activate the enzymes necessary for vitamin synthesis in the body and help prevent vitamin deficiency.
(b) They prevent excessive oxidation of carbohydrates, fats and proteins in the body and help avoid unnecessary wastage of energy.
(c) They neutralize the free radicals produced in the body during metabolism.
(d) They activate certain genes in the cells of the body and help delay the ageing process.
What is Ketogenic Diet?
- The Keto Diet is one of the most popular weight-loss diets the world over.
- It consists of a high-fat, moderate-protein and low-carb diet.
- It helps in weight loss by achieving ketosis — a metabolic state where the liver burns body fat and provides fuel for the body, as there is limited access to glucose.
What constitutes a keto diet?
- A classic keto generally requires that 90 per cent of a person’s calories come from fat, 6 per cent from protein and 4 per cent from carbs.
- But there are many versions doing the rounds since this one was designed for children suffering from epilepsy to gain control over their seizures.
How does it impact the body?
- If we starve the body of carbohydrate, after burning out the glucose, the liver starts breaking down fats for energy.
- Ketosis is common in all kinds of fasting, but in a keto diet, when one is feeding it by giving a lot of fats from outside without carbs, it can become mildly toxic.
- It may lead to many nutrient deficiencies such as carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins (especially vitamin A, D, E, & K) and minerals like calcium, phosphorus, sodium.
- Extreme carbohydrate restriction can lead to hunger, fatigue, low mood, irritability, constipation, headaches, and brain fog, which may last days to weeks
What impact does it have on our kidneys?
- Even the moderate increase in protein needs to be carefully monitored, especially in those who are already suffering from chronic kidney disease, as it could lead to kidney failure.
- One should get a thorough assessment and make sure they have normal kidney function before choosing this diet.
- This diet could lead to increased stress on the kidneys and result in kidney stones, as they are made to work overtime.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various social reformers
Mains level: NA
PM has paid rich tributes to revolutionary freedom fighter Shyamji Krishna Varma on his birth anniversary.
Try this PYQ:
Q. The Ghadr (Ghadar) was a –
(a) Revolutionary association of Indians with headquarters at San Francisco.
(b) Nationalist organization operating from Singapore
(c) Militant organization with headquarters at Berlin
(d) Communist movement for India’s freedom with head-quarters at Tashkent
About Shyamji Krishna Varma
- SK Varma (1857–1930) was an Indian revolutionary fighter, a patriot, lawyer and journalist who founded the Indian Home Rule Society, India House and The Indian Sociologist in London.
- He was a noted scholar in Sanskrit and other Indian languages.
- He pursued a brief legal career in India and served as the Divan of a number of Indian princely states in India.
- He had, however, differences with Crown authority, was dismissed following a supposed conspiracy of local British officials at Junagadh and chose to return to England.
- An admirer of Dayanand Saraswati’s approach of cultural nationalism, and of Herbert Spencer, Krishna Varma believed in Spencer’s dictum: “Resistance to aggression is not simply justified, but imperative”.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness for Innovation (CEPI)
Mains level: Not Much
Translational Health Science And Technology Institute (THSTI), an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology, has now been recognized by Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness for Innovation (CEPI) as one of the Global Network of Laboratories for centralized assessment of COVID 19 Vaccines.
Note: CEPI is neither a WHO subsidiary nor a UN body .
Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness for Innovation (CEPI)
- The CEPI is a foundation that takes donations to finance independent research projects to develop vaccines against emerging infectious diseases (EID).
- It is focused on the WHO’s “blueprint priority diseases.
- These diseases include the Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV), the SARS coronavirus 2 the Nipah virus, the Lassa fever virus, and the Rift Valley fever virus, as well as the Chikungunya virus and the hypothetical, unknown pathogen “Disease X”.
- CEPI investment also requires “equitable access” to the vaccines during outbreaks.
- CEPI was conceived in 2015 and formally launched in 2017 at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: IBC
Mains level: Paper 3- Impact of IBC
The article analyses the impact of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) on the insolvency resolution and on Indian economy.
Measures that will improve investment
1) IBC: transforming insolvency resolution
- IBC replaced inefficient bankruptcy law regime and has transformed insolvency resolution in India.
- The IBC has focused on time-bound resolution, rather than liquidation.
- IBC acts as an empowering tool to support companies falling within its ambit.
- It has successfully instilled confidence in the corporate resolution methodology.
- It has allowed credit to flow more freely to and within India while promoting investor and investee confidence.
- The IBC is both flexible and dynamic, which makes it impactful, given how forward thinking the concept of an omnibus legislation of its nature actually is.
- Through the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), it has established an unprecedented organisation that both regulates and develops insolvency policy, and assesses market realities.
Impact of IBC
- According to the Resolving Insolvency Index, India’s ranking improved to 52 in 2019 from 108 in 2018.
- Further, the recovery rate improved nearly threefold from 26.5% in 2018 to 71.6% in 2019
- The overall time taken in recovery also improved nearly three times, coming down from 4.3 years in 2018 to 1.6 years in 2019.
2) Decriminalisation of minor offences
- Criminal penalties including imprisonment for minor offences act as major deterrents for investors.
- The Government of India is also working toward decriminalisation of minor offences.
- This will significantly reduce the risk of imprisonment for actions or omissions that are not necessarily fraudulent or an outcome of mala fide intent.
3) Other legislative measures
- Together with the IBC, following 3 reforms suggests major and multi-dimensional effort by the government.
- 1) The rolling out of the commercial courts.
- 2) Commercial divisions and the Commercial Appellate Divisions Act, 2015, to allow district court-level commercial courts.
- 3) Removal of over 1,500 obsolete and archaic laws.
Way forward
- There could perhaps be a look at institutionalising the introduction of a pre-packed insolvency resolution process.
- This will also help resolve matters expeditiously, outside of the formal court system, and allow resolution even during the COVID-19 altered reality.
Consider the question “Examine the impact of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) on the insolvency resolution procedure and suggest the further improvements in the IBC.”
Conclusion
The IBC has provided a major stimulus to ease of doing business, enhanced investor confidence, and helped encourage entrepreneurship while also providing support to MSMEs. Its further streamlining and strengthening will surely instil greater confidence in both foreign and domestic investors as they look at India as an attractive investment destination.
B2BASICS
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Narcoanalysis, Polygraph Test
Mains level: Not Much
Involuntary administration of narco or lie detector tests is an “intrusion” into a person’s “mental privacy,” a Supreme Court judgment of 2010 has held.
Try this question:
Q.What are the ethical issues associated with the Lie-detection tests?
Various Lie detector tests
(1) Polygraph Test
- A polygraph test is based on the assumption that physiological responses that are triggered when a person is lying are different from what they would be otherwise.
- Instruments like cardio-cuffs or sensitive electrodes are attached to the person, and variables such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, change in sweat gland activity, blood flow, etc., are measured as questions are put to them.
- A numerical value is assigned to each response to conclude whether the person is telling the truth, is deceiving, or is uncertain.
(2) Narcoanalysis
- Narcoanalysis, by contrast, involves the injection of a drug, sodium pentothal, which induces a hypnotic or sedated state.
- In such a state, the subject’s imagination is neutralized, and they are expected to divulge information that is true.
- The drug, referred to as “truth serum” in this context, was used in larger doses as anaesthesia during surgery and is said to have been used during World War II for intelligence operations.
Why these tests are so (in)famous?
- Investigating agencies seek to employ these tests in the investigation, and are sometimes seen as being a “softer alternative” to torture or “third degree” to extract the truth from suspects.
- These tests put into consideration the international norms on human rights, the right to a fair trial, and the right against self-incrimination under Article 20(3) of the Constitution.
Legal status in India
- In ‘Selvi & Ors vs State of Karnataka & Anr’ (2010), a Supreme Court Bench comprising CJI ruled that no lie detector tests should be administered “except on the basis of the consent of the accused”.
- Those who volunteer must have access to a lawyer, and have the physical, emotional, and legal implications of the test explained to them by police and the lawyer, the Bench said.
- It said that the ‘Guidelines for the Administration of Polygraph Test on an Accused’ published by the National Human Rights Commission in 2000, must be strictly followed.
- The subject’s consent should be recorded before a judicial magistrate, the court said.
What was the latest Judgement?
- Involuntary administration of narco or lie detector tests is an “intrusion” into a person’s “mental privacy,” a Supreme Court judgment of 2010 has held.
- The consequences of such tests on “individuals from weaker sections of society who are unaware of their fundamental rights and unable to afford legal advice” can be devastating.
- It may involve future abuse, harassment and surveillance, even leakage of the video material to the Press for a “trial by media.”
- Such tests are an affront to human dignity and liberty and have long-lasting effects.
- “An individual’s decision to make a statement is the product of a private choice and there should be no scope for any other individual to interfere with such autonomy,” the apex court had held.
Legal status of its outcome
- The results of the tests cannot be considered to be “confessions”, because those in a drugged-induced state cannot exercise a choice in answering questions that are put to them.
- However, any information or material subsequently discovered with the help of such a voluntarily-taken test can be admitted as evidence, the court said.
- Thus, if an accused reveals the location of a murder weapon in the course of the test, and police later find the weapon at that location, the statement of the accused will not be evidence, but the weapon will be.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Conference on Disarmament (CD)
Mains level: Nuclear disarmament
India has supported the holding of negotiations on a Comprehensive Nuclear Weapons Convention at the Conference on Disarmament (CD). It reiterated its commitment to the disarmament of nuclear weapons in a step-by-step non-discriminatory process.
List out various factors which are preventing the nuclear disarmaments amongst the nations.
About the Conference on Disarmament (CD)
- The CD is a multilateral disarmament forum established by the international community to negotiate arms control and disarmament agreements based at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
- The Conference meets annually in three separate sessions in Geneva.
- The Conference was first established in 1979 as the Committee on Disarmament as the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community.
- It was renamed the Conference on Disarmament in 1984.
Recent developments from India
- India has not revised its key principles regarding the weapons in its arsenal.
- Raksha Mantri has earlier hinted at a possibility of changing the No First Use (NFU) principle by declaring that ‘circumstances’ will determine the “No First Use” stance.
India stands committed
- India believes that nuclear disarmament can be achieved through a step-by-step process underwritten by a universal commitment and an agreed multilateral framework.
- India remains convinced of the need for meaningful dialogue among all states possessing nuclear weapons, for building trust and confidence.
- India also remains committed to negotiations regarding a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty in the CD on the basis of the report of the Special Coordinator or CD/1299 which dates to March 24, 1995.
B2BASICS
India’s No first use doctrine
For India, Nuclear weapons are political weapons and not weapons of war and their sole purpose is to deter the use of nuclear weapons by India’s adversaries. India has nit only established itself as a responsible nuclear state, but guided the world about how to be a responsible nuclear state through No first use policy.
Features of India’s nuclear doctrine:
- Building and maintaining a credible minimum deterrent.
- A “No First Use” policy i.e. nuclear weapons to be used only in case of any nuclear attack on Indian territory or on Indian forces anywhere.
- Non use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states.
- Nuclear retaliatory attacks to be authorised only by civilian political leadership through the Nuclear Command Authority.
- Nuclear retaliation to a first strike will be massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage.
- India may retaliate with nuclear weapons to retaliate against attack with biological or chemical weapons.
- Strict controls on export of nuclear and missile related materials and technologies.
- A commitment to goal of nuclear weapon free world.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Atal Tunnel
Mains level: Significance of the Border Infrastructure
PM Modi has inaugurated the Atal Tunnel at Rohtang at an altitude of above 3,000 metres in Himachal Pradesh.
Refer this link to read more about Himalayan passes and rivers
https://www.civilsdaily.com/the-northern-and-northeastern-mountains-part-1/
Atal Tunnel
- The 9.02 km-long-tunnel, built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), is the world’s longest highway tunnel and connects Manali to Lahaul-Spiti valley.
- It provides all-weather connectivity to the landlocked valley of Lahaul-Spiti, which remains cut-off for nearly six months in a year as the Rohtang Pass is usually snow-bound between November and April.
- Before the tunnel construction, the Lahaul Valley used to remain closed for vehicular movement due to bad weather conditions.
- It reduces the distance by 46 km between Manali and Leh and the travel time by about 4 to 5 hours. It is expected to boost tourism and winter sports in the region.
- The tunnel, also significant from the military logistics viewpoint, will provide better connectivity to the armed forces in reaching Ladakh.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Shaurya Missile
Mains level: India's missile programme
A successful trial of the nuclear-capable Shaurya missile was conducted by India.
Shaurya Missile
- Shaurya is a land-based parallel of the submarine-launched K-15 missile.
- It is a land variant of short-range SLBM K-15 Sagarika, which has a range of at least 750 kilometres.
- These ballistic weapons belong to the K missile family — codenamed after late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam — which is launched from Arihant class of nuclear submarines.
- Because these missiles are to be launched from submarines, they are lighter, smaller and stealthier than their land-based counterparts; the Agni series.
A look at what this family of missiles is their strategic importance as a nuclear deterrent and their recent tests.
K Family of missiles
- The K family of missiles is primarily Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs), which have been indigenously developed by DRDO.
- These are named after Dr Kalam, the central figure in India’s missile and space programmes who also served as the 11th President of India.
- The development of this naval platform launched missiles began in the late 1990s as a step towards completing India’s nuclear triad (land, sea and air-based).
Strategic importance of SLBMs
- The capability of being able to launch nuclear weapons submarine platforms has great strategic importance in the context of achieving a nuclear triad, especially in the light of ‘no first use’ policy of India.
- The sea-based underwater nuclear-capable assets significantly increase the second strike capability of a country and thus boosts its nuclear deterrence.
- These submarines can not only survive the first strike by the adversary but also can launch a strike in retaliation thus achieving Credible Nuclear Deterrence.
- The development of these capabilities is important in light of India’s relations with the two neighbours China and Pakistan.
Try this PYQ now:
What is “Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)”, sometimes seen in the news? (CSP 2018)
(a) An Israeli radar system
(b) India’s indigenous anti-missile programme
(c) An American anti-missile system
(d) A defence collaboration between Japan and South Korea
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Cannabidiol
Mains level: Not Much
These days, there are diverse opinions rising regarding the legalization of CBD oil in India after recent controversy rose after the alleged suicide of an actor.
What is CBD oil?
- CBD oil is an extract from the cannabis plant.
- The two main active substances in it are cannabidiol or CBD and delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.
- The high that is caused by the consumption of cannabis is due to THC.
- CBD, however, does not cause a “high” or any form of intoxication.
- CBD oil is made by extracting CBD from the cannabis plant, then diluting it with a carrier oil like coconut or hemp seed oil.
What are the effects of Cannabidiol?
- Cannabidiol has effects on the brain, preventing the breakdown of a chemical that aggravates the pain and affects mood, and mental function. It can reduce pain and anxiety.
- It also reduces psychotic symptoms associated with conditions such as schizophrenia as well as epilepsy.
Is it legal in India?
- The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) outlaws the recreational use of cannabis.
- The NDPS Act, however, does not apply to the leaves and seeds of cannabis plants. In case the CBD is extracted from the leaves of the cannabis, then technically it is not illegal.
- CBD oil manufactured under a licence issued by the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 can be legally used.
- However, the use of cannabis as a medicine is not much prevalent in India.
Now try this PYQ:
Q. Widespread resistance of malarial parasite to drugs like chloroquine has prompted attempts to develop a malarial vaccine to combat malaria. Why is it difficult to develop an effective malaria vaccine?
A) Malaria is caused by several species of Plasmodium
B) Man does not develop immunity to malaria during natural infection
C) Vaccines can be developed only against bacteria
D) Man is only an intermediate host and not the definitive host
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Kamchatka Peninsula
Mains level: Not Much
An ‘ecological disaster’ of sorts is unfolding on a black volcanic beach of the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East, according to a report.
Note the features of the map and surrounding seas.
About Kamchatka Peninsula
- The Kamchatka Peninsula is a 1,250-kilometre-long peninsula in the Russian Far East.
- The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula’s eastern and western coastlines, respectively.
- Immediately offshore along the Pacific coast of the peninsula runs the 10,500-metre-deep Kuril–Kamchatka Trench.
- The Kamchatka Peninsula, the Commander Islands, and Karaginsky Island constitute the Kamchatka Krai of the Russian Federation.
- The vast majority of the 322,079 inhabitants are ethnic Russians, although about 13,000 are Koryaks (2014).
- The Kamchatka peninsula contains the volcanoes of Kamchatka, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Why in news?
- Then, sea animals begin to die in large numbers, their bodies littering the beach.
- These included octopuses, seals, sea urchins, stars, crabs and fish.
- Examination of the seawater by the administration has shown that levels of phenols and oil compounds have spiked.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Madhuca diplostemon
Mains level: Not Much
A tree species, long believed extinct, has been rediscovered after a gap of more than 180 years from a sacred grove in Kollam district.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Consider the following statements:
- Biodiversity hotspots are located only in tropical regions.
- India has four biodiversity hotspots i.e., Eastern Himalayas, Western Himalayas, Western Ghats and Andaman and the Nicobar Islands.
Which of the above statements is/ are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Madhuca diplostemon
- Scientists have identified the tree as Madhuca diplostemon (family Sapotaceae), a threatened species of the Western Ghats whose specimen was first collected in 1835.
- In 1835, Robert Wight, a surgeon-botanist with the East India Company, had collected three specimens of the species.
- Only one mature tree has been found so far, which makes this remarkable rediscovery extremely valuable from a scientific, environmental and conservation point of view.
- Since the species is represented only by one specimen in a single locality, it is eligible to be categorised ‘Critically Endangered’ by the IUCN.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Jal Jeevan Mission , Margdarshika
Mains level: Water management
What is Jal Jeevan Mission ?
The Union Minister of Jal Shakti launched a special mission mode campaign to provide potable piped water supply in all schools and anganwadi centres across the nation within 100 days.
About Jal Jeevan Mission
- This mission was envisaged by the Prime Minister on 29th September, 2020 while releasing the ‘Margdarshika’ for Gram Panchayats and Paani Samitis for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
- Provisions have been made under Jal Jeevan Mission for ensuring safe water through tap water connection in schools, anganwadi centres, health care centres, etc.
- National Jal Jeevan Mission has reached out to States/ UTs to ensure that during this campaign, Gram Sabhas are convened at the earliest to pass a resolution for providing safe water in all schools, anganwadi centres and other public institutions in the village in the next 100 days.
- These facilities will be operated and maintained by the Gram Panchayat and/ or its sub-committee i.e. Village Water & Sanitation Committee or Paani Samiti.
- Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) aims at the universal coverage of provision of tap water connection to every rural home by 2024. Under the mission, special focus is on women and children.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Swachh Bharat Puruskaar, Gandgi se Mukt Campaign
Mains level: Efforts for sanitation and cleanliness
What are Swachh Bharat Puruskar ?
- he Swachh Bharat (2020) Awards were conferred to the best performing States/UTs, districts, blocks, GPs and others in various categories marking six years of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) launch.
- The awards were given by Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS).
- Top Awards were conferred upon Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab& others.
- Gujarat was felicitated with the first prize in the state category; Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu as best district; Khachrod, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh as best block; and Chinnaur, (Salem) as the best Gram Panchayat for Swachh Sundar Samudayik Shauchalaya (SSSS) campaign organized from 1st Nov 2019 to 30th April 2020.
- For the week-long Gandagi Se Mukt campaign launched by Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on 8th August 2020, Telangana received the top award for maximum Shramdaan participation.
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