Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sustainable Development
Mains level: Paper 3- Sustainable development
The article explains the importance of focusing on the green supply chain for ensuring sustainability along with the progress of the organisations.
Sustainability as an essential issue
- The U.N’s. Millennium Development Goals and the World Bank Group’s global practices have recognised sustainability as an essential issue of global importance.
- Economic, social and other forms of sustainability have evolved over the years, but it is environmental sustainability that has gained significant popularity.
Economy and sustainability
- Some firms have positioned environmental practices at the forefront due to legislation, and industry and government commitments.
- Several firms have prioritised environmental practices due to compelling regulatory norms, and a potential to manage costs, risks and optimise eco-friendly practices.
- However, organisations in the manufacturing sector focus on waste reduction and energy efficiency improvements excessively and fail to see the big picture of environmentalism.
Adopting green supply chains for long-lasting benefits
- Only through organisational learning can people be urged to work towards long-lasting benefits.
- In this context, green supply chain practices are useful.
- These include green procurement, green manufacturing, green distribution, and reverse logistics.
- With practices starting from acquisition of eco-friendly raw material to disposal/ reuse/ recycle of used products, employees, suppliers, distributors, retailers and customers will be able to integrate environmental concerns in the daily operations of a firm.
- Thus, green supply chain practices enable organisational learning in environmental sustainability.
- Research shows that the positive impacts of environmentalism can only be felt in the long term when they get embedded into organisational learning systems through green supply chain practices.
- The resultant learning system smoothens the knowledge flow in the organisation.
Focusing on linkages
- Linkages between green supply chain practices, corporate environmental performance, corporate economic performance is necessary for an organisation’s progress and environmental protection.
- When the different players of a manufacturing supply chain realise the inherent benefits associated with organisational learning dimensions, their drive towards environmentalism increases.
Conclusion
Policymakers should support this thinking by not merely imposing environmental practices as regulatory norms but by emphasising on the creation of green supply chain-based learning systems in manufacturing.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MSP
Mains level: Fixation of MSP and its legal backing
The recently enacted Farmers bill seeks to dismantle the monopoly of APMC mandis, thereby allowing sale and purchase of crops outside these state government-regulated market yards. This has prompted many fears regarding the continuance of the existing minimum support price (MSP)-based procurement regime.
Try this PYQ:
Q.There is also a point of view that agriculture produce market committees (APMCs) set up under the state acts have not only impeded the development of agriculture but also have been the cause of food inflation in India. Critically examine. (UPSC 2014)
What does the law say about MSP?
- The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill does not give any statutory backing to MSP.
- There is not even a single mention of either “MSP” or “procurement” in the Bill passed by both Houses of Parliament last week.
Is there any legal backing for MSP?
- MSP, by contrast, is devoid of any legal backing. Access to it, unlike subsidised grains through the PDS, isn’t an entitlement for farmers.
- They cannot demand it as a matter of right.
What is the basis of MSP then?
- It is only a government policy that is part of administrative decision-making.
- The government declares MSPs for crops, but there’s no law mandating their implementation.
- The Centre currently fixes MSPs for 23 farm commodities based on the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) recommendations:
- 7 cereals (paddy, wheat, maize, bajra, jowar, ragi and barley)
- 5 pulses (chana, arhar/tur, urad, moong and masur)
- 7 oilseeds (rapeseed-mustard, groundnut, soyabean, sunflower, sesamum, safflower and nigerseed) and
- 4 commercial crops (cotton, sugarcane, copra and raw jute) —
What about CACP?
- The CACP come to existence in 1965 and MSPs are being announced since the time of the Green Revolution, starting with wheat in 1966-67.
- The CACP is simply an attached office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
- It can recommend MSPs, but the decision on fixing (or even not fixing) and enforcement rest finally with the government.
- The government can procure at the MSPs if it wants to. There is no legal compulsion. Nor can it force others (private traders, organised retailers, processors or exporters) to pay.
Exceptions to MSP: Fair and remunerative price (FRP)
- The only crop where MSP payment has some statutory element is sugarcane.
- This is due to its pricing being governed by the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966 issued under the Essential Commodities Act.
- That order, in turn, provides for the fixation of an FRP for cane during every sugar year (October-September).
- But even the FRP — which, incidentally, was until 2008-09 called the ‘statutory minimum price’ or SMP — is payable not by the government.
- The responsibility to make FRP payment to farmers within 14 days of cane purchase lies solely with the sugar mills.
Has there been any move to give MSP legislative backing?
- The CACP, in its price policy report for the 2018-19 Kharif marketing season, had suggested enactment of legislation conferring on farmers ‘The Right to Sell at MSP’.
- This, it felt, was necessary “to instil confidence among farmers for procurement of their produce”. That advice, predictably, wasn’t accepted.
A cause for farmers fury
- The ongoing farmer protests essentially reflect a loss of that very confidence.
- Is the dismantling of the monopoly of APMC mandis in wholesale trading of farm produce the first step at ending even the present MSP-based procurement programme, largely limited to wheat and paddy?
- If APMCs were to turn unviable due to the trades moving outside, how will government agencies undertake procurement that now takes place in mandis?
- These questions are playing in the minds of farmers, particularly in states such as Punjab, Haryana and MP that have well-established systems of governmental MSP purchases.
- For them, freedom to sell to anyone, anywhere and anytime has little value compared to the comfort of assured procurement at MSP.
Govt’s response
- PM has tweeted that the “system of MSP will remain” and “government procurement will continue”.
- The Agriculture Minister, too, has pointed out that past governments never thought it necessary to introduce a law for MSP.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Data Sonification
Mains level: Data Sonification and its applications
While telescopes offer glimpses of outer space by translating digital data into stunning images, NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Center (CXC) has gone a step further by unveiling a new ‘sonification’ project that transforms data from astronomical images into audio.
Don’t get confused with the ‘Chandra‘ considering it as an ISRO Project.
What is the project?
- Users can now ‘listen’ to images of the Galactic Centre, the remains of a supernova called Cassiopeia A, as well as the Pillars of Creation Nebula, which are all located in a region around 26,000 light-years away from Earth.
- The data has been collected by NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope — each of which is represented by a different musical ‘instrument’.
What is data sonification?
- Data sonification refers to the use of sound values to represent real data. Simply put, it is the auditory version of data visualization.
- In NASA’s recent Chandra project, for instance, data is represented using a number of musical notes.
- With this data sonification project, users can now experience different phenomena captured in astronomical images as an aural experience.
- The birth of a star, a cloud of dust or even a black hole can now be ‘heard’ as a high or low pitched sound.
How did NASA translate astronomical images into sound?
- NASA’s distant telescopes in space collect inherently digital data, in the form of ones and zeroes, before converting them into images.
- The images are essentially visual representations of light and radiation of different wavelengths in space, that can’t be seen by the human eye.
- The Chandra project has created a celestial concert of sorts by translating the same data into sound. Pitch and volume are used to denote the brightness and position of a celestial object or phenomenon.
- So far, the astronomers behind Project Chandra have released three examples made using data collected from some of the most distinct features in the sky — the Galactic Centre, Cassiopeia A, and Pillars of Creation Nebula.
(1) The Galactic Centre
- The first example is that of the Galactic Centre, which the rotational centre of the Milky Way galaxy is.
- It comprises a collection of celestial objects — neutron and white dwarf stars, clouds of dust and gas, and most notably, a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A*, that weighs four million times the mass of the sun.
- Based on data gathered by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, an image is rendered using X-ray, visible and infrared light before being translated into sound.
- The translation begins on the left side of the image and then moves to the right.
- Stars and other compact sources are represented using individual short notes, while a longer humming sound is used to denote clouds of gas and dust.
(2) Cassiopeia A
- Located around 11,000 light-years away from Earth in the northern Cassiopeia constellation, Cassiopeia A is one of the most well-known remnants of a once-massive star that was destroyed by a supernova explosion around 325 years ago.
- The image shows the supernova remnant as a ball of different coloured filaments.
- Each colour represents a particular element — red is used for silicon, yellow for sulfur, purple denotes iron, while green is used for calcium. Each of these filaments is also assigned its own unique sound.
- Unlike with the sonification of the Galactic Centre, where the translation plays from left to right, here the sounds move outwards from the centre of the circular structure.
(3) The Pillars of Creation
- The iconic Pillars of Creation is located in the centre of the Eagle Nebula, which is also known as Messier 16.
- The Hubble Star Telescope was used for images of the celestial structure, which comprises wispy towers of cosmic dust and gas.
- Here too, different colours are used to represent elements — blue for oxygen, red for sulphur and green for both nitrogen and hydrogen.
- Like with the Galactic Centre, this sound translation also plays from left to right. However, the sound has an eerie effect, with sharp whistles representing stars and low howls indicating the presence of gas clouds.
Significance of the project
- The sonification project aims to “incorporate NASA science content into the learning environment effectively and efficiently for learners of all ages”.
- Over the years, NASA has been working towards making data about space accessible for a larger audience.
- The projects like this allow audiences — including visually-impaired communities — to experience space through data.
Back2Basics: Chandra X-Ray Observatory
- The Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO) is a Flagship-class space telescope launched aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-93 by NASA on July 23, 1999.
- Chandra is sensitive to X-ray sources 100 times fainter than any previous X-ray telescope, enabled by the high angular resolution of its mirrors.
- Since the Earth’s atmosphere absorbs the vast majority of X-rays, they are not detectable from Earth-based telescopes; therefore space-based telescopes are required to make these observations.
- Chandra is an Earth satellite in a 64-hour orbit, and its mission is ongoing as of 2020.
- The telescope is named after the Nobel Prize-winning Indian astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Lok Adalat
Mains level: Alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in India
A daily wager in Odisha has moved the Lok Adalat against PM after he allegedly failed to get an Aadhaar card registered in his name despite 21 attempts.
Try this PYQ:
Q. With reference to National Legal Services Authority, consider the following statements:
- Its objective is to provide free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society on the basis of equal opportunity.
- It issues guidelines for the State Legal Services Authorities to implement the legal programmes and schemes throughout the country.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
What are Lok Adalats?
- Lok Adalat (People’s Court) is an alternative dispute resolution mechanism.
- The forum can settle cases pending on panchayat or at a pre-litigation stage in a court of law.
- The decisions have statutory status under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.
- Under this Act, the award (decision) made by the Lok Adalats is deemed to be a case of a civil court, final and binding for all parties, and not subject to appeal.
- It has broad powers to devise its procedures, compared to national courts.
- If the parties do not recognise the Lok Adalat (though there is no provision for an appeal against such a prize), they may initiate litigation by approaching the court of appropriate jurisdiction.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Yo-Yo Test
Mains level: NA
In his interaction with fitness experts and influencers the PM asked about the yo-yo test, that is a vital part of the Indian cricket team’s fitness routine.
Try this MCQ:
Q.The Yo-Yo test sometimes seen in news is related to:
Sports/ Healthcare/ Robotics/ Automation
What is the Yo-Yo test?
- The test was developed by Danish football physiologist Jens Bangsbo.
- Two cones are placed 20 metres apart, and the athlete has to run between them when the beep goes off.
- The beeps become more frequent after one minute, and if the athlete fails to reach the line within that time, he is expected to catch up within two more beeps.
- The test is stopped if the player fails to catch up before the beeps run out.
- The test has a beginner and an advanced level, and players are given scores. The minimum score set by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to pass the test is 16.1.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: English Channel
Mains level: NA
Hundreds of migrants have taken advantage of the warm weather and calm seas in the English Channel to reach the UK in a flurry of small boat crossings.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which one of the following pairs of islands is separated from each other by the ‘Ten Degree Channel’?
(a) Andaman and Nicobar
(b) Nicobar and Sumatra
(c) Maldives and Lakshadweep
(d) Sumatra and Java
English Channel
- The English Channel is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France.
- It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end.
- It is the busiest shipping area in the world.
- It is about 560 km long and varies in width from 240 km at its widest to 34 km in the Strait of Dover.
- It is the smallest of the shallow seas around the continental shelf of Europe.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Women's Reservation
The article analyses the issue of women representation and leadership.
Role of female leaders in pandemic
- Germany, Taiwan and New Zealand have women heading their governments.
- Three countries seem to have managed the pandemic much better than their neighbours.
- A detailed recent study by researchers in the United States reports that States which have female governors had fewer COVID-19 related deaths.
- The authors of the study conclude that women leaders are more effective than their male counterparts in times of crises.
Role of women as pradhans in gram panchayats
- Women leaders perform significantly better than men in implementing policies that promote the interests of women.
- This was demonstrated in study conducted by Nobel Laureate Esther Duflo and co-author Raghabendra Chattopadhyay.
- They used the system of mandated reservations of pradhans in gram panchayats to test the effectiveness of female leadership.
- Study concluded that pradhans invested more in rural infrastructure that served better the needs of their own gender.
- This is also an important goal from the perspective of gender equality.
Underrepresentation of women in politics
- Female members make up only about 10% of the total ministerial strength in India.
- The underrepresentation of female Ministers in India is also reflected in the fact that there is only one female Chief Minister.
- Despite this, women constitute just over 14% of the total strength of the Lok Sabha.
- This gives us the dismal rank of 143 out of 192 countries for which data are reported by the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
State of Women’s Reservation Bill
- Women running for elections face numerous challenges, it is essential to create a level-playing field through appropriate legal measures.
- Attempts have also been made to extend quotas for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies through a Women’s Reservation Bill.
- Male members from several parties opposed the Bill on various pretexts.
- Although the Rajya Sabha did pass the bill in 2010, the Lok Sabha and the State legislatures are yet to give their approval.
- 24 years that have passed since it was first presented in the Lok Sabha.
Way forward
- Political parties can sidestep the logjam in Parliament by reserving say a third of party nominations for women.
Conclusion
There is substantial evidence showing that increased female representation in policy making goes a long way in improving perceptions about female effectiveness in leadership roles. This decreases the bias among voters against women candidates, and results in a subsequent increase in the percentage of female politicians contesting and winning elections.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Social Stock Exchange
Mains level: Paper 2- Social Stock Exchange
Context
- The Securities and Exchange Board’s (SEBI) working group has submitted its report with recommendations regarding the structure, mechanisms, and regulatory framework for the proposed Social Stock Exchange (SSE).
What are Social Stock Exchanges (SSEs)?
- An SSE is a platform which allows investors to buy shares in social enterprises vetted by an official exchange.
- The Union Budget 2019 proposed setting up of first of its kind SSE in India.
- The SSE will function as a common platform where social enterprises can raise funds from the public.
- It will function on the lines of major stock exchanges like BSE and NSE. However, the purpose of the Social Stock Exchange will be different – not profit, but social welfare.
- Under the regulatory ambit of SEBI, a listing of social enterprises and voluntary organizations will be undertaken so that they can raise capital as equity, debt or as units like a mutual fund.
Issues with the idea of Social Stock Exchange
- SSE exists in one form or another in UK, Singapore, South Africa, Canada and Brazil, but it is yet to take off in any country.
- It has been an instrument focussed on social enterprises with rather poor results.
- The proposed SSE in our country could have been an interesting innovation if it was first.
- Replicating an experiment from elsewhere in an extremely complex environment of endemic poverty, high inequality and regional variation does not seem a reasoned decision.
- It is therefore important to analyse why it has been pushed as a key policy.
Why civil society is sceptical
- The 2020-21 Union Budget says that not-for-profit organisations will need to apply every five years for income tax registration to ascertain their charitable status.
- They will also need to renew their 80(G) certificate that provides tax relief to their donors.
- The not-for-profit sector would not be able to survive without the tax-exempt charitable status.
- These restrictions will open the gates to corruption and bullying by the tax and government bureaucracy.
- The SEBI working group was constituted of business leaders, government and SEBI officials with a token representative from civil society.
- Composition of the committee reflects the real intent of the SSE, which is to create instruments for market to enter the social sector.
- However, the way the exchange is envisioned makes it clear that the interests of the private sector are guiding the idea of SSE.
Will the entry of private sector benefit social sector
- The proponents of the SSE argue that it would help set standards and a performance matrix for the social sector.
- SSE is also expected to help bench-marking of sector actors (credibility checks), organise information and data, help in impact assessments, and do capacity building for the sector.
Solving complex social problems
- Poverty or injustice are essentially systemic and political questions that need multi-pronged dynamic engagement.
- Developing set standards of impact assessment and performance matrix has the risk of privileging only one approach to the developmental challenges at hand.
- The SSE would create more intermediaries and benefit larger organisations.
- More than 99 per cent of the three million NGOs in the country are in the small category and will be untouched by the SSE.
Conclusion
The core business of the SSE is to strengthen the social sector and bring new resources to it, SEBI for sure itself would admit that it is not the appropriate anchor.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: RTI
Mains level: Paper 2- RTI and issue of transparency
The article discusses the issue of growing lack of transparency in the functioning of government.
Issues with Transparent Governance in India
1) Electoral bond
- They were introduced in February 2017— they allowed anonymous donations to political parties and, therefore, protected the privacy of the donors.
- The Election Commission of India (ECI) criticised the opacity of this financial mechanism.
- The ECI told the government that this arrangement would prevent the state from ascertaining whether a political party has taken any donation in violation of provisions under Section 29B of the Representation of the People Act.
- Section 29B prohibits the political parties from taking donations from government companies and foreign sources.
- Electoral bonds also made it impossible to check whether a company was giving to parties more than what the Companies Act (2013) permitted, that is 7.5 per cent of the net average profit of the three preceding financial years.
2) Sealed envelopes
- Sealed envelope has become a modus operandi in several Indian institutions, including the Supreme Court (SC).
- In the case of political funding by electoral bonds or otherwise, a three-judge bench in 2019 directed political parties to submit the details of donations received to the ECI in sealed cover.
- The Assam administration had to show the progress it was making in the implementation of the National Register of Citizens by submitting reports in sealed covers.
3) Undermining RTI
(A) Reluctance to fill vacancies
- The government did not appoint a Chief Information Commissioner for a year after the incumbent retired in August 2014.
- Similaryly, government did not fill vacant information commissioner posts in the Central Information Commission (CIC) between 2016 and 2018.
- The backlog of pending appeals had reached 30,000 cases in late 2019 as the CIC has become a rather dysfunctional body.
(B) Government refusing to disclose infromation
- The government refused to disclose information which was previously available under the RTI Act.
- Queries about phone tapping are not responded to anymore.
- In 2016-17, the home and finance ministries rejected close to 15 per cent of the applications they received while the RBI and public sector banks rejected 33 per cent.
- The RBI, for instance, refused to give any information about the decision-making process that led to demonetisation.
(C) Limiting the powers of CIC
- During the 2019 Monsoon Session of Parliament, government amended the RTI Act to limit the power of the CIC.
- The five-year fixed tenure for the Chief Information Commissioner and information commissioners was abolished.
- Their salaries were not fixed any more, but notified separately by the government.
4.Diluting Whisleblower’s Protection Act
- Whistleblowers can now be prosecuted for possessing the documents on which the complaint has been made.
- Issues flagged by them have to be in “public interest”.
- Issues flagged should not be “affecting the sovereignty and integrity of India”, related to “commercial confidence” or “information received in confidence from a foreign government.
5.Issues with statistical information
- The National Statistical Commission and the Chief Statistician of India faced a credibility crisis when the new GDP series was released.
- Similarly, the National Crime Records Bureau has been affected by delays (its 2017 report was released in October 2019) and deletions.
- The National Sample Survey Office has also raised several concerns.
Conclusion
Transparency is not only necessary for maintaining a democratic polity, it is also necessary for making the economy work. Government actions must be informed by this fact.
B2BASICS
Electoral bond
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Abraham Accord
Mains level: Balance of relations between India, Israel and the Gulf
The White House has marked the formal normalization of Israel’s ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Kingdom of Bahrain has created a significant inflexion point in regional history and geopolitics.
Try this question:
Q. What are Abraham Accords? Discuss how the Israel-Gulf synergy could impact India’s relations with Israel.
What are Abraham Accords?
- The Israel–UAE normalization agreement is officially called the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement.
- It was initially agreed to in a joint statement by the United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on August 13, 2020.
- The UAE thus became the third Arab country, after Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994, to agree to formally normalize its relationship with Israel as well as the first Persian Gulf country to do so.
- Concurrently, Israel agreed to suspend plans for annexing parts of the West Bank. The agreement normalized what had long been informal but robust foreign relations between the two countries.
New friendships
- Externally, Israel, the UAE and Bahrain share the common threat perception of Iran.
- Internally, while all three have their respective hotheads opposing this reconciliation, these seem manageable.
- They are relatively more modern societies which share the overarching and immediate priority of post-pandemic economic resuscitation.
- They have lost no time to set up logistics such as Internet connectivity and direct flights to pave the way for more active economic engagement.
- If these sinews evolve, other moderate Arab countries are likely to join the Israel fan club.
India and the Gulf
- Now India has stronger, multifaceted and growing socioeconomic engagements with Israel and the Gulf countries.
- With over eight million Indian diasporas in the Gulf remitting annually nearly $50 billion, annual merchandise trade of over $150 billion.
- It sources nearly two-thirds of India’s hydrocarbon imports, major investments, etc. Hence it is natural to ask how the new regional dynamic would affect India.
The Israel-GCC synergy
- With defence and security cooperation as a strong impetus, both sides are ready to realize the full potential of their economic complementarity.
- The UAE and Bahrain can become the entrepôts to Israeli exports of goods and services to diverse geographies.
- Israel has niche strengths in defence, security and surveillance equipment, arid farming, solar power, horticultural products, high-tech, gem and jewellery, and pharmaceuticals.
- Tourism, real estate and financial service sectors on both sides have suffered due to the pandemic and hope for a positive spin-off from the peer-to-peer interactions.
- Further, Israel has the potential to supply skilled and semi-skilled manpower to the GCC states, particularly from the Sephardim and Mizrahim ethnicities, many of whom speak Arabic.
- Even the Israeli Arabs may find career opportunities to bridge the cultural divide. Israel is known as the start-up nation and its stakeholders could easily fit in the various duty-free incubators in the UAE.
Implications of the new trinity
- Geopolitically, India has welcomed the establishment of diplomatic relations between the UAE and Israel, calling both its strategic partners.
- In general, the Israel-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) breakthrough widens the moderate constituency for peaceful resolution of the Palestine dispute, easing India’s diplomatic balancing act.
- However, nothing in West Asia is monochromatic: The Israel-GCC ties may provoke new polarization between the Jihadi fringe and the mainstream.
- The possibility of the southern Gulf becoming the new arena of the proxy war between Iran and Israel cannot be ruled out, particularly in Shia pockets.
- India would have to be on its guard to monitor and even pre-empt any threat to its interests in the Gulf.
Way forward
- Israeli foray into the Gulf has the potential to disrupt the existing politico-economic architecture India has carefully built with the GCC states.
- India has acquired a large and rewarding regional footprint, particularly as the preferred source of manpower, food products, pharmaceuticals, gem and jewellery, light engineering items, etc.
- Indians are also the biggest stakeholders in Dubai’s real estate, tourism and Free Economic Zones.
- In the evolving scenario, there may be scope for a profitable trilateral synergy, but India cannot take its preponderance as a given.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Debate over profitability of farming in India
The government’s push to reform India’s agriculture sector has divided opinions and triggered a debate about the state of Indian agriculture.
Try this PYQ:
Q.In view of the declining average size of land holdings in India which has made agriculture nonviable for a majority of farmers, should contract farming and land leasing be promoted in agriculture? Critically evaluate the pros and cons. (UPSC 2015)
Features of Indian Agriculture
In the context of this debate, two long-standing characteristics of Indian agriculture are noteworthy:
- Indian agriculture is highly unremunerative
- It has been heavily regulated by the government and protected from the free play of market forces
Why are the new legislation introduced?
- According to the government, the new Bills passed by Parliament attempt to make it easier for farmers to sell to and produce for the private sector.
- The hope is that liberalizing the sector and allowing greater play for market forces will make Indian agriculture more efficient and more remunerative for the farmers.
- In this context, it is important to understand some of the basics of Indian agriculture.
Basics of Indian agriculture
(1) Workforce engaged
- At the time of Independence, about 70% of India’s workforce (a little less than 100 million) was employed in the agriculture sector.
- Even at that time, agriculture and allied activities accounted for around 54% of India’s national income.
- Over the years, agriculture’s contribution to national output declined sharply. As of 2019-20, it was less than 17% (in gross value added terms).
- And yet, the proportion of Indians engaged in agriculture has fallen from 70% to just 55% (Chart 1).
- As the Committee on Doubling Farmers’ Income (2017) observes, “the dependence of the rural workforce on agriculture for employment has not declined in proportion to the falling contribution of agriculture to GDP”.
(2) Land holdings
- While the number of people dependent on agriculture has been burgeoning over the years, the average size of landholdings has become reduced sharply — even to the extent of being unviable for efficient production.
- Data shows that 86% of all landholdings in India are small (between 1 and 2 hectares) and marginal (less than 1 hectare — roughly half a football field).
- The average size among marginal holdings is just 0.37 ha which hardly provides enough income to stay above the poverty line.
(3) Debts
- The combined result of several such inefficiencies is that most Indian farmers are heavily indebted (Chart 2).
- The data shows that 40% of the 24 lakh households that operate on landholdings smaller than 0.01 ha are indebted. The average amount is Rs 31,000.
- A good reason why such a high proportion of farmers is so indebted is that Indian agriculture — for the most part — is unremunerative.
- Chart 3 provides the monthly income estimates for an agriculture household in four very different states as well as the all-India number.
- Some of the most populous states like Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh have very low levels of income and very high proportions of indebtedness.
(4) Buying & selling
- Another way of understanding the plight of the farmers relative to the rest of the economy is to look at the Terms of Trade between farmers and non-farmers.
- Terms of Trade is the ratio between the prices paid by the farmers for their inputs and the prices received by the farmers for their output.
- As such, 100 is the benchmark. If the ToT is less than 100, it means farmers are worse off.
- As Chart 4 shows, ToT rapidly improved between 2004-05 and 2010-11 to breach the 100-mark but since then it has worsened for farmers.
(5) MSP
- A key variable in the debate is the role of minimum support prices. Many protesters fear governments will roll back the system of MSPs.
- MSPs provide “guaranteed prices” and an “assured market” to farmers, and save them from price fluctuations. This is crucial because most farmers are not adequately informed.
- But although MSPs are announced for around 23 crops, actual procurement happens for very few crops such as wheat and rice.
- Moreover, the percentage of procurement varies sharply across states (Chart 5). As a result, actual market prices — what the farmers get — are often below MSPs.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Essential Commodities
Mains level: Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020
Recently, the Rajya Sabha passed the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 which is aimed at deregulating commodities such as cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potatoes.
Try this question:
What are the salient features of Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020?
Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020
- It amends the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, by introducing a new Subsection 1(A) in Section 3.
- After the amendment, the supply of certain foodstuffs — including cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, potato — can be regulated only under extraordinary circumstances, which include an extraordinary price rise, war, famine, and natural calamity of a severe nature.
- In effect, the amendment takes these items out from the purview of Section 3(1), which gives powers to the central government to “control production, supply, distribution, etc, of essential commodities”.
- Earlier, these commodities were not mentioned under Section 3(1) and reasons for invoking the section were not specified.
How is an ‘essential commodity’ defined?
- There is no specific definition of essential commodities in the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. Section 2(A) states that an “essential commodity” means a commodity specified in the Schedule of the Act.
- The Act gives powers to the central government to add or remove a commodity in the Schedule.
- The Centre, if it is satisfied that it is necessary to do so in the public interest, can notify an item as essential, in consultation with state governments.
Which are those commodities?
- According to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, which implements the Act, the Schedule at present contain seven commodities.
- They are drugs; fertilizers, whether inorganic, organic or mixed; foodstuffs including edible oils; hank yarn made wholly from cotton; petroleum and petroleum products; raw jute and jute textiles; seeds of food-crops and seeds of fruits and vegetables, seeds of cattle fodder, jute seed, cottonseed.
- By declaring a commodity as essential, the government can control the production, supply, and distribution of that commodity, and impose a stock limit.
Under what circumstances can the government impose stock limits?
- While the 1955 Act did not provide a clear framework to impose stock limits, the amended Act provides for a price trigger.
- It says that agricultural foodstuffs can only be regulated under extraordinary circumstances such as war, famine, extraordinary price rise, and natural calamity.
- However, any action on imposing stock limits will be based on the price trigger.
- Thus, in case of horticultural produce, a 100% increase in the retail price of a commodity over the immediately preceding 12 months or over the average retail price of the last five years, whichever is lower, will be the trigger for invoking the stock limit.
- For non-perishable agricultural foodstuffs, the price trigger will be a 50% increase in the retail price of the commodity over the immediately preceding 12 months or over the average retail price of the last five years, whichever is lower.
Why was the need for this felt?
- The 1955 Act was legislated at a time when the country was facing a scarcity of foodstuffs due to persistently low levels of foodgrains production.
- The country was dependent on imports and assistance (such as wheat import from the US under PL-480) to feed the population.
- To prevent hoarding and black marketing of foodstuffs, the Essential Commodities Act was enacted in 1955. But now the situation has changed.
- The production of wheat has increased 10 times while the production of rice has increased more than four times since five decades.
- The production of pulses has increased 2.5 times, from 10 million tonnes to 25 million tonnes. In fact, India has now become an exporter of several agricultural products.
What will be the impact of the amendments?
- The key changes seek to free agricultural markets from the limitations imposed by permits and mandis that were originally designed for an era of scarcity.
- The move is expected to attract private investment in the value chain of commodities removed from the list of essentials, such as cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onions and potatoes.
- While the purpose of the Act was originally to check illegal trade practices such as hoarding, it has now become a hurdle for investment in the agriculture sector in general, and in post-harvesting activities in particular.
- The private sector had so far hesitated about investing in cold chains and storage facilities for perishable items as most of these commodities were under the ambit of the EC Act.
- The amendment seeks to address such concerns.
Why is it being opposed?
- This was one of the three ordinances/Bills that have seen protests from farmers in parts of the country.
- The Opposition says the amendment will hurt farmers and consumers, and will only benefit hoarders.
- They say the price triggers envisioned in the Bill are unrealistic — so high that they will hardly ever be invoked.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SAARC
Mains level: Paper 2- South Asian countries' response to pandemic
The article analyses how South Asia is dealing with the pandemic and the need for coordinated action by the countries across the region.
Varying response across the region
- Governments in South Asian countries have responded in varying degrees to counter the health and economic crises.
- India resumed its economic activities on a limited scale following a strict lockdown.
- Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka did the same after an extended lockdown.
- Bhutan and the Maldives have managed to largely contain community transmission and avoid prolonged lockdowns due to a higher testing rate.
- This is consistent with the hypothesis that countries that have conducted more tests have been more successful in containing the pandemic.
Low mortality in the region
- Unlike other regions, South Asian countries are experiencing a lower mortality rate despite having a higher infection rate.
- However, epidemiological studies and the World Health Organization’s reviews have been sceptical about the data reliability.
Effectiveness of state responses
- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Maldives have unveiled stimulus packages.
- The rest of the countries are yet to announce any concrete support for their low income and lower-middle income population still suffering from the economic fallout of the crisis.
- In late March, India announced a $22.5 billion relief package to ensure food security and cash transfers to save the livelihoods of an estimated 800 million people living in poverty.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) slashed the repo and reverse repo rate to create liquidity for businesses.
- In early April, Bangladesh announced a stimulus package worth about $8 billion in addition to an earlier $595 million incentive package for export-oriented industries.
- Although countries like India and Bangladesh announced financial and material stimulus packages, distribution concerns remain unaddressed.
United response by SAAR
- The region need to look beyond narrow geopolitical rivalry and come together to work towards a well-coordinated response mechanism.
- A SAARC COVID-19 fund was created following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to South Asian leaders.
- Bbut governments are yet to decide on its modus operandi.
- The region could leverage its existing institutional framework under the umbrella of SAARC to effectively respond to the crisis.
- For instance, SAARC Food Banks could be activated to tackle the imminent regional food crisis, and the SAARC Finance Forum can be activated to formulate a regional economic policy response.
Conclusion
Faced with an unprecedented crisis, this is the right time for the leaders of the region to come together and take on the challenge collectively.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Online education and issues with it
Pandemic has forced learning to the online mode. But there are several concerns with the online leaning. The article discusses the same.
Providing learning opportunity in pandemic
- The main thrust of providing learning opportunities while schools are shut is online teaching.
- There are several sets of guidelines and plans issues by the government, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for this purpose.
- The Internet space is teeming with learning schemes, teaching videos, sites and portals for learning opportunities.
3 issues with online learning
1) Increasing inequality
- Calamities, be they natural or man-made, affect the underprivileged the hardest, COVID-19 is no exception.
- The COVID-19 shutdown has affected opportunity for the poor even harder than their counterparts from well-to-do sections of society.
- The government began plans for students with no online access only by the end of August.
- But online or digital education is available is for students with only online access.
- Thus, digital India may become even more unequal and divided than it already is.
2) Pedagogical issues leading to bad quality education
- The quality of online teaching-learning leaves much to be desired.
- Listening to lectures on the mobile phone, copying from the board where the teacher is writing, frequent disconnections can hardly and organically connect the child’s present understanding with the logically organised bodies of human knowledge.
- The secondary students are in a better position still because of their relative independence in learning and possible self-discipline.
- The beginners in the lower primary can get nothing at all from this mode of teaching.
3) An unwarranted thrust on online education, post-COVID-19
- All reliable studies seem to indicate that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the classroom helps in already well-functioning systems, and either has no benefits or negative impact in poorly performing systems.
- That does not indicate much hope from IT in our education system.
- Transformation of schools in the current understanding of pedagogy, suitability of learning material and quality of learning provided through IT will further devastate the already inadequate system of school education in the country.
- Of course, IT can be used in a balanced manner where it can help; but it should not be seen as a silver bullet to remedy all ills in the education system.
Importance of institutional environment
- The institutional environment plays an important role online teaching.
- Even when the institutions function sub-optimally, students themselves create an environment that supports their growth morally, socially and intellectually in conversations and interactions with each other.
- The online mode of teaching completely forecloses this opportunity.
Conclusion
Our democracy and public education system should try to address the issues raised here while promoting the online mode of education.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Agri bills related to agri markets and contract farming
The faremers have been protesting against the agri bill. This article explains the rationale behind the bill and how it could help the farmers.
Challenges Indian agriculture face
- Indian agriculture has been characterised by fragmentation due to small holding sizes, weather dependence, production uncertainties, huge wastage and market unpredictability.
- This makes agriculture risky and inefficient with respect to both input and output management.
Recent steps to help farmers
- The government has taken various steps in this direction, for example-
- The implementation of the Swaminathan committee’s recommendation regarding fixing MSP at least 50 per cent profits on the cost of production.
- Increasing the agri budget by more than 11 times in the past 10 years.
- Establishing e-NAM mandis.
- An Agriculture Infrastructure Fund of Rs 1 lakh crore under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Package, the scheme for the formation of 10,000 FPOs, etc.
What the agri bills seek to achieve
- The bills will create an ecosystem where farmers and traders enjoy the freedom of choice of sale and purchase of farming produce.
- This freedom of choice will help to facilitate remunerative prices to farmers through competitive alternative trading channels.
- This will promote barrier-free inter-state and intra-state trade and commerce of farming produce outside the physical premises of markets notified under state agricultural produce marketing legislation.
- The farm bills also lay the ground of a legal framework for fair and transparent farming agreements between farmers and sponsors.
- This framework will facilitate greater certainty in quality and price, adoption of quality and grading standards, linkage of farming agreements with insurance and credit instruments and also enable the farmer to access modern technology and better inputs.
- These recommendations have been made by the Swaminathan Committee, which suggested the removal of the mandi tax, creation of a single market and facilitating contract farming.
Safeguard in the bill
- The bill have several safeguards such as the prohibition of sale, lease or mortgage of farmers’ land and farmers’ land is also protected against any recovery.
- Farming agreements cannot be entered into, if they are in derogation of the rights of a sharecropper.
- Farmers will have access to flexible prices subject to a guaranteed price in agreements.
- The sponsor has to ensure the timely acceptance of delivery and payment of produce to farmers and farmers’ liability is limited to only the advance received and cost of inputs provided by the sponsor.
- Disputes will be resolved through a Conciliation Board, to be constituted by the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), failing which an aggrieved party may approach the concerned SDM for the settlement of the dispute.
Consider the question “What are the changes introduced by the two recent bills passed by the government related to agri markets and contract farming how will these changes be helpful to the farmers?”
Conclusion
These farm bills will bring transformative changes in our agricultural sector and reduce wastage, increase efficiency, unlock value for our farmers and increase farmers’ incomes.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: REITs, INVITs
Mains level: Not Much
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has come up with its Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) issue.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which of the following is issued by registered foreign portfolio investors to overseas investors who want to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly?
(a) Certificate of Deposit
(b) Commercial Paper
(c) Promissory Note
(d) Participatory Note
Significance of the issue
- The issue will enable NHAI to monetize its completed National Highways that have a toll collection track record of at least one year.
- The NHAI reserves the right to levy a toll on identified highways and it will help the company raise funds for more road development across the country.
What are InvITs?
- Infrastructure investment trusts are institutions similar to mutual funds, which pool investment from various categories of investors and invest them into completed and revenue-generating infrastructure projects, thereby creating returns for the investor.
- Structured like mutual funds, they have a trustee, sponsor(s), investment manager and project manager.
- While the trustee (certified by Sebi) has the responsibility of inspecting the performance of an InvIT, sponsor(s) are promoters of the company that set up the InvIT.
- In the case of Public-private partnership (PPP) projects, it refers to the infrastructure developer or a special purpose vehicle holding the concession.
- While the investment manager is entrusted with the task of supervising the assets and investments of the InvIT, the project manager is responsible for the execution of the project.
How will it work for NHAI?
- NHAI’s InvIT will be a Trust established by NHAI under the Indian Trust Act, 1882 and SEBI regulations.
- The InvIT Trust will be formed the objective of investing primarily in infrastructure projects.
- The fund raised can be invested in the project SPVs by way of an issue of debt.
- The trust can utilise it to repay their loans or even for prepayment of certain unsecured loans and advances.
Why does NHAI need fund?
- At a time when private sector investment in the economy has declined, fund-raising by NHAI and spending on infrastructure will not only provide a fillip to the economy but will also crowd-in private sector investment.
- So NHAI’s InvIT offer is a way for the government to tap alternative sources of financing to boost public spending in the roads and infrastructure sector.
- It is important to note that in October 2017, the Centre had launched Bharatmala Pariyojana, its flagship highway development programme, for development of 24,800 km of roads.
- In order to complete the projects, NHAI needs adequate funds and one of the options is to monetize the completed and operational NH assets.
How does it benefit the investor?
- Retail or even large financial investors may not be typically able to invest in infrastructure projects such as roads, power, energy etc.
- InvITs enable these investors to buy a small portion of the units being sold by the fund depending upon their risk appetite.
- Given that such trusts comprise largely of completed and operational projects with positive cash flow, the risks are somewhat contained.
- The investors can benefit from the cash flow that gets distributed as well as in capital appreciation of the units.
- Unitholders also benefit from favourable tax norms, including exemption on dividend income and no capital gains tax if units are held for more than three years.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ABHYAS-HEAT
Mains level: Not Much
Successful flight test of ABHYAS – High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) was today conducted by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from the Interim Test Range, Balasore in Odisha.
Try this PYQ:
What is “Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)”, sometimes seen in the news?
(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
ABHYAS Air Vehicle
- ABHYAS is designed & developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), DRDO.
- The air vehicle is launched using twin underslung booster.
- It is powered by a small gas turbine engine and has a MEMS-based Inertial Navigation System (INS) for navigation along with the Flight Control Computer (FCC) for guidance and control.
- The vehicle is programmed for fully autonomous flight. The check out of air vehicle is done using laptop-based Ground Control Station (GCS).
- During the test campaign, the user requirement of 5 km flying altitude, vehicle speed of 0.5 mach, the endurance of 30 minutes and 2g turn capability of the test vehicle were successfully achieved.
Its uses
- Abhyas’s radar cross-section (RCS), as well as its visual and infrared signatures, can be augmented to simulate a variety of aircraft for air-defence weapon practices.
- It can also function as a jammer platform and decoy.
- The HEAT system is utilized to do away with the post-launch recovery mode, which is time-consuming and difficult in a scenario as the sea.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MANF Scheme
Mains level: Not Much
The Ministry of Minority Affairs has provided information about the progress of MANF Scheme in the Parliament.
Note: As the name suggests, the scheme particularly aims to target the Minority community. Here, six major groups are considered a minority. Statement based questions often create bluffs on such conditions.
MANF Scheme
- The Ministry of Minority Affairs implements MANF Scheme for educational empowerment of students belonging to six notified minority communities i.e. Buddhist, Christian, Jain, Muslim, Sikh, Zoroastrian (Parsi).
- The Scheme is implemented through the University Grants Commission (UGC) and no waiting list is prepared under the Scheme by UGC.
- Candidates belonging to the Six centrally notified minority are considered for award of fellowship under the MANF Scheme.
- The selection of candidates is done through JRF-NET (Junior Research Fellow- National Eligibility Test) examination conducted by the National Testing Agency.
- Prior to 2019-20, the merit list was prepared on the basis of marks obtained by the candidates in their Post Graduate examination.
- However, in 2018-19, only the candidates who had qualified CBSE-UGC-NET/JRF or CSIR-NET/JRF were eligible to apply.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: YuWaah Portal
Mains level: Not Much
Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) are set to establish YuWaah, Generation Unlimited (GenU), a global multi-stakeholder platform in India.
YuWaah Platform
As per the Statement of Intent, the objectives of this project are:
- Support young people by providing entrepreneurship classes (online and offline) with successful entrepreneurs and experts, towards establishing an entrepreneurial mindset among young people.
- Upskilling of young people on 21st-century skills, life skills, digital skills through online and offline channels and support them through self-learning, for their productive lives and the future of work.
- Create linkages with aspirational economic opportunities to connect young people with employment opportunities, including building pathways to connect them with jobs or self-employment.
- Providing career guidance support to young people through career portal as well as through job-readiness and self-exploration sessions to make young people career-ready.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indra exercise
Mains level: Paper 2-India-Russia relations
The article analyses the challenges in the India-Russia relations against the background of changing global order.
Context
- India decided to pull out of Russia’s Kavkaz 2020 military exercises, where it was scheduled to participate alongside other Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states.
Russia’s role in India-China dispute
- The ongoing conflict between two prominent members, and both close partners of Russia, has given rise to concerns about its impact on India-Russia ties.
- Moscow has been playing a quiet diplomatic role during the recent border clashes without actively taking sides.
- Recent visits by India’s Defence Minister to Russia saw detailed discussions around furthering the India-Russia defence relationship alongside the promise to accelerate certain supplies based on New Delhi’s requirements.
- The September visit coincided with the biannual Indo-Russian naval exercises, INDRA.
India-Russia relations
- India and Russia have spent the past few years strengthening their partnership, particularly since the 2018 Sochi informal summit.
- From substantive defence engagement to regional questions in Central Asia, Afghanistan and West Asia, a conversation with Moscow remains an important element of Indian foreign policy.
- India and Russia are pragmatic players looking at maximising their strategic manoeuvrability,
- Both recognise the value of having a diversified portfolio of ties. .
- India on its part has sought to include Russia in its vision of the Indo-Pacific that does not see the region as ‘a strategy or as a club of limited members’.
- Reports indicate that a proposal for a India-Russia-Japan trilateral is being explored.
Multilateral forums and Challenges in India-Russia relation
- The multilateral forums are important as they foster continued India-Russia cooperation at the bilateral and multilateral levels.
- Increasingly divergent foreign policies of its members pose challenges of agenda-setting and overall scope.
- At this moment of flux, countries such as India and Russia are keeping all their options open.
- We live in a ‘curious world’ where one cannot view engagement with different parties as a ‘zero-sum game’.
- Worsening India-China ties or a burgeoning China-Russia relationship does not automatically mean a breakdown of the India-Russia strategic partnership.
- It is the combination of a changing regional order, closer Russia-China ties and India’s alignment with the United States and other like-minded countries to manage Beijing’s rise that has the potential to create hurdles for India-Russia cooperation in the Asia.
Consider the question “Despite difficulties in pursuing convergent policies, India-China relations retains its relevance. Comment.”
Conclusion
Although the evolving global order makes it difficult for India and Russia to pursue fully convergent policies, it does not preclude the bilateral relationship from retaining its relevance.
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