Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- India-China realtions
This article tracks the faultline in India’s China policy that makes it an enduring tragedy. China never bought into India’s narratives of Asian unity and untied Asian front against the West. Instead, China cultivated its relations with the West and leveraged that for furthering its interests.
Enduring tragedy: India’s China policy
- That tragedy is rooted in persistent political fantasies.
- Refusal to learn from past mistakes.
- And the belief that the US and the West are at the source of India’s problems with China.
- The problem predates independence.
- Each generation has been reluctant to discard the illusions that India’s China policy has nurtured over the last century.
Historical background
- Tagore went to China in 1924 with the ambition of developing a shared Asian spiritual civilisation.
- He was accused by Chines of diverting Chins’s attention away from the imperatives of modernisation and, yes, westernisation.
- Jawaharlal Nehru approached China as a modernist and nationalist.
- He met a delegation of Chinese nationalists at Brussels in 1927.
- There he issued a ringing statement on defeating western imperialism and shaping a new Asian and global order.
- But in Second World War, Congress was unwilling to join hands with China in defeating Japanese imperialism.
- Indian and Chinese nationalists could not come together for they were fighting different imperial powers.
Relations after independence
- As India’s first PM, Nehru campaigned against the western attempt to isolate China.
- Afro-Asian conference in Bandung, Indonesia in 1955 was attended by both.
- Within five years war broke out in 1962.
- Atal Bihari Vajpayee travelled to China in February 1979 to re-engage Beijing.
- Before he could head home, Beijing had launched a war against a fellow communist regime in Vietnam.
- That was an end of hope for Asian solidarity.
- Rajiv Gandhi in 1988 sought to normalise relations with China while continuing to negotiate on the boundary dispute.
Other issues: Trade entanglement
- Amid border dispute, other issues have taken a life of their own.
- For example, the massive annual trade deficits.
- India’s hope that economic cooperation will improve mutual trust will help resolve other issues was also dashed.
- India’s massive trade deficit with China is now a little over half of its total trade deficit.
- India is finding it hard to disentangle the deep economic dependence on imports from China.
Story of political cooperation: From unipolar to bipolar world
- As the Cold War ended, India began political cooperation with China on global issues.
- It was hoped that such cooperation will provide the basis for better bilateral relations.
- It could not have been more wrong.
- P V Narasimha Rao and his successors joined China and Russia in promoting a “multipolar world” [remember the US dominance].
- Delhi is now struggling to cope with the emergence of a “unipolar Asia” — with Beijing as its dominant centre.
- China’s rapid rise has also paved the way for the potential emergence of a “bipolar world” dominated by Washington and Beijing.
Engagement with West
- China never worked with Indian on the ideas of building coalitions against the West.
- While India never stopped arguing with the West, China developed a sustained engagement with the US, Europe and Japan.
- Mao broke with Communist Russia to join forces with the US in the early 1970s.
- Deng Xiaoping promoted massive economic cooperation with the US to transform China and lay the foundations for its rise.
Will staying away from West lead to good relations with China
- China has leveraged the deep relationship with the West to elevate itself in the international system.
- Delhi continues to think that staying away from America is the answer for good relations with Beijing.
- Beijing sees the world through the lens of power.
- Delhi tends to resist that realist prism.
- India has consistently misread China’s interests and ambitions.
- The longer India takes to shed that strategic lassitude, the greater will be its China trouble.
Facts that India needs to come to terms with
- India must also recognise that China, like the great powers before it, wants to redeem its territorial claims.
- China also has the ambition to bend the neighbourhood to its will, reshape the global order to suit its interests.
- China has not hidden these goals and interests, but India has refused to see what is in plain sight.
Consider the question “Acknowledging Beijing’s rise, scale of challenge it presents, are first steps in crafting a new China policy” Comment.
Conclusion
Acknowledging China’s dramatic rise and recognising the scale of the challenge it presents is essential for Delhi in crafting a new China policy.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Comparative advantage
Mains level: Paper 3- Globalisation and issues with it
Protectionism involves the use of one or more restrictions on free trade between countries. What are the main reasons why this should be avoided?
The main arguments against protectionism are outlined below:
Market Distortion and loss of Economic Efficiency
Protectionism can be an ineffective and costly means of sustaining jobs and supporting domestic economic growth:
Higher Prices for Consumers
Import tariffs in particular push up prices for consumers and insulate inefficient domestic sectors from genuine competition. They penalise foreign producers and encourage an inefficient allocation of resources both domestically and globally.
Reduction in Market Access for Producers
Export subsidies depress world prices and damage output, profits, investment and jobs in many lower and middle-income developing countries that rely heavily on exporting primary and manufactured goods for their growth.
Extra Costs for Exporters
For goods that are produced globally, high tariffs and other barriers on imports act as a tax on exports, damaging economies, and jobs, rather than protecting them. For example, a tariff on imported steel can lead to higher costs and lower profits for car manufacturers and the construction industry.
Adverse Effects on Poverty
Higher prices from tariffs tend to hit those on lower incomes hardest, because the tariffs (e.g. on foodstuffs, tobacco, and clothing) fall on products that lower income families spend a higher share of their income. Tariffs can therefore lead to a rise in relative poverty.
Retaliation & Trade Wars
There is the danger that one country imposing import controls will lead to retaliatory action by another.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various personalities that contributed to India's food reaserch
Mains level: Paper 3- Contributors to the India's agri-research
This article introduces us to the Indian winners of the prize that is considered as the Nobel for research in food. Their contribution has benefited agriculture immensely.Here, we’ll get a brief idea about their work.
Word Food Prize
- The World Food Prize is often described as the Nobel for research in food.
- It was set up by Ñorman Borlaug.
- Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1972 for his work on hybridisation of wheat and rice.
- His work led to the Green Revolution in the mid-1960s.
Indian winners of the award
- The awards to eight Indians of the total of 50 given so far are a tribute to the country’s agricultural university education and research system.
- The country should celebrate their achievements unabashedly when 7-10 million new productive jobs need to be created annually.
- And when it accounts for a third of global undernourished.
- The COVID-19 pandemic has made job creation and improved nutrition and health more urgent than ever.
Let’s look at the contributions made by these personalities
Rattan Lal
- Rattan Lal was awarded for developing and mainstreaming a soil-centric approach to increasing food production.
- This approach also restores and conserves natural resources and mitigates climate change.
- His research has shown that growing crops on healthy soils produces more food from less land area, less use of agrochemicals, less tillage, less water, and less energy.
M S Swaminathan
- Swaminathan’s vision transformed India from a “begging bowl” to a “breadbasket” almost overnight.
- His work helped bringing the total crop yield of wheat from 12 million tonnes to 23 million tonnes in four crop seasons.
- Which helped in ending India’s dependence on grain imports.
Verghese Kurien
- Kurien, received the prize in 1989 for India’s white revolution.
- Under his leadership, milk production increased from 23.3 million tonnes (1968-69) to 100.9 million tonnes (2006-07).
- And now it is projected to reach 187 million tonnes for 2019-20.
- This helped in bringing millions of small and marginal farmers, including women into the marketplace.
Ramlal Barwale
- Barwale, a small farmer and entrepreneur, received the award in 1996.
- He made selling seeds of okra and sorghum “hip” and founded the Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company.
- The Crop Science Society of America has called him father of the seed industry in India.
- He introduced hybrid rice from China to India.
Surinder Vasal
- Vasal was given the prize in 2000 for developing quality protein maize (QPM).
- Integrating cereal chemistry and plant breeding techniques, Vasal and Villegas of Mexico collaborated to work on “opaque-2” maize variety using molecular biology techniques.
- In the mid-1980s, they produced a QPM germplasm with hard kernel characteristics and taste like that of the traditional grain.
- But it has much higher quality levels of lysine and tryptophan, thereby enhancing the nutrition value.
Mododugu Gupta
- Gupta received the award in 2005 for starting a blue revolution.
- He developed two exceptional approaches for increasing fish harvests among the very poor.
- This helped in increasing the protein and mineral content in the diets of over one million of the world’s most impoverished families.
- Gupta’s aquaculture technologies boosted Bangladesh’s fish yields from 304 kg per hectare to over 2,500 kg per hectare in less than a year — including 1,000 kg per hectare harvests in the dry season.
Sanjaya Rajaram
- Rajaram, who won the prize in 2014.
- He succeeded Borlaug in leading CIMMYT’s wheat breeding programme.
- There he went on to develop an astounding 480 varieties that have been widely adopted by both small and large-scale farmers.
- Rajaram was born near a small farming village in Uttar Pradesh and received his master’s degree from IARI.
Decreasing government support
- The awardees all come from the time of the green and rainbow revolutions (of dairy and aqua-culture).
- It was also the time when India invested heavily in agricultural science education and research and Indian scientists shone brightly in the global galaxy of science.
- Government support for state agricultural universities, and research conducted by the ICAR and the departments of science and technology and biotechnology has slipped in recent years.
- Today, not a single Indian university is counted among the top 100 in the world.
Consider the question asked by the UPSC in 2019 “How was India benefitted from the contributions of Sir M.Visvesvaraya and Dr M. S. Swaminathan in the fields of water engineering and agricultural science respectively?”
Conclusion
Students and faculty at ICAR and state agricultural universities can follow in their footsteps and achieve scientific excellence, if they receive the resources and their work is supported with incentives.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: RIC
Mains level: India-China border skirmishes and its de-escalation
Russia has emerged, all of a sudden, as a key diplomatic player amid the tension between India and China. It is set to host the Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting.
Practice question for mains:
Q. In pursuit of a ‘Special Strategic Partnership’ with the US, India has compromised its ties with Russia. Discuss.
Raksha Mantri stepping in at RIC
- Tensions being at the peak, India will discuss supply and purchase of new defence systems — like the S-400 missile defence system — with the Russian top brass in the military and government.
- India has made this decision to reach out to Russia not just out of choice, but also out of necessity.
- Moscow has leverage and influence to shape and change Beijing’s hard stance on the border issue.
Russia: A mediator for both
- While India and China have been talking at each other — and not to each other — the outreach to Moscow is noteworthy.
- It is widely known that Russia and China have grown their relationship in the past few years.
- The Moscow-Beijing axis is crucial, especially since Washington has been at loggerheads with China in recent months and Russia much more calibrated, even in its response on the Covid-19 outbreak.
Sino-Russian ties: A response to US
- Russia and China have had a rocky start to their relationship after Mao Zedong founded the People’s Republic of China.
- When Mao made his first visit to Moscow after winning control of China, in 1949, he was made to wait for weeks for a meeting with the Soviet leader.
- During the Cold War, China and the USSR were rivals after the Sino-Soviet split in 1961, competing for control of the worldwide Communist movement.
- There was a serious possibility of a major war in the early 1960s and a brief border war took place in 1969.
- This enmity began to reduce following Mao’s death in 1976, but relations were not very good until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
India and Russia
- India has a historical relationship with Russia, spanning over seven decades.
- While the relationship has grown in some areas and atrophied in some others, the strongest pillar of the strategic partnership is of the defence basket.
- Although New Delhi has consciously diversified its new purchases from other countries, the bulk of its defence equipment is from Russia.
- Estimates say 60 to 70 per cent of India’s supplies are from Russia, and New Delhi needs a regular and reliable supply of spare parts from the Russian defence industry.
- In fact, Prime Minister Modi has held informal summits with only two leaders — Xi and Putin.
Russia position: then & now
- During the Doklam crisis in 2017, Russian diplomats in Beijing were among the few briefed by the Chinese government.
- While Russia’s position during the 1962 war was not particularly supportive of India, New Delhi takes comfort in Moscow’s support during the 1971 war.
- On the events in Galwan, Moscow responded in a much-calibrated manner.
- Kremlin has expressed its concerns over a clash between the military on the border between China and India but believes that the two countries could resolve this conflict themselves.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Galwan valley, Shyok River
Mains level: Mountain warfare preparedness of India
The violent standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley of Ladakh region has thrown the spotlight on high-altitude warfare and the challenges that troops face, particularly when advantageous positions on the heights are occupied by the other side.
In the clouds of war, one may recall the huge amount of casualties faced by the Indian Army compared to the Pakistani side (being at advantageous positions) during the Kargil War.
Try this question for mains:
Q. Discuss why high-altitude warfare is challenging. Also discuss about India’s preparedness for a long-term war.
How is high-altitude warfare fought?
- High-altitude warfare is fought keeping the terrain and weather in mind.
- The kind of infrastructure and training that the troops require for high-altitude warfare are key factors.
- The evolution of such warfare goes back a long way: European countries had mountain brigades in view of the kind of terrain prevalent in those countries.
- The harshness of the terrain calls for a specialised kind of training to prepare soldiers in terms of mindset and acclimatization.
How is India equipped in such warfare?
- Generally, India is considered a hub of mountain warfare skills since most of the country’s north and northeast requires such skills.
- Ladakh Scouts are considered the best in this kind of warfare.
- Mountain chop, a tactic involved in such warfare, evolved in India where the mountainous terrain is very difficult to scale.
- To begin with, the troops are imparted training in basic and advance training in mountaineering to make them equipped for mountain warfare.
Actual tactics involved
- The mindsets of the enemy sitting above are assessed. Taking stock of the entire situation, one needs to find out the easiest approaches.
- Especially when there are vertical cliffs, it is generally perceived that the enemy that has taken defensive positions will be less guarded from the side of difficult approaches.
- Basically, the most difficult approaches where the enemy is likely to give the least resistance need to be used efficiently.
What are the challenges involved in warfare in a high-altitude place like Galwan Valley?
- A big factor is who has taken defensive positions and who is sitting on higher ground.
- Once troops are sitting on high ground, it becomes very difficult to dislodge them from there.
- In a place like Galwan Valley, which is absolutely barren, there is not much hiding place.
- The soldier on high ground is absolutely stationary, which makes those on lower terrain easy targets; the enemy can pick them up one by one.
- Normally in mountain warfare, troops on lower ground use a combat ratio of 1:6, but in circumstances as in Galwan, it may go up to 1:10.
How to approach such situations?
- Generally, mountain warfare is fought using the period of darkness to reach the opposing army, engage and overpower them before the first light of day.
- In case troops do not have the capabilities, fitness or strategies to do so before dawn, then it is a lost cause.
- But without adequate trained troops who are well-versed with the terrain and are properly acclimatized, it is not an easy game.
What are the other challenges faced by soldiers in high altitudes?
- The first major factor is acclimatization since the oxygen supply reduces drastically.
- Next, the load-carrying capacity of individuals reduces drastically.
- Things move very slowly in the mountains and mobilization of troops consumes time.
- Thus, time and place need to be kept on top priority when deciding where the troops have to be stationed and how they have to be mobilized.
What are the logistical challenges in this kind of warfare?
- One major challenge is that weapons jam, particularly in high-altitude areas.
- When a soldier is at a height of 17,000 ft or above, it is very cold, and he needs to grease the weapons and clean the barrels at least once a week to ensure they function efficiently.
- But at the time of combat, this becomes difficult.
- Vehicles do not start when fuel jams. If the fuel is diesel, it won’t ignite unless it is mixed with thinners or other chemicals to make them thin enough to fire the engine.
Ensuring proper reinforcement
- In Galwan, which is an extremely tactical area and strategically important, reinforcement plays a vital role, particularly when the Indian troops are not in a position of advantage.
- For communication equipment, troops need to carry more batteries because they drain very quickly at high altitude.
- While a battery tends to last for 24 hours in the plains, it will drain in 1-2 hours in these severely cold areas.
- Transport animals such as mules need to be used to maintain adequate supplies, which is not an easy task. Weather constraints play a major factor.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: IPO
Mains level: LIC disinviestment
The government has started the process to launch the initial public offer (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) within this year.
Read the complete thread here at:
[Burning Issue] Divestment of LIC
Try this question from CSP 2019:
Q.In India, which of the following review the independent regulators in sectors like telecommunications, insurance, electricity, etc.?
- Ad Hoc Committees set up by the Parliament
- Parliamentary Department Related Standing Committees
- Finance Commission
- Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission
- NITI Aayog
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2
(b) 1, 3 and 4
(c) 3, 4 and 5
(d) 2 and 5
About LIC
- LIC is an state-owned insurance group and investment corporation owned by the Government of India.
- It was founded in 1956 when the Parliament of India passed the Life Insurance of India Act that nationalized the insurance industry in India.
- Over 245 insurance companies and provident societies were merged to create the state-owned LIC.
Why LIC IPO?
- LIC is the largest investor in government securities and stock markets every year.
- On an average, LIC invests Rs 55,000 crore to Rs 65,000 crore in stock markets every year and emerges as the largest investor in Indian stocks.
- LIC also has huge investments in debentures and bonds besides providing funding for many infrastructure projects according to its Annual Report for 2017-18.
Biggest IPO in Indian markets
- The finance ministry has invited bids from transaction advisors, including consulting firms, investment bankers, and financial institutions, for assisting the government in the preparatory processes leading to the IPO.
- The IPO is expected to be the biggest in the Indian capital markets given the size and scale of LIC, the country’s oldest and largest life insurer.
What is the size and position of LIC in the insurance market?
- Even if the government decides to sell 5-10 per cent of its equity in LIC through an IPO, the share sale of LIC, which was set up in 1956, is expected to be the largest.
- The insurer’s total assets had touched an all-time high of Rs 31.11 lakh crore in 2018-19, an increase of 9.4 per cent.
- The Corporation realized a profit of Rs 23,621 crore from its equity investment during 2018-19, down 7.89 per cent from Rs 25,646 crore in the previous year.
- LIC would have at least one transaction of IPO of a size of at least Rs 5,000 crore, or a capital market transaction of at least Rs 15,000 crore.
How does LIC fit into the overall disinvestment roadmap?
- In the Budget 2020-21, the finance ministry had announced plans for IPO of LIC and a proposal to sell the government’s equity in the stressed IDBI Bank.
- The government expects to raise Rs 90,000 crore through stake sale in LIC and IDBI Bank, and another Rs 1.2 lakh crore through other disinvestments.
- LIC is also a majority shareholder in IDBI Bank.
- The government had earlier listed the shares of General Insurance Corporation and New India Assurance through IPOs three years ago.
What benefits can be expected through the IPO?
- An IPO will certainly bring in transparency into affairs of LIC since it will be required to inform financial numbers and other market-related developments on time to the stock exchanges.
- Investors can benefit from picking up equity in the insurer, which has been making underwriting profit as well as profits on its investments.
- LIC’s investment in various equity and bond instruments will come under greater scrutiny after its lists on the exchanges.
Back2Basics: IPO
- IPO means Initial Public Offering. It is a process by which a privately held company becomes a publicly-traded company by offering its shares to the public for the first time.
- Offering an IPO is a money-making exercise. Every company needs money, it may be to expand, to improve their business, to better the infrastructure, to repay loans, etc.
- A private company, that has a handful of shareholders, shares the ownership by going public by trading its shares.
- Through the IPO, the company gets its name listed on the stock exchange.
Also read:
Disinvestment Policy in India.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UN Arms Trade Treay
Mains level: Arms Trade Treay and its significance
China will join a global pact to regulate arms sales that has been rejected by the United States.
The New START, INF, Open Skies and now the ATT …. Be clear about the differences of these treaties. For example- to check if their inception was during cold war era etc.
What is the Arms Trade Treaty?
- The Arms Trade Treaty is a multilateral treaty that regulates the international trade in conventional weapons. It entered into force on 4th December 2014.
- The ATT is an attempt to regulate the international trade of conventional weapons for the purpose of contributing to international and regional peace; reducing human suffering; and promoting co-operation, transparency, and responsible action by and among states.
- 105 states have ratified the treaty, and a further 32 states have signed but not ratified it.
- India has abstained from voting for this Treaty
Highlights of the treaty
ATT requires member countries to keep records of international transfers of weapons and to prohibit cross-border shipments that could be used in human rights violations or attacks on civilians. The treaty would ensure that no transfer is permitted if there is a substantial risk that it is likely to:
- be used in serious violations of international human rights or humanitarian law, or acts of genocide or crimes against humanity;
- facilitate terrorist attacks, a pattern of gender-based violence, violent crime, or organized crime;
- violate UN Charter obligations, including UN arms embargoes;
- be diverted from its stated recipient;
- adversely affect regional security; or
- seriously impair poverty reduction or socioeconomic development.
China’s agenda at ATT
- Beijing saying it is committed to efforts to “enhance peace and stability” in the world.
- It comes after the US announced plans last year to pull the United States out of the agreement which entered into force in 2014.
- The US Senate never ratified the 2013 Arms Trade Treaty after former president Barack Obama endorsed it, and Trump has said he would revoke his predecessor’s signature.
Why has India abstained?
- From the beginning of the ATT process, India has maintained that such a treaty should make a real impact on illicit trafficking in conventional arms and their illicit use especially by terrorists and other unauthorized and unlawful non-state actors.
- India has also stressed consistently that the ATT should ensure a balance of obligations between exporting and importing states.
- However, the ATT is weak on terrorism and non-state actors (undoubtedly Pakistan) and these concerns find no mention in the specific prohibitions of the Treaty.
- Further, India cannot accept that the Treaty is used as an instrument in the hands of exporting states to take unilateral force majeure measures against importing states parties without consequences.
Also read:
U.S. set to exit the ‘Open Skies Treaty’ Copy
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ITF, OECD
Mains level: Policy measures for cleaner transportation
NITI Aayog in collaboration with International Transport Forum (ITF) is set to launch the “Decarbonising Transport in India” project with the intention to develop a pathway towards a low-carbon transport system for India.
Note the following things about ‘Decarbonising Transport in India (DTI)’ Project:
-
Associated international institution
-
Whether the institution is a UN body or not
-
If India is a member of that body
The DTI Project
- The India project is carried out in the wider context of the International Transport Forum’s “Decarbonising Transport” initiative.
- It is part of the “Decarbonising Transport in Emerging Economies” (DTEE) family of projects, which supports transport decarbonisation across different world regions.
- India, Argentina, Azerbaijan, and Morocco are current participants.
- The DTEE is a collaboration between the ITF and the Wuppertal Institute, supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment.
Objectives of the project
- The project will design a tailor-made transport emissions assessment framework for India.
- It will provide the government with a detailed understanding of current and future transport activity and the related CO2 emissions as a basis for their decision-making.
About International Transport Forum (ITF)
- The ITF is an inter-governmental organisation within the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) system.
- It is the only global body with a mandate for all modes of transport.
- It acts as a think tank for transport policy issues and organises the annual global summit of transport ministers.
- The ITF’s motto is “Global dialogue for better transport”.
- India has been a member of ITF since 2008.
Back2Basics: OCED
- The OECD is an international, intergovernmental economic organization of 36 countries.
- OECD was founded in the year 1961 to stimulate world trade and economic progress.
- OECD originated in 1948, as the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC).
- The Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) was founded to govern the predominantly US-funded Marshall Plan for post-war reconstruction on the continent.
- The OEEC was instrumental in helping the European Economic Community (EEC). The EEC has evolved into the European Union (EU) to establish a European Free Trade Area.
- India is NOT a member of OECD.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Foldscope
Mains level: NA
Indian researchers have explored and validated the clinical utility of Foldscope in the diagnosis of diseases using various patient samples.
Though trivial, Foldscope is a significant invention with most crucial applications. It somehow offers an alternative to costly microscopes for some basic diagnosis.
What is Foldscope?
- Foldscope is an affordable origami-based microscopy device composed of a series of paper clippings.
- Upon assembly, the device can hold a specimen slide for observation, and this specimen can be viewed via a mobile phone camera attached to it.
How does it work?
- Foldscope can be assembled using paper clips and mounted on a cell phone using coupler and glue drops.
- To do the assessment, a patient sample like urine is smeared on a transparent glass slide and visualized under a Foldscope mounted on a cell phone.
- Sample images can be enlarged using the zoom function of the mobile, which can be stored on the mobile memory card for later reference/patient records.
- Foldscope visualizes calcium oxalate crystals, which are a major cause of kidney stones.
Utility of Foldscope
- Foldscope is particularly convenient to diagnose urinary tract infection (UTI) and monitor kidney stone.
- The study evaluated the use of Foldscope in the clinical diagnosis of oral and urinary tract infections.
- Using this tool, one can easily monitor own-kidney stone status at home with a simple glass-slide, a Foldscope and a phone in hand.
- Such monitoring could perhaps avoid kidney stone reaching a painful state or surgery in recurring cases.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Buffer stock limits
Mains level: Paper 3-PDS, food subsidy
At a time when the economy is going through the crisis, anything that could provide revenue to the government will be a real godsend. This article suggests two such areas to tap into. It also examines the effects of recently issued 3 ordinances related to agriculture.
Rs. 1,50,000 crore: Value of excessive grain stock
- There is one area which the government can tap to raise more than Rs 1,00,000 crore.
- As on June 1, FCI had unprecedented grain stocks of 97 million metric tonnes (MMT) in the Central Pool (see Figure).
- Even on July 1, when the procurement of rabi ends, FCI is likely to have grain stocks of about 91-92 MMT.
- This will be against a buffer stock norm of 41.12 MMT that are required for the Public Distribution system (PDS), and some strategic reserves.
- So, compared to this norm, on July 1, FCI will have “excess stocks” of at least 50 MMT.
- Even if one takes a conservative and lower ballpark figure of Rs 30,000/tonne as the combined economic cost of rice and wheat, the value of this “excessive stock”, beyond the buffer norm, is Rs 1,50,000 crore.
- This is unproductive capital locked-up in the Central pool of FCI.
- Unlock this by liquidating “excess stocks” through open market operations.
- It will not recover its full economic cost, as they are much higher than the prevailing market prices, but by not liquidating it.
- But FCI will keep incurring unnecessary interest costs of about Rs 8,000-10,000 crore per annum.
- This is simply not a good food policy.
How will amendment to ECA 1955 will help
- Amendment of the Essential Commodities Act, via the ordinance route, can instil confidence in the private sector for building large scale storage.
- Now, stocking limits will not be imposed on the private sector, except under exceptional circumstances.
- The government, however, delete the clause of “extraordinary price rise”.
- Removing it will lead to private sector building large and modern storage facilities (silos).
- It will propel investments in building more efficient food supply lines.
- The only condition could be to register large storage facilities under the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) to know how much stock is there with the private sector, and where.
How will amendment to APMC Act will help
- The ordinance on APMC creates multiple channels for farmers to sell their produce outside the APMC mandi system.
- It also helps towards an unrestricted all India market for agri-produce.
- Of course, it will be resisted by many states that are taking undue advantage of the APMC mandis’ virtual monopoly power.
- But if the central ordinance is implemented in its true spirit, it will be a game-changer.
How will the ordinance on contract farming will help
- It aims to encourage contract farming.
- The basic idea behind this is that farmers’ sowing decisions should be made in view of the expected prices of those crops at the time of harvest.
- It is forward looking and more aligned to the likely demand and supply situation.
- The current practice, where farmers’ sowing decisions are more influenced by last year’s price, often leads to the problem of boom and bust.
- Although honouring an assured price remains a challenge when actual market conditions differ widely at the time of the harvest.
Relook at food subsidy is needed
- In the Union budget of 2020-21, a sum of Rs 1,15,570 crore has been provisioned for food subsidy.
- This number is highly misleading as FCI has been asked to borrow from the National Small Savings Fund (NSSF).
- As on March 31, 2020, borrowings from the NSSF were Rs 2,54,600 crore, on which FCI pays an interest rate of 8.4 to 8.8 per cent per annum.
- So, the real food subsidy bill for 2020-21 amounts to Rs 3,70,170 crore.
- The Economic Survey has suggested- 1) reducing the coverage under PDS; 2) linking issue price to at least half of the procurement price; 3) move gradually towards cash transfers.
- These steps will save a minimum of Rs 50,000 crore annually.
Consider the question “There was a mention of reforms related to agri-sector in the recently announced stimulus package. Examine the issues with segments of agri-sector which necessitated these reforms.”
Conclusion
Liquidating the excess grain stock and rationalising the PDS could provide the government with much needed resources at a time when it needs it the most. Also, reforms in the related to agriculture could remove the stumbling blocks in the way towards the prosperity of farmers.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NPA
Mains level: Paper 3- Issue of bad loans
Steps taken by the government have averted the piling up of the bad loans, though for the time being only. When the moratorium period ends, we will see the spike in the bad loans. This article explains the same.
Why bad loans are expected to increase
- Consumer spending has collapsed over the last few months due to the pandemic.
- Though lately there have been some signs of revival, it will take a while before spending comes anywhere near the pre-covid level.
- This will mean that many businesses will start running out of cash pretty soon if they have not already.
- A company that starts running out of cash will not be in a position to repay its loans and, thus, will ultimately default.
How individuals will be affected
- A recent estimate by rating agency Crisil suggests that about 70% of 40,000 companies have cash to cover employee costs for only two quarters.
- This tells us that companies will fire employees, before, during, or even after defaulting on a loan.
- If companies do not resort to employee retrenchment, they will cut salaries and many already have.
- Past payments and future business with vendors and suppliers will be negatively impacted.
- In this situation, the problem at the company level will impact individuals too.
- When individuals start having a cash flow problem, it will lead to defaults on retail loans
But why we are not seeing the defaults happening already?
- A moratorium is a deferment of repayment to provide temporary relief to borrowers. The loan ultimately needs to be repaid.
- The Reserve Bank of India has let banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) offer a moratorium on loans.
- Hence, until the end of August, borrowers have an option to not repay the loans, without it being considered as a default.
- Hence, any loan defaults will start only after August but they won’t be immediately categorized as a non-performing asset or a bad loan.
- Bad loans are largely those loans that have not been repaid for 90 days or more.
- Hence, defaulted loans will be categorized as bad loans only post-November.
- This will be revealed when banks publish their results for October to December 2020, in January-February 2021.
Conclusion
Even if 20% of loans that end up under a moratorium are defaulted on, the quantum of bad loans, especially those of public sector banks, will go up big time.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- India-China relations and border dispute
While formulating our response to China’s aggressive policies in Ladakh, we should first understand their objectives. This article explains these objective and suggests the steps to deal with China’s policies.
Statements on Aksai Chin and Pakistan
- Statements over Aksai Chin and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) by India have painted the image of India as a revanchist power in utter disregard of the country’s capabilities.
- These statements also gave the impression that India precludes any attempt at changing the status quo on either front.
- Though these statements were justifiable in terms of India’s legal rights to these territories, were ill-timed.
How these statements were perceived by China
- They were made when Beijing was feeling alarmed at the Indian government’s decision to separate Ladakh from Jammu and Kashmir.
- The move augmented its perception that it was a prelude to India’s attempt to change the status quo in Aksai Chin.
- India’s assertion of its claims on PoK that in China’s perception threatened the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.
China’s 4 strategic objectives
1. India and China are not equals
- China wants India to understand that it is not in the same league as China.
- China resorts to periodic assaults across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) if India tries to assume a position of equality.
2. Keep India away from interfering in Indo-Pacific
- China wants India not to actively oppose Chinese designs to dominate the Indo-Pacific region.
- Also, China wants Indias to refrain from aligning with the U.S. and its allies — Japan and Australia, in particular — in an attempt to contain China.
3. Keeping India preoccupied with problems
- China’s strategy also includes keeping India preoccupied with problems in its immediate neighbourhood.
- So with these problems, India cannot act as an alternative pole of power to China in the broader Asian region.
4. Supporting Pakistan to neutralise India
- As part of the last objective, China supports Pakistan economically and militarily, including the sharing of nuclear weapons designs.
- China uses Pakistan to neutralise India’s conventional power superiority vis-à-vis that country.
An understanding of these objectives is essential to fashioning a realistic Indian response to China’s aggressive policies in Ladakh and elsewhere along the LAC.
But, what about Pakistan?
- Pakistan is at best an irritant for India. (so, focus on China)
- Pakistan can be managed with the use of diplomatic tools, international opprobrium, and superior military force.
- In fact, the Pakistani challenge to India has become magnified because of its nexus with China.
What India should do?
- India’s main strategic goal should be the adoption of carefully calculated policies that neutralise China’s diplomatic and military clout in the Asia-Pacific region.
- While doing so, India should not appear as a surrogate for other powers.
- And India should also ensure that in making alliances it in not sacrificing the autonomy of decision-making in foreign policy.
Consider the question “Understanding of China’s objective is essential to formulate a realistic response to its aggressive policies in Ladakh.” Comment.
Conclusion
Understanding the greater threat posed by China vis-a-vis Pakistan should be the basis of India’s policy towards China.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Rajya Sabha and associated facts
Mains level: Significance of the Rajya Sabha
Another round of Rajya Sabha elections has been completed. There are several features that distinguish elections to the Council of States, or the Upper House of Parliament, from the general elections.
Do you know?
- Only two UTs elect members to the Rajya Sabha, not all.
- Polling is held only if the number of candidates exceeds the number of vacancies.
- Independent members can also be elected etc.
Read this newscard for all such interesting facts which can be directly asked in the prelims.
What is so peculiar about the Rajya Sabha polls?
- A third of MPs in the Rajya Sabha (which is a permanent House and is not subject to dissolution), from each State, retire once in two years and polls are held to fill up the vacancies.
- Only elected members of the State Legislative Assemblies can vote in a Rajya Sabha election.
- The legislators send a batch of new members to the Upper House every two years for a six-year term.
- In addition, vacancies that arise due to resignation, death or disqualification are filled up through by-polls after which those elected serve out the remainder of their predecessors’ term.
Composition of Rajya Sabha
- A bloc of MPs belonging to one or more parties can elect a member of their choice if they have the requisite numbers.
- This is to avoid the principle of majority, which would mean that only candidates put up by ruling parties in the respective States will be elected.
- The Delhi and Puducherry Assemblies elect members to the Rajya Sabha to represent the two UTs.
What is the election process?
- Polling for a Rajya Sabha election will be held only if the number of candidates exceeds the number of vacancies.
- Since the strength of each party in the Assembly is known, it is not difficult to estimate the number of seats a party would win in the Rajya Sabha poll.
- In many states, parties avoid a contest by fielding candidates only in respect to their strength. Where an extra candidate enters the fray, voting becomes necessary.
- Candidates fielded by political parties have to be proposed by at least 10 members of the Assembly or 10% of the party’s strength in the House, whichever is less.
- For independents, there should be 10 proposers, all of whom should be members of the Assembly.
Voting procedure
- Voting is by single transferable vote, as the election is held on the principle of proportional representation.
- A single transferable vote means electors can vote for any number of candidates in order of their preference.
- A candidate requires a specified number of first preference votes to win. Each first choice vote has a value of 100 in the first round.
- To qualify, a candidate needs one point more than the quotient obtained by dividing the total value of the number of seats for which elections are taking place plus one.
Example: If there are four seats and 180 MLAs voting, the qualifying number will be 180/5= 36 votes or value of 3,600.
Why do not the Rajya Sabha polls have a secret ballot?
- The Rajya Sabha polls have a system of the open ballot, but it is a limited form of openness.
- As a measure to check rampant cross-voting, which was taken to mean that the vote had been purchased by corrupt means.
- There is a system of each party MLA showing his or her marked ballots to the party’s authorised agent (called Whip), before they are put into the ballot box.
- Showing a marked ballot to anyone other than one’s own party’s authorised agent will render the vote invalid.
- Not showing the ballot to the authorised agent will also mean that the vote cannot be counted.
- And independent candidates are barred from showing their ballots to anyone.
Is there any NOTA option in voting?
- The ECI issued two circulars, on January 24, 2014, and November 12, 2015, giving Rajya Sabha members the option to press the NOTA button in the Upper House polls.
- However, in 2018, the Supreme Court struck down the provision, holding that the ‘none of the above’ option is only for general elections.
- It cannot be applied to indirect elections based on proportional representation.
Does cross-voting attract disqualification?
- The Supreme Court, while declining to interfere with the open ballot system, ruled that not voting for the party candidate will not attract disqualification under the anti-defection law.
- As voters, MLAs retain their freedom to vote for a candidate of their choice.
- However, the Court observed that since the party would know who voted against its own candidate, it is free to take disciplinary action against the legislator concerned.
Can a legislator vote without taking oath as a member of the Assembly?
- While taking oath as a member is for anyone to function as a legislator, the Supreme Court has ruled that a member can vote in a Rajya Sabha election even before taking oath as a legislator.
- It ruled that voting at the Rajya Sabha polls, being a non-legislative activity, can be performed without taking the oath.
- A person becomes a member as soon as the list of elected members is notified by the ECI, it said.
- Further, a member can also propose a candidate before taking the oath.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: RP Act
Mains level: Secrecy of ballot
- Secrecy of ballot is the cornerstone of free and fair elections. The choice of a voter should be free and the secret ballot system in a democracy ensures it, the Supreme Court has held in judgment.
- The judgment came on an appeal against the Allahabad High Court decision setting aside the voting of a no-confidence motion in a Zila panchayat in Uttar Pradesh in 2018.
Practice question for mains:
Q. Discuss how Secrecy of Ballot is the cornerstone of free and fair elections in India.
What is the Secret Ballot?
- The secret ballot, also known as Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter’s choices in an election or a referendum are anonymous.
- It aims for forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote-buying.
- The system is one means of achieving the goal of political privacy.
What did the Supreme Court rule?
- The principle of secrecy of ballots is an important postulate of constitutional democracy, the court said.
- Justice Khanna, who wrote the judgment, referred to Section 94 of the Representation of People Act, which upholds the privilege of the voter to maintain confidentiality about her choice of vote.
- It is the policy of the law to protect the right of voters to the secrecy of the ballot.
- Even a remote or distinct possibility that a voter can be forced to disclose for whom she has voted would act as a positive constraint and a check on the freedom to exercise of the franchise.
Voter’s discretion is allowed
- A voter can also voluntarily waive the privilege of non-disclosure.
- The privilege ends when the voter decides to waive the privilege and instead volunteers to disclose as to whom she had voted.
- No one can prevent a voter from doing. Nor can a complaint be entertained from any, including the person who wants to keep the voter’s mouth sealed as to why she disclosed for whom she voted said the court.
Try this question from our AWE initiaitive:
On what grounds a people’s representative can be disqualified under the representation of people act, 1951? Also, mention the remedies available to such person against his disqualification. (15 marks)
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MGNREGA, Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan
Mains level: Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan
PM Modi has launched the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan, an employment scheme for migrant workers.
Practice question for mains:
Q. Discuss the silent success of MGNREGA in COVID-19 times.
Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan
- It is a skill-based employment scheme aimed primarily at migrant workers who have returned to their villages to escape the COVID lockdown distress.
- With a 125-workday mandate to create public infrastructure, with the involvement of 11 central departments, the Rs 50,000-crore initiative will focus on job creation.
- It will be implemented in 116 districts in six states — UP, MP, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan and Bihar — that saw the maximum number of migrant workers returning over the last three months.
Works under the scheme
- The government has identified 25 work areas for employment in villages, for the development of various works.
- These 25 works or projects are related to meet the needs of the villages like rural housing for the poor, Plantations, provision of drinking water through Jal Jeevan mission, Panchayat Bhavans, community toilets, rural mandis, rural roads, other infrastructure like Cattle Sheds, Anganwadi Bhavans etc.
Must read:
[Burning Issue] Reorienting MGNREGA in times of COVID
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ahom Kingdom
Mains level: Not Much
Recently, Assam CM ordered the arrest of a political commentator who had described Chaolung Sukapha as a “Chinese invader”.
Practice question for mains:
Q. Who are the Ahoms? Describe the role of Ahom Kingdom in cultural assimilation of modern-day Assam.
Who was Chaolung Sukapha?
- Sukapha was a 13th-century ruler who founded the Ahom kingdom that ruled Assam for six centuries. Contemporary scholars trace his roots to Burma.
- He reached Brahmaputra valley in Assam from upper Burma in the 13th century with around 9,000 followers.
- Sukapha is said to have left a place called Maulung ( in Yunnan, China ) in AD 1215 with eight nobles and 9,000 men, women and children — mostly men.
- In 1235, Sukapha and his people settled in Charaideo in upper Assam after wandering about for years, defeating those who protested his advance and temporarily staying at different locations.
- It was in Charaideo (in Assam) that Sukapha established his first small principality, sowing the seeds of further expansion of the Ahom kingdom.
Who are the Ahoms today?
- The founders of the Ahom kingdom had their own language and followed their own religion.
- Over the centuries, the Ahoms accepted the Hindu religion and the Assamese language, scholars say.
- The Ahoms embraced the language, religion and rituals of the communities living here — they did not impose theirs on those living here.
- Today, the Ahom community is estimated to number between 4 million and 5 million.
Why is Sukapha important in Assamese culture?
- Sukapha’s significance — especially in today’s Assam — lies in his successful efforts towards the assimilation of different communities and tribes.
- He developed very amicable relationships with the tribal communities living here — especially the Sutias, the Morans and the Kacharis.
- Intermarriage also increased assimilation processes. He is widely referred to as the architect of “Bor Asom” or “greater Assam”.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Extreme Helium (EHe) Stars
Mains level: NA
A study by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) has detected the presence of singly ionized fluorine for the first time in the atmospheres of hot Extreme Helium Stars.
UPSC may ask a simple statement-based question considering the following points:
If there is the presence of hydrogen, their abundance in universe and how it is different from neutron stars etc.
What are EHe stars?
- An extreme helium star or EHe is a low-mass supergiant that is almost devoid of hydrogen, the most common chemical element of the universe.
- There are 21 of them detected so far in our galaxy.
- The origin and evolution of these Hydrogen deficient objects have been shrouded in mystery.
- Their severe chemical peculiarities challenge the theory of well-accepted stellar evolution as the observed chemical composition of these stars do not match with that predicted for low mass evolved stars.
Why is the study significant?
- Clues to the evolution of extreme helium stars require accurate determinations of their chemical composition, and the peculiarities, if any, become very important.
- Fluorine plays a very crucial role in this regard to determine the actual evolutionary sequence of these hydrogen deficient objects.
- The scientists explored the relationship of hot EHes with the cooler EHes, based on their fluorine abundance and spotted it in the former, thus establishing an evolutionary connection across a wide range of effective temperature.
- This makes a strong case that the main form of these objects involves a merger of a carbon-oxygen (CO) and a Helium (He) white dwarf.
- The detection of enhanced fluorine abundances in the atmospheres of hot EHes solves a decade-old mystery about their formation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Golden Langur
Mains level: NA
Primatologists have observed that the Gee’s golden langur (Trachypithecus geei) induce stillbirth of babies killed inside the womb of females, besides practising infanticide.
Try this question from CSP 2013:
Q. In which of the following States is lion-tailed macaque found in its natural habitat?
- Tamil Nadu
- Kerala
- Karnataka
- Andhra Pradesh
Select the correct answer using the codes given below.
a) 1, 2 and 3 only
b) 2 only
c) 1, 3 and 4 only
d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Golden Langurs
IUCN status: Endangered
- It is an Old World monkey found in a small region of western Assam, and in the neighbouring foothills of the Black Mountains of Bhutan.
- Long considered sacred by many Himalayan people, the golden langur was first brought to the attention of the western world by the naturalist E. P. Gee in the 1950s.
- Their habitat lies in the region, south of the Brahmaputra River, on the east by the Manas River, on the west by the Sankosh River, all in Assam, India, and on the north by the Black Mountains of Bhutan
- Chakrashila WLS in Assam is India’s first wildlife sanctuary with golden langur as the primary species.
- They are listed in Appendix I of CITES and Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Open access charges
Mains level: Paper 3- Power sector
Let us discuss renewable energy. Recently, state governments increased the standard charges on open access renewable projects and incentives were cut back. So, what can be implications of such steps? Read to know…
What open access power user mean?
- Open access allows large users of power – typically those who consume more than 1 MW – to buy power from the open market.
- These open access buyers don’t have to depend on a more expensive grid.
- Through incentives given by state governments, these non-grid avenues of power purchase have been encouraged in renewable energy projects.
Now, state governments increased standard charges on open access renewable energy projects or are cutting back on incentives.
Reason given by state: Tariff competitiveness of wind and solar power has shown a significant improvement.
Implications:
- Credit rating agency ICRA said that with the changes in policy, the viability of open access – against grid-connected energy – is no longer as attractive.
- The open-access charges applicable in case of third party sale of power have also increased highlights the rising regulatory risk for such independent power producers (IPPs).
- Earlier, concessions were available from levy of cross-subsidy surcharge, transmission and wheeling charges as well as favourable banking facilities to promote the renewable sector.
- Now, the power policies in many states have either completely withdrawn or reduced incentives given to open access customers.
Issues for group captive projects
- A group captive scheme is where someone develops a power plant for collective usage of many commercial consumers.
- At present, a power project is considered ‘captive’ if consuming entity or entities consume at least 51% of the power generated and owns at least 26% of the equity.
- The State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) in Maharashtra has recently approved the levy of additional surcharge on group captive projects in renewable sector.
- Group captive consumers were earlier exempt from such levy in Maharashtra.
- Risk of other state following holds.
Challenges
- The viability of power procured under the open access route depends on discount offered by the power producer as compared to the grid tariffs.
- The applicable open access charges across the key states are estimated to vary quite widely from Rs.2.5 per unit to Rs. 5 per unit.
- Open access projects have tenure (5-10 years) of the power purchase agreements (PPAs) under the third-party sale route as against the 25 year-tenure for PPA in case of utility scale projects.
- Net tariff realised for such projects remains exposed to regulatory risk given the likelihood of revision in open access charges by the regulators.
- It is also subject to tightening of energy banking norms being observed by SERCs across the states.
Consider the question “Examine the implications of policy changes adopted by the state with regard to open access charges and phasing out of other incentives to Independent Power Producers (IPPs)”
Conclusion
Move by states could jeopardise many projects and also threaten the progress made towards the adoption of clean energy.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Acts related to workers
Mains level: Paper 3- Migrant workers
Issue of migrant workers caught attention of the nation amid lockdown. This issue has wider implications for the economy. This article highlights need for formulating a program to deal with the migrant labourers’ issue in its entirety.
Issue with many implications: Migrant labour
- Out of the total labour force of 465 million workers, around 91 per cent (422 million) were informal workers in 2017-18.
- The Economic Survey (2017) estimated 139 million seasonal or circular migrants.
- Circular urban migrants perform essential labour and provide services.
- Hence, this issue has implications for livelihoods, agriculture, food security, and safety net policy as well as programme responses.
Existing and proposed legal provision
- There exists The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act of 1979.
- Despite this act, there is no central registry of migrant workers.
- The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code of 2019 has been introduced in Parliament.
- This code seeks to promote the welfare of migrant workers and legal protection for their rights.
- The code seeks to merge 13 labour laws, including the Inter-state Migrant Workmen Act, 1979 into a single law.
One nation, one ration card
- “One nation one ration card” addresses the problem of ration-card portability.
- The move would benefit nearly 670 million people and will be completed by March 2021.
Provisions in the package for migrant workers, small farmers, street vendors
- There is a provision of Rs 30,000 crore through NABARD, in addition to the already existing Rs 90,000 crore allocation, for the rabi harvest and post-harvest rabi-related work for small and marginal farmers.
- Further, Rs 2 lakh crore concessional credit will be provided to two crore farmers across the country.
- About Rs 11,000 crore was allocated for the urban poor, which includes the migrant workers, for building shelter homes for the homeless.
- Several government-funded housing projects in major cities would be developed into affordable rental housing complexes on a PPP mode.
Free grains for two months
- The Centre will transfer 8 lakh metric tonnes of grain and 50,000 metric tonnes of chana to state governments.
- Form this stave will provide 5 kg of grain (wheat or rice) per labourer and 1kg of chana per family per month for two months free.
- This is expected to benefit up to eight crore migrant workers.
Program for growth and structural transformation
- Devicing such a program requires a review of national legal, regulatory and institutional concerns in resettlement and rehabilitation of migrant labourers.
- There is a need to adopt a human rights approach to address the socio-legal issues.
- The resolution of contradictions in trade, fiscal, monetary and other policies would also require.
- Following 3 policy changes are urgently required.
- 1)The implementation of the report of the task force on migration (2017).
- 2)Expansion of the outreach of the Integrated Child Development Services– to include migrant women and children.
- 3) Inclusion of migrant children in the annual work plans of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
- Given the environment of uncertain livelihoods it is necessary to strengthen the resilience of the financial system and skill workers.
- The issues and challenges of migrant workers require leveraging information and communication technologies and the JAM trinity.
Consider the question “Migrant workers issue is an issue with many implications. This issue needs to be considered in its entirety to formulate a speedy and effective response. In light of this suggest the required policy changes.”
Conclusion
The debilitating physical effects of the coronavirus necessitate coordinated and concerted efforts by all stakeholders to meet the challenges of the present and the expectations of the future. We shall overcome.
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