Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Data Protection Bill provisions
Mains level: Paper 3- Issues of informed consent to the online privacy policies
The article discusses challenges posed by online privacy policies and suggests some ideas to make them more user friendly.
Issues with online privacy policies
- Such policies are not designed for easy reading.
- These policies are full of legal jargon and most are difficult to read.
- Most policies are exclusively in English, which is clearly inadequate in a country where no more than 12 per cent are comfortable with the language.
- A human-centric study across India found that even people who couldnât read or write, when made aware of what they were consenting to, cared deeply about it.
- Online consent is, therefore, a false choice for most Indians.
Importance of consent in data ecosystem
- Consent is also the fulcrum of Indiaâs fast-growing data ecosystem.
- The Data Protection Bill under consideration by Parliament lists consent as a legal ground for data processing.
- Last year, NITI Aayog sought public comments on the Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA), a system that will connect an individualâs financial, health, telecom and other data so that it can be moved from one provider to another.
- DEPA intends to use consent to ensure that users remain in control of their data.
New ideas needed to give users greater control
1) Business as steward of consumer trust
- Businesses need to become more responsible stewards of consumer trust.
- Experiments suggest that making consumers read privacy policies by getting them to stay on the âprivacy policyâ page for a few minutes, led to increased trust in businesses and greater data sharing.
- Businesses can adopt such ideas to make users trust them more.
2) Regulatory bodies need to guide consumers
- Consumers do not have the time or knowledge to go through privacy policies.
- The food regulatorâs food safety certifications and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)âs rating guides have become part of our everyday lives.
- Similarly, a âprivacy ratingâ for apps can help individuals make more informed choices about their data.
- Such ârule of thumbsâ can help them cut through the jargon, trust businesses more and share more data.
3) Running awareness campaign
- Governments and industry associations can play an enabling role by running innovative awareness campaigns that leverage local contexts, and relatable narrative styles.
- The campaign should include awareness about messages logging off from public computers, and not sharing phone numbers easily.
4) Some other ideas
- The âburden of proofâ on privacy should rest with providers rather than consumers.
- Businesses should act as fiduciaries of user data and act in the best interest of the user than simply maximising profits.
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Regulators can create a new class of intermediaries that warn consumers about dangerous practices, represent them, and seek recourse on their behalf.
Consider the question “What are the issues with the consent to the online privacy policies? Suggest the measures to give users greater control over their digital destinies.
Conclusion
By educating and empowering every Indian, we will enable her to participate fully in Indiaâs digital economy, and thereby create a meaningful digital life for every Indian. Only then will the true potential of Digital India be realised.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: FCI and MSP
Mains level: Paper 3- Making India's agri-food policies optimal
Basic parameters to design optimal agri-food policy
- UN population projections (2019) indicate that India is likely to be the most populous country by 2027.
- By 2030, the country is likely to have almost 600 million people living in urban areas, who would need safe food.
- Indian agriculture has an average holding size of 1.08 hectares (2015-16 data) while engaging 42 percent of the countryâs workforce.
- Cultivable land and water for agriculture are limited and already under severe pressure.
What should be the basic features of agri-policy
- 1) It should be able to produce enough food, feed, and fibre for its large population.
- 2) It should do so in a manner that protects the environment â soil, water, air, and biodiversity and achieves higher production with global competitiveness.
- 3) It should enable seamless movement of food, keeping marketing costs low, save on food losses in supply chains and provide safe and fresh food to consumers.
- 4) Consumers should get safe and nutritious food at affordable prices.
Need to change from sub-optimal to optimal policies
- Free electricity and highly subsidized fertilizers, especially urea, are damaging groundwater levels, especially in the Green Revolution states.
- Sugar and wheat are being produced at prices higher than global prices, and these crops canât be exported unless they are heavily subsidized.
- Excessive stocks of wheat and rice with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) are putting pressure on the agencyâs finances.
- Rice remains globally competitive, but it should be remembered that in exporting rice we are also exporting massive amounts of precious water â almost 25-30 billion cubic meters, annually.
- This is the water that is pumped for rice cultivation, enabled by the subsidized power supply.
- In the marketing segment also, for most of our agri-commodities, our costs remain high compared to several other developing countries due to poor logistics, low investments in supply lines, and high margins of intermediaries.
- All these are signs of sub-optimal agri-food policies.
Policy changes required: On the production level
- Green Revolution states of Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh require crop diversification.
- This can be done by switching from the highly subsidized input price policy (power, water, fertilizers) and MSP/FRP policy for paddy, wheat, and sugarcane, to more income support policies linked to saving water, soil, and air quality.
- The Agri-marketing segment is also in the need of reforms especially with respect to bringing about efficiency in agri-marketing and lowering transaction costs.
- It is believed that developing countries should invest at least one percent of their agri-GDP in agri-R&D and extension.
- India invests about half.
- It needs to double with commensurate accountability of R&D organizations, especially the ICAR and state agriculture universities to deliver.
Policy changes required: On the consumption level
- The biggest challenge for the next 10 years is that of malnutrition, especially amongst children.
- The public distribution of food, through PDS, that relies on rice and wheat, and that too at more than 90 percent subsidy over costs of procurement, stocking, and distribution, is not helping much.
- It is increasing the finances of FCI, whose borrowings have touched Rs 3 lakh crore.
- To address that, beneficiaries of subsidized rice and wheat need to be given a choice to opt for cash equivalent to MSP plus 25 percent.
- The FCI adds about 40 percent cost over the MSP while procuring, storing, and distributing food.
- This cash option will save some money and also lead to supplies of more diversified and nutritious food to the beneficiaries.
Consider the question “What are the issues with India’s agri-food policies? Suggest the changes in agri-food policies so as to make them optimal.
Conclusion
What we need is to set agri-food policies on a demand-driven approach, protecting sustainability and efficiency in production and marketing, and giving consumers more choices for nutritious food at affordable prices.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Judicial Review
Mains level: Separation of Power doctrine
The Supreme Courtâs recent order staying the implementation of three farm laws has been criticised and is seen as violative of the doctrine of Separation of Powers.
Q. Discuss the role of judicial activism in parliamentary democracy in India.
What is the issue?
- In particular, many have questioned the suspension of action under the laws as such interim orders are extremely rare.
- The court did not accept the Attorney Generalâs argument that laws made by the legislature should not be ordinarily stayed, as there is a presumption of constitutionality in favour of the laws.
SCâs justification
- This court cannot be said to be completely powerless to grant stay of any executive action under a statutory enactment, the Bench observed in its order.
- This means that it was apparently making a distinction between staying a law and staying its implementation or any action under it.
- Some may argue, however, that the effect remains the same, as the order operates as a stay on the government invoking its provisions.
Previous such orders
- The court also cited an order passed by another Bench of the Supreme Court in September 2020 on the Maratha reservation issue.
- It directed that admissions to educational institutions for 2020-21 and appointments to posts under the government shall be made without reference to the reservation provided under the relevant legislation.
Farms laws case is different
- In the Maratha reservation case, the Bench said interim orders could be passed if an enactment is ex facie unconstitutional or contrary to the law laid down by the Supreme Court.
- It noted that the quota violated the 50% ceiling mentioned in the Indra Sawhney case (1992) and that the Maharashtra government had not shown any extraordinary situation to justify exceeding the limit.
- Here, the Court observed that a stay on the farm lawsâ implementation may assuage the hurt feelings of farmers and encourage them to come to the negotiating table.
What are the courtâs powers in regard to staying enacted law?
- Under the broad framework of judicial review, the Supreme Court and High Courts have the power to declare any law unconstitutional.
- This is on grounds if a law is contrary to any provision of the Constitution or it violates any of the fundamental rights.
- Another ground is invalidity if the law is repugnant to a central law on the same subject or has been enacted without legislative jurisdiction.
Criticisms of the move
- The main criticism is that suspending a law made by the legislature goes against the concept of separation of powers.
- Courts are expected to defer to the legislatureâs wisdom at the threshold of a legal challenge to the validity of a law.
- The validity of law ought to be considered normally only at the time of final adjudication, and not at the initial stage.
- The second principle is that there is a presumption that every law enacted by any legislature is constitutional and valid.
- The onus is on those challenging it to prove that it is not. Therefore, courts are circumspect when hearing petitions seeking suspension of law pending a detailed adjudication.
Various precedents cited by the Court
- Case law suggests that in some cases, High Courts indeed stayed the operation of some laws. However, the Supreme Court took a dim view.
- In 1984, the top court set aside an interim stay granted against the operation of a municipal tax (Siliguri Municipality & Others vs Amalendu Das & Others).
- In 2013, it removed the stay on some provisions of and regulations under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (Health for Millions Trust vs Union of India).
- It then held that the rules were ex facie unconstitutional and the factors, like, the balance of convenience, irreparable injury and public interest are in favour of passing an interim order.
Back2Basics: Judicial Activism
- The term âJudicial Activismâ refers to the courtâs decision, based on the wisdom that does not go rigidly within the text of the statute passed by the legislature.
- It goes in favour of the use of judicial power broadly to provide remedies to the wide range of social wrongs for ensuring proper justice.
- The judiciary performs an active role to uphold constitutional values and ethics under the constitutional pattern.
- For addressing civic dilemmas, the judiciary applies its intellect and creativity to fill the gap between the positive and normative aspects of legislations.
- For this reason, judicial activism has emerged.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: G7. G8, G20
Mains level: G7 and its significance for India
The United Kingdom has invited PM Modi to attend the G7 summit that is scheduled to be held in June.
Note the members of G7 and G20. UPSC may puzzle you asking which G20 nation isnât a member of G7. 
G7 Countries
- The G-7 or âGroup of Sevenâ includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
- It is an intergovernmental organisation that was formed in 1975 by the top economies of the time as an informal forum to discuss pressing world issues.
- Initially, it was formed as an effort by the US and its allies to discuss economic issues.
- The G-7 forum now discusses several challenges such as oil prices and many pressing issues such as financial crises, terrorism, arms control, and drug trafficking.
- It does not have a formal constitution or a fixed headquarters. The decisions taken by leaders during annual summits are non-binding.
- Canada joined the group in 1976, and the European Union began attending in 1977.
Evolution of the G-7
- When it started in 1975âwith six members, Canada joining a year laterâit represented about 70% of the world economy.
- And it was a cozy club for tackling issues such as the response to oil shocks.
- Now it accounts for about 40% of global GDP.
- Since the global financial crisis of 2007-09, it has sometimes been overshadowed by the broader g20.
- The G-7 became the G-8 in 1997 when Russia was invited to join.
- In 2014, Russia was debarred after it took over Crimea.
Significance of G7 for India
- India will get more voice, more influence, and more power by entering the G7.
- After the UN Security Council (UNSC), this is the most influential grouping.
- If the group is expanded it will collectively address the humongous issues created by the Wuhan virus,
- Diplomatically, a seat at the high table could help India further its security and foreign policy interests, especially at the nuclear club and UN Security Council reform as well as protecting its interests in the Indian Ocean.
Back2Basics: The G-20
- The G-20 is a larger group of countries, which also includes G7 members.
- The G-20 was formed in 1999, in response to a felt need to bring more countries on board to address global economic concerns.
- Apart from the G-7 countries, the G-20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey.
- Together, the G-20 countries make up around 80% of the worldâs economy.
- As opposed to the G-7, which discusses a broad range of issues, deliberations at the G-20 are confined to those concerning the global economy and financial markets.
- India is slated to host a G-20 summit in 2022.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Adaptation Cost
Mains level: Progress of global climate action
The United Nations Adaptation Gap Report, 2020 was recently released by the UNEP.
Must read edition: Five years of Paris Agreement
UN Adaptation Gap Report
- UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has managed the production of UN Environmentâs Adaptation Gap Report series since its first edition in 2014.
- The aim of the reports is to inform national and international efforts to advance climate change adaptation.
Behind the concept: Adaptation Cost
- Adaptation Cost includes costs of planning, preparing for, facilitating and implementing the climate change adaptation measures.
- It thus derives benefits as the avoided damage costs or the accrued benefits following the adoption and implementation of adaptation measures.
Highlights of the 2020 report
- The annual cost of adaptation to the effects of climate change for developing countries is estimated to at least quadruple by 2050, according to the United Nations Adaptation Gap Report, 2020.
- The current cost for developing countries is in the range of $70 billion (Rs 5.1 lakh crore) and may rise to $140-300 billion in 2030 and $280-500 billion in 2050.
Funding gaps
- The ever-increasing adaptation cost has also outpaced the growth in adaptation finance that refers to the flow of funds to developing countries to help them tide over the damages caused by climate change.
- This, in turn, has kept the adaptation finance gap from closing with the current efforts, although the fund flow has increased, the report said.
- Adaptation costs, in actual terms, are higher in developed countries but the burden of adaptation is greater for developing countries in relation to their gross domestic product.
- These countries, especially in Africa and Asia, which are least equipped to tackle climate change will also, be the most impacted by it, the report noted.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: 5G technology
Mains level: 5G technology and its rollout
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has sought inputs from telcos and other industry experts on the sale and use of radiofrequency spectrum over the next 10 years, including the 5G bands.
Try this PYQ:
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
What is 5G technology?
- 5G or fifth generation is the latest upgrade in the long-term evolution (LTE) mobile broadband networks.
- It mainly works in 3 bands, namely low, mid and high-frequency spectrum â all of which have their own uses as well as limitations.
Three bands of 5G
- The low band spectrum has shown great promise in terms of coverage and speed of internet and data exchange, the maximum speed is limited to 100 Mbps (Megabits per second).
- This means that while telcos can use and install it for commercial cellphones users who may not have specific demands for very high-speed internet, the low band spectrum may not be optimal for specialised needs of the industry.
- The mid-band spectrum, on the other hand, offers higher speeds compared to the low band but has limitations in terms of coverage area and penetration of signals.
- Telcos and companies, which have taken the lead on 5G, have indicated that this band may be used by industries and specialised factory units for building captive networks that can be moulded into the needs of that particular industry.
- The high-band spectrum offers the highest speed of all the three bands, but has extremely limited coverage and signal penetration strength.
- Internet speeds in the high-band spectrum of 5G have been tested to be as high as 20 Gbps (gigabits per second), while, in most cases, the maximum internet data speed in 4G has been recorded at 1 Gbps.
Where does India stand in the 5G technology race?
- On par with the global players, India had, in 2018, planned to start 5G services as soon as possible, with an aim to capitalize on the better network speeds and strength that the technology promised.
- Indian private telecom players have been urging the DoT to lay out a clear road map of spectrum allocation and 5G frequency bands so that they would be able to plan the rollout of their services accordingly.
- One big hurdle, however, is the lack of flow of cash and adequate capital with some companies due to their AGR dues.
Global progress on 5G
- More than governments, global telecom companies have started building 5G networks and rolling it out to their customers on a trial basis.
- In countries like the US, some companies have taken the lead when it comes to rolling out commercial 5G for their users.
- A South Korean company, which had started researching on 5G technology way back in 2011, has, on the other hand, take the lead when it comes to building the hardware for 5G networks for several companies.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: BBB
Mains level: Paper 3- Bank Investment Company for governance reforms in the Public Sector Banks.
Banks, especially the Public Sector Banks have to play an important role in the pandemic afflicted economy. With that aim, the government has been envisaging the Bank Investment Company (BIC) for the improvement of PSB governance. The article discusses the issues with the BIC.
Background of the BIC
- Recent reports suggest that the upcoming budget may include proposals for a Bank Investment Company (BIC), anchoring the governmentâs shareholding in its banks.
- The BIC was proposed by the P J Nayak Committee constituted by the RBI in 2014 to examine governance at public and private sector banks.
- The committee had offered two options â privatisation or a complete overhaul of bank governance.
- The overhaul of bank governance is envisaged in the form of a gradual disassociation of the government from the operations, management and governance of PSBs.
- The BIC is a welcome step in as much as it signals the governmentâs intent to pursue reforms to improve the governance and performance of PSBs.
Concerns with the BIC
- The ownership and governance of the BIC itself will be crucial.
- BIC will need to be allowed to garner the requisite talent and expertise and operate with freedom.
- In the absence of this, it would merely add another layer while preserving the status quo.
- The less than encouraging experience of the Banks Board Bureau (BBB) that was to precede the BIC is instructive.
Why BBB failed to achieve its objectives
- The BBB was set up in 2016 to advise on the selection and appointment of senior board members and management.
- However, in practice, the BBBâs advice has not always been heeded to, and appointments have not always been made on time.
- The BBB, as originally conceived, was to consist of three senior bankers.
- However, it was expanded to include representatives from the RBI and the government.
- The BBB was also originally envisaged by the committee as a temporary arrangement.
- However, no further steps have been forthcoming after its establishment.
Way forward for BIC
- The government would need to ensure the necessary freedom for the BIC to operate while circumscribing its own role.
- The ultimate success of these reforms will depend on how the government disassociates itself and empowers the BIC.
- The objectives of the BIC would have to be clearly defined too.
- If capital raising is one of the goals, the structure of a holding company â with a portfolio of comparatively better performing and non-performing banks â to attract investments must be assessed.
- In this regard, the RBI has reportedly, in the past, expressed reservations on the BIC structure being a potential challenge for investors to assess the relative risks, returns and performance of the banks.
- This raises the question of whether privatisation would not be a better alternative, particularly as the transition of the government from an owner to a pure financial investor in its banks is likely to take time.
Conclusion
Given these concerns, privatisation may be a better alternative. The budget could signal this intent by announcing the first step â the repeal of the Bank Nationalisation Acts and the State Bank of India Act.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UGC
Mains level: Paper 2- Impact of UGC's criteria in evaluation of research on social sciences and humanities
The article highlights the issues with the criteria applied by the UGC to evaluate the faculty research.
Impact of UGC standardisation on social sciences and humanities research
- UGC has been the regulatory body responsible for maintaining standards in higher education, while addressing challenges of globalisation.
- Processes of UGC mandated standardisation have in particular impacted social sciences and humanities research in Indian universities.
- Over the years, UGC has linked institutional funding to ranking and accreditation systems like NAAC and NIRF.
- In order to evaluate institutions, these bodies have evolved criteria, which rank universities based on faculty research measured by citations in global journal databases like SCOPUS.
- In comparison, importance granted to research outputs like books or other forms is declining.
Issues with the criteria
- The insistence of publication in journals fails to distinguish between the varied trajectory of disciplines.
- While in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Management) disciplines, research is often highly objective and quantified.
- In social sciences and humanities research is subjective, analytical and argumentative.
- In disciplines like history, sociology, politics, philosophy, psychology and literature, researchers spend years writing books that engage with ideas in complex ways.
- In devaluing books as authentic forms of research, UGC does major disservice to scholars of social sciences and humanities.
- Due to emphasis on publication, teachers spend most of their productive time writing articles and getting them published, thereby missing out on quality engagement with pedagogy and research.
Issues with the process of peer review
- The process of peer review itself is subjective, and depends upon the knowledge, inclination and availability of time of the particular reviewer.
- It is often quite challenging for scholars to meet peer-review standards of A-listed journals.
- This has actually required the UGC to expand its own list, ending up including and subsequently deleting a large number of locally published journals.
Issue of inaccessibility
- Publication of research in paywalled journal databases makes research inaccessible for students as universities continue to cut down library budgets.
- Students and teachers, access articles through pirated sites like Libgen and Scihub, prone to be shut down at any point of time as evident from the litigations.
- Clearly, access to knowledge is structurally made inequitable in favour of the elite and/or moneyed institutions and their constituents.
Way forward
- The above arguments maintain for the possible multiplicity that can emerge as the end-result of research.
- Interdisciplinary and practice-based research can throw up social and ecological experiments, artworks and performances, and numerous new outcomes yet to be conceived as research outputs.
- While the UGC hopes to raise the standards to global levels, precarity of employment, longer teaching hours, a dismal student-teacher ratio, lack of sabbaticals, research and travel grants, access to research facilities and office space, adversely impact the research potential of teachers.
- Regulating research needs to be replaced with facilitating research, allowing minds to think and gestate.
- Regulations without facilitation will merely bureaucratise the governance of knowledge without generating any pathbreaking insights.
Conclusion
The UGC needs to widen its criteria which values publication of a book as much as a research paper in the mandated journal to widen the research in social sciences and humanities.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Open Skies Treaty (OST)
Mains level: Open Skies Treaty (OST)
Russia has announced that it was pulling out of the Open Skies Treaty, saying that the pact had been seriously compromised by the withdrawal of the United States.
The New START, INF and now the OST âŚ. Be clear about the differences of these treaties. For example- to check if their inception was during cold war era etc.
Open Skies Treaty (OST)
- OST is an agreement that allows countries to monitor signatoriesâ arms development by conducting surveillance flights over each otherâs territories.
- The idea behind the OST was first proposed in the early years of the Cold War by former U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower.
- It came to existence decades later and was signed in 1992, during the George H.W. Bush presidency and after the Soviet Union had collapsed.
- The OST came into effect in 2002 under the George W. Bush administration and it allows its 34 signatories to conduct unarmed reconnaissance flights over the territory of treaty countries.
Issues with the OST
- The U.S. has used the treaty more intensively than Russia.
- Between 2002 and 2016, the U.S. flew 196 flights over Russia (in addition to having imagery from other countries) compared to the 71 flights flown by Russia.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Kalapani Region
Mains level: India-Nepal Border Issues
Nepal has raised the Kalapani boundary dispute with India during the Joint Commission meeting of the Foreign Ministers.
Q.The India-Nepal bilateral relations these days are increasingly seen through the lens of China factor. Examine.
Kalapani Boundary Issue
- Mapped within Uttarakhand is a 372-sq km area called Kalapani, bordering far-west Nepal and Tibet.
- A treaty signed between Nepal and British India in 1816 determined the Makhali river, that runs through Kalapani, as the boundary between the two neighbours.
- The Treaty of Sugauli concluded between British India and the Kingdom of Nepal in the year 1816, maps the Makhali River as the western boundary with India.
- But different British maps showed the source of the tributary at different places which were mainly due to underdeveloped and less-defined surveying techniques used at that time.
- However, the river has many tributaries that meet at Kalapani. For this reason, India claims that the river begins at Kalapani but Nepal says that it begins from Lipu Lekh pass, which is the source of most of its tributaries.
- While the Nepal government and political parties have protested, India has said the new map does not revise the existing boundary with Nepal.
- India claims that the river begins at Kalapani but Nepal says that it begins from Lipu Lekh pass, which is the source of most of its tributaries.
Legal Dimension of Issue
According to International Laws, the principles of avulsion and accretion are applicable in determining the borders when a boundary river changes course.
- Avulsion: It is the pushing back of the shoreline by sudden, violent action of the elements, perceptible while in progress. Also, it can be defined as the sudden and perceptible change in the land brought about by water, which may result in the addition or removal of land from a bank or shoreline.
- Accretion: It is the process of growth or enlargement by a gradual buildup. It is the natural, slow and gradual deposit of soil by the water.
If the change of the river course is rapid â by avulsion â the boundary does not change. But if the river changes course gradually â that is, by accretion â the boundary changes accordingly.
Since, the Gandak change, of course, has been gradual, India claimed Susta as part of their territory as per international laws.
- On several occasions, India has tried to resolve the issue through friendly and peaceful negotiations, but the Nepali leadership has always shown hesitation in resolving the issue.
- In Nepal, the issue has become a tool for arousing strong public sentiment against India. Therefore, resolving the issue may not be in the best interest of Nepalâs domestic politics.
Significance for India
- The Lipu Lekh pass serves strategic importance for India as a key point to monitor Chinese troop movement.
- The link road via Lipulekh Himalayan Pass is also considered one of the shortest and most feasible trade routes between India and China.
- The Nepalese reaction would probably have triggered in response to Chinese assertion.
An undefined boundary claimed by Nepal
- Nepalâs western boundary with India was marked out in the Treaty of Sugauli between the East India Company and Nepal in 1816.
- Nepali authorities claim that people living in the low-density area were included in the Census of Nepal until 58 years ago.
- Five years ago, Nepali Foreign Minister had claimed that the late King Mahendra âhanded over the territory to Indiaâ.
- By some accounts in Nepal, this allegedly took place in the wake of India-China War of 1962.
Must read:
[Burning Issue] India-Nepal Border Row
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: India's trade deficit
Mains level: Atmanirbhar Bharat
Indiaâs trade with China last year fell to the lowest since 2017, with the trade imbalance declining to a five-year low on the back of a slump in Indiaâs imports from China.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Among the following, which one is the largest exporter of rice in the world in the last five years? (CSP 2019)
(a) China
(b) India
(c) Myanmar
(d) Vietnam
India-China Trade
- Two-way trade in 2020 reached $87.6 billion, down by 5.6%, according to new figures from Chinaâs General Administration of Customs (GAC).
- Indiaâs imports from China accounted for $66.7 billion, declining by 10.8% year-on-year and the lowest figure since 2016.
- It, however, rose to the highest figure on record, for the first time crossing the $20 billion-mark and growing 16% last year to $20.86 billion.
What constitutes Indiaâs import from China?
- While there was no immediate break-up of the data in 2020, Indiaâs biggest import in 2019 was electrical machinery and equipment, worth $20.17 billion.
- Other major imports in 2019 were organic chemicals ($8.39 billion) and fertilizers ($1.67 billion), while Indiaâs top exports were iron ore, organic chemicals, cotton and unfinished diamonds.
Indiaâs exports to China
- The past 12 months saw a surge in demand for iron ore in China with a slew of new infrastructure projects aimed at reviving growth after the COVID-19 slump.
- Chinaâs total iron ore imports were up 9.5 per cent in 2020.
A friction-induced low
- The trade deficit, a source of friction between India and China, declined to a five year-low of $45.8 billion, the lowest since 2015.
- Whether 2020 is an exception or marks a turn away from the recent pattern of Indiaâs trade with China remains to be seen.
- While Indiaâs imports from China declined, so did Indiaâs imports overall with a slump in domestic demand last year.
- There is, as yet, no evidence to suggest India has replaced its import dependence on China by either sourcing those goods elsewhere or manufacturing them at home.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Thiruvalluvar
Mains level: Sangam Literature
The Prime Minister has extended his venerations to Thiruvalluvar on the Thiruvalluvar Day.
Read everything about Sangam Literature from your basic sources.
Who was Thiruvalluvar?
- Thiruvalluvar is fondly referred to as Valluvar by Tamils was born during 4th -5th century CE.
- His âThirukkuralâ, a collection of 1,330 couplets (âkuralsâ in Tamil), are an essential part of every Tamil household.
- It holds importance in the same way the Bhagavad Gita or the Ramayana are in traditional North Indian Hindu households.
- Thiruvalluvar is revered as an ancient saint, poet, and a philosopher by Tamils, irrespective of their religion.
- He is an essential anchor for Tamils in tracing their cultural roots; Tamils are taught to learn his couplets word-for-word and to follow his teachings in their day-to-day living.
Also read:
Sangam era older than previously thought, finds study
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PMKVY
Mains level: Skill Development
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has launched Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 3.0.
Note the differences between all three versions of PMKVY.
PMKVY 3.0
- PMKVY 3.0 envisages training of eight lakh candidates over the scheme period of 2020-2021.
- This phase three will focus on new-age and COVID-related skills.
- The 729 PM Kaushal Kendras (PMKKs), empanelled non-PMKK training centres and more than 200 industrial training institutes under Skill India will be rolling out under it.
- On the basis of the learning gained from PMKVY 1.0 and PMKVY 2.0, the MSDE has improved the newer version of the scheme to match the current policy doctrine and energize the skilling ecosystem.
Implementation
- PMKVY 3.0 will be implemented in a more decentralized structure with greater responsibilities and support from States/UTs and Districts.
- District Skill Committees (DSCs), under the guidance of State Skill Development Missions (SSDM), shall play a key role in addressing the skill gap and assessing demand at the district level.
- The new scheme will be more trainee- and learner-centric addressing the ambitions of aspirational Bharat.
- PMKVY 2.0 broadened the skill development with the inclusion of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and focus on training.
- With the advent of PMKVY 3.0, the focus is on bridging the demand-supply gap by promoting skill development in areas of new-age and Industry 4.0 job roles.
Back2Basics: PMKVY 1.0
- PMKVY is a skill development initiative scheme of the Government of India for recognition and standardization of skills launched on16Â July 2015;.
- The aim of the scheme is to encourage aptitude towards employable skills and to increase the working efficiency of probable and existing daily wage earners, by giving monetary awards and rewards and by providing quality training to them.
- For this qualification plans and quality, plans have been developed by various Sector Skill Councils (SSC) created with the participation of Industries.
- National Skill Development Council (NSDC) has been made coordinating and driving agency for the same.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CRAR
Mains level: Paper 3- Recapitalisation of PSBs
The article suggest the approach to deal with the problems banking in India faces.
Banking sector under stress
- Along with the other sectors, pandemic dealt a severe blow to the banking sector.
- Stress tests reported in the Financial Stability Report (FSR) indicate that the low ratio of capital to risk-adjusted-assets (CRAR) is likely to decline further.
- To revive the economy and resume sustained high growth, bold structural reforms will have to be combined with strong fiscal and monetary measures.
Declining credit growth: monetary challenge
- India’s credit-to-gross domestic product ratio is around 51%.
- 51% not too low compared to other countries at comparable levels of per capita income.
- However, the worry is that credit growth is declining rapidly.
- It is mainly attributable to rising risk aversion among lenders, reflecting the high and rising level of NPAs.
- Risk aversion spiked during the economic contraction.
Rising NPA of Public Sector Banks
- The FSR stress tests now indicate that the gross NPA ratio is likely to go up to as much as 13.5% by September 2021 in the reportâs baseline case and 14.8% in the âsevere stressâ case.
- Within the banking sector, conditions are much worse in public sector banks (PSBs) compared to private banks (PBs) or foreign banks (FBs).
- The gross NPA figure is forecast to rise to 16.2% for PSBs as compared to 7.9% and 5.4% for PBs and FBs in the baseline case.
- Clearly, high NPAs are primarily a problem for PSBs, which still account for 60% of Indiaâs total bank credit.
Expanding banking sector: bypass PSBs and give a big push to private banking
- The recent report on Ownership and Corporate Structure for Indian Private Sector Banks submitted by an RBI internal working group (IWG) espouses this approach.
- The IWGâs main recommendation is to enable large corporations and industrial houses to acquire banking licences.
- The proposal has been strongly opposed by former governors and deputy governors of RBI, several former chief economic advisers, a former finance secretary, and, most significantly, all save one of the many experts the IWG consulted.
Four issues with the push to private banking
- 1) With an industry CRAR of only 12%, the proposed raising of the promoter share cap to 26% could potentially leverage the promoterâs investment by 32 times.
- The very high risk appetite generated by such leveraging would subject depositors to a high level of systemic risk, given the limited deposit insurance provided in India.
- 2) Excessive risk appetite would lead to imprudent lending, especially connected lending to group companies. Conglomerates always find ways around regulatory restrictions against such connected lending.
- 3) Three, a conglomerateâs bank would have access to insider information on borrower companies that compete with its group companies.
- 4) Conglomerate banks would lead to massive concentration of economic power and political influence against not just competing companies, but even the regulator.
Way forward
- A safer and cleaner option would be to help the countryâs banking sector grow through simultaneous privatization and recapitalization of PSBs.
- However, these options do not change the ownership and governance structure of PSBs, which is what primarily is to blame for their poor performance.
- A better option is for PSBs to recapitalize themselves by raising fresh equity.
- It would be more prudent financially and also more acceptable politically to test this approach with one or two small PSBs.
Conclusion
Government should try to adopt the approach which reduces the risks associated with giving push to private players in the banking sector while making the PSBs more efficient.
Back2Basics: CRAR-Capital to risk-adjusted-assets
- Â The CRAR is the capital needed for a bank measured in terms of the assets (mostly loans) disbursed by the banks.
- Higher the assets, higher should be the capital by the bank.
- A notable feature of CRAR is that it measures capital adequacy in terms of the riskiness of the assets or loans given.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Working of HAM
Mains level: Paper 3- Hybrid Annuity Model and risks involved
The article explains the working of Hybrid Annuity Model in the road construction and the risks involved in the model.
Investment in road sector
- The central government has set a target of increasing the investment in infrastructure to over Rs 111 lakh crore over the period FY20-FY25.
- Within the transportation segment, projects worth Rs 36.7 lakh crore, constituting 55% of transportation infra, are for the road sector.
- The large investments planned in the road sector signifies its importanceâit has a multiplier effect on the economy and provides large employment opportunities.
Models for the road sector
- Out of HAM (Hybrid Annuity Model) and BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer)âtoll developers prefer the relatively lower risk HAM model.
- This is due to its various positives like lower equity requirements, provision for mobilisation advances, better right of way availability, inflation-linked adjustments for bid project cost, termination payments during the construction period and de-linking construction and operations.
- These HAM features have garnered a favourable response and mix of HAM awards has increased from 10% in FY16 to 48% in H1FY2021.
How HAM works and risks involved
- During the operations period for a HAM project, the recovery from authority is in the form of fixed annuity payments along with interest on balance accumulated annuity payments (calculated @300 bps over prevailing bank rate)
- The only major risk for HAM is the prevailing low bank rates adversely affecting the overall project viability and returns.
- Â Such interest receipts account for around 45% of total inflows.
- Low bank rate would thus reduce the overall inflows for a HAM project, thereby adversely affecting its debt coverage metrics and returns to the investors.
- The second problem is related to delayed and inadequate interest rate transmissionâthere is a transmission lag for the project loan (linked to MCLR of banks).
Changes in model concession agreement
- As per revised concession agreement dated November 10, 2020, interest rate on annuities will be equal to the average MCLR of top 5 scheduled commercial banks plus 1.25% instead of bank rate.
- With the average MCLR replacing the bank rate, there will be a natural hedge between the annuity inflows and interest costs,
- This will reduce the interest rate risks to a large extent, and that too without any delay.
- The other major revision is the grant payment from the authority which will now be paid in 10 instalments instead of five.
- The other major revision is the grant payment from the authority which will now be paid in 10 instalments instead of five.
- Thus, the spacing between the payment milestones is reduced.
- This will improve the cash conversion cycle for the contractors executing the HAM projects as their payments are back to back in nature.
- However, these changes will be applicable for new awards, and the fate of the existing HAM projects is hanging in the balance.
Conclusion
With improved attractiveness, HAM is expected to remain the mainstay for public-private partnership projects in the road sector.
Source:-
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/hamsome-gains/2171329/
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Global perception of India's image
A UK think-tank âRoyal Institute of International Affairsâ has listed India in âDifficult 4â; clubs India with China, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.
This newscard helps analyse the Western esp. that of the EU’s perception of India and its global image under the present regime.
What is the news?
- A report called âGlobal Britain, Global Brokerâ has warned the UK government to consider India as more of a rival that a cooperative partner.
- It accepts the fact that India is set to be the largest country in the world by population very soon and will have the third-largest economy and defence budget at some point in this decade.
- But it cautions that gaining direct national benefit from the relationship, whether economically or diplomatically, will be difficult for the UK government.
- The report also accepts Indiaâs importance to the UK as being “inescapable”.
The âDifficult Fourâ
- Clubbing India with China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey as the âdifficult fourâ, the report says the Johnson government should be more realistic about developing deeper ties with India.
- They may be important to the UKâs commercial interests, but they will be rivals or, at best, awkward counterparts on many of its global goals, the report warns.
- India is now classed as a country, destined to count among the UKâs ârivalsâ or âawkward counterpartsâ as it pursues its global goals.
India has had bitter (colonial) past
- The think-tank strikes a note of caution over the two countries’ shared colonial history proving a stumbling block to the promise of a deeper relationship.
- India has a long and consistent record of resisting being corralled into a âWesternâ camp.
- As a result, India is always on the list of countries with which a new UK government commits to engage.
- But it should be obvious by now that the idea of a deeper relationship with India always promises more than it can deliver.
- The legacy of British colonial rule consistently curdles the relationship.
Indian flaws
- The report points to Indiaâs “complex, fragmented domestic politics”, which make it one of the countries resistant to open trade and foreign investment.
- It highlights concerns raised by domestic groups as well as the UN over a “crackdown on human rights activists and civil society groups” not being actively challenged by the judiciary.
- It raises concern over Indiaâs pursuance of extreme right-winged policies. Indian domestic politics also has entered a more ethnic-nationalist phase, the report argues.
- Against this backdrop, the report reflects on the prospect of including India within any new Democratic 10 or D10 coalition of 10 leading democracies.
Try this question from 2019 CS Mains:
Q.What are the challenges to our cultural practices in the name of secularism? (150W)
UKâs resentment
- In a critique of Indiaâs diplomatic behaviour, the report points out that despite border clashes with China, âIndia did not join the group of countries that criticized China at the UN in July 2019 over HR violations in Xinjiang.
- India has also been muted in its criticism of the passage of the new national security law in Hong Kong.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sect 497 of IPC
Mains level: Adultery Laws and the associated gender bias
The Supreme Court has admitted a petition filed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) seeking to exempt armed forces personnel from the ambit of a Constitution Bench judgment of 2018 that decriminalized adultery.
Q. Personnels of the Indian Armed Forces constitute a ‘Distinct Class’.
Discuss this statement in context to the extension of IPC section 497 to the Armed forces.
What was the 2018 historic Judgment?
- The Supreme Court had struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalized adultery.
- It also declared Section 198 of the Criminal Procedure Code as unconstitutional, which deals with the procedure for filing a complaint about the offence of adultery.
Important observations of the judgment
- Section 497 was unconstitutional and is violative of Article 21 (Right to life and personal liberty) and Article 14 (Right to equality).
- The court observed that two individuals may part if one cheats, but to attach criminality to infidelity is going too far. How married couples deal with adultery is absolutely a matter of privacy.
- Besides, there is no data to back claims that abolition of adultery as a crime would result in âchaos in sexual moralityâ or an increase of divorce.
- Any provision of law affecting individual dignity and equality of women invites the wrath of the Constitution.
- Itâs time to say that a husband is not the master of the wife. Legal sovereignty of one sex over other sex is wrong, ruled the court.
- Marriage does not mean ceding autonomy of one to the other. Ability to make sexual choices is essential to human liberty. Even within private zones, an individual should be allowed her choice.
What about Armed forces?
- The judgment of 2018 created âinstabilityâ. It allowed personnel charged with carrying on an adulterous or illicit relationship to take cover under the judgment.
- The bench had then referred the case to the CJI to pass appropriate orders to form a five-judge Bench to clarify the impact of the 2018 judgment on the armed forces.
- This case is now being under the observation of the apex court.
Govt. stance over this
- The MoD has sought for an exemption to this decriminalization in the petition.
- It said that there will always be a concern in the minds of the Army personnel who are operating far away from their families under challenging conditions about the family indulging in untoward activity.
- The petition goes on to say that personnel of the Army, Navy and the Air Force were a âdistinct classâ. They were governed by special legislation, the Army Act, the Navy Act and the Air Force Act.
- Adultery amounted to unbecoming conduct and a violation of discipline under these three Acts.
- Unlike Section 497, the provisions of the three Acts did not differentiate between a man and a woman if they were guilty of an offence.
Constitutional backing for an exception
- These special laws imposed restrictions on the fundamental rights of the personnel, who function in a peculiar situation requiring utmost discipline.
- The three laws were protected by Article 33 of the Constitution, which allowed the government to modify the fundamental rights of the armed forces personnel.
The core idea behind govt. proposition
- One has to remember that the armed forces exist in an environment wholly different and distinct from civilians. Honour is a sine qua non of the service.
- The provisions of the Acts should be allowed to continue to govern the personnel as a âdistinct classâ, irrespective of the 2018 judgment.
- This is because, the discipline necessary for the performance of duty, crucial for national safety, would break down.
- It said the court would not, at the time, have been appraised of the different circumstances under which the armed forces operated.
Back2Basics: Article 33 of the Indian Constitution
- It deals with the power of Parliament to modify the rights conferred by this Part III in their application etc.
- Parliament may, by law, determine to what extent any of the rights conferred by this Part shall, in their application to-
(a) the members of the Armed Forces; or
(b) the members of the Forces charged with the maintenance of public order; or
(c) persons employed in any bureau or other organisation established by the State for purposes of intelligence or counterintelligence; or
(d) persons employed in, or in connection with, the telecommunication systems set up for the purposes of any Force, bureau or organisation referred to in clauses (a) to (c), be restricted or abrogated so as to ensure the proper discharge of their duties and the maintenance of discipline among them
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Curiosity rover, Martian Day
Mains level: Quest for extraterrestrial life
The Mars rover âCuriosityâ has completed 3,000 Martian days.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which region of Mars has a densely packed river deposit indicating this planet had water 3.5 billion years ago?
(a) Aeolis Dorsa
(b) Tharsis
(c) Olympus Mons
(d) Hellas
Curiosity Rover
- Curiosity is an SUV-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Gale crater on Mars as part of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission
- The main mission of Curiosity was “to search areas of Mars for past or present conditions favourable for life, and conditions capable of preserving a record of life.”
- It has a suite of instruments:
- A gas chromatograph, a mass spectrometer, a tunable laser spectrometer, X-ray diffraction, fluorescence instrument help study the rocks
- The Mars Hand Lens Imager (for close-up pictures) and a Mast Camera (to take photos of the surroundings)
- An instrument named ChemCam to vaporize thin layers of Martian rocks.
- Radiation Assessment Detector to study the radiation environment at the surface of Mars
- Rover Environmental Monitoring Station to measure atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, winds, plus ultraviolet radiation levels
- Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons instrument to measure subsurface hydrogen
Back2Basics: Martian Day/ Sol
- Coincidentally, the duration of a Martian day aka âSolâ is within a few per cent of that of an Earth day, which has led to the use of analogous time units.
- A sol is slightly longer than an Earth day. It is approximately 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds long.
- A Martian year is approximately 668 sols, equivalent to approximately 687 Earth days.
- Mars has an axial tilt and a rotation period similar to those of Earth.
- Thus, it experiences seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter much like Earth.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sulawesi Cave Paintings
Mains level: Not Much
A team of archaeologists in Indonesia has discovered what may be the worldâs oldest known cave painting dating back to more than 45,000 years.
Try this PYQ:
Q.There are only two known examples of cave paintings of the Gupta period in ancient India. One of these is paintings of Ajanta caves. Where is the other surviving example of Gupta paintings?
(a) Bagh caves
(b) Ellora caves
(c) Lomas Rishi cave
(d) Nasik caves
Sulawesi Cave Paintings
- The cave painting depicts a wild boar endemic to the Sulawesi island of Indonesia, where the painting was found.
- The central Indonesian island, which occupies an area of over 174,000 sq. km, is situated between Asia and Australia.
- It has a long history of human occupation.
Significance of the painting
- The archaeologistsâ note that the dated painting of the Sulawesi warty pig seems to be the worldâs oldest surviving representational image of an animal.
- The painting was made using red ochre pigment and depicts a pig with a short crest of upright hairs and a pair of horn-like facial warts in front of the eyes.
- These pigs have been hunted by humans for tens of thousands of years and are the most commonly depicted animal in the ice age rock art of the island.
- It suggests that they have long been used as food and form a âfocus of creative thinking and artistic expressionâ for people of that time.
Must read:
Chapter 1 | Stone Age â Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic
How did the archaeologists date it?
- The painting was first discovered in 2017 as part of surveys the team was carrying out with the Indonesian authorities.
- For these painting archaeologists used a method called U-series isotope analysis, which uses calcium carbonate deposits that form naturally on the cave wall surface to determine its age.
- They used a calcium carbonate deposit, also referred to as âcave popcornâ that had formed on the rear foot of one of the pig figures.
- They were able to figure out a minimum age for the painting at around 45,500 years, which means the painting was made before this.
Sulawesi: Oldest human habitat
Try memorizing these Islands of the Indo-Pacific in their East-West alternations.
- Sulawesi island contains some of the oldest directly dated rock art in the world and also some of the oldest evidence for the presence of hominins beyond the southeastern limits of the Ice Age Asian continent.
- Hominins include modern humans, extinct human species and our immediate ancestors.
- Homo sapiens are the first modern humans who evolved from their hominid predecessors between 200,000-300,000 years ago.
- It is estimated that these modern humans started migrating outside of Africa some 70,000-100,000 years ago.
- Even so, it is not yet clear as to when modern humans first colonised Sulawesi.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Kashmiri papier-mache
Mains level: NA
This newscard is an excerpt of the original article published in The Hindu.
Tap to know about other Geographical Indicators in news.
Kashmiri papier-mache
- It is a handicraft of Kashmir that was brought by Muslims saint Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani from Persia in the 14th century to medieval India.
- It is based primarily on paper pulp, and is a richly decorated, colourful artefact; generally in the form of vases, bowls, or cups (with and without metal rims), boxes, trays, bases of lamps, and many other small objects.
- These are made in homes, and workshops, in Srinagar, and other parts of the Kashmir Valley, and are marketed primarily within India, although there is a significant international market.
- The product is protected under the Geographic Indication Act 1999 and was registered by the Controller General of Patents Designs and Trademarks.
Back2Basics: Geographical Indication (GI)
- The World Intellectual Property Organisation defines a GI as âa sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that originâ.
- GIs are typically used for agricultural products, foodstuffs, handicrafts, industrial products, wines and spirit drinks.
- Internationally, GIs are covered as an element of intellectual property rights under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
- They have also covered under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.
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