Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various keywords mentioned
Mains level: Urbanization in India
The Economist has put Malappuram at the top of the “Top ten fastest-growing cities” in the world.
Anomalies in the data
- The total fertility rate (TFR, the number of children a woman is likely to have in the childbearing age of 15-49) in Kerala is 1.8 as per NITI Aayog data from 2016 — below the replacement rate of 2.1.
- Another Kerala city, Thrissur, is No. 13, and the capital Thiruvananthapuram is No. 33 on the UN list.
- Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu — which has an even lower TFR of 1.6 — is No. 30.
- Surat in Gujarat (TFR of 2.2) is No. 27. There is no representation on the list from high population growth states like Bihar and UP.
What does “fastest growing” refer to? How is a “city” defined?
- The list based on data from the UN Population Division refers to “urban agglomerations” (UA), which are extended areas built around an existing town along with its outgrowths — typically villages or other residential areas or universities, ports, etc., on the outskirts of the town.
- The Census defines a UA as “a continuous urban spread consisting of a town and its adjoining urban outgrowths or two or more physically contiguous towns together”.
- The NCT of Delhi is a UA that includes the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) areas, as well as 107 “Census towns” — erstwhile surrounding villages where more than 75% of the population is now engaged in non-agricultural pursuits.
A pace of urbanization
- The Economist has listed the rate at which the populations of the UAs are expected to increase between 2015 and 2020.
- Since data on India and many other countries were not available for 2015 (the last Census in India was in 2011), the UN report used projections of UAs’ populations — estimates based on past population growth data.
- The rate of growth between 2015 and 2020 thus calculated provides a measure of the pace of urbanisation.
How does urban population grow?
- Urban populations can grow when the birth rate exceeds the death rate when workers migrate to the city in search of jobs; when more areas get included within the boundaries of the city; or when existing rural areas are reclassified as urban.
- The low fertility rate in Kerala means the increase in the population of Malappuram and other cities is not because women are having more children; rather it is because more villages are being transformed into towns, and city borders are expanding.
- According to the Census definition, an urban area is either a census town (CT) or a statutory town (ST). An ST is any place with a municipal corporation, municipal council, or cantonment board.
- A CT can be a village with “urban characteristics” — a population more than 5,000, population density more than 400 people per sq km, and with more than 75% of the population not engaged in agriculture for their livelihood.
- When a village becomes a CT, its population is included in the urban population of the district.
Could migration have caused the increase?
- Migration can either increase or decrease the population of a town.
- Kerala sees both emigration — migration from the state to other places — and immigration — the migration of workers to the state.
- Also the remittances that emigrants send allow the residents of villages to move away from agriculture, which changes the status of a village to census town.
Why these cities are growing so fast?
- These cities are seeing rapid urbanisation, and the main reason is the inclusion of new areas in the UA’s limits.
- In 2001, there were two municipal corporations within the UA of Malappuram. In 2011, the number of municipal corporations had doubled to four, and an additional 37 CTs were included within Malappuram.
- The population of the UA (excluding the residents of the outgrowths) increased almost 10 times in the same period — from 1,70,409 to 16,99,060 — obviously because of the inclusion of existing urban areas in the town.
- Similarly, Kollam UA grew from one municipal corporation in 2001 to 23 CTs, one municipal corporation, and one municipal council in 2011.
- Its population increased by 130%, even though the population of the original ST of Kollam actually decreased by 4%.
Why is this not seen elsewhere in India?
- In Kerala, urbanisation is driven by a move away from agriculture, which leads to a change in a village’s Census classification status.
- This is evident from the large number of CTs that were included in the UAs of the state since the last Census. On the other hand, except Delhi, the more populous cities in the North had fewer CTs in 2011.
- While the pace of urbanisation has been slower in the North, some unnaturally high increases in the population can be expected after the 2021 Census — because in some cases, villages on the peripheries were brought within the administrative boundaries of the cities.
Is it good for the economy?
- Urbanisation leads to the growth of cities, which are sites of infrastructure like universities, hospitals, and public transport facilities.
- There are more opportunities for the youth, which is why they attract young people and entrepreneurs.
- In India, people moving to cities leave behind (to some extent) caste and class divisions that dominate life in the villages, and can hope to climb up the social ladder.
- However, unplanned urbanisation can be “exclusionary”, making it difficult for migrants to live there given the high cost.
- Unregulated housing, lack of reliable public transport, and longer commutes within these towns puts a strain on the meagre resources of migrants.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NEON
Mains level: Applications of AI
NEONs are being called the world’s first artificial humans. They look and behave like real humans, and could develop memories and emotions — though from behind a 4K display.
NEON
- Star Labs is headed by India-born scientist Pranav Mistry who underlines that what was showcased at CES was the product of just four months’ work.
- The company says NEONs are computationally created virtual humans — the word derives from NEO (new) + humaN.
- For now, the virtual humans can show emotions when manually controlled by their creators.
- But the idea is for NEONs to become intelligent enough to be fully autonomous, showing emotions, learning skills, creating memories, and being intelligent on their own.
- Star Labs thinks they can be “friends, collaborators, and companions”, but all that is a few years away.
How does it work?
There are two core technologies behind his virtual humans.
- First, there is the proprietary CORE R3 technology that drives the “reality, real time and responsiveness” behind NEONs.
- It is the front-end reality engine that is able to give you that real expression.
- The company claims CORE R3 “leapfrogs in the domains of Behavioral Neural Networks, Evolutionary Generative Intelligence and Computational Reality”, and is “extensively trained” on how humans look, behave and interact.
- But in the end, it is like a rendition engine, converting the mathematical models to look like actual humans.
- The next stage will be SPECTRA, which will complement CORE R3 with the “spectrum of intelligence, learning, emotions and memory”.
- But SPECTRA is still in development, and is not expected before NEONWORLD 2020 later this year.
How could NEONs be used?
- NEONs are the interface for technologies and services.
- They could answer queries at a bank, welcome you at a restaurant, or read out the breaking news on television at an unearthly hour.
- This form of virtual assistance would be more effective, for example, while teaching languages, as NEONs will be capable of understanding and sympathizing.
How are they different from Virtual Assistants?
- Virtual Assistants now learn from all the data they are plugged into. NEONs will be limited to what they know and learn.
- Their leaning could potentially be limited to the person they are catering to, and maybe her friends — but not the entire Internet.
- They will not be an interface for you to request a song, rather they will be a friend to speak to and share experiences with.
- Currently, its developer doesn’t want NEONs to have collective memory, or to share data among themselves.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Types of NBFC.
Mains level: Paper 3- NBFC crisis.
Context
While India was trying to deal with the problems arising out of the large NPA accumulated by the commercial banks, the Indian financial sector was dealt with another blow in the form of the NBFC crisis.
Effects of IL&FS and DHFL collapse:
- Balance sheets affected: The collapse of these two big entities affected the balance sheets of banks and mutual fund companies.
- Credit crunch: It also resulted in a credit crunch that dampened demand and pushed a slowing economy towards recession.
- Tarnished image of NBFCs: Being leaders in the industry, their failure has tarnished the image of the NBFC sector as a whole.
Types of NBFCs and their numbers
- Total number: As of September 2019 there were a total 9,642 NBFCs in India.
- Deposit-taking NBFC (NBFCs-D): Only 82 of India’s NBFCs were deposit-taking institutions (NBFCs-D) permitted to mobilise and hold deposits.
- Non-deposit taking NBFCs (NBFCs-ND): The rest of the NBFCs which are not deposit-taking, are categorised as non-deposit taking NBFCs.
- They did not have access to the savings of ordinary households.
- For this reason, the majority of these institutions were not considered to be entities that needed strict regulation
- Systematically important (NBFCs-ND-SI): Of a large number of non-deposit taking NBFCs (NBFCs-ND), only 274 were identified as being systematically important (NBFCs-ND-SI), by virtue of having an asset size of ₹500 crores or more.
Significance of NBFCs as expressed by assets holdings
- A significant player in the financial markets: As at the end of March 2019, these two sets-NBFCs-D and NBFC-ND-SI- held assets that amounted to almost a fifth of that held by the scheduled commercial banks.
- This made them significant players in the web of credit, as well as large enough as a group to affect the health of the financial sector.
- Non-deposit taking NBFCs must rely on resources garnered from the “market,” including the banking system, besides the market for bonds, debentures, and short-term paper.
- Extension of financial entities: Individual investors would only be marginally involved in direct investment in these instruments.
- So, the NBFCs are essentially extensions of the activity of other financial entities such as banks, insurance companies, and mutual funds.
Concentrated lending by NBFCs
- Industry getting lion’s share: Industry accounted for the biggest chunk of lending, amounting to 57% of gross advances in September 2019.
- Much of this lending to industry went to the infrastructural sector.
- At second place-retail sector: A second major target for lending by the NBFCs was the retail sector, with retail loans accounting for 20% of gross advances.
- Within the retail sector, vehicle/auto loans accounted for as much as 44% of loans.
What went wrong?
- Diversification by commercial banks: Following a surge in capital flows into India which began in 2004, banks were flush with liquidity.
- Under pressure to lend and invest to cover the costs of capital and intermediation and earn a profit, banks were looking for new areas into which they could move
- Increase in retail lending by banks: The pressure resulted in a significant increase in retail lending, with lending for housing, automobiles and consumer durables.
- There was also a substantial increase in lending to the infrastructural sector and commercial real estate.
- Why NBFCs flourished even in the face of competition by banks? What the growth of the NBFCs indicates is that banks were unable to exhaust the liquidity at their disposal.
- Banks were also unable to satisfy the potential for lending to these sectors, providing a space for NBFCs to flourish.
- The willingness of NBFCs suited the banks: The willingness of the NBFCs to enter these areas suited the banks in two ways.
- First, it permitted the banks to use their liquidity even when they themselves were stretched and could not discover, scrutinise and monitor new borrowers.
- Banks could lend to the NBFCs, which could then take on the tasks associated with expanding the universe of borrowers to match the increased access to liquid funds.
- The second was that it helped the banks to move risks out of their own books.
- Short term lending to NBFCs, and long-term lending by NBFCs: Banks accepts short term deposits, so there is limit in their ability to lend that short term deposits as a long term debt.
- On the other hand, these were the sectors to which additional credit could be easily pushed.
- Lending to NBFCs that in turn lent to these sectors, appeared to be a solution to the problem.
- Bank lending to the NBFCs was short term, and the latter used these short-term funds to provide long-maturity loans
- NBFCs expected that they would be able to roll over much of these loans so that they were not capital short.
- Role of rating agencies: What they needed for the purpose were ratings that ranked their instruments as safe.
- The ratings companies were more than willing to provide such ranks.
- The two risks involved in this model: The NBFC-credit build-up was an edifice that was burdened with two kinds of risks.
- First risk: A possible default on the part of borrowers.
- The probability of which only increases as the universe of borrowers is expanded rapidly to exhaust the liquidity at hand.
- The second risk: The second was the possibility that developments in the banking sector and other segments of the financial sector would reduce the appetite of these investors for the debentures, bonds and commercial paper issued by the NBFCs
- Since the NBFCs banked on being able to roll-over short-term debt to sustain long-term lending.
- A slowdown in or halt to the flow of funds would lead to a liquidity crunch that can damage the balance sheet of these institutions.
- Which of the two risks is involved in the present crisis? The crisis that affected the NBFCs was a result of both kinds of setbacks.
- First setback: Loans to areas like infrastructure, commercial real estate and housing went bad.
- Second setback: With the non-performing assets problem in the commercial banking sector curtailing their access to bank lending.
- Why the problem turned systemic? Given the importance of ratings and “image” in ensuring access to capital, some firms with the requisite image were able to mobilise large sums of capital and expand their business.
- When entities like that go bust, the response of lenders and investors to the event tends to be drastic, with systemic effects on the sector as a whole.
Conclusion
The episode was a shadow banking crisis that has had far-reaching consequences for the economy as a whole. Therefore, its high time that measures are taken to avoid the occurrence of such a crisis in the future.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 2-Federal system.
Context
The government-imposed deadline of October 31 for concluding talks with Naga groups has passed. And nothing concrete has come out of the Framework Agreement signed in 2015.
Events so far
- Framework Agreement with Naga rebel leader Thuingaleng Muivah was signed in 2015.
- The agreement expresses an intent to work towards the final agreement.
- The progress on the said agreement has stalled since then.
- Problem with the Framework Agreement: It was signed only with Muivah’s leading faction, National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah), or NSCN (I-M).
- Exclusion of major players: The agreement excluded half a dozen more groups, besides Naga citizenry in Nagaland and contiguous Naga homelands in the neighbouring states of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Assam.
- This weakened the process.
Efforts made by the government
- Appointment of an interlocutor: The government-appointed R.N. Ravi as the government’s interlocutor. That move signalled the seriousness from the government’s side.
- Reach out toward the other players: The government reached out to Nagas across the board.
- The government reached out to other rebel factions, much to the irritation of NSCN (I-M), and began peace talks with them in end-2017.
- A breakaway faction of I-M’s arch enemies, NSCN’s Khaplang, joined the process in 2019.
- Government-led outreach attempted to bring on board non-Naga people in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Assam.
What is offered in the process and related issues
- Disarmament, rehabilitation, and assimilation: A talks with I-M spelt out disarmament, rehabilitation, and assimilation of cadres and leaders through induction in paramilitary forces and political structures
- Expanded legislature: An expanded legislature in Nagaland, for inducting the rebels and more legislative representation and relative autonomy in Naga homelands outside Nagaland.
- Disagreement over flang and the separate state-constitution: Other Naga rebel groups agreed to what was offered by the government.
- I-M remained intransigent over the dual use of a Naga flag alongside the Indian flag, and its constitution—
- This I-M-scripted constitution is regressive, offers far less than what Nagas enjoy under Indian constitutional provisions, and effectively proposes Muivah as the overarching figure of Naga politics, development and destiny.
- Unacceptance by the other groups: This is evidently unacceptable to numerous Nagas—let alone non-Nagas—for whom Muivah, a Tangkhul Naga from Manipur’s Ukhrul region, remains a divisive figure.
Conclusion
There is a need to reconcile the difference between the different groups and reach a proposed agreement as soon as possible for the welfare of the communities and the region as a whole.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 2- Indian Constitution's approach to secularism.
Context
While extending the scope and extent of the freedom of religion, the SC would face the difficult question of balancing it with the other provisions and rights enshrined in the Constitution.
What the 9-Judge bench will deliberate on?
- The establishment of the Bench emanated out of an order of reference made on review petitions filed against the Sabarimala judgment.
- The scope and extent of religious liberty: It will answer a series of wide-ranging questions and expound the scope and extent of the Constitution’s religious liberty clauses.
- It will also deliberate on cases including the practice of female genital mutilation and the rights of Parsi women to enter fire temples.
The question of balance
- Within the Constitution of India, there are two impulses that may, at times, come into conflict with one another.
- First impulse-Religious freedom: India is a pluralist and diverse nation, where groups and communities — whether religious or cultural — have always played an important role in society.
- Religious freedom: Following up on this impulse, the Constitution recognises both the freedom of religion as an individual right (Article 25), as well as the right of religious denominations to manage their own affairs in matters of religion (Article 26).
- The second impulse-Protection of an individual: The second impulse, recognises that while the community can be a source of solidarity at the best of times, it can also be a terrain of oppression and exclusion.
- So, both Articles 25 and 26 are subject to public order, morality, and health.
- Article 25 is also subject to other fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution, and to the state’s power to bring in social reform laws.
Finding the middle ground
- The middle ground involves respecting and balancing the following-
- The autonomy of communities: It involves respecting the autonomy of cultural and religious communities.
- Individual rights: It involves ensuring that individual rights are not entirely sacrificed at the altar of the community.
- Essential practice doctrine: Over the years, the Supreme Court has found the middle ground by carving out a jurisprudence that virtually allows it to sit in theological judgments.
- What is constitutionally protected? It recognising that it is only those practices that are “essential” to religion that enjoys constitutional protection.
- Any other ritual is seen as secular and amenable to the state’s interference.
- This doctrine was used to rule, in 2004, that the performance of the Tandava dance was not an essential tenet of the religious faith of the Ananda Margis.
- The SC said that the “essential religious practices” test is indeed the only way it can reconcile the two impulses.
Anti-exclusion principle
- What are the options with the SC?
- Continue with the “essential practice” doctrine: One option before the nine-judge Bench would simply be to affirm existing jurisprudence, as it stands.
- Anti-exclusion principle: The second option would be to ask whether the effect of the disputed religious practice is to cause harm to individual rights.
- The enquiry, thus, is not whether the practice is truly religious, but whether its effect is to subordinate, exclude, or otherwise send a signal that one set of members is entitled to lesser respect and concern than others.
- In Sabrimala case — both the concurring opinion of Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and the dissenting opinion of Justice Indu Malhotra agreed that this ought to be the test.
- Protection of dissenters
- Top-down nature: Many religious communities, norms, and practices are shaped and imposed from above, by community leaders, and then enforced with the force of social sanction.
- Dissenters are then faced with an impossible choice: Either comply with discriminatory practices or make a painful exit from the community.
- Judicial intervention: It is here that the Constitution can help by ensuring that the oppressed and excluded among communities can call upon the Court for aid.
Conclusion
- The nine-judge Bench will face a difficult and delicate task of constitutional interpretation. Much will ride upon its decision: the rights of women in particular and of many other vulnerable groups in general.
- Also will depend on its decision the constitutional vision of ensuring a life of dignity and equality to all, both in the public sphere and in the sphere of community.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Doctrine of ‘Presumption of Constitutionality’
Mains level: Read the attached story
Recently the Supreme Court declined urgent hearing on a plea seeking to declare the CAA as constitutional and said that there was already a “presumption of constitutionality” to a law passed by Parliament. CJI has said that the court’s role was to examine the validity, and not declare a law constitutional.
Doctrine of Presumption of Constitutionality
- The term ‘presumption of constitutionality’ is a legal principle that is used by courts during statutory interpretation — the process by which courts interpret and apply a law passed by the legislature, such as Parliament.
- In the 1992 Supreme Court case ‘ML Kamra v New India Assurance’, Justice K Ramaswamy said: “The court ought not to interpret the statutory provisions, unless compelled by their language, in such a manner as would involve its unconstitutionality.
- The legislature of the rule making authority is presumed to enact a law which does not contravene or violate the constitutional provisions.
- Therefore, there is a presumption in favour of constitutionality of a legislation or statutory rule unless ex facie it violates the fundamental rights guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution.
- If the provisions of a law or the rule is construed in such a way as would make it consistent with the Constitution and another interpretation would render the provision or the rule unconstitutional, the Court would lean in favour of the former construction. ” (“ex facie” meaning ‘on the face’)
When does this apply?
- It is a cardinal principle of construction that the Statute and the Rule or the Regulation must be held to be constitutionally valid unless and until it is established they violate any specific provision of the Constitution.
- Further it is the duty of the Court to harmoniously construe different provisions of any Act or Rule or Regulation, if possible, and to sustain the same rather than striking down the provisions out right.
- The presumption is not absolute, however, and does not stand when there is a gross violation of the Constitution.
Limitations to the doctrine
- A three-judge Bench in ‘NDMC v State of Punjab’ (1996) spoke of the limitations to the doctrine.
- The Bench observed that the Doctrine is not one of infinite application; it has recognised limitations.
- The Court has consistently followed a policy of not putting an unnatural and forced meaning on the words that have been used by the legislature in the search for an interpretation which would save the statutory provisions.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Right to Property
Mains level: Read the attached story
The right to property is a human right, the Supreme Court has recently ruled.
What did the court say?
- A citizen’s right to own private property is a human right. The state cannot take possession of it without following due procedure and authority of law, the Supreme Court has held in a recent judgment.
- The state cannot trespass into the private property of a citizen and then claim ownership of the land in the name of ‘adverse possession’.
- Grabbing private land and then claiming it as its own makes the state an encroacher.
- Article 300A required the state to follow due procedure and authority of law to deprive a person of his or her private property, the Supreme Court reminded the government.
Adverse possession
- A welfare state cannot be permitted to take the plea of adverse possession, which allows a trespasser i.e. a person guilty of a tort, or even a crime, to gain legal title over such property for over 12 years.
- The State cannot be permitted to perfect its title over the land by invoking the doctrine of adverse possession to grab the property of its own citizens.
Back2Basics
Right to Property
- The Constitution of India originally provided for the right to property under Articles 19 and 31.
- Article 19 guaranteed to all citizens the right to acquire, hold and dispose of property.
- Article 31 provided that “no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law.” It also provided that compensation would be paid to a person whose property has been taken for public purposes.
- The 44th Amendment of 1978 removed the right to property from the list of fundamental rights.
- A new provision, Article 300-A, was added to the constitution, which provided that “no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law”.
What if one is deprived of his/her properties?
- Thus, if a legislator makes a law depriving a person of his property, there would be no obligation on the part of the state to pay anything as compensation.
- The aggrieved person shall have no right to move the court under Article 32.
- Thus, the right to property is no longer a fundamental right, though it is still a constitutional right. If the government appears to have acted unfairly, the action can be challenged in a court of law by aggrieved citizens.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Artemis Mission
Mains level: Manned mission on Moon
NASA wants to send the first woman and the next man to the Moon by the year 2024, which it plans on doing through the Artemis lunar exploration program. An Indian American astronaut named Raja Chari is set to accompany the crew in this mission.
Artemis Mission
- In 2011, NASA began the ARTEMIS (Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence, and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun) mission using a pair of repurposed spacecraft and in 2012 the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft studied the Moon’s gravity.
- For the program, NASA’s new rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS) will send astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft a quarter of a million miles away from Earth to the lunar orbit.
- The astronauts going for the Artemis program will wear newly designed spacesuits, called Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or xEMU.
- These spacesuits feature advanced mobility and communications and interchangeable parts that can be configured for spacewalks in microgravity or on a planetary surface.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Major species found in Kaziranga NP
Mains level: NA
Kaziranga, home of the world’s most one-horned rhinos, has 96 species of wetland birds — one of the highest for wildlife preserves in India.
Kaziranga National Park
- It is a protected area in the northeast state of Assam.
- Spread across the floodplains of the Brahmaputra River, its forests, wetlands and grasslands are home to tigers, elephants and the world’s largest population of Indian one-horned rhinoceroses.
- Much of the focus of conservation efforts in Kaziranga are focused on the ‘big four’ species— rhino, elephant, Royal Bengal tiger and Asiatic water buffalo.
- The 2018 census had yielded 2,413 rhinos and approximately 1,100 elephants.
- The tiger census of 2014 said Kaziranga had an estimated 103 tigers, the third highest population of the striped cat in India after Jim Corbett National Park (215) in Uttarakhand and Bandipur National Park (120) in Karnataka.
- Kaziranga is also home to nine of the 14 species of primates found in the Indian subcontinent.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Kolkata Port
Mains level: Ports in India
PM Modi has renamed the Kolkata Port Trust after Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, at an event to mark its 150th anniversary.
History of Kolkata’s port
- In the early 16th century, the Portuguese first used the present location of the port to anchor their ships, since they found the upper reaches of the Hooghly river beyond Kolkata, unsafe for navigation.
- Job Charnock, an employee and administrator of the East India Company, is believed to have founded a trading post at the site in 1690.
- Since the area was situated on the river with jungle on three sides, it was considered safe from enemy invasion.
- After the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833, this port was used to ship lakhs of Indians as ‘indentured labourers’ to far-flung territories throughout the Empire.
- During World War II, the port was bombed by Japanese forces.
Its administration
- As Kolkata grew in size and importance, merchants in the city demanded the setting up of a port trust in 1863.
- The colonial government formed a River Trust in 1866, but it soon failed, and administration was again taken up by the government.
- Finally, in 1870, the Calcutta Port Act (Act V of 1870) was passed, creating the offices of Calcutta Port Commissioners.
- In 1869 and 1870, eight jetties were built on the Strand. A wet dock was set up at Khidirpur in 1892. The Khidirpur Dock II was completed in 1902.
- As cargo traffic at the port grew, so did the requirement of more kerosene, leading to the building of a petroleum wharf at Budge Budge in 1896.
- In 1925, the Garden Reach jetty was added to accommodate greater cargo traffic. A new dock, named King George’s Dock, was commissioned in 1928 (it was renamed Netaji Subhash Dock in 1973).
- In 1975, the Commissioners of the port ceased to control it after the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963, came into force.
Significance
- After Independence, the Kolkata Port lost its preeminent position in cargo traffic to ports at Mumbai, Kandla, Chennai, and Visakhapatnam.
- The Kolkata port is the only riverine port on R. Hooghly in the country, situated 203 km from the sea.
- The Farakka Barrage, built in 1975, reduced some of the port’s woes as Ganga waters were diverted into the Bhagirathi-Hooghly system.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Swami Vivekananda
Mains level: Swami Vivekananda and his philosophy
January 12 is the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, the famous spiritual leader and intellectual from the late 19th century. In his honour, the government of India in 1984 declared his birthday as National Youth Day.
Swami Vivekananda early life
- Vivekananda was born in Kolkata on January 12, 1863, as Narendra Nath Datta.
- From an early age, he nurtured an interest in Western philosophy, history, and theology, and went on to meet the religious leader Ramakrishna Paramhansa, who later became his Guru.
- He remained devoted to Ramakrishna until the latter’s death in 1886.
- In 1893, he took the name ‘Vivekananda’ after Maharaja Ajit Singh of the Khetri State requested him to do so, changing from ‘Sachidananda’ that he used before.
- After Ramakrishna’s death, Vivekananda toured across India, and set after educating the masses about ways to improve their economic condition as well as imparting spiritual knowledge.
The Chicago address
- Vivekananda is especially remembered around the world for his speech at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago in 1893.
- The speech covered topics including universal acceptance, tolerance and religion, and got him a standing ovation.
- He began delivering lectures at various places in the US and UK, and became popular as the ‘messenger of Indian wisdom to the Western world’.
Return to India
- After coming back to India, he formed the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897 “to set in motion a machinery which will bring noblest ideas to the doorstep of even the poorest and the meanest.”
- In 1899, he established the Belur Math, which became his permanent abode.
His legacy
- Through his speeches and lectures, Vivekananda worked to disseminate his religious thought.
- He preached ‘neo-Vedanta’, an interpretation of Hinduism through a Western lens, and believed in combining spirituality with material progress.
- ‘Raja Yoga’, ‘Jnana Yoga’, ‘Karma Yoga’ are some of the books he wrote.
- An important religious reformer in India, Swami Vivekananda is known to have introduced the Hindu philosophies of Yoga and Vedanta to the West.
- Subhas Chandra Bose had called Vivekananda the “maker of modern India.”
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Violations of human rights.
Context
The human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir following the dilution of Article 370 and the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) have brought renewed international focus on India’s human rights practice.
Evolution of the modern Human Rights
- Classical approach: Countries made agreements on the premise that a sovereign state had the exclusive right to take any action it thought fit to deal with its nationals.
- No recognition of individuals’ rights: Classic international law governed the conduct between states and did not recognise the rights of individuals.
- The classical notion was challenged in the 19th century.
- Modern Human Rights: Slavery Convention adopted by the League of Nations prohibiting the slave trade heralded the first human rights treaty.
- It was based on the principle of dignity of a human being.
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Adopted in 1948 by the United Nations, was the first comprehensive international human rights document.
- The weakening of Unrestricted sovereignty: The evolution of international human rights law is also about the gradual weakening of the concept of unrestricted sovereignty.
India and Human Rights
- Unwarranted international scrutiny: The Indian government’s response to its human rights practice has always been that international scrutiny is unwarranted.
- Why India claims so?: Since the country is the largest democracy in the world with an independent judiciary, free media, and an active civil society no international scrutiny is required.
- Indian has always assured the international community that the judiciary (the SC) would provide adequate remedies to victims of human rights violations.
- These claims sound less credible after the recent developments in J&K and the passage of the CAA.
- Human rights and Discriminatory nature of CAA: Non–discrimination is a fundamental principle of human rights.
- The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that CAA is fundamentally discriminatory in nature”.
Role of Civil Society and Media
- Media’s questionable role: Responding to international concerns the Indian government also refers to the role of free media and civil society in protecting human rights.
- However, the media’s role in J and K and after CAA is questionable.
- Weakened Civil Society: The government has imposed various curbs on it since 2014.
- It has become difficult for it to receive foreign contribution.
- Use of FRCA: Since 2014, the government has canceled the registration of about 14,000 NGOs under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
Conclusion
- It is possible for the Indian government, due to its diplomatic clout, to avoid robust intervention by the UN Human Rights Council and other UN human rights mechanisms.
- But it would be difficult to avoid scrutiny by the international community. So, the government must take steps to allay international concerns and avoid situations where it is seen as a violator of human rights.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Dengue vaccine
Mains level: Paper 2-Dealing with Dengue, stategies, suggestion, and holistic approach.
Context
The advent of a new tetravalent vaccine against the dengue virus has thrown new light into the evidence-based management of dengue.
Why the holistic approach is needed
- Apart from promoting the use of the vaccine, gaining control over dengue will also require a holistic approach that has to include within its ambit vector control and proper case management.
- Tetravalent vaccine: The vaccine is tetravalent i.e. it provides protection against all the four types of dengue viruses.
- The vaccine confers about 80% protection to children vaccinated between 4 and 16 years of age without any major side effects.
- Climatic factors: It is essentially a tropical disease that occurs in the countries around the Equator; hot weather and intermittent rainfall favour the sustenance of Aedes aegypti.
- Aedes eggs can remain dormant for more than a year and will hatch once they come in contact with water.
- Risk factors: Urbanisation, poor town planning, and improper sanitation are the major risk factors for the multiplication of such mosquitoes.
- Aedes eggs can remain dormant for more than a year and will hatch once they come in contact with water.
- Aedes mosquitoes cannot fly beyond a hundred meters. Hence, keeping the ambiance clean can help prevent their breeding.
- Further, these mosquitoes bite during the daytime, so keeping the windows shut in the day hours is also useful.
What needs to be done?
- Source reduction activities: Activities like preventing water stagnation and using chemical larvicides and adulticides.
- These chemicals need to be applied in periodic cycles to kill the larvae that remain even after the first spray.
- Dealing with the manpower shortage: The number of skilled workers available for such measures is low; many posts in government departments remain vacant despite there being a dire public health need.
- Due to this deficiency of manpower, active surveillance is not being done in India, says the National Vector Borne Disease Control Program.
- Ending the Under-reporting: Dengue cases are often under-reported due to political reasons and also to avoid spreading panic among the common people. Under-reporting needs to be dealt with.
- Increasing coordination: There is a lack of coordination between the local bodies and health departments in the delivery of public health measures.
- A comprehensive mechanism is required to address these issues.
- Need for epidemiological measures: Any communicable disease needs the epidemiological approach. Singapore uses one successful model of mapping and analysing data on dengue, using Geographical Information System (GIS).
- The use of GIS involves mapping the streets with dengue cases for vector densities.
- Emphasis on the WHO guidelines: Fluid management in the body is the cornerstone in the management of severe diseases like dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome.
- According to the guidelines, coagulation abnormalities are not due to a reduction in the number of platelets alone.
- This is why the WHO recommends fresh whole blood or packed cell transfusion in the event of bleeding.
- Caution in using alternative medicine drugs: Modern medicine is not against any complementary medicine; when such a medicine is approved after rigorous testing.
- However, in the absence of evidence, the efficacy of such medicines remains in the realm of belief instead of science.
- So, medicines like Nilavembu kudineer and papaya leaf extract are only belief based.
Conclusion
The communicable nature of Dengue and its asymptomatic nature requires the holistic approach to successfully tackle the disease.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Restrictions on the fundamental rights, Constitutional protection to the use of internet.
Context
The SC verdict on the restrictions has some important takeaways.
What the SC verdict means
- Infinite ban on internet impermissible: It states categorically that an indefinite ban on the internet is impermissible, but fails to direct the restoration of services.
- Section 144 and legitimate expression of opinion: The SC said that Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure “cannot be used as a tool to prevent the legitimate expression of opinion or grievance or exercise of any democratic rights”.
- No ruling on the Govt. actions: The disappointing aspect of the verdict is the court’s failure to give a ruling on the validity of the government’s actions.
- The ruling fails to hold the government to account for the manner in which it exercised its powers.
- It states categorically that an indefinite ban on the internet is impermissible, but fails to direct the restoration of services.
- The SC does not go beyond directing the authorities to review all their orders and restrictions forthwith.
The key takeaways from the verdict
- Internet use constitutionally protected: The use of the Internet as a medium for free speech as well as for trade and commerce is constitutionally protected.
- Test of proportionality: It also lays down that any reasonable restriction on fundamental rights, be it an Internet ban or a Section 144 order, will have to survive the test of proportionality.
- The proportionality test means that is, the restriction should be proportionate to the necessity for such a measure.
- At the same time, it cautions against the “excessive utility” of the proportionality doctrine in matters of national security.
- No secret orders: The government is bound to publish all orders it passes regarding such restrictions so that they can be challenged in a court of law.
- While the government’s stand that it could not produce all the orders on the restrictions imposed the SC did not strike them down on that ground.
Conclusion
The SC judgment, while laying down some important principles in a fundamental rights case, appears to have the character of an advisory opinion.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Fundamentals as mentioned in the newscard
Mains level: Fundamentals of Indian Economy
PM Modi highlighted the strong absorbent capacity of the Indian economy while referring to certain fundamentals. He emphasized the strength of these basic fundamentals in absorbing the shocks of ongoing economic slowdown.
What are the ‘fundamentals of an economy’?
- The PM has reiterated a phrase of reassurance — underscoring the strong fundamentals of the Indian economy — that has been often used by policymakers in the past when the economy is seen to be faltering.
- When one talks about the fundamentals of an economy, one wants to look at economy-wide variables such as the overall GDP growth, the overall unemployment rate, the level of fiscal deficit, the valuation of a country’s currency against the US dollar, the savings and investment rates in an economy, the rate of inflation, the current account balance, the trade balance etc.
- There is intuitive wisdom in looking at these “fundamentals” of an economy when it goes through a tough phase.
- Such an analysis, when done honestly, can give a sense of how deep the strain in an economy run.
- It can answer the question whether the current crisis just an exaggerated response to a sectoral problem or is there something more “fundamentally” wrong with the economy that needs urgent attention and “structural” reform.
- To be sure about the broader health of the economy, one looks at the broader variables. That way, one reduces the chances of getting the diagnosis wrong.
Their relevance
- The first advance estimates of national income for the current financial year, released earlier in the week, found that nominal GDP was expected to grow at just 7.5% in 2019-20.
- This is the lowest since 1978. Real GDP is calculated after deducting the rate of inflation from the nominal GDP growth rate.
- So, if for argument sake, the inflation for this financial year is 4%, then the real GDP growth would be just 3.5%.
- Just for perspective, the Union Budget presented in July 2019 expected a real GDP growth of 8% to 8.5% and a nominal GDP growth of 12% to 12.5%, with a 4% inflation level.
So, what is the current state of the fundamentals?
The data on most variables that one may call as fundamentals of the Indian economy are struggling.
- Growth rate — both nominal and real — has decelerated sharply; now trending at multi-decade lows. Gross Value Added, which maps economic growth by looking at the incomes-generated is even lower; and its weakness in across most of the sectors that traditionally generated high levels of employment.
- Inflation is up but the consolation is that the spike is largely due to transient factors.
- However, a US-Iran type of conflagration could result is a sharp hike in oil prices and, as such, domestic inflation may rise in the medium term.
- Unemployment is also at the highest in several decades.According to some calculations, between 2012 and 2018, India witnessed a decline in the absolute number of employed people — the first instance in India’s history.
- Fiscal deficit, which is proxy for the health of government finances, is on paper within reasonable bounds but over the years, the credibility of this number has come into question. Many, including the CAG, has opined that the actual fiscal deficit is much higher than what is officially accepted.
- Bucking the trend, the current account deficit, is in a much better state but trade weakness continues as do the weakness of the rupee against the dollar; although on the rupee-dollar issue, a case can be made that the rupee is still overvalued and thus hurting India’s exports.
- Similarly, while the benchmark stock indices have run up, and grabbed all attention, the broader stock indices like the BSE500 have struggled.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sec. 144 of CRPC
Mains level: Section 144 : Circumstances of its use and abuse and SC's guidelines
In its order on Jammu and Kashmir the Supreme Court made the following points with regard to the use of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973.
Key takeaways of the order
- Sec 144 cannot be used to suppress the legitimate expression of opinion or grievance, or the exercise of democratic rights
- When Sec 144 is imposed for reasons of apprehended danger, that danger must be an “emergency”.
- The imposition of Sec 144 must strike a balance between the rights of the individual and the concerns of the state.
- Powers under Sec 144 should be exercised in a reasonable and bona fide manner, and the order must state material facts in order to enable judicial review.
What is Section 144?
- Section 144 CrPC, a law retained from the colonial era, empowers a district magistrate, a sub-divisional magistrate or any other executive magistrate specially empowered by the state government in this behalf to issue orders to prevent and address urgent cases of apprehended danger or nuisance.
- The magistrate has to pass a written order which may be directed against a particular individual, or to persons residing in a particular place or area, or to the public generally when frequenting or visiting a particular place or area.
- In emergency cases, the magistrate can pass these orders without prior notice to the individual against whom the order is directed.
What powers does the administration have under the provision?
- The magistrate can direct any person to abstain from a certain act or to take a certain order with respect to certain property in his possession or under his management.
- This usually includes restrictions on movement, carrying arms and from assembling unlawfully. It is generally believed that assembly of three or more people is prohibited under Section 144.
- However, it can be used to restrict even a single individual. Such an order is passed when the magistrate considers that it is likely to prevent, or tends to prevent, obstruction, annoyance or injury to any person lawfully employed, or danger to human life, health or safety, or a disturbance of the public tranquility, or a riot, of an affray.
- However, no order passed under Section 144 can remain in force for more than two months from the date of the order, unless the state government considers it necessary.
- Even then, the total period cannot extend to more than six months.
Why is it criticised so often?
- The criticism is that it is too broad and the words of the section are wide enough to give absolute power to a magistrate that may be exercised unjustifiably.
- The immediate remedy against such an order is a revision application to the magistrate himself.
- An aggrieved individual can approach the High Court by filing a writ petition if his fundamental rights are at stake.
- However, fears exist that before the High Court intervenes, the rights could already have been infringed.
Also read:
Explained: How Section 144 CrPC works
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sec. 144 of CRPC
Mains level: Internet shutdown as an infringement of FR
Directing the government to mandatorily publish all orders permitting Internet shutdowns, the Supreme Court has for the first time set the stage for challenging suspension orders before courts.
What triggered the SC?
- India tops the list of Internet shutdowns globally. According to Software Freedom Law Center’s tracker, there have been 381 shutdowns since 2012, 106 of which were in 2019.
- The ongoing shutdown in Kashmir is the longest ever in any democratic country.
The prime mover for Supreme Court
- The Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Service) Rules, 2017 issued under the Telegraph Act deals with restricting Internet access.
- It does not provide for publication or notification of the order suspending Internet, the apex court mandated that such orders must be made available to the public.
- The court declared that it is a “settled principle of law, and of natural justice” that requires publication of such orders, “particularly one that affects lives, liberty and property of people”.
- This allows individuals to now challenge the orders before courts in J&K and rest of India.
Internet suspension orders are subjected to Judicial Review
- In the wake of protests against the new citizenship law, Internet services were suspended temporarily in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Karnataka.
- There should not be excessive burden on free speech even if complete prohibition is imposed, and the government has to justify imposition of such prohibition and explain why lesser alternatives were inadequate, the bench stated.
- It ruled that Restrictions are to be imposed in an emergency. Hence they must be proportionate to the concern. Their objective must be legitimate rather than cavalier.
- Authorities must necessarily consider an alternative and least restrictive mechanism before opting to restrict rights. Every decision to impose restriction should be backed by sufficient material and amenable to judicial review.
Pacing up with technology
- The bench also noted that the law needs to keep pace with technological development:
- We need to note that the law should imbibe the technological development and accordingly mould its rules so as to cater to the needs of society.
- Non-recognition of technology within the sphere of law is only a disservice to the inevitable.
Justifying the Kashmir shutdown
- Lastly, the court mandated that all orders regarding the Kashmir case be made public, and to provide essential services such as e-banking and hospitals immediately.
- What the centre was arguing in this case was that this is a matter of national security given that it pertains to Kashmir with a history of militancy.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI)
Mains level: Financial inclusion in India
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has chalked out an ambitious strategy for financial inclusion of all till 2024.
National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI)
- Financial inclusion is increasingly being recognised as a key driver of economic growth and poverty alleviation the world over.
- The strategy aims to strengthen the ecosystem for various modes of digital financial services in all Tier-II to Tier VI centres to create the necessary infrastructure to move towards a less-cash society by March 2022.
- One of the objectives of the strategy includes increasing outreach of banking outlets of to provide banking access to every village within a 5-km radius or a hamlet of 500 households in hilly areas by March 2020.
- RBI said that the aim was also to see that every adult had access to a financial service provider through a mobile device by March 2024.
- With the aim of providing basic of financial services, a target has been set that every willing and eligible adult, who has been enrolled under the PM Jan Dhan Yojana, be enrolled under an insurance scheme and a pension scheme by March 2020.
- The plan is also to make the Public Credit Registry (PCR) fully operational by March 2022 so that authorised financial entities could leverage the same for assessing credit proposals from all citizens.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Dept. of Military Affairs’
Mains level: Terms of reference for the office of CDS
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has approved the Rules of Business for the newly created Department of Military Affairs (DMA) headed by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
Department of Military Affairs (DMA)
- The DMA headed by Gen Bipin Rawat will have two Joint Secretaries, 13 Deputy Secretaries, 25 Under Secretaries and 22 Section officers.
- The training policy, most of the training establishments and cadre management of the Services will be under the purview of the DMA.
- Defence diplomacy of the neighbourhood countries would also be under the CDS.
- Similarly, deputations to the training establishments such as the National Defence Academy (NDA), the Indian Military Academy (IMA), the Officers Training Academy (OTA) and the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) would also be under the CDS.
- Cadre review of Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and Other Ranks (OR) will be looked after by the CDS.
Other facts
- On December 30, the government notified the DMA creation, with the CDS also as a Secretary in the MoD.
- The DMA is the fifth department in the MoD, the others being the Department of Defence, the Department of Defence Production, the Department of Defence Research and Development and the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare.
- The Services have been brought under the ambit of the DMA in addition to the Territorial Army and works relating to the three Services and procurement exclusive to the Services except capital acquisitions.
- Defence imports and procurements would be under the the Department of Defence headed by the Defence Secretary.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: State Energy Efficiency Index
Mains level: Various initiatives for promotion of energy efficiency of power sector
The Ministry of Power and New & Renewable Energy has released the ‘State Energy Efficiency Index 2019’.
State Energy Efficiency Index
- The first such Index, the “State Energy Efficiency Preparedness Index 2018”, was launched on August 1, 2018.
- The index tracks the progress of Energy Efficiency (EE) initiatives in 36 states and union territories based on 97 significant indicators.
- It is developed by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in association with Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE).
- It categorizes states as ‘Front Runner’, ‘Achiever’, ‘Contender’ and ‘Aspirant’ based on their efforts and achievements towards energy efficiency implementation.
- It incorporates qualitative, quantitative and outcome-based indicators to assess energy efficiency initiatives, programs and outcomes in five distinct sectors – buildings, industry, municipalities, transport, agriculture, and DISCOMs.
Performance evaluation
- For rational comparison, States/UTs are grouped into four groups based on aggregated Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) required to meet the state’s actual energy demand (electricity, coal, oil, gas, etc.) across sectors.
- TPES grouping shall help states compare performance and share best practices within their peer group.
- Under four categories based on TPES, Haryana, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Puducherry and Chandigarh have been evaluated as progressive states/UTs in the index.
- The top performing states Haryana, Kerala and Karnataka – are in the ‘Achiever’ category.
- Manipur, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand and Rajasthan performed the worst in each of their groups.
Utilities of the index
- It will help states contribute towards national goals on energy security and climate action by helping drive EE policies and program implementation.
- It will help tracking progress in managing the states’ and India’s energy footprint and institutionalising the data capture and monitoring of EE activities by states.
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