Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Trisonic Wind Tunnel
Mains level: Not Much
The new trisonic wind tunnel at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) was inaugurated by conducting the first blow-down test successfully.
What is a Wind Tunnel?
- Wind tunnels are large tubes with air moving inside.
- The tunnels are used to copy the actions of an object in flight.
- Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft will fly.
- Space agencies uses wind tunnels to test scale models of aircraft and spacecraft. Some wind tunnels are big enough to hold full-size versions of vehicles.
- The wind tunnel moves air around an object, making it seem like the object is really flying.
How do Wind Tunnels work?
- Most of the time, powerful fans move air through the tube.
- The object to be tested is fastened in the tunnel so that it will not move.
- The object can be a small model of a vehicle. It can be just a piece of a vehicle.
- It can be a full-size aircraft or spacecraft. It can even be a common object like a tennis ball.
- Smoke or dye can be placed in the air and can be seen as it moves. Threads can be attached to the object to show how the air is moving.
- Special instruments are often used to measure the force of the air on the object.
About Trisonic Wind Tunnel at VSCC
- ‘Trisonic’ refers to the tunnel’s capability to test in three speed regimes—below the speed of sound (subsonic), at the speed of sound (transonic), and above the speed of sound (supersonic).
- Its parts include air storage vessels, a settling chamber where the airflow is ‘smoothened’ out, and nozzles for releasing the air into the test section.
- It is about 160 metres long and measures 5.4 metres at its widest part.
- In a ‘blow down test’, stored gases are released and blown through the tunnel’s test section, simulating flight conditions.
- The tunnel can simulate flight conditions from 0.2 times the speed of sound (68 metres per second) to four times the speed of sound (1,360 metres per second), according to the space agency.
- Commissioned in 2017, this tunnel can simulate flow speeds up to Mach 12.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Election Deposit
Mains level: Not Much
A political party based in New Delhi lost its election deposit for most of its candidates in the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
Do you know?
In the first Lok Sabha elections in 1951-52, almost 40 per cent of the total candidates lost their deposits. Nearly 86 per cent of the candidates contesting Lok Sabha elections in 2019 lost deposits, according to a report released by the Election Commission of India.
What is an Election Security Deposit?
- An election security deposit is an amount that is to be deposited with the Returning Officer when a candidate files their nomination.
- This is to be submitted either in cash, or a receipt must be enclosed with the nomination paper.
- It mentions that the said sum has been deposited on the candidate’s behalf in the Reserve Bank of India or in a Government Treasury.
- The main purpose of this practice is to ensure that only genuinely intending candidates end up filing the nomination to be a part of the electoral process.
Is the amount same for all elections?
- No, it depends on the particular election being conducted, and the Representation of the People Act of 1951 mentions different amounts depending on the level of election:
- In the case of an election from a Parliamentary constituency, meaning a Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seat, the amount is Rs 25,000 and Rs 12,500 for a Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidate.
- In the case of an election from an Assembly or Council constituency, meaning at the level of legislative bodies in the states, it is Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 for an SC/ST candidate.
- Even in the case of Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections, a deposit of Rs 15,000 is to be made.
Losing the deposits
- As per the same Act, the deposit has to be forfeited at an election if the number of valid votes polled by the candidate is less than 1/6th of the total number of valid votes polled.
- Or, in the case of the election of more than one member, it would be 1/6th of the total number of valid votes so polled divided by the number of members to be elected.
- This refers to elections by proportional representation method, as is the case in Rajya Sabha.
- If the candidate does meet the threshold, “the deposit shall be returned as soon as practicable after the result of the election is declared.”
- If a candidate withdraws their nomination or passes away before the polls, the amount is returned.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: State and National Party
Mains level: Read the attached story
A political party (revived from the anti-corruption movement) is on track to be recognized as a 9th national party by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
What is a national party?
- The name suggests that a national party would be one that has a presence ‘nationally’, as opposed to a regional party whose presence is restricted to only a particular state or region.
- National parties are usually India’s bigger parties.
- However, some smaller parties, like the communist parties, are also recognised as national parties.
- A certain stature is sometimes associated with being a national party, but this does not necessarily translate into having a lot of national political clout.
So how is a political party defined?
The ECI’s Political Parties and Election Symbols, 2019 handbook species following criteria:
For recognition as a NATIONAL PARTY, the conditions specified are:
- a 6% vote share in the last Assembly polls in each of any four states, as well as four seats in the last Lok Sabha polls; or
- 2% of all Lok Sabha seats in the last such election, with MPs elected from at least three states; or
- recognition as a state party in at least four states.
For recognition as a STATE PARTY, any one of five conditions needs to be satisfied:
- two seats plus a 6% vote share in the last Assembly election in that state; or
- one seat plus a 6% vote share in the last Lok Sabha election from that state; or
- 3% of the total Assembly seats or 3 seats, whichever is more; or
- one of every 25 Lok Sabha seats (or an equivalent fraction) from a state; or
- an 8% state-wide vote share in either the last Lok Sabha or the last Assembly polls.
Benefits for recognized parties
- This is subject to the fulfillment of the conditions prescribed by the Commission in the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
(a) Reserved Sybol
- If a party is recognised as a ‘state party’, it is entitled for exclusive allotment of its reserved symbol to the candidates set up by it in the state in which it is so recognised.
- If a party is recognised as a ‘national party’ it is entitled for exclusive allotment of its reserved symbol to the candidates set up by it throughout India.
(b) Proposer for nomination
- Recognised ‘state’ and ‘national’ parties need only one proposer for filing the nomination.
(c) Campaigning benefits
- They are also entitled for two sets of electoral rolls free of cost and broadcast/telecast facilities over state-owned Akashvani/Doordarshan during the general elections.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NRI, OCI, PIO
Mains level: Not Much
The Delhi High Court has sought a response from the central government on a petition against the cancellation of a person’s Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card.
Who is an Overseas Citizen?
- An OCI is a category introduced by the government in 2005.
- Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) of certain categories as specified in the Citizenship Act, 1955 are eligible for being OCI cardholders.
- Some of the benefits for PIO and OCI cardholders were different until 2015 when the government merged these two categories.
- The MHA defines an OCI as a person who was a citizen of India on or after January 26, 1950; or was eligible to become a citizen of India on that date; or who is a child or grandchild of such a person, among other eligibility criteria.
- According to Section 7A of the OCI card rules, an applicant is not eligible for the OCI card if he, his parents or grandparents have ever been a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh.
Privileges to an OCI
- OCI cardholders can enter India multiple times, get a multipurpose lifelong visa to visit India, and are exempt from registering with Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) no matter how long their stay.
- If an individual is registered as an OCI for a period of five years, he/she are eligible to apply for Indian citizenship.
- At all Indian international airports, OCI cardholders are provided with special immigration counters.
- OCI cardholders can open special bank accounts in India, they can buy the non-farm property and exercise ownership rights and can also apply for a driver’s license and PAN card.
- However, OCI cardholders do not get voting rights, cannot hold a government job and purchase agricultural or farmland.
- They cannot run for public office either, nor can they travel to restricted areas without government permission.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MSCS Act, 2002
Mains level: Cooperatives in India
The Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022, aimed at bringing in transparency in the sector, was introduced in the Lok Sabha.
What is MSCS Act, 2002?
- Cooperatives are a state subject, but there are many societies such as those for sugar and milk, banks, milk unions etc. whose members and areas of operation are spread across more than one state.
- The MSCS Act was passed to govern such cooperatives.
- For example, most sugar mills along the districts on the Karnataka-Maharashtra border procure cane from both states.
What are Multi-State Cooperatives?
- They draw their membership from two or more states, and they are thus registered under the MSCS Act.
- Their board of directors has representation from all states they operate in.
- Administrative and financial control of these societies is with the central registrar, with the law making it clear that no state government official can wield any control on them.
Why does the government plan to amend the Act?
(1) Issues with Central Registrar
- The exclusive control of the central registrar, who is also the Central Cooperative Commissioner, was meant to allow smooth functioning of these societies.
- The central Act cushions them from the interference of state authorities so that these societies are able to function in multiple states.
- What was supposed to facilitate smooth functioning, however, has created obstacles.
- For state-registered societies, financial and administrative control rests with state registrars who exercise it through district- and tehsil-level officers.
(2) Multiple checks and balances
- Thus if a sugar mill wishes to buy new machinery or go for expansion, they would first have to take permission from the sugar commissioner for both.
- Post this, the proposal would go to the state-level committee that would float tenders and carry out the process.
- While the system for state-registered societies includes checks and balances at multiple layers to ensure transparency in the process, these layers do not exist in the case of multistate societies.
- Instead, the board of directors has control of all finances and administration.
(3) Lack of govt control
- There is an apparent lack of day-to-day government control on such societies.
- Unlike state cooperatives, which have to submit multiple reports to the state registrar, multistate cooperatives need not.
- The central registrar can only allow inspection of the societies under special conditions — a written request by one-third of the members of the board.
- Inspections can happen only after prior intimation to societies.
(4) Lack of infrastructure
- The on-ground infrastructure for central registrar is thin — there are no officers or offices at state level, with most work being carried out either online or through correspondence.
- For members of the societies, the only office where they can seek justice is in Delhi, with state authorities expressing their inability to do anything.
(5) Ponzi schemes functioning as MCS
- There have been instances across the country when credit societies have launched ponzi schemes taking advantage of these loopholes.
- Such schemes mostly target small and medium holders with the lure of high returns.
- Fly-by-night operators get people to invest and, after a few instalments, wind up their operations.
Need for Amendment
- At present, India has more than 1,500 multi-State cooperative societies.
- The Bill seeks to strengthen governance, reform the electoral process, improve the monitoring mechanism, and ensure ease of doing business in multi-State cooperative societies.
- It also aims to improve the composition of boards and ensure financial discipline, besides enabling the raising of funds in multi-State cooperative societies.
Key establishments under the Amendment Bill
- In order to make the governance of multi-State cooperative societies more democratic, transparent and accountable, the Bill has provisions for setting up of –
- Cooperative Election Authority,
- Cooperative Information Officer and
- Cooperative Ombudsman.
Other features
- Constitution of interim board: The Bill allows the central registrar to declare any multi-state cooperative society as sick. The Central government may, on the recommendation of the registrar, appoint an interim board for a maximum of five years. The central registrar can also declare a cooperative to be viable within the five years. The board of directors before the cooperative was declared sick shall be reinstated.
- Elections: The Act states that elections shall be conducted by the existing board. The Bill amends this to state that the Central government may appoint a Cooperative Election Authority to conduct elections in cooperative societies to be prescribed.
- Constitution of Fund: The Bill states that the central government shall set up the Cooperative Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Fund. A cooperative society shall credit 0.005% to 0.1% of its turnover to the fund, provided it does not exceed Rs 3crores per year.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Vote counts
Mains level: Not Much
For a country like India where each individual constituency can have lakhs of voters, counting votes is a complex process that requires both pace and precision.
Where are the Votes counted?
- Ideally, all votes should be counted in one location in the constituency.
- However, during General Elections, when seats are larger with multiple Assembly constituencies, many counting centres can be appointed, depending on the number of votes that need to be counted.
- The location(s) for counting votes is decided by the Returning Officer (RO), with multiple centres in assembly segments being under the supervision of the Assistant Returning Officers (ARO).
- In counting centres, ideally all votes are counted in one big hall having multiple tables.
- However, if the RO feels there is a risk of overcrowding, more rooms may be opened up after permission from the Election Commission (EC).
Role of Returning Officer
- The RO is appointed for each constituency by the Election Commission.
- During the duration of the election, the RO is the highest authority in the constituency having a wide range of powers in order to peacefully and impartially conduct elections.
- With respect to counting of votes, the RO has the following duties:
- To designate the counting centres and get them approved by the Commission well in advance;
- To send notice to the candidates about the place, date and time of counting of votes;
- To appoint and train counting staff;
- To count the votes and declare the result.
- ROs themselves do not count all votes but verify the counting at multiple stages and announce the results.
- They are the final authority in the matter of vote counting in an election.
Supervision of the process
- A counting room will have multiple counting tables with each counting a set number of postal ballots/EVMs on a round-to-round basis.
- On each table, there is a counting supervisor and up to two assistants who do the actual counting.
- They should be gazetted officers and are appointed by the RO.
- They receive specific training pertaining to the tasks they are expected to undertake.
- For instance, for those counting postal ballots, the training is different from that received for counting EVM votes.
Observers in the counting process
- The EC appoints observers at each counting room, who are supposed to record the proceedings and file a report.
- They are generally employees of the GoI, and are tasked with the duty to oversee overall functioning of the election apparatus.
- Candidates who were on the ballot are also allowed in the counting room along with their representatives.
- All parties and candidates send counting agents in order to ensure that votes are counted fairly and according to procedure, and lodge complaints, if any.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SpaceTech Innovation Network (SpIN)
Mains level: Commercial space activities in India
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has signed a MoU with Social Alpha, a multistage innovation curation and venture development platform, to launch SpaceTech Innovation Network (SpIN).
SpaceTech Innovation Network (SpIN)
- SpIN is India’s first dedicated platform for innovation, curation, and venture development for the burgeoning space entrepreneurial ecosystem.
- SpIN will primarily focus on facilitating space tech entrepreneurs in three distinct innovation categories:
- Geospatial Technologies and Downstream Applications;
- Enabling Technologies for Space & Mobility; and
- Aerospace Materials, Sensors, and Avionics.
Key initiative
- SpIN has launched its first innovation challenge for developing solutions in areas of maritime and land transportation, urbanization, mapping, and surveying.
- The selected start-ups and innovators will be able to access both Social Alpha’s and ISRO’s infrastructure and resources as per the prevailing guidelines.
- They will be provided active hand-holding in critical areas, including access to product design, testing and validation infrastructure, and intellectual property management.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CARA
Mains level: Child Adoption
The pendency in the adoption of children has come down to 644 from 905 over the last two months since the new Adoption Regulations were notified.
What is the news?
- The Rules for the adoption of the Juvenile Justice Act were notified in September this year.
Adoption Regulations, 2022
- The new rules empower District Magistrates to issue adoption orders.
- Earlier, this power was exercised by the judiciary.
- Changes have also been made to the Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS) online platform for adoption.
- In accordance with the new rules, prospective adoptive parents can now opt from their home State or region.
- This has been mandated to ensure that the child and the family adjust well with each other, belonging to the same socio-cultural milieu.
Adoption in India: A backgrounder
- In 2015, the then Minister for Women and Child Development centralised the entire adoption system by empowering Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA).
- CARA is an autonomous and statutory body of Ministry of Women and Child Development set up in 2015.
- It was empowered to maintain in various specialised adoption agencies, a registry of children, prospective adoptive parents as well as match them before adoption.
- This was aimed at checking rampant corruption and trafficking as child care institutions and NGOs could directly give children for adoption after obtaining a no-objection certificate from CARA.
Why is there concern over the revised rules?
- Parents, activists, lawyers and adoption agencies will have to be transferred and the process will have to start afresh.
- A delay in such an order can often mean that a child can’t get admission into a school because parents don’t yet have a birth certificate.
- Parents and lawyers also state that neither judges, nor DMs are aware about the change in the JJ Act leading to confusion in the system and delays.
- DMs don’t handle civil matters that bestow inheritance and succession rights on a child.
- If these rights are contested when a child turns 18, a judicial order is far more tenable to ensure the child is not deprived of his or her entitlements.
Is it such a big issue?
- The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) says there are nearly 1,000 adoption cases pending before various courts in the country.
- This is not such a huge burden.
What is the adoption procedure in India?
- Adoptions in India are governed by two laws:
- Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA): It is a parent-centric law that provides son to the son-less for reasons of succession, inheritance, continuance of family name and for funeral rights and later adoption of daughters was incorporated because kanyadaan is considered an important part of dharma in Hindu tradition.
- Juvenile Justice Act, 2015: It handles issues of children in conflict with law as well as those who are in need of care and protection and only has a small chapter on adoptions.
- Both laws have their separate eligibility criteria for adoptive parents.
- Those applying under the JJ Act have to register on CARA’s portal after which a specialised adoption agency carries out a home study report.
- After it finds the candidate eligible for adoption, a child declared legally free for adoption is referred to the applicant.
- Under HAMA, a “dattaka hom” ceremony or an adoption deed or a court order is sufficient to obtain irrevocable adoption rights.
Issues with child adoption in India
- Parent-centrism: The current adoption approach is very parent-centred, but parents must make it child-centred.
- Age of child: Most Indian parents also want a child between the ages of zero and two, believing that this is when the parent-child bond is formed.
- Institutional issues: Because the ratio of abandoned children to children in institutionalised care is lopsided, there are not enough children available for adoption.
- Lineage discrimination: Most Indians have a distorted view of adoption because they want their genes, blood, and lineage to be passed down to their children.
- Red-tapism: Child adoption is also not so easy task after the Juvenile Justice Rules of 2016 and the Adoption Regulations of 2017 were launched.
Practical issues in adoption
- There are no rules for monitoring adoptions and verifying sourcing of children and determining whether parents are fit to adopt.
- There are many problems with the adoption system under CARA but at the heart of it is the fact that there are very few children in its registry.
- According to the latest figures there are only 2,188 children in the adoption pool, while there are more than 31,000 parents waiting to adopt a child.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: WTO trade barometer
Mains level: Not Much
The World Trade Organization’s Goods Trade Barometer says the global economy, hit by strong headwinds and weakening import demand, may see trade growth slowdown in the closing months of 2022 and into 2023.
What is Goods Trade Barometer?
- The Goods Trade Barometer was developed by the WTO to complement conventional trade statistics and forecasts.
- It is the world’s leading composite indicator that highlights the turning points in the global merchandise trade and provides forecasts of its likely trajectory in the near future.
- It is released on a quarterly basis based on the availability of data.
- It provides real-time data on the trajectory of merchandise trade relative to the current trends.
- Values higher than 100 indicates above-trend growth and the values less than 100 indicates below-trend growth.
Key trends
- In its recent release, it said trade growth is likely to slow down in 2022 and into 2023.
- Reflecting a cooling demand for traded goods based on actual trade developments through the second quarter of 2022, the current reading of 96.2 is below the baseline value index and the prior reading of 100.0.
- The downturn in the goods barometer is in line with the earlier forecast which predicted a merchandise trade volume growth of 3.5% in 2022 and a revised lower estimate of 1% for 2023.
Impact on India’s trade balance
- With a likely fall in export earnings, and no decrease in imports of essential items like crude oil and capital goods, India’s trade deficit is set to widen.
- The projection is that the country’s current account trade deficit is expected to be around 3% of GDP for FY23.
- Foreign exchange reserves which have already depleted by over $100 billion over the last year are likely to shrink further.
What does a slowdown mean for India?
- India is not an export-led economy. In FY22, 21.5% of Indian GDP depended on exports.
- However, in view of the poor performance of the country’s major market destinations such as the US and China, Indian exports are bound to suffer.
- During the subprime crisis which engulfed the entire world, India’s export-oriented sectors had to pay the price though the economy was to a large extent insulated due to a vibrant rural sector.
- But currently rural India is not in a strong position unlike in 2008-09.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Maoism, Leninism and Marxism
Mains level: Not Much
While his views on Buddhism being superior to other religions are well-known, Ambedkar also believed the Buddha’s path to be superior to the popular religion-rejecting philosophy, Marxism.
Marxist view of religion
- Marx saw religion as a conservative force that prevented social change by creating false consciousness.
- Marx once said- “Religion is the opium of the people. It is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of our soulless conditions.”
- The end goal of Marxism is to achieve a classless society throughout the world.
How Dr. Ambedkar compared Buddhism to Marxism?
- Ambedkar has compared Buddhism with Marxism, saying that while both strive for the same end of a just and happy society.
- The means propounded by Buddha are superior to those of Marx.
- It is just simple that Marx was modern and Buddha ancient.
- If the Marxists keep back their prejudices and study the Buddha and understand what he stood for I feel sure that they will change their attitude, Ambedkar writes.
Similarities between the two
- In showing the similarities between Buddhism and Marxism, Ambedkar first condenses the basic philosophy of both into neat bullet points.
- For Buddhism, Dr. Ambedkar lists key points:
- The function of Religion is to reconstruct the world and to make it happy and not to explain its origin or its end;
- That private ownership of property brings power to one class and sorrow to another;
- That it is necessary for the good of Society that this sorrow be removed by removing its cause; and
- All human beings are equal.
- Of Marx, he says all that is left “is a residue of fire”:
- The function of philosophy is to reconstruct the world and not to waste its time in explaining the origin of the world;
- That private ownership of property brings power to one class and sorrow to another through exploitation;
- That it is necessary for the good of society that the sorrow be removed by the abolition of private property.”
How abolition of private property works under Buddhism?
- Dr Ambedkar says Buddhism’s commitment to abolishment of private property is apparent in how its ‘Bhikshus’ give up all worldly goods.
- He says the rules for Bhikhshus owning property or possessions are “far more rigorous than are to be found in communism in Russia.”
- To establish a happy and fair society, the Buddha had laid down a path for believers.
- The means adopted by the Buddha were to convert a man by changing his moral disposition to follow the path voluntarily.
Key difference: Violent means
- The means adopted by the Communists are equally clear, short and swift. They are (1) Violence and (2) Dictatorship of the Proletariat.
- It is now clear what are the similarities and differences between Buddha and Karl Marx.
- The differences are about the means. The end is common to both.
- The driving force of India’s Constitution also says Buddha was a democrat.
- As to Dictatorship, the Buddha would have none of it. He was born a democrat and he died a democrat, Ambedkar writes.
Try this PYQ:
Q. Karl Marx explained the process of class struggle with the help of which one of the following theories?
(a) Empirical liberalism.
(b) Existentialism.
(c) Darwin’s theory of evolution.
(d) Dialectical materialism.
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: FLDG
Mains level: NA
Two months after the RBI issued guidelines on digital lending, banks, NBFCs and fintech players are still awaiting clarity on many aspects, including the First Loss Default Guarantee (FLDG) system.
What is FLDG System?
- FLDG is an arrangement between a fintech company and regulated entity (RE), including banks and non-banking finance companies, wherein the fintech compensates the RE to a certain extent if the borrower defaults.
- Under this, the fintech originates a loan and promises to compensate the partners up to a pre-decided percentage in case customers fail to repay.
- The bank/NBFC partners lend through the fintech but from their own books.
- FLDG helps expand the customer base of traditional lenders but relies on the fintechs underwriting capabilities.
- FLDG is also seen as a validation of the fintechs underwriting capabilities for loans disbursed.
Issues with FLDGs
- A report by an RBI-constituted working group on digital lending has laid down risks of FLDG agreements with unregulated entities.
- The other concern is that FLDG costs are often passed on to customers.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Electoral Bond Scheme
Mains level: Read the attached story
The government has opened yet another week-long window for electoral bond sales starting December 5.
What are Electoral Bonds?
- Electoral bonds are banking instruments that can be purchased by any citizen or company to make donations to political parties, without the donor’s identity being disclosed.
- It is like a promissory note that can be bought by any Indian citizen or company incorporated in India from select branches of State Bank of India.
- The citizen or corporate can then donate the same to any eligible political party of his/her choice.
- An individual or party will be allowed to purchase these bonds digitally or through cheque.
About the scheme
- A citizen of India or a body incorporated in India will be eligible to purchase the bond
- Such bonds can be purchased for any value in multiples of ₹1,000, ₹10,000, ₹10 lakh, and ₹1 crore from any of the specified branches of the State Bank of India
- The purchaser will be allowed to buy electoral bonds only on due fulfillment of all the extant KYC norms and by making payment from a bank account
- The bonds will have a life of 15 days (15 days time has been prescribed for the bonds to ensure that they do not become a parallel currency).
- Donors who contribute less than ₹20,000 to political parties through purchase of electoral bonds need not provide their identity details, such as Permanent Account Number (PAN).
Objective of the scheme
- Transparency in political funding: To ensure that the funds being collected by the political parties is accounted money or clean money.
Who can redeem such bonds?
- The Electoral Bonds shall be encashed by an eligible Political Party only through a Bank account with the Authorized Bank.
- Only the Political Parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and which secured not less than one per cent of the votes polled in the last General Election to the Lok Sabha or the State Legislative Assembly, shall be eligible to receive the Electoral Bonds.
Restrictions that are done away
- Earlier, no foreign company could donate to any political party under the Companies Act
- A firm could donate a maximum of 7.5 per cent of its average three year net profit as political donations according to Section 182 of the Companies Act.
- As per the same section of the Act, companies had to disclose details of their political donations in their annual statement of accounts.
- The government moved an amendment in the Finance Bill to ensure that this proviso would not be applicable to companies in case of electoral bonds.
- Thus, Indian, foreign and even shell companies can now donate to political parties without having to inform anyone of the contribution.
Issues with the Scheme
- Opaque funding: While the identity of the donor is captured, it is not revealed to the party or public. So transparency is not enhanced for the voter.
- No IT break: Also income tax breaks may not be available for donations through electoral bonds. This pushes the donor to choose between remaining anonymous and saving on taxes.
- No anonymity for donors: The privacy of the donor is compromised as the bank will know their identity.
- Differential benefits: These bonds will help any party that is in power because the government can know who donated what money and to whom.
- Unlimited donations: The electoral bonds scheme and amendments in the Finance Act of 2017 allows for “unlimited donations from individuals and foreign companies to political parties without any record of the sources of funding”.
Way ahead
- The worries over the electoral bond scheme, however, go beyond its patent unconstitutionality.
- The concern about the possibility of misuse of funds is very pertinent.
- The EC has been demanding that a law be passed to make political parties liable to get their accounts audited by an auditor from a panel suggested by the CAG or EC. This should get prominence.
- Another feasible option is to establish a National Election Fund to which all donations could be directed.
- This would take care of the imaginary fear of political reprisal of the donors.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UPI
Mains level: UPI transactions
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has extended by two years the deadline to comply with its 30 percent cap on the market share of platforms operating on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
What is UPI?
- Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is an instant real-time payment system developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) facilitating inter-bank transactions.
- The interface is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and works by instantly transferring funds between two bank accounts on a mobile platform.
What is the NPCI plan for UPI?
- NPCI had initially planned to enforce the market cap rules in January 2021.
- It aimed to limit any single payments app from processing more than 30 per cent of UPI transactions in a month.
Why extension?
- The extension is being seen as a major relief for Walmart and Flipkart-backed PhonePe and Google Pay, which currently command a majority of the UPI market share.
How could it impact UPI platforms?
- Industry analysts believe the move comes as a shot in the arm for PhonePe and Google Pay, which collectively control more than 80 per cent of UPI’s market share.
- For platforms like Paytm and WhatsApp Pay, however, the extension could be seen as a natural loss.
- As of October, Paytm had a market share of 15 per cent on UPI.
- In comparison, PhonePe had a 47 per cent market share, while GooglePay accounted for around 35 per cent.
How is UPI performing?
- According to the Reserve Bank of India’s Payment Vision 2025, UPI is expected to register an average annualized growth of 50 percent.
- After touching a new high of Rs 12.11 lakh crore in October, the UPI transaction value for the month of November came in at Rs 11.90 lakh crore.
- However, the transaction count at 7.3 billion in October remained the same in November.
Try this PYQ:
With reference to digital payments, consider the following statements:
- BHIM app allows the user to transfer money to anyone with a UPI-enabled bank account.
- While a chip-pin debit card has four factors of authentication, BHIM app has only two factors of authentication.
Which of the statements given above is/ are correct? (CSP 2018)
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SHI Report
Mains level: Religious intoleranc issue
In 2020, India has been ranked first in the Social Hostilities Index (SHI) released by US think-tank Pew Research Center.
What is Social Hostilities Index (SHI)?
- SHI measures acts of religious hostility by private individuals, organisations or groups in society.
- The SHI measures acts of religious hostility by private individuals, organizations or groups.
- The index comprises 13 metrics, including religion-related armed conflict or terrorism and mob or sectarian violence.
- Questions used to compute the SHI included whether the country saw violence motivated by religious hatred or bias, whether individuals faced harassment or intimidation motivated by religious hatred or bias and whether there was mob violence against those of particular religious groups.
How bad has India fared?
- At 9.4 out of a maximum possible score of 10, India’s SHI in 2020 was worse than neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan, and a further increase in its own index value for 2019, the Pew data showed.
- India has faced severe backlash due to its crackdown on a ‘religious’ congregation held in New Delhi defying the COVID pandemic.
Other components: Government Restrictions Index (GRI)
- India much better on a second index: the Government Restrictions Index (GRI).
- This index looks at laws, policies and state actions restricting religious beliefs and practices.
- China ranked the worst, with a score of 9.3.
- India’s 34th rank was enough to categorize it among countries with “high” levels of such government restrictions.
- The GRI comprises 20 measures, including efforts by governments to ban particular faiths, prohibit conversion, limit preaching or give preferential treatment to one or more religious groups
Official data for substantiation
- By India’s own official crime statistics, the picture is more mixed.
- According to police data, religious riots for which cases were filed rose substantially in 2020, and declined again in 2021.
- But there have been significant variations over time, and the numbers are too low as a share of overall rioting incidents to indicate a definitive trend.
- Moreover, the home ministry no longer provides data on “communal incidents”, and the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) now only publishes data on religious “riots”.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ICAO Ranking
Mains level: Aviation safety in India
In the rankings by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), India is now at the 48th position, a “quantum leap” from the 102nd rank it had in 2018.
ICAO Assessment
- Under the ICAO standards, the Effective Implementation (EI) of six areas were assessed. They are LEG, ORG, PEL, OPS, AIR and AGA.
- LEG is Primary Aviation Legislation and Specific Operating Regulations;
- ORG is Civil Aviation Organisation;
- PEL is Personnel Licensing and Training;
- OPS is Aircraft Operations;
- AIR is Airworthiness of Aircraft; and
- AGA is Aerodrome and Ground Aid.
How has India fared in ICAO ranking?
- With a score of 85.49 per cent each, India and Georgia are at the 48th position.
- Neighbouring Pakistan is at the 100th spot with a score of 70.39 per cent.
Global scenario
- The rankings are topped by Singapore with a score of 99.69 per cent.
- It is followed by the UAE at the second position with a score of 98.8 per cent and the Republic of Korea is at the third place (98.24 per cent).
- Others in the top ten are France (4th; 96.42 per cent), Iceland (5th; 95.73 per cent), Australia (6th; 95.04 per cent), Canada (7th; 94.95 per cent), Brazil (8th; 94.72 per cent), Ireland (9th; 94.6 per cent) and Chile (10th; 93.9 per cent).
What is ICAO?
- The ICAO is a specialized agency of the UN that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation.
- It fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth.
- ICAO headquarters are located in the Quartier International of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Functions of ICAO
- Standardization: The ICAO Council adopts standards and recommended practices concerning air navigation, its infrastructure, flight inspection, prevention of unlawful interference, and facilitation of border-crossing procedures etc.
- Investigation standards: ICAO defines the protocols for air accident investigation that are followed by transport safety authorities in countries signatory to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Collegium system
Mains level: Issues with collegium system
The Supreme Court has said that it had become a “fashion” for its former judges to comment on earlier decisions of the Collegium when they were part of it while adding that the apex court was the “most transparent institution”.
What is Collegium System?
- The Collegium of judges is the Indian Supreme Court’s invention.
- It does not figure in the Constitution, which says judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts are appointed by the President and speaks of a process of consultation.
- In effect, it is a system under which judges are appointed by an institution comprising judges.
- After some judges were superseded in the appointment of the CJI in the 1970s, and attempts made subsequently to effect a mass transfer of High Court judges across the country.
- Hence there was a perception that the independence of the judiciary was under threat. This resulted in a series of cases over the years.
Evolution: The Judges Cases
- First Judges Case (1981) ruled that the “consultation” with the CJI in the matter of appointments must be full and effective.
- However, it rejected the idea that the CJI’s opinion, albeit carrying great weight, should have primacy.
- Second Judges Case (1993) introduced the Collegium system, holding that “consultation” really meant “concurrence”.
- It added that it was not the CJI’s individual opinion, but an institutional opinion formed in consultation with the two senior-most judges in the Supreme Court.
- Third Judges Case (1998): On a Presidential Reference for its opinion, the Supreme Court, in the Third Judges Case (1998) expanded the Collegium to a five-member body, comprising the CJI and four of his senior-most colleagues.
The procedure followed by the Collegium
Appointment of CJI
- The President of India appoints the CJI and the other SC judges.
- As far as the CJI is concerned, the outgoing CJI recommends his successor.
- In practice, it has been strictly by seniority ever since the supersession controversy of the 1970s.
- The Union Law Minister forwards the recommendation to the PM who, in turn, advises the President.
Other SC Judges
- For other judges of the top court, the proposal is initiated by the CJI.
- The CJI consults the rest of the Collegium members, as well as the senior-most judge of the court hailing from the High Court to which the recommended person belongs.
- The consultees must record their opinions in writing and it should form part of the file.
- The Collegium sends the recommendation to the Law Minister, who forwards it to the Prime Minister to advise the President.
For High Courts
- The CJs of High Courts are appointed as per the policy of having Chief Justices from outside the respective States. The Collegium takes the call on the elevation.
- High Court judges are recommended by a Collegium comprising the CJI and two senior-most judges.
- The proposal, however, is initiated by the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned in consultation with two senior-most colleagues.
- The recommendation is sent to the Chief Minister, who advises the Governor to send the proposal to the Union Law Minister.
Does the Collegium recommend transfers too?
- Yes, the Collegium also recommends the transfer of Chief Justices and other judges.
- Article 222 of the Constitution provides for the transfer of a judge from one High Court to another.
- When a CJ is transferred, a replacement must also be simultaneously found for the High Court concerned. There can be an acting CJ in a High Court for not more than a month.
- In matters of transfers, the opinion of the CJI “is determinative”, and the consent of the judge concerned is not required.
- However, the CJI should take into account the views of the CJ of the High Court concerned and the views of one or more SC judges who are in a position to do so.
- All transfers must be made in the public interest, that is, “for the betterment of the administration of justice”.
Loopholes in the Collegium system
- Lack of Transparency: Opaqueness and a lack of transparency, and the scope for nepotism are cited often.
- Judges appointing Judge: The attempt made to replace it with a ‘National Judicial Appointments Commission’ was struck down by the court in 2015 on the ground that it posed a threat to the independence of the judiciary.
- Criteria: Some do not believe in full disclosure of reasons for transfers, as it may make lawyers in the destination court chary of the transferred judge.
Way ahead
- In respect of appointments, there has been an acknowledgment that the “zone of consideration” must be expanded to avoid criticism that many appointees hail from families of retired judges.
- The status of a proposed new memorandum of procedure, to infuse greater accountability, is also unclear.
- Even the majority opinions admitted the need for transparency, now Collegiums’ resolutions are now posted online, but reasons are not given.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Remittances
Mains level: Remittances inflows and their significance
India is expected to receive a record $100 billion in remittance in 2022, the top recipient this year, the World Bank has said.
What are Remittances?
- A remittance is a non-commercial transfer of money by a foreign worker, a member of a diaspora community, or a citizen with familial ties abroad, for household income in their home country or homeland.
- The World Bank defines it as “the sum of worker’s remittances, compensation of employees, and migrants’ transfers as recorded in the IMF Balance of Payments.
- Workers remittances are current transfers by migrant who are considered residents in the source.
- Remittances are a vital source of household income for low- and middle-income countries.
India’s total remittances to grow
- Remittances to India are money transfers from non-resident Indians (NRIs) employed outside the country to family, friends or relatives residing in India.
- In its Migration and Development Brief, the World Bank has said India’s remittance will grow 12 per cent from 7.5 per cent last year, resulting in $100 billion flow as compared to $89.4 billion in 2021.
- It attributed the feat to the large share of Indian migrants earning relatively high salaries in the US, UK and East Asia.
Key points from the report by World Bank
- Highly-skilled Indian migrants living in wealthy nations such as the US, UK, and Singapore were sending more money home.
- Remittances to low and middle-income countries have grown by 5% in 2022 to around $626 billion – around half the rate of growth seen in 2021.
- The amount of money sent back home by migrants around the world has grown by 5% in 2022.
- Other top recipient countries for remittances include Mexico, China, Egypt and the Philippines.
- Domestic and International shocks have affected countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka for whom remittances earned by migrants are expected to drop this year
- Barring India and Nepal, other south Asian countries saw a decline of more than 10% in their remittances from 2021, due to the end of government incentives introduced during the pandemic
Why is remittance to India so high this year?
- Upskilling: There has been a gradual shift in destinations for Indian migrants aided by a structural shift in qualifications.
- Work from home: Indian migrants in high-income countries benefited from work-from-home and large fiscal stimulus packages.
- Easing of pandemic: As the pandemic eased, the wage hikes and “record-high employment conditions” helped migrants send money home despite high global inflation.
- Inflation control in India: The price support policies kept inflation at bay in India.
- Crude oil dynamics: Demand for labour increased with higher oil prices, which in turn increased remittances for Indian labourers.
Significance of remittances
- Stable source of funds: Remittance flows tend to remain relatively stable through the business cycle, thereby having the potential to support households in the face of economic adversity.
- Economic lifeline: In countries affected by political conflict, they are often an economic lifeline to the poor.
- Labour contribution: While migrant remittances contribute to the development of their home country, and also to the host country by filling the gap between labour demand and supply and making a positive net fiscal contribution.
- Globalization: In this way, remittances represent globalization with a human face, contributing to the spread of global interdependence at all levels – social, economic and political.
Issues with Remittances
- Fear of currency depreciation: It causes the rupee to weaken against the dollar, which in return impacts the businesses exposed to foreign exchange, and the economy overall.
- Accuracy of data: A key challenge for policymakers, researchers and investors interested in remittance flows concerns the accuracy and consistency of available data.
- Accounting inconsistencies: The varied nature of remittance transactions makes the compilation process complex, resulting in a systemic problem of under-reporting of flows and data asymmetries between host and recipient countries.
- No formal registration in India: The main source of data on remittances is the World Bank, which combines national balance of payments data compiled by the IMF with country information.
- Ignoring informal flows: A large share of remittances is believed to flow through informal channels, which are often more convenient and cheaper than formal ones.
- Hawala transactions: In addition, Hawala (an international network of money brokers) and Hundi (a form of credit instrument) systems operate in parallel to formal remittance channels.
Way forward
- Promoting labour mobility: India should aim to increase remittances to say 10% of GDP. The Philippines’ model of promoting labour mobility should be replicated in India.
- Reducing the costs involved: Both the cost of recruitment of such workers and the cost of sending remittances back to India should come down.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UNESCO ICH, Baguette
Mains level: NA
Baguette the staple French bread has been inscribed into the UN’s list of intangible cultural heritage (ICH).
What is a Baguette?
- The baguette is a long and thin loaf made of flour, water, salt and yeast, and is consumed as a staple in France.
- Some believe that it was invented by August Zang, a baker and an entrepreneur from Vienna in 1839, who introduced the world to the taste of crusty bread with softer insides, using a steam oven.
- It gained its official name in 1920.
- The history of the bread is uncertain, some also believe that Napoleon Bonaparte ordered thin sticks of bread for consumption by his soldiers as they could be carried from one place to another more conveniently.
Why did France nominate it for the UN list?
- About 10 billion baguettes are consumed every year in France by a population of 67 million.
- It drew attention to the steady decline in the number of bakeries in the country as around 20,000 of them have closed down since 1970.
- In March 2021, France nominated the baguette as its candidate for consideration within the UNESCO ICH list.
- In 1970, there were 55,000 artisanal bakeries (one for every 790 residents) compared with 35,000 today (one for every 2,000), often in favour of baguettes produced industrially.
Back2Basics: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)
- ICH means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated with them that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as a part of their cultural heritage.
- Furthermore, its importance is not in the cultural manifestation itself, but in the wealth of knowledge, know-how and skills that are transmitted from one generation to the next.
- The adoption of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the ICH by the General Conference of UNESCO in 2003 was a crucial step towards preserving intangible heritage.
- UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity was established in the year 2008.
Criteria for the selection
- There are three criteria for an intangible cultural heritage to be inscribed in the United Nations list.
- The entity must-
- be recognized by communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals as part of their cultural heritage,
- be transmitted from generation to generation and be constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history and
- provide them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity
India’s ICH on the UNESCO list
- Sangeet Natak Akademi is the nodal organisation which looks after this function, and files nominations of intangible cultural entities from India, for evaluation by the international body.
- ICG from India include Kolkata’s Durga Puja (2021), Kumbh Mela (2017), Navroz (2016), Yoga (2016), traditional brass and copper craft of utensil-making among coppersmiths of Punjab (2014), Sankirtana, a ritual musical performance of Manipur (2013), and the Buddhist chanting of Ladakh (2012).
- Before 2011, the list included Chhau dance, Kalbelia folk songs and dance of Rajasthan, and Mudiyettu, a dance drama from Kerala (2010), Ramman, a religious festival and theatre performance of Garhwal in the Himalayas (2009), and Kutiyattam or Sanskrit theatre, and Vedic chanting (2008).
- Ramlila, a traditional performance of Ramayana, was also included in 2008.
- This year, India nominated Garba, a traditional dance form that originated in the state of Gujarat, for inscription on UNESCO’s ICH list.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: DigiYatra
Mains level: Not Much
The centre has introduced paperless entry at select airports to make air travel hassle-free under the DigiYatra initiative.
What is DigiYatra?
- DigiYatra envisages that travellers pass through various checkpoints at the airport through paperless and contactless processing.
- This means, passengers won’t need to carry their ID card and boarding pass.
- This would rather use facial features to establish their identity, which would be linked to the boarding pass.
- With this technology, the entry of passengers would be automatically processed based on the facial recognition system at all checkpoints – including entry into the airport, security check areas, aircraft boarding, etc.
Implementation strategy
- In the first phase, the initiative will be launched at seven airports, starting with three — Delhi, Bengaluru, and Varanasi.
- It will then be followed by four airports namely Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, and Vijayawada by March 2023.
- Subsequently, the technology will be implemented across the country.
How is it being implemented?
- The project is being implemented by the DigiYatra Foundation — a joint-venture company whose shareholders are the Airports Authority of India (26% stake) and Bengaluru Airport, Delhi Airport, Hyderabad Airport, Mumbai Airport and Cochin International Airport.
- These five shareholders equally hold the remaining 74% of the shares.
How can people avail the DigiYatra facility?
- For availing the service, a passenger has to register their details on the DigiYatra app using Aadhaar-based validation and a self-image capture.
- In the next step, the boarding pass has to be scanned, and the credentials are shared with airport authorities.
- At the airport e-gate, the passenger has to first scan the bar coded boarding pass and the facial recognition system installed at the e-gate will validate the passenger’s identity and travel document.
- Once this process is done, the passenger can enter the airport through the e-gate.
- The passenger will have to follow the normal procedure to clear security and board the aircraft.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Personality Rights
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Delhi High Court recently passed an interim order to prevent the unlawful use of a megastar’s name, image and voice.
What did the HC say?
- The court, through its order, restrained persons at large from infringing the personality rights of the actor.
Why are we discussing this?
- Celebrities are protected from commercial misuse of their name and personality.
- However, there have been instances where the consumers are misled owing to false advertisements or endorsements by such personalities.
- Due to such cases, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs has made a notification in 2022 to keep a check on misleading adverts and endorsements of consumer products by imposing a penalty on the endorser.
What are Personality Rights?
- Personality rights refer to the right of a person to protect his/her personality under the right to privacy or property.
- These rights are important to celebrities as their names, photographs or even voices can easily be misused in various advertisements by different companies to boost their sales.
- Therefore, it is necessary for renowned personalities/celebrities to register their names to save their personality rights.
- A large list of unique personal attributes contribute to the making of a celebrity.
- All of these attributes need to be protected, such as name, nickname, stage name, picture, likeness, image and any identifiable personal property, such as a distinctive race car.
Correlation with publicity rights
- Personality rights are different from publicity rights.
- Publicity rights are governed by statutes like the Trade marks Act 1999 and the Copyright Act 1957.
Types of personality rights
- Personality rights consist of two types of rights-
- Right of publicity: It is the right to keep one’s image and likeness from being commercially exploited without permission or contractual compensation, which is similar (but not identical) to the use of a trademark;
- Right to privacy: It is the right to not have one’s personality represented publicly without permission.
- However, under common law jurisdictions, publicity rights fall into the realm of the ‘tort of passing off’.
- Passing off takes place when someone intentionally or unintentionally passes off their goods or services as those belonging to another party.
- Often, this type of misrepresentation damages the goodwill of a person or business, resulting in financial or reputational damage.
Does the use of a name on the internet affect personality rights?
- The Delhi High Court in 2011 made an observation in the case of Arun Jaitley vs Network Solutions Private Limited and Ors.
- In this case, former finance minister filed a suit seeking permanent injunction against the defendants from misuse and immediate transfer of the domain name www.arunjaitley.com.
- The Court stated that the popularity or fame of individual will be no different on the internet than in reality.
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