Category: Ranker Webinars

Dear Aspirants,

This Spotlight is a part of our Mission Nikaalo Prelims-2023.

You can check the broad timetable of Nikaalo Prelims here

Session Details

YouTube LIVE with Parth sir – 7 PM  – Prelims Spotlight Session

Evening 04 PM  – Daily Mini Tests

Join our Official telegram channel for Study material and Daily Sessions Here

---

18th May 2023

Environmental laws, International organisations

Please refer to current affairs compilation.

Dear Aspirants,

This Spotlight is a part of our Mission Nikaalo Prelims-2023.

You can check the broad timetable of Nikaalo Prelims here

Session Details

YouTube LIVE with Parth sir – 7 PM  – Prelims Spotlight Session

Evening 04 PM  – Daily Mini Tests

Join our Official telegram channel for Study material and Daily Sessions Here

---

17th May 2023

Agriculture, Applied Aspects

Agriculture is the science, art and practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities.

PRIMARY ACTIVITIES

• Humans Engage in different activities to exploit natural resources and the most ancient of them are Primary activities.
• Primary activities are directly dependent on the environment and some of these activities are:

Gathering and hunting:

• These are the oldest economic activities known.
• Gathering is practiced in regions with harsh climatic conditions.
• It often involves primitive societies, who extract both plants and animals to satisfy their needs for food, shelter and clothing.

• The main features of Gathering and Hunting activities are:
  • Low Capital / Skill Investment
  • Low Yield Per Person
  • No Surplus in production
• Gathering is practised in the following areas of the world:
  • Northern Canada, northern Eurasia and southern Chile (High Altitude Areas)
  • Low latitude zones such as the Amazon Basin, tropical Africa, Northern fringe of Australia and the interior parts of Southeast Asia.

Nomadic Herding or Pastoral Nomadism:

• Nomadic herding or pastoral nomadism is a primitive subsistence activity, in which the herders rely on animals for food, clothing, shelter, tools and transport.
• They move from one place to another along with their livestock, depending on the amount and quality of pastures and water, thus there is an irregular pattern of movement.
• It is different from Transhumance in which there is a fixed seasonal pattern of movement.
• Nomadic pastoralism is commonly practised in regions with little arable land, typically in the developing world.
• Of the estimated 30–40 million nomadic pastoralists worldwide, most are found in central Asia and Northern and western regions of Africa, some parts of southern Africa and Tundra regions.
• In the Himalayas, Gujjars, Bakarwals, Gaddis and Bhotiyas are nomadic pastoralists who practice transhumance.

TYPES OF AGRICULTURE IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD

Commercial Livestock Rearing:

• Commercial livestock rearing is more organised and capital-intensive activity in comparison to the Nomadic pastoralism. It is generally practised in permanent ranches.
• Products such as meat, wool, hides and skin are processed and packed scientifically and exported to different world markets emphasis is on breeding, genetic improvement, disease control and health care of the animals.
• New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Uruguay and the United States of America are important countries where commercial livestock rearing is practised.

Ranches refers to the large stock farms, usually fenced in, where animals are bred and reared on a commercial scale. They are found especially in the United States.

Primary Subsistence Agriculture

• Subsistence agriculture is one in which the farming areas consume all, or nearly so, of the products locally grown.

Subsistence agriculture

1. Primitive Subsistence Agriculture
2. Intensive Subsistence Agriculture

Primitive Subsistence Agriculture

• This agriculture is also known as Shifting Cultivation.
• It is widely practised by many tribes in the tropics, especially in Africa, south and Central America and south East Asia.
• When the vegetation is cleared by fire, and the ashes add to the fertility of the soil, it is called slash and burn agriculture.
• After sometime (3 to 5 years) the soil loses its fertility and the farmer shifts to other parts and clears other patches of the forest for cultivation.

Name	Region
Jhum	North-eastern India
Vevar and Dahiyaar	Bundelkhand Region (Madhya Pradesh)
Deepa	Bastar District (Madhya Pradesh)
Zara and Erka	Southern States
Batra	South-eastern Rajasthan
Podu	Andhra Pradesh
Kumari	Hilly Region of the Western Ghats of Kerala
Kaman, Vinga and Dhavi	Odisha

Intensive Subsistence Agriculture

• In this type of farming system, crops are grown mainly for local consumption. If there is a surplus, then it is sold in the market.
• This type of farming is largely found in densely populated regions of monsoon Asia.
• Basically, there are two types of intensive subsistence agriculture.

1. One is dominated by wet paddy and
2. Another is dominated by crops such as sorghum, soybeans, sugarcane, maize, and vegetables.

• Areas of Intensive Subsistence Farming are: Tonkin Delta (Vietnam), lower Menem (Thailand); lower Irrawaddy (Myanmar); and the Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta, Eastern Coastal Plains (India).

Mediterranean Agriculture

• It is practised within the Mediterranean climatic region where winter is wet and summer is dry.
• Farming is intensive, highly specialised and varied in the kind of crops raised.

• Many crops such as wheat, barley and vegetables are raised for domestic consumption, while others like citrus fruits, olives and grapes are grown mainly for export.
• That’s why this region is also called Orchard Lands of the World and it is the heart of the world’s wine industry. This region is famous around the world for the production of citrus fruits and grapes in the world.

Viticulture or grape cultivation is a speciality of the Mediterranean region. Best quality wines in the world with distinctive flavours are produced from high quality grapes in various countries of this region. The inferior grapes are dried into raisins and currants. This region also produces olives and figs. The advantage of Mediterranean agriculture is that more valuable crops such as fruits and vegetables are grown in winters when there is great demand in European and North American markets.

Plantation Agriculture

• This type of farming has developed in parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America, where the influence of the Europeans have been important during the colonial period.
• Though practiced over a rather small area, this type of farming is quite important in terms of its commercial value.
• Tea, coffee, rubber and oil palm are the major products of this type of farming. Most of the plantations were developed to provide some of the important tropical crops to the European markets.
• Important plantation regions:
• Tea gardens in India and Sri Lanka
• Banana and sugar plantations in the West Indies
• Coffee plantations in Brazil
• Rubber in Malaysia
• This is a highly capital-intensive farming and most of the crops are tree crops.

EXTENSIVE COMMERCIAL GRAIN CULTIVATION

• This type of agriculture system is mainly practiced in the Eurasian steppes in regions of chernozem soil, Canadian and American Prairies, the Pampas of Argentina, the Veld of South Africa, the Australian Downs and the Canterbury Plain of New Zealand.

• The main characteristics of this type of agriculture are:
  • highly mechanized cultivation
  • farms are very large
  • predominance of wheat
  • low yield per acre but yield per capita is high.

MIXED FARMING

• This type of agricultural system is found in the highly developed parts of the world: north-western Europe, eastern North America, Russia, Ukraine, and the temperate latitudes of parts of the southern continents.
• Farming is very intensive and sometimes highly specialized.
• Traditionally, farmers have practised a mixed economy by raising animals and growing crops on the same farm.
• Mixed farming is characterised by high capital expenditure on farm machinery and building, extensive use of chemical fertilisers and green manures and also by the skill and expertise of the farmers.

DAIRY FARMING

• Dairy is the most advanced and efficient type of rearing of milch animals. It is highly capital intensive. Animal sheds, storage facilities for fodder, feeding and milking machines add to the cost of dairy farming. Special emphasis is laid on cattle breeding, health care and veterinary services.
• It is highly labour intensive as it involves rigorous care in feeding and milching. There is no off season during the year as in the case of crop raising.
• It is practised mainly near urban and industrial centres which provide neighbourhood markets for fresh milk and dairy products. The development of transportation, refrigeration, pasteurisation and other preservation processes have increased the duration of shortage of various dairy products.

MARKET GARDENING AND HORTICULTURE

• It is practised mainly in the same region as that of mixed farming that consists of cultivation of vegetables, fruit and flowers solely for the urban market.
• It is well-developed in the densely populated industrial districts of north-western Europe (Britain, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany) and in North-Eastern USA.

The regions where farmers specialise in vegetables only, the farming is known as truck farming. The distance of truck farms from the market is governed by the distance that a truck can cover overnight, hence the name truck farming.

FACTORY FARMING

• Factory farming is a method of mass food production in which animals are kept in very confined areas in order to get the best possible profit.
• This farming is particularly concentrated in Developed countries like USA, European nations, Australia etc.

CO-OPERATIVE FARMING

• A group of farmers form a co-operative society by pooling in their resources voluntarily for more efficient and profitable farming. Individual farms remain intact and farming is a matter of cooperative initiative.
• Co-operative societies help farmers, to procure all important inputs of farming, sell the products at the most favourable terms and help in processing of quality products at cheaper rates.
• Co-operative movement originated over a century ago and has been successful in many western European countries like Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Italy etc. In Denmark, the movement has been so successful that practically every farmer is a member of a co-operative.

COLLECTIVE FARMING

• The basic principle behind this type of farming is based on social ownership of the means of production and collective labour.
• Collective farming or the model of Kolkhoz was introduced in the erstwhile Soviet Union to improve upon the inefficiency of the previous methods of agriculture and to boost agricultural production for self-sufficiency.
• The farmers used to pool in all their resources like land, livestock and labour. However, they were allowed to retain very small plots to grow crops in order to meet their daily requirements.
• Yearly targets were set by the government and the produce was also sold to the state at fixed prices.
• Produce in excess of the fixed amount was distributed among the members or sold in the market. The farmers had to pay taxes on the farm produce, hired machinery etc.
• Members were paid according to the nature of the work allotted to them by the farm management.
• Exceptional work was rewarded in cash or kind. This type of farming was introduced in the former Soviet Union under the socialist regime which was adopted by the socialist countries. After its collapse, these have already been modified.

INDIAN AGRICULTURE

INTRODUCTION

• India is an agricultural economy where 49% of the people depend directly or indirectly on agriculture.
• Net sown area still accounts for about 47% of the total land area of India.
• In India, over 80 per cent of water is used in irrigation. Of the net sown area of around 140 million hectares (Mn ha), close to half (68.4 Mn ha) is irrigated (2019)
• Major states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha among others are still majorly dependent on Agriculture.

GDP compositions in 2018-19 are as follows (ES2020)

• Agriculture (16.5%)
• Services (55.3%)
• Industry (28.6%)

Facts/Data related to Agriculture sector

Share of agriculture and allied sectors in Gross Value Addition (GVA) has declined from 18.2 percent in 2014-15 to 16.5 percent in 2019-20.

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector is estimated to grow by 2.8 percent in 2019-20 as compared to growth of 2.9 percent in 2018-19.

According to the 2010-11 Agricultural Census, 47% of landholdings had become less than half a hectare in size. These holdings are too small to support a family of five so that many farmers now seek alternative sources of income – NITI 3-year action agenda

About 80 percent of farmers own less than two hectare.

SALIENT FEATURES OF AN INDIAN AGRICULTURE

• Subsistence type of agriculture.
• Dependent on unreliable and erratic monsoon (about 60 percent)
• India’s vast relief, varying climate and soil conditions produce a variety of crops
• All tropical, subtropical and temperate crops are grown across geographical areas.
• Predominance of food crop → about 2/3rd of total cropped area.
• Backbone of rural economy.
• Plays critical role in ensuring food security
• Poor electricity, storage, water, credit & marketing infrastructure.
• Supports allied sectors and activities – cattle, poultry etc.
• Major involvement of women in Indian agriculture sector
• Characterized by poor mechanization, inadequate Agricultural research and extension services.
• Fragmented nature of agricultural holding.

PRODUCTIVITY OF AGRICULTURE

• Productivity of Agriculture is defined as the number of crops produced per unit land.
• Productivity levels in Indian agriculture are very low as compared to the productivity levels of other countries – China, USA etc.
• Like in 2018, average productivity in India was 3075 Kg/ha while world average was 3200kg/ha.
• Fertiliser use, irrigation and rainfall cause significant variation in productivity
• Productivity in the regions of Green revolution are certainly higher than other areas. Other high productivity regions are Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Maharashtra.
• The productivity in Gangetic plain is reducing because of Land bifurcation leading to reduced size of land holdings.
• Key issues affecting agricultural productivity include the decreasing sizes of agricultural land holdings, continued dependence on the monsoon, inadequate access to irrigation, imbalanced use of soil nutrients resulting in loss of fertility of soil, uneven access to modern technology in different parts of the country, lack of access to formal agricultural credit, limited procurement of food grains by government agencies, and failure to provide remunerative prices to farmers.

Cropping Intensity

• The ratio of the gross cropped area to the net sown area.
• As the land is cropped multiple times, the cropping intensity increases.
• It depends on factors like climate, demand of crops, availability of irrigation and other inputs etc.

CROPS

• A crop is a plant or animal product that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence.

Basic facts

India produced 284.83 Mn tons of food grains in 2018.

India is the world’s largest producer of milk, pulses and jute.

India occupies a leading position in global trade of agricultural products, agricultural export basket accounts for a little over 2.15 per cent of the world agricultural trade.

Crop classification based upon the type of produce

Type	Description	Examples
Food crops	Crops used for human consumption	Cereals, i.e. grass like plants with starchy edible seeds having high nutritional value – rice, wheat, maize. Pulses for e.g. gram tur etc.
Cash crop	Grown for sale in raw or processed form	Cotton, jute, tobacco, castor, oilseeds
Plantation crop	Grown in plantations covering large estates.	Tea, coffee, coconut, rubber, spices, etc.
Horticulture	Fruits and vegetables	Fruits (apple, mango, bananas) and vegetables (onion, tomato etc.)

Crop classification based upon climate

Tropical	Temperate
Crops grown well in hot and warm climate	Crops grown well in cool climate
e.g. rice, sugarcane, jawar	e.g. wheat, gram, potato

Crop classification based on growing season

The kharif	Season starts in June and ends in October and largely coincides with Southwest Monsoon under which the cultivation of tropical crops such as rice, cotton, jute, jowar, bajra and tur is possible.
The rabi	Season begins with the onset of winter in October-November and ends in March-April. The low temperature conditions during this season facilitate the cultivation of temperate and subtropical crops such as wheat, gram and mustard.
Zaid	Short duration summer cropping season beginning after harvesting of rabi crops. The cultivation of watermelons, cucumbers, vegetables and fodder crops during this season is done on irrigated lands. However, this type of distinction in the cropping season does not exist in southern parts of the country.

Dear Aspirants,

This Spotlight is a part of our Mission Nikaalo Prelims-2023.

You can check the broad timetable of Nikaalo Prelims here

Session Details

YouTube LIVE with Parth sir – 7 PM  – Prelims Spotlight Session

Evening 04 PM  – Daily Mini Tests

Join our Official telegram channel for Study material and Daily Sessions Here

---

16th May 2023

Climate Change, Pollution

What is Climate Change?

The periodic modification of Earth’s climate brought about due to the changes in the atmosphere as well as the interactions between the atmosphere and various other geological, chemical, biological and geographical factors within the Earth’s system is called Climate change.

Factors Affecting Climate Change

Natural Factors – affect the climate over a period of thousands to millions of years.Such as – 

1. Continental Drift – have formed millions of years ago when the landmass began to drift apart due to plate displacement. This impacts climate change due to the change in the landmass’s physical features and position and the change in water bodies’ position like the change in the follow of ocean currents and winds.
2. Volcanism – Volcanic eruption emits gasses and dust particles that last for a longer period causing a partial block of the Sun rays thus leading to cooling of weathers and influencing weather patterns.
3. Changes in Earth’s Orbit – A slight change in the Earth’s orbit has an impact on the sunlight’s seasonal distribution reaching earth’s surface across the world. There are three types of orbital variations – variations in Earth’s eccentricity, variations in the tilt angle of the Earth’s axis of rotation and precession of Earth’s axis. These together can cause Milankovitch cycles, which have a huge impact on climate and are well-known for their connection to the glacial and interglacial periods.

Anthropogenic Factors – is mainly a human-caused increase in global surface temperature. Such as –

1. Greenhouse Gasses – these absorb heat radiation from the sun resulting in an increase in Global Temperature. GHGs mostly do not absorb solar radiation but absorb most of the infrared emitted by the Earth’s surface. Global warming begins with the greenhouse effect, which is caused by the interaction between incoming radiation from the sun and the atmosphere of Earth.
2. Atmospheric Aerosols – these can scatter and absorb solar and infrared radiation. Solar radiation scatters and cools the planet whereas aerosols on absorbing solar radiation increase the temperature of the air instead of allowing the sunlight to be absorbed by the Earth’s surface. Aerosols have a direct affect on climate change on absorption and reflection of solar radiation. Indirectly it can affect by modifying clouds formation and properties. It can even be transported thousands of kilometres away through winds and circulations in the atmosphere.
3. Shift in land-use pattern – Most of the forests and land covers are replaced by agricultural cropping, land grazing, or for Industrial or commercial usage. The clearing of forest cover increases solar energy absorption and the amount of moisture evaporated into the atmosphere.
   • The lower the albedo (reflectivity of an object in space), the more of the Sun’s radiation gets absorbed by the planet and the temperatures will rise. If the albedo is higher and the Earth is more reflective, more of the radiation is returned to space, leading to the cooling of the planet.

Potential Effects of climate change in India

• Extreme Heat: India is already experiencing a warming climate. Unusual and unprecedented spells of hot weather are expected to occur far more frequently and cover much larger areas. Under 4°C warming, the west coast and southern India are projected to shift to new, high-temperature climatic regimes with significant impacts on agriculture.
• Changing Rainfall Patterns: A decline in monsson rainfall since the 1950s has already been observed. A 2°C rise in the world’s average temperatures will make India’s summer monsoon highly unpredictable. At 4°C warming, an extremely wet monsoon that currently has a chance of occurring only once in 100 years is projected to occur every 10 years by the end of the century. Dry years are expected to be drier and wet years wetter.
• Droughts: Evidence indicates that parts of South Asia have become drier since the 1970s with an increase in the number of droughts. Droughts have major consequences. In 1987 and 2002-2003, droughts affected more than half of India’s crop area and led to a huge fall in crop production. Droughts are expected to be more frequent in some areas, especially in north-western India, Jharkhand, Orissa, and Chhattisgarh. Crop yields are expected to fall significantly because of extreme heat by the 2040s.
• Groundwater: Even without climate change, 15% of India’s groundwater resources are overexploited. Falling water tables can be expected to reduce further on account of increasing demand for water from a growing population, more affluent lifestyles, as well as from the services sector and industry.
• Glacier Melt: Most Himalayan glaciers have been retreating over the past century. At 2.5°C warming, melting glaciers and the loss of snow cover over the Himalayas are expected to threaten the stability and reliability of northern India’s primarily glacier-fed rivers. Alterations in the flows of the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra rivers could significantly impact irrigation, affecting the amount of food that can be produced in their basins as well as the livelihoods of millions of people
• Sea level rise: With India close to the equator, the sub-continent would see much higher rises in sea levels than higher latitudes. Sea-level rise and storm surges would lead to saltwater intrusion in the coastal areas, impacting agriculture, degrading groundwater quality, contaminating drinking water, and possibly causing a rise in diarrhoea cases and cholera outbreaks, as the cholera bacterium survives longer in saline water. Kolkata and Mumbai, both densely populated cities, are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of sea-level rise, tropical cyclones, and riverine flooding.
• Apart from this food and energy security are also major concerns. Water scarcity, health hazards among the masses, and migration and political conflicts are expected to grow.

India’s response to Climate Change

• National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC): outlines existing and future policies and programs addressing climate mitigation and adaptation. The Action Plan identifies eight core “national missions” running through to 2017: Solar Energy; Enhanced Energy Efficiency; Sustainable Habitat; Water; Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem; Green India; Sustainable Agriculture; and Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change. Most of these missions have strong adaptation imperatives.
• National Clean Energy Fund: The Government of India created the National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) in 2010 for financing and promoting clean energy initiatives and funding research in the area of clean energy in the country. The corpus of the fund is built by levying a cess of INR 50 (subsequently increased to INR 100 in 2014) per tonne of coal produced domestically or imported.
• Paris Agreement: Under the Paris Agreement, India has made three commitments. India’s greenhouse gas emission intensity of its GDP will be reduced by 33-35% below 2005 levels by 2030. Alongside, 40% of India’s power capacity would be based on non-fossil fuel sources. At the same time, India will create an additional ‘carbon sink’ of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of Co2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.
• International Solar Alliance: ISA was launched in Paris on 30 November 2015 by India and France, in the presence of Mr. Ban Ki Moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations.
• Bharat Stage (BS) Emission Norms: Emissions from vehicles are one of the top contributors to air pollution, which led the government at the time to introduce the BS 2000 (Bharat Stage 1) vehicle emission norms from April 2000, followed by BS-II in 2005. BS-III was implemented nationwide in 2010. However, in 2016, the government decided to meet the global best practices and leapfrog to BS-VI norms by skipping BS V altogether.

All these efforts need to be implemented well to mitigate the effects of climate change.

How can India cope with climate change effects?

An ‘adaptation’ approach is the way to go. For this, a big push must be given to the interlinking of rivers and the use of GM crops. Climate action has globally been ‘mitigation-centric’ — most of the programs (such as a push for renewable energy and electric vehicles) are aimed at slowing down future global warming. ‘Mitigation’ is more important to developed countries, but for countries like India, the focus should be on ‘adaptation’, or measures are taken to cope with the inevitable effects of climate change that has already happened, such as nasty storms, floods, and droughts.

‘Adaptation’ is like protecting yourself against a punch that will land. India has also been mitigation-centric; it is time to bring focus on ‘adaptation’. And for adaptation, the time has come for two major steps.

• The first is to give a big push to a 150-year-old idea — inter-linking of rivers (ILRs). With floods and droughts likely to occur in different parts of the countries, possibly alongside each other, there is no option but to make ILR happen, and fast. Here are two components of it: the Himalayan and the Peninsular, with 14 and 16 links respectively. The idea is to build a dam on one river so that the water level rises at the head of the canal, allowing water to flow by gravity to the next river. India today has 5,100 large dams, which have walls at least 15 meters tall; ILR will require 3,000 more. The project will also involve building 15,000 km of new canals. If brought to fruition, ILR will bring 35 million hectares — over twice the size of Andhra Pradesh — of additional land into cultivation, and 34,000 MW more of hydroelectricity.
• The other adaptive measure is genetically modified crops. GM technology is a major component of ‘climate-smart agriculture’. We would need drought-resistant crops, and crops that produce more on the same patch of land so that climate-impairing ‘land use’ is minimized. India has been saying ‘no’ to GM technology. However, GM technology has been in use globally for over two decades and millions of people have been eating GM foods for years.

Dear Aspirants,

This Spotlight is a part of our Mission Nikaalo Prelims-2023.

You can check the broad timetable of Nikaalo Prelims here

Session Details

YouTube LIVE with Parth sir – 7 PM  – Prelims Spotlight Session

Evening 04 PM  – Daily Mini Tests

Join our Official telegram channel for Study material and Daily Sessions Here

---

15th May 2023

Basic Concepts of Ecology, Biodiversity

Ecology

• Ecology is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment; it seeks to understand the vital connections between plants and animals and the world around them
  • Also, Ecology also provides information about the benefits of ecosystems and how we can use Earth’s resources in ways that leave the environment healthy for future generations.
• The term “ecology” was coined by the German zoologist, Ernst Haeckel, in 1866
• Also, ancient Indian texts have references to Ecological principles as follows:
  • The classical texts of the Vedic Period such as the Vedas, the Samhitas, the Brahmanas and the Aranyakas-Upanishads contain references to ecological concepts
• Further, a conceptual understanding of ecology is found in the broader details of study, including:
  • life processes explaining adaptations
  • distribution and abundance of organisms
  • the movement of materials and energy through living communities
  • the successional development of ecosystems, and
  • the abundance and distribution of biodiversity in context of the environment

Components

• Ecology mainly involves the study of biotic and abiotic factors with the environment
• Biotic components include the living factors of an ecosystem.
  • Examples include bacteria, animals, birds, fungi, plants, etc.
• Abiotic components include the non-living chemical and physical factors of an ecosystem
  • Examples include sunlight, soil, air, moisture minerals etc.

Types of Ecology

• • Microbial Ecology
    • Microbial ecology looks at the smallest fundamental levels of life, that is, the cellular level
    • Here, the connections are made between microbes and their relationships with each other and their environments
    • This is particularly important in the analysis of evolutionary connections and events leading to existence
  • Organism/Behavioural Ecology
    • This is the study of the organism at its fundamental levels and can encompass microbial ecology.
    • In this type of ecology, the main goal is to understand the organism’s behaviours, adaptations for such behaviours, reason for those behaviours as explained through the lens of evolution, and the way all these aspects mesh together
  • Population Ecology
    • Population ecology focuses on the population, defined as a group of organisms of the same species living in the same area at the same time
    • Here, attention is given to things such as population size, its density, the structure of the population, migration patterns, and the interaction between organisms of the same population.
  • Community Ecology
    • Community ecology takes a look at the community, defined as all the populations that live in a given area. This includes all the different species populations.
    • The focus here is usually on the interactions between the different species and how their numbers and sizes all mesh together and how change in one population change the dynamic of the whole community
  • Ecosystem Ecology
    • Ecosystem ecology makes a unique contribution to understanding ecology by adding abiotic (non-living) factors to the items analysed, alongside the biotic (living) factors involved.
    • This interaction therefore involves all aspects of the environment and how they interact
  • Global Ecology (Biosphere)
    • The global ecology is principally important in understanding all the ecosystems affecting the entire globe.
    • This includes all the different biomes, with considerations of aspects such as climate and other environmental geography

Examples of Ecology study

• In recent years, the red panda population has dropped significantly, leading conservation groups to classify it as a vulnerable or endangered species
• Ecologists have found that biotic factors, such as logging of trees and introduction of diseases from domestic dogs, played a major role in the decline of red panda populations
• Abiotic factors have been less important to date, but changing temperatures could cause further habitat loss in the future
• So, understanding the main ecological factors responsible for the decline in red panda numbers helps ecologists form conservation plans to protect the species

Levels of Organisation

• Individual, Species, Organism
  • Organism in this level has the ability to act or function independently
  • Here, Individuals do not breed with individuals from other groups
• Population
  • A group of individuals of a given species that live in a specific geographic area at a given time
  • Populations include individuals of the same species, but may have different genetic makeup such as hair/eye/skin colour and size between themselves and other populations
• Community
  • It includes all the populations in a specific area at a given time. A community includes populations of organisms of different species
  • These are generally named after the dominant plant species
• Ecosystem
  • Ecosystems include more than a community of living organisms (biotic) interacting with the environment (abiotic)
  • Everything that lives in an ecosystem is dependent on the other species and elements that are also a part of the ecological community
• Biome
  • A Biome is a set of ecosystems sharing similar characteristics with their abiotic factors adapted to their environments
• Biosphere
  • When we consider all the different biomes, each blending into the other, with all humans living in many different geographic areas, we form a huge community of humans, animals and plants, and micro-organisms in their defined habitats. A biosphere is the sum of all the ecosystems established on planet Earth

Principles of Ecology

• Evolution organizes ecological systems into hierarchies
  • Individual organisms combine into populations, populations combine into species, species combine into higher taxa like genera and phyla.
  • Each can be characterized by its abundance and diversity (number of kinds) in a given ecosystem or study plot
• The sun is the ultimate source of energy for most ecosystems
  • Life runs on the carbon-rich sugars produced by photosynthesis; every ecosystem’s sugar output depends on how much solar energy and precipitation it receives
• Organisms are chemical machines that run on energy
  • The laws of chemistry and physics limit the ways each organism makes a living and provide a basic framework for ecology.
  • The supply of chemical elements and the sugars needed to fuel their assembly into organisms limit the abundance and diversity of life
• Chemical nutrients cycle repeatedly while energy flows through an ecosystem
  • The atoms of elements like Carbon, Nitrogen and Sodium go back and forth from spending time in living to spending time in dead parts of an ecosystem.
  • But the photons of solar energy can be used only once before they are lost to the universe
• Organisms interact—do things to each other—in ways that influence their abundance
  • Individual organisms can eat one another, compete for shared resources, and help each other survive.
  • Each pair of species in an ecosystem can be characterized by the kind and strength of these interactions
• Ecosystems are organized into webs of interactions
  • The abundance of a population is influenced by the chains of interactions that connect it to the other species in its ecosystem
  • This often leads to complex behaviour, and a key challenge in ecology is to determine what patterns of abundance and diversity can be predicted
• Human populations have an outsized role in competing with, preying upon, and helping other organisms
  • Humans are one of millions of species embedded in Earth’s ecosystems. The ability of humans to change the planet, abetted by our large population size and technological prowess, increases our ability to shape the biosphere’s future
• Ecosystems provide essential services to human populations
  • These include products like timber, fibre and food, regulating water and air quality, and cultural benefits like recreation. A key goal of ecology is to use the above principles to preserve ecosystem services.

Biodiversity

Biodiversity can be defined as a community of all the living organisms on the earth and the diversity among them from all the ecosystems. Biodiversity is thus the variability between the species, within the species, and between the ecosystem.

The term biodiversity was coined by Walter G. Rosen in the year 1986.

Types of Biodiversity

Biodiversity can be categorized into three main types:

1. Genetic Diversity (Diversity within species)
2. Species Diversity (Diversity between species)
3. Ecosystem Diversity (Diversity between ecosystem)

Genetic Diversity

Every individual of a particular species differs from each other in its genetic makeup. This genetic variability among the members of any plant or animal species is known as genetic diversity. When two individuals are closely related, they share more genetic information and hence, are more similar.

Species Diversity

Species diversity can be defined as the variety of species within a particular region or habitat. This type of diversity can be found in both the natural ecosystem and agricultural ecosystem.

There are more than 85,000 flowering plant species in tropical North and South America, tropical and subtropical Asia has more than 50,000 flowering plants whereas, there are only 35,000 flowering plant species in tropical and subtropical Africa. But, Europe has around 11,300 vascular plants. Also, other areas, such as salt flats or a polluted stream, have fewer species.

Ecosystem Diversity

There is a large diversity of different ecosystems that have distinctive species. This ecosystem varies with each other as per their habitats and the difference in their species. This ecosystem diversity can be found within a specific geographical region or a country or a state. This type of diversity also includes forests, grasslands, deserts, and mountains.

Dear Aspirants,

This Spotlight is a part of our Mission Nikaalo Prelims-2023.

You can check the broad timetable of Nikaalo Prelims here

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12th May 2023

Civil service reforms, H N Sanyal Committee, First ARC, Rajamannar Committee, Sarkaria Commission, National Commission to Review the working of the constitution and Singhvi Committee

ARC Report

Administrative Reforms Commission (employed by the Government of India) publishes some reports, known as ARC reports. ARC’s reports are crucial documents for public administration, effective governance, and much more.

Mainly there are two ARC reports, the first ARC report (published by the 1st ARC started in 1966) and the second ARC report (published by the 2nd ARC set up in 2005). The 1st ARC Report had provided 537 primary recommendations in about 20 reports before it was winded up in the 1970s.

• Conversely, the 2nd ARC published 15 reports encompassing various public administration sectors.
• Though both the ARC Report recommended effective reforms, the 2nd ARC is considered essential for the study of public administrations.

ARC (Administrative Reforms Commission) Report for UPSC

The Government of India has appointed an organization or body known as the Administrative Reforms Commission that provides recommendations for evaluating India’s public administration system. India’s ARC was set up twice.

1st Arc (Administrative Reforms Commission)

The Indian Government established the first Administrative Reforms Commission on 5 January 1966 under revolution number 40/3/65-AR(P). In the beginning, Morarji Desai managed the ARC, but after he got appointed as India’s Deputy Prime Minister, K. Hanumanthaiah managed it as the chairperson.

• This ARC declaration described the ARC configuration, the authorization of the commission, and the practices to be ensured.
• The first ARC was authorized to provide thoughtfulness to certify the premium standards of proficiency and integrity in public services.
• The ARC was mandated to make public administration the perfect equipment for implementing the Indian Government’s various socioeconomic policies and socio-economic development.
• It had provided 537 primary recommendations in about 20 reports before it was wound up in the 1970s.

2nd Arc (Administrative Reforms Commission)

The Government of India founded the 2nd ARC on 31 August 2005 under the resolution K-11022/9/2004-RC. It was established to make a comprehensive scheme to revamp the public administration system in India.

Initially, Veerappa Moily managed the commission as the chairperson. However, after his resignation in 2009, V. Ramachandran took responsibility as the new chairperson.

• The second ARC was authorized to propose some effective measures to attain a practical, responsive, responsible, sustainable, and proficient public administration at all the government levels in India.
• The 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission also published 15 reports encompassing various public administration sectors.

The 2nd ARC Report comprised reforms such as the Indian Government’s organizational structure, integrity in governance, Revamping of Personnel Administration, Reinforcement of Financial Management Systems, Local Self-Government, Citizen-centric, Problems in Federal Polity, Promoting e-governance, Crisis Management, RTI, Unlocking Human Capital, and many more.

• The first-ever report from the 2nd ARC was Right to information, considered a principal means for Good Governance in India.
• The Government of India excluded sectors like Military defense, security, and intelligence, etc., and subjects like judicial reforms and relations between central and State governments from the 2nd ARC’s recommendations.

Rajamannar Committee

• In 1969, the Tamil Nadu Government (DMK) appointed a three-member committee, chaired by Dr. P.V. Rajamannar, to investigate the entire issue of Centre-state relations.
• It wanted the committee to propose constitutional amendments to ensure the states’ maximum autonomy.
• In 1971, the committee delivered its report to the Tamil Nadu government.

Recommendations

The committee’s key recommendations are as follows:

• An Inter-State Council should be formed immediately.
• The Finance Commission should be made permanent.
• The Planning Commission should be disbanded and replaced by a statutory body.
• Articles 356, 357, and 365 (concerning President’s Rule) should be deleted entirely.
• The provision stating that the state ministry holds office at the pleasure of the governor should be removed.
• Certain subjects from the Union List and the Concurrent List should be transferred to the State List.
• Residuary powers should be devolved to the states.
• All-India services such as IAS, IPS, and IFS should be phased out.

Sarkaria Commission

Background

• The agitation for State autonomy led to the creation of the Sarkaria Commission by the Central Government to recommend changes in the Centre-State relationship. 
• The Commission submitted its report in 1988. 
• The founding fathers of the Indian Constitution were deeply concerned about ensuring the unity and integrity of the country. They were aware of the forces of disruption and disunity working within the country. These dangers at the time of independence could be handled only by a strong government at the Centre. 
• Therefore, the framers of the Constitution assigned a predominant role to the Centre. 
• At the same time, they made provisions for the establishment of cooperative federalism.
• The working of the Indian federation during the last five decades clearly shows that the relations between the Centre and the States have not always been cordial. 
• The Administrative Reforms Commission and several other Commissions were appointed by the Government of India from time to time to regulate Centre-State relations. 
• The Union Government appointed the Sarkaria Commission to suggest ways and means to improve Centre-State relations. 
• The clamour for more autonomy led to the constitution of the Sarkaria Commission in 1983 which was asked to examine and review existing arrangements between the Centres and the States in all spheres and recommend appropriate changes and measures. 
• An extraordinary situation, the need to defeat the emergency regime of Indira Gandhi, brought them together. With the return of the Congress party under Indira Gandhi’s leadership with a secure majority, the movements for state autonomy slowly receded in the background. 
• At the present moment, there is no movement for state autonomy like earlier, even though the struggle to get more financial resources for the state continues. 
• In 1990 a visible change came in the correlation of forces active in Indian politics.

Major Recommendations of Sarkaria Commission

The Sarkaria Commission finally submitted its report in the year 1988. The Sarkaria Commission’s charter was to examine the relationship and balance of power between state and central governments in the country and suggest changes within the framework of the Constitution of India. Despite the large size of its reports – the Commission recommended, by and large, status quo in the Centre-State relations, especially in the areas, relating to legislative matters, the role of Governors, and the use of Article 356.

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National Commission to Review the Working of Constitution (NCRWC)

• The National Commission to Review the Workings of the Constitution was established by Government Resolution on February 22, 2000, and is chaired by Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah.
• According to the terms of reference, the Commission shall examine, in light of the past 50 years’ experience, how best the Constitution can respond to the changing needs of modern India’s efficient, smooth, and effective system of governance and socio-economic development within the framework of Parliamentary democracy, and to recommend changes.
• If any, that is required in the Constitution’s provisions without interfering with its basic structure or features On March 31, 2002, the Commission delivered its findings to the government in two volumes.
• The mission of the NCRWC is to recommend amendments to the “Indian Constitution.”
• The Commission concluded that Article 263 of the Constitution had enormous potential that has not been properly used in resolving numerous difficulties involving more than one State.
• The Commission observed that when the Union Government enters into a treaty touching an issue on the State List that is crucial to the interests of the states, no previous consultation is undertaken with them.

Recommendation of the Commission

• There were 249 recommendations in total from the commission. 58 of them call for constitutional amendments, 86 for legislative action, and the remaining 105 for executive action. Following is a list of the commission’s major recommendations:

Fundamental Rights:

• Under Article 15 and 16, discrimination should be prohibited on the basis of “ethnic or social origin, political or other viewpoint, property, or birth”.
• Article 19’s freedom of speech and expression should be expanded to expressly include “the freedom of the press and other media, etc.”
• Article 21-A, the right to education, should be expanded.

In terms of preventive detention two adjustments should be made:

• The maximum length should be six months; and
• The advisory board should be composed of a chairman and two other members who should be serving judges of any high court.
• Sikhism, Jainism, and Buddhism should be considered as independent religions from Hinduism, and the clauses combining them under Article 25 should be removed.
• During the operation of a national emergency, the enforcement of the Fundamental Rights under Articles 17, 23, 24, 25, and 32, as well as those under Articles 20 and 21, will not be suspended.

On Comptroller and Auditor General of India (Lack of quality of report):

According to the National Commission to Review the Constitution’s Workings, “administrative departments frequently criticize the audit department’s operation.” They point out that audits frequently focus on minor concerns and a negative fault-finding approach rather than finding a solution to the administration’s problem.

On Directive Principles:

• Part IV of the Constitution’s heading should be changed to ‘Directive Principles of State Policy and Action.’
• A new Directive Principle on Population Control should be added to the list.
• Every five years, an independent National Education Commission should be established.
• To promote inter-religious harmony and social solidarity, an Inter-Faith Commission should be constituted.

On Fundamental Duties:

• The ways and mechanisms by which Fundamental Duties could be publicized and made effective should be considered.
• The Justice Verma Committee’s suggestions on the operationalization of Fundamental Duties should be adopted as soon as possible.
• Article 51-A should add the following new essential responsibilities:
• The responsibility to vote in elections, participate actively in the democratic process of governance and pay taxes.
• To promote a sense of family values and responsible parenting in matters of children’s education, physical, and moral well-being.

On State funding of election:

The National Commission to Review the Constitution’s Workings did not support state funding of elections but agreed with the 1999 law commission report that an appropriate framework for regulating political parties would need to be put in place before state funding could be considered.

On Anti-Defection Law:

• All individuals who defect (individually or in groups) from the party or alliance of parties on whose ticket they were elected must renounce their parliamentary or assembly seats and run in new elections.
• The defectors should be forbidden from holding any public office, including ministerial positions, or any other remunerative political position, for at least the remainder of the current legislature’s term or until the next elections, whichever comes first.
• A vote cast by a defector to overthrow a government should be considered void.
• The Election Commission, rather than the Speaker or Chairman of the House concerned, should have the authority to determine on questions of defection disqualification.

On Center-State Relations:

The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution made recommendations, many of which were similar to those made by the Sarkaria Commission. The following few of the novel recommendations:

• According to Article 307, a legislative organization named the Inter-State Trade and Commerce Commission should be constituted.
• A committee consisting of the Prime Minister, Home Minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, and the Chief Minister of the state in question shall nominate the Governor.
• The Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule should cover disaster and emergency management.
• In the event of a political breakdown in a state, the state should be given an opportunity to explain its position and correct the situation before invoking Article 356, to the extent possible.
• The 1990 Inter-State Council directive should explicitly outline the topics that should be discussed during the discussions.

L M Singhvi Committee

Recommendations of L M Singhvi Committee

• Local self-government should be acknowledged by the Constitution.
• Panchayat elections should be held on a regular basis and without delay.
• Every state should establish a Panchayati Raj judicial tribunal to deal with issues relating to the administration of Panchayati Raj.
• Adequate financial resources are required to guarantee that panchayats function effectively.
• Individuals affiliated with political parties should be discouraged from participating.
• The Nyaya Panchayat should be tasked with mediating and resolving disputes.
• The Gram Sabha represents direct democracy, and rural Panchayats should be better organized. Gram Sabha should be prioritized.

Significance

Significance

• It recommended constitutional status for the Panchayat System.
• Establishment of the Nyaya Panchayats to mediate and resolve disputes.
• Gave more emphasis to Gram Sabhas.
• It provided for a plan to gain financial autonomy for the local bodies.