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Distribution: weekly

  • Problem of control and governance of knowledge in a globalised world

    The article highlights the issues with the criteria applied by the UGC to evaluate the faculty research.

    Impact of UGC standardisation on social sciences and humanities research

    • UGC has been the regulatory body responsible for maintaining standards in higher education, while addressing challenges of globalisation.
    • Processes of UGC mandated standardisation have in particular impacted social sciences and humanities research in Indian universities.
    • Over the years, UGC has linked institutional funding to ranking and accreditation systems like NAAC and NIRF.
    • In order to evaluate institutions, these bodies have evolved  criteria, which rank universities based on faculty research measured by citations in global journal databases like SCOPUS.
    • In comparison, importance granted to research outputs like books or other forms is declining.

    Issues with the criteria

    • The insistence of publication in journals fails to distinguish between the varied trajectory of disciplines.
    • While in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Management) disciplines, research is often highly objective and quantified.
    • In social sciences and humanities research is subjective, analytical and argumentative.
    • In disciplines like history, sociology, politics, philosophy, psychology and literature, researchers spend years writing books that engage with ideas in complex ways.
    • In devaluing books as authentic forms of research, UGC does major disservice to scholars of social sciences and humanities.
    • Due to emphasis on publication, teachers spend most of their productive time writing articles and getting them published, thereby missing out on quality engagement with pedagogy and research.

    Issues with the process of peer review

    • The process of peer review itself is subjective, and depends upon the knowledge, inclination and availability of time of the particular reviewer.
    • It is often quite challenging for scholars to meet peer-review standards of A-listed journals.
    • This has actually required the UGC to expand its own list, ending up including and subsequently deleting a large number of locally published journals.

    Issue of inaccessibility

    • Publication of research in paywalled journal databases makes research inaccessible for students as universities continue to cut down library budgets.
    • Students and teachers, access articles through pirated sites like Libgen and Scihub, prone to be shut down at any point of time as evident from the litigations.
    • Clearly, access to knowledge is structurally made inequitable in favour of the elite and/or moneyed institutions and their constituents.

    Way forward

    • The above arguments maintain for the possible multiplicity that can emerge as the end-result of research.
    • Interdisciplinary and practice-based research can throw up social and ecological experiments, artworks and performances, and numerous new outcomes yet to be conceived as research outputs.
    • While the UGC hopes to raise the standards to global levels, precarity of employment, longer teaching hours, a dismal student-teacher ratio, lack of sabbaticals, research and travel grants, access to research facilities and office space, adversely impact the research potential of teachers.
    • Regulating research needs to be replaced with facilitating research, allowing minds to think and gestate.
    • Regulations without facilitation will merely bureaucratise the governance of knowledge without generating any pathbreaking insights.

    Conclusion

    The UGC needs to widen its criteria which values publication of a book as much as a research paper in the mandated journal to widen the research in social sciences and humanities.

  • India’s trade with China falls at five-year low

    India’s trade with China last year fell to the lowest since 2017, with the trade imbalance declining to a five-year low on the back of a slump in India’s imports from China.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Among the following, which one is the largest exporter of rice in the world in the last five years? (CSP 2019)

    (a) China

    (b) India

    (c) Myanmar

    (d) Vietnam

    India-China Trade

    • Two-way trade in 2020 reached $87.6 billion, down by 5.6%, according to new figures from China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC).
    • India’s imports from China accounted for $66.7 billion, declining by 10.8% year-on-year and the lowest figure since 2016.
    • It, however, rose to the highest figure on record, for the first time crossing the $20 billion-mark and growing 16% last year to $20.86 billion.

    What constitutes India’s import from China?

    • While there was no immediate break-up of the data in 2020, India’s biggest import in 2019 was electrical machinery and equipment, worth $20.17 billion.
    • Other major imports in 2019 were organic chemicals ($8.39 billion) and fertilizers ($1.67 billion), while India’s top exports were iron ore, organic chemicals, cotton and unfinished diamonds.

    India’s exports to China

    • The past 12 months saw a surge in demand for iron ore in China with a slew of new infrastructure projects aimed at reviving growth after the COVID-19 slump.
    • China’s total iron ore imports were up 9.5 per cent in 2020.

    A friction-induced low

    • The trade deficit, a source of friction between India and China, declined to a five year-low of $45.8 billion, the lowest since 2015.
    • Whether 2020 is an exception or marks a turn away from the recent pattern of India’s trade with China remains to be seen.
    • While India’s imports from China declined, so did India’s imports overall with a slump in domestic demand last year.
    • There is, as yet, no evidence to suggest India has replaced its import dependence on China by either sourcing those goods elsewhere or manufacturing them at home.

  • [pib] PMKVY 3.0

    The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has launched Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 3.0.

    Note the differences between all three versions of PMKVY.

    PMKVY 3.0

    • PMKVY 3.0 envisages training of eight lakh candidates over the scheme period of 2020-2021.
    • This phase three will focus on new-age and COVID-related skills.
    • The 729 PM Kaushal Kendras (PMKKs), empanelled non-PMKK training centres and more than 200 industrial training institutes under Skill India will be rolling out under it.
    • On the basis of the learning gained from PMKVY 1.0 and PMKVY 2.0, the MSDE has improved the newer version of the scheme to match the current policy doctrine and energize the skilling ecosystem.

    Implementation

    • PMKVY 3.0 will be implemented in a more decentralized structure with greater responsibilities and support from States/UTs and Districts.
    • District Skill Committees (DSCs), under the guidance of State Skill Development Missions (SSDM), shall play a key role in addressing the skill gap and assessing demand at the district level.
    • The new scheme will be more trainee- and learner-centric addressing the ambitions of aspirational Bharat.
    • PMKVY 2.0 broadened the skill development with the inclusion of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and focus on training.
    • With the advent of PMKVY 3.0, the focus is on bridging the demand-supply gap by promoting skill development in areas of new-age and Industry 4.0 job roles.

    Back2Basics: PMKVY 1.0

    • PMKVY is a skill development initiative scheme of the Government of India for recognition and standardization of skills launched on16 July 2015;.
    • The aim of the scheme is to encourage aptitude towards employable skills and to increase the working efficiency of probable and existing daily wage earners, by giving monetary awards and rewards and by providing quality training to them.
    • For this qualification plans and quality, plans have been developed by various Sector Skill Councils (SSC) created with the participation of Industries.
    • National Skill Development Council (NSDC) has been made coordinating and driving agency for the same.

  • Adultery Law and the Armed Forces

    The Supreme Court has admitted a petition filed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) seeking to exempt armed forces personnel from the ambit of a Constitution Bench judgment of 2018 that decriminalized adultery.

    Q.  Personnels of the Indian Armed Forces constitute a ‘Distinct Class’.

    Discuss this statement in context to the extension of IPC section 497 to the Armed forces.

    What was the 2018 historic Judgment?

    • The Supreme Court had struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalized adultery.
    • It also declared Section 198 of the Criminal Procedure Code as unconstitutional, which deals with the procedure for filing a complaint about the offence of adultery.

    Important observations of the judgment

    • Section 497 was unconstitutional and is violative of Article 21 (Right to life and personal liberty) and Article 14 (Right to equality).
    • The court observed that two individuals may part if one cheats, but to attach criminality to infidelity is going too far. How married couples deal with adultery is absolutely a matter of privacy.
    • Besides, there is no data to back claims that abolition of adultery as a crime would result in “chaos in sexual morality” or an increase of divorce.
    • Any provision of law affecting individual dignity and equality of women invites the wrath of the Constitution.
    • It’s time to say that a husband is not the master of the wife. Legal sovereignty of one sex over other sex is wrong, ruled the court.
    • Marriage does not mean ceding autonomy of one to the other. Ability to make sexual choices is essential to human liberty. Even within private zones, an individual should be allowed her choice.

    What about Armed forces?

    • The judgment of 2018 created “instability”. It allowed personnel charged with carrying on an adulterous or illicit relationship to take cover under the judgment.
    • The bench had then referred the case to the CJI to pass appropriate orders to form a five-judge Bench to clarify the impact of the 2018 judgment on the armed forces.
    • This case is now being under the observation of the apex court.

    Govt. stance over this

    • The MoD has sought for an exemption to this decriminalization in the petition.
    • It said that there will always be a concern in the minds of the Army personnel who are operating far away from their families under challenging conditions about the family indulging in untoward activity.
    • The petition goes on to say that personnel of the Army, Navy and the Air Force were a “distinct class”. They were governed by special legislation, the Army Act, the Navy Act and the Air Force Act.
    • Adultery amounted to unbecoming conduct and a violation of discipline under these three Acts.
    • Unlike Section 497, the provisions of the three Acts did not differentiate between a man and a woman if they were guilty of an offence.

    Constitutional backing for an exception

    • These special laws imposed restrictions on the fundamental rights of the personnel, who function in a peculiar situation requiring utmost discipline.
    • The three laws were protected by Article 33 of the Constitution, which allowed the government to modify the fundamental rights of the armed forces personnel.

    The core idea behind govt. proposition

    • One has to remember that the armed forces exist in an environment wholly different and distinct from civilians. Honour is a sine qua non of the service.
    • The provisions of the Acts should be allowed to continue to govern the personnel as a “distinct class”, irrespective of the 2018 judgment.
    • This is because, the discipline necessary for the performance of duty, crucial for national safety, would break down.
    • It said the court would not, at the time, have been appraised of the different circumstances under which the armed forces operated.

    Back2Basics: Article 33 of the Indian Constitution

    • It deals with the power of Parliament to modify the rights conferred by this Part III in their application etc.
    • Parliament may, by law, determine to what extent any of the rights conferred by this Part shall, in their application to-

    (a) the members of the Armed Forces; or

    (b) the members of the Forces charged with the maintenance of public order; or

    (c) persons employed in any bureau or other organisation established by the State for purposes of intelligence or counterintelligence; or

    (d) persons employed in, or in connection with, the telecommunication systems set up for the purposes of any Force, bureau or organisation referred to in clauses (a) to (c), be restricted or abrogated so as to ensure the proper discharge of their duties and the maintenance of discipline among them

  • NASA’s Curiosity Rover celebrates 3000 days on Mars

    The Mars rover ‘Curiosity’ has completed 3,000 Martian days.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Which region of Mars has a densely packed river deposit indicating this planet had water 3.5 billion years ago?

    (a) Aeolis Dorsa

    (b) Tharsis

    (c) Olympus Mons

    (d) Hellas

    Curiosity Rover

    • Curiosity is an SUV-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Gale crater on Mars as part of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission
    • The main mission of Curiosity was “to search areas of Mars for past or present conditions favourable for life, and conditions capable of preserving a record of life.”
    • It has a suite of instruments:
    1. A gas chromatograph, a mass spectrometer, a tunable laser spectrometer, X-ray diffraction, fluorescence instrument help study the rocks
    2. The Mars Hand Lens Imager (for close-up pictures) and a Mast Camera (to take photos of the surroundings)
    3. An instrument named ChemCam to vaporize thin layers of Martian rocks.
    4. Radiation Assessment Detector to study the radiation environment at the surface of Mars
    5. Rover Environmental Monitoring Station to measure atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, winds, plus ultraviolet radiation levels
    6. Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons instrument to measure subsurface hydrogen

    Back2Basics: Martian Day/ Sol

    • Coincidentally, the duration of a Martian day aka ‘Sol’ is within a few per cent of that of an Earth day, which has led to the use of analogous time units.
    • A sol is slightly longer than an Earth day. It is approximately 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds long.
    • A Martian year is approximately 668 sols, equivalent to approximately 687 Earth days.
    • Mars has an axial tilt and a rotation period similar to those of Earth.
    • Thus, it experiences seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter much like Earth.

  • Sulawesi Cave Paintings

    A team of archaeologists in Indonesia has discovered what may be the world’s oldest known cave painting dating back to more than 45,000 years.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.There are only two known examples of cave paintings of the Gupta period in ancient India. One of these is paintings of Ajanta caves. Where is the other surviving example of Gupta paintings?

    (a) Bagh caves

    (b) Ellora caves

    (c) Lomas Rishi cave

    (d) Nasik caves

    Sulawesi Cave Paintings

    • The cave painting depicts a wild boar endemic to the Sulawesi island of Indonesia, where the painting was found.
    • The central Indonesian island, which occupies an area of over 174,000 sq. km, is situated between Asia and Australia.
    • It has a long history of human occupation.

    Significance of the painting

    • The archaeologists’ note that the dated painting of the Sulawesi warty pig seems to be the world’s oldest surviving representational image of an animal.
    • The painting was made using red ochre pigment and depicts a pig with a short crest of upright hairs and a pair of horn-like facial warts in front of the eyes.
    • These pigs have been hunted by humans for tens of thousands of years and are the most commonly depicted animal in the ice age rock art of the island.
    • It suggests that they have long been used as food and form a “focus of creative thinking and artistic expression” for people of that time.

    Must read:

    Chapter 1 | Stone Age – Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic

    How did the archaeologists date it?

    • The painting was first discovered in 2017 as part of surveys the team was carrying out with the Indonesian authorities.
    • For these painting archaeologists used a method called U-series isotope analysis, which uses calcium carbonate deposits that form naturally on the cave wall surface to determine its age.
    • They used a calcium carbonate deposit, also referred to as “cave popcorn” that had formed on the rear foot of one of the pig figures.
    • They were able to figure out a minimum age for the painting at around 45,500 years, which means the painting was made before this.

    Sulawesi: Oldest human habitat

    Try memorizing these Islands of the Indo-Pacific in their East-West alternations.

    • Sulawesi island contains some of the oldest directly dated rock art in the world and also some of the oldest evidence for the presence of hominins beyond the southeastern limits of the Ice Age Asian continent.
    • Hominins include modern humans, extinct human species and our immediate ancestors.
    • Homo sapiens are the first modern humans who evolved from their hominid predecessors between 200,000-300,000 years ago.
    • It is estimated that these modern humans started migrating outside of Africa some 70,000-100,000 years ago.
    • Even so, it is not yet clear as to when modern humans first colonised Sulawesi.

  • Covid-19 vaccine policy

    The article explains the challenge in the vaccination program for the Covid-19 vaccine.

    Issue of lack of data about the vaccine

    • In the COVID vaccine roll out, there is no clear data for either of the two vaccines proposed for use in the programme.
    • We do not know if they provide protection for life, for a year or six months, its efficacy among the elderly or the very sick or in stopping new infections.
    • Getting such data requires at least three years and cannot be obtained in a few months.

    Guidelines for implementing vaccine programme

    • Given these limitations, the government has drawn up strategic guidelines for implementing an vaccine programme covering 30 crore people by July.
    • The guidelines draw upon the knowledge of running national campaigns acquired over three decades of implementing the Universal Immunisation Programme.
    • These guidelines detail the skills, roles and responsibilities of the required human resources, logistics for delivering vaccines at point of use, physical infrastructure, monitoring systems based on digital platforms and feedback systems for reporting adverse events.
    • The approach involves 19 departments, donor organisations and NGOs at the national, state, district and block level.
    • The guidelines also mention the priority criteria — caregivers, front line workers of the departments of health, defence, municipalities and transportation; persons above the age of 50 and those below 50 having diabetes, hypertension, cancers and lung diseases.

    Issues with the guidelines

    • Of the 28,932 cold chain points, half are in the five southern states, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
    • Combined with poor human resources — doctors, nurses, pharmacists — a weak private sector, poor safety and hygiene standards, frequent power outages, poor infrastructure, the capacity to implement with the expected speed, quality and accuracy is daunting.
    • The immunisation can disrupt routine health service delivery — antenatal care, national programmes like those pertaining to TB or other immunisation drives.
    • While data for the above-50-year-olds is available in the electoral rolls, line listing of the under 50s with comorbidities can be challenging.
    • Not only are urban-rural variations substantial, but urban areas have weak public health infrastructure and a multiple number of private providers due to the poor implementation of the Clinical Establishment Act, 2010.
    • Patient tracking can be problematic.
    • The non-availability of efficacy data could also impact the procurement and supply of vaccines, result in huge wastage, and can introduce scope for errors and duplication.

    Way forward

    • Central to the success of the roll out will be the confidence of the people in the vaccines.
    • Coming out of this messy situation is necessary and one option — as adopted for the polio eradication programme — is to establish an independent team of experts under the aegis of the WHO to ensure the safety of the vaccine.
    • This will create confidence in the community and international authorities as well.

    Conclusion

    it is important to understand that vaccination is an incomplete solution to ending the epidemic, since the virus is mutating. Adopting safe behaviour is.

  • Improving fiscal situation through budget

    The budget could be an opportunity to increase the consumption which has been impacted by the pandemic and still continues to show the declining trends.

    Continuing decline in consumption

    • The first advance estimates of GDP for 2020-21 are much better than the earlier market consensus.
    • The demand side, however, continues to be in a decline with private consumption falling by 9.5 per cent and its share in the overall GDP reducing by full 100 basis points.
    • Per capita private consumption has contracted by 10.4 per cent, while capital formation has contracted by 14.5 per cent, with imports and exports also contracting.
    • Only government consumption remains in positive territory.

    What should be the growth in nominal GDP for 2021-22?

    • In terms of specific numbers, the average growth in nominal GDP for the decade ending in 2013-14 was 15 per cent, but the average GDP deflator at 7.6 per cent far outpaced average real GDP at 6.8 per cent.
    • For the six year period ending in 2019-20, average nominal GDP growth was 10.4 per cent, with real GDP growth of 6.8 per cent far outpacing the GDP deflator at 3.6 per cent.
    • It is thus extremely important that we ensure that the current inflation trajectory is kept under control through policy interventions.

    Policy recommendations for the farmers

    1) Changing condition for renewal of loan on Kisan Credit Cards

    • Out of the outstanding bank credit of about Rs 12 lakh crore to the agriculture and allied activities sector, Rs 7 lakh crore is for Kisan Credit Cards.
    • The KCC portfolio of banks is under stress over the years due to a variety of factors like crop losses, unremunerated prices, debt waivers and the rigidity of the KCC product.
    • Currently, the renewal of KCC loans with payment of both principal and interest ensures interest subvention.
    • It is proposed that for renewal of KCC loans of small and marginal farmers and for loans of other categories of farmers for amounts up to Rs 3 lakh, the payment of interest must be a sufficient condition for renewal as with other loans.
    • The above measure has the potential to reduce the credit cost for banks considerably on KCCs as NPAs can be prevented more easily and the interest rate on KCC loans can be further reduced.

    2) Formalise tenancy and provide credit to tenant farmers

    • There are 11.5 crore farmers who are PM-KISAN beneficiaries — 6.5 crore farmers have KCC.
    • Thus, the remaining 4-5 crore could be land owning cultivators and at least 3-4 crore of such could be tenants/lessees/landless.
    • Currently, such tenant farmers are not formalised into the credit deliveries of scheduled commercial banks.
    • As of now, it requires state interventions for tenancy certificates which is only available in Andhra Pradesh.
    • Formation of a SHG model under the Deen Dayal Antodoya Yojana will formalise tenancy even without formal documentation of tenancy.
    • This will enable formal lending to take place to three crore landless farmers.

    3) Increasing investment in health and education

    • For health, it government could introduce medical savings account with a defined scheme to deduct interest from the savings account and pay towards a Mediclaim policy.
    • For the record, the size of the health insurance is Rs 32,000 crore and the savings bank interest is Rs 1.15 lakh crore.
    • The government should also consider exempting all retail and health insurance products from GST.

    Three suggestions on the fiscal situation

    • First,Withdraw all tax appeals.
    • Second, accept all domestic arbitration decisions against government departments/agencies.
    • Third, clear all outstanding dues to all parastatal agencies within a stipulated time.
    • This will be a milestone structural administrative change that could be even thought of as a one-time balance sheet entry recognising liabilities and paying them off.
    • As a consequence, we could jump multiple positions on the Ease of Doing Business rankings.

    Conclusion

    By implementing these steps in the budget the government could use this opportnity to stimulate the economy and aid the economic recovery.

  • Mutual Funds Risk-o-Meter

    The capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has made it mandatory for mutual funds to assign a risk level to schemes, based on certain parameters.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Which of the following is issued by registered foreign portfolio investors to overseas investors who want to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly?

    (a) Certificate of Deposit

    (b) Commercial Paper

    (c) Promissory Note

    (d) Participatory Note

    What are Mutual Funds?

    • A Mutual Fund is a trust that collects money from a number of investors who share a common investment objective.
    • Then, it invests the money in equities, bonds, money market instruments and/or other securities.
    • Each investor owns units, which represent a portion of the holdings of the fund.
    • The income/gains generated from this collective investment are distributed proportionately amongst the investors after deducting certain expenses, by calculating a scheme’s “Net Asset Value or NAV.
    • It is one of the most viable investment options for the common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost.
    • All funds carry some level of risk. With mutual funds, one may lose some or all of the money invested because the securities held by a fund can go down in value.

    What is the risk-o-meter?

    • All mutual funds shall beginning January 1, assign a risk level to their schemes at the time of launch, based on the scheme’s characteristics.
    • SEBI’s decision on the “risk-o-meter”, characterizes the risk level of the schemes on a six-stage scale from “Low” to “Very High”.
    • The risk-o-meter must be evaluated on a monthly basis.

    A compulsory mandate

    • Fund houses are required to disclose the risk-o-meter risk level along with the portfolio disclosure for all their schemes on their own websites as well as the website of the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) within 10 days of the close of each month.
    • Any change in the risk-o-meter reading with regard to a scheme shall be communicated to the unit-holders of that scheme.

    How will the level of risk be assigned?

    • Which one of the six risk levels — low, low to moderate, moderate, moderately high, high, and very high — would apply, would depend upon the risk value (less than 1 for low risk to more than 5 for very high risk) calculated for the scheme.
    • So if the risk value of a scheme is less than 1, its risk level would be low, and if it is more than 5, the risk will be very high on the risk-o-meter.

  • [pib] IAF to induct LCA Tejas

    The Union Cabinet has approved procurement of 73 LCA Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircraft and 10 LCA Tejas Mk-1 Trainer aircraft for Indian Air Force.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2018:

    Q.What is “Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)”, sometimes seen in the news?

    (a) An Israeli radar system

    (b) India’s indigenous anti-missile programme

    (c) An American anti-missile system

    (d) A defence collaboration between Japan and South Korea

    LCA Tejas

    • The Tejas is an Indian single-engine, fourth-generation, multirole light fighter aircraft.
    • It is designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with the Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
    • It came from the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India’s ageing MiG-21 fighters.
    • The indigenous content of the Tejas was 59.7% by value and 75.5% by a number of lines replaceable units.

    Which are the procured variants?

    • Light Combat Aircraft Mk-1A variant is an indigenously designed, developed and manufactured state-of-the-art modern 4+ generation fighter aircraft.
    • It is the first “Buy (Indian-Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured)” category procurement of combat aircraft.

    Significance

    • Tejas enable IAF to handle repairs or servicing at their base depot so that the turnaround time would get reduced for mission-critical systems.
    • This would enable IAF to sustain the fleet more efficiently and effectively due to the availability of repair infrastructure at respective bases.
    • It will give a further push to Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative and boost indigenization of defence production and the defence industry in the country.