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  • Postal Ballots in Elections

    The Election Commission has announced that it will allow those above the age of 65 as well as those under home or institutional quarantine to vote using postal ballots during the Bihar elections. Opposition parties are unhappy with the move and termed it unconstitutional.

    Try this question from CSP 2017:

    Q.Consider the following statements:

    1. The Election Commission of India is a five-member body.
    2. Union Ministry of Home Affairs decides the election schedule for the conduct of both general elections and bye-elections.
    3. Election Commission resolves the disputes relating to splits/mergers of recognized political parties.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 2 and 3 only

    (d) 3 only

    What is Postal Voting?

    • A restricted set of voters can exercise postal voting.
    • Through this facility, a voter can cast her vote remotely by recording her preference on the ballot paper and sending it back to the election officer before counting.

    Who can avail of this facility?

    • Members of the armed forces like the Army, Navy and Air Force, members of the armed police force of a state (serving outside the state), government employees posted outside India and their spouses are entitled to vote only by post.
    • In other words, they can’t vote in person. Voters under preventive detention can also vote only by post.
    • Special voters such as the President of India, Vice President, Governors, Union Cabinet ministers, Speaker of the House and government officers on poll duty have the option to vote by post.
    • But they have to apply through a prescribed form to avail this facility.

    What about absentee voters?

    • Recently, the Law Ministry, at the Election Commission’s behest, introduced a new category of ‘absentee voters’, who can now also opt for postal voting.
    • These are voters employed in essential services and unable to cast their vote due to their service conditions.
    • Currently, officials of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Northern Railway (Passenger and Freight) Services and media persons are notified as absentee voters.
    • Last month, senior citizens above the age of 65 and voters who test positive for COVID19 or are suspected to be COVID-affected were allowed to cast their vote by post.

    How are votes recorded by post?

    • The Returning Officer is supposed to print ballot papers within 24 hours of the last date of nomination withdrawal and dispatch them within a day.
    • This is done so that the ballot papers reach the concerned voter well before the polling date and she has enough time to send it back before the counting day.
    • Postal ballot papers for members of the Armed Forces are sent through their record offices.
    • For members of the armed police force of a state (serving outside the state), government employees posted outside India and their spouses, the ballot paper can be sent through post or electronically.
    • For remaining categories ballot papers can be delivered personally or through the post.

    Why political parties are divided over postal ballots?

    • Opposition parties are not against postal ballots.
    • They have objected to the EC’s decision to allow voters aged 65 and above and those infected or suspected to be infected with COVID19 to vote via postal ballots.
    • This change was effected without consulting political parties.
    • They fear that the move will lead to malpractices and foul play by those parties which are in power and having resources.

    Issues with the recent move

    • Allowing those aged 65 and above to vote by postal ballot violates secrecy in voting as a large segment of the population is uneducated and they might seek assistance from others.
    • This will end up disclosing their preferred candidate.
    • This also exposes them to “administrative influence or influence by the Government or the ruling party”.

  • [pib] Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (AHRCs) for Urban Migrants / Poor

    The Union Cabinet has given its approval for developing of Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (AHRCs). for urban migrants  / poor.

    Try this question from CSP 2015:

    “Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojna’ has been launched for

    (a) Providing housing loan to poor people at cheaper interest rates

    (b) Promoting women’s Self-Help Groups in backward areas

    (c) Promoting financial inclusion in the country

    (d) Providing financial help to the marginalized communities

    AHRC

    • It is a sub-scheme under PM Awas Yojana – Urban.
    • Under the scheme, existing vacant government-funded housing complexes will be converted in ARHCs through Concession Agreements for 25 years.
    • The concessionaire will make the complexes livable by repair/retrofit and maintenance of rooms and filling up infrastructure gaps like water, sewer/ septage, sanitation, road etc.
    • States/UTs will select concessionaire through transparent bidding.
    • Complexes will revert to ULB after 25 years to restart next cycle like earlier or run on their own.

    Beneficiaries of the scheme

    • A large part of the workforce in manufacturing industries, service providers in hospitality, health, domestic/commercial establishments, and construction or other sectors, labourers, students etc. who come from rural areas or small towns seeking better opportunities will be the target beneficiary under ARHCs.

    Benefits of AHRCs

    • Usually, these migrants live in slums, informal/ unauthorized colonies or peri-urban areas to save rental charges.
    • They spend a lot of time on roads by walking/ cycling to workplaces, risking their lives to cut on the expenses.
    • ARHCs will create a new ecosystem in urban areas making housing available at affordable rent close to the place of work.
    • Investment under ARHCs is expected to create new job opportunities.
    • ARHCs will cut down unnecessary travel, congestion and pollution.

    Back2Basics: Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)

    PMAY-Urban

    The PMAY- Urban Programme launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA), in Mission mode envisions provision of Housing for All by 2022. The Mission seeks to address the housing requirement of urban poor including slum dwellers through following programme verticals:

    • Slum rehabilitation of Slum Dwellers with participation of private developers using land as a resource
    • Promotion of Affordable Housing for weaker section through credit linked subsidy
    • Affordable Housing in Partnership with Public & Private sectors
    • Subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction /enhancement.

    PMAY-Rural

    • In pursuance to the goal – Housing for all by 2022, the rural housing scheme Indira Awas Yojana has been revamped to Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin and approved during March 2016.
    • Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided for construction of a pucca house to all houseless and households living in dilapidated houses.
    • It is proposed that one crore households would be provided assistance for construction of pucca house under the project during the period from 2016-17 to 2018-19.
    • The scheme would be implemented in rural areas throughout India except for Delhi and Chandigarh. The cost of houses would be shared between the Centre and States.

  • [pib] Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana

    The Union Cabinet has approved the extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) as part of Economic Response to COVID-19, for another five months from July to November 2020.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q.Discuss how the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana has helped to ensure food security to the vulnerable sections of India during the Covid-19 induced lockdown period.

    PM- Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana

    • Under the scheme it is proposed to distribute 9.7 Lakh MT cleaned whole Chana to States/UTs for distribution to all beneficiary households under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA).
    • Thus it would 1kg per month free of cost under for the next five months -July to November 2020.
    • All expenses on the extended PMGKAY are to be borne by the Central Government.
    • About 19.4 crore households would be covered under the Scheme.

    Benefits of the scheme

    • Extension of the scheme is in line with the commitments of the GOI to allow anybody, especially any poor family, to suffer on account of non-availability of food grains due to disruption during next five months.
    • Free distribution of whole Chana will also ensure adequate availability of protein to all the above-mentioned individuals during these five months.

  • Analysing the impact of reservation

    Provision of reservation has helped in correcting the historical injustice in some way. However, the recent decline in government jobs and policy changes could undermine the provision of reservation.

    How reservation helped SCs and OBCs: Some figures

    • In the Central Administrative Services, SCs reached 14 per cent of the Class C in 1984.
    • They reached 14.3 per cent of Class B in 2003.
    • In Class C,13.3 per cent in 2015.
    • In the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), their proportion rose from 14.6 per cent in 2004 to 18.1 per cent in 2014.
    • In parallel, the SCs’ literacy rate jumped from 21.38 per cent in 1981 to 66.1 per cent in 2011.
    •  After the Mandal Commission report was implemented, OBCs started to benefit from it.
    • In 2013, OBCs – 52 per cent of India’s population according to the Mandal report – represented 8.37 per cent of Class A in the Central Government Services, 10.01 per cent of Class B and 17.98 per cent of Class C.
    • Their percentage in the CPSEs jumped from 16.6 per cent in 2004 to 28.5 per cent in 2014.

    Number of jobs declining

    • First, the number of vacancies has surged, from 5.5 lakh in 2006 to 7.5 lakh in 2014 so far as central government employment is concerned.
    • Second, the total number of employees has dropped between 2003 and 2012, from 32.69 lakh to 26.30 lakh in the Central Government Services.
    • The number of Dalits benefiting from reservations has been reduced by 16 per cent from 5.40 lakh to 4.55 lakh.
    • While the number of OBCs benefiting from reservations had jumped from 14.89 lakh in 2008 to 23.55 lakh in 2012, it has dropped to 23.38 lakh the year after.
    • Reservations have also been undermined by lateral entry into the bureaucracy.
    • This new procedure undermined the reservations system because the quotas did not apply.

    Judgements that affect the idea of reservation

    • In one judgment the UGC was allowed to shift the unit of provision of reservations from a university as a whole to the departmental level.
    • Such a shift has reduced the quantum of reserved seats and restricted the entry of lower castes.
    • Small departments, where vacancies are few, would be indivisible — thereby no seats would be reserved.
    • As a result, only 2.5 per cent posts were reserved for SCs, none for STs and 8 per cent for OBCs.
    • However, the impact of the ordinance and the subsequent Bill passed by the Parliament in March and July 2019, reversing the Supreme Court’s judgment, is yet to be seen.
    • In another judgement, Supreme Court ruled that reservation in job promotions was not a fundamental right.
    • This ruling undermined the effect of an amendment to the Constitution that had been introduced by the Narasimha Rao government in 1995 and that had resulted in article 16(4A).
    • Article 16(4A) had circumvented a facet of the 1992 decision of the Supreme Court to allow reservation for SCs and STs in promotions.
    • In 2001 the 85th amendment extended the benefit of reservations in favour of the SCs/STs in matters of promotion with consequential seniority.
    • This time, in 2020, the Government of India has decided not to contest the decision of the Supreme Court.

    Policy changes that affect the reservation

    • The National Commission for Backward Classes has issued a notice to the health ministry complaining that the post-Mandal 27 per cent quota was not implemented systematically.
    • The funds earmarked for Dalit education in the Indian budget were reduced by the previous government.
    • While this budget item, within the Special Component Plan is supposed to be proportional to the demographic weight of the Dalits, 16.6 per cent, it fluctuated between 9 and 6.5 per cent.

    Conclusion

    Reservations have been one of the most effective techniques of positive discrimination in India and helped in the goal of delivering social justice. So, any policy that affects it must be reconsidered.

    Original link

    https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/reservation-in-india-privatisation-push-nirmals-sitharaman-backward-castes-6494931/

  • U.S. stance on CAATSA unchanged

    Recently India had planned for the purchase of Mig-19 fighter aircraft with Russia at an estimated Rs. 18,148 crore. The U.S has reacted to countries, including India, on sanctions for the purchase of Russian arms has not changed.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q.What is CAATSA law? Discuss how it will impact India’s ties with Russia.

    About CAATSA

    • CAATSA stands for Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
    • It is a US federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
    • The bill provides sanctions for activities concerning:

    (1) cybersecurity, (2) crude oil projects, (3) financial institutions, (4) corruption, (5) human rights abuses, (6) evasion of sanctions, (7) transactions with Russian defence or intelligence sectors, (8) export pipelines, (9) privatization of state-owned assets by government officials, and (10) arms transfers to Syria.

    A cause of worry

    • While the US has become its second-largest defence supplier, mainly of aircraft and artillery, India still relies heavily on Russian equipment, such as submarines and missiles that the US has been unwilling to provide.
    • Seventy per cent of Indian military hardware is Russian in origin.
    • India is set to receive the S-400 Triumf air defence system.

    Is India the only country facing CAATSA sanctions?

    • Notably, Russia is India’s major defence supplier for over 6 decades now, and Iran is India’s second-largest oil supplier.
    • By coincidence, CAATSA has now been invoked by the US twice already, and both times for countries buying the Triumf system from Russia.
    • In September 2018, the US announced sanctions for the procurement of the S-400 Triumf air defence system and Sukhoi S-35 fighter aircraft.
    • Washington expelled Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet programme in July this year after the first delivery of S-400s was received.
    • India is neither like China, which has an inimical relationship with the U.S., and hence not bound by its diktats, nor like Turkey which is a NATO ally of the US.

  • Species in news: Golden Birdwing

    A Himalayan butterfly named golden birdwing is now India’s largest recorded butterfly.

    Try this MCQ:

    Q.The Himalayan Golden Birdwing recently seen in news is a:

    a)Biggest butterfly

    b)Smallest avian specie

    c)Biggest freshwater fish

    d)Honeybee

    Golden Birdwing

    • A Himalayan butterfly named golden birdwing is now India’s largest, a record the southern birdwing held for 88 years.
    • The male golden birdwing is much smaller at 106 mm.
    • With a wingspan of 194 mm, the female of the species is marginally larger than the southern birdwing (190 mm) that Brigadier William Harry Evans, a British military officer and lepidopterist, recorded in 1932.
    • It was an individual of the southern birdwing which was then treated as a subspecies of the common birdwing.

    Other butterflies in news

    • The Malabar Banded Peacock or the Buddha Mayoori which was recently declared the ‘State Butterfly’ of Kerala will have a dedicated butterfly park in Kochi.
    • Tamil Nadu has also recently declared Tamil Yeoman (Cirrochroa Thais)as its state butterfly to symbolise its rich natural and cultural heritage, in a move aimed at boosting the conservation efforts of the attractive insects.
    • Other states to have state butterflies are Maharashtra (Blue Mormon), Uttarakhand (Common peacock), Karnataka (Southern birdwings).

  • Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary

    In a bid to further its territorial ambitions, China has recently claimed the Sakteng wildlife sanctuary in Eastern Bhutan as its own territory.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q.What are the various fronts of Chinese imperial expansionism across the South Asian Region?

    About the Sakteng WLS

    • Sakteng is a wildlife sanctuary located mostly in Trashigang District and just crossing the border into Samdrup Jongkhar District, Bhutan.
    • It is one of the country’s protected areas.
    • It is listed as a tentative site in Bhutan’s Tentative List for UNESCO inclusion.

    Certain unresolved issues

    • The boundary between China and Bhutan has never been delimited.
    • There have been disputes over the eastern, central and western sectors for a long time.
    • China last month attempted to stop funding for the Sakteng sanctuary from the U.N. Development Programme’s Global Environment Facility (GEF) on the grounds that it was “disputed” territory.

    Reasons for the dispute

    • According to written records, there has been no mention of Eastern Bhutan, or Trashigang Dzongkhag (district), where Sakteng is based as per boundary negotiations held between the two countries between 1984 and 2016.
    • The negotiations have not been held since the Doklam standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in 2017.
    • Bhutan has always maintained a discreet silence on its boundary negotiations with China, and it does not have any formal diplomatic relations with Beijing.

  • World Drug Report: India in top five list

    According to the latest World Drug Report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the fourth highest seizure of opium in 2018 was reported from India, after Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

    Drug seizures in India and neighbourhood

    • The maximum of 644 tonnes of opium was seized in Iran, followed by 27 tonnes in Afghanistan and 19 tonnes in Pakistan.
    • In India, the figure stood at four tonnes in 2018.

    Heroin

    • Heroin is manufactured from the morphine extracted from the seed pod of opium poppy plants.
    • Iran reported the highest seizure of heroin (25 tonnes), followed by Turkey, United States, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
    • India was at the 12th position in the world.

    Global pattern

    • 97% of the total global production of opium in the past five years came from only three countries.
    • About 84% of the total opium was produced in Afghanistan, from where it is supplied to neighbouring countries, Europe, west Asia, south Asia and Africa.
    • From Myanmar, which accounts for 7% of the global opium production, and Laos, where 1% of the opium is produced, it is supplied to east and south-east Asia and Oceania.
    • Mexico accounts for 6% of the global opium production, while Colombia and Guatemala account for less than 1% of global production.

    Some other details

    • The report said that the global area under opium poppy cultivation declined for the second year in a row in 2019.
    • It went down by 17% in 2018 and by 30% in 2019.
    • Despite the decline in cultivation, opium production remained stable in 2019, with higher yields reported in the main opium production areas.
    • Quantities of seized opiates remained concentrated in Asia, notably in south-west Asia (70%).
    • Asia is host to more than 90% of global illicit opium production.
    • Also, it is the world’s largest consumption market for opiates and also accounts for almost 80% of all opiates seized worldwide in 2018.

    Consider the question asked in 2018 “India’s proximity to two of the world’s biggest illicit opium-growing states has enhanced her internal security concerns. Explain the linkages between drug trafficking and other illicit activities such as gunrunning, money laundering and human trafficking. What countermeasures should be taken to prevent the same?”

  • Railways to become Net Zero Carbon Emission Mass Transport by 2030

    A new dawn ushers on Indian Railways as it endeavors to be self-reliant for its energy needs as directed by the Prime Minister and solarise railway stations by utilizing its vacant lands for Renewable Energy (RE) projects.

    Moving towards ‘Net Zero’ Carbon Emission Railways

    • The Ministry of Railways has decided to install solar power plants on its vacant unused lands on mega-scale.
    • The use of solar power will accelerate the mission to achieve a conversion of Indian Railways to ‘Net Zero’ Carbon Emission Railway.
    • Railway Energy Management Company Ltd. (REMCL) is working to further proliferate the use of solar energy on mega scale.
    • It has already floated tenders for 2 GW of solar projects for Indian Railways to be installed on unutilised railway lands.

    Projects along operational railway lines

    • Indian Railways is also adopting an innovative concept of installation of solar projects along operational railway lines.
    • This will help in preventing encroachment, enhancing the speed and safety of trains and reduction of infrastructure costs due to direct injection of solar power into the traction network.
    • With these mega initiatives, Indian Railways is leading India’s fight against climate challenge.
    • These are significant steps towards meeting its ambitious goal of being a net zero carbon emissions organisation and meeting India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) targets.

     

  • Explaining Lithium increase in the Universe

    In a study recently published in Nature Astronomy scientists from Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) along with their international collaborators have provided a robust observational evidence for the first time that Li production is common among low mass Sun-like stars during their He-core burning phase.

    Importance of lithium in our life

    • Light inflammable, metal lithium (Li) has brought about transformation in modern communication devices and transportation.
    • A great deal of today’s technology is powered by lithium in its various shades [remember Li-ion battery!].
    • But where does the element come from?
    • The origin of much of the Li can be traced to a single event, the Big-Bang that happened about 13.7 Billion years ago, from which the present-day Universe was also born.

    Why lithium was thought to be different?

    • Li content in the physical Universe has increased by about a factor of four over the life of the Universe.
    • However, the rest of the elements carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, nickel and so on which grew about a million times over the lifetime of the Universe.
    • Li, however, understood to be an exemption!
    • Current understanding is that lithium in stars like our Sun only gets destroyed over their lifetime.
    • As a matter of fact, the composition of all the elements in the Sun and the Earth is similar.
    • But, the measured content of Li in the Sun is a factor of 100 lower than that of the Earth, though both are known to have formed together.

    So, what the new finding suggests?

    • This discovery challenges the long-held idea that stars only destroy lithium during their lifetime.
    • It implies that the Sun itself will manufacture lithium in the future.
    • This is not predicted by models, indicating that there is some physical process missing in stellar theory.
    • Further, the authors identified “He flash”.
    • “He flash” is an on-set of He-ignition at the star’s core via violent eruption at the end of the star’s core hydrogen-burning phase, as the source of Li production.
    • Our Sun will reach this phase in about 6-7 billion years.