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GS Paper: GS2

  • Places in news: Solomon Islands

    The Solomon Islands has defended plans to sign a security deal with Beijing that could allow China to boost its military presence in the South Pacific island nation. This has left Australia very concerned.

    Solomon Islands

    • Solomon Islands is a sovereign country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu.
    • It has a land area of 28,400 square kilometres and a population of 652,858.[10] Its capital, Honiara, is located on the largest island, Guadalcanal.
    • The country takes its name from the Solomon Islands archipelago, which is a collection of Melanesian islands.
    • It also includes the North Solomon Islands (a part of Papua New Guinea), but excludes outlying islands, such as the Santa Cruz Islands and Rennell and Bellona.
    • The islands have been settled since at least some time between 30,000 and 28,800 BCE, with later waves of migrants, notably the Lapita people, mixing and producing the modern indigenous Solomon Islanders population.

     

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  • Time for India to redefine its relationship with Russia

    Context

    Russia’s war on Ukraine has decisively shaped international opinion. Indian foreign policy is also going to be affected in a profound manner.

    India’s foreign policy conundrum

    • Russia’s attack on Ukraine has put New Delhi in a foreign policy conundrum that will not disappear soon because Russia’s action has changed the global order.
    • India has not directly criticised Moscow’s action.
    • Memories of the historic Indo-Soviet partnership still seem to tip the scales when it comes to India’s vote at the UNSC.
    • Western countries have criticised India’s repeated abstentions at the UNSC on the issue of the Russian invasion.
    • The Western world has imposed unprecedented sanctions against Russia and banned energy imports.
    • New Delhi is concerned about the impact of these sanctions on global finance, energy supplies, and transportation, amid growing signs that they will constrain India’s ability to import Russian oil.

    India’s challenges

    • Russia’s increasing dependence on China: What must worry India is the fact that Russia will now become increasingly dependent on Chinese support to defend its policies.
    • The collapsing ruble, the punishing sanctions, and the dire state of the Russian economy will push Russia further into China’s military and economic orbit.
    • China’s challenge in Indo-Pacific: India’s real strategic challenge is surfacing in the Indo-Pacific with the rise of China, as Beijing has consistently sought to expand its zone of military, economic and political influence through the Belt and Road Initiative.
    • Though India would like the U.S. to continue to focus on China, it is not possible for Washington to ignore Russia’s aggression along NATO’s periphery.

    How India’s ties with Russia changed over time

    • Since the end of the Cold War, Indians have been debating the contours of strategic autonomy.
    • For one section the doctrine of ‘multi-alignment’ is the 21st century avatar of strategic autonomy as India has been expanding its engagement with all the major powers.
    • Following the disintegration of the USSR, India joined Russia and China against the unipolarity of the U.S.
    •  For some time, this common concern about unipolarity put the three countries on the same path towards mutual cooperation and understanding.
    • Later, Brazil and South Africa were also brought into this coalition.
    • However, it soon became clear that India and China did not see eye to eye.
    • Moreover, India was determined to maintain its partnership with Russia, an important arms supplier.
    • Its ties with the U.S. have also improved significantly since the end of the Cold War.
    • But continuing dependence on Russian weaponry has become India’s strategic headache.

    Way forward for India

    •  Under Mr. Putin, Russia is in a state of transition, swinging wildly from one crisis to another.
    • Therefore, it is too risky for India to pursue vague aims vis-à-vis Russia in these uncertain times.
    • A NATO-Russia Council was formed specifically to alleviate Russia’s concerns, and that Russia was recognised as one of the world’s leading industrial powers through a formal admission into the elite G-7.
    • Though Moscow has drifted much closer to Beijing, and is sharply critical of India’s engagement with the U.S. and the Quad, India finds it difficult to extend support to Ukraine.
    • It goes without saying that the U.S. is the country most likely to bolster India’s future as a great power.

    Conclusion

    It is not going to be easy for New Delhi to maintain its balancing act in the future as Washington hardens its position further. It is inevitable that during this time of diplomatic and strategic uncertainty, New Delhi needs to be ready to radically redefine its relationship with Moscow.

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  • Smart Policing

    Context

    On March 11, speaking at the NCRB Foundation Day, the Union Home Minister remarked that the second phase of the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) is set to be completed by 2026.

    Increasing use of technology for policing

    • the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS), a Rs 3,500 crore project, is set to be completed by 2026 with increased use of artificial intelligence, fingerprint systems and other tools of predictive policing.
    • One crore fingerprints had already been uploaded and if these were available to all police stations as part of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS), there would no longer be any need to pursue criminals.
    • The existing systems of ICJS and CCTNS empower the state to cross-reference data between different pillars of the criminal justice system.
    • Recently, the Indore Police Commissioner unveiled a “fingerprint-based criminal record data fetching system” in which a small thumb impression machine can be added to a phone.
    • If the fingerprint recorded matches with the police database, all information about a person’s criminal record will be pulled up.

    Issues with the use of technologies

    • Privacy concerns: The enthusiasm for generating and cross-referencing data to make policing more efficient ignores privacy concerns and structural faults of policing.
    • The Supreme Court in K.S Puttaswamy declared a fundamental right to informational privacy as paramount and noted that any measure that sought to collect information or surveil must be legal, necessary, and proportionate.
    • Fear of mass surveillance: Integrating “fingerprint-based criminal record data fetching system” to the list of predictive policing practices will give birth to mass surveillance, particularly of certain oppressed caste communities, based on little evidence.
    • Nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes were ascribed “criminality by birth” and considered as “hereditary criminals addicted to systematic commission of non-bailable offences” under the colonial Criminal Tribes Act, 1871.
    • It has been replaced with the murky Habitual Offenders (HO) provisions, which have acted as a tool for police to continue to attribute criminality to Vimukta communities, by mandating their surveillance through regular check-ins at police stations.
    • Mere suspicion or FIRs filed against an individual are sufficient to trigger the discretionary powers of the police.

    Consider the question “Use of technology in policing can make it better at the same time run the risk of making it more dangerous.” Critically examine.

    Conclusion

    With the increasing adoption of technology in policing, we must pay attention to the risks involved and the issue of misuse.

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  • Vacancies in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS)

    Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions told  the Lok Sabha that as on January 1, 2021, there were 5,231 IAS officers in the country — 1,515 (22.45 per cent) fewer than the sanctioned strength of 6,746.

    About IAS

    • The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India.
    • Considered the premier central civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian Police Service and the Indian Forest Service.
    • Members of these three services serve the Government of India as well as the individual states.
    • IAS officers may also be deployed to various public sector undertakings and international organizations.

    Functions of the IAS

    • Upon confirmation of service, an IAS officer serves a probationary period as a sub-divisional magistrate.
    • Completion of this probation is followed by an executive administrative role in a district as a district magistrate and collector which lasts several years.
    • After this tenure, an officer may be promoted to head a whole state administrative division, as a divisional commissioner.

    How are officers recruited in the IAS?

    • Direct recruits are selected through the Civil Service Examination (CSE) every year; the number of recruits is decided by a committee that takes several factors into account.
    • Since 2012, 180 IAS officers have been recruited every year through the CSE.
    • A committee has been constituted to arrive at a suitable formula to determine the intake of IAS officers every year from CSE-2022 to 2030.
    • Some officers are promoted from the State Civil Services (SCS), and a limited number are promoted from among non-SCS officers.
    • Filling of vacancies through induction from State Services is a continuous process.
    • The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) holds Selection Committee meetings with state governments.

    Is the shortage a new trend?

    • The shortage has been a constant feature ever since — it was the least in 2001 (0.79 per cent), and the most in 2012 (28.87 per cent), as per available data.

    How is the sanctioned strength decided?

    • There is a provision for quinquennial cadre reviews for every cadre of the All India Services under the relevant Cadre Rules.
    • The Cadre Review Committee (CRC) is headed by the Cabinet Secretary with the Secretary DoPT, Secretary Expenditure, Secretary Administrative Ministry, and the senior-most member of the service/cadre in question as its members.
    • Cadre review is an ongoing process, and some states are taken up by rotation every year for review — in 2020-21.
    • For example, it was decided to revise the strength and composition of the IAS in UP and Bihar, and of the IPS in Manipur.
    • The sanctioned strength, therefore, keeps changing.

    What impact can a shortage of IAS officers have?

    • IAS officers are given a wide range of high-level responsibilities.
    • In states, their work relates to the collection of revenue, maintenance of law and order, and supervision of policies of the central and state governments.
    • They function as executive magistrates in revenue matters, and as development commissioners.
    • They supervise the spending of public funds and, at a senior level, contribute to policy formulation and decision-making in consultation with Ministers.
    • They serve the central government under deputation.

    Other issues

    • State governments have sometimes refused to send IAS/IPS/Indian Forest Service officers to the Centre saying they are short of officers.
    • The Centre has recently proposed amendments to the IAS (Cadre) Rules in order to exercise greater control in central deputation of IAS officers.

    Why can’t we have more IAS officers?

    • The B S Baswan Committee, said in its report submitted in 2016 that “any number above 180 would
    1. Compromise quality
    2. Exceed the LBNSAA’s (Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration’s) capacity and
    3. Lead to a distortion in the career pyramid of IAS officers, particularly for senior posts in the Government of India
    • The Committee recommended that “vacant posts in the Centre and states can be filled by deputation where the number of deputationists would be less than the present.”

    Issues with shortage of Officers

    • Bureaucracy deficit is, perhaps, compelling states to take recourse to such means as appointing non-cadre officers to cadre posts.
    • States allow them to continue in such posts beyond the permissible time limit besides giving multiple charges to serving officers.
    • Such measures compromise the efficiency of administration.

    Way ahead

    • The DoPT should increase the annual intake of IAS officers significantly keeping in view the evolving needs of Indian administration.

     

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  • Govt. steps in to tackle Russian trade hurdles

    The government has convened a multi-Ministerial group to look into how to overcome challenges in trade with Russia, including managing payments for exporters and importers.

    Recent course of updates

    • Many parliamentarians have raised concerns over India’s abstentions at the United Nations and the impact of Indian policy on India’s trade and ties with the US.
    • Developments indicate a possible revival of “rupee-rouble trade” in the wake of economic sanctions against Russian banks and entities by more than 40 US and European allies.
    • India’s position has been “steadfast and consistent”, and India has repeatedly called for the immediate cessation of violence and end to all hostilities.

    Gearing-up for a ‘Shaky’ response

    • FM responded to a question over India’s support on sanctions being “somewhat shaky” amongst Quad partners.
    • Leaders asked whether there would be any “negative impact” on India’s relations with its closest allies.

    India’s clear stance

    • Indian foreign policy decisions are made in Indian national interest and we are guided by our thinking, our views and our interests.
    • So, there is no question of linking the Ukraine situation to issues of trade, the FM clarified.

     

     

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  • Fighting TB with lessons learnt during Covid pandemic

    Context

    On World TB day, we need to ask how best we can leverage the lessons learnt from Covid-19 to help gain a new momentum in TB control.

    Comparing the impact of Covid-19 and TB

    • In the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, 1.8 million people were reported to have succumbed to the virus.
    • In the decade between 2010-20, 1.5-2 million individuals died every year because of tuberculosis.
    • The difference in responses to the two pandemics can only be explained by the differences in the profiles of those who get infected.
    • TB disproportionately affects people in low-income nations, the poor and the vulnerable.
    • The increased burden on healthcare to manage Covid has led to a serious setback in TB control.

    Using lessons from Covid-19 for TB control

    • To leverage the lessons learnt from Covid-19 to control TB, we need to focus on the epidemiological triad: Agent, host and the environment.
    • Test, treat and track has been a strategy successfully employed for Covid.
    • Scaling up testing: We need to aggressively scale up testing with innovative strategies such as active surveillance, bidirectional screening for respiratory tract infections using the most sensitive molecular diagnostics, and contact tracing.
    • Vaccine: The biggest victory against Covid has been the speed with which vaccines were developed, scaled up and deployed.
    • We need to replicate the same for tuberculosis, lobbying for funding from governments and industry to develop a successful vaccine for TB.
    • Social security programs for the prevention of risk: Malnutrition, poverty and immuno-compromising conditions such as diabetes are some of the factors strongly associated with TB.
    • Social security programmes that work towards prevention of modifiable risk factors would possibly pay richer dividends than an exclusive focus on “medicalising” the disease.
    • Environmental factors: Environmental factors which have been neglected include ventilation of indoor spaces, educating individuals to avoid crowds when possible, and to encourage voluntary masking, especially in ill-ventilated and closed spaces.
    • Investment and actions: Covid has been a stellar example of how investments and actions can be swift, and public education can transform behaviour.
    • Similar aspirations for TB can help turn this crisis into an opportunity to re-imagine our overburdened and underfunded systems.
    • Involvement of private sector: We need to actively engage the private sector, build bridges and partnerships as we did in the case of Covid.

    Way forward

    • The country needs to invest in state-of-the-art technologies, build capacity, expand its health workforce and strengthen its primary care facilities.
    • It also needs to consider telemedicine and remote support as important aspects of health services.
    • We need to build an open and collaborative forum where all stakeholders, especially affected communities and independent experts, take a lead role.

    Conclusion

    We have ignored TB for too long. It’s time we acknowledge the magnitude of the disease, and work harder at offering individuals equitable healthcare access and resources that the disease warrants.

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  • What is Article 355 of Indian Constitution?

    Considering the law and order situation in West Bengal, some politicians demanded the invoking of Article 355 to ensure the State is governed as per the provisions of the Constitution.

    What is Article 355?

    • It states that-

    “It shall be the duty of the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure that the Government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.”

    Cases for its invocation

    • This article thus comes handy when there are communal violence incidents. Over the period, this article has gained a different texture.
    • We know that the “public order” and “police” are state subject and states have exclusive power to legislate on these matters.
    • These subjects were entrusted to states because states would be in better position to handle any law and order problem.
    • Management of Police by states was also seen as administratively convenient and efficient.
    • However, there might be some circumstances where states are unable to maintain public order and protect people.
    • In such situation, centre can invoke article 355 and take measures such as taking law and order of state under its own hand, deployment of military etc.

     

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  • Mid day Meal Scheme

    A parliamentarian has recently asked the government to re-start the mid-day meals in reopening schools and to ensure that the meals provided are cooked and nutritious.

    What is the Mid-Day Meal Scheme?

    • The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal program designed to better the nutritional standing of school-age children nationwide.
    • It was launched in the year 1995.
    • It supplies free lunches on working days for children in primary and upper primary classes in:
    1. Government, government aided, local body schools
    2. Education Guarantee Scheme, and alternate innovative education centres,
    3. Madarsa and Maqtabs supported under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, and
    4. National Child Labour Project schools run by the ministry of labour
    • The Scheme has a legal backing under the National Food Security Act, 2013.

    Objective: To enhance the enrolment, retention and attendance and simultaneously improve nutritional levels among school going children studying in Classes I to VIII

    History of the scheme

    • In 1925, a Mid Day Meal Programme was introduced for disadvantaged children in Madras Municipal Corporation.
    • By the mid-1980s three States viz. Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the UT of Pondicherry had universalized a same scheme with their own resources for children studying at the primary stage.
    • In 2001, the Supreme Court asked all state governments to begin this programme in their schools within 6 months.

    Features: Calorie approach

    • Primary (1-5) and upper primary (6-8) schoolchildren are currently entitled to 100 grams and 150 grams of food grains per working day each.
    • It also include adequate quantities of micronutrients like iron, folic acid, Vitamin-A, etc.
    • The calorific value of a mid-day meal at various stages has been fixed at a minimum:
    Calories Intake Primary Upper Primary
    Energy 450 calories 700 calories
    Protein 12 grams 20 grams

     

    Why in news?

    • The flagship report of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020 estimated that as of April 2020 369 million children globally were losing out on school meals, a bulk of whom were in India.
    • As many as 116 million children — actually, 116 million hungry children — is the number of children impacted due to indefinite school closure during the pandemic.

    Why discuss it now?

    • The recent Global Hunger Index (GHI) report for 2020 ranks India at 94 out of 107 countries and in the category ‘serious’, behind our neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
    • The index is a combination of indicators of undernutrition in the population and wasting (low weight for height), stunting (low height for age), and mortality in children below five years of age.

    What measures were resorted to counter this?

    • In March and April 2020 the GoI had announced that the usual hot-cooked mid-day meal or an equivalent food security allowance/dry ration would be provided to all eligible school-going children even during vacation.
    • Nearly three months into this decision, States were still struggling to implement this.

    What lies ahead?

    • Across the country and the world, innovative learning methods are being adopted to ensure children’s education outcomes.
    • The GHI report calls for effective delivery of social protection programmes.
    • With continuing uncertainty regarding the reopening of schools, innovation is similarly required to ensure that not just food, but nutrition is delivered regularly to millions of children.
    • For many of them, that one hot-cooked meal was probably the best meal of the day.

     

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  • Indian Legislative Service

    Context

    The appointment of Dr. P.P.K. Ramacharyulu as the Secretary-General of the Upper House by M. Venkaiah Naidu, Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, on September 1, 2021, was news that drew much attention. Ramacharyulu was the first-ever Rajya Sabha secretariat staff who rose to become the Secretary-General of the Upper House.

    Responsibilities and role of Secretaries-General of both the Houses

    • Secretaries-General of both the Houses are mandated with many parliamentary and administrative responsibilities.
    • Privileges: The Secretary-General also enjoys certain privileges such as freedom from arrest, immunity from criminal proceedings, and any obstruction and breach of their rights would amount to contempt of the House.

    Principle of secretariate independent of executive government

    • Article 98 of the Constitution provides the scope of separate secretariats for the two Houses of Parliament.
    • The principle, hence, laid in the Article is that the secretariats should be independent of the executive government. 

    Issues with appointing civil servant

    • A separate secretariat marks a feature of a functioning parliamentary democracy.
    • Against the principle of independence: Serving civil servants or those who are retired come with long-held baggage and the clout of their past career.
    • When civil servants are hired to the post of Secretary-General, this not only dishonours the purpose of ensuring the independence of the Secretariat but also leads to a conflict of interests.
    • Against the principle of separation of power: It breaches the principle of separation of power.
    • The officials mandated with exercising one area of power may not expect to exercise the others.
    • Lack of expertise: One of the prerequisites that demand the post of the Secretary-General is unfailing knowledge and vast experience of parliamentary procedures, practices and precedents.
    • Most of the civil servants lack precisely this aspect of expertise.

    Way forward: All-India service

    • There are thousands of legislative bodies in India, ranging from the panchayat, block panchayat, zila parishad, municipal corporations to State legislatures and Union Parliament at the national level.
    • Despite these mammoth law-making bodies, they lack their own common public recruiting and training agency at the national level.
    • Ensuring competent and robust legislative institutions demands having qualified and well-trained staff in place.
    • The growth of modern government and expansion of governmental activities require a matching development and laborious legislative exercise.
    • Creating a common all-India service cadre — an Indian Legislative Service — is a must.
    • The Rajya Sabha can, under Article 312, pass a resolution to this effect.
    • In the United Kingdom, the Clerk of the House of Commons has always been appointed from the legislative staff pool created to serve Parliament.
    • It is high time that India adapts and adopts such democratic institutional practices.

    Conclusion

    A common service can build a combined and experienced legislative staff cadre, enabling them to serve from across local bodies to Union Parliament.

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  • Why ICJ order on Ukraine matters

    Context

    The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Russia to immediately suspend its military operations in Ukraine. In short, to end the war instantly.

    Breach of the Genocide Convention

    • Ukraine moved the ICJ against Russia accusing it of falsely claiming that Ukrainians are committing genocide in their territory and using this untruthful premise to start an illegal war.
    • This, Ukraine believes, breaches its rights under the Genocide Convention — a treaty that is binding to both Russia and Ukraine.
    • This decision was rendered by the ICJ in response to Ukraine’s application for indication of provisional measures under Article 41 of the ICJ Statute.
    • Provisional measures under the ICJ Statute are the international equivalent of an interim injunction that can be provided by the court to preserve the rights of the parties pending a final decision on the merits of the case.

    Three reasons cited by the ICJ

    1] ICJ’s jurisdiction in the case

    • Since 2014, Russia has been repeatedly accusing Ukraine of committing genocide in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
    •  Just before the military invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned ending the genocide in Ukraine as the reason to use force.
    • Ukraine vehemently rejects this charge.
    • Prima facie, this shows the existence of a “dispute” under Article IX of the Genocide Convention — the compromissory clause that bestows jurisdiction on the ICJ.
    • Self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter: Russia contended that its formal basis for use of force against Ukraine was its right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter (a patently illegal argument, but this issue is not before the ICJ).
    • The court held that it had prima facie jurisdiction in the case because the subject matter fell under the Genocide Convention.

    2] Preservation of rights claimed by the parties

    • Ukraine argues that it has a right under the Genocide Convention not to be falsely accused of genocide and rely on this wrong pretext to use force against its territorial integrity.
    • The ICJ held that the objective of indicating provisional measures is the preservation of the rights claimed by the parties, pending the decision on merits.
    • Since the current proceedings were only for provisional measures, the ICJ did not decide definitively whether Ukraine has such a right under the Genocide Convention.
    • Nonetheless, the ICJ found Ukraine’s right plausible, which is adequate for the current purposes.
    • While the court did not decide on whether Russia has breached the Genocide Convention, as this is a question of merits, it did express doubt over whether a country can unilaterally use force against another country for punishing or preventing an alleged act of genocide.

    3] Risk of irreparable harm to Ukraine’s rights

    • The ICJ held that if it does not indicate provisional measures, that is, order cessation of military action, there is a real and imminent risk of irreparable harm to Ukraine’s rights.
    • This is because of the magnitude of destruction that the ongoing war has caused.

    Significance of the order

    • ICJ’s decision is binding on Russia and constitutes part of its international legal obligations.
    • However, the remedy for not complying with ICJ rulings lies with the UN Security Council, which has Russia as a permanent member.
    • But just because authoritarian populist leaders like Vladimir Putin don’t care for international law does not diminish its significance.

    Conclusion

    The weight of global opinion against Russia on its egregious abuse of international law is mounting with each passing day. Russia can keep ignoring this only at grave peril to itself.

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