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GS Paper: GS3

  • Exploiting 5G strategically

    The article examines the threat posed by the Chinese 5G technology to the world and India.

    Implications of Chinese 5G technology for Nepal

    • The launch of 5G in Nepal would mean that Nepal’s business interests could pass into Chinese control.
    • Real-time information on weather, routes, map, etc could be based on Chinese 5G, thus making locals or visitors to Nepal dependent on it.
    • A related development of infrastructure along the borders, where most mountaineering sites are, could make Nepal’s borders vulnerable and damage its tourism industry.
    • With lower incomes, the tourism industry might get lured into Chinese cheap loans, leading to a strategic debt trap.
    • Such development would have several ramifications for India.

    Implications of Chinese 5G technology for the world

    • 2020 has been no ordinary year —Militaries have been pushed to the borders, treaties, and agreements are being signed, and a record number of military deals have happened.
    • This year has witnessed the most unprecedented intensification of global military conflicts since the Gulf War.
    • AI applications have been at display in warfare, with drone killing machines being advertised.
    • There is no option left but to get the 5G technology now.
    • Huge Chinese investments across the world to spread a 5G network will encompass the planet — a “digital encirclement of the world”.
    • Combined with the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative), this encirclement would be complete.
    • Intrinsic to the BRI is the fact that Chinese companies will build digital infrastructure.
    • Militaries who allow Chinese 5G, could then become hostage to Chinese technology, as seen during the pandemic.

    Indian 5G technology: Advantages and challenges ahead

    •  India is likely to survive the Chinese 5G invasion if it accelerates the launch of the Indian 5G.
    • India is working on technologies that would enable it to launch Indigenous 5G that would run IoT platforms for civilians as well as military applications.
    • The banning of Chinese apps and blocking of hardware supply chains would be the correct counteroffensive to protect the business and security interests of the country.
    • The problem is India being poor in “implementation”.
    • Where India starts losing out is in slow adoption, getting entangled in policy processes and the crosshairs of the bureaucracy. 

    Consider the question “What are the concerns with the adoption of Chinese 5G technology? How indigenous 5G technology help India and what are the challenges in developing it?” 

    Conclusion

    India must get its timing right. The implementation of 5G, though a bit delayed, can make India a good alternative to China. But agreements like RCEP and China’s other debt strategies will remain a larger threat to the world.

  • Reforms with the future and farming needs in mind

    Some provisions of the new farm laws are opposed by the farmers. The article explains the utility of these provisions.

    Major objections to farm laws

    • The first objection is that the Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC) will be eventually closed,
    • The second objection is that Minimum Support Prices (MSP) will be stopped,
    • The third fear is that corporates will take over the agriculture trade, and farmers’ land will be taken over by powerful corporates.

    Why reforms were needed

    • The gap between the agri-income of a farmer and that of a non-agriculture worker increased from â‚č25,398 in 1993–94 to â‚č1.42 lakh in 2011-12.
    • Aggregate food demand has fallen short of domestic production necessitating the export of a large quantity to prevent domestic prices from falling very low.
    • India is sitting on an excess stock of 60 lakh tons of sugar and nearly 72 million tons of extra buffer stock of wheat and rice which is causing a huge drain on fiscal resources.
    • India’s agri-exports are facing difficulty, imports are turning attractive as domestic prices are turning much higher.
    • Rural youth are looking for jobs outside agriculture and there is a serious problem of unemployment in the countryside.
    • There are numerous instances of market failure to the detriment of producers and consumers.
    • This is turning farmers to look at the government for remunerative prices through MSP for most agricultural products.
    • The growth rate in agriculture is driven by heavy support through various kinds of subsidies and output price support.
    • These costs and losses and subsidies will take away most of the tax revenue of the central government.

    3 Provisions and their utility

    1) Relation between MSP and APMC

    • APMC has nothing to do with the payment of the MSP.
    • The necessary and sufficient conditions for the MSP are procurement by the government, with or without the APMC.
    • Experience shows that even after fruits and vegetables were de-notified from the APMC, they continued to arrive at APMC mandis in large quantities while farmers got additional options.
    • The protesting farmers have raised concerns to keep the level-playing field for the APMC and private players, and the government has shown agreement to address this fully.

    2) Criteria for traders

    • Protesting farmers are also opposing the provision of the simple requirement of a PAN card for a trader.
    • After having a PAN card, even a farmer can go for trading, his son can do agri-business and other rural youth can undertake purchases of farm commodities for direct sale to a consumer or other agribusiness firms.
    • If stringent criteria such as bank guarantee, etc. are included in the registration, then the spirit of the new law to facilitate farmers and rural youth to become agribusiness entrepreneurs will be lost.

    3) Mistaking contract farming with corporate farming

    • Critics and protesting farmers are mixing contract farming with corporate farming.
    • The new Act intends to insulate interested farmers (especially small farmers), against market and price risks.
    • The Act is voluntary and either party is free to leave it after the expiry of the agreement.
    • It prohibits the transfer, sale, lease, mortgage of the land or premises of the farmer.
    • The Act will promote diversification, quality production for a premium price, export, and direct sale of produce, with desired attributes to interested consumers.
    • It will also bring new capital and knowledge into agriculture and pave the way for farmers’ participation in the value chain.

    Conclusion

    The policy reforms undertaken by the central government through these Acts are in keeping with the changing times and requirements of farmers and farming. If they are implemented in the right spirit, they will take Indian agriculture to new heights and usher in the transformation of the rural economy.

  • National Common Mobility Card (NCMC)

    Prime Minister has launched the ambitious National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) service for the Delhi Metro’s Airport Express Line.

    Q.What is the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC)? How it a step moving towards a one nation one card system? (150W)

    National Common Mobility Card

    • The idea of NCMC was floated by the Nandan Nilekani committee set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
    • The committee had suggested that NCMC should contain two instruments – a regular debit card which can be used at an ATM and a local wallet.
    • Banks mandated by the department of financial services have been asked to make their debit cards NCMC compliant, to ensure availability of service.
    • The committee has also proposed a host of measures, including all payments by the government to citizens through the digital mode, to reduce the number of cash transactions in the country.

    Features of the NCMC

    • NCMC will allow passengers with RuPay debit cards, issued in the last 18 months by 23 banks, including SBI, UCO Bank, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, etc, to be swiped for Metro travel.
    • It can be used at all transit locations making all new metro and transit payments interoperable via one card.
    • NCMC is an automatic fare collection system. It will turn smartphones into an inter-operable transport card that commuters can use eventually to pay for Metro, bus, and suburban railways services.
    • NCMC service is slated to cover the entire 400km stretch of Delhi Metro.
    • It will allow entry and exit from Metro stations with the help of a smartphone, known as the automatic fare collection (AFC) system.
    • To make AFC compliant indigenous gates for metro stations, the government has engaged Bharat Electronics Limited. Eventually, all Metro stations will be fitted with AFC gates.

  • Proxima Centauri: the closest star to the Sun

    Astronomers running the world’s largest initiative to look for alien life have recently picked up an “intriguing” radio wave emission from the direction of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our Sun.

    Proxima Centauri

    • Proxima Centauri is 4.2 light-years away from the Sun – considered a close distance in cosmic terms.
    • Its mass is about an eighth of the Sun’s, and it is too dim to be seen with the naked eye from Earth.
    • Proxima b, one of the two planets that revolve around the star, is the subject of significant curiosity.
    • Sized 1.2 times larger than Earth, and orbits its star every 11 days, Proxima b lies in Proxima Centauri’s “Goldilocks zone”.

    Goldilocks zone is the area around a star where it is not too hot and not too cold for liquid water to exist on the surface of surrounding planets. To give an example, the Earth is in the Sun’s Goldilocks zone.

    The mystery of radio signals

    • Astronomers at the Breakthrough Listen project, started by the legendary physicist Stephen Hawking, regularly spot blasts of radio waves using two powerful telescopes.
    • They are Parkes Observatory in Australia or the Green Bank Observatory in the US.
    • All of their findings so far, though, have been attributed either to natural sources or interference caused by humans.
    • This raises the possibility that the emission could be an alien “techno-signature”, meaning something which provides evidence of alien technology.
    • There are also reasons to believe that the signal might not mean ‘aliens’.
    • Another possibility could be that the signal could have been caused by something behind Proxima Centauri or by a natural phenomenon whose existence we so far do not know of.

  • What are Zero Coupon Bonds?

    The government has used financial innovation to recapitalize a bank by issuing the lender Rs 5,500-crore worth of non-interest bearing bonds called Zero-Coupon Bonds.

    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

    Zero-Coupon Bonds

    • These are non-interest bearing, non-transferable special GOI securities that have a maturity of 10-15 years and are issued specifically to Punjab & Sind Bank.
    • These bonds are not tradable; the lender has kept them in the held-to-maturity (HTM) investments bucket, not requiring it to book any mark-to-market gains or losses from these bonds.
    • This will earn no interest for the subscriber; market participants term it both a ‘financial illusion’ and ‘great innovation’ by the government.

    How do they differ from bonds issued by private firms?

    • There is a difference between zero-coupon bonds issued by other corporates and these.
    • Zero-coupon bonds by private companies are normally issued at discount, but since these special bonds are not tradable these can be issued at par.

  • [pib] International Blue Flag hoisted at 8 beaches across the Country

    The Environment Minister has virtually hoisted the international blue flags in 8 beaches across the country.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q. At one of the places in India, if you stand on the seashore and watch the sea, you will find that the seawater recedes from the shoreline a few kilometers and comes back to the shore, twice a day, and you can actually walk on the seafloor when the water recedes. This unique phenomenon is seen at:

    (a) Bhavnagar

    (b) Bheemunipatnam

    (c) Chandipur

    (d) Nagapattinam

    About Blue Flag Certification

    • This Certification is accorded by an international agency “Foundation for Environment Education, Denmark” based on 33 stringent criteria in four major heads i.e.
    1. Environmental Education and Information,
    2. Bathing Water Quality,
    3. Environment Management and Conservation and
    4. Safety and Services on the beaches.
    • It started in France in 1985 and has been implemented in Europe since 1987, and in areas outside Europe since 2001 when South Africa joined.
    • Japan and South Korea are the only countries in South and southeastern Asia to have Blue Flag beaches.
    • Spain tops the list with 566 such beaches; Greece and France follow with 515 and 395, respectively.

    Which are the 8 beaches?

    The beaches where the International Blue Flags were hoisted are:

    1. Kappad (Kerala)
    2. Shivrajpur (Gujarat)
    3. Ghoghla (Diu)
    4. Kasarkod and
    5. Padubidri (Karnataka)
    6. Rushikonda (Andhra Pradesh)
    7. Golden (Odisha) and
    8. Radhanagar (Andaman & Nicobar Islands)

  • The possibility of a two-front war

    The possibility of a two-front war has been debated for long in the Indian security establishment. However, the Galwan valley incident has added an urgency to that possibility. 

     

    Two front situation

    • In the Indian military’s thinking, while China was the more powerful, the chance of a conventional conflict breaking out was low.
    • The Chinese intrusions in Ladakh in May this year, the violence that resulted from clashes have now made the Chinese military threat more apparent and real.
    • This comes at a time when the situation along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan has been steadily deteriorating.
    • Between 2017 and 2019, there has been a four-fold increase in ceasefire violations.
    • The larger challenge for India’s military would come if the hostilities break out along the northern border with China.
    • In such a situation, it is unlikely that Pakistan would initiate a large-scale conflict to capture significant chunks of territory as that would lead to a full-blown war between three nuclear-armed states.

    China-Pakistan relationship

    • China has always looked at Pakistan as a counter to India’s influence in South Asia.
    • There is a great deal of alignment in their strategic thinking.
    • Military cooperation is growing, with China accounting for 73% of the total arms imports of Pakistan between 2015-2019.
    • It would, therefore, be prudent for India to be ready for a two-front threat.

    The dilemma for India: In resources and strategy

    • It is neither practical nor feasible to build a level of capability that enables independent warfighting on both fronts.
    • A major decision will be the quantum of resources to be allocated for the primary front. This is the dilemma of resources.
    • If a majority of the assets of the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force are sent towards the northern border, it will require the military to rethink its strategy for the western border.
    • This is the second dilemma.
    • Even though Pakistan may only be pursuing a hybrid war, should the Indian military remain entirely defensive?
    • Adopting a more offensive strategy against Pakistan could draw limited resources into a wider conflict.

    Way forward

    • We need to develop both the doctrine and the capability to deal with this contingency.
    • Capability building also requires a serious debate, particularly in view of the country’s economic situation.
    • We need to focus on future technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, cyber, electronic warfare, etc.
    • The right balance will have to be struck based on a detailed assessment of China and Pakistan’s war-fighting strategies.
    • Diplomacy has a crucial role to play.
    • India would do well to improve relations with its neighbors so as not to be caught in an unfriendly neighborhood.
    • The engagement of the key powers in West Asia, including Iran, should be further strengthened.
    • Relationship with Moscow should not be sacrificed in favor of India-United States relations given that Russia could play a key role in defusing the severity of a regional gang up against India.
    • Political outreach to Kashmir aimed at pacifying the aggrieved citizens would help in easing the pressure from the western front.

    Consider the question “India faces the possibility of a two-front war. What strategy India should follow to deal with such a challenge?” 

    Conclusion

    A politically-guided doctrine, comprehensive military capability, and exploring other options will help to deal with the China-Pakistan threat.

  • Dangers lurking beneath economic recovery

    As Indian economy recovers from the economic disruption caused by the pandemic, there are dangers of rising inequality and cosequently the rising inflation. The article deals with these issues.

    3 features of Indian recovery

    • 1) The number of new cases has fallen while the fatality rate continues to drop.
    • 2) India has rolled out one of the smallest fiscal support packages globally, with central government spending flat so far this year.
    • 3) Inflation is now a big problem, with consumer prices above the 6 per cent tolerance level for the past eight months.

    Consequences of low fiscal spending

    • It may seem that India is back on the path to recovery.
    • But  the low level of fiscal spending could leave behind other problems, such as rising inequality.
    • Although, in India there was a focus on vulnerable section, there were some misses, such as the urban poor being left out, and the overall outlay was small.
    • For instance, demand for the rural employment guarantee programme continues to outstrip supply.
    • There is the rise in inequality between large and small firms, which is likely to be felt by individual employees.
    • Large firms were helped by cost-cutting, low interest rates, access to buoyant capital markets and increased spending in the formal economy probably helped.
    • The smaller listed firms did not do as well.
    • Small firms are more labour intensive than large firms.
    • If small firms do poorly, it impacts a large number of people.
    • All this could impact demand over time.
    • Rising inequality could stoke inflation (in services particular).
    • Consumption patterns show that the rich in India tend to consume more services than the poor.
    • And rising inequality could, therefore, stoke inflation.

    Possibility of services inflation

    • 1) As a vaccine comes into play, there could be a release of pent-up demand for high-touch services.
    • 2) As large firms and their employees do relatively well, they are likely to demand more services, stoking prices.
    • 3) Many service providers did not do a regular annual price reset in 2020, so they may raise prices to cover the two years once demand picks up.
    • If inflation does become persistent and leads to tighter monetary policy, that could weigh on growth over time.

    Way forward

    • To control inflation in 2021, the RBI may have to take steps such as:-
    • 1) Gradually drain the excess liquidity in the banking sector,
    • 2) Provide a floor for short-term rates, which have fallen below the reverse repo rate.
    • 3) Narrow the policy rate corridor by raising the reverse repo rate.
    • A quicker exit from loose monetary policy could become another area where India differs from the world.

    Consider the question “What are the consequences of economic recovery in the wake of pandemic? Suggest the ways to deal with these consquences.”

    Conclusion

    Putting all of this together, it seems India will come full circle in 2021. For a while it was worried more about weak growth than high inflation. But as growth recovers, inflationary concerns could reappear.

  • Species in news: Wild Sun Rose (Portulaca Laljii)

    Botanists have discovered a new species of wild Sun Rose from the Eastern Ghats in India.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2018:

    Q.Why is a plant called Prosopis juliflora often mentioned in the news?

    (a) Its extract is widely used in cosmetics.

    (b) It tends to reduce the biodiversity in the area in which it grows

    (c) Its extract is used in the pesticides.

    (d) None of the above

    Portulaca Laljii

    • The new species named Portulaca laljii was discovered from the Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh.
    • It has unique features such as a tuberous root, no hair in its leaf axils, a reddish-pink flower, prolate-shaped fruits, and copper brown seeds without luster.
    • Portulaca Laljii has been named to honor the contribution of Lal Ji Singh, an eminent botanist of the Botanical Survey of India.
    • The species has been placed under the ‘Data Deficient’ category of the IUCN List of Threatened Species because very little information is available about the population of the species.

    Morphological features

    • These morphological features distinguish the species from other species of the genus Portulaca.
    • The flowers, which are reddish-pink in color, are very minute, at about 0.5mm.
    • The plant was found growing in rocky crevices at an altitude of about 1,800 meters above mean sea level, very close to the ground, at about less than 10 cm.
    • The plants belonging genus Portulaca are classified in the category Sun Rose because they flower in bright sunshine.
    • The genus was described by Linnaeus in 1753 as a type genus of the flowering plant family Portulacaceae.

  • IISER scientists identify the gene that greens plants

    Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) have identified a gene that facilitates in the greening of plants.

    It would be no surprise to expect a core Biology question in the coming years, if we look at this PYQ:

    Q. Which of the following statements are correct regarding the general difference between plant cells and animal cells? (CSP 2020)

    1. Plant cells have cellulose cell walls whilst animal cells do not.
    2. Plant cells do not have plasma membrane unlike animals cells which do
    3. Mature plant cell has one large vacuole whilst animal cell has many small vacuoles

    Select the correct answer using the given code below-

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 and 3 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    BBX11

    • The synthesis of chlorophyll in plants is a lengthy, multi-step process.
    • When a seedling emerges from under the soil it must quickly synthesize chlorophyll to start supporting its own growth.
    • In order to facilitate the quick synthesis of chlorophyll, plants make a precursor of chlorophyll called ‘protochlorophyllide’ in the dark, which glows red when blue light is shone on the plant.
    • As soon as the plant comes out into the light from under the soil, light-dependent enzymes convert protochlorophyllide to chlorophyll.
    • The two proteins oppositely regulate the ‘BBX11’ gene to maintain optimum levels of ‘BBX11’.

    How does it work?

    • It plays a crucial role in regulating the levels of protochlorophyllide — an intermediate in the biosynthesis of the green pigment chlorophyll.
    • The amount of protochlorophyllide synthesized needed to be proportional to the number of enzymes available to convert them to chlorophyll.
    • If there is an excess of free protochlorophyllide, then exposure to light converts it into molecules that cause ‘photobleaching’.
    • Thus, it is very important to regulate the amount of protochlorophyllide synthesized by the plant and here comes the vital plant played by the ‘BBX11’ gene.
    • If it is less, plants are unable to efficiently ‘green’ in order to harvest sunlight.

    Benefits of the research

    • The study could have tremendous implications in the agriculture sector in tropical countries like India and can help provide leads to optimize plant growth under stressful and rapidly changing climatic conditions.
    • Due to the rapidly changing climatic conditions, farmers in several states in India, especially in Maharashtra, are suffering huge losses in crop yields.
    • This often leads to severe distress among the farming community as indicated by the high number of farmer suicides in Maharashtra for the past several years.
    • Severe drought, high temperature and high light are some of the major reasons for crop failure. Young seedlings emerging out of the soil are extremely sensitive to high irradiance of light.
    • This study can provide leads to optimize plant growth under these stressful conditions.