Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Impact of coronovirus outbreak on Education system
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequalities in education systems across the world a/c to the latest GEM report.
Practice question for mains:
Q.Discuss the impact of COVID-19 induced lockdown on India’s education sector.
About the report
- Originally the EFA Global Monitoring Report, it has been renamed as the Global Education Monitoring Report.
- It is developed by an independent team and published by UNESCO aimed to sustain commitment towards Education for All.
- The ‘UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), based in Montreal provides data for the report on students, teachers, school performance, adult literacy and education expenditure.
Highlights of the 2020 report
- The report noted that efforts to maintain learning continuity during the pandemic may have actually worsened exclusion trends.
- During the height of school closures in April 2020, almost 91% of students around the world were out of school.
- About 40% of low- and lower-middle-income countries have not supported learners at risk of exclusion during this crisis, such as the poor, linguistic minorities and learners with disabilities.
1. Risks of school closure
- School closures also interrupted support mechanisms from which many disadvantaged learners benefit.
- For poor students who depend on school for free meals or even free sanitary napkins, closures has been a major blow.
- Cancellation of examinations in many countries, including India, may result in scoring dependence on teachers’ judgements of students, which could be affected by stereotypes of certain types of students.
2. Substitutes were imperfect
- Education systems responded with distance learning solutions, all of which offered less or more imperfect substitutes for classroom instruction said the report.
- Many poorer countries opted for radio and television lessons, while some upper-middle-income countries adopted for online learning platforms for primary and secondary education.
- India has used a mix of all three systems for educational continuity.
3. The digital divide has resurfaced yet again
- Even as governments increasingly rely on technology, the digital divide lays bare the limitations of this approach.
- Not all students and teachers have access to an adequate internet connection, equipment, skills and working conditions to take advantage of available platforms.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: FATF
Mains level: Wildlife trade and its prevention
A first global report on the illegal wildlife trade has been recently published by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Try this MCQ:
Q.The report “Money Laundering and the Illegal Wildlife Trade” recently seen in news is released by:
A. TRAFFIC/ B. CITES/ C. IUCN/ D. FATF
Highlights of the Report
- FATF has described illegal wildlife trade as a “global threat”, which also has links with other organised crimes like modern slavery, drug trafficking and arms trade.
- The illegal trade is estimated to generate revenues of up to $23 billion a year.
- The report flagged a lack of focus on the financial aspects of wildlife crime.
(1)Economy of illicit wildlife trade
- It said that criminals are frequently misusing the legitimate wildlife trade, as well as other import-export type businesses.
- The FATF found that jurisdictions often did not have the required knowledge, legislative basis and resources to assess and combat the threat posed by the funds generated through the illegal trade.
- The study has highlighted the growing role of online marketplaces and mobile and social media-based payments to facilitate the movement of proceeds warranting a coordinated response from government bodies, the private sector and the civil society.
(2)Money laundering is prominent
- According to the report, criminal syndicates are misusing the formal financial sector to launder the proceeds.
- Funds are laundered through cash deposits, under the guise of loans or payments, e-banking platforms, licensed money value transfer systems, and third-party wire transfers via banks.
- Accounts of innocent victims are also used and high-value payments avoided evading detection.
(3)Misuse of front companies
- Another common trend is the misuse of front companies with links to the legal wildlife trade, said the report.
- Front companies, often linked to import-export industries, and shell firms are used for the movement of goods and trans-border money transfers.
Recommendations of the report
- The report says the financial probe is the key to dismantling the syndicates involved, which can in turn significantly impact the associated criminal activities.
- It recommended that jurisdictions should consider implementing good practices, as observed during the study.
- They include providing all relevant agencies with the necessary mandate and tools; and cooperating with other jurisdictions, international bodies and the private sector.
- The FATF said that legislative changes were necessary to increase the applicability of anti-money laundering laws to the illegal wildlife trade-linked offences.
Back2Basics
Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Anthropause, Anthropocene
Mains level: Human impact on gelological time scale
Researchers in the UK are set to study the “Anthropause”, a term they have coined to refer to the coronavirus-induced lockdown period and its impact on other species.
Practice question for mains:
Q. What is the significance of declaring Anthropocene epoch? Discuss how it is different from any geological events. Discuss the Anthropause Period.
Anthropause Period
- Researchers have suggested the lockdown period, which is also being referred to as the “Great Pause”, be referred to with a more precise term.
- It is referred specifically to a considerable global slowing of modern human activities, notably travel.
- The unprecedented curbs imposed on millions of people around the world, mainly due to restrictions in travel, led to reports of unusual animal behaviour.
- For instance, there were pumas sighted in Chile’s Santiago, jackals in the parks of Tel Aviv in Israel, dolphins in the waters of Italy and even a monkey fight on the streets of Thailand.
- The researchers believe studying this period will provide valuable insights into the relationship between human-wildlife interactions in the 21st century.
What do the researchers hope to find?
- As a result of the lockdown, nature appears to have changed, especially in urban environments, since not only are there now more animals, but also some “unexpected visitors.”
- In their outline, researchers mention how the scientific community can use these “extraordinary circumstance” provided by global lockdowns to understand how human activity affects wildlife.
- On the other hand, there are some animals for which the lockdown may have made things more challenging.
- For instance, for various urban-dwelling animals, such as rats, gulls and monkeys who depend on food provided or discarded by humans, the lockdown would have made life more difficult.
Why is studying the lockdown important?
- Expanding human populations continue to transform their environments at unprecedented rates.
- Further, because the reduction in human activity during the lockdown on both land and sea has been “unparalleled” in recent history, the effects have been “drastic, sudden and widespread”.
- Essentially, this gives them a chance to study the extent to which modern human mobility affects wildlife.
- The study can be linked can help provide insights that may be useful in preserving global biodiversity, maintaining the integrity of ecosystems and predicting global zoonoses and environmental changes.
Back2Basics
Anthropocene as Earth’s new epoch
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 370 and 371
Mains level: Naga Peace Accord and its outcomes
In a scathing letter to CM, Nagaland Governor has said the “scenario in the State is grim” and that “law and order has collapsed”.
Practice question for mains:
Q.Discuss the success of Naga Peace Accord in light of the ongoing law and order crisis in the state.
Nagaland (Article 371A, 13th Amendment Act, 1962)
- Parliament cannot legislate in matters of Naga religion or social practices, the Naga customary law and procedure, administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law.
- Parliament also cannot intervene in ownership and transfer of land and its resources, without the concurrence of the Legislative Assembly of the state.
- This provision was inserted in the Constitution after a 16-point agreement between the Centre and the Naga People’s Convention in 1960, which led to the creation of Nagaland in 1963.
- Also, there is a provision for a 35-member Regional Council for Tuensang district, which elects the Tuensang members in the Assembly.
- A member from the Tuensang district is Minister for Tuensang Affairs. The Governor has the final say on all Tuensang-related matters.
What is the issue?
- Challenging the legitimacy of the government without any resistance from the State law and order machinery has created a crisis of confidence in the system.
- The constitutional establishment is being challenged on a day-to-day basis by armed gangs who question the integrity and sovereignty of the nation.
- The instruments of law and order have remained totally unresponsive.
Armed militancy is back again
- Their armed miscreants appoint their own dealers for every commodity from salt to construction material coming into the State and levy illegal taxes on every item.
- There is over 200% cost escalation in transportation the moment a goods laden truck enters Nagaland due to gunpoint extortions by the armed miscreants.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- India-China relations
Despite India’s careful approach which involved not upsetting China’s domestic and geopolitical sensitivities, Galwan happened. What explains the Chinese aggression? There could be many factors. This article delves into these factors.
Not upsetting China
- The India government has been very careful not to upset China’s domestic and geopolitical sensitivities.
- Barring occasional joint statements issued with leaders from the U.S. and Asia-Pacific countries, reasserting India’s commitment to “freedom of navigation” India has stayed away from criticising China on controversial topics,
- On issues such as “de-radicalisation” camps in Xinjiang, crackdown on protests in Hong Kong, or disputes with Taiwan India India didn’t criticise China.
Yet China chose to increase tensions along the LAC. Why?
1. China wants to reorient global order
- Unlike the Soviet Union of the 1940s China is not an ideological state that intends to export communism to other countries.
- When it was rising, China had adopted different tactical positions — “hide your capacity and bide your time”, “peaceful rise” or “peaceful development”.
- That era is over.
- Under President Xi Jinping, the Chinese think they have arrived.
- With the global economy in the doldrums, globalisation in a crisis and the U.S. under an isolationist President hostile towards China Beijing believes the global order is at a breaking point.
- It is fighting back through what game theorists call “salami tactics” — where a dominant power attempts to establish its hegemony piece by piece.
- India is one slice in this salami slice strategy.
2. India: An ally-in-progress of the US
- It sees India as an ally-in-progress of the U.S.
- So, China actions are a result of the strategic loss [India] that has already happened.
- If India is what many in the West call the “counterweight” to China’s rise, Beijing’s definite message is that it is not deterred by the counterweight.
- This is a message not just to India, but to a host of China’s rivals that are teaming up and eager to recruit India to the club.
Factors that could explain China’s move
Global factors
- Europe has been devastated by the virus.
- The U.S. is battling in an election year the COVID-19 outbreak.
- It is also battling the deepest economic meltdown since the Great Depression.
- Its global leadership is unravelling fast.
Regional and local factors
- The Indian economy was in trouble even before COVID-19 struck the country, slowing down its rise.
- Social upheaval over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, and the National Register of Citizens had weakened the Indian polity.
- India’s traditional clout in its neighbourhood was slipping.
- Tensions with Pakistan have been high keeping the troops occupied in the border areas.
- Nepal raised boundary issues with India.
- Sri Lanka is diversifying its foreign policy.and China is making deep inroads into that region.
- Bangladesh was deeply miffed with the CAA.
- Even in Afghanistan, where Pakistan, China, Russia and the U.S. are involved in the transition process, India is out.
- A confluence of all these factors, which point to a decline in the country’s smart power, allowed China to make aggressive moves on the LAC.
Consider the question “At the time when relations reached a nadir with China, India needs to focus on its neighbourhood and mend win back the friendly neighbours. Comment”
Conclusion
What India needs is a national security strategy that’s decoupled from the compulsions of domestic politics and anchored in neighbourhood realism. It should stand up to China’s bullying on the border now, with a long-term focus on enhancing capacities and winning back its friendly neighbours. There are no quick fixes this time.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ICP, PPP
Mains level: India's GDP related issues
The World Bank has released its ICP report for the reference year 2017. India has retained its position as the third-largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), behind the US and China.
Try this MCQ:
Q. The International Comparison Programme (ICP) Report recently seen in news is released by: IMF/World Bank/OECD/None.
The International Comparison Programme (ICP)
- ICP is one of the largest statistical initiatives in the world.
- It is managed by the World Bank under the auspices of the United Nations Statistical Commission.
- Globally 176 economies participated in the 2017 cycle of ICP. The next ICP comparison will be conducted for the reference year 2021.
The main objectives of the ICP are:
(i) To produce purchasing power parities (PPPs) and comparable price level indexes (PLIs) for participating economies;
(ii) To convert volume and per capita measures of gross domestic product (GDP) and its expenditure components into a common currency using PPPs.
Highlights of the report
- India accounts for 6.7% or $8,051 billion, out of the world’s total of $119,547 billion of global GDP in terms of PPP compared to 16.4 % in case of China and 16.3 % for the US.
- India is also the third-largest economy in terms of its PPP-based share in global Actual Individual Consumption and Global Gross Capital Formation.
- In the Asia-Pacific Region, in 2017, India retained its regional position, as the second-largest economy, accounting for 20.83 % in terms of PPPs.
- China was first at 50.76% and Indonesia at 7.49% was third.
- India is also the second-largest economy in terms of its PPP-based share in regional Actual Individual Consumption and regional Gross Capital Formation.
Trends in INR
- The PPPs of Indian Rupee per US$ at the GDP level is now 20.65 in 2017 from 15.55 in 2011.
- The Exchange Rate of US Dollar to Indian Rupee is now 65.12 from 46.67 during the same period.
Significance of PPP
- Purchasing Power Parities are vital for converting measures of economic activities to be comparable across economies.
- It is calculated based on the price of a common basket of goods and services in each participating economy and is a measure of what an economy’s local currency can buy in another economy.
- Market exchange rate-based conversions reflect both price and volume differences in expenditures and are thus inappropriate for volume comparisons.
- PPP-based conversions of expenditures eliminate the effect of price level differences between economies and reflect only differences in the volume of economies.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: IN-SPACE, ANTRIX, NSIl
Mains level: ISRO and India's space economy
- The government approved the creation of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) to ensure greater private participation in India’s space activities.
- This decision is described as historic being part of an important set of reforms to open up the space sector and make space-based applications and services more widely accessible to everyone.
Practice question for mains:
Q. What is IN-SPACe? Discuss how it would benefit ISRO and contribute to India’s space economy.
What is IN-SPACe?
- IN-SPACe is supposed to be a facilitator, and also a regulator.
- It will act as an interface between ISRO and private parties and assess how best to utilise India’s space resources and increase space-based activities.
- IN-SPACe is the second space organisation created by the government in the last two years.
- In the 2019 Budget, the government had announced the setting up of a New Space India Limited (NSIL), a public sector company that would serve as a marketing arm of ISRO.
Confusion over NSIL and ANTRIX
- NSIL’s main purpose is to market the technologies developed by ISRO and bring it more clients that need space-based services.
- That role, incidentally, was already being performed by Antrix Corporation, another PSU working under the Department of Space, and which still exists.
- It is still not very clear why there was a need for another organisation with overlapping function.
- The government now had clarified the role of NSIL that it would have a demand-driven approach rather than the current supply-driven strategy.
- Essentially, what that means is that instead of just marketing what ISRO has to offer, NSIL would listen to the needs of the clients and ask ISRO to fulfil those.
Then, why was IN-SPACe needed?
(1) ISRO and its limited resources
- It is not that there is no private industry involvement in India’s space sector.
- In fact, a large part of the manufacturing and fabrication of rockets and satellites now happens in the private sector. There is increasing participation of research institutions as well.
- Indian industry, however, is unable to compete, because till now its role has been mainly that of suppliers of components and sub-systems.
- Indian industries do not have the resources or the technology to undertake independent space projects of the kind that US companies such as SpaceX have been doing or provide space-based services.
(2) India and the global space economy
- Indian industry had a barely three per cent share in a rapidly growing global space economy which was already worth at least $360 billion.
- Only two per cent of this market was for rocket and satellite launch services, which require fairly large infrastructure and heavy investment.
- The remaining 95 per cent related to satellite-based services, and ground-based systems.
(3) Catering to domestic demands
- The demand for space-based applications and services is growing even within India, and ISRO is unable to cater to this.
- The need for satellite data, imageries and space technology now cuts across sectors, from weather to agriculture to transport to urban development and more.
- If ISRO is to provide everything, it would have to be expanded 10 times the current level to meet all the demand that is arising.
(4) Promoting other private players
- Right now, all launches from India happen on ISRO rockets, the different versions of PSLV and GSLV.
- There were a few companies that were in the process of developing their own launch vehicles, the rockets like ISRO’s PSLV that carry the satellites and other payloads into space.
- Now ISRO could provide all its facilities to private players whose projects had been approved by IN-SPACe.
How ISRO gains from all these?
- There are two main reasons why enhanced private involvement in the space sector seems important.
- One is commercial, and the other strategic. And ISRO seems unable to satisfy this need on its own.
- Of course, there is a need for greater dissemination of space technologies, better utilization of space resources, and increased requirement of space-based services.
- The private industry will also free up ISRO to concentrate on science, research and development, interplanetary exploration and strategic launches.
- Right now too much of ISRO’s resources are consumed by routine activities that delay its more strategic objectives.
A win-win situation for all
- ISRO, like NASA, is essentially a scientific organisation whose main objective is the exploration of space and carrying out scientific missions.
- There are a number of ambitious space missions lined up in the coming years, including a mission to observe the Sun, a mission to the Moon, a human spaceflight, and then, possibly, a human landing on the Moon.
- And it is not that private players will wean away from the revenues that ISRO gets through commercial launches.
- The space-based economy is expected to “explode” in the next few years, even in India, and there would be more than enough for all.
- In addition, ISRO can earn some money by making its facilities and data available to private players.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: RRBs, Cooperative Banks
Mains level: RBI regulations of default bankers
To ensure that depositors are protected, the Centre has decided to bring all urban and multi-State cooperative banks under the direct supervision of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Practice question for mains:
Q. What are Cooperative Banks? How are they regulated? Discuss their role in extending credit facilities in rural India.
What are Cooperative Banks?
- A Co-operative bank is a financial entity which belongs to its members, who are at the same time the owners and the customers of their bank.
- They are registered under the States Cooperative Societies Act.
- They are also regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and governed by the Banking Regulations Act 1949 and Banking Laws (Co-operative Societies) Act, 1955.
What is the present decision?
- The urban cooperatives and multi-State cooperative banks have been brought under RBI supervision process, which is applicable to scheduled banks.
- Currently, these banks come under dual regulation of the RBI and the Registrar of Co-operative Societies.
Why such a move?
- The move to bring these urban and multi-State coop banks under the supervision of the RBI comes after several instances of fraud and serious financial irregularities.
- The most recent was the major scam at the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank last year.
- The RBI was forced to supersede the PMC Bank’s board and impose strict restrictions.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Coccolithophores
Mains level: Not Much
A study of microscopic ancient marine algae (Coccolithophores) has found that there is a decrease in the concentration of oceanic calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the Southern Indian Ocean.
Try this question:
Q.The Coccolithophores sometimes seen in news are-
(a) Diatoms
(b) Algae
(c) Coral Polyps
(d) Sea grass
Coccolithophores
- Coccolithophores are single-celled algae living in the upper layers of the world’s oceans.
- They have been playing a key role in marine ecosystems and the global carbon cycle for millions of years.
- They calcify marine phytoplankton that produces up to 40% of open ocean calcium carbonate and responsible for 20% of the global net marine primary productivity.
- They build exoskeletons from individual CaCO3 plates consisting of chalk and seashells building the tiny plates on their exterior.
Role as a carbon sink
- Though carbon dioxide is produced during the formation of these plates, coccolithophores help in removing it from the atmosphere and ocean by consuming it during photosynthesis.
- At equilibrium, they absorb more carbon dioxide than they produce, which is beneficial for the ocean ecosystem.
- These investigations are important for future intervention to bring positive changes in the marine ecosystem and the global carbon cycle.
Threats
- The reduction of coccolithophores is due to an increase in the presence of diatom algae, which occurs after sea ice breakdown with climate change and ocean acidification, and increases the silicate concentration in the waters of the Southern Ocean.
- Their existence is highly dependent on time and influenced by various environmental factors such as silicate concentrations, calcium carbonate concentration, diatom abundance, light intensity and availability of macro and possibly micronutrient concentrations.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 2- India-China relations
The Galwan incident marked the new low in the India-China relations. Following it, there have been talks of a closer alliance with the U.S. This article analyses the utility, potential and the limitations of this approach.
Exploring the strategic options
- As the border stand-off with China deepens, India will have to think of all possible strategic options that gives it leverage.
- One of the options is new arrangements with other powers.
- This is the right moment to mobilise international opinion on China.
- But can this be translated into concerted global action to exert real pressure on China?
Things India should consider while forming alliance with the US
- International relations are formed in the context of a country’s development paradigm.
- India’s primary aim should be to preserve the maximum space for its development model, if it can actually formulate one.
- India is not unique in this respect.
- The question for India is not just whether the US has a stake in India’s development, which it might.
- But it is, rather, to ask whether India’s development needs will fit into the emerging US development paradigm.
- Will the very same political economy forces that create a disengagement with China also come in the way of a closer relationship with India?
- Some sections of American big business might favour India.
- But the underlying political economy dynamics in the US are less favourable.
- Will the US give India the room it needs on trade, intellectual property, regulation, agriculture, labour mobility, the very areas where freedom is vital for India’s economy?
- Will a US hell-bent on bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US, easily gel with an “atma nirbhar” Bharat?
- To see what is at stake, we just need to look how the development paradigm is driving tensions on trade, taxation and regulatory issues between the US and EU.
Why India avoided alignment with the US in the past
- But the drivers of this have often been legitimate differences over development, including climate change.
- It has also been that, at various points, that alignment was against India’s other strategic commitments.
- India was wise to stay out of the war in Iraq, it was wise not to upset Russia.
- It is wise not to throw its weight behind the US’s Iran policy.
- There is more maturity in the US to understand India’s position.
Global reluctance in collective action against China
- It is an odd moment in global affairs, where there is recognition of a common challenge emanating from China.
- But there is no global appetite to take concerted action.
- An interesting example might be the global response to the BRI.
- Many countries are struggling to meet their BRI debt obligations.
- But it is difficult to see the rest of the international community helping all these countries to wean their regimes away from dependence on Chinese finance.
- Similarly, there are now great concerns over frontier areas of conflict like cyber security and space.
- It is difficult to imagine concerted global action to create rules in these area, partly because Great Powers like the US and Russia will always want to maintain their exceptionalism.
Limitations of global alliance and public opinion in solving local conflicts
- 1) The international community has not been very effective in neutralising
- exercised by some powers.
- This is the tactic Pakistan has used.
- 2) Don’t count on the fact that the world will support an Indian escalation beyond a point.
- The efforts of the international community, in the final analysis, will be to try and throw cold water on the conflict.
- No one has a serious stake in the fate of the terrain India and China are disputing.
- At the end of the day, India has to manage China and Pakistan largely on its own.
Conclusion
Even as we deal with the military situation on the border, the test of India’s resolve will be its ability to return to some first principle thinking about its own power.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Skills Build Reignite
Mains level: NA
MSDE-IBM Partnership has unveiled Free Digital Learning Platform “Skills Build Reignite” to reach more job seekers & provide new resources to business owners in India.
There are various web/portals/apps with Hindi acronyms such as YUKTI, DISHA, SWAYAM etc. Their core purpose is similar with slight differences. Pen them down on a separate sheet under the title various digital HRD initiatives.
Skills Build Reignite
- The SkillsBuild Reignite tends to provide job seekers and entrepreneurs, with access to free online coursework and mentoring support designed to help them reinvent their careers and businesses.
- It is a long term institutional training to the nation’s youth through its network of training institutes and infrastructure.
- IBM will provide multifaceted digital skill training in the area of Cloud Computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to students & trainers across the nation in the National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) and ITIs.
- Directorate General of Training (DGT) under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is responsible for implementing the program.
- Job seekers, individual business owners, entrepreneurs and any individual with learning aspirations can now tap into host of industry-relevant content on topics including AI, Cloud, Data analytics etc.
Features
- Its special feature is the personalized coaching for entrepreneurs, seeking advice to help establish or restart their small businesses as they begin to focus on recovery to emerge out of the COVID 19 pandemic.
- Courses for small business owners include, for example, financial management, business strategy, digital strategy, legal support and more.
- Plus, IBM volunteers will serve as mentors to some of the 30,000 SkillsBuild users in 100 communities in at least five major regions worldwide to help reinvigorate local communities.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- PDS and related issues
- The Public distribution system (PDS) is an Indian food Security Systemestablished under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution.
- PDS evolved as a system of management of scarcity through distribution of food grains at affordable prices.
- PDS is operated under the joint responsibility of the Central and the State Governments.
- The Central Government, through Food Corporation of India (FCI), has assumed the responsibility for procurement, storage, transportation and bulk allocation of food grains to the State Governments.
- The operational responsibilities including allocation within the State, identification of eligible families, issue of Ration Cards and supervision of the functioning of Fair Price Shops (FPSs) etc., rest with the State Governments.
- Under the PDS, presently the commodities namely wheat, rice, sugar and keroseneare being allocated to the States/UTs for distribution. Some States/UTs also distribute additional items of mass consumption through the PDS outlets such as pulses, edible oils, iodized salt, spices, etc.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: India's export
Mains level: Paper 3- India's foreign trade and comparison with China
China began heavy investment in infrastructure. This was a key policy decision as it provided employment to millions of people improving their economic status and purchasing power, which was the essential ingredient for industrial progress.ajya Sabha TV programs like ‘The Big Picture’, ‘In Depth’ and ‘India’s World’ are informative programs that are important for UPSC preparation. In this article, you can read about the discussions held in
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 2- India-China border dispute
The LAC has been exploited by China as leverage against India. And failure on our part to understand long-term strategic aims and objective of China makes the problem hard to solve. This article suggests a three-pronged approach to deal with China.
Incomprehension of aims and objectives
- There is incomprehension among our decision-makers of the long-term strategic aims and objectives that underpin China’s belligerent conduct.
- We have not devoted adequate intellectual capital, intelligence resources and political attention to acquisition of a clear insight into China and its motivations.
- Even when intelligence is available, analysis and dissemination have fallen short.
What China’s Defence White Papers suggest
- These thematic public documents articulate China’s national security aims, objectives and vital interests and also address the “ends-ways-means” issues related to its armed forces.
- The 11 DWPs issued so far are a model of clarity and vision, and provide many clues to current developments.
- No Indian government since Independence has deemed it necessary to issue a defence white paper, order a defence review or publish a national security strategy.
- Had we done so, it may have prepared us for the unexpected and brought order and alacrity to our crisis-response.
China uses LAC as strategic leverage
- In order to show India its place, China had administered it a “lesson” in 1962.
- And it may, perhaps, be contemplating another one in 2020, with the objective of preventing the rise of a peer competitor.
- For China, the line of actual control or LAC, representing an unsettled border, provides strategic leverage.
- Leverage it can use to keep India on tenterhooks about its next move while repeatedly exposing the latter’s vulnerabilities.
1993 Agreement didn’t benefit India
- Our diplomats derive considerable satisfaction from the 1993 Border Peace & Tranquility Agreement.
- This agreement, according to former foreign secretary, Shivshankar Menon, “…effectively delinked settlement of the boundary from the rest of the relationship”.
- But by failing to use available leverage for 27 years, and not insisting on bilateral exchange of LAC maps, we have created a ticking time-bomb, with the trigger in China’s hands.
- While “disengagement” may soon take place between troops in contact, it is most unlikely that the PLA will pull back or vacate any occupied position in Ladakh or elsewhere.
- In which case, India needs to consider a three-pronged strategy.
What should be India’s three-pronged strategy?
1. Reinforce at ground level
- At the ground-level, we need to visibly reinforce our positions, and move forward to the LAC all along.
- We should enhance the operational-tempo of the three services as a measure of deterrence.
- Indian warships should show heightened presence at the Indian Ocean choke-points.
- Cyber emergency response teams country-wide should remain on high alert.
- We should build-up stocks of weapons, ammunition and spares.
- The Ministry of Defence should seize this opportunity to urgently launch some long-term “atma-nirbharta” schemes in defence-production.
2. At strategic level: Modus vivendi
- At the strategic level, the government should consider sustained process of engagement with China at the highest politico-diplomatic echelons.
- The negotiations should seek multi-dimensional Sino-Indian modus-vivendi; encompassing the full gamut of bilateral issues like trade, territorial disputes, border-management and security.
- Simultaneously, at the grand-strategic level, India should initiate a dialogue for the formation of an “Indo-Pacific Concord for Peace and Tranquility”.
- This Concord should involve inviting four members of the Quad as well as Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia.
3. Political pragmatism
- As a nation, we need to be pragmatic enough to realise that neither conquest nor re-conquest of territory is possible in the 21st century.
- Parliament should, now, resolve to ask the government, “to establish stable, viable and peaceful national boundaries”.
Consider the question “With changing relations with China, India needs to overhaul its strategy on the ground, strategic and political levels in dealing with China”
Conclusion
This three-pronged approach while comprehending the Chines objectives and goals can help India in dealing successfully with the challenge posed by China.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PM CARES
Mains level: Paper 3- Disaster Management Act, National Plan
The Disaster Management Act (DMA) 2005 has been invoked by the government to deal with the pandemic. However, National Plan as provided under the Act to deal with Covid-19 is nowhere to be found. Also, the creations of PM CARES violated the provision of the DMA-2005. These two issues are discussed here.
Provisions of DMA 2005
- The Act, along with other things provides the constitution of a National Authority, a National Executive committee.
- It also provides for the constitution of an advisory committee of experts in the field to make recommendations and to prepare a national plan.
- This plan must provide for measures for prevention or mitigation.
- The Act lays down “guidelines for minimum standards of relief, including ex gratia assistance.
Provision of various Funds under DMA 2005
- It enables the creation of a National Disaster Response Fund in which the central government must make due contribution.
- It also requires “any grants that may be made by any person or institution for the purpose of disaster management” to be credited into the same Fund.
- It also provides for a National Disaster Mitigation Fund, exclusively for mitigation.
- The Act also provides for State and local-level plans and for creating State Disaster Response Fund among others.
Provision of disaster management plan
- After the direction by the SC, the government came out with a National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP), 2016.
- This Plan dealt with various kinds of disasters; it was amended in 2019.
- Bu this National Plan not in place now.
- Without it, the fight against COVID-19 is ad hoc and has resulted in thousands of government orders.
- These orders are confusing those who are to enforce them as well as the public.
NDRF and PM CARES issue
- On April 3, 2020, the government of India agreed to contribute its share to the NDRF.
- But a public charitable trust under the name of Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) was set up to receive grants made by persons and institutions out of the NDRF, in violation of Section 46 of the Act.
- The crores being sent to this fund are not even audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.
- It is a totally opaque exercise.
- The government of the day has not only ignored the binding law but also circumvented it.
- The government has been fighting the crisis in an ad hoc and arbitrary manner instead of the organised steps as mandated by the Act.
- In so doing, the experts have been sidelined.
Consider the question “Describe the various provision of the DMA 2005 to deal with the disaster. In light of this, examine whether the creation of PM CARES conflicts with the provision of his act”
Conclusion
The national plan to deal with the pandemic and making PM CARES more transparent would help the government in its fight against the corona crisis.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Lal-Bal-Pal
Mains level: Swadeshi Movement and its pioneers
To commemorate the death centenary of Tilak, a Pune based NGO is set to revive the Independence-era spirit of the ‘Lal-Bal-Pal’, named after nationalists Lala Lajpat Rai, ‘Lokmanya’ Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2010:
Q. What was the immediate cause for the launch of the Swadeshi movement?
(a) The partition of Bengal done by Lord Curzon.
(b) A sentence of 18 months of rigorous imprisonment imposed on Lokmanya Tilak.
(c) The arrest and deportation of Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh; and passing of the Punjab ColonizationBill.
(d) Death sentence pronounced on the Chapekarbrothers.
About Lal-Bal-Pal
- Lal Bal Pal was a triumvirate of assertive nationalists in British-ruled India in the early 20th century, from 1906 to 1918.
- They advocated the Swadeshi movement involving the boycott of all imported items and the use of Indian-made goods in 1907 during the anti-Partition agitation in Bengal which began in 1905.
- The final years of the nineteenth century saw a radical sensibility emerge among some Indian intellectuals.
- This position burst onto the national all-India scene in 1905 with the Swadeshi movement – the term is usually rendered as “self-reliance” or “self-sufficiency”.
Their Legacy
- Lal-Bal-Pal mobilized Indians across the country against the Bengal partition, and the demonstrations, strikes and boycotts of British goods that began in Bengal soon spread to other regions in a broader protest against the Raj.
- The nationalist movement gradually faded with the arrest of its main leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak and retirement of Bipin Chandra Pal and Aurobindo Ghosh from active politics.
- While Lala Lajpat Rai suffered from injuries, due to British police superintendent, James A. Scott, ordered the British Indian police to lathi charge and personally assaulted Rai; he died on 17 November 1928.
Back2Basics:
Lala Lajpat Rai
- Born in undivided Punjab on 28 January 1865, Lala Lajpat Rai grew up in a family that allowed the freedom of faith.
- Even before he focused his efforts towards a self-sufficient India, Rai believed in the principle.
- In 1895, he started the Punjab National Bank—the first Indian bank to begin solely with Indian capital, and that continues to function till date.
- Rai had travelled to America in 1907 and immediately caught up similarities between the ‘colour-caste’ practised there and the caste system prevalent in India.
- In 1917, he even founded the Indian Home Rule League of America there.
- His proactive, brave participation in the protest earned him the title of the Lion of Punjab or Punjab Kesari.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak (23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920) was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence activist
- In 1884, he founded the Deccan Education Society in Pune, and under the banner, opened the New English School for primary studies and Fergusson College for higher education.
- His involvement in the educational institutions was to emphasise on the cultural revival of young Indian minds.
- For the British, Tilak was the “Father of the Indian Unrest.”
- When the Indian National Congress was divided among moderates and extremes—the stand that each member took against the British government—there was no doubt which side Tilak supported.
- Literary works: Kesari and Maratha newspapers
Bipin Chandra Pal
- The father of revolutionary thoughts, Bipin Chandra Pal, was born to a wealthy family in Sylhet, Bengal Presidency (now in Bangladesh).
- Pal was a journalist by profession and often contributed to several newspapers.
- He used his literary expertise to write against the use of British goods, advocating Indians to start using Swadeshi goods instead.
- He was of a strong opinion that a mass reliance on Swadeshi goods would help people get rid of their poverty.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: IN-SPACE, ANTRIX
Mains level: ISRO and the scope for its commercial operations
The Union Cabinet has approved the creation of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) to provide a level playing field for private companies to use Indian space infrastructure.
Note the key differences between IN-SPACe, ANTRIX and NSIL. We can expect a prelims question with shuffled objectives of these organisations.
IN-SPACe
- The creation of IN-SPACe is part of reforms aimed at giving a boost to private sector participation in the entire range of space activities.
- The IN-SPACe is expected to hand-hold, promote and guide the private industries in space activities through encouraging policies and a friendly regulatory environment.
- It would endeavour to reorient space activities from a ‘supply-driven’ model to a ‘demand-driven’ one, thereby ensuring optimum utilization of the nation’s space assets.
Why need IN-SPACe?
- India is among a handful of countries with advanced capabilities in the space sector.
- Space sector can play a major catalytic role in the technological advancement and expansion of our Industrial base.
- The proposed reforms will enhance the socio-economic use of space assets and activities, including through improved access to space assets, data and facilities.
Back2Basics: New Space India Limited (NSIL)
- It functions under the administrative control of Department of Space (DOS).
- It aims to commercially exploit the research and development work of ISRO Centres and constituent units of DOS.
- The NSIL would enable Indian Industries to scale up high-technology manufacturing and production base for meeting the growing needs of the Indian space programme.
- It would further spur the growth of Indian Industries in the space sector.
ANTRIX
- Antrix Corporation Limited (ACL), Bengaluru is a wholly-owned Government of India Company under the administrative control of the Department of Space.
- It is as a marketing arm of ISRO for promotion and commercial exploitation of space products, technical consultancy services and transfer of technologies developed by ISRO.
- Antrix is engaged in providing Space products and services to international customers worldwide.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GeM
Mains level: India-China trade deficit
The government has made it mandatory for sellers on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal to clarify the country of origin of their goods when registering new products.
Practice question for mains:
Q. India’s quest for self-reliance is still a distant dream. Critically comment in light of the popular sentiment against the Chinese imports in India.
What is Government e-Marketplace?
- The GeM is a one-stop National Public Procurement Portal to facilitate online procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various Government Departments / Organizations / PSUs.
- It was launched in 2016 to bring transparency and efficiency in the government buying process.
- GEM aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement.
- It is a completely paperless, cashless and system driven e-marketplace that enables procurement of common use goods and services with minimal human interface.
- It provides the tools of e-bidding, reverses e-auction and demand aggregation to facilitate the government users to achieve the best value for their money.
- The purchases through GeM by Government users have been authorized and made mandatory by the Ministry of Finance by adding a new Rule No. 149 in the General Financial Rules, 2017.
- It has been developed by Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) with technical support of National e-governance Division (MEITy).
What is the new move?
- Sellers on the GeM portal will now have to disclose the origins of their products.
- The portal also has a ‘Make in India’ filter, and government offices will be able to ascertain which products have a higher content of indigenously produced raw materials.
Why need ‘Country of Origin’ tag?
- The tag would help bidders choose products that meet the ‘minimum 50 per cent local content’.
- This is the new procurement norm amended by the government earlier this month categorise suppliers based on the level of local content in their goods.
- The GeM portal now allows buyers to reserve a bid for Class I local suppliers, or suppliers of those goods with more than 50 per cent local content.
- For bids below Rs 200 crore, only Class I and Class II (those with more than 20 per cent local content) are eligible.
Why is all of this happening?
- The decision comes in the backdrop of the government’s push for self-sufficiency which intends to promote self-reliance by boosting the use of locally produced goods.
- At $ 70.32 billion in 2018-19 and $ 62.38 billion between April 2019 and February 2020, China accounts for the highest proportion of goods imported into India (around 14 per cent in 2019-2020 so far).
- It also follows the deadly clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley which have prompted several government departments to launch an offensive against imports from China.
How will ordinary consumers in India be impacted?
- The announcement may over time filter out imported goods from use in government offices and facilities.
- This might provide an opportunity to Indian manufacturers across industries to push their products in government facilities.
- A more direct impact may be seen if the proposal to mandate the country of origin for products on private platforms is implemented.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Art. 340
Mains level: National Commission for Backward Classes and its mandate
The Union Cabinet has approved the extension of the term of the Commission to examine the issue of Sub-categorization of Other Backward Classes, by 6 months i.e. upto 31.1.2021.
Practice question for mains:
Q.The quota policy for OBCs needs a revisit. Comment.
About the commission
- The Commission was constituted under Article 340 of the Constitution in 2017 under the chairmanship of Justice (Retd.) Smt. G. Rohini.
- The Commission has since interacted with all the States/UTs which have subcategorized OBCs, and the State Backward Classes Commissions.
- The expenditure related to the establishment and administration costs of the Commission is borne by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Background
- The Supreme Court in Indra Sawhney and others vs. Union of India case (1992) had observed that there is no constitutional or legal bar on states for categorizing OBCs as backward or more backward.
- It had also observed that it is not impermissible in law if a state chooses to do sub-categorization.
- So far, 9 states/UTs viz. Karnataka, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Puducherry, Telangana, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have carried out sub-categorization of OBCs.
- However, there was no subcategorization in the central list of OBCs so far.
Why need a sub-categorization?
- Presently, half of these 1,900-odd castes have availed less than three per cent of reservation in jobs and education, and the rest availed zero benefits during the last five years.
- Five-year data on OBC quota implementation in central jobs and higher educational institutions showed that a very small section has cornered the lion’s share.
- A/c to the Commission, the classification is based on relative benefits availed and not relative social backwardness, which involves parameters such as social status, traditional occupations, religion, etc.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: AHIDF
Mains level: Animal husbandary sector of India
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved setting up of Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) worth Rs. 15000 crore.
Practice question for mains:
Q. In pursuit of doubling farmer’s income, development of animal husbandry has to play a crucial role. Discuss.
About AHIDF
- The fund is part of the Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus packages to help people affected by the lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
- The AHIDF would promote infrastructure investments in dairy, meat processing and animal feed plants.
- Farmer producer organizations (FPOs), MSMEs, Section 8 companies, private companies and individual entrepreneurs would be eligible to benefit from the fund.
- It will ensure the availability of capital to meet upfront investment required for these projects and also help enhance overall returns/ payback for investors.
Provisions of the AHIDF
- The beneficiaries will have to contribute 10 per cent margin towards the proposed infra project and the rest 90 per cent would be a loan component to be made available to them by scheduled banks.
- The balance 90% would be the loan component to be made available by scheduled banks.
- Government of India will provide 3% interest subvention to eligible beneficiaries.
- There will be 2 years moratorium period for the principal loan amount and 6 years repayment period thereafter.
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