Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Role of civil society in pandemic
The article highlights the important role played by civil society and suggest the need for the new framework for the participation of community in the solution of problems.
Important role played by civil society in second wave of Covid
- We also have to realise that the state or the market cannot be the only provider for what citizens need.
- Effective social interactions and community participation can play an important role in scaling up some of the actions that have been found useful.
- During the second wave of Covid infections, communities emerged as resilient entities across the country.
- Active engagement with civil society: Recently, the Prime Minister called for an active engagement of civil society in coping with the pandemic.
- The empowered group of secretaries has also identified the role of civil society during this period of crisis.
Tasks for NITI Aayog: New framework
- NITI should engage government institutions that encourage public participation and also support new frameworks for crisis management.
- This new framework should critically look into the weaknesses and failures of the existing ones in attracting community participation in an effective manner.
- This would also help in NITI’s own goal of localisation of development as part of its SDG strategy.
- NITI should create mechanisms for facilitating the creation of required space for community initiatives.
- It should leverage advanced technologies ABCD — artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing and data analytics for bridging demand-supply gaps.
- It is time for NITI to apply the institutional framework where it has to, to rationalise select activities of communities and overcome the failure of the state where it is imminent.
- NITI should partner with willing state governments to explore the launch of platforms that promote cross-learning and experience-sharing to reduce the cost of operations.
- This may help in scaling up and, in some cases, overcome the asymmetric flow of information.
- Opportunities for the participation of communities in decision making and their implementation at local levels may be explored.
- The advantage for NITI is DARPAN, its portal for all voluntary organisations/non-governmental organisations engaged in development activities.
- Several informal entities, start-ups and others, at times undefined, may also have to be engaged.
Initiatives and micro-models
- Several micro-models are coming up, but few have a larger footprint.
- In Nandurbar, for instance, a district collector could achieve what now seems a rare coordination between beds, number of critical patients and supply of oxygen.
- At the end of the day, they had more beds with oxygen than required.
- Breathe India and HelpNow represent an array of options, these apps have facilitated access to oxygen concentrators, hospitals and ambulances.
- There are several such initiatives that are taking place across the country with little connection with each other.
- These micro-models need to be scaled up.
Consider the question “The role played by the civil society during the second covid wave highlighted its importance. What we need is a new framework for community participation. In light of this, discuss the important aspects of such framework.”
Conclusion
Solutions to any social problem call for an effective collective action that coordinates the aspirations of several groups of stakeholders. The present situation underlines the necessity of combined efforts to face this challenge.
B2BASICS
What is civil Society?
- The society considered as a community of citizens linked by common interests and collective activity is a civil society.
- It is the aggregate of non-governmental organizations and institutions that manifest interests and will of citizens.
- It is referred to as the third sector of the society distinct from government and business.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Chip famine
Mains level: Not Much
A shortage of inputs, especially semiconductor chips, has made India-based car manufactures and premium bike makers curtail production across categories.
Do you know?
Electronic parts and components today account for 40% of the cost of a new internal combustion engine car, up from less than 20% two decades ago.
Chip famine
- The trigger point was the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns across the world that forced shut crucial chip-making facilities in countries including Japan, South Korea, China and the US.
- A key feature in a chip shortage is that it almost always causes cascading effects, given that the first one creates pent-up demand that becomes the cause for the follow-up famine.
Why such famine?
- The COVID-19 pandemic caused disruptions in supply chains and logistics.
- This is coupled with a 13% increase in global demand for PCs owing to some countries’ shift to a stay-at-home economy.
- This has impacted the availability of key chips necessary for the manufacturing of a broad range of electronics being a necessary component of every industry.
What is the impact of the chip famine?
- Consumers of semiconductor chips, which are mainly car manufacturers and consumer electronics manufactures, have not been receiving enough of this crucial input to continue production.
- There were two reasons for this: a steady decline in input prices and improvements in the processing power of chips.
- The number of transistors mounted in IC circuit chips has doubled every two years.
- Notably, the increase in chip consumption over the last decade is also partly attributable to the rising contribution of electronic components in a car’s bill of materials.
How have vehicle makers responded?
- Supply constraints are learned to have caused some output issues at notable Indian auto firms.
- In addition to delaying vehicle deliveries, some companies have reportedly started discarding features and high-end electronic capabilities on a temporary basis.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CBI
Mains level: Issues with the CBI
The high-powered selection committee headed by the Prime Minister has finalized some names for the post of CBI director.
Try answering this:
Q.Why the CBI is called “a caged parrot speaking in its master’s voice”? Critically comment.
Central Bureau of Investigation
- The CBI is the premier investigating agency of India operating under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
- It was originally set up to investigate bribery and governmental corruption.
- In 1965 it received expanded jurisdiction to investigate breaches of central laws enforceable by the Government of India, multi-state organized crime, multi-agency or international cases.
- The agency has been known to investigate several economic crimes, special crimes, cases of corruption, and other cases.
- CBI is exempted from the provisions of the Right to Information Act. CBI is India’s officially designated single point of contact for liaison with Interpol.
Its composition
- The CBI is headed by a Director, an IPS officer with a rank of Director General of Police.
- The director is selected by a high-profile committee constituted under The Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946 as amended through The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, and has a two-year term.
- The Appointment Committee consists of:
- Prime Minister – Chairperson
- Leader of Opposition of Loksabha or the Leader of the single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha, if the former is not present due to lack of mandated strength in the Lok Sabha – member
- Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court Judge recommended by the Chief Justice – member
Jurisdiction, powers and restrictions
- The legal powers of investigation of the CBI are derived from the DSPE Act 1946, which confers powers, duties, privileges and liabilities on the Delhi Special Police Establishment (CBI) and officers of the UTs.
- The central government may extend to any area (except UTs) the powers and jurisdiction of the CBI for investigation, subject to the consent of the government of the concerned state.
- Members of the CBI at or above the rank of sub-inspector may be considered officers in charge of police stations.
- Under the DSPE Act, the CBI can investigate only with notification by the central government.
Relationship with state police
- The CBI was originally constituted under the DSPE Act, to operate within the territory of Delhi.
- As policing and law is a subject that falls within state powers under the structure of Indian federalism, the CBI needs prior consent from other state governments in order to conduct investigations within their territory.
- This consent can be in the form of a ‘general consent’ under Section 6 of the DSPE Act, which remains in operation for all investigations.
- Once consent is granted, the CBI can investigate economic, corruption, and special crimes (including national security, drugs and narcotics, etc.)
- Most Indian states had granted general consent to the CBI to investigate crimes within their territory.
- However, as of 2020, several states have withdrawn their ‘general consent’ for the CBI to operate, and require special consent to be granted on a case-to-case basis.
Issues with CBI
- In 2013, Judge of the Supreme Court of India (and later CJI) R. M. Lodha criticized the CBI for being a “caged parrot speaking in its master’s voice”.
- This was due to its excessive political interference irrespective of which party happened to be in power.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hallmark
Mains level: Not Much
Hallmarking of Gold Jewellery is set to begin from 15th June 2021.
What is Hallmark Gold?
- The process of certifying the purity and fineness of gold is called hallmarking.
- Bureau of Indian Standards, the National Standards Body of India, is responsible for hallmarking gold as well as silver jewellery under the BIS Act.
- If you see the BIS hallmark on the gold jewellery/gold coin, it means it conforms to a set of standards laid by the BIS. Hallmarking gives consumers assurance regarding the purity of the gold they bought.
- That is, if you are buying hallmarked 18K gold jewellery, it will actually mean that 18/24 parts are gold and the rest is alloy.
- At present, only 30% of Indian Gold Jewellery is hallmarked.
Here are the four components one must look at the time of buying gold (they are mentioned in the laser engraving of a hallmark seal):
- BIS Hallmark: Indicates that its purity is verified in one of its licensed laboratories
- Purity in carat and fineness (corresponding to given caratage KT)
- 22K916 (91.6% Purity)
- 18K750 (75% Purity)
- 14K585 (58.5% Purity)
- Assaying & Hallmarking Centre’s mark
- Jeweler’s unique identification mark
Answer this PYQ from CSP 2017 in the comment box
Q.Consider the following statements:
- 1. The Standard Mark of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is mandatory for automotive tyres and tubes.
2. AGMARK is a quality Certification Mark issued by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Why need hallmark?
- Hallmarking will enable Consumers/Jewellery buyers to make the right choice and save them from any unnecessary confusion while buying gold.
- It will enhance the credibility of gold Jewelry and Customer satisfaction through third-party assurance for the marked purity/fineness of gold, consumer protection.
- This step will also help to develop India as a leading gold market center in the World.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Read the attached story
Mains level: Formation of stars
Indian scientists have estimated the three-dimensional distribution of molecular and atomic hydrogen in a nearby galaxy which can help lead to clues to the star formation processes and the evolution of the galaxy.
Study on Hydrogen distribution
- Galaxies like the one we reside in, the Milky Way, consist of discs containing stars, molecular and atomic hydrogen, and helium.
- The molecular hydrogen gas collapses on itself in distinct pockets, forming stars, its temperature was found to be low –close to 10 kelvin, or -263 ºC, and thickness is about 60 to 240 light-years.
- The atomic hydrogen extends both above and below the discs.
- Indian scientists have estimated that molecular hydrogen extends farther from the disc in both directions, up to about 3000 light-years.
- This gaseous component is warmer than the one straddling the disc and has comparatively lesser densities, thus escaping earlier observations.
- They called it the ‘diffuse’ component of the molecular disc.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q. Which one of the following sets of elements was primarily responsible for the origin of life on the Earth?
(a) Hydrogen, Oxygen, Sodium
(b) Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen
(c) Oxygen, Calcium, Phosphorous
(d) Carbon, Hydrogen, Potassium
Why does this study matter?
- The molecular hydrogen gas converts to individual stars under the pull of gravity, thus holding clues to the star formation processes and the evolution of the galaxy.
- If a significant part of the gas extends beyond the thin disc of a few hundred light-years, it may explain why astronomers also observe stars at a few thousand light-years perpendicular to the galactic disc.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GI tags, Shahi Litchi
Mains level: Not Much
In a major boost to the export of GI-certified products, the season’s first consignment of Shahi Litchi from Bihar was exported to the United Kingdom by the air route.
Tap here to read about all GI-tagged products in news.
Shahi Litchi
- India is the second-largest producer of litchi (Litchi chin) in the world, after China.
- The translucent, flavored aril or edible flesh of the litchi is popular as a table fruit in India, while in China and Japan it is preferred in dried or canned form.
- Shahi litchi was the fourth agricultural product to get GI certification from Bihar in 2018, after Jardalu mango, Katarni rice, and Magahi paan.
- GI registration for Shahi Litchi is held with the Muzaffarpur-based Litchi Growers Association of Bihar.
- Muzzafarpur, Vaishali, Samastipur, Champaran, Begusarai districts and adjoining areas of Bihar have favorable climate for growing Shahi Litchi.
Back2Basics: Geographical Indication (GI)
- The World Intellectual Property Organisation defines a GI as “a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin”.
- GIs are typically used for agricultural products, foodstuffs, handicrafts, industrial products, wines and spirit drinks.
- Internationally, GIs are covered as an element of intellectual property rights under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
- They have also covered under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Competition Commission of India
Mains level: Not Much
Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs recently commemorated the 12th Annual Day of the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
Competition Commission of India
- CCI is the competition regulator in India.
- It is a statutory body responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002 and promoting competition throughout India and preventing activities that have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India.
- It was established on 14 October 2003. It became fully functional in May 2009.
Its establishment
- The idea of CCI was conceived and introduced in the form of The Competition Act, 2002 by the Vajpayee government.
- A need was felt to promote competition and private enterprise especially in the light of 1991 Indian economic liberalization.
- The Competition Act, 2002, as amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007, follows the philosophy of modern competition laws.
- The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by enterprises, and regulates combinations (acquisition, acquiring of control, and Merger and acquisition), which causes or likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Worsening inequality amid pandemic
Pandemic hit hard the lives, livelihood and the economy. It has also worsened income inequality. The article deals with the issues of impacts of pandemic and suggests ways to revive growth the deal with income inequality.
Need to address growth and inequality issue
- The second wave of the pandemic is spreading to rural areas also.
- It is known that rural areas have poor health infrastructure.
- Similar to the first wave, inequalities are also increasing during the second wave.
- The country has to address the issue of rising inequalities for achieving higher sustainable growth and the well-being of a larger population.
- According to the State of Working in India 2021 report of the Azim Premji University, the pandemic would push 230 million people into poverty.
- CMIE data shows a decline in incomes and rising unemployment during the second wave.
- U-shaped impact: The recent RBI Bulletin says that the impact of the second wave appears to be U-shaped.
- In the well of the U are the most vulnerable — blue collar groups who have to risk exposure for a living and for rest of society to survive.
K-shaped recovery and rising inequality
- The recovery seemed to be K-shaped during the first wave.
- The share of wages declined as compared to that of profits.
- A large part of the corporate sector managed the pandemic with many listed companies recording higher profits.
- On the other hand, the informal workers including daily wage labourers, migrants, MSMEs etc. suffered a lot with loss of incomes and employment.
- The recovery post the second wave is also likely to be K-shaped with rising inequalities.
Policies needed for higher growth and reduction in inequality
1) Vaccination and healthcare facilities
- An aggressive vaccination programme and improving the healthcare facilities in both rural and urban areas is needed.
- Reducing the health crisis can lead to an economic revival.
- Vaccine inequality between urban and rural areas has to be reduced.
- The crisis can be used as an opportunity to create universal healthcare facilities for all, particularly rural areas.
- Other states can learn from Kerala on building health infrastructure.
2) Investment in infrastructure
- The budget offered some good announcements relating to capital investment in infrastructure.
- The Development Financial Institution (DFI) for funding long-term infrastructure projects is being established.
- This can revive employment and reduce inequalities.
- The government has to fast track infra investment.
3) Safety net for vulnerable
- The informal workers and other vulnerable sections including MSMEs have been dealt back-to-back blows due to the first and second waves.
- A majority of workers have experienced a loss of earnings.
- Therefore, the government has to provide safety nets in the form of free food grains for six more months, expand work offered under MGNREGA in both rural and urban areas.
- The government also need to undertake a cash transfer to provide minimum basic income.
Policies for growth
- Focus on demand: On economic growth, the RBI Bulletin says that the biggest toll of the second wave is in terms of a demand shock as aggregate supply is less impacted.
- Investment: In the medium term, the investment rate has to be increased from the present 30 per cent of GDP to 35 per cent and 40 per cent of GDP for higher growth and job creation.
- Export: It is one of the main engines of growth and employment creation.
- There is positive news on exports as the global economy is reviving.
- Protectionist trade policy: In recent years India’s trade policy has become more protectionist and the country has to reduce import tariff rates.
- Role of fiscal policy: In the near term, fiscal policy has to play a more important role in achieving the objectives of growth, jobs and equity by expanding the fiscal space by restructuring expenditure, widening the tax base and increasing non-tax revenue.
Consider the question “Two waves of the Covid pandemic have worsened the inequality. India has to address the issue of rising inequalities for achieving higher sustainable growth and the well-being of a larger population. Suggest the policies that India should follow for higher growth and reduction in inequality.”
Conclusion
Vaccination, expansion in rural healthcare and cash transfers should be part of the strategy to boost demand and address inequalities.
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