Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CNR Rao and his scientific contributions
Mains level: Not Much
Bharat Ratna Professor C.N.R. Rao has received the International Eni Award 2020 for research into renewable energy sources and energy storage, also called the Energy Frontier award.
Who is CNR Rao?
- Rao is an Indian chemist who has worked mainly in solid-state and structural chemistry.
- Rao is one of the world’s foremost solid state and materials chemists. He has contributed to the development of the field over five decades.
His scientific contributions
His work on transition metal oxides has led to a basic understanding of novel phenomena and the relationship between materials properties and the structural chemistry of these materials.
- Rao was one of the earliest to synthesize two-dimensional oxide materials such as La2CuO4.
- He was one of the first to synthesize 123 cuprates, the first liquid nitrogen-temperature superconductor in 1987. He was also the first to synthesis Y junction carbon nanotubes in the mid-1990s.
- His work has led to a systematic study of compositionally controlled metal-insulator transitions.
- Such studies have had a profound impact in application fields such as colossal magnetoresistance and high-temperature superconductivity.
- He has made immense contributions to nanomaterials over the last two decades, besides his work on hybrid materials.
Answer this PYQ from CSP 2020 in the comment box:
Q. With reference to carbon nanotubes, consider the following statements:
1. They can be used as carriers of drugs and antigens in the human body.
2. They can be made into artificial blood capillaries for an injured part of the human body.
3. They can be used in biochemical sensors.
4. Carbon nanotubes are biodegradable.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2, 3, and 4 only
(c) 1, 3, and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Citations for the Energy Frontiers award
- Professor Rao has been working on hydrogen energy as the only source of energy for the benefit of all mankind.
- Hydrogen storage, photochemical and electrochemical production of hydrogen, solar production of hydrogen, and non-metallic catalysis were the highlights of his work.
- The EF award has been conferred for his work on metal oxides, carbon nanotubes, and other materials and two-dimensional systems, including graphene, boron-nitrogen-carbon hybrid materials, and molybdenum sulfide (Molybdenite – MoS2) for energy applications and green hydrogen production.
- Green hydrogen production can be achieved through various processes, including the photodissociation of water, thermal dissociation, and electrolysis activated by electricity produced from solar or wind energy.
Significance of this award
- This is considered to be the Nobel Prize in Energy Research.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Golden visa scheme
Mains level: Not Much
A Bollywood actor has recently received a golden visa from the UAE government.
What is the Golden Visa?
- The Golden Visa system essentially offers long-term residency (5 and 10 years) to people belonging to the following groups: investors, entrepreneurs, individuals with outstanding talents the likes of researchers, medical professionals and those within the scientific and knowledge fields, and remarkable students.
- The main benefit of the visa will be security.
- The UAE government has made it clear that they are committed to providing expatriates, investors and essentially everyone looking to make the UAE their home an extra reason to feel secure about their future.
Who are eligible to apply?
- For the 10-year visa, investors having no less than AED (Dirham) 10 million worth of public investment, either in the form of an investment fund or a company, can apply.
- However, at least 60 per cent of the total investment must not be in the form of real estate and the invested amount must not be loaned, or in case of assets, investors must assume full ownership.
- The investor must be able to retain the investment for a minimum of three years as well.
- The long-term visa can also include the holder’s spouse and children, as well as one executive director and one advisor.
- In addition to the aforementioned, foreign nationals who are looking to set up their business in the UAE may also apply for permanent residency (5 years) through the Golden Business Visa scheme.
Perks for the talent
- Besides entrepreneurs, individuals with specialized talent can also apply for the visa. They include doctors, researchers, scientists, investors and artists.
- These individuals may be granted a 10-year visa following accreditations granted by their respective departments and fields and the visa will also be extended to their spouses and children.
- Exceptional high school and university students are eligible for a 5-year residency visa in the UAE.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Smallpox vaccination in colonial India
Mains level: Not Much
A 19th-century portrait of three women from Mysore has been going viral as “one of the most important scientific pictures in the history of medicine in India”.
What did the portrait depict?
- Believed to be painted in 1805 by Irish-born artist Thomas Hickey, the oil on canvas was initially thought to be portraits of “dancing girls or courtesans”.
- The painting depicted one of the first vaccine drives in India, with bejewelled women from the Wadiyar dynasty posing for Hickey.
- The canvas was commissioned to promote participation in the smallpox vaccination programme and the women posing with the scars.
What is smallpox?
- Smallpox is an acute contagious disease caused by the variola virus, a member of the orthopoxvirus family.
- It was one of the most devastating diseases known to humanity and caused millions of deaths before it was eradicated.
- It is believed to have existed for at least 3000 years.
How and when did the smallpox vaccine reach India?
- The smallpox vaccine, discovered by Edward Jenner in 1796, was the first successful vaccine to be developed.
- On June 14, 1802, Anna Dusthall, an Anglo-Indian toddler, was the first person in India to be successfully vaccinated against the virus that relied on the cowpox virus, “a mild cousin of smallpox” to trigger immunity.
- The “vaccine vesicle” that came on the arm of the receiver was a source of lymphatic fluid or pus that would act as a vaccine, leading to an arm-to-arm immunisation chain.
- The vaccine subsequently travelled to different parts of India, including Hyderabad, Cochin, Madras and Mysore.
How was the drive carried out?
- While the lymph was at times reportedly dried and sealed between glass plates to be transported, it often did not survive long journeys, due to which the British had to primarily rely on a human chain.
- There was also opposition from the domestic population on the introduction of the cowpox virus and also because some believed the goddess of smallpox would be angered by the vaccination.
- With Tipu Sultan defeated in Mysore, and the reinstatement of the Wadiyars, the East India Company was trying to strengthen its position in South India.
- It protected the ex-pat population from an epidemic, making vaccination essential.
- Queen Lakshmi Ammanni, who had lost her husband to smallpox, supported their cause and wanted to vaccine her population against the deadly virus.
- The painting was supposed to encourage participation in the vaccination drive.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Social media regulation
The new rules for social media platforms and digital news outlets called the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code has come into effect.
New guidelines for digital media
- The guidelines had asked all social media platforms to set up a grievances redressal and compliance mechanism.
- This included appointing a resident grievance officer, chief compliance officer and a nodal contact person.
- The IT Ministry had also asked these platforms to submit monthly reports on complaints received from users and action taken.
- A third requirement was for instant messaging apps was to make provisions for tracking the first originator of a message.
- Failure to comply with any one of these requirements would take away the indemnity provided to social media intermediaries under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act.
What is Section 79 of the IT Act?
- Section 79 says any intermediary shall not be held legally or otherwise liable for any third party information, data, or communication link made available or hosted on its platform.
- This protection, the Act says, shall be applicable if the said intermediary does not in any way, initiate the transmission of the message in question, select the receiver of the transmitted message and does not modify any information contained in the transmission.
- This means that as long as a platform acts just as the messenger carrying a message from point A to point B, without interfering in any manner, it will be safe from any legal prosecution.
- The intermediary must not tamper with any evidence of these messages or content present on its platform, failing which it loses its protection under the Act.
Effect of non-compliance
- As of now, nothing changes overnight. Social media intermediaries will continue to function as they were, without any hiccups.
- People will also be able to post and share content on their pages without any disturbance.
- Social media intermediaries such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have so far not appointed any officer or contact person as required under the new rules.
- They have also failed to submit monthly action taken reports on grievances and complaints submitted to them by users. Thus, protection under Section 79 of the IT Act does will not hold for them.
Liabilities with the new rules
- Further, Rule 4(a) of the IT Rules mandates that significant social media intermediaries must appoint a chief compliance officer (CCO) who would be held liable in case the intermediary fails to observe the due diligence requirements.
- This means that if a tweet, a Facebook post or a post on Instagram violates the local laws, the law enforcement agency would be well within its rights to book not only the person sharing the content but the executives of these companies as well.
Global norms on safe harbour protection
- As most of the bigger social media intermediaries have their headquarters in the US, the most keenly watched is Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act.
- This provides Internet companies a safe harbour from any content users post of these platforms.
- Experts believe it is this provision in the US law that enabled companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google to become global conglomerates.
- Like Section 79 of India’s IT Act, this Section 230 states that “no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider”.
- This effectively means that the intermediary shall only be like a bookstore owner who cannot be held accountable for the books in the store unless there is a connection.
Repercussions of the rules in India
- WhatsApp has approached the Delhi High Court challenging the new Rules which include a requirement for social media platforms to compulsorily enable “the identification of the first originator of the information” in India upon government or court order.
- It argued that this provision forces it “to break end-to-end encryption on its messaging service, as well as the privacy principles underlying it.
Must read:
[Burning Issue] New IT Rules 2021
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Hate Speech vs Free Speech
A panel constituted by the Union Home Ministry to suggest reforms to the British-era Indian Penal Code (IPC) is likely to propose a separate Section on “offences relating to speech and expression.”
Panel to define hate speech
- As there is no clear definition of what constitutes a “hate speech” in the IPC, the Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws is attempting for the first time to define such speech.
- Legally speaking, for criminal Sections to be invoked, any such speech has to lead to violence or disturbance of law and order.
What constitutes Hate Speech?
- Hate speech can be defined as “public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation”.
- The word ‘hate speech’ as is a loaded term and merely criticizing someone is not hate speech.
- There has been much debate over freedom of speech, hate speech and hate speech legislation.
Indian attempts for definition
- The Bureau of Police Research and Development recently published a manual for investigating agencies on cyber harassment cases.
- It has defined hate speech as a language that denigrates, insults threatens or targets an individual based on their identity and other traits (such as sexual orientation or disability or religion etc.).
- Earlier in 2018, the Home Ministry had written to the Law Commission to prepare a distinct law for online “hate speech”.
- A committee was formed in the wake of Section 66A of the IT Act, 2000, which provided punishment for sending offensive messages through communication services.
- In 2019, however, the Ministry decided to overhaul the IPC, framed in 1860 and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) after seeking suggestions from various stakeholders.
Recommendations of various committees
- The Viswanathan committee proposed inserting Sections 153 C (b) and Section 505 A in the IPC for incitement to commit an offence on grounds of religion, race, caste or community, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, place of birth, residence, language, disability or tribe.
- It proposed punishment by up to two years along with ₹5,000 fine.
- The Bezbaruah Committee was constituted by the Centre in February 2014 in the wake of series of racial attacks on persons belonging to the northeast.
- It proposed amendment to Section 153 C IPC (promoting or attempting to promote acts prejudicial to human dignity), punishable by five years and fine or both and Section 509 A IPC (word, gesture or act intended to insult a member of a particular race), punishable by three years or fine or both.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: BEPS, Global Minimum Tax
Mains level: Narrative for the Global Minimum Corporate Tax
Global_Minimum_Corporate_Tax
The US has anticipated support from the G7 industrial democracies for the Biden Administration’s proposed 15%-plus global minimum corporate tax.
Multinational corporations rather monopolies don’t like to pay their fair share of taxes. They’ll do everything in their power to exploit loopholes and minimize their tax liability. Most companies simply open offices in destinations where tax rates are low or negligible. And at the end of it all, they’ll have done just enough to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes.
Global Minimum Corporate Tax
- Major economies are aiming to discourage multinational companies from shifting profits – and tax revenues – to low-tax countries regardless of where their sales are made.
- Increasingly, income from intangible sources such as drug patents, software, and royalties on intellectual property has migrated to these jurisdictions.
- This has allowed companies to avoid paying higher taxes in their traditional home countries.
- With a broadly agreed global minimum tax, the Biden administration hopes to reduce such tax base erosion without putting American firms at a financial disadvantage.
How would such tax work?
- The global minimum tax rate would apply to companies’ overseas profits.
- Therefore, if countries agree on a global minimum, governments could still set whatever local corporate tax rate they want.
- But if companies pay lower rates in a particular country, their home governments could “top-up” their taxes to the agreed minimum rate, eliminating the advantage of shifting profits to a tax haven.
- The Biden administration has said it wants to deny exemptions for taxes paid to countries that don’t agree to a minimum rate.
Back2Basics: Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)
- BEPS refers to corporate tax planning strategies used by multinationals to “shift” profits from higher-tax jurisdictions to lower-tax jurisdictions.
- It thus “erodes” the “tax base” of the higher-tax jurisdictions.
- Corporate tax havens offer BEPS tools to “shift” profits to the haven, and additional BEPS tools to avoid paying taxes within the haven.
- It is alleged that BEPS is associated mostly with American technology and life science multinationals.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Reclining Buddha , Various Mudras
Mains level: Buddhist arts in India
On this Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima, or Vesak — India’s largest statue of the Reclining Buddha was to have been installed at Bodh Gaya. The ceremony has been put off due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The Reclining Buddha
- A reclining Buddha statue or image represents The Buddha during his last illness, about to enter Parinirvana, the stage of great salvation after death that can only be attained by enlightened souls.
- The Buddha’s death came when he was 80 years old, in a state of meditation, in Kushinagar in eastern Uttar Pradesh, close to the state’s border with Bihar.
Answer this PYQ from CSP 2014 in the comment box:
Q.Lord Buddha’s image is sometimes shown with a hand gesture called ‘Bhumisparsha Mudra’. It symbolizes-
a) Buddha’s calling of the Earth to watch over Mara and to prevent Mara from disturbing his meditation
b) Buddha’s calling of the Earth to witness his purity and chastity despite the temptations of Mara
c) Buddha’s reminder to his followers that they all arise from the Earth and finally dissolve into the Earth and thus this life is transitory
d) Both the statements ‘a’ and ‘b’ are correct in this context
Significance of the position
- Buddha is lying on his right side, his head resting on a cushion or relying on his right elbow, supporting his head with his hand.
- After the Buddha’s death, his followers decide to build a statue of him lying down.
- It is a popular iconographic depiction in Buddhism and is meant to show that all beings have the potential to be awakened and be released from the cycle of death and rebirth.
Connection with Gandhara Art
- The Reclining Buddha was first depicted in Gandhara art, which began in the period between 50 BC and 75 AD, and peaked during the Kushana period from the first to the fifth centuries AD.
- Since the Buddha was against idol worship, in the centuries immediately following his Parinirvana (483 BC), his representation was through symbols.
- As the devotional aspect subsequently entered Buddhist practice, however, iconographic representations of The Buddha began.
Try this question from CS Mains 2016:
Q.Early Buddhist Stupa-art, while depicting folk motifs and narratives, successfully expounds Buddhist ideals. Elucidate.
Reclining Buddha outside India
- In Sri Lanka and India, the Buddha is mostly shown in sitting postures, while the reclining postures are more prevalent in Thailand and other parts of southeast Asia.
- There are several statues of the Reclining Buddha in China, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
- The largest in the world is the 600-foot Winsein Tawya Buddha built-in 1992 in Mawlamyine, Myanmar.
- In the late 15th century, a 70-meter statue of the Reclining Buddha was built at the Hindu temple site of Baphuon in Cambodia’s Angkor.
- The Bhamala Buddha Parinirvana in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which dates back to the 2nd century AD, is considered the oldest statue of its kind in the world.
Reclining Buddha in India
- Cave No. 26 of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ajanta contains a 24-foot-long and nine-foot-tall sculpture of the Reclining Buddha, believed to have been carved in the 5th century AD.
- It shows the Buddha reclining on his right side, and behind him are two sala trees.
- At the base of the sculpture are his begging bowl, a water pitcher and walking stick.
- While his disciples are shown sitting in mourning, celestial beings are shown on top, rejoicing in anticipation of the Buddha’s arrival in heaven.
Back2Basics: Mudras of Buddha
Dharmachakra Mudra
- It is also called as the gesture of ‘Teaching of the Wheel of Dharma’ that describes one of the most important moments in the Buddha’s life as he performed the Dharmachakra mudra in his first sermon in Sarnath after he attained enlightenment.
- It is performed with the help of both the hands which are held against the chest, the left facing inward, covering the right facing outward.
Dhyan Mudra
- It is also known as Samadhi or Yoga Mudra.
- It is performed with the help of two hands, which are placed on the lap and place the right hand on the left hand with stretched fingers (thumbs facing upwards and other fingers of both the hand resting on each other.)
- This is the characteristic gesture of Buddha Shakyamuni, Dhyani Buddha Amitabh and the Medicine Buddha.
Bhumisparsa Mudra
- This gesture is also known as ‘touching the Earth’, which represents the moment of the Buddha’s awakening as he claims the earth as the witness of his enlightenment.
- It is performed with the help of the right hand, which is held above the right knee, reaching toward the ground with the palm inward while touching the lotus throne.
Varada Mudra
- This mudra represents the offering, welcome, charity, giving, compassion and sincerity.
- It is performed with the help of both the hands in which palm of right hand is facing forward and fingers extended and left hand palm placed near centre with extended fingers.
Karana Mudra
- It signifies the warding off of evil which is performed by raising the index and the little finger, and folding the other fingers.
- It helps in reducing sickness or negative thoughts.
Vajra Mudra
- This gesture denotes the fiery thunderbolt that symbolises the five elements—air, water, fire, earth, and metal.
- It is performed with the help of right fist and left forefinger, which is placed by enclosing the erect forefinger of the left hand in the right fist with the tip of the right forefinger touching (or curled around) the tip of the left forefinger.
Vitarka Mudra
- It signifies the discussion and transmission of the teachings of the Buddha.
- It is performed by joining the tips of the thumb and the index fingers together while keeping the other fingers straight, which is just like the Abhaya Mudra and Varada Mudra but in this mudra the thumbs touch the index fingers.
Abhaya Mudra
- It is a gesture of fearlessness or blessing that represents the protection, peace, benevolence, and dispelling of fear.
- It is performed with the help of right hand by raising to shoulder height with bent arm, and the face of palm will be facing outward with fingers upright whereas the left hand hanging down while standing.
Uttarabodhi Mudra
- This denotes the supreme enlightenment through connecting oneself with divine universal energy.
- It is performed with the help of both the hands, which are placed at the heart with the index fingers touching and pointing upwards and the remaining fingers intertwined.
Anjali Mudra
- It is also called Namaskara Mudra or Hridayanjali Mudra that represents the gesture of greeting, prayer and adoration.
- It is performed by pressing the palms of the hands together in which the hands are held at the heart chakra with thumbs resting lightly against the sternum.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mekedatu Project
Mains level: Cauvery Water Dispute
The National Green Tribunal (NGT), Southern Zone has appointed a joint committee to look into allegations of unauthorized construction activity taking place in Mekedatu, where the Karnataka government had proposed to construct a dam across the Cauvery River.
What is the Mekedatu Project?
- Mekedatu, meaning goat’s leap, is a deep gorge situated at the confluence of the rivers Cauvery and Arkavathi, about 100 km from Bengaluru, at the Kanakapura taluk in Karnataka’s Ramanagara district.
- In 2013, then Karnataka announced the construction of a multi-purpose balancing reservoir project.
- The project aimed to alleviate the drinking water problems of Bengaluru and Ramanagara district.
- It was also expected to generate hydro-electricity to meet the power needs of the state.
Issues with the project
- Soon after the project was announced TN has objected over granting of permission or environmental clearance.
- Explaining the potential for damage to the lower riparian state of TN, it said that the project was in violation of the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.
- It stated that the project will affect the natural flow of the river Cauvery considerably and will severely affect the irrigation in TN.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Fundamental challenges GST regime faces
The article highlights the fundamental challenges the GST faces in the form of trust erosion and politicisation of decision making in GST Council.
Initial issues with GST
- The multiple rates structure, high tax slabs and the complexity of tax filings as the problems underpinning India’s GST.
- These were indeed the initial problems in the way GST was implemented, leading to some of its current woes.
- However, technical fixes such as simplification of GST rates and tax filing systems will not succeed in addressing the fundamental problems with GST.
Fundamental problems
1) Politics influence the decision of GST Council
- The 43rd meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council which consists of 31 States and Union Territorie is to be held on May 28.
- Ideally, political affiliations should not matter in a Council set up to decide indirect taxes.
- The GST Council was mandated to meet at least once every quarter, but it had not met for two quarters, due to the pandemic.
- Several of the 14 members of the groups who belong to parties different from the party ruling in the Centre, requested the Finance Minister to convene the GST meeting to help them manage their finances.
- None of the 17 members of the ruling group deemed it necessary.
- Even the need for a meeting to determine tax revenues for States is evidently a political decision.
2) Lack of trust
- The GST Council is a compact of trust between the States and the Centre, set in the larger context of India’s polity.
- The tragedy of the GST Council is that it is afflicted with spite and forced to function under the prevailing cloud of politics.
- If the functioning of the GST Council is subject to the vagaries of elections and consequent vendetta politics, GST will continue to be just a caricature of its initial promise.
3) Uncertainty after the guarantee of 14% growth ends
- The States paid a huge price for GST in terms of loss of fiscal autonomy.
- GST has endured so far primarily because the States were guaranteed a 14% growth in their tax revenues every year.
- This minimised the risks of this new experiment for the States and compensated for their loss of fiscal sovereignty.
- This revenue guarantee ends in July 2022.
- This can lead to a crumbling of the precarious edifice on which GST stands today.
Consider the question “What are the challenges faced by the States in the GST regime? What would be the impact on States as a guarantee of 14% growth in tax revenue comes to an end in July 2022?”
Conclusion
The end of India’s grand GST experiment seems inevitable unless there is a radical shift in the tone and tenor of India’s federal politics, backed by an extension of revenue guarantee for the States for another five years.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MGNREGS
Mains level: Paper 2- Need to strengthen the PDS and MGNREGS
The disruption caused by the second Covid wave has added to the hardship faced by the migrant workers and the rural poor. Dealing with it requires strengthening of PDS and MGNREGS.
Distress due to second Covid wave
- Several States have imposed lockdown amid second Covid wave which will have severe implications for the livelihoods of those in the informal sector.
- Migrant workers and the rural poor have been facing great distress over the past one year and the crisis for food and work is only going to intensify further.
- The migrants have again become vulnerable due to the lockdown in different cities.
- In this context, there is an urgent need to strengthen the public distribution system (PDS) and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
Steps need to be taken
- The government announced 5 kg free foodgrains for individuals enlisted under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), for May and June 2021.
1) Changes in PDS
- Expand coverage: The government should expand PDS coverage immediately and include all eligible households under the schemes.
- According to an independent study, about 100 million people are excluded from the ration distribution system owing to a dated database based on the 2011 Census.
- Extend period: The Centre should also extend the free foodgrains programme to a year instead of limiting it to two months.
2) Expand MGNREGS
- The Centre had allocated ₹73,000 crore for 2021-22 for MGNREGS and notified an annual increment of about 4% in wages.
- Both these provisions are inadequate to match the requirements on the ground.
- The central allocation for MGNREGS is about ₹38,500 crore less than last year’s revised estimate.
- The budget for 75-80 days of employment in the year for 6.5 crore families given the current scale of economic distress.
- By this rationale, at the current rate of ₹268/day/person, at least ₹1.3 lakh crore will have to be budgeted.
- The government should also re-consider its decision of a mere 4% increase in MGNREGS wages and hike it by at least 10%.
Conclusion
A large population is facing hunger and a cash crunch. The situation is only becoming more dire as the pandemic continues to rage on. Therefore, the Union government should prioritise food and work for all and start making policy reforms right away.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Data driven approach to deal with the future disruptions
Article highlights the importance of data driven approach in dealing with the future disruptions and suggests the reforms in the system.
Managing the disruption through data-driven tools
- The data-driven tools were used for managing pandemic induced disruption.
- This offers an opportunity to restructure the data ecosystem for managing the disruptions of the future that are more likely to be driven by climate change.
Policies for data sharing in India
- The National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP), 2012 recognises the importance of data.
- NDSAP recognised the importance of data in improving decision making, meeting the needs of civil society and generating revenue by permitting access to datasets.
- In 2012, a government portal, data.gov.in was also established as a unified platform to enable sharing of data available with ministries, departments and other public agencies for wider public use.
- The sharing of data in this platform, apart from others, is further streamlined through the nodality of Chief Data Officer-CDO in respective ministries.
Challenges
- Challenge remains about whether the collected data is usable, accessible and if it captures the details that end users are interested in.
- Even after years of the portal’s operationalisation, there are multiple data-sets that aren’t updated regularly.
- Though NITI Aayog has brought indices to track climate actions such as under SDG-13 of SDG India Index, but it remains vague in tracking improvements in climate resilience, by solely using number of lives lost due to extreme weather events.
Reforms needed in data-ecosystem
- 1) Complete dataset: There is a need to collect complete datasets required to assess climate risks and vulnerabilities.
- This involves collection of datasets that are sex-disaggregated and geo-spatial and collect more nuanced dimensions like disaster response capacities.
- Targeted research: There is a requirement of targeted research for designing better questionnaires and identifying new nodes for data collection.
- 2) Reliability of data: The data collected has to be made reliable and usable through an accountability framework.
- Legislation: A separate legislation in this regard would bring in the much-needed consistency in periodic collection of identified datasets and their proactive sharing in designated platforms.
- 3) Centralisation of data: There is a need for centralising public data that currently exists with different departments and public institutions.
- The National Data Governance Centre was planned to be set up in 2019 for precisely this objective.
- But it is yet to be operationalised.
Consider the question “How data driven approach could help India deal with the future disruptions that are more likely to be from climate change? Suggest the reforms needed in India’s data ecosystem.”
Conclusion
It is time that India places itself on track to address the issues around the known unknowns of climate change through data driven apporach.
Source:
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/data-central-to-effective-climate-action/2258964/
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Israel-Palestine conflict
The article highlights the challenges in the success of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict and suggests the one-state solution instead.
Background of the two-state solution
- It involves dividing Palestine between the state of Israel and the indigenous population of Palestine.
- It was first offered by the British in 1937 and rejected by the Palestinians already then.
- In 1947 the United Nations insisted that the Palestinians should give half of their homeland to the settler movement of Zionism.
- The two-state solution, offered for the first time by liberal Zionists and the United States in the 1980s, is seen by some Palestinians as the best way of ending of the occupation of the West Bank .
- It will also lead to the partial fulfilment of the Palestinian right for self-determination and independence.
Interpretation of two-state solution
- The Israeli interpretation, until 2009, was that the two-state solution is another means of having the territories, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, without incorporating most of the people living there.
- In order to ensure it, Israel partitioned the West Bank which is 20% of historical Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab part.
- This was in the second phase of the Oslo Accords, known as the Oslo II agreement of 1995.
- One area, called area C, which consists of 60% of the West Bank was directly ruled from 1995 until today by Israel.
- Now, Israel is in the process of officially annexing this area.
- 40% of the West Bank, areas A and B under Oslo II, were put under the Palestinian Authority.
- Palestinian Authority calls itself the state of Palestine, but in essence has no power whatsoever, unless the one given to it, and withdrawn from it, by Israel.
- In 2018 a citizenship law was passed known as the nationality law.
- As per the citizenship law, the Palestinian citizens who live in Israel proper which is Israel prior to the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and who are supposedly equal citizens of the Jewish state, will in essence become the Africans of a new Israeli Jewish apartheid state.
Issues with two-state solution
- The endless negotiation on the two-state solution was based on the formula that once the two states become a reality, Israel will stop these severe violations of the Palestinian civil and human rights.
- But while the wait continued, more Palestinians were expelled and the Jewish settler community in the West Bank grew in size.
- The two-state solution is not going to stop the ethnic cleansing; instead, talking about it provides Israel international immunity to continue it.
Way forward
- The only alternative is to decolonise historical Palestine.
- New state should a state for all its citizens all over the country, based on the dismantlement of colonialist institutions, fair redistribution of the country’s natural resources, compensation of the victims of the ethnic cleansing and allowing their repatriation.
- Settlers and natives should together build a new state that is democratic, part of the Arab world and not against it, and an inspiration for the rest of the region.
Conclusion
The one-state solution is the way forward in Palestine and that should be the state for all citizens.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Banni Grasslands
Mains level: Not Much
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered all encroachments to be removed from Gujarat’s Banni grasslands.
Banni Grasslands
- Banni Grasslands form a belt of arid grassland ecosystem on the outer southern edge of the desert of the marshy salt flats of Rann of Kutch.
- They are known for rich wildlife and biodiversity and are spread across an area of 3,847 square kilometers. Two ecosystems, wetlands and grasslands, are juxtaposed in Banni.
- They are currently legally protected under the status as a protected or reserve forest in India.
- Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has identified this grassland reserve as one of the last remaining habitats of the cheetah in India and a possible reintroduction site for the species.
- The region hosts a nomadic pastoralist community, the Maldharis, whose livelihoods depend on this protected shrub-savanna.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Which one of the following is the correct sequence of ecosystems in the order of decreasing productivity?(CSP 2014)
(a) Oceans, lakes, grasslands, mangroves
(b) Mangroves, oceans, grasslands, lakes
(c) Mangroves, grasslands, lakes, oceans
(d) Oceans, mangroves, lakes, grasslands
What is the recent NGT verdict?
- The court also said the Maldharis will continue to hold the right to conserve the community forests in the area, granted to them as per the provisions in Section 3 of Forest Rights Act, 2006.
- NGT highlighted that the lack of coordination between the forest department and the revenue department lead to the problem of encroachment.
- The grassland was first declared a “protected forest” in May 1955, using the nomenclature of the Indian Forest Act, 1927.
- Since then, the actual transfer of the land from the Revenue department to the Forest department has not been completed.
Back2Basics: National Green Tribunal
- The NGT has been established in 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010.
- It works for:
- effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection
- conservation of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and
- giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto
- It is not be bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but shall be guided by principles of natural justice.
- The Tribunal’s dedicated jurisdiction in environmental matters shall provide speedy environmental justice and help reduce the burden of litigation in the higher courts.
- The Tribunal is mandated to make and endeavour for disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of filing of the same.
- Initially, the NGT is proposed to be set up at five places of sittings and will follow circuit procedure for making itself more accessible.
- New Delhi is the Principal Place of Sitting of the Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai shall be the other four place of sitting of the Tribunal.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: WHO BioHub and its purpose
Mains level: Not Much
The World Health Organization (WHO) and Switzerland have signed an MoU to launch a BioHub facility that will allow rapid sharing of pathogens between laboratories and partners to facilitate better analysis and preparedness against them.
WHO BioHub
- The BioHub will enable member states to share biological materials with and via the BioHub under pre-agreed conditions, including biosafety, biosecurity, and other applicable regulations.
- The facility will help in the safe reception, sequencing, storage, and preparation of biological materials for distribution to other laboratories, so as to facilitate global preparedness against these pathogens.
- It would be based in Spiez, Switzerland.
- Pathogens are presently shared bilaterally between countries: A process that can be sluggish and deny the benefits to some.
Its significance
- This will ensure timeliness and predictability in response activities.
- The move is significant in the view of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the need to underline the importance of sharing pathogen information to assess risks and launch countermeasures.
- The move will help contribute to the establishment of an international exchange system for novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging pathogens.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Lunar Eclipse
Mains level: Not Much
The Moon will have the nearest approach to Earth on May 26, and therefore will appear to be the closest and largest Full Moon or “supermoon” of 2021.
Tap here to read more about Solar and Lunar Eclipses
What is a Supermoon?
- A supermoon occurs when the Moon’s orbit is closest to the Earth at the same time that the Moon is full.
- As the Moon orbits the Earth, there is a point of time when the distance between the two is the least (called the perigee when the average distance is about 360,000 km from the Earth).
- Also, there is a point of time when the distance is the most (called the apogee when the distance is about 405,000 km from the Earth).
- Now, when a full moon appears at the point when the distance between the Earth and the Moon is the least, not only does it appear to be brighter but it is also larger than a regular full moon.
- According to NASA, the term supermoon was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979.
- In a typical year, there may be two to four full supermoons and two to four new supermoons in a row.
What is happening today?
- Two celestial events will take place at the same time.
- One is the supermoon and the other is a total lunar eclipse, which is when the Moon and Sun are on opposite sides of the Earth.
- Because of the total lunar eclipse, the moon will also appear to be red.
- This is because the Earth will block some of the light from the Sun from reaching the moon.
- The Earth’s atmosphere filters the light, it will soften “the edge of our planet’s shadow” “giving the Moon a deep, rosy glow.”
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Components of CCUS
Mains level: Carbon sequestration
A Bangalore-based startup has received the National Award 2021 for developing efficient catalysts and methodologies for the conversion of CO2 to methanol and other chemicals.
Carbon Recycling
- It has led to the improvisation of process engineering to enhance the production of chemicals and fuels from anthropogenic CO2.
- It has integrated multiple components involved in the CCUS (Carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration) to develop a complete solution for the environmental issues due to global warming.
- The current capacity of CO2 conversion is 300 kg per day, which can be scaled up to several 100 tons on an industrial scale.
What is CCUS?
- Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) encompass methods and technologies to remove CO2 from the flue gas and from the atmosphere.
- CCUS involves multiple aspects that need to be in sync for the successful removal or capture of CO2 from the flue gas or the atmosphere, followed by utilization and storage.
- Carbon capture involves the development of sorbents that can effectively bind to the CO2 present in flue gas or the atmosphere, which is expensive.
- In addition, there has been a considerable debate about the fate of captured and compressed CO2.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- The U.S. exit from Afghanistan and its implications for the region
The article highlights the implications of the U.S. exit from Afghanistan for the region.
Status of the Afghanistan peace process
- The Afghanistan peace process has been in disarray as the conference to be hosted by the United Nations in Istanbul, remains suspended due to the reluctance of Afghan’s Taliban.
- Now there is some hope of breaking the impasse as the Taliban have expressed an openness to attend the Istanbul summit.
- United States President Joe Biden is insistent on withdrawing the troops on September 11, even without any power-sharing deal between the warring parties.
- Taliban leadership, who may feel the urgency to resuming negotiations than completely abandoning them for fear of losing the international legitimacy they enjoy at the moment.
How the U.S. exit will affect Pakistan
- After months of negotiations, the U.S.-Taliban deal was signed in February 2020, and Pakistan took full credit for it.
- As the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan for almost two decades had kept the U.S. reliant on Pakistan for operational and other support.
- Pakistan smartly mobilised this factor against India.
- With the disappearance of this lethal dependence, Pakistan faces an uphill task in conducting a viable Afghan policy.
- Pakistan cannot keep America invested in it on military, economic, and societal fronts without partnering with the U.S. to ensure a smooth transition of power in Kabul.
Impact on China
- The Taliban now draw support from a wide variety of regional powers, including Russia, China and Iran.
- However, these countries too want the insurgent group to moderate its position.
- China, which has a beneficiary of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan, seems confused as the American exit looms large.
- The U.S. exit would leave Beijing vulnerable to its spillover effects particularly in the restive Xinjiang province.
- That is why China has remained invested in all major regional Afghan-centric negotiations.
Implications for India
- India has been the key regional backer of an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace process.
- India is concerned that the Taliban-dominated regime in Afghanistan might allow Pakistan to dictate Afghanistan’s India policy.
- That is why India has underlined the need for a genuine double peace i.e. within and around Afghanistan.
- But despite being offered a seat at Istanbul at the U.S.’s behest, India remains a peripheral player.
- The strategic competition between the China and the U.S., China’s growing rivalry with India, and New Delhi’s tense relationship with Islamabad are some of the factors which will certainly affect the situation in Afghanistan as the U.S. leaves the country.
Consider the question “What are the implications of the U.S. exit from Afghanistan for the region? Examine its impact on India.
Conclusion
While the exit would bring the U.S.’s “forever war” to an end, it is unlikely to result in peace if Afghan stakeholders show their utter inability to take the process forward.
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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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