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  • Defence Sector – DPP, Missions, Schemes, Security Forces, etc.

    Essential Defence Services Bill, 2021

    | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth

    The Minister of State for Defence has introduced the Essential Defence Services Bill in the Lok Sabha.

    Essential Defence Services Bill

    • Essentially, the bill is aimed at preventing the staff of the government-owned ordnance factories from going on strike.
    • Around 70,000 people work with the 41 ordnance factories around the country.
    • It is aimed to provide for the maintenance of essential defence services so as to secure the security of the nation and the life and property of the public at large and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

    Why need such a bill?

    • Indian Ordnance Factories is the oldest and largest industrial setup that functions under the Department of Defence Production of the Ministry of Defence.
    • The ordnance factories form an integrated base for indigenous production of defence hardware and equipment, with the primary objective of self-reliance in equipping the armed forces with state-of-the-art battlefield equipment.
    • It is essential that an uninterrupted supply of ordnance items to the armed forces be maintained for the defence preparedness of the country and the ordnance factories continue to function without any disruptions.

    What does it allow the government to do?

    • The Bill empowers the government to declare services mentioned in it as essential defence services the cessation of work of which would prejudicially affect the production of defence equipment or goods.
    • It also prohibits strikes and lockouts in “any industrial establishment or unit engaged in essential defence services”.

    Why does the government feel its need?

    • In June the government announced the corporatization of the Ordnance Factory Board.
    • The OFB was directly under the Department of Defence Production and worked as an arm of the government.
    • The government has claimed that the move is aimed at improving the efficiency and accountability of these factories.
    • The Bill mentioned that there is a threat, though, that the employees of these factories can go on a strike against the decision.

    Also read:

    Ordinance Factory Board corporatization gets Cabinet approval

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  • International Space Agencies – Missions and Discoveries

    Moon-forming region seen around an exoplanet for the first time

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

     

    Scientists for the first time have spotted a Moon-forming region around an exo-planet beyond our solar system.

    What are Exoplanets?

    • More than 4,400 planets have been discovered outside our solar system, called exoplanets.
    • Most orbit other stars, but free-floating exoplanets, called rogue planets, orbit the galactic center and are untethered to any star.
    • No circumplanetary discs had been found until now because all the known exoplanets resided in “mature” – fully developed – solar systems, except the two infant gas planets orbiting PDS 70.

    What is the new finding?

    • The researchers have detected a disc of swirling material accumulating around one of two newborn planets.
    • They were seen orbiting a young star called PDS 70, located a relatively close 370 light-years from Earth.
    • It is called a circumplanetary disc, and it is from these those moons are born.
    • The discovery offers a deeper understanding of the formation of planets and moons.

    Focus of the finding: Formation of disc

    • In our solar system, the impressive rings of Saturn, a planet around which more than 80 moons orbit, represent a relic of a primordial moon-forming disc.
    • The orange-colored star PDS 70, roughly the same mass as our Sun, is about 5 million years old– a blink of the eye in cosmic time.
    • The two planets are even younger. Both planets are similar (although larger) to Jupiter, a gas giant.
    • It was around one of the two planets, called PDS 70c, that a Moon-forming disc was observed.

    Observing birth of a moon: Core Accretion

    • Stars burst to life within clouds of interstellar gas and dust scattered throughout galaxies.
    • Leftover material spinning around a new star then coalesces into planets, and circumplanetary discs surrounding some planets similarly yield moons.
    • The dominant mechanism thought to underpin planet formation is called “core accretion”.
    • In this scenario, small dust grains, coated in ice, gradually grow to larger and larger sizes through successive collisions with other grains.
    • This continues until the grains have grown to a size of a planetary core, at which point the young planet has a strong enough gravitational potential to accrete gas which will form its atmosphere.
    • Some nascent planets attract a disc of material around them, with the same process that gives rise to planets around a star leading to the formation of moons around planets.
    • The disc around PDS 70c, with a diameter about equal to the distance of the Earth to the sun, possesses enough mass to produce up to three moons the size of Earth’s moon.

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  • Police Reforms – SC directives, NPC, other committees reports

    Gatekeeper Model to prevent suicides in prisons

    | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Civil Service

    In a bid to prevent suicides triggered by mental health issues in prisons across the country, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, has recommended the “Gatekeeper Model”.

    What is the ‘Gatekeeper Model’?

    • It is a model where selected inmates, trained to identify prisoners at risk of suicide, would refer them to treatment or supportive services.
    • Prisoners with mental disorders will be regularly assessed for the severity of the suicidal risk and also put on regular and supervised medication.
    • To address the prisoner’s mental health needs, the correctional facility would have links to community-based initiatives like the District Mental Health Programme.

    Buddy system

    • The concept of a ‘Buddy System’ — social support through trained prisoners called “buddies” or “listeners” — was found to have a good impact on the well-being of suicidal prisoners.
    • Periodic telephone conversations with friends and family would also foster support.

    Why such a move?

    • Emphasizing the mental health of prisoners, the Ministry said incarcerated people could face many vulnerabilities during the pandemic, which might impact their mental wellbeing.
    • The prison staff was also working under tremendous pressure and faced challenges in performing their duty while safeguarding themselves from contracting the infection.

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  • Industrial Sector Updates – Industrial Policy, Ease of Doing Business, etc.

    Special Economic Zones

    PIB | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth

    Key Highlights of the report

    • If India is to become a US $5 trillion economy by 2025, then the current environment of manufacturing competitiveness and services has to undergo a basic paradigm shift.
    • The report notes that the success seen by services sectors like IT and ITES (IT enabled services) has to be promoted in other services sector like health care, financial services, legal, repair and design services.

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  • Start-up Ecosystem In India

    India’s FAANG moment has arrived

    | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    Context

    In the US, the Big Tech FAANG five are Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google (now Alphabet).  Today, in India, Zomato’s stock market debut is a big occasion for India that could pave the path for other online successes.

    Significance for economy

    • It is the first among a host of domestic unicorns to have taken the IPO road, heralding a watershed moment.
    • Boost for startups: It is also also a big leap for our country as a whole, which today boasts of the third largest start-up ecosystem in the world.
    • Creation of online ecosystem: The response to Zomato’s initial public offer (IPO) gave us interesting insights into the robustness of the online economy in a pandemic-stricken world.
    • Help creation of tech-giants: It could alter the composition as well as perception of markets, giving Indian investors a feel of new-generation, tech-heavy, assets-light and agile entrepreneurial growth stories, woven around the consumer internet ecosystem in India.
    • Attracting FDI: With global liquidity at unprecedented levels and tech being the toast of the season, we could be looking at FDI inflows in unforeseen proportion in days to come.
    • The ascent of new-age enterprises like Zomato and Paytm on the Stock Market, followed by likes of Oyo, Ola, Swiggy, Byju’s and even Flipkart could signal the emergence of India’s own FAANG family.

    What sets the tech startups apart?

    • Their reliance on big data and leveraging of ever-evolving technology, while sustaining a two-way connection with clients set them apart.
    • The ‘stickiness’ and the ‘connect’ built over the years through carefully fabricated social layers puts them in the league of giant social media influencers.
    • During the last few decades, two distinctive traits that have the potential to push the boundaries of limitations are the creation of a large talent pool and India’s prowess in software and data (including AI/ML) technology, both on a global scale.

    Conclusion

    As we celebrate 30 years of economic reforms, today’s debut, at least for the markets and the economy, may well be called India’s re-tryst with destiny.

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  • Important Judgements In News

    Biocentric jurisprudence for nature

    op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Executive & Judiciary

    Context

    In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court of India has sought to move away from an anthropocentric basis of law.

    Biocentrism Vs. Anthropocentrism

    • Anthropocentrism argues that of all the species on earth humans are the most significant and that all other resources on earth may be justifiably exploited for the benefit of human beings.
    • The philosophy of biocentrism holds that the natural environment has its own set of rights which is independent of its ability to be exploited by or to be useful to humans.
    • Biocentrism often comes into conflict with anthropocentrism.

    Supreme Court of India upholds biocentric principles

    • The Great Indian Bustard is a gravely endangered species, with hardly about 200 alive in India today.
    • The overhead power lines have become a threat to the life of these species as these birds frequently tend to collide with these power lines and get killed.
    • Recently, the Supreme Court in M.K. Ranjitsinh & Others vs Union of India & Others, said that in all cases where the overhead lines in power projects exist, the governments of Rajasthan and Gujarat shall take steps forthwith to install bird diverters.
    • In protecting the birds, the Court has affirmed and emphasised the biocentric values of eco-preservation.
    • A noteworthy instance of the application of anthropocentrism in the legal world is in that of the “Snail darter” case in the United States.
    • The Supreme Court of the United States of America in Tennessee Valley Authority vs Hill, had held that since the “Snail darter” fish was a specifically protected species under the Act, the executive could not proceed with the reservoir project.

    Human role in extinction of species

    • About 50 years ago, there were 4,50,000 lions in Africa. Today, there are hardly 20,000.
    • Indiscriminate monoculture farming in the forests of Borneo and Sumatra is leading to the extinction of orangutans.
    • Rhinos are hunted for the so-called medicinal value of their horns and are slowly becoming extinct.
    • From the time humans populated Madagascar about 2,000 years ago, about 15 to 20 species of Lemurs, which are primates, have become extinct.
    • The compilation prepared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists about 37,400 species that are gravely endangered; and the list is ever growing.

    Evolution of Right of Nature laws in Constitutions

    • Pieces of legislation are slowly evolving that fall in the category of the “Right of Nature laws”.
    • These seek to travel away from an anthropocentric basis of law to a biocentric one.
    • The Constitution of India is significantly silent on any explicitly stated, binding legal obligations we owe to our fellow species and to the environment that sustains us.
    • It is to the credit of the Indian judiciary that it interpreted the enduring principles of sustainable development and read them, inter alia, into the precepts of Article 21 of the Constitution.
    • In September 2008, Ecuador became the first country in the world to recognise “Rights of Nature” in its Constitution.
    • Bolivia has also joined the movement by establishing Rights of Nature laws too.
    • In November 2010, the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania became the first major municipality in the United States to recognise the Rights of Nature.
    • These laws, like the Constitution of the countries that they are part of, are still works in progress.

    Conclusion

    In times like this the Supreme Court’s judgment in M.K. Ranjithsinh upholding the biocentric principles of coexistence is a shot in the arm for nature conservation. One does hope that the respective governments implement the judgment of the Court.

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  • Indian Army Updates

    Challenging China

    op-ed snap | Security Issues | Mains Paper 3: Various Security Forces, Agencies & Their Mandates

    Context

    The Chinese are about to extend their geographical advantage by building a new high-speed rail from Chengdu, running close by and parallel to the Arunachal border, up to Lhasa.

    Manpower and Defence Budget: Comparison with China

    • The Indian army, according to diverse sources, numbers between 12,50,000 and 14,00,000 officers and men.
    • Chinese PLA actually has only 9,75,000 officers and men.
    •  They have downsized their army.
    • China is an aspiring world power that spends $252 billion on its defence budget, as compared to $72.9 billion that India spends.
    • Both countries limit their budget to around 2 per cent of their GDP, which in China’s case is five times our size.

    Why does India need to reduce manpower in defense?

    • Expensive:  A major portion of the budget is spent on manpower, 81 percent of the army budget goes into manpower and maintenance. Gradually, manpower is going to get increasingly expensive.
    • Also, our strategic options get constrained because the army gets 61 percent of the defense budget.
    • We need to downsize the army by 2,00,000 men over five years through retirement and reduced recruitment.
    • The reduction in manpower will save approximately Rs 30,000 crore, which can be equally divided between the three services.

    Way forward: Bigger role to navy and air force

    • We can achieve better conventional deterrence against China by giving bigger roles to the navy and air force.
    • The first step is to accept that we are an asymmetric power and leverage the RMA (Revolution in Military Affairs) so that numerical inferiority is of no consequence.
    • They are invulnerable on land, and their only strategic weakness is their reliance on the Indian Ocean SLOCs (sea lines of communications) for 70 percent of their imported oil.
    • The only guarantee of Chinese non-aggression and good behavior is a well-crafted threat to their oil tankers and a complete naval mastery of the escalation that is bound to follow.
    • India can also leverage the QUAD resources in various ways such as information.
    • Build up the Car Nicobar airfield into a full-fledged airbase.
    • We could negotiate with Oman for the use of the old RAF airbase at Masirah to dominate the Gulf of Hormuz and threaten the Chinese base at Djibouti.

    Conclusion

    China cannot be countered by throwing expensive manpower at the problem, but only by shifting the battlespace to advantageous geography, by a united navy and air force effort, while a technically advanced army holds the Himalayan border.

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  • Electoral Reforms In India

    Secrecy of Vote must in any election: SC

    | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Representation Of People’s Act

    The Supreme Court has again held that in any election, be it to Parliament or State legislature, the maintenance of secrecy of voting is “a must”.

    What is the Secret Vote?

    • The secret vote/ secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter’s choices in an election or a referendum are anonymous.
    • It aims for forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote-buying.
    • The system is one means of achieving the goal of political privacy.

    What did the Supreme Court rule?

    • Secrecy is a part of the fundamental right of freedom of expression.
    • The confidentiality of choice strengthens democracy.
    • The principle of secrecy of ballots is an important postulate of constitutional democracy, the court said.
    • It is the policy of the law to protect the right of voters to the secrecy of the ballot.
    • Even a remote or distinct possibility that a voter can be forced to disclose for whom she has voted would act as a positive constraint and a check on the freedom to exercise of the franchise.

    Voter’s discretion is allowed

    • A voter can also voluntarily waive the privilege of non-disclosure.
    • The privilege ends when the voter decides to waive the privilege and instead volunteers to disclose to whom she had voted.
    • Nor can a complaint be entertained from any, including the person who wants to keep the voter’s mouth sealed as to why she disclosed for whom she voted said the court.

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  • Economic Indicators and Various Reports On It- GDP, FD, EODB, WIR etc

    What is Gross Environment Product?

    | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    The Uttarakhand government recently announced it will initiate valuation of its natural resources in the form of ‘Gross Environment Product’ (GEP), said to be along the lines of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    Why such a move?

    • The idea of the valuation of the components of the environment is not new.
    • But it got impetus following rapid degradation of ecosystems, which led to adverse impacts on more than 60 percent of services we get from the ecosystems.

    What is Gross Environment Product (GEP)?

    • GEP is the measure of ecosystem services of any area.
    • It reflects the aggregated annual value of goods and services provided by ecosystems (forests, water bodies, oceans, etc.) to people in a given region, such as at district levels, state, and country.
    • It entails the establishment of a natural capital accounting framework by integrating ecological benefits into common measures of economic growth such as GDP.
    • It summarizes the value of ecosystem services in a single monetary metric.

    Evolution of GEP

    • The term “ecosystem services” was coined in 1981 to attract academics towards this aspect.
    • Ecosystem services represent the benefits humans get: Forests, lakes, and grasslands; timber and dyed; carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling; soil formation and productivity; and tourism.
    • The definition is still in the process of evolution. The concept received attention and now is part of global knowledge.

    Advantages offered

    • GEP can be applied as a scientific basis for Eco-Compensation and public financial transfers.
    • For example, Finance Commission’s revenue-sharing formula between the Union and the states including forest cover as a determining factor in a state’s share.
    • GEP can be applied to measure the status of ecosystem services, which is an important indicator of sustainable development.
    • It is also a critical indicator for measuring the progress of Eco-civilization.
    • Its implementation can help assess the impact of anthropological pressure on our ecosystem and natural resources- air, water, soil, forests.

    The Himalayan context

    • The Himalayas contribute substantially to the sustainability of the Gangetic Plains where 500 million people live.
    • The Union government incorporated the value of ecosystem services of its states in national accounting.
    • According to the recommendation of the 12th and 13th Finance Commissions, grants were transferred to forest-rich states in amounts corresponding to their forest covers.
    • However, considering only the forest cover in transferring funds to states is inadequate.

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  • Right To Privacy

    Right to be Forgotten in India

    | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Indian Constitution – historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure

    A TV celebrity has approached the Delhi High Court with a plea saying that his videos, photographs, and articles, etc. be removed from the internet citing his “Right to be Forgotten”.

    What is the plea about?

    • The plea mentions that the posts and videos on the internet related to him have caused the petitioner psychological pain for his diminutive acts.
    • The plea also states that the petitioner’s mistakes in his personal life become and remains in public knowledge for generations to come.
    • Consequently, the values enshrined under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and the emergent jurisprudential concept of the Right to be Forgotten becomes extremely relevant in the present case.”

    What is the ‘Right to be Forgotten’ in the Indian context?

    • The Right to be Forgotten falls under the purview of an individual’s right to privacy, which is governed by the Personal Data Protection Bill that is yet to be passed by Parliament.
    • In 2017, the Right to Privacy was declared a fundamental right by the Supreme Court in its landmark verdict.

    What does the Personal Data Protection Bill say about this?

    • The Personal Data Protection Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 11, 2019, and it aims to set out provisions meant for the protection of the personal data of individuals.
    • Clause 20 under Chapter V of this draft bill titled “Rights of Data Principal” mentions the “Right to be Forgotten.”
    • It states that the “data principal (the person to whom the data is related) shall have the right to restrict or prevent the continuing disclosure of his personal data by a data fiduciary”.
    • Therefore, broadly, under the Right to be forgotten, users can de-link, limit, delete or correct the disclosure of their personal information held by data fiduciaries.
    • A data fiduciary means any person, including the State, a company, any juristic entity, or any individual who alone or in conjunction with others determines the purpose and means of the processing of personal data.

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