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  • Oil and Gas Sector – HELP, Open Acreage Policy, etc.

    What is OPEC+?

    IOCR | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.

    India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer, has said that the decision by major producers to continue with output cuts as prices move higher could threaten the consumption led-recovery in some countries.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.The term ‘West Texas Intermediate’, sometimes found in news, refers to a grade of

    (a) Crude oil

    (b) Bullion

    (c) Rare earth elements

    (d) Uranium

    What is the news?

    • The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, agreed not to increase supply in April as they await a more substantial recovery in demand amid the COVID-19.
    • Crude prices rose after the announcement and are up 33% this year (meanwhile India flaring up prices to 100 Rs/litres for Petrol).

    What is OPEC+?

    • The non-OPEC countries which export crude oil along with the 14 OPECs are termed as OPEC plus countries.
    • OPEC plus countries include Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, South Sudan, and Sudan.
    • Saudi and Russia, both have been at the heart of a three-year alliance of oil producers known as OPEC Plus — which now includes 11 OPEC members and 10 non-OPEC nations — that aims to shore up oil prices with production cuts.

    Concerns for India

    • Rising oil prices are posing fiscal challenges for India, where heavily-taxed retail fuel prices have touched record highs, threatening the demand-driven recovery.
    • India imports about 84% of its oil and relies on West Asian supplies to meet over three-fifths of its demand.
    • As one of the largest crude-consuming countries, India is concerned that such actions by producing countries have the potential to undermine consumption-led recovery.
    • This would hurt consumers, especially in our price-sensitive market.

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  • Freedom of Speech – Defamation, Sedition, etc.

    [pib] India’s rebuttal to Freedom House Report

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

    The Freedom House report titled “Democracy under Siege” in which it has been claimed that India’s status as a free country has declined to “partly free”, is misleading, incorrect, and misplaced.

    The US who claims to be the champion of Human Rights has turned another sermon to India through its Freedom House Report. This report presents an inherently flawed and biased analysis of Indian democracy.

    Rebuttal to specific points

    (1) Discriminatory policies against Minorities

    • The GoI treats all its citizens with equality as enshrined under the Constitution of the country and all laws are applied without discrimination.
    • Due process of law is followed in matters relating to law and order, irrespective of the identity of the alleged instigator.
    • With specific reference to the North East Delhi riots in February 2020, the law enforcement machinery acted swiftly in an impartial and fair manner.
    • Proportionate and appropriate actions were taken to control the situation.
    • Necessary legal and preventive actions were taken by the law enforcement machinery on all complaints/calls received, as per law and procedures.

    (2) Use of Sedition Law

    • “Public Order’ and ‘Police’ are State subjects under India’s federal structure of governance.
    • The responsibility of maintaining law and order, including investigation, registration, and prosecution of crimes, protection of life and property, etc., rests primarily with the concerned State governments.
    • Therefore, measures as deemed fit are taken by law enforcement authorities to preserve public order.

    (3) Government response to COVID-19 through Lockdown

    • Between March 16 to 23, most State governments/UT resorted to partial or full Lockdown in their respective State/ UT based on their assessment of the COVID-19 situation.
    • Any mass movement of people would have spread the disease rapidly throughout the country.
    • The government was fully conscious that during the period of an inevitable Lockdown, people should not face undue distress.
    • India has, on a per capita basis, registered one of the lowest rates of active COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 related deaths globally.

    (4) Government response on human rights organizations

    • The Indian Constitution provides for adequate safeguards under various statutes, including the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 for ensuring the protection of human rights.
    • This Act provides for the constitution of an NHRC and SHRC in the States for better protection of human rights and for matters connected to this subject.

    (5) Intimidation of academics and journalists and crackdown on expressions of dissent by media

    • The Indian Constitution provides for freedom of expression under Article 19. Discussion, debate, and dissent are a part of Indian democracy.
    • The GoI attaches the highest importance to the safety and security of all residents of the country, including journalists.
    • It has issued a special advisory to States and UTs on the safety of journalists requesting them to strictly enforce the law to ensure the safety and security of media persons.

    (6) Internet shutdowns

    • Temporary suspension of the telecom services, including the internet, is governed under the provisions of the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, 2017.
    • Hence, the temporary suspension of telecom/internet services is resorted to with the over-arching objective of maintaining law and order under strict safeguards.

    (7) FCRA amendment leading to freezing of Amnesty International’s assets has led to declining in ranking

    • Amnesty International had received permission under the FCRA Act only once and that too 20 years ago.
    • Since then Amnesty International, despite its repeated applications, has been denied FCRA approval by successive governments since as per law it is not eligible to get such approval.
    • However, in order to circumvent the FCRA regulations, Amnesty U.K. remitted large amounts of money to four entities registered in India, by misclassifying the remittance as FDI.
    • A significant amount of foreign money was also remitted to Amnesty India without MHA’s approval under FCRA.
    • This malafide rerouting of money was in contravention of extant legal provisions.
    • Owing to these illegal practices of Amnesty, the previous government had also rejected the repeated applications of Amnesty to receive funds from overseas.

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  • Water Management – Institutional Reforms, Conservation Efforts, etc.

    [pib] Nag River Pollution Abatement Project

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

    The Nag River Pollution Abatement Project has been approved under the National River Conservation Plan.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.On the planet earth, most of the freshwater exists as ice caps and glaciers. Out of the remaining freshwater, the largest proportion:

    (a) is found in the atmosphere as moisture and clouds

    (b) is found in freshwater lakes and rivers

    (c) exists as groundwater

    (d) exists as soil moisture

    Nag River

    • The Nag River is a river flowing through the city of Nagpur in Maharashtra.
    • It is known for providing the etymology for the name Nagpur. It is a part of the Kanhan-Pench river system.
    • The Kanhan River is an important right-bank tributary of the Wainganga River draining a large area lying south of the Satpura range in central India.
    • Along its 275 km run through Maharashtra & Madhya Pradesh, it receives its largest tributary – Pench River, a major water source for the metropolis of Nagpur.
    • It joins the Wardha River, the united stream, which is known as the Pranahita River, empties into the Godavari River at Kaleshwaram, Telangana.

    About the Project

    • The Nag River which flows through Nagpur city, thus giving its name to the city, is now a highly polluted water channel of sewage and industrial waste.
    • The project, approved under the National River Conservation Plan, will be implemented by the National River Conservation Directorate.
    • It will reduce the pollution level in terms of untreated sewage, flowing solid waste, and other impurities flowing into the Nag River and its tributaries.

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  • UDAY Scheme for Discoms

    Reforms-Linked, Result-Based Scheme for Distribution’ (RLRBSD)

    op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.

    The debt burden of discoms is estimated to touch 4.5 lakh crore by the end of 2020-21. This high level of debt underscores the need for reforms in the discoms. With this in view, RLRBSD has been launched by the Centre. The article highlights the issues with this scheme.

    Reforms-Linked, Result-Based Scheme for Distribution’ (RLRBSD)

    • In her FY22 Budget speech, Finance Minister proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which intends to delicence the distribution business, bring in competition, and give the consumer power to choose her supplier.
    • She also unveiled the Rs 3 lakh crore electricity distribution reform programme to reduce losses and improve the efficiency of discoms.
    •  Against this background, the RLRBSD aims at helping discoms trim their electricity losses to 12-15% from the present level.
    • The aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses and shortfall in the average revenue realisation from the sale of electricity vis-a-vis the average cost of supply or the ACS-ARR gap, are major causes for losses of discoms.
    • Accordingly, the scheme sets the target for both to be achieved by 2025.
    • It also aims to gradually narrow the deficit between the cost of electricity and the price at which it is supplied to ‘zero’ by March 2025.
    • It will also have a compulsory pre-paid and smart metering component to be implemented across the power supply chain, including in about 250 million households.

    Funding for RLRBSD

    • The Centre is expected to contribute around Rs 60,000 crore to the scheme’s corpus.
    • The rest may be raised from multilateral funding agencies such as ADB and World Bank (WB).
    • The Centre’s contribution will be met through the previous commitment of the ongoing schemes, viz. the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) and the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna (DDUGJY).
    • The funds will be released subject to discoms meeting reform-related milestones.

    Analysing RLRBSD against the context of UDAY

    • Under UDAY, discoms were required to reduce AT&C losses from 20.7% during 2015-16 to 15% by 2018-19.
    • During 2019-20, their AT&C losses were 18.9% against the 15% target for 2018-19.
    • Further, they were to reduce the ACS-ARR gap from Rs 0.59 per unit during 2015-16 to ‘zero’ by 2018-19.
    • The ACS-ARR gap during 2019-20, stood at Rs 0.42 per unit against target of ‘zero’ for 2018-19.
    • Simultaneously, the government gave them a financial restructuring package (FRP).
    • The FRP was nothing but a condoning of discoms’ staggering debt of about Rs 4 lakh crore.
    • Against this backdrop, aims of achieving those targets by 2025 under RLRBSD, which should have been achieved by 2018-19 under UDAY seems difficult.

    3 factors that contribute to  debt of discoms

    • 1) At the root of persistent and increasing losses of discoms is the orders issued by state governments to sell electricity to some preferred consumers, viz. poor households and farmers.
    • Electricity is supplied to these customers either at a fraction of the cost of purchase, transmission and distribution, or even free.
    • On the units sold to these groups, discoms incur colossal under-recovery.
    • 2) This is aggravated by AT&C losses—most of it plain theft.
    • 3) Inflated tariff allowed to independent power plants (IPPs) under purchase agreements adds to the revenue shortfall.

    Consider the question “Why the discoms in India require frequent bail-outs? How far will the Reforms-Linked, Reforms-Based Scheme for Distribution be successful in addressing the woes of discoms?”

    Conclusion

    The problem is entirely political. In a bid to win elections almost every political party promises sops which include, among others, power supply to farmers and poor households at a throwaway price or even free. As long as this effect of populist politics persists, the discoms will continue to be in the red, needing a bailout at frequent intervals.

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  • The perils of domicile-based preferential policies

    op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Federalism,Government Scheme/Policies,Indian Constitution – historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure

    The Haryana government is considering a Bill that provides for 75 per cent reservation to the residents of the state. This article discusses the challenge such policies poses.

    Domicile-based preferential policies on rise

    • The Haryana government’s State Employment of Local Candidates Bill 2020 reserves 75 per cent of new jobs in private establishments for Haryana residents.
    • Andhra Pradesh has mandated 75 per cent reservation for locals.
    • Karnataka is considering reserving all blue-collar jobs for locals.
    • Madhya Pradesh has announced that public employment in the state be reserved for state residents.

    Constitutionality of such policies

    • The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on place of birth.
    • The right to move freely in the country and reside and settle in any part of it, the right to carry out any trade or profession, are all established rights.
    • Article 16(3) does, in principle, enable Parliament [ not state legislature] to provide for domicile-based preferential treatment in public employment.

    Judicial scrutiny

    • The constitutionality of domicile-based employment preferences (unlike preferences in education) has never been frontally tested.
    • But almost all the existing case law that impinges on the matter clearly indicates such laws are unconstitutional.
    • In Pradeep Jain vs Union of India, the court had indicated this direction; in Kailash Chandra Sharma vs State of Rajasthan, the court had warned against parochialism.
    • The Andhra Pradesh Bill is sub judice in the high court.

    Issues with the policies

    • The Supreme Court will hopefully rule on the constitutionality of the  Haryana government’s Bill.
    • But the Bill has ramifications beyond constitutionality.
    • First, because this kind of constitutional cynicism is now not an exception but has become a contagion.
    • Second, even if the Bill is struck down, such a high wire act is meant to fuel the flames of localism.
    • Third, the Bill now exposes the bad faith of political parties on private sector reservation more generally.
    • Fourth, these bills will open up a new form of competitive ethnic politics.
    • It is odd that a state like Haryana which has benefitted from being part of a cosmopolitan zone like NCR should unilaterally impose reservations.
    • Fifth, there is patent class discrimination: If you are rich, privileged or highly skilled, there are no entry barriers in accessing any labour market.
    • But we shall put entry barriers on lower skilled migrants; our own internal version of an H-1B visa.
    • The greatest damage the Bill does is to increase the discretionary power of the state, almost taking us back to a license permit raj, where companies will have to bargain, or worse, bribe the state for exemptions.
    • This is the antithesis of regulatory reform.

    Consider the question “There have been growing tendencies among the states to pursue domicile-based preferential policies. What are the issues related to such policies?”

    Conclusion

    But the fact that states feel the need to enact these bills is an indictment of the economy as a whole: They suggest a pessimism about both education and job creation. So we have returned to a world of zero sum thinking.

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  • Minority Issues – SC, ST, Dalits, OBC, Reservations, etc.

    Haryana’s new Job Quota Rule

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

    The Haryana government has notified a new law that requires 75% of private-sector jobs in the state, up to a specified salary slab, reserved for a local candidate.

    Haryana’s move has renewed the debate on whether the government force should private companies to adopt its reservation policy in jobs. While constitutional guarantees for reservation have been limited to public employment, attempts to extend it to private sector are not new either.

    Haryana Quota Rule

    • The Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Bill, 2020 requires private companies to set aside for domiciles 75% of jobs up to a monthly salary of Rs 50,000 or as may be notified by the government.
    • The law is applicable to all companies, societies, trusts, limited liability partnership firms, partnership firms and any person employing 10 or more persons.

    Other states with such laws

    • In July 2019, the Andhra Pradesh government had passed a similar law, which was challenged in court.
    • The Andhra Pradesh High Court had made a prima facie observation that the move might be unconstitutional, but the challenge is yet to be heard on merits.

    What are the legal issues in such laws?

    Two big legal questions come up.

    (1) Question of domicile reservation

    • While domicile quotas in education are fairly common, courts have been reluctant in expanding this to public employment.
    • Last year, the MP government decided to reserve all government jobs for “children of the state”, raising questions relating to the fundamental right to equality of citizens.

    (2) Right to Equality

    • The second question, which is more contentious, is the issue of forcing the private sector to comply with reservations in employment.
    • For mandating reservation in public employment, the state draws its power from Article 16(4) of the Constitution.
    • It says that the right to equality in public employment does not prevent the state from “making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which is not adequately represented in the services under the State.
    • The Constitution has no manifest provision for private employment from which the state draws the power to make laws mandating reservation.

    Rationale in bringing such laws

    Providing reservation in public employment is one of the many ways through which the state endeavours to ensure equal opportunity for all citizens.

    • With public sector jobs constituting only a minuscule proportion of all jobs, legislators have talked about extending the legal protections to the private sector.
    • They aim to really achieve the constitutional mandate of equality for all citizens.
    • One argument often made in favour of reservation for private jobs is that private industries use public infrastructure in many ways.
    • A similar argument was made in requiring private schools to comply with the Right to Education Act, which the Supreme Court also upheld.

    Global precedences

    • Affirmative action is adopted in many countries in the context of race and gender.
    • In the US, there is no statutory requirement for employers to have quotas.
    • Courts can order monetary damages and injunctive relief, including “such affirmative action as may be appropriate”, for victims of discrimination.
    • The Employment Equity Act in Canada also protects minority groups, especially aboriginals from discrimination in federally regulated industries, even in the private sector.

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  • Sugar Industry – FRP, SAP, Rangarajan Committee, EBP, MIEQ, etc.

    Minimum Selling Price for Sugar

    Prelims Only | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: Issues Related To Farm Subsidies & Msp

    The Indian Sugar Mills’ Association (ISMA) has asked for an increase in the Minimum Selling Price of Sugar.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.The Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane is approved by the:

    (a) Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs

    (b) Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices

    (c) Directorate of Marketing and Inspection, Ministry of Agriculture

    (d) Agricultural Produce Market Committee

    Minimum Selling Price (MSP) for Sugar

    • The price of sugar is market-driven & depends on the demand & supply of sugar.
    • However, with a view to protecting the interests of farmers, the concept of MSP of sugar has been introduced since 2018.
    • MSP of sugar has been fixed taking into account the components of Fair & Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane and minimum conversion cost of the most efficient mills.

    How is the pricing of Sugarcane done?

    • With the amendment of the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966, the concept of Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) of sugarcane was replaced with the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP)’ of sugarcane in 2009-10.
    • The cane price announced by the Central Government is decided on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
    • This is done in consultation with the State Governments and after taking feedback from associations of the sugar industry.

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  • Hunger and Nutrition Issues – GHI, GNI, etc.

    Food Waste Index Report 2021

    IOCR | International Relations | Mains Paper 1: Poverty & Development Issues

    The Food Waste Index Report 2021 was recently released by the UNEP.
    Even though the world produces enough food to feed twice the world’s present population, food wastage is ironically behind the billions of people who are starving.

    Food Waste Index

    • The Food Waste Index is released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and partner organisation WRAP.
    • It measures tons of wasted food per capita, considering a mixed stream of products from processing through to consumption.
    • It was prepared by using data from 54 countries and then extrapolated to the remaining countries.
    • Contrary to belief, the study by the UNEP revealed that food waste was a global problem and not that of just the developed world.

    Highlights of the 2021 report

    • The report has revealed that 17 per cent of all food available at consumer levels was wasted in 2019.
    • That year, some 690 million people had to go hungry.
    • The food waste amounted to a whopping 931 million tonnes of food sold to households, retailers and restaurants.
    • Waste at household, foodservice and retail amounted to 79, 26 and 13 kilogram /capita / year respectively.
    • The data, though scarce, revealed that food waste was substantial, regardless of income level.

    Data on India

    • The report notes that food waste at the consumer level happens in almost every country, regardless of income level.
    • In South Asia, while 50 kilograms of food is wasted per person each year at the household level in India.
    • Others include- 65 kilograms of this happening in Bangladesh, 74 kilograms in Pakistan, 76 kilograms in Sri Lanka, 79 kilograms in Nepal and 82 kilograms in Afghanistan.

    Why it is important to prevent food wastage?

    • Food waste also has a substantial environmental, social and economic impact.
    • Food loss and waste cause about $940 billion per year in economic losses. Reductions can save money for farmers, companies, and households.
    • For example, 8-10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with food that is not consumed.
    • Reducing food waste would cut greenhouse gas emissions, slow the destruction of nature through land conversion and pollution, enhance the availability of food and thus reduce hunger and save money.

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  • Urban Transformation – Smart Cities, AMRUT, etc.

    [pib] Ease of Living Index (EOLI) 2020

    DOMR | Governance | Mains Paper 1: Urbanization, Their Problems & Remedies

    The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has announced the release of the final rankings of the Ease of Living Index (EoLI) 2020 and the Municipal Performance Index (MPI) 2020.

    For any such index, always note the verticals i.e. the various parameters.

    Ease of Living Index (EoLI)

    • It is an assessment tool that evaluates the quality of life and the impact of various initiatives for urban development.
    • It provides a comprehensive understanding of participating cities across India based on the quality of life, the economic ability of a city, and its sustainability and resilience.
    • It examines the outcomes that lead to existing living conditions through pillars of Quality of Life, Economic Ability, Sustainability.

    Municipal Performance Index (MPI)

    • It was launched as an accompaniment to the Ease of Living Index.
    • The five verticals under MPI are Services, Finance, Policy, Technology and Governance.
    • The Ease of Living Index encapsulates the outcome indicators while the Municipal Performance Index captures the enabling input parameters.

    Performance of cities

    • Bengaluru emerged as the top performer in the Million+ categories, followed by Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Surat, Navi Mumbai, Coimbatore, Vadodara, Indore, and Greater Mumbai.
    • In the Less than Million category, Shimla was ranked the highest in ease of living, followed by Bhubaneshwar, Silvassa, Kakinada, Salem, Vellore, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Davangere, and Tiruchirappalli.

    Why need such indices?

    • The EoLI primarily seeks to accelerate India’s urban development outcomes, including the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
    • The findings from the index can help guide evidence-based policymaking.
    • It also promotes healthy competition among cities, encouraging them to learn from their peers and advance their development trajectory.

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  • Trade Sector Updates – Falling Exports, TIES, MEIS, Foreign Trade Policy, etc.

    [pib] ‘Red Rice’ exports from Assam to the US

    PIB | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: Food Processing & Related Industries In India

    In a major boost to India’s rice exports potential, the first consignment of ‘red rice’ was flagged off today to the USA.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2019

    Q.Among the following, which one is the largest exporter of rice in the world in the last five years?

    (a) China

    (b) India

    (c) Myanmar

    (d) Vietnam

    Red Rice

    • Iron rich ‘red rice’ is grown in the Brahmaputra valley of Assam, without the use of any chemical fertilizer.
    • The rice variety is referred to as ‘Bao-dhaan’, which is an integral part of Assamese food.
    • Much like brown rice and white rice, red rice also comes with many incredible health benefits.
    • Due to the presence of a component called anthocyanin, this rice is usually consumed either partially hulled or unhulled.
    • Red rice derives this eye-grabbing colour from this component and has much more nutrient value as compared to other varieties of rice.

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