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Police Reforms – SC directives, NPC, other committees reports

India Justice Report, 2020

| Polity | Mains Paper 2: Executive & Judiciary
The second edition of the Indian Justice Report (IJR) was recently launched.

Note the findings of this report. It is the only such report of its kind published in India.

India Justice Report
- The IJR is an initiative of Tata Trusts in collaboration with Centre for Social Justice, Common Cause and Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative among others.
- It was first published in 2019.
- It brings together otherwise siloed statistics from authoritative government sources, on the four pillars of justice delivery – Police, Judiciary, Prisons and Legal Aid.
Major highlights of the Report
- The report highlights stark conclusions when aggregated for an all-India picture.
- Women comprise only 29 per cent of judges in India.
- Two-thirds of the country’s prisoners are yet to be convicted.
- In the last 25 years, since 1995, only 1.5 crore people have received legal aid, though 80 per cent of the country’s population is entitled to.
- The report gives ranks Maharashtra once again at the top of the 18 large- and mid-sized states (with a population of over one crore each), followed by Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Punjab and Kerala.
- The list of seven small states (population of less than one crore each) was topped by Tripura, followed by Sikkim and Goa.
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Urban Transformation – Smart Cities, AMRUT, etc.

Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban) to revive urban water bodies

Schemes | Governance | Mains Paper 1: Urbanization, Their Problems & Remedies
The urban water supply mission under the Jal Jeevan Mission announced in the Budget would include rejuvenation of water bodies as well as 20% of supply from reused water.

Access to safe drinking water has been a grave problem for India, especially in rural areas where lack of usable water has resulted in decades-old sanitation and health problems.

Jal Jeevan Mission
- Jal Jeevan Mission, a central government initiative under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, aims to ensure access of piped water for every household in India.
- The mission’s goal is to provide to all households in rural India safe and adequate water through individual household tap connections by 2024.
- The Har Ghar Nal Se Jal programme was announced by FM in Budget 2019-20 speech.
- This programme forms a crucial part of the Jal Jeevan Mission.
- The programme aims to implement source sustainability measures as mandatory elements, such as recharge and reuse through greywater management, water conservation, and rainwater harvesting.
Urban component of the mission
- The mission is meant to create a people’s movement for water, making it everyone’s priority.
- There are an estimated gap of 2.68 crore urban household tap connections that the Mission would seek to bridge in all 4,378 statutory towns.
- The Mission would also aim to bridge the gap of 2.64 crore sewer connections in the 500 cities under the existing Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
- The mission would include rejuvenation of water bodies to boost the sustainable freshwater supply and the creation of green spaces.
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Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

[pib] Centenary of ‘Chauri Chaura’ Incident

Prelims Only | | Mains Paper 1: Modern Indian History
PM will inaugurate the centenary Celebrations at Chauri Chaura at Gorakhpur Dist. Uttar Pradesh.

‘Chauri Chaura’ Incident
- The incident took place on 4 February 1922 at Chauri Chaura in the Gorakhpur district of the United Province.
- A large group of protesters participating in the Non-Cooperation Movement clashed with police who opened fire.
- In retaliation the demonstrators attacked and set fire to a police station, killing all of its occupants.
- The incident led to the death of three civilians and 22 policemen.
- Mahatma Gandhi, who was strictly against violence, halted the non-co-operation movement on the national level on 12 February 1922, as a direct result of this incident.
Try this PYQ:

Q.The ‘Swadeshi’ and ‘Boycott’ adopted as methods of struggle for the first time during the

(a) Agitation against the Partition of Bengal

(b) Home Rule Movement

(c) Non-Cooperation Movement

(d) Visit of the Simon Commission to India

Background
- In the early 1920s, Indians, led by Mahatma Gandhi, were engaged in a nationwide non-cooperation movement.
- Using non-violent methods of civil disobedience known as Satyagraha, protests were organised by the INC to challenge oppressive regulations such as the Rowlatt Act.
Course of the incident
- Two days before the incident, on 2 February 1922, volunteers participating in the Non-cooperation Movement led by a retired Army soldier named Bhagwan Ahir.
- The protest was planned against high food prices and liquor sale in the marketplace.
- Several of the leaders were arrested and put in the lock-up at the Chauri Chaura police station.
- In response to this, a protest against the police was called on 4 February, to be held at the local marketplace.
- Infuriated by the gunfire into their ranks, the crowd set the chowki ablaze, killing all of the Indian policemen and other staff trapped inside.
Aftermath
- Appalled at the outrage, Gandhi went on a five-day fast as penance for what he perceived as his culpability in the bloodshed.
- In reflection, Gandhi felt that he had acted too hastily in encouraging people to revolt against the British Raj without sufficiently emphasizing the importance of non-violence.
- On 12 February 1922, the Indian National Congress halted the Non-co-operation Movement on the national level as a direct result of the Chauri Chaura tragedy.
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Wetland Conservation

[pib] India gets its first Centre for Wetland Conservation and Management

PIB | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has announced the establishment of a Centre for Wetland Conservation and Management (CWCM).

What are Wetlands?
- A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded by water, either permanently or seasonally, where oxygen-free processes prevail.
- The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from other landforms or water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants, adapted to the unique hydric soil.
- Wetlands provide a wide range of important resources and ecosystem services such as food, water, fibre, groundwater recharge, water purification, flood moderation, erosion control and climate regulation.
Ecological significance of wetlands
- Wetlands provide a wide range of important resources and ecosystem services such as food, water, fibre, groundwater recharge, water purification, flood moderation, erosion control and climate regulation.
- They are, in fact, a major source of water and our main supply of fresh water comes from an array of wetlands which help soak rainfall and recharge groundwater.
- Just as forests are called the ‘lungs of the earth’, wetlands are the ‘kidneys’ that regulate water and filter waste from the landscape.
About CWCM
- WCM would serve as a knowledge hub and enable exchange between State/ UT Wetland Authorities, wetland users, managers, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners.
- It would function as a part of the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), Chennai.
- It would address specific research needs and knowledge gaps and will aid in the application of integrated approaches for conservation, management and wise use of the wetlands.
Why need such a centre?
- India has nearly 4.6% of its land as wetlands, covering an area of 15.26 million hectares and has 42 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites), with a surface area of 1.08 million hectares.
- The year 2021 also commemorates the 50^th anniversary of the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971 in Ramsar, Iran, celebrated annually as World Wetlands Day.
Back2Basics: Ramsar Convention
- The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (better known as the Ramsar Convention) is an international agreement promoting the conservation and wise use of wetlands.
- It is the only global treaty to focus on a single ecosystem.
- The convention was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and came into force in 1975.
- Traditionally viewed as a wasteland or breeding ground of disease, wetlands actually provide fresh water and food and serve as nature’s shock absorber.
- Wetlands, critical for biodiversity, are disappearing rapidly, with recent estimates showing that 64% or more of the world’s wetlands have vanished since 1900.
- Major changes in land use for agriculture and grazing, water diversion for dams and canals and infrastructure development are considered to be some of the main causes of loss and degradation of wetlands.
Enthusiasts can read this document:

Faunal Diversity in Ramsar Wetlands of India
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Government Budgets

Despite some hits, the Budget has crucial misses

| Economics | Mains Paper 3: Government Budgeting
The article highlights the key aspects of the budget and also mention the failure to address the challenge of employment and rising inequality.

Significance of the Budget
- At its simplest, is the government’s tentative income and expenditure statement.
- At its broadest, the Budget is a pious statement of the government’s policy and ideological intentions.
- It is also the government’s statement of how it seeks to tackle the immediate political (electoral) and economic challenges.
Stepping up public investment and challenge of financing
- The present Budget’s focus on stepping up public investment by 34.5% in the coming fiscal year (compared to the current year) is a welcome sign.
- The government will borrow an additional ₹80,000 crore for the purpose in the next two months.
- Realisation of these investments would crucially depend on tax revenue realisations, disinvestment proceeds, sale of rail and road assets and the government’s ability to raise resources from the market, without raising interest rates for the private sector.
- There is no mention of the government’s recourse to debt monetisation.
- While the investment intentions are evident, its financing efforts seem to have too many loose ends.
Development Finance Institution
- To deal with the poor industrial and infrastructure investment during the last decade the Budget proposed setting up of Development Finance Institution.
- One of the reason for poor investment was a lack of long-term credit for infrastructure,which yields low rates of return spread over a long period of time.
- Commercial banks, whose deposits are for short to medium term, find it difficult to lend for long term (more than five years) for the fear of maturity mismatch.
- Moreover, as banks were laden with rising non-performing assets on account of poor corporate sector performance during the last decade.
- Also, most successful industrialising economies have relied on DFIs for providing long-term credit.
Financing challenge DFI could face
- Weakness of DFI lies in securing stable long-term, low cost sources of finance.
- The proposed DFI will be financed by foreign portfolio investments (FPI), which is a cause for concern.
- By definition, FPI represents short term inflows with exchange rate risks, while infrastructure investment is for long term whose revenues will be mostly in rupees.
- Such an investment will inevitably lead to currency and maturity miss-match, raising cost of capital.
- Hence, there is a need to consider alternative long-term sources, preferably from domestic sources, or international development agencies.
Health infrastructure
- A substantial annual fixed investment in improving urban sanitation, drinking water and sewage facilities, it is indeed a welcome step.
- A lessons from rural Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is that complementary facilities need to be constructed in a coordinated manner to maximise the effectiveness of such investments.
No effort to address rising inequality
- There is no targeted employment programme to alleviate the immediate crisis is a matter of concern.
- There is no mention of the stupendous rise in economic inequality during just the last year.
- While the poor lost their jobs and livelihoods in 2020, corporate India’s profits increased.
- The Budget could have consider a special tax on the super-rich — as many countries are now mooting.
Consider the question “What necessited the Development Finance Institution? Examine the challenge it would face in its functionig?”

Conclusion

In summary, if the capital expenditure plan outlined in the Budget speech is credible, and implemented with assured financial backing, it could revive the investment cycle. The proposed development bank for term lending for infrastructure is welcome, provided its sources of finance are cheap, long term and mostly domestic. Investments in urban public health infrastructure — sanitation, water supply and sewage — are in the right direction if implemented in a coordinated manner.
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Agricultural Sector and Marketing Reforms – eNAM, Model APMC Act, Eco Survey Reco, etc.

Bringing transparency in Budget in agri-food sector

op-ed snap | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: Government Budgeting,Issues Related To Farm Subsidies & Msp
The article analyses the Union Budget and highlights the emphasis on transparency by showing the borrowing of the FCI and arrears of the fertiliser companies in the Budget.

Transparency in food subsidy and arrears of fertiliser industry
- Year after year, a substantial part of the food subsidy was being put under the carpet by increasing the Food Corporation of India’s (FCI) borrowings.
- The amount had crossed Rs 3 lakh crore.
- The revised estimate (RE) for FY 2020-21 is 3.66 times the budgeted figure, indicating that almost all borrowings of FCI have been cleared.
- This is indeed a historic step towards introducing transparency in the Union Budget.
- The Budget also cleared off the fertiliser industry’s arrears.
- Against the budgeted figure of Rs 71,309 crore for FY 2020-21, the revised estimate is Rs 1,33,947 crore, an increase of Rs 62,638 crore.
Neglect of R&D
- From a policy perspective one must point to the huge bias towards subsidies as compared to investments, especially research and development.
- The allocation for agri-R&D is a meagre Rs 8,514 crore in FY 2021-22 against a RE of Rs 7,762 crore in FY 2020-21.
- The marginal returns in terms of agri-growth from expenditures on agri-R&D are almost five to 10 times higher than through subsidies.
- India spends not even half of what a private global company like Bayer spends on agri-R&D — almost Rs 20,000 crore every year.
- This is why growth momentum in agriculture remains subdued and India keeps spending on freebies with sub-optimal results.
Subsidies needs a rethink

1) Food subsidy
- The FCI’s economic cost of rice is Rs 37/kg and of wheat about Rs 27/kg.
- This economic cost is roughly 40 per cent higher than the procurement price.
- This calls for giving the public distribution system’s beneficiaries the choice of direct cash transfers.
- This could create a more diversified demand which, in turn, will support diversification in agriculture.
- Further, in food subsidy, it is time to revise the issue prices for beneficiaries except for the antyodaya (most marginal) category.
- Percentage of population covered by the food subsidy should be brought down to 40 per cent.
2) Fertiliser subsidy
- Massive subsidisation of urea, to the tune of almost 70 per cent of its cost, is leading to its sub-optimal usage.
- It is time to move towards direct cash transfers to farmers based on a per hectare basis and free up prices of fertilisers.
- This will help reduce leakages and imbalance in NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) usage and lead to efficiency, equity and environmental sustainability.
Consider the question “If one looks at India’s Union Budget, it is easy to notice huge bias towards subsidies and neglect of the research and development in agriculure in the allocation for agriculture sector. What are the implications of such bias?”

Conclusion

Overall, the expenditure on agri-R&D needs to be doubled or even tripled in next three years, if growth in agriculture has to provide food security at a national level and subsidies on food and fertilisers need to be contained. At the same time, food subsidy and fertiliser subsidy needs rationalisation.
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Government Budgets

Budget is constructive, but lack of income support continues

op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy
The article takes broad overview of the Budget and highlight the recovery led by the goverment spending.

Faster and sharper recovery
- The economy has been recovering sharply and faster in the last two quarters than suggested by official growth numbers.
- Official growth number remain based on antiquated year-on-year comparisons.
- Comparisons from a year ago have a serious problem in that they depend on what happened four quarters earlier and tell us very little about growth momentum.
- J.P. Morgan estimates suggest that, on a quarterly basis, India’s GDP plunged 25 per cent in the second quarter of 2020 and grew 21.5 per cent in the third quarter of the same fiscal year.
- This is a narrative markedly different from that portrayed by the official numbers.
What is the basis of optimis
- The economy is likely to have grown another 10.5 per cent in the fourth and is expected to deliver a growth rate of negative 6.5 per cent for the full fiscal year and then rise by 13.5 per cent in FY 2022.
- The basis of this optimism is two-fold.
- First, by accident or design, India has managed to break the link between infection and mobility.
- The second is the recent shift in the government’s fiscal stance.
- After delaying for nearly six months, the government began to speed up spending in September.
Government spending to boost economy
- With the economy recovering and the equity market surging, taxes and privatisation would reasonably be expected to rise.
- The revenue increase could be used to reduce the deficit while keeping spending broadly at its current share of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
- This would allow spending to grow 17-18 per cent, in line with the nominal GDP.
- The choice really boiled down to where to spend.
Higher fiscal deficit
- For this year, the Budget pegged the deficit at 9.5 per cent of GDP, much higher than market estimates of around 7 per cent and a 5 per cent-point rise over the previous year.
- Instead of funding food procurement through off-balance-sheet borrowing by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), as has been the case in the last few years, this year’s Budget has rightly brought some of that spending back on its accounts.
- Excluding subsidies and interest payments, the increase in the deficit is just 2 percentage points of GDP.
Continues lack of income support
- In the details, while there is a welcome emphasis on public health, infrastructure projects, and on privatisation, the glaring omission is the continued lack of income support.
- This lack of income support is important.
- Underlying the strong headline recovery in growth, imbalances in the economy have widened significantly.
- The scarring in the labour market is extensive and the likely damage to household and SME balance sheets substantial.
- While a debt moratorium and other regulatory forbearance have concealed the extent of the damage, these measures simply postpone the eventual reckoning.
- A key risk is that not only is medium-term growth impaired because of the scarring, but also that banks turn risk-averse and do not extend credit exactly when the recovery is expected to gather strength once mobility fully normalises.
Consider the question “While the Budget for 2021-21 rightly health, infrastructure and privatisation, the lack of income support could threaten the prospects of recovery. Comment.”

Conclusion

While the Budget is constructive and has helped to allay fears of excessive fiscal tightening, it did not go far enough to mitigate the tail risk that the current economic recovery does not turn into a “dead cat bounce”.
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Foreign Policy Watch: India-China

BNO Visas for Hong Kong residents

| International Relations | Mains Paper 2: India & Its Neighborhood – Relations
Hong Kong residents can apply for a new visa offering them an opportunity to become British citizens after Beijing’s imposition of a national security law last year.

What is the news?
- The move comes as China and Hong Kong have said they will no longer recognise the British National Overseas (BNO) passport as a valid travel document from Sunday, January 31.
- Britain and China have been arguing for months about what London and Washington say is an attempt to silence dissent in Hong Kong after pro-democracy protests in 2019 and 2020.
What is the British move for citizenship?
- The scheme, which was first announced last year, allows those with BNO status to live, study and work in Britain for five years and eventually apply for citizenship.
- BNO is a special status created under British law in 1987that specifically relates to Hong Kong.
- Britain says it is fulfilling a historic and moral commitment to Hong Kong people after Beijing imposed the security law on the semi-autonomous city.
- Britain says breaches the terms of agreements under which the colony was handed back to China in 1997.
- The U.K. government forecasts the new visa could attract more than 300,000 people and their dependants to Britain.
Chinese stance on the move
- China says the West’s views on its actions over Hong Kong are clouded by misinformation and an imperial handover.
- Beijing also said that it would no longer be recognising BN(O) passports, saying that the citizenship offer “seriously infringed” on China’s sovereignty.
- It is unclear, however, how this could deter Hong Kongers from leaving since city residents are usually known to use Hong Kong passports while leaving for another country.
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International Space Agencies – Missions and Discoveries

Stardust 1.O: the first rocket to run on biofuel

Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields
Stardust 1.O was recently launched from Maine, the US has become the first commercial space launch powered by biofuel.

UPSC may puzzle you with the following type of MCQ asking:

Q.Which of the following is the unique feature of the Stardust 1.0 Spacecraft recenlty seen in news?

(a) It is propelled by Bio-fuels.

(b) It has the largest payload capacity.

(c) It is re-usable launch vehicle.

(d) All of the above

What is Stardust 1.O?
- Stardust 1.O is a launch vehicle suited for student and budget payloads.
- The rocket is manufactured by bluShift, an aerospace company based in Maine that is developing rockets that are powered by bio-derived fuels.
- The rocket is 20 feet tall and has a mass of roughly 250 kg.
- The rocket can carry a maximum payload mass of 8 kg and during its first launch carried three payloads.
- The payloads included a cubesat prototype built by high-school students, a metal alloy designed to lessen vibrations.
Why such missions are important?
- Such efforts are a part of a growing number of commercial space companies that are working to provide easier and cheaper access to space to laypeople.
- It also makes access to space cost-effective for purposes of academic research, corporate technology development and entrepreneurial ventures among others.
Back2Basics: Biofuel
- Biofuels are obtained from biomass, which can be converted directly into liquid fuels that can be used as transportation fuels.
- The two most common kinds of biofuels in use today are ethanol and biodiesel and they both represent the first generation of biofuel technology.
- Ethanol, for instance, is renewable and made from different kinds of plant materials.
- Biodiesel on the other hand is produced by combining alcohol with new and used vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled cooking grease.
Categories of biofuels

Biofuels are generally classified into three categories. They are
1. First-generation biofuels – First-generation biofuels are made from sugar, starch, vegetable oil, or animal fats using conventional technology. Common first-generation biofuels include Bioalcohols, Biodiesel, Vegetable oil, Bioethers, Biogas.
2. Second-generation biofuels – These are produced from non-food crops, such as cellulosic biofuels and waste biomass (stalks of wheat and corn, and wood). Examples include advanced biofuels like biohydrogen, bioethanol.
3. Third-generation biofuels – These are produced from micro-organisms like algae.
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Textile Sector – Cotton, Jute, Wool, Silk, Handloom, etc.

[pib] Mega Investment Textiles Parks (MITRA) Scheme

PIB Schemes | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy
The Finance Minister has proposed setting up of a scheme of Mega Investment Textiles Parks (MITRA) Scheme in her budget speech.

Do not get confused over Sahakar Mitra Scheme and this one.

MITRA Scheme
- MITRA aims to enable the textile industry to become globally competitive, attract large investments, and boost employment generation and exports.
- It will create world-class infrastructure with plug and play facilities to enable create global champions in exports.
- It will be launched in addition to the Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI).
- It will give our domestic manufacturers a level-playing field in the international textiles market & pave the way for India to become a global champion of textiles exports across all segments”.
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