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  • Turkish Coffee

    Prelims Only | Trivia | Mains Paper 1: Arts & Culture

    Turkish Coffee made it to the UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013. It is celebrated in literature and songs and is an important part of ceremonies and festivals.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following pairs:

    Traditions Communities

    1. Chaliha Sahib Festival — Sindhis
    2. Nanda Raj Jaat Yatra — Gonds
    3. Wari-Warkari — Santhals

    Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 and 3

    (c) 1 and 3

    (d) None of the above

    Turkish Coffee

    • To make Turkish Coffee, Arabica beans are ground manually and boiled with water and sugar in a special pot called cezve in Turkey and ibrik elsewhere.
    • It is taken off the heat as soon as it begins to froth and before it boils over.
    • It is traditionally served in individual porcelain cups called kahvefinjan.
    • Sometimes the coffee may be flavoured with cardamom or other spices and served with a small piece of Turkish delight.

    Back2Basics: Intangible Heritages from India

    • Tradition of Vedic chanting
    • Ramlila, the traditional performance of the Ramayana
    • Kutiyattam, Sanskrit theatre
    • Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas.
    • Mudiyettu, ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala
    • Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan
    • Chhau dance
    • Buddhist chanting of Ladakh: recitation of sacred Buddhist texts in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir.
    • Sankirtana, ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur
    • Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab
    • Yoga
    • Nawrouz
    • Kumbh Mela

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  • Parliament – Sessions, Procedures, Motions, Committees etc

    Parliamentary oversight and cancellation of question hour

    op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Parliament & State Legislatures

    The article highlights the significance of question hour in democracy.

    Context

    • The decision to go without “Question Hour” during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, beginning September 14, has evoked serious concerns about the democratic functioning of the institution.

    Significance of question hour

    • Question Hour is an opportunity for the members to raise questions,
    • It is also a parliamentary device primarily meant for exercising legislative control over executive actions.
    • It is also a device to criticise government policies and programmes, ventilate public grievances, expose the government’s lapses, extract promises from ministers.
    • In short, question hour helps to ensure accountability and transparency in governance.

    Right to question the executive: Historical background

    • The right to question the executive has been exercised by members of the House from the colonial period.
    • The first Legislative Council in British India under the Charter Act, 1853, allowed members the power to ask questions to the executive.
    • The Indian Council Act of 1861 allowed members to elicit information by means of questions.
    • However, it was the Indian Council Act, 1892, which formulated the rules for asking questions including short notice questions.
    • The Indian Council Act, 1909, which incorporated provisions for asking supplementary questions by members.
    • The Montague-Chelmsford reforms brought forth a significant change in 1919 by incorporating a rule that the first hour of every meeting was earmarked for questions.
    • Parliament has continued this tradition.
    • Since 1921, the question on which a member desired to have an oral answer, was distinguished by him with an asterisk, a star.

    Recent instances in which right to ask questions was curtailed

    • The government passed important bills in the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha before the formation of department-related standing committees.
    • The Constitution Amendment Bill on J&K was introduced without circulating copies to the members.
    • Several important bills were passed as Finance Bills to avoid scrutiny of the Rajya Sabha.
    • Standing committees are an extension of Parliament.
    • Any person has the right to present his/her opinion to a Bill during the process of consideration.

    Consider the question “What is the significance of question hour in the context of democracy in India? What is the implication of its suspension due to pandemic?”

    Conclusion

    The government’s actions erode the constitutional mandate of parliamentary oversight over executive actions as envisaged under Article 75 (3) of the Indian Constitution.

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  • Mother and Child Health – Immunization Program, BPBB, PMJSY, PMMSY, etc.

    Making malnutrition free India by 2030

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    The article analyses the problem of malnutrition in India and suggests the pathways to achieve the malnutrition free India by 2030.

    Severity of the nourishment problem in India

    • There were  189.2 million undernourished people (28 per cent of the world) in India in 2017-19, as per the combined report of FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO (FAO, et.al. 2020) on “The state of Food Security and Nutrition in the World”.
    •  India accounts for 28 per cent (40.3 million) of the world’s stunted children (low height-for-age) under five years of age, and 43 per cent (20.1 million) of the world’s wasted children (low weight-for-height) in 2019.
    • In India, the problem has been more severe amongst children below the age of five years.
    • As per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS, 2015-16), the proportion of underweight and stunted children was as high as 35.8 per cent and 38.4 per cent respectively.
    • In several districts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and even Gujarat, the proportion of underweight children was more than 40 per cent.

    Aims of the National Nutrition Mission (NNM)

    • Ending all forms of malnutrition by 2030 is also the target of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG-2) of Zero Hunger.
    • Towards this end, NNM aims to reduce stunting, underweight and low birth weight each by 2 per cent per annum.
    • It aims to reduce anaemia among children, adolescent girls and women, each by 3 per cent per annum by 2022.
    • However, the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990–2017 has estimated that if the current trend continues, India cannot achieve these targets under NNM by 2022.

    Understanding the key determinants and deciding policy response

    1) Mothers’ education

    • Mothers’ education, particularly higher education, has the strongest inverse association with under-nutrition.
    • Women’s education has a multiplier effect not only on household food security but also on the child’s feeding practice and the sanitation facility.
    • Despite India’s considerable improvement in female literacy, only 13.7 per cent of women have received higher education (NFHS, 2015-16).
    • Therefore, programmes that promote women’s higher education such as liberal scholarships for women need to be accorded a much higher priority.

    2) Sanitation and access to safe drinking water

    • The second key determinant of child under-nutrition is the wealth index, which subsumes access to sanitation facilities and safe drinking water.
    • WASH initiatives, that is, safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, are critical for improving child nutritional outcomes.
    • In this context, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan aims to eliminate open defecation and bring about behavioural changes in hygiene and sanitation practices.
    • In five years of the Abhiyan, as per government records, rural sanitation coverage has gone from 38.7 per cent in 2014 to 100 per cent in 2019, while the sanitation coverage in urban cites has gone up to 99 per cent by September 2020.
    • This remarkable achievement of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, subject to third-party evaluations, is expected to have a multiplier effect on nutritional outcomes.

    3) Leveraging agricultural policies

    • We should leverage agricultural policies and programmes to be more “nutrition-sensitive” and reinforcing diet diversification towards a nutrient-rich diet.
    • Food-based safety nets in India are biased in favour of staples: rice and wheat.
    • They need to provide a more diversified food basket, including coarse grains, millets, pulses and bio-fortified staples.
    • Bio-fortification is very cost-effective in improving the diet of households and the nutritional status of children.
    • The Harvest-Plus programme of CGIAR can work with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to grow new varieties of nutrient-rich staple food crops.

    4) Promotion of exclusive breastfeeding, complementary foods, diversified diet

    • The promotion of exclusive breastfeeding and the introduction of complementary foods and a diversified diet after the first six months is essential to meet the nutritional needs of infants and ensure appropriate growth and cognitive development of children.

    5) Access to prenatal and postnatal care

    • Access and utilisation of prenatal and postnatal health care services also play a significant role in curbing undernutrition among children.
    • Aanganwadi workers and community participation can bring significant improvements in child-caring practices.

    Consider the question “Assess the severity the problem of malnutrition in India and suggest the measure to achieve the goal of malnutrition free India by 2030”

    Conclusion

    To contribute towards the holistic nourishment of children and a malnutrition free India by 2030, the government needs to address the multi-dimensional determinants of malnutrition on an urgent basis.

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  • Important Judgements In News

    Undoing the right to housing

    op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters,Government Scheme/Policies

    The article analyses the implications of recent Supreme Court order regarding the removal of encroachment along the railway line. 

    Context

    •  In short order, the Supreme Court of India on August 31 ordered the removal of about 48,000 slum dwellings situated along the railway tracks in Delhi.
    • The order raises several legal questions, which are discussed below.

    1) Violation of the principle of natural justice

    • The order violates principles of natural justice and due process because it was delivered without hearing the affected party, the jhuggi dwellers.
    • The order was passed in the long-running case on the piling up of garbage along railway tracks.
    • However, neither this case nor the report concerns itself with the legality of informal settlements.
    • Still, the Court made an unconvincing connection between the piling of garbage and the presence of slums.

    2) Ignoring the right to livelihood

    • In this order, the Court ignored its long-standing jurisprudence on the right to livelihood.
    • In the landmark decision concerning pavement-dwellers, a five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court in Olga Tellis & Ors vs. Bombay Municipal Corporation & Ors. (1985) held that the right to life also includes the “right to livelihood”.
    • Further, in Chameli Singh vs. the State Of U.P. (1995), the Supreme Court recognised the “right to shelter” as a component of the right to life under Article 21 and freedom of movement under Article 19(1)(e).

    3) Failure to consider policies and case laws

    •  High Court of Delhi has held that prior to any eviction, a survey must be conducted.
    • The procedure laid down in this judgment formed the basis for the Delhi Slum and JJ Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, 2015.
    • In Ajay Maken & Ors. vs Union Of India & Ors. (2019), the Delhi High Court invoked the idea of the “Right to the City” to uphold the housing rights of slum dwellers.
    • This case led to the framing of a Draft Protocol for the 2015 Policy on how meaningful engagement with residents should be conducted.

    Conclusion

    The Courts need to strike the balance between the rights of the slum dweller and those affected by the encroachment.

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-China

    Neither war nor peace between India and China

    op-ed snap | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: India & Its Neighborhood – Relations

    The article analyses the challenges in the India-China border dispute and the recent events of Chinese aggression.

    Trust deficit

    • The recent Chinese actions have set back trust between the two countries by decades.
    • Trust made sense when both sides could assume that the other side either did not have the capacity or would not rapidly deploy troops in strategic positions at the border.
    • With the building of infrastructure on both sides, this trust was bound to break.
    • Even after temporary disengagement, both sides will now have distrust about the deployment of the other side.
    • An infrastructure-thick environment will require a permanent presence and closer deployments.

    Challenges

    •  At the level of the army, India seems to have consistently misread the PLA’s intentions.
    •  The closer the armies get, the greater the risks.
    • There is a political logic that does not bode well. There is still speculation on why the Chinese are taking an aggressive posture.
    • The very fact that we are not sure of Chinese motives means it is hard to know their endgame.

    Chinese fears

    • At a basic level, they will want to secure their interests in CPEC.
    • Tibet issue has also been a sensitive issue for China.
    •  Chinese interest in Nepal is less to encircle India. It is to ensure Nepal is not used as a staging ground of resistance in Tibet.

    Tibet issues in India-China relations

    • On Tibet issue India is in an awkward situation.
    • Due to the presence of the Dalai Lama in India, China will see it as a potential threat to its cultural hegemony in Tibet.
    • Ladakh and Tawang are also important pieces in that cultural consolidation.
    • The Sino-India peaceful relations were premised on keeping the Tibet issue in check.
    • But just as we are not sure of Chinese motives, they may not be sure of our motives either.

    New paradigm in India’s foreign policy

    • India growing power means it needs a new paradigm of foreign policy.
    • This policy will supposedly safeguard India’s interests more assertively.
    • If diplomatically not well managed, this change also causes great uncertainty in the international system.
    • India’s Pakistan policy is premised entirely on keeping them guessing on what we might do, including possible military options and altering the territorial status quo.
    • Our domestic ideological articulation of India’s position ranges from reclaiming PoK to Aksai Chin.
    • We cannot abandon Tibetans.
    • This underscores a narrative of uncertainty over our intentions.

    Conclusion

    Our own trumpeted departure from the past, without either the diplomatic preparation, domestic political discipline, and full anticipation of military eventualities, does not make it easy for others to understand our endgame.

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  • Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

    Dictionary of Martyrs of India’s Freedom Struggle (1857-1947)

    Prelims Only | | Mains Paper 1: Modern Indian History

    Four martyrs of Communist movement of Kerala will be added to the ‘Dictionary of Martyrs India’s Freedom Struggle (1857-1947)’, if an earlier review report to the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) is accepted.

    Communist revolutionaries of Kerala

    • The four who may make it to the list include Aboobacker and Chirukandan of Kayyur, “who walked to the gallows shouting Inquilab Zindabad and Communist Party Zindabad” and “died as brave communists,” as mentioned in the fifth volume of the dictionary.
    • Abu of Mambram, a Communist and active partner in the nationalist and anti-imperialist movements, and Chattukutty, an active Communist cadre involved in the agitations for price control, wage hike, and relief to peasants, who were killed in the Tellichery police firing on September 15, 1940, would also qualify.
    • The report had suggested the deletion of the martyrs of Punnapra-Vayalar, Karivelloor, and Kavumbayi agitations as they were rioters against the interim government headed by Jawaharlal Nehru.

    Back2Basics: “Dictionary of Martyrs” Project

    • The project for the compilation of “Dictionary of Martyrs” of India’s Freedom Struggle was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, to the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the uprising of 1857.
    • In this dictionary, a martyr has been defined as a person who died or who was killed in action or in detention, or was awarded capital punishment while participating in the national movement for the emancipation of India.
    • It includes ex-INA or ex-military personnel who died fighting the British.
    • Information of about 13,500 martyrs has been recorded in these volumes.

    Who are included?

    • It includes the martyrs of 1857 Uprising, Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919), Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22), Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-34), Quit India Movement (1942-44), Revolutionary Movements (1915-34), Kissan Movements, Tribal Movements, Agitation for Responsible Government in the Princely States (Prajamandal), Indian National Army (INA, 1943-45), Royal Indian Navy Upsurge (RIN, 1946), etc.

    Five Volumes

    • Volume 1: In this volume, more than 4400 martyrs of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have been listed.
    • Volume 2: In this volume, more than 3500 martyrs of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir have been listed.
    • Volume 3: The number of martyrs covered in this volume is more than 1400. This volume covers the martyrs of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Sind.
    • Volume 4: The numbers of martyrs covered in this volume is more than 3300. This volume covers the martyrs of Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura.
    • Volume 5: The number of martyrs covered in this volume is more than 1450. This volume covers the martyrs of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

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  • Climate Change Impact on India and World – International Reports, Key Observations, etc.

    [pib] Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF 2.0)

    PIB | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena

    The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has launched the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF) 2.0.

    About CSCAF 2.0

    • A framework is a climate-sensitive approach to urban planning and development in India.
    • ​It was developed after a review of existing frameworks and assessment approaches adopted throughout the world.
    • It followed a series of an extensive consultative process with more than 26 organizations and 60 experts from different thematic areas.
    • The Climate Centre for Cities under National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) is supporting MoHUA in implementation of CSCAF.

    Various indicators of the framework

    The framework has 28 indicators across five categories namely:

    1. Energy and Green Buildings
    2. Urban Planning, Green Cover & Biodiversity
    3. Mobility and Air Quality
    4. Water Management
    5. Waste Management

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  • Start-up Ecosystem In India

    [pib] Ranking of States on Support to Startup Ecosystems, 2019

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

    The Results of the second edition of Ranking of States on Support to Startup Ecosystems were recently released by Minister of Commerce & Industry.

    About the Ranking

    • The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has conducted the second edition of the States Startup Ranking Exercise.
    • The key objective is to foster competitiveness and propel States and Union Territories to work proactively towards uplifting the startup ecosystem.
    • It has been implemented as a capacity development exercise to encourage mutual learning among all states and to provide support in policy formulation and implementation.

    7 focus areas

    1. Institutional Leaders
    2. Regulatory Change Champions
    3. Procurement Leaders
    4. Incubation Hubs
    5. Seeding Innovation Leaders
    6. Scaling Innovations Leaders
    7. Awareness and Outreach Champions

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  • Road and Highway Safety – National Road Safety Policy, Good Samaritans, etc.

    ‘Streets for People’ Challenge

    Prelims Only | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters

    The Union Housing and Urban Affairs has launched the initiative ‘Streets for People’ for making cities more pedestrian-friendly.

    Streets for People

    • The Challenge builds on the advisory issued by MoHUA for the holistic planning for pedestrian-friendly market spaces, earlier this year.
    • It will support cities across the country to develop a unified vision of streets for people in consultation with stakeholders and citizens.
    • Adopting a participatory approach, cities will be guided to launch their own design competitions to gather innovative ideas from professionals for quick, innovative, and low-cost tactical solutions.
    • ​It aims to inspire cities to create walking-friendly and vibrant streets through quick, innovative, and low-cost measures.
    • All cities participating in the challenge shall be encouraged to use the ‘test-learn-scale’ approach to initiate both, flagship and neighbourhood walking interventions.
    • The interventions can include inter alia creating pedestrian-friendly streets in high footfall areas, re-imagining under-flyover spaces, re-vitalizing dead neighbourhood spaces, and creating walking links through parks and institutional areas.

    Various stakeholders

    • Fit India Mission, under Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, along with the India program of the Institute for Transport Development and Policy (ITDP) has partnered with the Smart Cities Mission to support the challenge.

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  • Goods and Services Tax (GST)

    The way out on GST compensation

    op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    The economic disruption due to pandemic has made the issue of GST compensation bone of contention between the Centre and the States. This article argues that it is the GST Council and not the Centre which is responsible to find ways to raise the revenue in such a situation.

    GST revenue loss and role of the Centre

    • Due to global pandemic, one significant area of loss of revenue to both the Centre and the states is GST.
    • The states have the comfort of assured 14 per cent growth through the compensation mechanism.
    • The Centre has no such guarantee.
    • The Compensation Act mandates compensating the states for revenue loss on GST implementation from the Compensation Fund.

    Role of GST Council

    • The course of action to be adopted in the event of the amount in the Fund falling short of requirements was discussed at length in the GST Council.
    • The late Arun Jaitley, then chairman, had, in the 8th meeting, assured that “in case Compensation Fund fell short of the compensation payable, the GST Council shall decide the mode of raising additional resources including borrowing from the market which could be repaid by collection of cess in the sixth year or further subsequent years”; the Council had agreed to this suggestion.
    • Quite clearly,  it is the Council and not the Government of India that shall decide the mode of raising additional resources in the event of a shortfall and this is reflected in Section 10(1) of the Compensation Act.

    Why it makes sense for the States to borrow

    • It is argued that borrowings by the Centre or by the states make no difference in the context of fiscal discipline.
    • The argument further adds that the Centre should borrow in view of its higher borrowing and debt-servicing capacity and its ability to borrow at lower rates.
    • Article 292 (1) mandates that the Centre can borrow on the security of the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI).
    • However, the idea of providing compensation to the states from the Consolidated Fund of India was not agreed to in the Council, it is difficult to agree with the suggestion that GoI borrows on the basis of the said CFI.
    • Large borrowings by the Centre would push up the bond yield rates, pushing up bond yield of the states setting off a spiral leading to hike in the interest rates for businesses and individuals.
    • The states’ borrowing would become costlier if the Centre were to borrow for this purpose.
    • The borrowing capacity of the states, too, is not very inferior.
    • The RBI study of state finances shows that the debt receipts of all the states as a percentage of GDP has hovered between 2.4 per cent and 3.6 per cent during the last four years.
    • The states have on the average borrowed just about 1.25 per cent of the GSDP thus far.
    • The states are consistently borrowing less than they can borrow (legally and financially).
    • The cost of state borrowings for this purpose can be considerably lowered if arranged through a special window.
    • The Centre has already breached the budgeted borrowing limits for the current year.
    • Thus it makes sense for the states to borrow.

    Borrowing options for the States

    • There are two ways in which the States can borrow.
    • 1) Borrowing the entire shortfall in the revenue.
    • 2) Borrowing only the shortfall attributable to GST implementation with the remaining shortfall to be made good from the Cess Fund post the transition period.
    • Certain conditionalities have been relaxed for option-1.
    • However, borrowing the entire shortfall, as envisaged in option-1, will hurt both the markets and the private sector, pushing up the interest rate.
    • The single window under option-1 being arranged by the Centre and the entire debt being serviced from future cess receipts will ensure that the cost remains close to the G-sec rate.
    • Moreover, there will be no variation in the interest rate as between the states.

    Conclusion

    The states should come forward and work with the Centre in the true spirit of cooperative federalism that the Council has come to be known for these past few years.

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