From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Kodiyal Theru
Mains level: NA
The annual Kodiyal Theru car (chariot) festival has begun in Mangalore, Karnataka.
Kodiyal Theru
It falls in late January or early February in the Hindu month of Magha.
It begins on Tritiya or the third day of the bright moon and ends on the seventh to be followed by Holi (Okuli) after the festival.
For these six days, the Car Festival rules in the Car Street in front of the Venkatramana Temple in Mangalore.
The Festival begins with the Dwajarohana or hoisting of the ‘flag’ – actually a framed picture of Garuda.
This is done ceremoniously on the first day of the festival amidst the clanging of bells and the reverberation of drumbeats.
The Garuda stays aloft for the rest of the festival until he is again lowered in an equally ceremonial manner on the day of the Holi and this is the concluding event of the festival.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 312
Mains level: Paper 2- Issues with changes in IAS rule
Context
The proposed amendment to Rule 6 of the IAS (Cadre) Rules 1954, seeks to do away with the consent of both the officer and the state government.
What makes All-India services different?
Article 309: Under Article 309 of the Constitution, the Centre and states are empowered to erect and maintain services for running their administration.
Both the Centre and the states exercise full control over their services independently of each other.
Article 312: Unlike a central service or state service, an All-India Service is compositely administered under Article 312.
While recruitment and allotment to a cadre (state) are determined by the Centre, the states determine the work and posting.
Balance between Centre and states: Hence, All-India Services are carefully balanced between the Centre and the states.
The Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), and Indian Forest Service (IFS) are the three All-India Services.
Being an All-India Service, officers of the IAS are posted to the states, from where they are deputed to the Centre with the tripartite consent of the officer, the state government and the central government.
Issues with the proposed changes
The proposed amendment to Rule 6 of the IAS (Cadre) Rules 1954, seeks to do away with the consent of both the officer and the state government.
Reasons for amendment: The reason for the amendment, as declared by the central government, is to ensure adequate availability of IAS officers for central deputation, which at present is “not sufficient to meet the requirement at the Centre”.
However, the central government has gone beyond its declared reason and stretched the cadre rules to also allow for appropriation of IAS officers “in public interest”.
The Centre has virtually conferred upon itself the plenipotentiary power to pull out any number of IAS officers from the states.
States may divest IAS officers of key posts: To protect their administration from becoming paralysed, states may resort to altering their Transaction of Business Rules to divest IAS officers of key posts in the state, and vesting the same with the state officers.
Alternately, states may conjure provisional berths for retired bureaucrats to re-enter administration as special appointees, outside the cadre rules.
Flouting of cadre rules by States: As it is, the implementation of cadre rules is left to the mercy of the states, with the Centre showing a disinclination to enforce them.
Some states openly flout the cadre rules with impunity in matters of postings and transfers.
The Civil Services Board has been rendered impotent, non-cadre officers are being unilaterally appointed to IAS cadre posts, and the minimum tenure guarantee is openly flouted.
Against federalism: Not only could it allow distrust to fester in Centre-state relations, it would also result in the functional depreciation of the IAS in the states.
Conclusion
It is important for the states to be reassured that they are in control of their administration, and for the service to not lose its relevance.
| Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: RDSS
Mains level: Paper 3- RDSS for discoms
Context
Launched in July 2021, the Revamped Distribution Sector Reform Scheme (RDSS) is the latest of many central government grant-based programmes towards electricity distribution network investments.
RDSS overview
Revamped Distribution Sector Reform Scheme (RDSS) has an outlay of Rs 3 lakh crore for five years.
Half of the outlay is for better feeder and transformer metering and pre-paid smart consumer metering.
The remaining half, 60 percent of which will be funded by central government grants, will be spent on power loss reduction and strengthening networks.
RDSS stipulates universal pre-paid metering but post-paid options may be suitable in many contexts.
RDSS suggested measures such as privatization and franchisee adoption.
Legacy design issues in RDSS
Design issues: Complex processes and conditions for fund disbursal: Only 60 percent of the total Rs 2.5 lakh crore grants allocated in past schemes were disbursed.
Lack of review and regulatory oversight: Lack of public review and regulatory oversight in states is another issue.
Prescriptive approach: The prescriptive approach of the scheme design impedes effective implementation. For example, RDSS emphasizes loss reduction investments over system strengthening.
However, high losses are typically connected to sustained poor quality service which, in turn, is affected by inadequate investment in system strengthening.
Opportunities for discoms under RDSS
1] Strengthen rural networks
It is important to strengthen rural networks to meet growing demand.
In the past decade, 4.9 crore poor households have been electrified and more than Rs 50,000 crore has been invested in rural networks.
However, actual investments have been much less than planned.
Transformer and sub-station capacities were designed to meet the minimal demand assuming few lights, fans, and TV.
Increased supply hours, appliance usage, and the needs of rural enterprises will need more network investment.
Without this, the risk of power outages is high.
The RDSS system’s strengthening plans can focus on this challenge.
2] Opportunity to provide reliable supply and reduce subsidy requirements for agriculture
About 25 percent of electricity sales is to be highly subsidized, agricultural consumers who also receive an erratic, poor quality supply.
Under the national KUSUM scheme, day-time, low-cost supply can be provided to a large number of farmers by installing megawatt scale solar plants.
For this to work, separate feeders for agricultural consumers are needed. RDSS prioritizes investments and grants towards dedicated agricultural feeders to accelerate feeder solarisation.
States must leverage this grant support to provide reliable supply and reduce subsidy requirements.
3] Automatic metering of distribution feeders
Often, discoms under-estimate losses by over-estimating unmetered consumption in a bid to demonstrate loss reduction.
For greater veracity, all feeders must be equipped with meters capable of communicating readings without manual intervention.
States should leverage RDSS’s emphasis on automatic meter reading for this.
4] Smart metering
RDSS prescribes a phase-wise roll-out of consumer smart meters, starting with commercial and industrial consumers and urban areas.
Such an approach provides states with an opportunity to understand implementation issues, adopt suitable strategies for metering and evolve frameworks for assessing benefits vis-a-vis the costs.
5] Network for charging EVs
Discoms can avail 60 percent of grants under RDSS for network investments required to address the demand of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
This can accelerate a shift away from petrol and diesel fuels.
Way forward
Flexibility: To leverage various opportunities, states must emphasize the need for flexibility in prioritizing investments in their action plans.
Central government agencies should also be flexible in the monitoring, tracking, and fund disbursal mechanisms.
Accelerated implementation: This should be accompanied by state-level commitments towards accelerated but deliberate implementation.
Conclusion
Despite the challenges, there are opportunities for discoms under RDSS. However, without these efforts, despite its potential, RDSS will likely be important but limited in its impact, like its predecessors.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
Mains level: Paper 2- Privacy centric health data retention policy
Context
The National Health Authority (NHA) — the body responsible for administering the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) — has initiated a consultation process on the retention of health data by healthcare providers in India. The consultation paper asks for feedback on what data is to be retained, and for how long.
Issues with the policy for healthcare data retention
Risk of over-collection: A simple classification system, as suggested in the consultation paper, exposes individuals to harms arising from over-collection and retention of unnecessary data.
At the same time, this kind of one-size-fits-all system can also lead to the under-retention of data that is genuinely required for research or public policy needs.
Instead, we should seek to classify data based on its use.
Do we need a policy for the mandatory retention of health data?
Currently, service providers can compete on how they handle the data of individuals or health records, in theory, each of us can choose a provider whose data policies we are comfortable with.
Whether the state should mandate a retention period at all is an open question.
Given the landscape of healthcare access in India, including through informal providers, many patients may not think about this factor in practice.
Nonetheless, the decision to take the choice out of the individual’s hands should not be taken lightly.
Balancing the policy for public health data retention with the right to privacy
Four-part test for privacy: The Supreme Court of India has clarified that privacy is a fundamental right, and any interference into the right must pass a four-part test: legality; legitimate aim; proportionality, and appropriate safeguards.
Health data and privacy: The mandatory retention of health data is one such form of interference with the right to privacy.
1] Legality: In this context, the question of legality becomes a question about the legal standing and authority of the NHA.
Since the NHA is not a sector-wide regulator, it has no legal basis for formulating guidelines for healthcare providers in general.
2]Legitimate aim: The aim of data retention is described in terms of benefits to the individual and the public at large.
Benefits to the individuals: Individuals benefit through greater convenience and choice, created through portability of health records.
The broader public benefits through research and innovation, driven by the availability of more and better data to analyse.
Risk involved: Globally, legal systems consider health data particularly sensitive, and recognise that improper disclosure of this data can expose a person to a range of significant harms.
Benefits must be clearly defined: As per Indian law, if an individual’s rights are to be curtailed due to anticipated benefits, such benefits cannot be potential or speculatory: they must be clearly defined and identifiable.
3] Proportionality: This is the difference between saying that data on patients with heart conditions will help us better understand cardiac health — a vague explanation — and being able to identify a specific study that will include data from that patient.
It would further mean demonstrating that the study requires personally identifiable information, rather than just an anonymous record — the latter flowing from the principle of proportionality, which requires choosing the least intrusive option available.
4] Safeguard: Standards for anonymisation are still developing.
We are not yet able to rule out the possibility of anonymised data still being linked back to specific individuals.
In other words, even anonymisation may not be the least intrusive solution to safeguarding patients’ rights in all scenarios.
Way forward
Clear and specific case for retention: The test for retaining data should be that a clear and specific case has been identified for such retention, following a rigorous process run by suitable authorities.
Anonymise data: A second safeguard would be to anonymise data that is being retained for research purposes — again, unless a specific case is made for keeping personally identifiable information.
If neither of these is true, the data should be deleted.
Express and informed consent: An alternate basis for retaining data can be the express and informed consent of the individual in question.
User-based classification process: Health-care service providers — and everyone else — will have to comply with the data protection law, once it is adopted by Parliament.
The current Bill already requires purpose limitation for collecting, processing, sharing, or retaining data; a use-based classification process would thus bring the ABDM ecosystem actors in compliance with this law as well.
Consider the question “What are the advantages and concerns with the retention of public health data? Suggest the ways to ensure the privacy-centric public health data retention policy.”
Conclusion
A privacy-centric process is needed to determine what data to retain and for how long.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- India's engagement with Central Asia
Context
The inaugural India-Central Asia Summit, the India-Central Asia Dialogue, and the Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan in New Delhi — all held over the past four months — collectively indicate a renewed enthusiasm in New Delhi to engage the Central Asian region.
Significance of Central Asia for India
India has limited economic and other stakes in the region, primarily due to lack of physical access.
And yet, the region appears to have gained a great deal of significance in India’s strategic thinking over the years, particularly in the recent past.
New geopolitical realities: India’s mission Central Asia today reflects, and is responsive to, the new geopolitical, if not the geo-economic, realities in the region.
Factors driving India’s engagement
One of the factors driving this engagement and shaping it is the great power dynamics there.
Withdrawal of the US from Afghanistan: The decline of American presence and power in the broader region (due primarily to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan) has led to a reassertion by China and Russia seeking to fill the power vacuum.
India-Russia relations: Moscow considers India to be a useful partner in the region: it helps it to not only win back New Delhi, which is moving towards the U.S., but also to subtly checkmate the rising Chinese influence in its backyard.
For the U.S., while growing India-Russia relations is not a welcome development, it recognises the utility of Moscow-New Delhi relations in Central Asia to offset Beijing’s ever-growing influence there.
India’s dilemma: In the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, New Delhi faces a major dilemma in the wider region, not just in the pre-existing theatres like the Line of Control and the Line of Actual Control.
India’s China challenge: India in the region might get further hemmed in due to the combined efforts by China, Pakistan and Taliban-led Afghanistan.
If so, it must ensure that there is no China-led strategic gang up with Pakistan and the Taliban against India in the region, which, if it becomes a reality, would severely damage Indian interests.
Consolidation of Afghan policy: India’s engagement of Central Asia would also help it to consolidate its post-American Afghan policy.
Now that the Taliban have returned to Kabul, New Delhi is forced to devise new ways of engaging Afghanistan.
That’s where the Central Asian Republics (CARs) and Russia could be helpful.
The announcement of a Joint Working Group on Afghanistan during the summit between India and the CARs is surely indicative of such interest.
Russia’s prominence
In India’s current vision for a regional security architecture, Russia appears prominent
Countering China: By courting Russia — its traditional partner, also close to China and getting closer to Pakistan — to help it re-establish its presence in the Central Asian region, India is seeking to work with one of the region’s strongest powers and also potentially create a rift between China and Russia.
Joint defence production by India and Russia has been on the rise and the CARs could play a key role in it.
India’s non-critical stance on developments in Ukrain and Kazakhstan: This growing India-Russia partnership also explains India’s non-critical stance on the developments in Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
Challenges in India’s engagement with Central Asia
China’s dominance in the region: China, which shares a land border with the region, is already a major investor there.
Iran’s role: An even bigger challenge for India may be Iran.
India’s best shot at reaching the CARs is by using a hybrid model – via sea to Chabahar and then by road/rail through Iran (and Afghanistan) to the CARs.
So, for New Delhi, the ongoing re-negotiations on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action are of crucial importance.
While Iran getting close to the West is not preferred by Russia (but preferred by India), if and when it becomes a reality, India would be able to use it to its advantage and join Russia in engaging the CARs.
Delivering on the commitment: Most importantly, India will have to walk the talk on its commitments to Central Asia.
Does it have the political will, material capability and diplomatic wherewithal to stay the course in the region?
Conclusion
India’s renewed engagement of Central Asia is in the right direction for the simple reason that while the gains from an engagement of Central Asia may be minimal, the disadvantages of non-engagement could be costly in the longer run.
India runs the risk of being excluded from a proposal it co-authored at the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations, in 2020, to “temporarily waive” intellectual property rights (IPR) held, by primarily Western countries, on vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics for COVID-19.
What is the case?
India and China are two major global suppliers of medicine.
A small group of WTO members was discussing suggestions to exclude drug manufacturers in India and China from prospective waivers to IPR obligations.
IPR obligations are a result of the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) which WTO members are committed to upholding.
What is the Agreement on TRIPS?
The Agreement on TRIPS is an international legal agreement between all the member nations of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
It establishes minimum standards for the regulation by national governments of different forms of intellectual property (IP) as applied to nationals of other WTO member nations.
TRIPS was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) between 1989 and 1990 and is administered by the WTO.
It introduced intellectual property law into the multilateral trading system for the first time and remains the most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property to date.
Key provisions
TRIPS requires member states to provide strong protection for intellectual property rights.
It seeks to provide copyright rights, covering authors and other copyright holders, as well as holders of related rights, namely performers, sound recording producers, and broadcasting organizations.
It provides for geographical indications (GI); industrial designs; integrated circuit layout designs; patents; new plant varieties; trademarks; trade names and undisclosed or confidential information.
It also specifies enforcement procedures, remedies, and dispute resolution procedures.
TRIPS also has a most favored nation (MFN) clause.
Why TRIPS?
The obligations of the main international agreements of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) that already existed before the WTO was created:
Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (patents, industrial designs, etc)
Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (copyright).
Some areas are not covered by these agreements. In some cases, the standards of protection prescribed were thought inadequate.
So the TRIPS Agreement adds significantly to existing international standards.
What else is covered under TRIPS Agreement?
Copyright terms must extend at least 50 years unless based on the life of the author.
Computer programs must be regarded as “literary works” under copyright law and receive the same terms of protection.
Patents must be granted for “inventions” in all fields of technology and must be enforceable for at least 20 years.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Legislative Powers of Governor
Mains level: Read the attached story
Tamil Nadu CM has charged that the Governor that he had failed to perform the duty vested in him by the Constitution when it came to deciding on the Bill adopted in the Legislative Assembly against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).
What is the issue?
The Governor had returned the Bill to the Assembly Speaker instead of forwarding it for Presidential assent.
Constitutional Powers of the Governor
Article 154: The executive power of the state shall be vested in the
governor and shall be exercised by him either directly or through
officers subordinate to him in accordance with this Constitution.
Article 163 (1): There shall be a council of ministers with the chief minister as the head to aid and advise the governor in the exercise of his functions, except in so far as he is required to exercise his functions in his discretion.
Article 163 (2): If any question arises whether a matter falls within the governor’s discretion or not, the decision of the governor is final and the validity of anything done by him cannot be called in question on the ground that he ought or ought not to have acted in his discretion.
The governor has constitutional discretion in the following cases:
a) Reservation of a bill for the consideration of the President (Articles 200 and 201).
b) Recommendation for the imposition of the President’s Rule in the state (Article 356).
c) While exercising his functions as the administrator of an adjoining Union territory (in case of an additional charge).
d) Special responsibility in 5th and 6th schedule areas.
e) Seeking information from the chief minister with regard to the administrative and legislative matters of the state.
Also, the governor has situational discretion (i.e., the hidden discretion derived from the exigencies of a prevailing political situation) in the following cases:
a) Appointment of the chief minister when no party has a clear-cut majority in the state legislative assembly or when the chief minister in office dies suddenly and there is no obvious successor.
b) Dismissal of the council of ministers when it cannot prove the confidence of the state legislative
assembly.
c) Dissolution of the state legislative assembly if the council of ministers has lost its majority.
What are the Legislative Powers of Governor?
Governor summons the sessions of both houses of the state legislature and prorogues them.
The governor can even dissolve the State Legislative Assembly.
These powers are formal and the governor’s use of these powers must comply with the advice of the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister.
He addresses the first session of the state legislature after the general elections in the state.
Appointments to the legislature
He appoints 1/6th members of the State Legislative Council in states wherever there is a bicameral legislature.
He nominates one member in the state legislative assembly from the Anglo-Indian Community if in view; the community is not well represented.
Governor is empowered under Article 192 to disqualify a member of the State legislature when the election commission recommends that the legislator is no longer complying with provisions of Article 191.
Passing of Bills
All the bills passed by the state legislatures are sent to the Governor for assent.
Once a bill is sent to Governor for assent, he can:
a) Give assent to the bill
b) Withhold the assent
c) Return the bill to the legislature for reconsideration if it is not a money bill.
d) If the bill is re-passed by the legislature with or without amendment, the governor has to give assent to the bill.
e) Reserve the bill for consideration of the President.
When is the Bill sent to the President?
This is done under the circumstances when a bill:
Violates the constitution or against directive principles of state policy (DPSP)
Conflict with union powers
Against the larger interest of the country and people
May endanger the position of the high court in the state.
Ordinance making power
When the state legislature is not in session and the governor considers it necessary to have a law, then the governor can promulgate ordinances.
These ordinances are submitted to the state legislature at its next session.
They remain valid for no more than six weeks from the date the state legislature is reconvened unless approved by it earlier.
Others
As per Articles 165 and 177, Governor can ask the Advocate General to attend the proceedings of both houses of the state legislature and report to them any unlawful functioning if any.
Concerns with the role of governor
Misuse of discretionary powers: States allege that this provision has often been misused by the governor who acts on the behest of the union government which is opposed to the basic scheme of the Indian Constitution.
Appointment by centre: This often leads to the appointment of persons aligning with the party’s ideology to the post of Governor and he/she remains faithful to the Union government of the day rather than acting on the advice of the State Executive.
Arbitrary removal: Even after Supreme Court Judgement in B.P. Singhal v. Union of India calling for a fixed tenure for Governors to encourage neutrality and fairness in the discharge of their duties, it is not being implemented on the ground.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Artificial Neural Networks (ANN)
Mains level: Artificial Intelligence
This newscard is an excerpt from the original article published in TH.
What are ANN?
The concept behind an ANN is to define inputs and outputs, feed pieces of inputs to computer programs that function like neurons and make inferences or calculations.
It then forwards those results to another layer of computer programs and so on, until a result is obtained.
As part of this neural network, a difference between intended output and input is computed at each layer and this difference is used to tune the parameters to each program.
This method is called back-propagation and is an essential component to the Neural Network.
Setting up of ANNs
Instead of CPUs, Graphic Processing Units (GPU) which are good at performing massive parallel tasks can be used for setting up ANNs.
A few free ANN frameworks are TensorFlow, Keras, PyTorch and Theano.
These can be used for both normal Machine Learning tasks like classification or clustering and for Deep Learning/ANN tasks.
Why called Neural Network?
Neuron is the building block of the brain and it inspired computer scientists from the 1950s to make a computer perform tasks like a brain does.
It is not a simple problem and the clue to its complexity is in the brain structure.
Why ANN?
Ans.Making an artificial brain
We need billions of artificial neurons if we were to build an artificial brain.
With the increase in computing power, mimicking billions of neurons is now possible.
Popularity of ANNs
Data Science, used interchangeably with Machine Learning, is the computer technology that uses data to detect patterns.
Hand-written digit recognition is a good example of machine learning.
However, in order for the computer to do this task, large amounts of sample data need to be manually labelled as examples of images of digits.
The ANN mentioned above with its backpropagation does exactly this.
This is why ANNs have become hugely popular in the past decade. This approach of using neural networks of many layers to automatically detect patterns and parameters is called Deep Learning.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Havana Syndrome
Mains level: NA
A recent US intelligence report says that ‘Havana Syndrome’ —a collection of symptoms and related brain injuries, reported by some US officials could be caused by pulsed electromagnetic energy or close-range ultrasound.
What is Havana Syndrome?
‘Havana Syndrome’ is a colloquial name given to a set of symptoms such as dizziness, hearing loss, headaches, vertigo, nausea, memory loss and possible brain injuries.
It was first reported by 16 American Embassy staff and their family members in Havana, Cuba, in 2016-17.
There have been other instances of the phenomenon, which has mostly impacted US officials.
What did the latest investigation find?
Such cases have been caused by pulsed electromagnetic energy in the radio frequency.
The results of the investigation did not point to who may have been behind the phenomenon, nor commented on their motivations.
A partially redacted report summary finds that the symptoms of AHI are “genuine and compelling.”
What can be the other reasons?
Psychosocial factors alone do not explain the core characteristics, the report finds, although they may cause other incidents or contribute to long-term effects.
These other incidents could occur via hyper-vigilance or reactions to stress especially among individuals who are security-oriented.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Basai Wetlands
Mains level: Not Much
The Basai Wetlands in Gurugram has shrunk to a quarter of its original size over the years.
Basai Wetlands
Basai wetland, located in Basai village in Gurgaon Haryana is a flora and fauna rich water body.
It lies in one of the paleochannel of the Sahibi River, a tributary of Yamuna which originates from the Aravalli range in Rajasthan and flows through the region.
Its significance
It is recognized as one of India’s Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas and is of global conservation significance.
It supports populations of several endangered, vulnerable, and threatened bird species.
It is recognized globally as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by the BirdLife International housing 20,000 birds of over 280 species including migratory birds and endangered birds.
However, it has not yet been declared a protected wetland by the Government of Haryana.
Threats
Given the accelerated expansion of the city of the future, the wetland continues to disappear under newly laid roads, modern housing constructions and other infrastructure development.
An upcoming expressway, cutting through the terrain here, has majorly impacted the flyway of thousands of migratory birds from Europe and Central Asia.
First introduced in 2019, it is a private member bill proposed by Rakesh Sinha.
The purpose of the bill was to control the population growth of India.
The proposed bill then was signed by 125 Members of Parliament (MP) and is yet to become an act of law.
It seeks to amend Article 47 by inserting article 47A to the Constitution of India. It proposes that-
The State shall promote small family norms by offering incentives in taxes, employment, education etc. to its people who keep their family limited to two children
The state shall withdraw every concession from and deprive such incentives to those not adhering to small family norm, to keep the growing population under control.
Key provisions
Penalties: The 2019 bill talked about introducing penalties for couples not adhering to the two-child policy such as debarment from contesting in elections and ineligibility for government jobs.
Two-child policy: The 2020 bill proposes to introduce a two-child policy per couple.
Incentivizing adoption: It shall incentivize adoption through various measures such as educational benefits, taxation cuts, home loans, free healthcare, and better employment opportunities.
Birth spacings: It also proposes to ensure healthy birth spacing through measures related to augmenting the availability, accessibility and affordability of quality reproductive health services.
Issues with penal provisions
Alienation: If a family was penalized for more than two children, then the third child would develop a feeling of alienation that he is an unwanted child.
Bar on Women: The biggest victim of such would be women, irrespective of religion. They would be debarred in political participation.
Selective abortions: In India, the preference for male children may lead to a greater anti-female child sex selection because parents will only have “two attempts” to have babies.
Violation of reproductive autonomy: To control and regulate the number of children a family can have is a gross violation of human rights, the right to self-determination and an individual’s reproductive autonomy.
Violation of Individual Privacy: A right to procreation is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution but it comes under the ambit of Article 21, as discussed in Jasvir Singh vs State of Punjab.
Remarriage issues: A divorced person who has two children with a prior partner cannot bear a child with their next spouse.
Why need such policy?
India had a land availability of only 1.2 hectare per person, while the resources that get regenerated automatically was 0.43 only.
We are an ecological debtor. The ecological footprint which we use and the gap between their regeneration is 187%.
If this continued for 30 years, then resources would be exhausted and people would not be able to lead a dignified life.
Some people see demographic dividend in the growing population but it was being used as cheap labour globally.
Way forward
The population of India is seen as the biggest obstacle to its economic development.
It is the fall guy for governments seeking to justify their incompetence.
No legislation must be enacted unless its future impact and social effect are first completely realized.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Freedom of Religion
Mains level: Read the attached story
A row over whether educational institutions can impose a strict dress code that could interfere with the rights of students has spilled in the Udupi district of Karnataka.
Don’t you think that such instances incite fear among the politically destitute minorities?
Religious Freedom in India
Article 25(1) of the Constitution guarantees the “freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion”.
It is a right that guarantees a negative liberty — which means that the state shall ensure that there is no interference or obstacle to exercise this freedom.
Restrictions on religious freedom
Like all fundamental rights, the state can restrict the right for grounds of public order, decency, morality, health and other state interests.
Over the years, the Supreme Court has evolved a practical test of sorts to determine what religious practices can be constitutionally protected and what can be ignored.
In 1954, the Supreme Court held in the Shirur Mutt case that the term “religion” will cover all rituals and practices “integral” to a religion.
The test to determine what is integral is termed the “Essential Religious Practices” test.
What is the essential religious practices test?
While these issues are largely understood to be community-based, there are instances in which the court has applied the test to individual freedoms as well.
In a 2004 ruling, the Supreme Court held that the Ananda Marga sect had no fundamental right to perform the Tandava dance in public streets since it did not constitute an essential religious practice of the sect.
For example, in 2016, the Supreme Court upheld the discharge of an airman from the Indian Air Force for keeping a beard.
It distinguished the case of a Muslim airman from that of Sikhs who are allowed to keep a beard.
In 2015, the Supreme Court restored the Jain religious practice of Santhara/Sallekhana (a ritualistic fast unto death) by staying an order of the Rajasthan HC.
Issues with this Test
In the first place, what constitutes the essential part of a religion is primarily to be ascertained with reference to the doctrines of that religion itself, the SC had held in the Shirur Mutt case.
So the test, a judicial determination of religious practices, has often been criticized by legal experts as it pushes the court to delve into theological spaces.
In criticism of the test, scholars agree that it is better for the court to prohibit religious practices for public order rather than determine what is so essential to a religion that it needs to be protected.
In several instances, the court has applied the test to keep certain practices out.
Precursors related to Hijab
Two set of rulings of the Kerala High Court, particularly on the right of Muslim women hold dressing according to the tenets of Islam.
In 2015, Kerala HC ruled the prescription of dress code for AIPMT exam which prescribed wearing light clothes with half sleeves not having big buttons, brooch/badge, flower, etc. with Salwar/Trouser and slippers and not shoes.
In 2016, it examined the issue more closely. It held that the practice of wearing a hijab constitutes an essential religious practice but did not quash the CBSE rule.
The court once again allowed for the “additional measures” and safeguards put in place the previous year.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Vande Bharat Express
Mains level: Highs speed railways in India
Presenting the Union Budget for 2022-23, Finance Minister said 400 new energy-efficient Vande Bharat trains will be introduced in three years.
What is Vande Bharat Express?
The Vande Bharat Express is a semi-high speed train designed, developed, and built by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF).
Presently there are only two Vande Bharat trains that are running — Delhi to Varanasi and Delhi to Katra.
Key Features
The current Vande Bharat trains have seating only in two classes — chair car and executive chair car. But Railways is planning to upgrade it.
The trains have fully sealed gangways for a dust-free environment, modular bio-vacuum toilets, rotating seats in Executive Class, personalized reading lights, automatic entry/exit doors with sliding footsteps, diffused LED lighting, mini pantry, and sensor-based interconnecting doors in each coach.
They are self-propelled trains that do not require an engine. This feature is called a distributed traction power system, which is increasingly becoming the norm the world over for passenger operations(Distributed power gives the train higher acceleration and deceleration compared to loco-hauled trains, which take a much longer time to reach top speed or to gradually come to a halt).
400 trains announced by the Finance Minister carry a potential investment of Rs 50,000 crore over the next three years, because of different specifications and also, inflation.
The current Vande Bharat’s are being made at Rs 106 crore per trainset of 16 cars, at 2018 pricing.
Benefits of Vande Bharat Trains
1) Cuts Travel Time Drastically
2) Energy Efficient
3) Reduce Turnaround Time
4) Faster Acceleration and Deceleration among others.
Why High-speed rail projects are important for India?
Improve India’s GDP: According to a study conducted by the London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of Hamburg in 2008, cities that are connected to HSR systems tend to witness a rise in their gross domestic product (GDP) by at least 2.7 percentage points compared to their neighbors that do not have an HSR station. The reason for the differential was improved market access.
Role of the trains in India’s development: Being the third-largest network in the world under single management and
with over 68,102 route km IR strives to provide a safe, efficient, competitive, and world-class transport system.
During FY21, IR carried 1.23 billion tonnes of freight and 1.25 billion passengers. In addition, despite COVID -19 pandemic revenue earning freight loading (excluding loading by Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL) was 1230.9 million tonnes in 2020-21 as compared to 1208.4 million tonnes during2019-20. Passengers originating were 1250 million in 2020-21 as compared to 8086 million in 2019-20- Economic Survey 2021-22.
Spin-off effect:It is about Rs 40,000 crore business opportunity that would also create 15,000 jobs and several spin-off benefits and act as a stimulus for the development of satellite towns.
Boost to ‘Make in India’– it involves only about 15 percent import content which will further go down if production volumes increase.
Environmental Benefits: More rail traffic translates to less automobile traffic, and by extension, less highway and city street traffic congestion, reduced air pollution. In addition, less congestion means less wear and tear on the roadways, which means that they require fewer repairs. According to the International Association of Railways (UIC), high-speed rail is eight times more energy-efficient than airplanes and four times more efficient than automobile use.
Social Benefits: High-speed rail can promote a sense of social cohesion among residents, by bringing distant populated areas closer together.
Global Experience: The High-Speed Railway has an economic multiplier effect. Since the introduction of the first Shinkansen (literally meaning ‘new main line’) in Japan in 1964, high-speed trains have proven to be an undeniable technological, commercial and popular success. Many countries like the UK, France, Germany, Spain, China, and most recently, the US have adopted the technology.
Challenges faced by the High-Speed Rail Projects
Infrastructure Bottlenecks: India’s railway system is saddled with a two-pronged infrastructure deficit – aging infrastructure and the pace of new project execution struck by unforeseen circumstances related to socio-economic issues on land acquisition for new projects and escalating projects costs.
New Technologies: For instance, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies which proposes to make travel as fast as 760 miles per hour, investing a humongous capital on bullet trains seems like an outdated investment.
Political Will: The politics of Rail Bhavan and an unwillingness to accept the need for change have derailed the project execution.
Short of Investments: For instance, the estimated cost of Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR is ₹1.1 lakh crore (US$17 billion) which is massively expensive. Though India receives funding from Japan (81%), the power demand and up-gradation of existing infrastructure will be more costly.
Social Conflict: Development along the corridor will lead to an increase in urbanization, the fight for resources, and social conflicts due to the labor influx of the workforce.
Legal Trouble: While farmers in Maharashtra are protesting on the ground, the farmers in Gujarat led by Gujarat Khedut Samaj (GKS)- fighting a case in the Gujarat High Court against the land acquisition for the bullet train project.
Way ahead
Stakeholders approach: Politics and Policy have to be in sync for the railway modernization. In order to achieve the target, Railways will have to pool in all resources and multiple stakeholders, including private players to deliver the propulsion system and also carry out the assembling. The Policymakers and administration should give priority to systematic sustainable development work- the convergence of jal, jungle, jameen(water-forest-land is an asset for the Adivasi community).
Regular Monitoring: To ensure the induction of these trains in the shortest time possible, as envisaged by Indian Railways.
Technology Transfer: The government has to push for the technology transfer of HSR. This is because there is no mention of the transfer of technology anywhere in the agreement.
Conclusion
India aspires to become the third-largest economy in the next 25 years. It has already proven its prowess in the field of space and now is the time for furthering its international stature by joining the exclusive club of nations having a high-speed rail network, however, we should be careful not to confuse leapfrogging technology development with elitism, whether it is mobile phones, satellite launches, regional air connectivity, or high-speed rail. This high-speed rail project will therefore help the Indian Railways to become a global leader in scale, technology, and skill.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Categories of security
Mains level: Need for security to politicians
A noted Parliamentarian from Hyderabad has rejected the ‘Z’ category security by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) accorded to him.
Security Provisions in India
In India, security is provided to high-risk individuals by the police and local government.
The level of security needed by any individual is decided by the Ministry of Home Affairs, based on inputs received from intelligence agencies which include the IB and R&AW.
Individuals such as PM, home minister, and other officials such as the National Security Advisor generally get security cover because of the positions they occupy.
In addition to this, persons who are believed to be under threat also receive security cover.
What is ‘Z’ Category Security?
In India, the category covers are X, Y, Y-plus, Z, Z-plus, and SPG (Special Protection Group).
X Category: The protectee gets one gunman. Protectees in the Y category have one gunman for mobile security and one (plus four on rotation) for static security.
Y Plus category: It receives the cover of two gunmen (plus four on rotation) for mobile security, and one (plus four on rotation) for residence security,
Z Category: It has six gunmen for mobile security and two (plus 8) for residence security. They get 10 security personnel for mobile security, and two (plus 8) for residence security.
Z Plus Category: It is provided by National Security Guard commandos whereas the other category of security is provided by the Delhi police or the ITBP or CRPF personnel.
What about Special Protection Group (SPG) Cover?
The SPG cover is meant only for the PM and his immediate family.
After Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own security guards in 1984, the Rajiv Gandhi government decided to create a special cadre of security personnel for the PM.
In March 1985, following the recommendations of a committee set up by the Home Ministry, a special unit was created for this purpose under the Cabinet Secretariat.
This unit, initially called the Special Protection Unit, was renamed as Special Protection Group in April 1985.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Endangered species in India
Mains level: NA
Neighbours of a golden langur habitat in western Assam’s Bongaigaon district have opposed a move by the State government to upgrade it to a wildlife sanctuary.
Kajoijana Bamuni Hill Wildlife Sanctuary
The Assam Forest Department has issued a preliminary notification for converting the 19.85 sq. km. patch of forest into the Kajoijana Bamuni Hill Wildlife Sanctuary.
It is one of the better-known homes of the golden langur (Trachypithecus geei) found only in Assam and Bhutan.
About Golden Langur
Gee’s golden langur (Trachypithecus geei), also known as simply the golden langur, is an Old World monkey.
It is found in a small region of Western Assam and in the neighboring foothills of the Black Mountains of Bhutan.
Long considered sacred by many Himalayan people, the golden langur was first brought to the attention of the western world by the naturalist Edward Pritchard Gee in the 1950s.
Adult males have a cream to golden coat with darker flanks while the females and juveniles are lighter.
It has a black face and a long tail up to 50 cm in length.
Its habitat
It lives in high trees and has a herbivorous diet of ripe and unripe fruits, mature and young leaves, seeds, buds and flowers.
The average group size is eight individuals, with a ratio of several females to each adult male.
It is one of the most endangered primate species of India and Bhutan.
Distribution
Its habitat is bounded on the south by the Brahmaputra River, on the east by the Manas River, on the west by the Sankosh River, in Assam and on the north by the Black Mountains of Bhutan.
Conservation status
IUCN Red List: Endangered
CITES: Appendix I
Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I
Try this question from CSP 2014:
Q. Which one of the following groups of animals belongs to the category of endangered species?
(a) Great Indian Bustard, Musk Deer, Red Panda, Asiatic Wild Ass
(b) Kashmir Stag, Cheetah, Blue Bull, Great Indian Bustard
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: FRBM Act
Mains level: Paper 3- Fiscal consolidation
Context
The fiscal deficit for the year 2022-23 is higher than what was recommended by the Fifteenth Finance Commission. However, if we consider the direction of consolidation, it is towards a reduction in the fiscal deficit.
The budget focuses on capital investment
This year’s Union budget projects an increase in capex by Rs 3.14 lakh crore, as compared to the budgeted numbers of the previous fiscal.
Given the economy’s savings-investment profile and macroeconomic uncertainties due to the pandemic, private and household investments are likely to be reactive to the general economic environment.
Achieving sustainable recovery: For the government, making capital investment in such uncertain times assumes a much higher priority and is equally indispensable for achieving a strong and sustainable recovery from the pandemic.
Increasing share of government: As per National Accounts data, gross fixed capital formation by the general government (Centre and states) has shown an increase as a percentage of GDP from 3.48 in 2011-12 to 3.82 in 2019-20, while other sectors, particularly households, the share fell from 15.75 per cent to 11.39 per cent during the same period.
The fiscal stance taken in the post-pandemic budgets for higher capital spending, including the budget of 2022-23, is likely to further enhance the general government share in overall capital formation.
Important role of the States: it is also important to recognise that two-thirds of the general government’s capital expenditure is undertaken by states and in this context, the announcement of the Rs 1 lakh crore interest-free loans to the states to increase public investment has been a significant step.
Since states taken together have a higher share in the country’s public capital spending, effective absorption of this additional borrowing facility will be critical for higher public investment.
Three broad trends on Fiscal Consolidation
1] Increase in taxes: The increase in taxes by Rs 5.71 lakh crore between 2020-21 (the first year of the pandemic) and 2022-23 shows that the fiscal challenges have eased, but remain present as we navigate economic recovery in uncertain times.
2] Reduction in revenue deficit: Between 2020-21 and 2022-23 (BE), the reduction in revenue deficit has been substantial — from 7.3 per cent to 3.8 per cent of GDP.
3] Revenue deficit dominates fiscal deficit: Compositionally, revenue deficit continues to be more than 55 per cent of the fiscal deficit and the management of such a deficit has few important considerations for revenue expenditure, that is, interest payments and allocation under various centrally sponsored and central sector schemes.
Role of CSS in revenue deficit: Aggregate allocation under centrally sponsored and central sector schemes (CSS) as per the 2022-23 (BE) is Rs 3.83 lakh crore and the interest payment cost of the Union government is Rs 9.56 lakh crore.
Beyond scheme-wise allocations, it is also important to consider CSS allocation as an issue of macro-fiscal management issue at the Union and state level, especially when it is contributing to the high revenue deficit of the central government and binding state resources for matching contribution, thereby increasing states’ deficit.
Understanding the direction of fiscal consolidation
The fiscal deficit for the year 2022-23 is higher than what was recommended by the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
However, if we consider the direction of consolidation, it is towards a reduction in the fiscal deficit.
Though in the medium-term, the fiscal story is about supporting recovery, it is also true that there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution to fiscal consolidation and debt sustainability.
Conclusion
The direction of fiscal consolidation rather than a specific quantified path in an unprecedented time like this is probably the most appropriate consideration.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: E-Shram Portal
Mains level: Unemployment since the pandemic
Over 2 crore people who have signed up for the Centre’s portal for unorganised sector workers hold a Graduate Degree.
E-Shram
On August 26, 2021, the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MOLE) launched the E-Shram, the web portal for creating a National Database of Unorganized Workers (NDUW), which will be seeded with Aadhaar.
It seeks to register an estimated 398-400 million unorganized workers and to issue an E-Shram card.
Issues with E-Shram
(A) Time constraints
Long process: Given the gigantic nature of registering each worker, it will be a long-drawn process.
No gestation period: The Government has not mentioned a gestation period to assess its strategy and efficiency.
No hasty process: Employers are or required their workers to register even. While the Government can appeal to them, any penal measure will hurt the ease of doing business.
(B) Pandemic hides
Considering the estimated 380 million workers as the universe of registration — debatable as the novel coronavirus pandemic has pushed lakhs of workers into informality.
(C) Data security
Privacy: One of the vital concerns of e-portals is data security, including its potential abuse especially when it is a mega-sized database.
No national framework yet: There are also media reports pointing out the absence of a national architecture relating to data security.
Local server issues: It has been reported that in some states such as Maharashtra, the server was down for a few days.
(D) Structural issue
Aadhaar seeding: Many workers will not have an Aadhaar-seeded mobile or even a smartphone. Aadhaar-seeding is a controversial issue with political overtones, especially in the North-eastern regions.
Eligibility: There are several issues concerning the eligibility of persons to register as well as the definitional issues.
Exclusion: By excluding workers covered by EPF and ESI, lakhs of contract and fixed-term contract workers will be excluded from the universe of UW. Hazardous establishments employing even a single worker will have to be covered under the ESI, which means these workers also will be excluded.
No benefits for the aged: The NDUW excludes millions of workers aged over 59 from its ambit, which constitutes age discrimination.
(D) Complex identities of workers
Migration: Many are circular migrant workers and they quickly, even unpredictably, move from one trade to another.
Mixed work: Many others perform formal and informal work as some during non-office hours may belong to the gig economy, for example as an Uber taxi or a Swiggy employee. They straddle formal and informal sectors.
Gig workers: Even though MOLE has included gig workers in this process, it is legally unclear whether the gig/platform worker can be classified first as a worker at all.
(E) Other impediments
Dependence on States: The central government will have to depend on the state governments for this project to be successful.
Lack of coordination: In many States, the social dialogue with the stakeholders especially is rather weak or non-existent. The success of the project depends on the involvement of a variety of stakeholders apart from trade unions.
Corruption: There is also the concern of corruption as middle-service agencies such as Internet providers might charge exorbitant charges to register and print the E-Shram cards.
Benefits: No immediate carrot
Workers stand to gain by registration in the medium to long run.
But the instant benefit of accident insurance up to ₹0.2 million to registered workers is surely not an attractive carrot.
The main point of attraction is the benefits they stand to gain during normal and crisis-ridden periods such as the novel coronavirus pandemic now which the Government needs to disseminate properly.
Way forward
E-Shram is a vital system to provide hitherto invisible workers much-needed visibility.
It will provide the Labour Market Citizenship Document to them.
The govt should go one step further for triple linkage for efficient and leakage-less delivery of all kinds of benefits and voices to workers/citizens: One-Nation-One-Ration Card (ONOR), E-Shram Card (especially bank account seeded), and the Election Commission Card.
Last but not least, registrations cannot be a source of exclusion of a person from receiving social assistance and benefits.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Aksai Chin
Mains level: Paper 2- Border conflict with China
Context
In a recent television interview, the Indian Army Chief, General M.M. Naravane, argued that “out of the five or six friction points (in Ladakh), five have been solved”.
Friction points in Ladakh
‘Friction point’ are the points of Chinese ingress into hitherto India-controlled territory in Ladakh, where this control is exercised by the Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) through regular patrols to the claimed areas.
These ‘friction points’ are Depsang, Galwan, Hot Springs, Gogra, North bank of Pangong Tso, Kailash Range and Demchok.
By asserting that only one of the friction points is remaining to be resolved — Hot Springs or PP15, Army Chief implicitly ruled out Depsang as an area to be resolved.
This attempt to delink the strategically important area of Depsang from the ongoing Ladakh border crisis is worrying.
Significance of Depsang
Depsang is an enclave of flat terrain located in an area the Army classifies as Sub-Sector North (SSN), which provides land access to Central Asia through the Karakoram Pass.
The Army has always identified Depsang plains as where it finds itself most vulnerable in Ladakh, devising plans to tackle the major Chinese challenge.
SSN’s flat terrain of Depsang, Trig Heights and DBO — which provides direct access to Aksai Chin — is suited for mechanised warfare but is located at the end of only one very long and tenuous communication axis for India.
China, in turn, has multiple roads that provide easy access to the area.
This leaves SSN highly vulnerable to capture by the PLA, with a few thousands of square kilometres from the Karakoram Pass to Burtse, likely to be lost.
Nowhere else in Ladakh is the PLA likely to gain so much territory in a single swoop.
SSN lies to the east of Siachen, located between the Saltoro ridge on the Pakistani border and the Saser ridge close to the Chinese border.
On paper, it is the only place where a physical military collusion can take place between Pakistan and China — and the challenge of a two-front war can become real in the worst-case scenario.
If India loses this area, it will be nearly impossible to launch a military operation to wrest back Gilgit-Baltistan from Pakistan.
Dangers of delinking Depsang
Invalidation of Indian claims: The biggest danger of delinking Depsang from the current border crisis in Ladakh, however, is of corroborating the Chinese argument, which invalidates the rightful Indian claim over a large swathe of territory.
In sparsely populated areas like Ladakh, with limited forward deployment of troops, the only assertion of territorial claims is by regular patrolling.
By arguing that the blockade at Y-junction predates the current stand-off — a ‘legacy issue’ that goes back years — the Chinese side can affirm that Indian patrols never had access to this area and thus India has no valid claim on the territory.
Conclusion
As was demonstrated by China in the aftermath of the 1962 War, there should be no holding back in painstakingly asserting one’s claims when it comes to safeguarding the territory.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Chandrayaan-3
Mains level: Not Much
ISRO plans to execute the Chandrayaan-3 mission in August this year.
What is Chandrayaan-3 Mission?
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a follow-up of Chandrayaan-2 of July 2019, which aimed to land a rover on the lunar South Pole.
Chandrayaan-2: A quick recap
Chandrayaan-2 consisted of an Orbiter, Lander and Rover, all equipped with scientific instruments to study the moon.
The Orbiter would watch the moon from a 100-km orbit, while the Lander and Rover modules were to be separated to make a soft landing on the moon’s surface.
ISRO had named the Lander module as Vikram, after Vikram Sarabhai, the pioneer of India’s space programme, and the Rover module as Pragyaan, meaning wisdom.
Utility of the Orbiter
The Orbiter part of the mission has been functioning normally. It is carrying eight instruments.
Each of these instruments has produced a handsome amount of data that sheds new light on the moon and offers insights that could be used in further exploration.
Inception of Chandrayaan 3
The subsequent failure of the Vikram lander led to the pursuit of another mission to demonstrate the landing capabilities needed for the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission proposed in partnership with Japan for 2024.
Its design
The lander for Chandrayaan-3 will have only four throttle-able engines.
Unlike Vikram on Chandrayaan-2 which had five 800N engines with a fifth one being centrally mounted with a fixed thrust.
Additionally, the Chandrayaan-3 lander will be equipped with a Laser Doppler Velocimeter (LDV).
Back2Basics: Chandrayaan-1 Mission
The Chandrayaan-1 mission was launched in October 2008 was ISRO’s first exploratory mission to the moon, in fact to any heavenly body in space.
The mission was designed to just orbit around the moon and make observations with the help of the instruments onboard.
The closest that Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft came to the moon was in an orbit 100 km from its surface.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Definition of Forests
Mains level: Not Much
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change has informed about the criteria used to define forest in India.
Defining Forests universally
As per the Conference of Parties (CoP) 9-Kyoto Protocol, the forest can be defined by any country depending upon the capacities and capabilities of the country.
Forest- Forest is defined structurally on the basis of
Crown cover percentage: Tree crown cover- 10 to 30% (India 10%)
Minimum area of stand: area between 0.05 and 1 hectare (India 1.0 hectare) and
Minimum height of trees: Potential to reach a minimum height at maturity in situ of 2 to 5 m (India 2m)
India’s definition of Forests
The definition of forest cover has clearly been defined in all the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) and in all the International communications of India.
The forest cover is defined as ‘all land, more than one hectare in area, with a tree canopy density of more than 10 percent irrespective of ownership and legal status.
Such land may not necessarily be a recorded forest area. It also includes orchards, bamboo and palm’.
Classification of forest cover
In ISFR 2021 recently published has divided the forest cover as:
Inside Recorded Forest Area: These are basically natural forests and plantations of Forest Department.
Outside Recorded Forest Area: These cover mango orchards, coconut plantations, block plantations of agroforestry.
Back2Basics: Forest Classification in India
The Forest Survey of India (FSI) classifies forest cover in 4 classes.
Very Dense forest: All lands with tree cover (including mangrove cover) of canopy density of 70% and above.
Moderately dense forest: All lands with tree cover (including mangrove cover) of canopy density between 40% and 70%.
Open forests: All lands with tree cover (including mangrove cover) of canopy density between 10% and 40%.
Scrubs: All forest lands with poor tree growth mainly of small or stunted trees having canopy density less than 10%.
